The next day...
"Time to make the usual visit.' Was the first thing Fray said as he got out of bed. The calendar that hung up on the wall nearby had a particular date circled simply labeled "Visit the orphanage". Ever since he had helped out his friend Sheryl in a hostage situation, it has become a monthly ritual to visit the orphanage his friend she and her family worked at to see how she was doing. Sometimes he would come by and assist her with some chores and play with the children there, mostly the latter. He got himself dressed, wearing his usual attire that consisted of a blue shirt, a forest green hooded jacket that was worn on top of it, and baggy black trousers that were fastened with a brown belt. After he finished changing, he went down to see if his units were ready.
"Morning, kitten!" One of his units greeted him as he made his way into the living room. Her habit of calling her summoner random nicknames did not necessarily annoy him in any way, he simply got used to her hyperactive and somewhat tomboyish nature. "Is it that time already?"
"Morning, Limera," Fray replied. "And yeah. It's that time again. I'm planning on introducing Galtier to the children as well."
"Galtier?" She replied with an unsure expression. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we are going to an orphanage, not the colosseum."
"Don't worry about it. I'm thinking that this will help out in making him more open. Besides, I have ways in making him comply, whether he wants to or not."
Limera shrugged. "If you say so, don't blame me if something bad happens."
"It won't. " Fray assured her with a nonchalant tone. "Everything will be fine. Speaking of which, Time to summon him." He grabbed his red wool scarf and gloves and grabbed his gray colored boots before walking out of his home to prepare the summoning ritual. He closed his eyes and controlled the mana in his body into his summoning ability and materialized Galtier. In a bright flash, a man donned in black armor with some fur lining stood before the pair. He wore a cowl whose design looked reminiscent to a dark purple flame with a maw-like opening. His face was completely obscured by darkness, only two glowing white eyes were visible. At his side was a black horse clad in armor that covered the majority of his body, its appearance greatly resembled its master. "What do you need from me, Summoner?" The knight asked in a hollow and irritated tone.
"We are heading into Randall for a favor, and I need you to come with us to help out."
"What?! I do not have time for such trivial things!" Even though his face was not visible, one can easily detect his dissatisfaction to the idea. "We're doing charity work, I'm sure an Onion Knight like you can handle that."
"'Charity'?" The Fallen Knight griped. "And why do you think I should help you?"
"I was sure the Great Galtier could help out." Fray sarcastically moaned. "But it appears even he wouldn't want to perform a good deed like a real hero would." He knew Galtier well enough that he had an insatiable hunger for fame and fortune. There may be no material reward out of it, but he could easily be convinced if he could sugar coat the request well enough. "People love a do-gooder, especially around this time. I'm sure the reputation one would gain would make them a magnet for more requests…"
"Requests? Explain yourself." Galtier inquired.
"Oh if you build some reputation, the more people would recognize you. Though I'm pretty sure you're well aware of what comes with reputation."
Galtier mused on the idea for a few moments, no doubt fantasizing about the merits of reputation and the possible rewards that come from it. "Fine then." he huffed. "I shall assist you in this task. This better be worth the trouble." He saddled on top of his horse and, with a slight squeeze on its ribs with his feet, began jogging ahead of the group into the direction of the imperial capital.
"That actually worked?" Limera cringed at the result.
"He is a rather simple-minded individual. Of course, it would work." Fray replied. "We better catch up with him before he gets himself lost."
"Right." The pair quickly ran toward the archway that signified the exit of the Village of the Venturer and sprinted towards Randall.
The streets still looked the same as they were for the past few weeks, bright lights and festive decorations everywhere. Passersby were walking around, still on their usual routine of either getting more decorations, sweets or socializing. Some stared nervously at Galtier and his ominous appearance, he, on the other hand, did not seem to care, all he was thinking about was what was the work he was assigned to. Fray and Limera in the meantime were trailing just a few feet behind him, taking in the atmosphere while still keeping an eye on the Knight. "So, where are we headed to?" Galtier asked.
"Oh don't worry. We're going to arrive there shortly." Fray replied. Up ahead the trio could hear the sound of children laughing, the orphanage was just in sight. The children were playing around in the front courtyard of the building, some chose to run around playing tag, others laid down in the snow making snow angels. Others decided to make snowmen, while a few others had a little snowball war. Amongst the small group of children was a young yellow-haired woman who supervised them. She spotted Fray and his units walking down the road ahead and began to wave at them, with Fray waving back. The kids looked over to see who she was waving to, when they saw Fray they all shouted, "He's Back!" The children crowded at the gate waiting to meet him. As he opened the gate and walked into the walkway, they began to bombard him with many questions.
