"Good day, Sir Dimitri, welcome to our humble orphanage," Mabel muttered with her back straight and her chest out while she opened the door. She raised her right brow as a small grin crept up her face. Them, taking another pause as though she was inhaling the thick smell of wet concrete that filled the small empty room around her, she cleared her throat and followed, "Although it does not seem that much… festive, I trust that you came here with a piece of urgent news seeing that you didn't bother to go out to meet the kids."
Met with sudden silence, she just looked at the man as tall as the dark blue door at his side in the middle of that room. She kept her keen eyes set on his huge build that was covered by a thick trench coat that stretched down to the lower half of his legs and his fedora that hid his face. The man took a step forward, making Mabel glance at the room's plain gray walls and down on the floor lit by a single dim light bulb before facing him once again.
"Well, should you tell me already what you're here for?" Mabel said, rushing her words as she took another step back to match his rhythm. "I-I believe that there's no need for all of this suspense."
Dimitri chuckled and with an enthusiastic tone, he took off his fedora and followed, "Well, I guess that worked."
"Good heavens, every single time, you're doing something new every time you open that door," Mabel commented, stressing at her every single word before breaking into a giggle herself as she patted his shoulder.
"The kids told me to dress as Undertaker before, so," he replied, combing his thin wavy hair that was spread to the side of his face before giving her a smile that was drawn in the middle of his thick goatee. "It's such a shame, really, I got reminded to take you to the capital as soon as possible too."
"Undertaker?" She asked with a sense of wonder behind her words.
"Nevermind, sometimes I forgot that you're older than my grandmother too," Dimitri scoffed.
"I was told by Margaret that some of the kids are calling you the Doraemon Doorman but, I don't even know what that is either!" Mabel sighed. "I don't even know what was happening to my kids. Some of them are so well versed, they even knew the arithmetics and the sciences before they learned their prayers! May God have mercy on us, these kids are getting unruly." Both of them shared another moment of laughter until Mabel stopped and added, "Well, no matter… The day is long, do tell me what kind of news have you brought, and let's get this over with."
Dimitri broke his smile in a second with a sharp breath. "Valencia is dead."
"Ah…" Mabel stepped back and pressed her hand on a nearby wall at the moment she felt like her legs became thin as a twig and were snapped in two. "I'm sorry, I must've heard—"
"Valencia is dead, Grandma Mabel, she has been murdered…" Dimitri added with a heavy sigh before he bit his lip. "She moved beyond the net, claiming that we had nothing to offer that would suit her taste and believing that his bodyguard would suffice but then… we found her naked decapitated body inside the room of a young boy in about three towns away from the capital. Her bodyguard was nowhere to be seen — or so we thought, some of those who went to investigate found his melted corpse with his head turned to mush in a nearby district…"
"I… I do not know what to say," Mabel rushed her words once more as her lips trembled. She took a moment for herself, to think, to process what happened, but then, she turned towards the door in panic. "I do not know what the convent is doing nowadays, honestly!" Mabel shouted as she turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. "I-I have to save the kids, I have to keep them safe, we don't know—"
"Calm down, Grandma Mabel," he said, placing his firm hands over her shoulders as he looked at the thing caught up in her hand. "That's why I'm here and also, is that a ball of dirt?"
"Y-yes…" Still carrying that feeling like she had her chest ripped open behind her sad smile, Mabel closed the door with a heavy breath and faced him. "But calm down? Oh, I don't think I would be able to, knowing that now... Oh, I'll tell you, Dimitri, Valencia was a sweet girl that saved us before… I know how strong she was and that knight… everyone knows that they're absolutely formidable! How would I be able to calm down, knowing that those vile reapers had killed them and are now onto us?"
