Nina Vale-Zhalia's definitely my favorite character in Huntik. Out of all the other main characters, she's the only one with a true story arc. On where her orphanage is and where she was found, it probably was an oversight but it interesting to think about. I agree that she'd probably try and keep as far away from her orphanage as possible, which is probably why she was found so far away from there, but it would make for some good backstories about her. Tiny Zhalia hitting the road with no destination in mind... but that's beside the point. I actually somehow unintentionally bridged that gap by just using a nondescript"Holland" the entire time, but apparently both Amsterdam and Rotterdam are technically in Holland.
I'm just gonna go ahead and share what I learned today, so even though Holland is normally just used as another name for the Netherlands, there are actually two provinces in the Netherlands that have Holland in their name, Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland. (take a wild guess at what Noord and Zuid mean) Amsterdam is in Noord-Holland and Rotterdam is in Zuid-Holland (they're actually less than two hours away from each other by car). (praise be to small miracles/coincidences because i do not want to comb through this story to fix the location) Thanks for leaving a comment and I hope you enjoy the story!
Guest- I'm glad you like it so far and I hope the rest of the story lives up to your expectations! Thanks for commenting again and giving me a way to recognize that it's you if you comment in the future!
Den and Harrison both did their best to not hide in their jackets as Ms. Cowry and the social worker stared down at them. They decided to speak with them together at first, without Zhalia. She was escorted out of the room by another worker at the orphanage, and now there they sat. Before a demon and a stranger. An exchanged glance confirmed to both that neither was comfortable with their audience.
"It's been a while," Cowry scowled, and Den was almost sure the ends of her lips might fall off of her face.
"Yeah. How've you been?" Harrison couldn't look in her eyes as his brother responded.
"Worried sick. Where have you two been? And what happened to the others? They wound up on our door one day but they won't say anything."
Den and Harrison exchanged another glance, before the elder twin spoke up again. "We just wanted out. Those idiots picked on us for the last time, so we ran. They followed us for a while, but we weren't gonna come back."
"When did you meet Zhalia?" The worker, Ms. Stevens asked gently. She was a stony faced young woman, but her voice was gentle and relaxed.
"Actually, not long after we ran away. She helped us get away from some thugs and she got us dinner. We refused to tell her were we were from, but she said she lived in Venice. After she left, we hung around for a while, then decided to go find her again." Stevens gave him a weird look, nearly causing Den to stumble. "It's not like we had anything better to do. We rode busses, hitchhiked, and basically did anything we could to get there."
Den nudged Harrison, seeing that Cowry was tired of hearing from him. "Yeah. I still can't believe we found her. You guys should have seen her face when we bumped into her. She wouldn't help until we explained what was going on, and we told her we were orphans, but we wouldn't tell her where we were from until a little while ago."
"Her boyfriend, Dante- he's a really nice guy by the way, mentioned having her adopt us recently, and that's when we told her. I can't tell if she was more shocked about us showing up in her city or finding out we all came from the same orphanage. She finally decided to just go for it and called you." Den finished.
Cowry and Stevens exchanged a disbelieving glance. "She just let you two in after you followed her? How did you even manage to find her in the first place?"
"She said she works for a small museum in Venice so we asked around and some nice dude was able to point us in the right direction. She was actually talking to Dante at the front desk when we first found her again." Harrison smiled, trying to mimic what it looked like to remember something funny.
"Yeah. She was pretty confused, and then pissed when we told her what we were doing there, but she didn't want to just throw us out. She let us stay as long as we helped out with chores and kept up our studies. She basically was like a big sister to us." Den cast his brother a glance, vaguely remembering Harrison saying something similar a while ago.
Cowry somehow scowled even harder, then waved Harrison away. "We'll begin the individual meetings now. We'll call you in later Harrison."
The brothers exchanged glances and Harrison quietly stood to leave.
"Okay, Den, tell us more about Zhalia. Don't think about what your brother thinks or feels, just tell us how you feel about her."
"Well, she's really great. She can be a little cold when she's really angry. I didn't think she'd ever speak to me again when I broke a super expensive vase at the museum, but we had a super long talk and we were okay. I just have to help out at the museum to help pay for it."
The two exchanged a glance, making Den think he had said something wrong. Fear gripped his chest. "But she rarely gets angry at us! Zhalia's really patient and caring when it comes to us. You can ask our friends, Lok and Sophie. She's real short with them, but she'll give us a hundred chances before getting angry. And even when she is mad about something we did, she makes us sit down and tells us what we did wrong."
"It's okay, Den. What else do you want us to know about Zhalia." Stevens soothed.
"Well… She's super smart. She made us keep up studying while our friends were in school. She helped us with whatever subject we were having trouble with. She even takes us out to places where we can do fun science and math experiments. Dante also helps out sometimes. We all go to movies and places together."
"How do you feel about Dante? Is he over often?" Cowry asked.
"He's the best! He taught me some karate moves, and we normally hang out at his place. Also, whenever they want a date night, we go hang out at our friend Sophie's. She's got a mansion."
