Chapter 7: Chapter 5: The Beginning Arc

Some days went by and I woke up shouting loudly out of a nightmare, surprising the faint soul next to me who caressed my hair for a little while every so often.

“Please don’t leave me!” I opened my eyes, looking above quickly, finding myself under an unfamiliar dark wooden ceiling, in two of the corners, I could see mold tainting it with tones of green and black. Like small dots contrasting the night sky, one by one, they made a difference in its humid vastness.

“Where am I?” I muttered softly as my eyes met a wall to the left side, and then heard a voice coming from the right, grabbing my surprise and attention with it.

“Hello girl, you’re safe. Be at ease. I’m Maia and my older brother found you in a dark alley.”

At that moment, the entirety of the things rolled through my mind, remembering the greasy fingers touching my body, causing it to shiver. I checked every piece of it, going as far as to lift the sheets while tearing up.

“What happened to me? Was I perhaps...?” Unable to find any injuries anywhere, further without understanding the outcome of my words, growing confused, and drowning in despair.

The girl spoke to me with a calm and mature tone. Neither were aspects that I could voice even if my heart desired.

“Not at all, we found you with some injuries, but nothing special, so you’re still pure... a virgin.” She explained the last word meaning causing me to attempt a proper reply as the young woman noticed the great confusion on my expression.

“Ah, no, I meant...” I faced the wall, holding my tears in relief.

‘All I wanted to know was what happened to all that pain I felt every day on my body...’

“Just calm down for now.”

She looked at me with motherly eyes and a similar worried tone, “are you hungry, perhaps? I could get you some porridge if you’d like...” 

My eyes didn’t take long to meet hers, and I gave a lot of attention to the meal name and its possible contents. Half from curiosity and the rest because I deducted it to be related to my stomach growling. It made me feel cared for to some extent. My years spent at the orphanage also had meals and people offering them to me, but nothing good ever came from such times.

‘I should accept it, my stomach hurts...’

Before I could say anything, she continued speaking on her own, “I promise it’s good. I was the one who made it, after all.”

Maia winked at me, stealing a faint fake smile from my lips, one that automatically left as I programmed my brain to survive, to act in such ways.

“I’ll take that cute smile as a yes, be back in a bit, please don’t leave the bed, your body isn’t in the perfect shape.”

I looked at her suspiciously as my condition clearly felt great, contrary to her words. Other than my stomach pain, there was nothing else. I didn’t remember the last time I felt this good. It was sad realizing this, but at the same time, it was wonderful not feeling discomfort and some relief too.

“Alright Maia, thank you.”

We traded smiles at each other. She looked beautiful and was young, but clearly older than me. Her skin was like almond with this peculiar vast, curly, and brown-hair all the way to her bottom, and her size, yes, this woman was fairly taller than me. She left through the door whilst I took a seat on the bed, lifting my body slowly just in case the girl’s words were true. I took a look under the white pajama, finding the skin to be intact and porcelain-like, terribly pale, soft, clean, and tears fell one by one on the sheets, tainting them softly without sound. My broken voice mumbled out of happiness for having my body fixed.

With this new height and a newer perspective, it allowed my eyes to range more than before, finding some things inside the room. The first thing they met was a wooden desk with some paper and pencils.

‘Does she know how to write, perhaps?’

The kids back at the orphanage knew, after all, they often forced us to learn the letters and the words solely used for speaking and reading. Only the named carers and the chief knew more, enough to research about the ones used for chanting. Next to it, my eyes grasped a wardrobe and two more beds. It was not a small room, and it had a window...

‘A window?’ I tried to get out of bed, noticing my body in a feeble state, roaring louder as if warning me that fuel was required for that action, thus I had a quick change of mind.

‘Perhaps another time, wouldn’t want to be stuck on the floor after what happened... seems to at least be morning. Wondering what day are we on... guess I’ll have to ask Maia once she’s back.’ 

My stomach did two more rumbling noises with a few pauses in between. ‘Esteban Rucal... he’s probably surprised I escaped after enduring that place for so many years, but I couldn’t possibly allow myself to be sold to someone who only wanted to kill me.’

An ounce of nervousness and rage crawled through my body as I struggled within myself to accept that I was more than just an item ready to be traded away, dismantled even.

