Chapter 28: Calmaria Island - Origins
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"Elder Lark, keep a safe distance. What if he's actually an enemy." retorted some adults who saw the old man get so close to Vlad but the old man just waved his hands dismissively, glancing at Vlad take from his waist a walking cane.
"Lead the way, Elder." remarked Vlad touching the sand with his black cane beautifully ornate that made the villagers take note of it.
Then they saw him close his eyes, walking alongside Elder Lark while checking his future steps with the cane, remarking in a calm tone that scared the villagers.
"Don't worry about me, that's just how I walk."
"Are you blind by chance?"
"Hmm? That is correct."
Hearing Vlad say that they whispered even louder than before, asking between one another how he could sail if he had no vision, which he ignored, getting inside the village along with the old man.
Titania was peeking from one of his hidden pockets, and was surprised by how simplistic this village was compared to Picodras which was a developed city in itself, a location that made her understand that there was different stages of prosperity from place to place, unlike what she initially thought.
With each island resembling Picodras.
In some minutes, Vlad arrived at a slightly larger house compared to the rest of the village houses, where it looked to also have some cultivated land closer to the house.
When Vlad entered the village, he heard another series of whispers from the children and women that were exiting their houses to check this guest walking alongside the Village Elder.
Some younger girls, slightly older than Vlad, looked shy at him, immediately noticing his handsome features and chiseled body that he revealed to any outlooker, with them staring a lot at his abdominal muscles and chest muscles.
"Sorry about this young man, but how should I place it? You look rather attractive to those young girls, apart from being a new face in the village."
"Don't bother, it is fine." replied Vlad, ignoring all the gossip made by the girls, while he made his way deeper inside the village, until he got to the center where the Elder's mansion was located.
Getting inside, the old man arranged for the best seat he had in the house, while also taking out some wine from his kitchen, with an older woman who came to place food on the table.
"Young man, why do I have the feeling I've seen you before? Have you visited Calmaria before?"
"No. This is the first time I visit this island. I am coming from Picodras Island."
"Ohh my, you are one from Picodras? Can you tell me how Lord Patrick has been faring? Or Lord Dugar?" asked the old lady, while the old man was opening the wine bottle, also intrigued by this question thrown by his wife.
"Lord Patrick? If I may? What is your relation with the old gentleman?"
"Sorry, I forgot to mention. But Lord Patrick has helped us in the past with food supplies when we were at our lowest. When the Pirates have raided our village leaving with all of our food."
"I see, then it shouldn't be a problem if I am to talk about him. The old man is doing fine, staying healthy and active in his old age."
"My, my, the manner you speak of him? Are you close?"
"That's all you'll learn from me, madame." replied Vlad, setting up the boundary of this discussion.
"Young man, we didn't hear your name. How should we address you?" asked Elder Lark who finished pouring wine inside Vlad's glass.
"Vlad Dracul. Mhmm, good wine." replied Vlad who fished out the glass of wine without even being required to double check for the location, while with his left hand he picked some of the cookies from the table and shoved them into his pocket.
In doing so, he also gave a treat to his companion that was hiding in his spacious coat pockets.
"Ahem, sorry. I'll leave those cookies for later. Besides, thank you for showing such hospitality. It is a rare thing in those places to be touched by pirates and bandits since you have to be vigilant."
"True. A question for you, young Vlad. Are you by chance a Bounty Hunter?"
"You can consider me one. Also, don't forget to tell me about your situation with the pirates or bandits."
"We got some mountain bandits outside of the village, making it hard for us, but those are just petty conflicts compared to the pirates who come in force to attack the village."
"I see, do those pirate raids happen often?"
"Once every two years, and it is mostly for food supplies and slaves. Children from the orphanage."
"There's an orphanage inside this island of yours?"
"Yes, outside of the village, owned by an outsider." confirmed Elder Lark, voicing some of his scorn for whoever the one owning the Orphanage could be, which intrigued Vlad, placing a location he wanted to visit inside the village.
