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Chapter 18: Somewhat Domestic
“Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I mean—Hercu.” Tears ran out from Anna’s eyes.
Their light grey had a touch of mint in them now, but besides that, she still looked the same. As if she hadn’t aged. The long brown flat hair still had the very light grey-purple inside. Her thin eyebrows and smudgy face still struck out, the same as back then. Yes, only one person could cry and smile like that at the same time.
The new nun garment was rose gold and had a white sleeveless dress underneath. She wore the old round hat of the former headmaster; the dear old saddle pad died just before I left.
Our hands reached together. Her soft skin was seemingly untouched by any salt.
“Your arm . . .”
“Don’t worry, I actually quite like it.” I smiled.
Her gaze darted to something behind me. “Come here, Xenia.”
The little girl ran to Anna and straightened purposefully.
Anna chuckled. “Let me introduce you. This is my daughter.”
She shared her mother’s handsome face. Her hair was a tad shorter, and long bangs lay over her forehead. Her eyes were yet clean from any signs of Jade Mint. And she, of course, wore the typical orphan clothes. A delicate white long-sleeved shirt with a fancy collar that mainly only orphans wore.
My eyes widened, and now it was my turn for tears. “You . . . how old . . .”
Anna bent down to her. “Tell your big sis—brother, how old you are,” she whispered.
Xenia gazed at her, then at me and swallowed. “8.” She stared bewildered. Trembling, she turned to her mother. “Is this . . . ?”
Anna nodded with a lovely smile.
Xenia’s jar dropped while her eyes mustered every single detail of me.
Suddenly, she jumped me, and I held the girl in my arms. She slung her arms around my neck with a force to be reckoned with.
“Even though”—she sniffled—”everyone thought you were dead . . .” Her voice cracked. “I believed that you survived. I missed you so much! I didn’t care how much the others teased me because I had never met you. Mum had told me everything about you, big brother!” Her adorable voice melted my heart.
It had been hard to turn away the children from my old crew, but this ... this was just impossible. The baby I had longed and feared for so bad eight years ago when Anna was pregnant, she was now in my arms.
I gently pressed her against my chest. “That's right, I'm your big sibling.”
I clenched my teeth. “You don't need a father. The wanker can go die in hell. This bastard of a noble . . . what he had done to Anna is unforgivable!”
Xenia let go, and so I dropped her off. “Come, I’ll show you everything!”
I glanced at Nita, and she nodded with a warm smile.
“We’ll catch up later, Anna!”
Hand in hand, Xenia and I jogged through the orphanage. Her petite hand felt like porcelain.
All rooms were connected to the broad main carpeted corridor. The base level of brightness seemed to differ from the whole city. High stone archways divided the long windows. And despite the divine ornaments outside, the dining room and especially the dorms looked comfier than anything I had seen before.
“And this is the girls’ dormitory. The first bed is mine!” Xenia beamed.
Her bed was filled with stuffed animals.
“Still spoiling your favorite children, huh, Anna?” I grinned. Memories returned of when she had worked overnights to make me a wooden sword so I could play with the boys.
It took a while before Xenia had finished introducing every last one of her fluffy friends.
She pulled on my arm again. Although she kept staring at the markings and touched the scaled skin with the embedded gold, she refrained from asking about it.
“Next, I’ll show you the inner courtyard!”
We entered the square outdoor area. Besides a few cherry trees, a flower garden was protected by a fence on one side. The rest served as a playground. A group of children played a ball game while others play fought. It seemed like the princess had just been kidnapped.
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“Hercu?” An astonished voice sounded next to me. Lisa stared at me.
I smiled quizzically. “Told you I'd come to see you.”
Lisa was already glued to my waist. However, she immediately disengaged and looked at me worriedly. “What the heck happened to your arms?!”
Xenia stepped closer to my side and gave Lisa an evil look. Well, as evil as a cute little girl could look. Their eyes met, and like rebounding swords, they turned away from each other and stared at me again.
“You know her?” They both asked simultaneously.
I scratch my cheek in embarrassment. “The first time two fight over me, and then it's two little girls . . .”
“Huh, ye, he’s my brother!” Xenia blurted out.
“B-brother?”
“Yes! So get lost.” She crossed her arms.
“Xeina,” I said, appalled.
“Huh, I was at sea with him, and we had many adventures together!”
“Well, most of the time, you were just sitting on the ship and cleaning. Of course, it was better that way.”
Xenia opened her mouth in shock. “What?!” Now she looked at me with her cute evil eyes.
“What? I didn't do anything wrong!”
