'Call upon me when you need me, and I will be there. Call upon me when the need is dire and I will aid you.'
Alice sat up in her bed abruptly, panting after the same nightmare that had been haunting her for weeks had invaded her dreams once again. The small girl threw her covers off and padded her way over to the window, keeping quiet as to not wake anyone else in the orphanage up. She made her way to the sole window in her room, leaning on the sill as she gazed out at the late night sky. 'Mommy, Daddy, why did you have to leave me like this? Why did the mean Church have to take you away from me? It's all the Church's fault you're gone!' Once Alice finally came back to her senses she realized there were tears running down her face that she hastily wiped away with the sleeve of her shirt.
It took Alice almost no effort to recall that night. "Daddy and I are going away for a little while with the Church." Her mother had said sweetly, crouching down to hug her daughter warmly. "Be a good girl while were gone Alice" her father had said, grinning at her before they both turned and left. Her parents had waved at her as they walked away, and Alice, only 6 at the time, had waved back. That was the last time she had seen them. The news that they had been attacked by some monsters on the pilgrimage came back to Alice a few months later. She had been ripped from her home and the only life she knew, taken to the local orphanage in Hima only week later.
Alice had had enough reminiscing for one night. The ten year old padded back to her bed, crawling under the covers as she decided to give sleep another try.
Alice woke up the next morning to the sun rising in the sky, around 7 in the morning. She quickly dressed herself and made her way downstairs. Her stomach rumbled as she stumbled down the stairs, pleading for breakfast. Alice smiled sleepily as she smelled the delicious aroma of pancakes coming from the dining room, her favorite breakfast by far. As she made her way to the kitchen to get some food, Alice's path was blocked by two sturdy looking boys.
She immediately recognized them as the orphanage manager's twin sons, Albert and Lewis, a year older than Alice herself. The smaller girl instinctively cringed a bit, she was used to the duo's daily verbal assault at her, so she braced herself for today's round of insults. "Where are you going half-elf, to get some food?" Albert sneered. Half-elf, they said it like it was some kind of disgrace; Alice couldn't change what she was. "Well too bad, filthy half-elves aren't allowed in the kitchen! You'll infect all the food with your nasty germs!" Lewis added, taking a step towards the younger girl.
Alice took a tentative step backwards. Apparently the twins took that as some sign, quickly nodding to each other before pouncing at Alice. The small girl's screams were muffled as the two boys began pounding on her. The pulled her fair hair, scratched at her porcelain skin, and kicked at her stomach. Tears fell from Alice's eyes as she stopped struggling, resigned to her torture. Things had never gotten violent before that day, and the half-elf was left to wonder what she did to deserve it this time. She figured it was because she wasn't worth anything more than her role as the twin's punching bag.
"Hey!" a new voice shouted, startling the boys as they scrambled off a trembling Alice. "What do you think you're doing?" The voice asked as Alice turned to see who it was. It was a human boy, in his upper-teens, with a skinny frame and short purple hair. "We were just saying good morning to the half-elf" Albert said, fake-innocence smeared all over his nasty face. Alice took this as her cue to scramble into the corner of the room, away from the twins, horror written all over her tear streaked and scratched up face. She just sat there trembling as the scene before her unfolded.
"Well you did a pretty bad job of it" the boy replied, an unnatural calm about him, considering the situation. The twins gave each other a confused look before looking the newcomer over, sizing him up. "Get out of here, both of you" the purple haired boy said calmly, staring intently at the other two. Then the twins turned to each other, identical cruel looks plastered on their similar faces. "Hey look Lewis, Toothpick here is standing up for the half-elf! How heroic!" Albert said sarcastically. However, when the twins made no sign of moving, the seemingly calm air suddenly dissipated, "I said get out!" the boy yelled, startling the twins as well as Alice. Albert and Lewis quickly left, but not before a quiet "beanpole's got some guts" was muttered by Lewis.
Once the twins finally left, the boy tuned his attention to Alice. His violet eyes were warm and gentle as he offered a hand to help her up. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, patiently waiting for his gesture to be accepted. Alice cowered further into the corner, cringing away from his hand, 'humans are not to be trusted'. No human had been nice to her thus far, what makes this one any different? "My name is Decus. You're Alice, right?" Decus asked with a small smile, his hand still extended. 'He's the first person here who hasn't called me "half-elf"' Alice contemplated silently as she wiped the tears from her amber eyes with the heel of her hand. After another second of thought, she reached up to take Decus' hand, gently letting her hand fall into his as she let him pull her to her feet. But Alice couldn't help to wonder why someone decided to finally stand up for her, the lone half-elf at the orphanage, and a human boy no less.
"Yeah, I'm Alice" she said quietly, finally replying to the question. "Well at least you can talk normally" Decus joked with a gentle smile, assessing Alice's injuries as he spoke. "And you don't look like you're in too bad a shape, I think you'll live"; and for the second time that morning, Alice smiled. "Thank you for helping me back there" Alice said, louder than before. "Oh that? That was no big deal. Albert and Lewis are pushovers anyway, you just have to put them in their place sometimes. They can be a little mean, but so are a lot of people and you just have to tune them out" Decus said casually, "I'm just glad you are okay."
For the rest of the day, Alice and Decus were with each other. Eating together during meals, talking together during free time, or sitting together during lessons, they were there with each other. It the best day Alice had spent at the orphanage in all her years of living under that roof. No matter who came over to harass her, there was Decus, stepping in like the knight he was, despite his scrawny stature and tendency to be picked on himself, to defend her. Even when others came over to tease Decus himself, the older boy blocked them out, keeping Alice securely at his side.
"Thank you for staying with me today, I don't really have any friends here, so it was really nice of you" Alice confessed to Decus before they parted ways to go to their rooms. There the two of them stood, an unlikely pair, on the staircase landing between the floors for the girl's and boy's dormitories. "It was my pleasure Alice, you're a really nice girl" Decus replied with a brilliant smile. He quickly planted a tender kiss on top of Alice's head before taking his leave and ascending the stairs to the boy's floor. Alice smiled as she walked down the corridor to her room, a dreamy haze surrounding her.
'Humans were not to be trusted… but exceptions can be made sometimes…'
Twiz: I hope you guys enjoyed chapter one! More updates to come so don't worry about this going unfinished! I love Alice and Decus and their story so I decided it was time that their backstory was told, so here it is! I hope you guys enjoy!