-1Chapter 2 : The Wonder Of Creation

Maven Hiwatari hadn't really notice as the month passed by. Everyday she woke up at dawn, when the sun shone through her tiny window. Everyday she stood silently watching as all the boys in the institute went through their drills and training matches. Everyday she ran her eyes across the boys she knew had been in that room. And everyday, she tried to tell herself it didn't happen.

Today was no different, she thought. She awoke as her tiny room filled with the light of the dawn, and pulled herself out of her makeshift bed. She pulled on her threadbare dress of black cotton and tied her midnight blue hair into a tight bun at the top of her head, held in place by the strip of black cotton she had torn from her clothes. Today she had to see her father. She had to look her best. She tied the cotton strip into a little bow that sat neatly at the top of her head, and left her room.

Maven headed to the hall where breakfast would be being served. She walked past the boys, trying not to look at individual faces. It made her uncomfortable to see the faces she recognised. She walked past the serving women and the long wooden tables of hungry trainees. She picked up her broom and moved to the nearest table. Bending down, she shoved the brush underneath the wooden planks and stopped. A small red headed infant was cured in a ball. His bright brown eyes shone with fear.

'Are you lost?' She asked him, quietly.

He shook his head, then covered his face with his hands.

'You're hiding?'

This time he nodded.

'Who fro…' she began.

'Ah. There you are, Tala Ivahnov,' Boris' voice echoed horribly through Maven's memories, 'Thank you for finding him, Miss Hiwatari.'

He smirked at her, reaching under the desk for the cowering child. Tala backed away, out of reach. Boris, getting mad at the toddler, snatched the broom from Maven's hands. Instinctively, she snatched back. He glared at her, and slapped her hands hard. Not showing the flinch, she stood and turned away.

She turned back to the scene, where several boys were now trying to trap the child, and all her rage flooded back into her body. They locked her in a room and beat and raped her. Relentlessly and remorselessly. Her rationality disappeared.

She walked casually round the hall to the side of the room where the child was crawling beneath a table. Boris was approaching, followed by the other boys. He commanded them to circle the toddler and trap him. Maven waited until they were in a semicircle before running in and snatching the boy in her arms.

'Stop right there you little witch!' Boris' voice trailed after her, 'After the whore, boys!'

Maven did not stop running until she reached her room. And by the time she had gotten that far, the adrenaline rush and cloud of rage had long passed. As she sat on her rugged mattress cuddling Tala, she shook with fear. She didn't want to be beaten again. Or locked back in that horrible room…

A knock on the door made her jump. Why did they knock? She has no lock, and everybody saw her take him. Never before have they had the decency. Why now?

'Maven, my dear…' Voltaire's cold voice penetrated her thoughts. My dear…? 'Can I come in?'

He opened the door without waiting for an answer. He glanced from his daughter to the petrified toddler and back.

'He just arrived. His parents abandoned him on the doorstep. We do not intent to cause him harm.'

'Of course not, father. You would never cause anyone harm. You let other people do it for you.'

'What happened to you was… unfortunate. For both of us. Trust me. Now hand over the child.'

'Unfortunate…?'

'You kindly hand the infant over to Boris, and all shall be explained.'

'I want to keep him here. With me.'

'And why is that, My dear?'

'He needs a mother. He's frightened.'

'Hm…It seems fate has a sense of humour. Fine. But you must come with me now.'

He reached out for her hand. She placed Tala on her bed and whispered a few words of comfort to him, before turning at stepping from her room. She followed Voltaire down several corridors, each one identical to the last, and down several flights of stairs. She had never been to this part of the Abbey before.

Eventually, they reached a huge white room. The floors were white, the walls were white, the table in the centre was white. The room was lined with strange instruments and boxes with lots of wires and button. They confused Maven. Next to the white table stood a tall white haired man in a white coat.

'Please sit down, Maven.' His voice was calm, and gentle, and he turned to Voltaire, 'You may need t sit too, sir.'

He groaned, loudly, 'I can guess the result then.'

'Results?' Maven enquired.

'I will be upstairs…' Voltaire started.

'You may want to sit, sir,' The doctor said again, before turning to Maven, 'You are pregnant…'

'What! And you didn't tell me!'

'We Didn't have confirmation until now…' Voltaire explained.

The Doctor spoke again as though he hadn't been interrupted, '…With twins.'

Maven watched her fathers expression falter. Panic registered in his dark eyes, but only briefly. He nodded quickly, before leaving.

I won't let him get you, she told her unborn children, I'll keep you safe.