"You know there's this saying in Clovestead-" Ben stared at the fire they had made with some twigs found in the forest. "You either live as a denire or wish to die as a gifted."
Kai snorted. "Sounds like something people say to make themselves feel better for being born a denire."
"I don't think people find it as repulsive as you do."
'I don't find it repulsive." Kai used his long stick to agitate the fire. "I crave it even."
Ben glanced at Kai. "It ain't that good you know."
Kai turned to him with a questioning smile. "Hmm?"
"I wish I was a gifted." Ben wasn't looking at Kai anymore.
"What?"
His eyes snapped open.
His chest rose too fast, breath catching halfway before forcing its way out. The ceiling above him sat still and unmoving. He wasn't in the woods. There was no fire.
There was no Ben.
Kai dragged a hand down his face, exhaling slowly, like he could push the feeling out with it. His jaw tightened.
His breath caught when he realized that he wasn't exactly home. No. He looked around. A small compact concrete surrounded room. Dust flying around, cold air entering through the small cracks in the wall. Clothes marring the windows. Two small tables at one end. He was sleeping on the bottom of a bunk bed, a blanket over him.
Where am I?
The last thing he remembered was seeing Ben before he collapsed.
.....collapsed?
Kai's eyes widened. "Blyat!" [fuck!]
He tore the blanket off his body. His limbs and the left metal arm were intact. His swords were….not?
Kai's ears perked at the bickering he heard from outside the room. At least his senses weren't numbed. Kai's bare feet touched the ground. He slowly passed the room and opened the door which came off with a loud creak.
Warm heat fanned across his face as the room came into view. Along with the six pairs of impossibly wide and round eyes that stared at him at once. The room went silent, only the sound of the fire crackling being heard.
Kai's gaze flicked over the room fast. Small, too thin and too young kids. None of them seemed older than fifteen.
"What," He said flatly, voice still hoarse from the sleep. "-is this?"
None of them answered. One of the younger girls in the middle holding a dented metal cup stepped back slowly as if she had seen someone out of the grave. She bumped into the boy behind her. But he didn't move.
None of them spoke. They were just staring at him.
"None of you speaks?" Kai tilted his head.
A boy standing near the fire, probably the oldest, swallowed before clearing his throat. "You-You," He stammered. "You are awake." He said with a light accent
Not from the capital. Kai noticed,
Kai's eyes narrowed slightly, "Clearly."
Another kid whispered something, "I told you he wasn't dead-"
"Shut up," Someone hissed…..in Russian.
Oh.
Kai paused before pushing himself off the doorframe. The kids flinched altogether. The eldest dashed across, putting himself in front of the younger ones.
"Dont move!!" He put one protective hand out, the other raised against Kai. Almost as if…..
Kai stopped in his tracks.
This was the reason why he was feeling less mana from the ground.
The kids were gifted.
Kai noticed the wall crack a bit behind him, the stones shaking.
A Terrant, he noticed.
Kai tilted his head before closing his eyes to exhaustion and exhaling.
Kids without any guardians.
Gifted kids without guardians.
"....Right," He sighed, lowering himself to the concrete floor, stretching one leg out, the other bent close to his chin.
The children huddled together at that. The oldest swallowed, hands trembling. Kai felt a tremor beside him.
"You can stop now." He said slowly.
The boy breathed heavily.
"You will exhaust yourself." Kai said.
Why was he feeling at ease around here? Was it the kids? Lesser mana in the ground? The warmth? Or was it the obvious smell that surrounded the whole place?
Kai closed his eyes.
Right. Kids are difficult to handle.
Bella was.
Kai smiled to himself at that.
Bella wasn't a normal type, was she?
One of the kids nudged the rest anxiously, "He's smiling now, he's smiling now. " She whispered not too quietly.
Kai exhaled once more before opening his eyes.
"Syad'te," he said flatly, voice still rough.
A few of them flinched. Or maybe it was just his face. Lance used to say he looked intimidating even when he wasn't trying.
The little ones sat down. Only the oldest and a girl closest to him stayed up. The girl didn't seem to be as anxious as the boy. She almost seemed zoned out, but still looking at him intently.
It reminded Kai of how Shion used to be.
The oldest inhaled sharply. "You are-uhm- from the East?"
Kai nodded.
The boy paused. "You are one of us?"
Kai shrugged. "You could say that."
"But I don't sense anything from you."
Kai paused, then grinned. "You don't sense anything? You are already sensing things?"
The boy flinched at that. Kai felt his eyes soften before he sighed.
"Since you don't sense anything, doesn't that mean I am of no harm?" He tilted his head.
"It's people with no mana that hunt us." One of the kids exclaimed.
Kai's jaw tightened. So they were being hunted.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Then why did you bring me here?"
There was a long silence, before one of the younger ones intervened. "We didn't bring you here. Master did."
"Vina-!"
"Master?" Kai raised a brow.
No one spoke. A few of them avoided his eyes. The oldest looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it.
Kai let his gaze move across the room again. "Where is this 'Master'?"
Another pause.
The girl—Vina—shifted her weight. "Out."
"Doing what?"
She hesitated. "He only comes once a week."
"For what?"
No answer. Kai watched them for a second, then nodded to himself. "To torture you, I'm guessing."
The oldest's shoulders tensed. "NO! Master is very kind!! He saved us."
Hmmm.
"Relax," Kai said.
"How long have you been here?" he asked.
"…A few years," the boy said.
"With him?"