"We'll see what I can do, maybe you are lucky and got attacked by those pirates? As for those bandits, tell me more. How many there are, is there someone powerful I should take note off?"
The old man sighed, shaking his head, and looking at Vlad calmly asked him about those pirates and bandits as if they were nothing in his eyes, and with some reluctance, he started telling Vlad about the situation with the bandits.
"Malus, that bastard child who backstabbed the village, the place that brought food to his mouth. If you can put an end to his raids, I will forever be grateful."
"Does that Malus guy get a bounty placed upon the Marines?"
"Noo, since Calmaria isn't recognized by the Marines, they wouldn't bother with visiting our island, except when they wanted to resupply." told the elder, making Vlad understand the entire situation about this bandit that was like a thorn in the spine of the villagers.
"From what you've told me, it shouldn't be that big of a challenge. I'll depart soon to the mountains, and return with that guy's head." mentioned Vlad in a somber tone, which made the two elders look with some worry at him.
"Can you just beat them and capture them? They are still children of the island who lost their way."
"I can't promise anything, usually if you suffered any loss of people fighting those bandits, it would be an easy verdict from me. From what you've told me, about their actions, even raping some girls they captured, it is enough for me to condemn them to death."
"Hah, I guess you are right, young man."
Vlad didn't stay for too long inside the Elder's mansion, being seen walking on the streets of Calmaria Village while murmuring something, where he was having a conversation with a Fairy hidden inside his long hair.
"Aren't you afraid that you'll get harmed by searching for those bandits?"
"Not one bit. I am actually interested to see their level of fighting prowess that gave them the gall to attack the hand that fed them. A bunch of dogs."
"Sigh, you really are a bad person. To take pleasure in inflicting harm to others. But I guess, those people deserve it after hearing the old mister.
So, where are we headed now? Toward the mountain?" asked Titania while looking around herself from the protecting strands of hair, where she could see the villagers look at Vlad with curious eyes.
"Before that, there's a place that caught my attention. The Orphanage. I got a feeling that I can't explain when I heard about the situation regarding the orphanage being attacked by pirates."
After some minutes of walking, they exited the village and followed a path toward a larger old house that was secluded compared to the village. There Vlad could hear the kids playing on the green, grass field, or around some trees as per Titania's description of this place which still remained a mystery for him.
The kids didn't seem to suffer from any malnourishment, signs that they were taken care of.
Meanwhile, the kids noticed Vlad and Titania and began whispering something that he could hear.
"Look, this person doesn't seem to belong from the village.
Is he here to cause trouble for granny Marlene like the other people from the village?"
"I don't know. This person doesn't seem to come with an angry expression like the other villagers, so maybe this time granny will not be upset like she usually is."
Listening with some curiosity to the whispering kids, Vlad concluded that after the pirates raided the village, the person in charge of the Orphanage, Marlene was the one to take all the blame for what happened to the suffering kids.
Even crying after Elder Lark and the other villagers would scorn her for her selfish act of throwing away the orphans.
Walking slowly towards the house with his walking cane touching around, giving the kids staring at him a confused expression not understanding why Vlad was walking with a stick.
Appearing before the door, the first thing he did was to touch the door and feel with his senses the sensation he received, which amplified the feeling he had about this entire place.
It was some triggered feelings he had no explanation for, which happened usually when fighting against people, signaling him about dangerous moments, yet this time it worked differently.
"I have this feeling that I've been here before. My senses feel something familiar about this door, as if I've touched it before."
"Mhm, the door is quite old, Vlad." mentioned Titania, who described to Vlad the appearance of this orphanage building.
Receiving some visual information from his Fairy, he decided to check with the mistress of this place, knocking on the main door, later on waiting calmly for something to happen.
'Could it be? Those are the senses of the kid I've replaced? From what Arik told me, I was among the first slaves to be captured by the enslavers, with him seeing me after he also got captured.'