"Did you miss us?"
"Got any sweets?"
"How are you?"
"Can I touch your ears?" One child pointed at the cat ears attached to the hood.
"Alright now, calm down, I'll answer all of your questions shortly." Fray kept a calm and level headed temperament even with the sheer number of children around him, though he could tell that he was not getting to them with all the noise.
"Now now, there's no need to be so noisy. Please give Mister Fray some space, You'll have a chance to play with him. I just need to talk with him for a moment, okay?"
"Okay, Sis!" The children replied and went back to their activities.
Fray turned to his units. "Well, you heard Sheryl, I have to talk with her for a few minutes, so I need you two to entertain the kids, alright?"
Limera beamed a smile. "Can do!" She went over to a small group of orphans to show off her magical prowess.
Galtier was about to voice yet another complaint, but his summoner already had begun to walk over to the woman, leaving him to deal with a handful of noisy brats. How dare he leave me to do something so trifling! More and more, he slowly lost interest in the task and wanted to raze everything around him to the ground, but due to his contract as a unit with Fray, he that would cause more harm to himself than good. At this point, all he could do was let things take its course.
Some of the children were unsettled by his appearance, but seeing his horse and the fact his face was hidden made them ask some obvious questions.
"Where's your face?"
Why do you look so scary?"
"Can I ride on your horse?"
"Can you remove that hood?"
"Wh-What?! No!" The way the children disregarded his appearance and had the bravado to ask such questions, accompanied with the fact he had little to no experience with children, took him by surprise. The tone of his voice signaled the children that there was nothing to worry about, and they all began to crowd nearby the horse, continuing to bombard Galtier with questions like they did with Fray.
In the meantime, Fray was having a light conversation nearby the Orphanage's entrance. "I see the children are doing well."
"They have," Sheryl replied. "And they've been more energetic lately. They are excited for Christmas."
"We were all like that once before." He chuckled. "How have you been doing?"
"I'm doing fine. Seeing the children smile like this makes it all worthwhile. Also, I've noticed you summoned a new unit?"
"Yeah. I summoned him a few months ago."
She scrutinized the unit for a few moments. Clearly, this unit does not look like one that should be placed anywhere near the orphanage, but the situation told her otherwise. "It seems he is having fun." Sheryl smiled.
Fray looked back to see what was going on. He snickered at the sight. "Hey! Not too close!" He warned the kids as they were getting too close to the horse. They all kept their distance to make sure they would not get hurt, but they still surrounded Galtier and continued their onslaught of questions.
"Stay back!" He pulled on the reins to signal the horse to backpedal away from the children. As much as he hated to do this, he had to retreat. He motioned the horse to move back to the gate, but one of the horse's legs hit an unseen patch of ice, causing it to slip. The children backed away from the horse to a safe distance, all the while the horse continued to hit more ice patches. It made awkward movements as it tried to regain its balance, and Galtier had a hard time trying to stay in the saddle. With one more sudden jerk, the horse fell on its side and was unable to get up, the resulting fall also caused Galtier to tumble off the saddle, landing head first into the snow.
The children once more converged on the poor knight and pounced on him like a pack of wolves. They were all laughing, shaking him around and trying to see if they could remove his cowl. Much to his fortune, it was fixed on and did not budge, though given the current situation he was way out of his comfort zone.
"You're doing fine, Galtier!" He shouted. He turned over to Limera, who was still mesmerizing another group of children with a quick display of her pyromancy, in the form of small, controlled explosions that resembled fireworks. "Hey, Limera! Can you help me for a few minutes? I need to get Galtier's horse upright."
"Sure! I'll be right there." She stopped and let the children know that she would be back in a bit before rushing over to her summoners side and assisted him in getting the horse to stand. It took a little bit longer than expected, considering that the horse was wearing armor and the two were not the most athletic, so to speak.
"Sorry if I couldn't help." Sheryl apologized.
"It's fine," Fray replied. He looked up to see that the snowfall was progressively getting heavier and the wind was picking up. "That's not good," he stated.
