The spring this year had brought clear skies, birds returning to their homes, and everything seemed to be in perfect harmony. Diligentia was in the gardens enjoying the rarity of a leisurely walk when she spotted a figure sprawled on the grass.
Thinking that it was an errant child from her orphanage she walked up to him. The child must not have been more than five years old, Diligentia shook her head, and was about to scold the child for sleeping outside when she noticed his state and her expression changed abruptly.
She gasped, "In the name of Mother Vita."
Diligentia bent down and supported the child's head with her hands and called out, "Val, Val, can you hear me?" A pair of silver eyes gazed at Diligentia upon hearing her voice.
She gently asked, "Who did this to you?"
The child did not reply but as he tried to sit up, the pain from his waist made him wince. Diligentia held his head back in her lap and ordered, "Stay still."
She sighed, raised her hand with her palms facing the child in her lap, and closing her eyes she mumbled, "Sanatio Lucis."
A dim golden light emerged from her palms and encompassed the child. After a few seconds, the glow receded and the boy let out a relieved breath. She asked, "Who did this to you?"
The child sat up in front of her and shook his head slightly, Diligentia patiently reminded, "Val, use your signs to tell me who did this to you."
Her tone was stern this time. He looked like a dear caught in headlights, turning around to face her and raising his hands, he struggled to make a few legible signs, 'No one did this, I fell by myself.'
Diligentia sighed and said, "Valerian, it is not right to protect those who hurt you."
He shook his silver-haired head, hearing his full name, and assured her with gestures that he was fine and he fell. He stood up, bowed to her, and scurried away in the garden.
Diligentia shook her head and called after him, "Do not play too much. Let the body rest."
Valerian turned around and waved his hand telling her not to worry. Diligentia stood up, patted the dust off her robe, and then walked inside the building behind her, an orphanage she has been the Head Matron for five years.
She was walking back to her office inside the manor-themed structure when a voice stopped her, "Madam Diligentia, is something troubling you?"
Diligentia turned to her side and found the old chef walking over with a smile. She smiled bitterly and said, "I found Val lying in the garden again, fainted from the pain."
The old lady was enraged at first but then she shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder if we are good people. Watching that helpless child getting beaten just because God made him a little different, is not something a good person should do."
Diligentia agreed, she did not want to resign to what was happening but she had no other options. "If not for that prophet, Val could have been friends with the rest of the children. God took away his voice and tears, while the man who wanted to be a god, took away his happiness", she said to the chef.
The two stood there in a mournful silence before they dejectedly walked away to their work.
Valerian sat under an old tree, his lips were moving yet his mouth produced no logical sound. Frowning at something in front of him. He moved his lips faster. Abruptly, he broke out in a bright smile that would have shocked Diligentia if she was here. A few squirrels were playing in front of him, they would turn to face Valerian, squeaking their sounds, and the boy would move his lips in reply, imitating their squeaks.
The child was born incapable of human speech, but he communicated perfectly with the animals. However, no one had found out about this oddity. Even if he was doing this in front of people, they thought he was just trying to imitate their speech.
The sun fell down and after saying goodbye to his friends, Valerian went back inside the orphanage. Only dim candles lit up the manor. He would come back at this time to avoid getting into trouble with the others. He was making his way to the kitchen but stopped when he heard a voice coming from the inside.
"Chef Esca, how many times do I have to tell you not to save food for that cursed thing. Someone else must have had to sleep hungry." Valerian heard the sharp voice and shrunk his body back in fear.
Esca replied in a familiar mellow tone, "Madam Gloria, I did not save anything, these are the leftovers from the children."
Madam Gloria was the deputy administrator of the orphanage, "If you say so, Lady Esca, you are an elder, why do you indulge with that cursed thing, those gleaming silver hair and that pair of gloomy eyes. That thing is certainly cursed. Do you not fear damnation?"
Her voice had shifted to a lower decibel after Esca told her about not saving the food.
"Oh, Madam Gloria, you may not know this, but in my village, there was a saying, those who help everyone regardless of their fate, finds salvation. This is why I fulfill my duties to feed everyone in the orphanage. Do not worry, I will be fine", Esca replied.
"The choice is yours, Lady Esca. I will leave now, it is time for me to sleep, I have a lot of work in the morning."
Gloria walked towards the door, where stood, Valerian was listening to everything. If Madam Gloria found him eavesdropping then he will be punished hence, he went to the dark corner and hid by curling up. His small size and dark clothes hide him well in the darkness beside the kitchen and helped him avoid Gloria as she left the kitchen with her head held high.
A few minutes after Gloria left, Esca called him, "Val, come inside, she is gone."
Valerian raised his head and after checking the surroundings he stood up and entered the kitchen, Esca was sitting behind the cooking counter smiling at him. Valerian weaved some signs with his hands and asked, 'How did you know, I was here?'
Esca replied, "Because I could hear your growling stomach.", in a matter-of-factly tone.
Valerian gave her one more sign, 'Liar.'
Esca chuckled and gave him the food she had saved earlier. "Val, this food is not the leftover meal from others, I saved it."
Valerian raised his hand and gave her single-handed signs saying, 'I know.'
He ate the food served to him. After he finished eating, he stood up and said goodbye to the old lady. Esca nodded to him and left the kitchen to go back to her room while Valerian headed to the library of the orphanage.
That was where he lived, under a table beside the magical beast's section. Six months ago, Valerian had a nightmare, his subconscious reactions to his dream made his roommates uneasy, so they decided to ban him out of the room. They warned him never to come back and not to tell anyone otherwise they will beat him. Valerian took his clothes and left, after spending a few nights in the garden he was unable to tolerate the cold and found himself inside the library.
Valerian crawled into his beddings and turned to face the window. Tonight was the full moon night. Two bright moons were hanging in the sky. Suddenly, Valerian recalled something and gazing out at the moon, his little hands started to weave signs. 'Mother Diligentia says, what we cannot say to anyone, we can say to you. Do you know, why I am like this? Why am I not able to speak? Why am I not able to cry? Mother Diligentia also told us that crying is a bad thing. I do not cry, that means I am a good boy, right? Then why do they all hit me? They do not play with me, they call me cursed. Why? Sometimes I wish to cry, but nothing happens. Why am I like this? Did I do something bad? Where did I come from? Who are my parents? Did I kill them like how the others said I did?'
Unable to find comfort the exhausted child vented his thoughts to the moon and unknowingly drifted into slumber. Unknown to anyone an emerald green vine sprouted out from the crack on the floor tile and entangled with his body.