We left the death scene on the road and I brought Maou back with me to the orphanage.
"Where are we?" Maou asked, looking around.
"My home. I just need to say my good-byes then, I'll be gone." My face had a saddened look. "Just wait here please."
"Okay, but don't take too long I wanna start the adventure," Maou spoke excitedly.
The orphanage was locked by these hours but I knew which window led to the children's room. I jumped the fence, climbed up along the building. Standing on the second-floor roof, I found the room where the children slept in. Looking through the window I saw that the kids were sleeping. I quietly opened the window and stepped in to not frighten them.
"Attack!" Yelled Ryan
The kids jumped up with weapons charging at me.
"Wait! Wait! It's me!" I spoke quickly, hands in the air.
The kids stopped and looked. Realising it was me, they dropped their weapons and ran towards me.
"Shelly!" They surrounded and hugged me.
"Shh! Keep it down!" I held a finger against my lips. "But that was good what you guys did. Mother taught you well."
Growing up in these poor conditions meant anything could go wrong. As a countermeasure, Mother taught every child of hers, basic self-defence, to always being aware of one's surroundings, reading, writing and domestic chores. She wanted us not only to grow up happy but also to know how to take care of ourselves and others.
"Shelly! You're bleeding! What happened? Are you okay?" The children asked in fright.
"Ahh... I'm fine... I just got hurt a bit but it's okay now, don't worry about it."
"But all that blood."
"Uhmm, it's not mine. I got it on me during a fight with some drunk men. Yknow, the usual stuff."
They still looked at me worriedly
"Trust me, I'm fine."
I moved around and stretched myself to convince them. I still had a bit of pain coming from my chest but not enough to where I couldn't fake being okay.
I walked past them, stepping towards the middle of the room dragging the huge floor mat out the way. I opened the hidden floor door and took out two bags, one small and the other large. The large one was for my journey and the small one had gifts for the children.
"I know we're poor but it doesn't feel right to not leave some kind of gift behind. You can decide what you want to do with them. Sell them or keep them. The choice is yours". I turned to them, pulling out the gifts.
"Lin and Len, here are two ruby bracelets, one for the both of you. Ryan, these leather gloves for you. Peter, this silver ring for you. Mary, this golden necklace for you. Lastly, this scarlet hairpin is for you, Lily."
The children fitted on their gifts and showed them off to one another. They were pleased and delighted.
"We'll keep them!" All the children excitedly agreed.
"How could we sell the gifts our big sis is gonna leave us?" Mary's necklace glistened in the moonlight.
"We'll take care of them, no matter what," Ryan added, clenching his fist. "Even if we have to fight the entire world."
In this orphanage, there were six children.
Lin and Len were twins. Lin is the girl and Len is the boy. They both had beautiful sky blue hair.
Lin was nine years old and the more aggressive of the two; quick to fight and defend her family.
Len was also nine years old and the more passive of them both.
Whenever Lin was aggressive, he would always be there to calm her down.
Ryan was eleven years old. He was a fighter, a prankster and the leader of the group. He was the oldest and always protected the younger ones.
Peter was 10 years old. He was the quiet one in the group and loved reading books and drawing.
Mary was 11 years old, the second oldest. She was the most mother-like in the group. She always helped Mother whenever she could, had a temper, groomed the girls and chased Ryan ferociously whenever he played pranks on her, which the others found funny.
Lily was the smallest of the group, as she was only six years old. Despite her small size, she was overly energetic, playful, naive, careless and had beautiful scarlet hair.
"I'm leaving to look for my brother but I don't know if I'll be able to come back soon," I explained to them. "Maybe one day I'll return with him and let you introduce yourselves to him."
"It's okay. You're looking for your family." Smiled Lily. "Family is important."
"Stay away from monsters and evil people." Cautioned Peter.
"If you ever come back, tell us stories about your adventures." Asked Lin excitedly.
"Make lots of friends too." Demanded Mary.
"When you find your brother, tell him about us." Requested Len.
"And if any guys try to hit on, you tell them I'll beat them up," Ryan spoke while punching the air with his new gloves on.
I was surprised at how they took my goodbye so well. It almost made me feel silly for thinking they were gonna cry their eyes out, but it made me happy. I could leave without any guilt now.
"Thank you guys," I hugged them all. "Make sure to keep safe and watch out for one another. You are all family, remember that always. Okay?"
"Yes!" They nodded, smiling.
"It's been a while since we've said it, but does everyone still remember our motto?" I extended my open palm.
"Yes, we do." They all placed their hands atop mine.
"Family forever! No matter what!" I started.
"Not even the claws of death can kill our bond." Peter followed.
"If one falls, we all fall." Lin went next.
"If one rises, we all rise., Len added.
"If they fight one, they fight all." Ryan proudly asserted.
"If they hurt one, they hurt all." Mary recited, adjusting her hair behind the ear.
"Through good times and bad times. Through happy and sad times." Lily eagerly said her part.
"Family forever! No matter what!" We all declared the final piece.
"You all still remember it. I'm surprised." I stated.
"Told you! No way we'd forget." Ryan uttered.
I stood up from my knees and walked towards the window.
"Take care while I'm gone and remember I love you all." Turning to them, I waved them goodbye as I jumped out the window with my travel bag.
As soon as Shelly was out of sight, Mother opened the door, stepping through with a lamp in hand. She looked at the children stare out the window as the moonlight shone on their faces. They clenched their fists and bite their lips, painfully holding back the tears.
"It's okay children. She's gone now."
The kids ran to Mother, hugging her tightly, letting out the tears they hid from Shelly.
Mother stood there rubbing their heads. "You did well sending her off."
"When will we see her again?" Lily asked with a teary face, looking up at Mother.
"If fate permits it you'll meet again one day. But for now, just pray for her safety." Mother wiped away a tear from Lily's face.
That night the orphanage was filled with tears and the bitter sounds of sobbing.
"Maou! Maou! Where are you?" I called out. "I told that kid to stay here."
"I'm right here," Maou popped out the bushes.
"What are you doing there?"
"I found some bugs to eat. You should try them too." He raised his hands towards me. The bugs disgustingly wiggled in his hands. "They're really good. Trust me."
"GAH! Get that away from me!" I slapped the bugs out of his hands.
I hate bugs. They all looked gross and creepy to me.
"Noooo! My food!" He looked disheartened, seeing his precious bugs tossed away. "I worked so hard to find them.
Before we left I needed a change of clothes and quickly took a shirt from my bag. The bloodied shirt from before was too damaged to take withe so I threw it away into the bushes.
"Come on, we need to start moving." I pulled him along.
"So where are we going?" Asked Maou.
"I don't know yet." I secured the straps of the bag tightly.
"An mystery adventure!" Maou smiled. "This sounds fun!"
The sun started rising slowly. Signalling that it was dawn, ending the night. Now it was the start of my journey with this weird silver-eyed, bug-eating child.