The very next day Gabriel woke up early to start searching for his sister. He believed that she was alive, but he still would start searching for any corpses which could have been from her on the ashy remains of his house.

Now more preventive than ever, he had not only cloaked himself with clothes, but cloaked his appearance even before he left his room, just in case. He believed he had done nothing wrong, but he knew that he could be attacked if he was seen on the streets. And the same could happen to his sister, which added to his hurry.

The place that had been his home for months was now rubble and even though he had seen it the day before, just now was it starting to sink in. All the efforts he had put into the making and keeping of this house, gone, just like that.

And now it was even more gone than yesterday. After scanning the area Gabriel realized that those thieves had done their job. They had taken many of his valuables from below the rubble and ash and were nowhere to be seen.

Still some things remained behind which Gabriel collected into the bag that had been recently bought by him. No one really looked at him specifically, because there had been already too many people who had done the same and the few people that were still searching for people under the remains of the fire were more focused on their own tasks.

Now that they had advanced with their objective of finding bodies, Gabriel’s attempts of trying to find his sister became much easier. And after about half an hour and checking two different corpses, Gabriel could confirm that his sister hadn’t died yet. Or her body had completely combusted, leaving no trace. Which was impossible, at least in Gabriel’s knowledge at that time.

Therefore, he decided to contact the rescuers, the next logical group of people that could know of the whereabouts of his sister, they might have found her and even if she was dead at the time she was found, they would know where the people and corpses they had found had been moved to.

- Uhmmm… Excuse me? – He got closer to a group of people that seemed to be working as rescuers and were currently resting. They glanced at him, so he continued with his query. – I had a family member that lived here… but he’s not here anymore… Do… Do you know where he could be? – He finished his question and tried acting like a nervous young teen and, although his performance was quite poor, his request was answered.

- You should probably go to the church; there the wounded are being tended… if your family isn’t there… he’s probably in a better place. – A kind man answered and pointed to Gabriel the direction of the church.

On the outskirts of the church many people had been laid down. All of these people had died already, because the members of the faith hadn’t managed to save them before they died due to their experienced damages.

Gabriel observed the corpses and didn’t find any which reassembled his sister. He was caught watching by one of the members of the church that was calming a crying family at the loss of their family member.

There was a mother and two children and all of them had sustained some degree of burns through the fire. Looking at the size of the corpse either the husband and brother had died, or the woman had an older child and he had fallen victim of the flames.

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- Are you searching for someone, my child? – The woman asked. Gabriel had seen her before, when he had stayed with his sister in the convent, but he didn’t remember much from her. He was surprised, for a moment, that she didn’t recognize him, but he realized that it was due to his disguise. – Are you alright? – She asked again, because of his blank expression and continued quietness.

- I… yes… I… I am searching for my sister… but I don’t see her here… are there more people somewhere else? – Gabriel decided to continue playing the role of a rather scared teen, but his acting continued to be terrible. Luckily for him, the member of the church thought that it was due to his shock of the situation which was overwhelming him.

- Yes, yes, there are other people inside the church. These are only the ones who had gone to a better place, may their souls rest… - He made a small prayer for a moment and guided Gabriel into the church. He doubted to enter for a moment, due to the compromise he had made, but decided that learning the state of his sister came first.

He was taken to a room with many beds where mostly younger people rested. All of the occupied beds had people with second- and third-degree burns, but they weren’t all treated at the same time due to there not being enough people to help.

Gabriel had clearly underestimated the size and damage that the flames had caused, he had only expected a few dozens of people getting hurt but more than two hundred people had ended up physically damaged.

On one of the beds, he recognized his sister. Well not really, he had inspected the heads of everyone and one body in particular had their minds basically the same as to how his sister’s mind was. That, and the added hint of a particular dog sitting at the side of the bed.

Gabriel made his way towards his sister and the priest followed him. As the man of faith realized where he was going, he started explaining her situation.

- She may be one of the toughest girls that made it through the fire… - He started telling Gabriel what she had experienced inside the church. – Just look at her skin, all red! She must’ve been there for hours to end up like this! Still, she’s staying alive, but she sleeps most of the times and when she has awoken, she barely talks…

As his sister’s situation was being described by the man of faith, he observed her face and realized that her two smallish horns were now even smaller, probably being damaged while she escaped the house or in a similar situation. They were barely noticeable and could be easily mistaken for splinters of wood ingrained in her forehead or it could’ve been he genetical and due to a weird skull-shape.

Gabriel grabbed a chair and sat beside the bed and told the priest off, because he wanted to be alone with his sister for a moment. He quietly left the room and went back to the corpses and crying families outside.

- I know you’re awake. You don’t need to act in front of me. I can get you out, but I haven’t found us a new home yet. – He murmured so that only his sister would listen to him. She didn’t open her eyes and barely moved her mouth but answered to him.

- It’s nice here, I’m being tended for free, and everyone believes that my skin is like this because of the fire. – She told her brother. – But I know that people will start to doubt if I don’t recover after too long, so I will go with you, just… not yet.

- I understand… I will come to check on you in about three days. Just make sure you don’t cause any trouble… please. – He asked her.

- You know me, the most responsible sister you have. – She joked and a small snug smile appeared on her face, but she quickly returned to her neutral expression. – Now go, I know you don’t have anything else to say to me.

- Actually… I do. Check under your bed when you can. I’ve left something there. – And with those words Gabriel left the church.

The family that had been crying their loss was still there, but their weeps had become smaller and more spaced out. Gabriel observed them for a moment with a cold expression and then carried on his way. Accidentally he hit a corpse and gruntled because his shoes got dirty with burnt skin.

He quickly cleaned them and finally exited the precinct of the church. He almost felt the pressure leave his shoulders as he did, because he finally could stop his meager acting which had made him feel like he’d be caught multiple times. Now, it was time to go property hunting… together with some headhunting as well.