'Is this the place the one before me, spent his childhood? Or maybe is just my body reacting stupidly after all this stories I've listened from Arik, and the old man. And is just me wishing for this Orphanage to be the place that raised the boy called Charles.'
It was a cold thought, where Vlad made order of his fleeting thoughts, not wishing to be led by emotions in his actions.
Seeing no response, he knocked yet again in a stable manner.
This time the tone of an old lady who sounded pissed was heard.
Her steps from the upper floor were heard by Vlad's keen hearing that could rival a bat.
"Those brats are pulling some pranks again on me, or is it yet again those annoying villagers wanting something from me."
The old lady while walking down to respond to the knocking young man, believed in her mind that the orphans were playing a prank on her as she scolded without knowing who it was behind the door.
Then she opened the door and saw Vlad's standing in front of her, dwarfing her, at his 1,91 meters, with a strong body, giving him an imposing air, that was amplified by his handsome face, and mesmerizing abyssal eyes.
Not long after studying Vlad's face, feeling his face a bit familiar, she asked him.
"Young gentleman, how may I help you? Are you looking to adopt any of those children?"
"Good afternoon, Lady Marlene. I was wondering, if you by chance have housed a child with the name of Charles?"
"No idea, young man. There've been so many children that passed by my hands, that it is hard to remember each of their names. However, who might you inquire about someone from the orphanage?"
"I don't remember seeing your face before?" asked the old lady, looking straight at Vlad's eyes that were focused on her, but who didn't show much life in them, which allowed her to figure out why there was a cane in his hand.
"I fully understand that I might look suspicious to you, but I want to know if you have some documents where you've recorded each child entering your orphanage?"
"Sure, but who you might be?"
"My name is Vlad, an orphan if you may call it."
"And also called Charles?"
"That too." nodded Vlad in a serene manner, standing in front of the old lady without budging from his initial position.
"Sigh, fine. But I can't promise you anything. My place has been scourged by those damnabled pirates so much that I want to spit fire on them and strangle them to Hell."
Agreed the old lady to Vlad's request, which sounded genuine, allowing the young man inside the orphanage.
Vlad nodded his head and followed behind the old lady's back using his cane to make out of his new environment that with each step felt more familiar, entering the house's main hall, touching the walls.
It should be a place imprinted with memories for the young children called Charles, but for the Monarch, it was just a weird experience he wasn't able to understand as to why it happened.
Walking the stairs leading to the lady's office, Marlene asked Vlad in her old tone. "Child, are you really an orphan I took care of?"
"I am suffering from amnesia as we are speaking, so the memories of my past childhood are no more. This is why I can't tell you if I was an orphan of this place or not, however I can tell you this much. I was 10 years old when the enslavers took me from my orphanage,"
"How old are you right now?"
"Eighteen."
"Could it be? Are you from that generation that suffered the most from those tyrants?" inquired the old woman with her hands shaking at the possible thought she had in front of her a survivor of that incident.
"No idea. Still, you shouldn't stress yourself. I am not looking for your explanations or answers to what happened in the past. The past is in the past, while we live in the present."
"Let me search the journal, child. I will confirm to you if you were one of my orphans or not."
Soon they entered Marlene's office, and the old lady offered him a seat before some chairs she had around the office.
Then the old lady walked toward the back of the building and took out a brick that seemed very loose. Taking the brick out, Marlene inserted her hand and took out a notebook.
"Let me see, child, you've said you were 18 years old? Charles, right?
"That is correct." responded Vlad, in a detached manner, while in Vlad's pocket, Titania could feel his heartbeat rising up moment by moment, a small change in his responses that was unique seeing in him.
Receiving Vlad's answers, the old lady began turning the pages, one by one, until she reached among the first pages of the journal, where the writing was rather swabbed, but the writing could still be decipherable.
"I think I've found you, young Charles. If you also wanted to know who brought you to the orphanage, the one in question didn't want to give its name. It was a woman running from something, or better said someone."
