It's been 4 years since Arya was found by adventurers in the forest of Krees, they thought that he had been abandoned by his mother and decided to drop him off at an orphanage in the border town of Calburg and he has been living there ever since. Arya hasn't spoken to anyone since the day he lost his family, to Arya he was already dead, he felt like he failed his family and didn't deserve to continue living.
The care takers of the orphanage were corrupt people, they used the orphans as a means to get money from the government and other good Samaritans. Once they got the money only peanuts were given towards the well being of the orphans whereas the rest of tit was used for personal their fulfillment .
The orphans would usually only eat two small meals a day sometimes they wouldn't even have a meal, their living conditions were sub human and it wasn't far off the mark to call them slaves. Many of them died due to illnesses as the care takers wouldn't spend a dime to hire a healer.
Every time some of the orphans escaped to tell the lord of the town about their predicament the guards would send them back, thinking them delinquents for running away from the only place that would care for them. And soon enough they lost hope in receiving help.
One day while Arya was sitting by the window looking out at the night sky like he usually did one of the care takers entered the room. The room had white walls that were stained brown from years of neglect and the windows were barely intact, most of them had cracks forming on them.
The floor was covered by a grey rug stained with vomit and blood, but the color of the rug hid the extent of filth that it harbored. There were paintings on the walls of the kids that used to live there in the past. At first glance the kids all looked happy, however on closer inspection one could see the melancholy in their eyes.
The caretaker brought in a new girl of about 6 years old into the room, "This will be your new home from now on. Just behave and we won't have to do something we will both end up regretting." said the caretaker with a sneer. The caretaker was an old woman who looked to be about 60 years old, she was actually way younger but the permanent scowl on her face made it hard to tell.
Arya turned to look at the new girl before quickly turning back to continue looking out the window. It was certain the girl was pretty, she had diamond blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that looked like they could hold the ocean, which kind of reminded Arya of his mother. And maybe if not for her dirty clothes and dead expression she would've been the prettiest girl Arya had ever seen since transmigrating, but Arya didn't care, not anymore.
The girl stayed on the floor for several minutes just staring at Arya as if he was the first human she had ever seen. Arya could see that she was staring at him due to the reflection on the window pane. After a while the girl stood up and walked towards where Arya was seated, with a two year gap between them she was noticeably bigger than Arya was.
However both of them were quite small for their age, they both looked like starved slaves. The girl touched Arya's hair caressing it, he hadn't cut it for years so it was long and its original white was stained brown ,"Pretty." said the young girl with a hoarse voice like someone who hadn't drunk water for weeks. Her pretty lips were cracked and there were blood stains near the edges.
Arya turned to look at the girl, although he remained indifferent it was the first time someone had spoken to him in years. Since he came to the orphanage the other kids and even the staff avoided him due to the stories that some of the kids spread. Rumor had it that he was the spawn of a demon and that's why he was found in the forest, some said he wasn't even human but an abomination in the form of a human.
Sure the staff didn't believe some of the stories, but they didn't care. Arya gave them an eerie feeling, like there was a beast trapped inside his body so they decided not to talk to him eitherway, even when they gave him his meals.
Once Arya turned back, seemingly having lost interest the girl sat down as well and looked out the window. She was a little too close for comfort but Arya wouldn't complain, even though he felt dead he was still human. The lack of human interaction was driving him crazy and although he had a mind far past that of a 4 year old, his body and brain were still that of a developing child and there was a natural need for socialization.
"Who is she? She's kind of pretty." said a voice in Arya's head. "Doesn't matter, she's probably gonna die anyways." said a different voice. "Please leave me alone." this time it was Arya's own voice. Arya had been hearing the two voices in his head for a while now, he wasn't sure if there were really there or if he was just going crazy but one thing was certain, they made his life a living hell.
The voices never let him sleep, there were like polar opposites always bickering amongst themselves. One voice seemed to be an egotistic psychopath, always telling Arya to use magic to wipe out everyone in the orphanage. While the other voice was complacent and melancholy, always seeing the bad in everything and constantly reminding Arya that everything he does is meaningless.
While the three of them were bickering the girl lay her head on Arya's laps and fell asleep. Now that their bodies made contact Arya could tell just how frail the girl was. Her pale white skin was riddled with scars and her breathing was irregular, but she still had a sort of refined beauty to her. She looked peaceful sleeping on his lap.
"Like I said she's pretty, lets have her." said one voice, "What's the point in that anyways?" asked the other. Arya remained quiet, he felt tired as well and quickly feel asleep. He didn't sleep often but for once the fatigue caught up to him.
"Looky here, Demon boy got himself a girlfriend." said a tall boy as he kicked Arya's arm. "I bet she's a witch." said a smaller boy from behind him. The tall boy's name was Randel he was the biggest boy in the orphanage and walked around like he owned the place. He had jet black hair and a mean look on his face. The smaller boy was one of his minions called Billy, Billy was a scrawny kid with brown hair and a dumb look on his face
Arya often got bullied, if he was still Cascade from his first life he would've wiped the floor with those boys. But he wasn't Cascade anymore and this wasn't his first life, sure he could've used magic but he still couldn't escape the fact that he was alone. "Look the caretakers are about to bring us breakfast. You know the drill, just leave you're breakfast on the ground." said the taller boy picking his nose.
Arya didn't reply he just looked down, "This is why I like you, you don't say unnecessary things that could make me angry. Tell you're girlfriend to do the same as well. Don't think I'll go easy on her just because she's a girl." said Randel as he walked away.