The droplets of milk in the night sky twinkled beautifully and their glamour was appreciated by Paley who had come out of the tent to get some snacks for everyone. He paused before going back into the tent and took a deep, relaxed breath.
"Here you go," He gave them all small sandwiches.
"Thanks," They took the sandwiches and slowly ate them as they chatted away the night. Eventually, Paley asked a question which turned the conversation dark.
"How did you all meet mom?" was his question. Adimia and Teerom replied with silence, and Amasha and Reben didn't even know where they came from.
"Sorry, is it a touchy topic?" Paley tried to apologize.
"I'll go first," Teerom broke the silence, "We're gonna have to tell him eventually," He said to Adimia. Paley sat up, eager to hear his story.
"My story begins and ends with my sister. She was a kind, pure soul. I loved her. The reason I started stealing was because of her. Our parents abandoned us after they were exiled for suspected witchcraft. I was left to fend for myself and my sister. We had to move to this super bad town called Rukae. At first, it was hard, but a local man there, a well-known thief, decided to help us. He taught me everything about it: the art of distracting, taking without your victim feeling a thing. You name it.
We lived for the same reason. To protect that who we love. For me, it was my sister and for him, it was his father. But old peasants are cast away in this world, and especially in Rukae. Rukae is what you'd call a city of crime, except it's the worst one. Long ago, it was a hub for illegal goods to do with demoncraft, but now it's more about castaways. People who were thrown away by society lived there.
The Sun's church didn't like that descendants of demon-worshipping witches and wizards got to live free of their blood's sin. So they attacked. That was when I summoned a demon. There are people who can call out to monstrosities beyond human comprehension. I had that blood in me apparently, and so I cast away my soul for a demon to kill those horrible knights.
But the summoning was incomplete, and the demon took my sister along with the knights instead of me. It..." Teerom shuddered at the thought of his sister being ravaged by the boorish ape-like demon. Adimia placed his hand on Teerom's shoulder. Empathetic as he had experienced a similar thing. For Teerom, it must've been worse since he was the one who summoned the demon. But if it weren't for those knights, he never would've been cornered to do such a thing.
"I'm sorry..." Paley felt his heart drop at the story. Parts of it felt familiar. Witches. Demons. It made something click in his mind. Something about his past.
"Don't be. The past is the past, and there's nothing that we can do to change that." Teerom said, forcing a weak smile.
"We can only look ahead," Adimia said with a darkening expression, "I don't like talking about it, but you're family now, so I'll tell you." Paley continued to listen intently.
"I was a peasant. Farming." He began, "My family owned a tiny hut on top of a hill. We were happy. But my country demanded too much money for a war they were fighting. We lived in the countryside so we thought they had no reason to come near us, but the battle happened right at our doorstep.
We were forced to pay increasing taxes for protection against enemy armies. You see, my country believed in the Sun's church, but we were situated right next to a country that followed the Moon's church. Both churches used our countries to fight an indirect war. But the Moon's church did something that no one thought was possible. Morally.
They summoned a demon. Promising the lives of everyone in my country, they summoned one of the Vamali. Oava, the slug. It was huge. As big as a mountain. It betrayed the Moon's church and ate them all at once. Then it turned its attention to my town. I watched everything... just go." Adimia's fists clenched up and his eyes filled with hatred.
"The slug released parts of itself to spread more despair. They were small and entered your body through the mouth; they made you suffer until you died from the pain.
They took a liking to women. Turning into long tentacle-like bodies..." Adimia held his head, grinding his teeth, "One of them failed to eat me and instead stole my magic. Oava is still alive. It hides somewhere, waiting for another war to take place. I'll kill it. I'll kill it and every other demon in existence." Adimia's hatred for demons made him forget to answer Paley's question, but he met Madella a few years later.
After travelling by himself, stealing like Teerom did to survive, he arrived at the city near the orphanage. Madella, Jurie, Teerom, and the boy from long ago ( the noble who beat up Madella after she tried to stop him from leaving ) were in the area. There, Madella took him in as her son.
The tent had become awkwardly silent. The usual happy-go-lucky Adimia showing his intense hatred towards demons didn't fail to shock the other boys too. Paley felt odd guilt. Mostly for asking about it in the first place.
"Now that you know all about us, you're gonna have to tell us about you one day," Teerom said.
"I'll try. If I remember my real name, you'll be the first I tell." Paley replied.