‘Any fate is bound to be better than one that leads to death.’ I voiced further words in my mind, in a way to comfort myself with the decision I took, but also to bolster my own lack of confidence. Ultimately, I felt horrible, abandoned by my parents, by the old caretaker who died, and the children who left to be sold. Some were acquaintances, and others were just people who disliked me. Majority of them were mean and treated me wrongly, but alas, kids were bound to be clueless until it was very late, and a lot of them would grow up to regret it, no longer mattering as they followed their new paths. Such was life, and mine started not so long ago. Measly twelve years went by till now and I knew of horrors that were not meant to be found this early on, or perhaps never. Dread that many wouldn’t even have during their nightmares.

‘I really do feel weak, and hungry, but at least not sick. My nose isn’t runny, and my head isn’t hot anymore.’ I passed my hand through my forehead and neck softly. ‘My voice and throat seem to be working without issues again. I thought my voice was gone for good. At some point, I remember my head going in flames. I think my eyes ended up closing... don’t think there’s any other memory since that point onwards...’

I heard the steps hitting the wood of the hallway, making my eyes stare at the entrance door.

From there a girl came, a now-familiar face who spoke to me with all familiarity possible, “hello again! I’ve arrived with some food. Hope you’re not a picky eater.”

I quickly swayed my head to the sides, showing her my honest self.

“Not at all! I’ve always eaten everything which was given to me, especially due to how little it was.”

Without showing a hint of sadness in her eyes, she declared as if it was common sense.

“That’s very orphan-like. I guess the master was right about you being one.”

Unsure if they were good or flawed words, my expression frowned and a sad-like face was visible. Filled with unease and nervous, I muttered some words. “Is it a bad thing?”

“Not around here, at least. We’re a big family composed of many of them, so I’m sure you’ll find yourself very welcome by at least half.” She rubbed her chin, making a dubious face which forced me to voice out my worries.

“Meaning there’s some who wouldn’t be happy to have me around?”

She shrugged her shoulders, replying with a bit of boredom in her tone, causing the hair to shake in unison to the sides. “That’ll depend on how things go for you, but for now, do eat this while it’s warm. It tastes better like this, you know?”

To those words, I made a dubious expression, unsure if this was reality or a dream. As she pointed at it. “Warm... food?” I asked, confused, as all I ate was a cold one. It was especially bad in winter, as it wasn’t different from cubes of ice. Maia placed the wooden board on top of my legs with a bowl in it, allowing them to feel the head below.

My eyes grasped at a spoon and a glass of water.

“Make sure you blow some cold air before you eat it, otherwise you’ll find yourself in some pain.”

From her reply, I remembered about my hurt arm that twisted, whilst still doubting the reality at hand. A deep breath I took, examining it all over again, and then held the spoon, attempting to lift it with the feeble strength that remained within me. It was a success, as my body, surprisingly, hadn’t weakened to an extreme extent, or perhaps my hunger outdid my current limits. As she realized my new cheerful expression, the young woman made sure to explain the reason why.

“The master is a warmage. In other words, someone who is extremely talented. He healed your body. Now eat. You must if you want to become useful to him. If you are, your future will probably become better. If you don’t, you’ll return to the orphanage or worse.”

I started shaking upon hearing those words, reminding myself of the dangers that awaited me back there, instantly becoming sick, unable to take a spoon, creating confusion to the one next to me, who quickly attempted to seek and steal more information about my backstory.

“Was it really that bad? To the point of making you shiver?”

Upon her words, I explained softly, and slowly as I could, gathering stability within myself to do so. “I ran... from the orphanage... because they wanted to sell me-”

Interrupting me, she quickly added. “Everyone gets sold, some to become cleaners, others to be turned into sex slaves, some to be trained into future soldiers...”

A description was further added to each topic, granting me some further awareness and knowledge about them. She crossed her arms while sitting back on the chair where I found her to be when I woke up, a wooden simple, and clearly old one, but groomed without a single hint of dust to be found.

“It was awful for me... a lot worse, truly.” Understanding my state and her earlier words, I gripped the utensil and started digging into the porridge despite being sick. However, the pleasant smell that came within it was helpful to regain my appetite. She mostly made the meal out of bread, small pieces of meat, and some vegetables, all smashed to a pulp, making it almost look like a soup. As soon as the first spoon entered my mouth with the warm meal, tears started flowing towards both of my cheeks.

This made Maia smile happily upon seeing it, reminiscing about many others that came before me, who had a similar reaction.