Vlad took everything with a detached mindset, but the thought that he could call "mother" another woman, once again made his heart drum harder, giving Titania a scare, not understanding what was happening inside Vlad's mind.
"Interesting. Anything else, you've noted down about myself? Maybe certain things, habits I used to do? Or what about something that could guide me forward in my search for whoever this woman could be?
A mark, an item that was with me when I came?"
Marlene looked at Vlad's face, and gave a deep sigh as she thought of what he said. After some minutes, as if she suddenly remembered something very important, she moved quickly toward a small library on one side of the room.
Taking out book after book, she finally stopped at a book. She took it and placed it on her table. She quickly opened the book, and inside was a hidden compartment in the form of a wooden box.
"That's right. Now I remember exactly who you are. You were that crybaby, with the golden necklace with a Bird decorated on the back. Clearly not something a commoner would be able to get their hands on."
As she said that, she opened the wooden box and took a gold piece of jewelry. Then she took out a necklace that had at the end a lock pendant, handing it to Vlad, later commenting.
"That's what you had on you young Charles, when you first arrived. I took it away from you at that time to store it safely with me because you could easily have lost it."
Taking the lock pendant necklace, his closed eyes opened up again to greet the old lady, while also following with a curtsey.
"Thank you, Lady Marlene. Even this necklace can help me in my search."
"That's something I should do without any hesitation, child. After everything, you've suffered. Still, I have a question. Is there something wrong with your sight?"
"I have been blinded."
"HOW? You were such an active boy, always taking everything around you with such curiosity! What happened to you child?"
Vlad could only sigh, and make his way toward a chair, taking a seat while playing around with the necklace, he asked the old lady with his voice turning colder.
"Do you really wish to know?"
"If you want to tell me, child. I am not insisting on bringing out unwanted memories."
"No problem whatsoever. It is only memories. I will tell you from the point I remember. Everything started when I woke myself in the frigid waters of Glimmer Sea."
In such a way, Vlad began telling the old lady in a summarized manner certain events of his life, from how he survived the initial throwing of the enslavers, healing up from the wounds he suffered, yet still not being able to awaken his sight.
Then, going along in the memory lane to discuss about Picodras and how he lived his life in darkness for 8 years.
"Poor child. You've shown such a bright future." mentioned the old lady while sharing some tears for the unfortunate youngster, which only served to annoy Vlad, making him remark.
"Even without sight, this doesn't mean my future will not be bright. Anyway, I don't want anyone's pity. I simply responded to the question about what happened to me."
"It must be hard for you. All alone, suffering that pain."
Those comments that showed pitifulness for his fate, started irking him, and without saying something, he kept things straight, until he departed with a small farewell word.
"Those children. I heard them brimming with life, spirited, playing around the courtyard. Continue taking care of them. I will make sure to kill all of those enslavers and pirates creating chaos inside the village and other places like this."
Not giving the old lady a chance to inquire more of his reasons, he departs from the office and specifically from the orphanage building.
On his way out he could feel the shy and curious gazes of the orphans coming from the other others of the building.
Turning at them, with his eyes opened, as if he was telling the kids a spooky story, he remarked.
"Kids, you'd better listen to the granny. If you don't, you'll end up like those bad people who come to hurt the weak. So you better listen to the granny's words, because you'll have a bright future ahead of you." said Vlad to fully depart, without turning his back on the building.
He walked in the direction of the village with the intent of visiting the mountainside of the island.
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A/N: (Credits to Helios for proofreading and editing)
Well, here is the Bonus Chapter (we reached 250 powerstones)
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Who remembers this lady from the first story? Raise a hand, please.
Also, I wasn't sarcastic about this not being a filler for the part leading to the Sorbet Kingdom. Now, we received a Major Side-Quest next to the Main Quest, and I wonder which play would be most efficient, doing all Side-Quests and later dusting off the Main Plotline?