Dimitri raised his brows. "Why are you carrying a ball of dirt? Ne-nevermind, we don't know yet but I assure you, we've strengthened the net and we're mobilizing our captains. That should buy us some time to—"
"Buy time? For what? My kids are in danger, Dimitri!" Mabel protested in a pained delirium, knitting her brows as she clenched both of her hands, letting some bits dirt fall into the floor. "No one knows, no one knows what happened! I can't let them die again, Dimitri, do you hear me? I cannot let them die… No one knows too where those reapers are… the one who killed them, they must just be outside… waiting for us to go… I do not know… and not knowing what would happen hurts me the most… to my children, I have to protect them!"
"That's why we must go, Grandma Mabel, the council needs your words. From the looks of it and from what Mr. Walter and Mr. Masaoka had told me before I ran here, they have five possible targets and one of them is your dear orphanage. We've thinned our security elsewhere so we could guard these five essential spots over the duration of the meeting, for days even… if it takes that long." Dimitri replied, raising his tone for a bit and filling it with a great sense of concern and urgency. "We've designated seven capable captains, complete with their own set of weapons along with their respective lieutenants and men under their command. Whether they were gift users or not, they are over 400 people strong and they won't be pulling out until the Boss says so. He knows how much you value these kids and how essential it is to protect and raise the next generation, so that's why, I believe, he did it. Now, we need your help too…"
Mabel looked at the ball of dirt in her hand. "If you put it that way then…"
"We could always send another hundred people if it would make you feel safe about leaving your children," Dimitri added, lowering his gaze to peer into Mabel's dark brown eyes that were glimmering with fear. "We need you, Grandma Mabel, the boss needs you, every one of us needs your help too. You're the only one who could convince Uncle Arnel at the farms and Mother Clarissa at the convent to go to the council at this very moment, please."
Dimitri held her hands together, noticing the dirt that was caught in their palms once again before he gave her a smile that was full of sincerity. There was still a sense of urgency behind his tone but as though she was not able to hear anything, she returned his look with a gentle expression of her own as her heart began to melt. She took another moment of silence as she felt his grasp getting tighter and tighter with his fingers slowly pressing into her wrinkled skin. Then, with a sharp breath through her nose, she looked at him and replied, "Please, do send all the men you could spare here… I trust you and as long as those children are safe, and I believe so, then, let us go."
"Thank you, Grandma Mabel," Dimitri took a long deep breath through his nose, seemingly thankful before he pulled his hands away from her grasp that somehow her hand followed.
Dimitri turned to the dark blue door in the middle of the room and opened it, revealing a hall defined by the bright white lights coming from its ceiling that its glass-like walls reflected towards the tiled floors that shone the same color. He looked at her once more, stretching his arms as though to invite her that she answered to a moment after with a lighthearted chuckle. Dimitri ushered her in, making her laugh once more at the second the cold atmosphere of the room caressed her skin and made her shiver. They gave each other a nod and went on their way in silence.
"Would you please tell me where we would go next?" Mabel asked, breaking the rhythmic taps of their feet that reverberated around them.
"Oh, we're heading for the Farms, Grandma Mabel," Dimitri replied without turning her head to look at her. "After that, we'll make a round trip to pick up Mother Clarissa… though I could say that I'm scared to meet both of them at the moment."
Grandma Mabel scoffed. "And that is because?"
"Well, I was told that… the knight came from the farms, I could only imagine Uncle Arnel getting riled up for war but still… I'm sure that there are others that would calm him down, but still…" Dimitri sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I believe… Mother Clarissa on the other hand… I was told that there were some humans that lit a candle and prayed for the spirits as a dare between friends in the nearby town and caught some of her men on their radar… a group of about four reapers came down to check it out and a confrontation happened. She took some heavy losses with some of its survivors losing their limbs…. Her last report said that she was trying to salvage some parts of those who died to use it for the others' benefit… Everyone back in the capital could tell that she's pretty mad so…"
"Kid, you worry too much…" Mabel replied with an endearing tone. "Calm yourself down, I'll take care of them, maybe tell me something about your daughter, yes, how is she?"
"Oh," Dimitri stopped in his tracks to turn at her with a wide smile. Then, with his voice loud and proud, he announced, "She's safe and still down there in the basement!"