"How old is Sophie?"
"Sixteen, almost seventeen. Lok's the same age, and they're totally dating, but neither will admit it." Den grinned.
"Okay now, how do you feel about her home?"
Harrison was waiting for about thirty minutes, counting down the second while Zhalia finished going through the papers. Anxiety ate at his stomach, and he turned his Antideluvian amulet in his hands.
"Nervous?" Zhalia asked without looking away from her work. "Don't be. These people want you out almost as badly as you. It took Klaus all of three days to get me out, and I was way younger than you two were."
Harrison let out a shaky breath. "I just don't know what I'll do if we have to stay. Our story's kind of incredible, but I think I might actually have to hitchhike to Venice if they refuse your application."
This caused Zhalia to stop. Reaching around his thin shoulders, she pulled him into a one armed hug. "Listen, if they refuse, I'll just try again. You're my broer, and so is Den. I'll even move back here if it means I can still keep an eye on you two."
Harrison eased into the embrace, resting his head on her shoulder for just a second before standing to stretch. It was then that the office door opened. Den walked out and Ms. Cowry beckoned for Harrison.
He cast a glance back at Zhalia, who nodded. Den sat close to Zhalia's side, making a show of hanging off of her shoulder and pestering her about finishing the papers quickly so they could go home. Den's ease relaxed Harrison for a moment, then he entered the small room alone with the two women.
He sat down cautiously.
"Okay, Harrison, can you tell me a little more about Zhalia?" Ms. Stevens asked.
"Well, she's like the sister I'd never had. Ever since we found her, she's always been there for me. She kept us safe, fed, and happy. When Den was growing close to Lok and Sophie but I was having a harder time with them, she stuck by me and helped me work things out." Harrison rattled off.
"Does she have a temper?"
"She rarely gets angry at us." He answered easily. It was nice having a direct question. "She lets us know if we've done something stupid, and she makes sure we make amends whenever we fight or break something that isn't ours."
"Den mentioned she has a boyfriend. How do you like him?"
Harrison rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly? He's really intimidating to me. He's really nice and all, and I know I'm just being stupid, but he's super strong and good looking and everything. He's like the perfect guy for her, and they work really well together."
"Is that a problem for you?" Ms. Cowry raised an eyebrow.
"I just kind of stayed away from him for the first few months. He was convinced that I hated him. Which… isn't necessarily true? I just… He really likes Zhalia, and she really likes him. Den's cool with it, but she's basically going to be our sister and mom" Harrison shivered at the thought. "in one. I- I just don't know."
"Harrison, it's okay to be jealous." Ms. Stevens gave a reassuring smile.
"I'm not jealous! She spends a heck of a lot more time with us than with him." He nearly jumped out of his seat at the accusation, both flustered and annoyed. There was no way he could ever begin to explain that at one point he was so deep into the Spiral that he wanted to kill Dante with his own two hands. Den knew Zhalia loved him, it was evident the moment she broke down when the Betrayer said he was dead. But for so long, Dante was his enemy, and Zhalia was his only friend.
"Alright, how about her home? Can you tell us about that?"
Den flopped back into his seat with an exhausted sigh. "That was the freaking worst."
"I don't think I had a meeting like this when Klaus adopted me." Zhalia flipped through the paperwork one last time before setting the stack aside and cracking her knuckles. "If we did, I don't remember anything."
"Be glad about that if you did have one. I think I've been traumatized." Den rolled his eyes.
Zhalia ruffled his hair, pushing him slightly. "You were not. Can you give me a read of the room before I head in there?"
"You want me to tell you what Ms. Cowry thought? Listen, I'm good, but not that good."
"True, but what about Stevens?" Zhalia chuckled.
"She might be even worse. You can kind of tell when Cowry's pissed, but I think Stevens is a robot programed with a mom voice. It's kinda weird."
"You were in there for a long time. What did you guys talk about?"
Den felt his cheeks flush. "So I totally rambled through most of the questions and I don't really remember all that I said but neither seemed super one way or the other when I left."
"So, based on how many questions they asked, how long do you think Harrison will take?"
"No clue. I think my mind is starting to repress everything that was said."
"Geez, you're helpful."
It was another fifteen minutes before Harrison finally left the room. Gathering all of the papers and files, Zhalia took a breath and headed in.
Den and Harrison compared questions and answers for as long as either could stand it. They both managed to keep their story straight the entire time and both promised to remind each other to thank Zhalia for the hours of questioning beforehand, and both did their best to highlight everything that made Zhalia- and somehow also Dante, great. Their plans and preparations were unfolding perfectly.
It was a solid hour before the door opened again. And when it did, Ms. Stevens and Cowry came out first. Zhalia followed them out, her expression unreadable as she shook their hands. Finally Zhalia turned to them.
"All of your things were already re-gifted to the other kids here," The twins' hearts sank for half a second, but then a smile broke out on Zhalia's face. "There's nothing left for us here. Come on, let's go home."