“That’s my legendary porridge alright, nothing like a warm meal to set your heart ablaze.” She giggled lightly upon her own words, making me in front smile beautifully, or not, as it showed pieces of the food on the teeth. I started cleaning my tears with the sleeve while coordinating with the action of consuming more spoons of the splendid meal that was. Maia stared at me silently, thinking and judging me in her mind.

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‘I’m really curious if this girl was truly able to use magic at such a young age. She seems to at least be smarter than most and knows her place. Don’t think she’ll have trouble inserting herself with the rest. I wonder what kind of life the orphanage presented her. I’ll wait for her to finish the meal before asking.’ The young woman decided to let me have some happiness, for the insides within me to grow warmer. After three spoons, I stopped to take some time to breathe and calm myself.

I felt the food sink deep inside my stomach differently than it ever had, burning everything as it went down, melting all the ice on its way. I then shifted my gaze from the bowl to Maia, letting out a bit of me to obtain some information in exchange. “Where are we? A different... orphanage?” I questioned in doubt, since the girl told me before I’d return to my own if the master became displeased.

“I guess in a way this place can be considered one, but at the same time, it’s quite different. How to say this, we are random children picked up by my older brother. There’s no concrete way to the way he chose us. There is no fate or coincidence in it.” She pointed at the window where I noticed a sunny day.

“It’s like the rain. It falls wherever it wants. Timothy picked us with a similar method. However, it is important to tell you that we’re split into two groups.” 

Maia raised her hand, showing two fingers while staring back at me. “The named and the unnamed. This separation comes from those who have talent and those who don’t, simply putting, the ability to use the words, the chants, and magic.”

I nodded, listening to her explanation as magic wasn’t the greatest of topics inside the orphanage. Learning more about this world was a thing that I didn’t have many chances to do back then.

“All of us are born with a random amount of mana, and we offer a prayer that we call a chant to one of the gods. Either based on our element or the place we live in. We are free to choose who we ally ourselves to. There’re no direct consequences, other than possibly being exiled from this country, which is a lot worse than being sold.”

“Exiled? What’s that?” I looked at Maia with tender eyes, confused about this new concept that seemed worse than death.

“This domain is called Einhol. It is under god’s guidance. Thus, it is sometimes called the kingdom of light, his own element, and title. In other words, the people that obey him can live in this place without worries. Those who don’t are eventually kicked out of it.”

“How do they search for who belongs to what?” I took a few spoons of the food while she found the rightful words for an explanation.

“Usually by your actions, however, if you’re a named one, then once you make an oath with said god, an element will appear, if it’s light everyone will love you, if not...” Maia turned her head to the sides without wanting to explain that in specific.

“That’s why using magic without a ceremony is not possible, as they become the proxies to magic. At least, that’s what the master taught me.”

She smiled, unsure about the information since it was not one entirely graspable to mortals. Nonetheless, the young woman picked the previous topic to continue the initial explanation and to prolong the chat as she watched me chewing.

“Related to the exiling, there are some exceptions to this rule, one of the examples is having a title. Our master has one, the warmage. The wealthy, powerful and noble offer him contracts. They’re usually related to war, but sometimes different missions.”

“Does that mean your master-” I get interrupted by Maia, who corrects me swiftly, surprising me momentarily.

“Our master. Make sure to get it right, or you might lose your spot in this place.” Upon hearing Maia’s bitter tone, I nodded lightly and tried again.

“Does that mean our master chose a different god than this country one?” She nodded in accordance, proud of me, smiling beautifully at that.

“That’s a lot better. It’s great when the kids that come are smart and adapt fast. You’re absolutely correct, but finish eating before it gets cold while I explain.” Once again, I devoted myself to consume everything in the bowl, spoon after spoon, filling my belly in ways that never happened before.

“Our master is one of the strongest mages in the kingdom. The only issue is that he was born with the element of water in order to unveil the secrets of such arts and to improve himself endlessly. That was the main reason our master decided to select the goddess of water.”

After gulping it all down, I burped, causing her to giggle, and then voiced out quickly with a curious tone and similar expression. “Is there any benefit in choosing a god of our own element? How many of them can we be born with? How many of them can we choose from?”

She gestured me by waving her palm softly downwards for me to calm down.

“I’ve heard of people having been born with more than one element, or better said, with the talent to learn more about them. This amount is something that never changes, so we’re either born trashes or gifted. This is also one of the things that differentiates the unnamed from the named.” Maia sighed, clearly showing me that this was a topic that she didn’t enjoy.