Sheryl turned towards the children in the courtyard, cupped her hands together and shouted, "Everyone! It's time to go inside!"
"Okay!" They all shouted, and they then began to walk back inside into the orphanage in a calm and orderly fashion, like how students in an elementary school would walk when recess ended. Galtier felt a sense of relief as he slowly got up. His body felt sore in several places, he did not expect the task to be this vexing, nor did he expect the amount of pain a small group of children could do. He fastened the reins on the fence that bordered the orphanage. "I will return, so just sit tight." He told his steed before walking inside, just in time to walk in along with the last of the orphans.
The interior of the orphanage was well maintained, matching the state of the exterior. Despite its old-fashioned appearance, it was rather bright, and there were little traces of dust and dirt, save for the bits of snow that littered the way near the exit. The children had already taken off their boots and coats and were still making a lot of noise, running around or playing board games in one of the many rooms. It was hard to see outside due to the heavy snowfall, with the wind blowing with this amount of force, one would assume it was a squall.
Fray looked around for a second and asked, "Where's Mr. Hostanus? And I thought your family would help also?"
"He is out getting groceries and I was asked to fill in for him. My family is also busy getting the decorations to help get this place festive. I just hope they are all alright..."
"I hope so too. In the meantime, we better make sure the kids don't get themselves hurt."
"Okay, I'll take care of this side then." The two went off into different directions. Fray and Sheryl went off to supervise the children in different sides of the orphanage while Limera was reading a random story she picked from a bookshelf to another group. Galtier merely stood there, leaning against the wall as he observed it all with a somewhat agitated expression. These miscreants. What could I possibly do to entertain them? He was contemplating on how he could try to make time pass by and get this over with. He was in a middle of thinking when one child poked his side to get his attention. He turned to face the child, who was a little girl. "What is it?" He asked.
"What's your name?" she asked the knight.
"I am Galtier."
"Eh? Gal… Gall tee eh?" The girl tried her best in trying to pronounce his name. Her attempts in doing so struck a nerve in him, but he let that slide. There was no way she could possibly get it on the first try. "So… What are you?" She inquired, wanting to know more about him.
"Who am I, you ask?" There was something about these types of questions that just made him want to show off his pride. "Well, you are talking to a hero!"
The girl tilted her head in confusion. "A hero? You don't look like one," she stated quite frankly.
"That is because I have not told you my achievements. Sit down young one, and I will tell you all about them. The girl crossed her legs and sat down on the ground in front of Galtier. Some of the other children noticed this and followed suit, intrigued as to what kind of story he had to share.
"I was a famous knight from a faraway place, you see. Knights are normally born from the rich, people like me, we were common peasant folk. There would be some in our class who would become knights who were noble not by birth, but by deed. They called us the "Onion Knights." Some of the children snickered at the name, it sounded rather hilarious.
Ignoring the giggling, Galtier continued. On with his story, elaborating on how famous the so-called Onion Knights were, despite the scorn from the higher class, and the kinds of good deeds he would perform as one. The children continued to listen to his tale, enthralled by how awesome it sounded. More children came to gather around to listen to it as he continued to boast about his life. Then came the moment where he talked about his greatest accomplishment: Slaying the demon wolf that was a threat to his kingdom. It was here he became a little more arrogant and over the top with his descriptions, but the children did not seem to care, they were immersed into the story.
Limera was just about finished with one story and proceeded to return the book back to its rightful place when she turned to see how Galtier was doing. The children that she had just read a story too joined the others to see Galtier rambling on about his life in a rather hilariously exaggerated fashion. She hid a giggle seeing how foolish he looked, but at the same time, it felt a little heartwarming to see Galtier open up to the children, even if he was just bragging about himself. Fray also came across this scene as he had to double back during his rounds. He too found this both hilarious and comforting. He could not help but smile a little. Well, at least he managed to make his tale kid-friendly. He thought, noting how Galtier managed to filter out the darker parts of his history. After he had finished his story, the girl from before asked him, "But if you're a hero, why do you look like that?"
"To give enemies something to be scared of. I had to make sure enemies knew who I was."
The kids questioned about the idea further. "Wouldn't it be better to wear something bright?"
"How can I put this…?" He pondered for a moment. "Sometimes scary is not all bad." Once again, he sugar coated his past to something more kid-friendly, then again, even he himself did not know why he became like this too. 'Scary is not all bad'? Fray thought. Alright, We'll play things your way.