The corners of her mouth dropped, and her eyes began to sparkle. “I also want to have many adventures with big brother.”
My heart almost shattered to pieces. “Hey, hey. Don't cry.” I dropped to my knees and hugged her tightly.
Weirdly enough, Lisa's scowl looked like Xenia was about to stab me in the back.
Lisa clicked her tongue. “You can't do anything with a crybaby like that at sea anyway!”
“Says the right one.”
Lisa gasped at Xenia.“It doesn't matter. I'll go get the others.” She stomped away.
“After all, kids can be really exhausting . . .” I sighed.
“What?” Xenia asked, surprised.
“Damn it, did I speak aloud?”
“Oh, nothing.” I laughed forcedly and hugged Xenia a little tighter. She seemed to enjoy it.
A few minutes passed as we waited for Lisa to return with the others. Anna, Nita, and the others strolled through the garden and chatted.
“Mum’s office is in that direction,” Xenia said. “Children aren’t allowed to enter it, though.” A certain undertone lay in her voice.
I shot her a toothy grin. “You went in anyway, huh?”
She returned the grin. “Of course.”
“And?” I asked excitedly. “What did you find?”
“Hercu!” Lisa came back running. “Follow me, quick! James and Darrick picked a fight with some brats from the academy.”
I stripped my face from any trace of grinning and turned to Xenia. “Stay here.”
With that, I followed Lisa, and she guided me outside.
I could already make out the location a few streets later by their stupid yelling. I ran ahead and swiftly wall-jumped a one-story house. The area here was really run down. Compared to the musty roofs and broken walls, the orphanage was a dream palace.
Four children stood in front of James and Darrick, pushing them repeatedly. Behind them was a well-built teenage boy.
Like the cool big brother I tried to portray, I jumped down in dramatic fashion, landing with one knee on the ground. Dust swirled around me, but I reacted quickly enough not to inhale anything. Arriving coughing would be far too embarrassing.
“Oh, this freaking hurts.” I bit the pain away, stood up, and stared at the small pests.
I prepared my lower voice. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The theatrical pause broke when James’ and Darrick’s jars dropped.
“Hercu?!”
“Yo!” I stood up slowly. “Don’t worry, I got this.”
Lisa arrived, too, with a skid around the corner of the broken back alley. And behind her was Xenia.
“You!” I stifled the insults but couldn’t control my twitching eye. Xenia only smiled and shot me a thumbs-up. “Beat 'em up, big brother!”
I took a deep breath, stayed in my cool-big-brother role, and returned the thumbs-up. What should I have expected from my little sister?
“And who are you?” The teenage boy purposefully approached me with his ugly curls in his blond hair waving in the wind.
“Are you deaf?” I stared him down. “The big brother, of course.”
He whistled. The four boys of him ran back behind and waited. They all shared the same scholar uniform, except the big boy had some green crystals attached to his shirt.
I clenched my fists and raised them. I wouldn’t draw my dagger unless he pulled a weapon too.
He scoffed. “Little orphan shits don’t have rights here.” He raised his fists as well. Either he wasn't impressed by my mutated- and mechanical arm, or he hid it pretty well.
“I’ll show you my right, noble brat.”
I lunged for a massive swing, but he simply ducked under and aimed at my stomach.
I sidestepped and spun in on him for an elbow to his pretty boy face. However, he caught it. Pain shot through my knees, and I sunk down. I went for a swoop, but he jumped over it and kicked at my face. I narrowly evaded a hit, but his next punch landed a glancing strike.
“How’s he so fast?!”
I pushed back, gaining some distance. In a blur, the boy flashed forth and rammed his shoulder at me. I hurled to the ground, tumbling over.
I shot up and met a pair of Jade Mint eyes. His next fist punched my lights out.
—
I woke to a slapping sound. My eyes fluttered open, and I caught sight of the scenery ahead. The suns had sunken below the horizon.
The young boys slapped James and Darrick. The older one squatted in front of Xenia. Lisa lay unconscious beside them, her face bloody.
Xenia faced the boy with a straight posture, but her expression betrayed her. She barely held back tears.
My hand mutated-hand trembled as I stood up, staggering. It surged again, but this time not for Jade Mint, but for blood. The hazy storm in my head reflected in the forming static light in my palm. The power of the sky—of a god, weaponized in my hand.
Blasting confidence streamed through my whole system. I would pour this noble brat to shreds.
My hand cramped in wild twitches, begging me to let loose. And so I did—
“Step. Back. Hercu.” Miru’s voice bristled with pressure from a roof above me, commanding me against every fiber of my body. Presiding me.