“People like me with some skill, the master gives us a name through a ritual, and you and everyone else can only dedicate their entire body to one of the gods.”

I placed the spoon in the bowl that was now empty and took a sip of the water that felt a little fresh, refreshing my lips, mouth, and throat. “This water tastes good. The one before always tasted horrible.”

Maia made a revolted expression, putting myself in check as I grew confused towards her as she thought deep within. ‘To think the water they gave her wasn’t even clean. Just how hated was she, and why?’

With a serious and concerned expression, her eyes gazed into mine. “Tell me about your life in the orphanage, everything you remember about it, ever since your oldest memories.”

I looked down between my pajama and the bowl, placing my hands there, rubbing the fingers onto one another softly while telling her my story.

“From what I was told, my parents abandoned me at the doors of the orphanage when I was a baby. Ever since then, I’ve been there living with the other kids. When I was around 6, a new carer joined the orphanage named Josie, and ever since then...” I lowered my face with a sad look staying like that for a while before continuing, allowing Maia’s face to become more and more surprised as my words came out.

“She’d yell at me and call me names, which caused the kids to distance themselves from me. Eventually, I ended up alone, and she would beat me regularly, becoming more frequent as days went by, all because of my white hair. She said they couldn’t sell me because everyone loathed it, as well as my skin tone, that was... ghostly like a wicked spirit. They nicknamed me the white-haired girl, the cursed child.”

“That’s terrible! How did you even manage to survive that?” She asked curiously, since if they couldn’t sell me, there was no reason for Josie not to kill me.

“I would hide and learn everything about the caretaker, the tasks, and things she had to do. Her schedules and habits and so I would run and ended up making a friendship... I think... with a named one that helped me a lot. Plus, I also helped them with chores and did anything they asked.”

“A named kid in the orphanage? Are you sure about that?”

From looking at her expression, I noticed how this particular bit of information sprouted curiosity inside her and perhaps something more, but nonetheless, I told her. “Yes, he made me promise I’d never tell the caretakers or the chief, and I did keep my word.”

She grinned in an unfamiliar way, bringing me some discomfort, and then covered it, scheming in her mind. ‘The girl can’t lie, since I drugged her food, so there is someone useful to the master in there. That’ll give me some points.’

Maia removed her hand and smiled happily at me while rubbing the knuckles into each other softly with eyes full of greed, almost like she was praying strangely to an evil deity. “What’s the name of your friend?”

“He’s called Esteban Rucal.” Once again, I told her what she wanted to know. Abnormally, as it was, deep within me, I didn’t want to, but something was happening outside my control.

‘Why did I let out his secret so easily? I... couldn’t even lie? Let me try again.’ I opened my mouth and attempted to call the girl ugly.

“Maia, you’re cute... cute? Cute!” Feeling even more confused than before, I stared at the figure in front, who kept smiling at me happily from my compliments.

‘What is wrong with me?’

The young woman stared at me beautifully, showing a bit of blush on her cheeks, enjoying the praise.

“Thank you, you are pretty adorable, too. I’m not sure about the high-born, but white hair has its own charm.” Her compliment caused a great surprise to me along with a hint of happiness, making me instantly reply to her.

“Really? Everyone seemed to hate it, despite my friend who didn’t seem to mind it.” Locking on the now weakened me, she continued to pursue the matter.

“Would you like to see your friend again, the boy named Esteban Rucal?”

To that, I thought before opening my mouth, looking at the bowl on top of my legs. ‘It would be nice to have him around if this was a proper place...’

I gazed back at her and responded, “of course. I don’t know where he is at but...”

Again, she interrupted me, giving a helping hand to my cause.

“That should be easy. What was the number of the orphanage? That or even a symbol that could be noticeable everywhere.”

Maia got up and then picked up the board, taking it outside, giving it to a girl who was in wait at the entrance, and then moved towards the desk for the paper and a pencil.

“If you know how to read and write, do it in here.” Maia approached, giving me her tools to which my hands didn’t refuse. They weren’t able to.

Feeling a little drowsy, I did my best to draw a couple of symbols that were still intact in my brain. Once it was done, the woman took a look at the different sketches and smiled widely in a creepy way. ‘Orphanage number 55 it is. If this girl is untalented, we’ll exchange her for the boy. He’ll surely be useful to the master.’

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