Zenos had shared many hardships with his friends at the orphanage, and he remembered them well. Liz and Gina, Marcus, Emil, Lombard, Ashley, Kuja...and one other.
Zenos glanced back at the letter on the desk, then murmured, “My mentor’s notes... Maybe Velitra has them.”
***
Deeper beyond the crisscrossing underground waterway was a place known as the depths of the slums.
In a lone corner of the depths, a high-pitched voice rang out. “Hey there. I took care of Dalitz, like you asked,” said a figure in a gray robe known as the Conductor, arms spread in a dramatic gesture.
A voice came from the pitch darkness. “All I said was to handle the aftermath.”
The Conductor chuckled. “Discreet as ever. Perhaps I’ve made too many assumptions about such an esteemed top executive of the Black Guild as yourself.”
“You’d vanished from the guild. I neglected to ask why you came back.”
“Well, my plan was to lie low for a while, but my curiosity got the best of me. It’s a bad habit of mine.”
The shadowy figure didn’t respond.
“Besides, I have a debt to settle with Zenos,” the Conductor continued, speaking into the silent darkness. “Speaking of, I believe our interests align as far as Zenos is concerned. Don’t you think?”
A shallow sigh echoed, followed by the sound of papers being flipped through. “Zenos, huh... I wasn’t expecting to hear that name again.”
“Oh? That’s a colder reaction than I expected. I thought you used to be friends,” the Conductor remarked in provocation. “Speaking of curiosity, I find myself aching to know who would win; you, who rose to a high position in the Black Guild using your formidable healing skills as a weapon, or Zenos, an unlicensed shadow healer with perfect treatments. Especially since, you know, both of you studied healing magic under the same mentor and all.”
There was no reply. Only silent, still darkness, spreading on endlessly.
Side Story: Bedtime Talk
On the outskirts of the capital of the Kingdom of Herzeth, in the mountains to the west, stood a simple yet warm brick building.
A slender-limbed girl opened a door and stepped into a room lit by the golden light of a fireplace. “Sis, the children have finally quieted down.”
“Nice work, Gina,” said Liz, sitting at a desk in the back of her room. She looked at her sister, now so grown.
Gina shrugged in exasperation. “The boys started a pillow fight. Honestly, they somehow find the energy to kick up a fuss every single day!”
“So they do. Back in the day, I never would’ve imagined kids could be this noisy.”
At Liz’s words, Gina was silent for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah. Me neither.”
Back when the two of them had been this young, even just one word too many could’ve resulted in a fist coming their way.
“So,” Gina continued, “how are we doing this month?”
“It’s looking like we’ll just barely manage,” Liz replied, massaging her own shoulders as she looked down at the ledger on the desk in front of her. “Running this place is hard. If we’re not careful, the orphanage could go under in no time at all.”
The large man who’d been doing push-ups in the corner looked up. “Huh? Lady Liz, is this place gonna disappear? I-I don’t want that!” he exclaimed tearfully.
Gina put her hands on her hips and glowered at him. “Really, Gaion? I seem to remember you whining about not wanting to babysit a bunch of kids, despite how eager you were to come here.”
“I-I mean, yeah, but I just...” Gaion stopped his workout and sat cross-legged on the floor. “With the way I am, you know, ever since I was a kid, people have always either looked down on me or been scared of me. But the kids here, they don’t care about any of that, and they just want to hang out.” He scratched his dry cheek. “This place taught me that I can just interact with people without hitting them or getting hit, so...”
Liz and Gina exchanged glances and chuckled. “It’s okay, Gaion. We can cover food and operating costs thanks to you hunting in the mountains and tending to our fields. And the older kids volunteer to help out with all sorts of things too,” Liz said.
“R-Really? What a relief...” he murmured with a sigh.
A little girl walked in, clutching a stuffed rabbit. “Liz...”
“Oh? What’s the matter, Lyla?” Liz asked, standing up and approaching the girl.
Lyla clutched her stuffed toy tightly. “I had a bad dream. There was a ghost,” she said, teary-eyed.
Gina smiled. “It’s okay, Lyla. Gaion’s face is way scarier than any ghosts.”
“What does my face have to do with anything?” Gaion protested as he resumed his push-up routine.
The little girl shook her head. “Gaion isn’t scary. Ghosts are scary! Liz, can you tell me a story?”
“Yes, of course.” Liz moved to gently pick the girl up and stepped toward the couch in the center of the room. “What kind of story do you want?”
“Umm...” Lyla brought a finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. “There was another orphanage here, right?”
“That’s right. How did you know that?”
“The older girls told me. They said you grew up there.”
“Right. I did tell the older kids about that.”