He shook his head. Kai glanced at the girl again.
"And he calls himself 'Master'?"
Another look passed between them.
"…We call him that," Vina said.
Kai huffed lightly. "Of course you do."
He leaned forward a little, resting his forearms on his knees. "He the one teaching you?" he asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
"Then he's normal?"
No one answered that.
Ben.
There's no doubt about it. No wonder the house smells like him.
"You know master?" The girl beside the oldest finally spoke.
Kai paused before looking at her. "Huh?"
The girl just blinked at him, sending an eerie sensation through his spine.
She inhaled before slowly pushing the boy's hands down. "You will exhaust yourself." She said.
The boy looked confused for a moment before nodding softly.
Kai cleared her throat. "What's your name?"
The boy hesitated, looking at the girl. She nodded.
"Eluctus," He replied softly.
"Rosania," The girl nodded too.
Kai hummed softly. "Sit." He said.
There were three things that Kai had gathered from the conversation that followed. One, they all were orphans from different mothers.
Two, They were raised by a man named Mark who, no matter how he looked at it, was a trafficker.
Three, a year ago their master; Ben probably, 'made Mark vanish' and has been looking after the kids since. He visits them once a week with food supplies. And the kids also work odd jobs while trying to hide the fact that they are gifted.
Figures. There must have been limitations to what Ben could do while actively being an ASA.
"You can make things fly too?" One of the younger ones asked.
Kai smiled. "Not really."
Eluctus, who was by now sitting beside him, spoke, "I told you. I don't sense anything. He isn't like us."
He looked at Kai then hesitantly with his round grey eyes, "Right?"
Kai just shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe your senses are wrong."
The boy looked genuinely concerned for a moment that Kai regretted teasing him.
One of the younger girls came up to Kai with a shy smile before handing him a metal cup, the only one that didn't seem to have a dent. "It's chocolate. Favourite." She said with a heavy accent.
Kai took it with a smile. "Thanks," He said in Russian.
I thought the kids hated me?
"She just likes handsome faces," Rosania said flatly as she stared at Kai.
Kai almost choked on the drink. Eluctus seemed to pat him on the back.
How did she-?
"You're a telepath!?" Kai wiped his mouth.
Rosania tilted her head to the side blankly.
Kai blinked before his jaw tightened. He slammed the door shut to his inner mind. Rosania flinched, jerking back.
"Sorry but I don't like people crawling inside my mind."
Rosania seemed to blink away the tiredness. "I apologize. But I didn't hear anything else. It's difficult to hear inside of you. Like there's too many-"
"It's fine." Kai cut in. "Just don't do it again."
She nodded once. "I won't."
The room stayed quiet for a second.
Kai took another sip from the cup, then set it aside. "Thanks for the drink."
No one moved to stop him when he stood.
Eluctus looked up. "You're leaving?"
Kai nodded. "My sister is waiting."
A few of the younger ones shifted. Kai glanced around the room once more.
"Don't draw attention." He said. "There's nothing good that will come of it. And don't overuse it," he added, nodding slightly toward the wall.
Eluctus nodded. Rosania just watched him.
I can't let them stay alone like this when they are obviously being hunted. There's only much Ben can do when he is only coming weekly.
Kai walked to the corner, picked up his swords, and checked their weight out of habit. He sheathed them swiftly.
Should I tell Vetle to send someone?
He headed for the door, pushing it open. The cold air hit him again, sharper this time.
But there's no telling if she would betray me.
"Will you come back?" someone asked from behind.
Kai paused, turning behind to see six round eyes glistening up at him. He inhaled softly. Six Bellas. That's all he could see.
They have to learn to protect themselves.
"…Maybe." He said softly.
He stepped out before they could say anything else.
Maybe I will stop by twice a week.
The walk back to the factory was quiet except for the usual nighttime bustle in the market. How long had it been since he had smelled the light rainy smell of Cinder Alley? When was the last time in his previous life that he had visited the place.
He didn't seem to remember. The last few years before his death seemed to go by in a daze. As if he wasn't the one controlling his body. Memories wiped out, emotions scarce.
Kai turned at an alley, walking into a non lit area. He could hear the bickering of night patrols in the adjacent route. His boot crunched against the slightly wet ground. Did it rain here when he was asleep?
There were more things to think about now. The ASA. Armenium. Vetle. Ben and Lance after him. The kids. He had to find Shion as well.
And Navarik.
Why the hell wasn't she responding? He was pretty sure she's in there. But he just can't seem to communicate.
Kai sighed slightly, his breath coming out as a puff of smoke. He kept walking.
Even if he could hear the sound of boots other than him.
And they were not from behind. They were ahead of him.
Near the factory. Kai's hands slid towards the hilt of his swords as he walked towards the edge of the road, where a faint bit of light glinted from the moon. Enough for him to see a suspicious figure lurking in front of the door.
ASA?
"Should I pretend to be surprised?" Kai's voice reverberated through the empty alley, making the figure flinch and turn their cloaked head at lightning speed.
But Kai had other plans. He threw his sword just as he said that, the blade embedding itself just inches away from the person, slicing through their cloak.
Kai's other metallic hand rested loosely over his second sword.
"....You are not very good at this," He tilted his head, before unsheathing the sword and walking towards the intruder.
When he was just inches away, the person held a stopping hand in front.
"Wait-!" She said...in a very familiar voice. "It's me!"
She removed the hood of the cloak.
Kai blinked.
"Vetle?"