Wisdom Begins in Wonder - Socrates
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“Monnss-turrr?” A small, strange, sickly looking child repeats while looking up at the crowd gathered in the room.
The entire group of men flinch back with varying degrees of shock on their faces.
“By the gods, you weren’t jesting Rubio!” A large barrel-chested man exclaims. A general murmur of assent rolls through the crowd and money is exchanged when looking at the boy.
The same man nervously steps forward. “Boy, tell me, how much do you understand?” He gingerly asks. With the question the crowd goes quiet. All attention focused on the child.
A look of concentration is shown on the boys face as he scrunches the almost colorless eyes, deep in thought—then suddenly opens them and points at the big man while sitting on the ground in front of the door.
“What. Boy. Mean?” The child enunciates.
Several people make signs to ward off evil and visibly pale. Others turn and leave the room shaken. The child put emphasis on each word, as if to confirm their meaning.
“I tell ya that boy ain’t natural. When Rubio tells ya he noticed little demonspawn running around you better know he mean it.” The mentioned man speaks out but flinches when the boys eyes swivel towards him. He scowls, spits on the floor, and walks out.
The barrel-chested man steps forward. “Well, uh, you see a boy is, uh, when you have something that a girl doesn’t have?” Caught off guard by this innocent question the man starts stammering and his face turns bright red, seemingly trying to hide beneath his beard. Several people laugh at his expense, and one gives him a hearty thump on the back.
Most just stare at the boy.
The boy just tilts his head, his eyes once again scrunching up in concentration. A question forming on his childish lips. A crash is heard in another room and the boys eyes dart to the source of the sound.
“Maker help whoever I catch bothering the boy. He is a child, and children should be asleep at this hour! Go on! Get out of here and go gossip like little love-girls at the tavern!” A shrill voice is heard and the intruders jolt up and head out, leaving the barrel-chested man behind looking torn. An elderly woman comes hobbling in a nightgown and gives the man a glare.
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She gives up quickly after it doesn’t send him running, looks down and sighs. Grabbing onto the man's arm, barely able to fit her hand around his wrist, she tugs on him motioning towards the exit.
“Come on. I’m in no mood to hear apologies for others actions.” She coldly states.
He resists just outside the door. “Old Nan, you know I meant no ill will!” The man grumbles before allowing her to drag him through the door, hearing the gathered crowd talking just outside a distance off.
Old Nan sighs. “I was hoping to avoid this Marco. I was going to try to find the boy a good family before the rumors started. I’ll be lucky if he now doesn’t scare off parents for the other children at this point.” She scowls while looking into the dark. Before closing the door she rubs a pendant on her neck and mutters some prayer to an obscure deity.
The man ducks his head and looks off to the side. “I know what you are trying to ask of me...but we recently found out my wife is with child, and she has already been so sick...”
“You and your wife are with child?” She sends a sharp look towards him before sighing again and turning towards the boy, knowing of the trouble raising this one would bring to the new family and resigning. “You aren't needed here anymore.” She coldly states. The man named Marco takes the chance to duck outside.
The boy, quietly watching the exchange, sees his caretaker heading towards him and stretches his arms towards her. She picks him up and slowly strokes the top of his head, frowning at the unnatural feeling. While walking towards her own bed she makes reassuring sounds and gently lowers the boy down. The boy looking more tired and satisfied after the brief contact. Not worried at all about what just happened like any normal child would be.
Looking down at the child left a certain feeling in her chest. The boy truly was unnatural, having no hair on his body and pale grey eyes that left a disturbing image. It was two-fold worse when he looked directly in your eyes. The child was too smart for his age, an unnatural intelligence. Far too aware of things going on around him, and quiet. A child shouldn’t be so calm and focused.
Sure there were stranger things. As unnatural things went, it was rather tame. There were no extra limbs, no uncontrollable magic, not even a strange feeling in his mana. The only thing truly worrying about him were the events surrounding his birth and what caused the higher powers to fight over him. Oh yes, it was deeply worrying.
Not many people knew what truly happened yet—but there were already rumors. She knew there would be trouble when black cloaked figures appeared in the middle of the night asking to take him in and care for him last week.
She figured it was bandits without the heart to kill the child alongside the parents. That seemed to happen too often these days. The other rumors coming in were troubling to say the least. That the gods brought down one of the nine holy cities fighting back demons.
It wasn’t until a survivor told the story of walking among the ruins that she connected everything. More refugees began streaming in from the countryside. Then signs pointed towards the gods watching him started happening. Little miracles, unnatural things happening around him gave testament to that. Natural enough in the world they lived in, but never to this extent. Not here of all places.
Trouble indeed would follow him.
She set about her nightly rituals. It seemed the only thing stable in her future would be what she could earn from the gods. She thought she could get away by serving in a small out-of-the-way town like this. Sighing, she went from room to room. Checking on the kids to make sure they didn't wake from the commotion. Offering a small prayer at each door.
That done, she settled herself into bed, bones protesting as she adjusted herself with the child beside her. Every year her age became more apparent. Raising this child would be difficult, but she would follow through on a task given by the gods.
They wouldn't have it any other way.