A young woman dressed in pink, who looked no older than 25, led Xavier and Eulene through a corridor. The walls were old, with the dirty white paint slowly falling off. The floor was barely clean enough to walk through.
Soon, the trio entered a room. The large room was not in a bad shape compared to the hallway. The walls were clean- barring all the doodles on the white, and the floor was carpeted- albeit a bit torn and dirty. The room was properly lighted thanks to the large windows on two adjacent walls.
Though it was not the best place to dwell in, it was still a safe abode for the couple dozen children playing in the room- aged all the way from a toddling four to a rope-skipping 15.
However, there was one thing odd for a room filled with children- it was quiet… awfully so. Despite the crowded room, everyone was by themselves- some spinning their toys, some tiptoeing, a pair skipping and jumping, while many just sat by themselves- repeating their hyperactive actions.
A middle aged lady, wearing the same pink dress, after giving another uniformed young employee some directions, came forward and greeted Xavier and Eulene.
"Good afternoon, kind sir and young lady." The woman bowed. "It has been ages since we had guests. Pardon the lack of hospitality."
Xavier shook his head. "Are they all?" His eyes scanned through the room.
"Yes." The woman turned to the children as well. "We have a total of 25 children. If you count that girl there," she pointed at the pink wearing young girl she had just given directions to, "who is capable enough to take care of herself, and even a few others- it's 26."
Xavier eyed the torn carpet and noticed lack of sufficient toys and equipments. "Looks like the funding is not enough."
A wry smile appeared on the woman's face. "Nobody wants to donate to us. Most of the children here have parents who are still alive. A lot of them were abandoned and a few were secretly entrusted to us by people of higher standings."
Xavier and Eulene had already noticed the difference in the children's clothes. Some wore old and worn ones, while others had expensive and new clothes on them. But the latter group did not seem a bit happier than the former.
The middle aged employee continued, "The rich families take all the responsibilities for their children, but such children are a minority here. We barely have enough to take care of the others. When entrusted children get new clothes and clothes, we give their old dresses and toys to the other kids. That's how we are scraping by. Thankfully, there are still some guilty parents out there who anonymously donate a sum every once in a while."
"What about Myers-Lushnikov foundation?" Xavier asked.
"We have applied for funding there." The matron sighed. "They only deal with orphanages, and technically- we aren't one. And all the volunteers flock towards the orphanages to get into the foundation's eyes- not giving us a glance." She heaved yet another sigh. "What has the world come to? Even volunteering is not without selfish motives anymore."
A sigh escaped Xavier's lips. "And independent donors?"
"Every time I see that word- 'disabled' on the signboard, it pains my heart. I had the urge to replace that word with 'lovable', 'well-behaved', 'adorable' who knows how many times. But we kept the word there… do you know why?" The woman forced a smile.
Xavier stayed silent, even though he knew the answer.
"For pity to sprout from a passer-by's heart. Even one good donor would allow us to hang in for a few more weeks- if not months." A sorrowful sigh escaped the employee's lips. "It manages to get us a handful of donors every year. And we are eternally thankful to them. At least, the kids don't have to starve."
Despite Eulene's strong Dao heart, her heart clenched. Just like happiness, sadness was infectious. The lack of smile on all those young souls washed away all the excitement she had gained for meeting the suspect. Suddenly, a transmission reached her.
[Do you know what the first one to gain elemental powers- the world's first magician- had done when he discovered his powers?]
His questions baffled Eulene, but she decided to throw in all her wild guesses. [Revenge? Wooing a princess? Kidnapping her? Planning to take over the world? Striking it rich?]
Her guesses, in turn, baffled Xavier. [No. watch]
Xavier asked the woman in charge, "Can you please gather everyone here?"
"Sure!" The woman ordered the two other young women and went on to gather everyone.
In a matter of minutes, all the children were present before Xavier- curious. The three employees gave the two parties some space. Nevertheless, their eyes were stuck on the handsome man- as curious as the children.
A bright smile appeared on Xavier's face. Eulene was internally surprised. She never knew that this man could bring on such a jolly smile to his face.
Xavier snapped his fingers, a fire appeared on his palm. The children gasped, so did the three ladies. A few kids even took a step back in fear.
But the fire did not stay much longer on Xavier's hand as he brought it to his mouth, and swallowed it. Everyone was surprised yet again.
And before they could curb that surprise, Xavier opened his mouth and blowed. Birds of smoke exited it, flying in different directions. The birds flapped their wings once before they dissipated into the air.
