“Yes. I know.”

In the thin rain, the only traces that remained of the Dalitz Institute were a few pillars and something that barely passed for a roof, surrounded by scattered, blackened debris.

“Do you remember that day, Liz?” Zenos asked.

“I do,” Liz said. “There was a fire, and the place burned down.”

“And that was when we all separated.”

A single fire incident had been enough to bring down the orphanage which had once seemed like an eternal prison. He remembered the instructors desperately trying to put out the flames as screams echoed in the building. In the midst of all the chaos, the children had all run in different directions to avoid being caught. Now he didn’t know where those with whom they’d shared so many sorrows and joys had gone.

“I thought I’d seen you taking Gina with you through the smoke, so I assumed you two were still together,” Zenos remarked.

“Gina is—”

“Did you remember something?”

Liz brought a hand to her forehead, wincing. “It’s...vague. Still unclear.”

“I see. Well, we’re already here. Might as well take our time.”

“I appreciate it.” The pair moved underneath what remained of the roof, avoiding the rain. “By the way, Zenos, what did you think of me back then?”

“Hmm? What did I think? You were like a big sister to everyone.”

“Was I?”

“You were kind and reliable, and sometimes you got mad and that was scary, but I’m pretty sure everyone in our group liked you.”

“Did they?”

“I mean, yeah.” Zenos scratched his cheek. “I particularly remember that one time when the director’s safe was cleared out.”

“Oh! Yes, that happened, didn’t it?”

“Fingers got pointed at me, and the instructors almost had my hide.”

Even the adults of the orphanage had their own monster to fear: the orphanage’s director, Dalitz. The man was like an amalgamation of sadistic tendencies, and his presence had terrified not just the kids, but the adult instructors too. An accusation of messing with that man’s money was no simple matter. There had been talks of selling Zenos’s organs to pay him back, and it would’ve been no exaggeration to say the boy had prepared for the worst.

“But you stood up for me, Liz. I’m forever grateful for that.”

“Come to think of it, yes. Back then, I was still...” Liz’s words trailed off, drowned out by the sounds of the intensifying rain as raindrops began to bounce vigorously off the unkempt weeds. Liz took a deep breath, and suddenly reached out, looping her arm around Zenos’s.

“What’s wrong, Liz?” he asked, turning to face her.

She looked at him feverishly. “Hey, Zenos? Can we go to our secret base?”

***

Pelted by the oblique raindrops, three demi-humans and an elf were sprinting through the streets, splashing through puddles as they raced to stop Liz’s scheme.

“Come on!” Zophia said. “Hurry up!”

“I’m already hurrying!” Lynga protested.

“But Lily’s falling behind,” Loewe pointed out.

Zophia looked over her shoulder to see Lily’s form had already shrunk significantly in the distance. The girl was running as best as she could, but seemed out of breath, and kept losing ground.

“I don’t think she can keep up,” Zophia remarked. “What do we do?”

“There’s only one thing we can do,” Lynga said.

“Agreed,” Loewe added. The three exchanged glances and stopped, then ran back to Lily. Loewe lifted the elf onto her shoulders. “I’ll carry you.”

“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry for the trouble, Loewe,” Lily said.

“I don’t mind. It’s a perfect opportunity to regain the muscle I lost from dieting.”

Lynga spoke up as she ran alongside the orc. “No one gets to bewitch Zenos and take over our slums!”

Zophia nodded, her gaze focusing on the mountains ahead, misted over from the rain. “I feel the same way. But remember, she’s with the Black Guild. Don’t let your guard down.”

The rain grew more intense, and thunder roared behind the dark clouds, harkening the climax of the women’s war.

“Is this the mountain, Lily?” Zophia asked.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure this is the one,” the elf confirmed as she and the demi-humans finally stepped onto the mountain on the outskirts of the slums.

“This place...” Lynga mused. “Was Sir Zenos in the Dalitz Institute?”

“You know about it, Lynga?” Loewe asked.

“The place had a bad reputation. I mean, not that there are any well-regarded orphanages in the slums, but...”

Moving like the wind, the group rushed up the moss-covered stone stairs as the increasingly fierce rain drenched the mountainside.

“I wonder if the doc’s okay,” Zophia said.

“I want to say he is, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Lynga chimed in.

“Supposedly, that woman has some sort of strange power to bewitch men,” Loewe pointed out.

“A strange power?” Lily echoed anxiously.

Zophia glanced up at the elf and said, “Maybe she’s a mutant.”

“A mutant?”