"Woah!" Collective cheers sounded out from the crowd.
When the children turned back to Xavier, with their eyes still wide open from the shock and excitement, they discovered that the silver-haired man had his hat taken off.
Xavier jolted the hat. A couple of pigeons came out- this time, real ones- and escaped through the open windows.
The kids followed them out with their eyes. A smile had unknowingly appeared on their once-emotionless faces.
When they turned back to the 'magician', awaiting his next trick, Xavier had his hat donned back on. But he had three flowers of different in his hand- ones that had intoxicating fragrances.
Xavier shook his hand- the three flowers became six. With another jolt- six became 12, and with another- 12 became 24- 24 flowers of 24 different colours.
He distributed the flowers one by one to everyone. And one little girl was left out. Just when her smile was about to die, Xavier took off his hat.
Two beautiful stalks of flower was on his head, as if they grew out from the silvery garden. Xavier plucked one and handed it to the girl, before giving the last one to the youngest employee.
Xavier continued with his magic tricks. Sometimes bringing out things from nowhere, sometimes multiplying items he already had, or sometimes even disappearing when everyone was distracted. The smiles on the kids faces widened every second.
Even the blind boy was not left behind. Unbeknownst to all, music entered his ears- music that washed away all the negative feelings he had in him, music that could make him imagine scenes that was more majestic than the ones everyone was seeing. The joyful cheers and laughs of his mates only added to his happiness.
In a matter of minutes, the once silent room became filled with sounds of joy. The room itself came to life. The doodles on the wall- the sketches of humans, animals and the imaginary beings- came alive. They danced and ran through the white wall. Green grass grew out of the carpet.
Of course Xavier made it so that only Eulene and the children could see these things.
In no time, Xavier connected to the children like no others before. Not only was he showing magic tricks, he was also playing with them and giving the little ones piggyback rides.
The two older employees- though they could not see everything, the joy and liveliness of the children were evident as day. Tears escaped their eyes.
Eulene, who observed everything, realised; she realised that magic- just like drugs, poisons and explosives- never came to be to hurt people, but to put a smile on people's face.
She could not hold herself back any longer. "Your big sis is super strong you know!" She joined the fray.
Eulene put one child on her shoulders and carried another two with her arms.
Unknowingly- a whole hour passed.
Xavier was sitting as he taught the children some simple magic tricks. Suddenly, a nine year old boy walked forward and nudged Xavier's shoulder.
"Yes?" The smile on Xavier's face had yet to die down.
"Magician brother, can you bring back sister Silvie?"
Xavier raised a brow.
"Ethan!" The matron rebuked.
The boy named Ethan covered both of his ears and began to cry. Xavier pulled him into his arms and gave the offender a sharp look. His smile disappeared.
The older employee froze in place. Cold sweat drenched her body.
Xavier accidentally leaked a bit of his killing intent. He took it back in no time, but it was still more than enough to scar the poor woman's soul.
The boy, feeling Xavier's warmth, calmed down.
"I apologise." Xavier slightly bowed to the matron. But soon, the sharp look on his eyes reappeared. "Now, speak."
The woman thought of coming up with a lie, but quickly erased that thought. That nightmarish experience she had faced just now was still fresh in her mind.
"She was also a child like Mia," the woman pointed at the youngest pink wearing girl. "But she disappeared four years ago, and we have yet to found her." She bowed as low as she could. "It was our blunder. Please don't punish the children by holding back the donations."
Xavier eyed all the children. The stern look on his face disappeared with a sigh. "Give me the details later."
"Sure!" The matron bowed again. "Thank you so much!"
Soon, the bright smile reappeared on his face as Xavier continued the session.
Eulene appeared disinterested as she sat a bit far from the lesson. But all her senses were focused on Xavier's hands- learning the techniques.
A quarter of an hour later- a young man wearing a loose pink shirt entered the room. "The director is back, and is ready to meet the guests."
Xavier and Eulene stood up. They promised the children that they would return after the meeting and followed the young man out.
As soon as Xavier got out, the smile on his face disappeared and it took its ever-nonchalant shape.
Eulene noticed it. She remembered that he was not the jolliest of men in the world and he seldom smiled.
"Why go against your nature and put on a smile?" She could not help but ask.
Xavier stayed silent for a second before answering.
"The world is rotten," he said, "and everyday I wake up, the more rotten it seems to get. The least these little ones- our future- deserve is a smile from the ones they look up to."
Eulene had no words to speak. She remained silent.
After half a minute of walk, they reached the director- the second suspect's- office.