"That makes sense, sort of." a boy shrugged.
One boy looked out the window and pointed at the horse. "Hey! When did we make a snow horse?"
Snow horse? Fray walked over to a nearby window and looked outside. Standing out in the snow was Galtier's horse, completely covered in snow. The way it did not make so much as a reaction to the situation made it appeared as if though it was a sculpture. The children crowded at the windows to see the newfound sight, staring with wide eyes while some laughed at how funny it looked. At this point, Galtier had gotten used to the ridiculousness around him to feel disappointed. He simply stated that the horse was fine and that it was not in danger. One of the children was about to ask to confirm his claim when the horse quickly snorted and shook the snow off of it. A few of the kids sighed in disappointment while others continued to giggle.
The kids returned to their usual frolicking, a few asking Galtier to play with them. Galtier felt reluctant to join, considering how it would affect his pride. But as of this moment, he felt something odd, a sort of warm feeling deep inside he had not felt in a long time. Was it happiness? Comfort? He had no clue, but it didn't matter. At least he was able to make his presence known somewhere, and soon he will be well known in this city as well. Still, it was a feeling that he just could not ignore, and for some reason, it compelled him to do as the children requested. Should I really stoop down to this level? He contemplated. I have my own reputation to keep. Fray walked up to him and stated, "I did say people love a do-gooder over the holidays, right? There may be no reward out of this, but people will obviously like an individual with a lot of experience, even if it includes taking care of children."
Galtier continued to think. He looked back to his glory days as an Onion Knight, people would gather to request his assistance when he did jobs out of the sense of responsibility rather than for reward. Unfortunately, he looked in too deep as some bad memories resurface, him slaying the smith that forged his scythe and his daughter out of his own greed. He looked back to the crowd of children, this, accompanied with those memories, stirred up another emotion in him that he thought was long gone. Something heavy, something that made him… worried. Was this guilt? "Hey… Mister?"
"I… Need to tend to my horse for a few moments. If you will excuse me." Galtier moved at a brisk pace as he opens the doors to go outside. "Well, that is certainly unfitting of him," Limera remarked.
"You noticed it too, huh?" Fray replied. "By the looks of things, he remembered something he shouldn't."
"Should we go and check on him?"
Fray was about to make his response when he noticed one of the girls put on her boots and winter jacket, opening and closing the door quietly as she sneaks her way outside. "It would do best not to interfere. You go make sure no one gets hurt, I'll watch what goes on here."
"Alright." Limera took the role as the supervisor and watched the children along with Sheryl while Fray observed the events outside.
Galtier was making sure none of his horse's armor was out of place and readjusted the saddle, all the while he was still pondering as to what happened back there. What are these feelings? Why am I only feeling them now? Was it because of those children? He kept asking himself several questions to find some reasoning behind his conundrum when he was snapped out of his trance by the familiar feeling of being poked at his side. He turned to see the same girl from before, looking at him with curious eyes. "It's you. What do you want from me?"
"Are you feeling alright Gal-tee-eh?" She still could not say his name properly, but he did not seem to care. "It is none of your concern. You would do well to go back inside and join the others." He turned back to his horse as he re-fastened the buckles on the horse's leg guards.
"And why not?" The girl was very inquisitive on this, it appeared she will not be convinced to turn back that easily.
"Why would you involve yourself with me?" He asked back.
"You looked a bit sad earlier, so I wanted to see if I could cheer you up."
"'Sad'?" he huffed. "I am not sad."
The little girl pouted. "You're hiding something, aren't you?" For a little girl, she was surprisingly observant, but he was not going to give her the chance.
"I do not know what you are talking about, I have nothing to hide."
"Then why did you leave? You seemed like you were having fun earlier." another accurate statement, she was backing him to a corner.
"I only wanted some fresh air, and to check up on my horse." he reposted.
The little girl continued to pout. After a few seconds, she asked once more. "Did you do something bad?"
It was at this point he stopped what he was doing. He was running out of excuses and any other statement he could give her would be futile. "So what if I did?"
The girl took a few moments to come up with yet another question. "You… hurt someone, did you?" This time Galtier had no comeback to her statement, he stood silent, head looking down onto the snow. "Young lady, do not test me." His voice sounded agitated this time, he was getting impatient with the girl's nonstop questions. She did not relent, still fixated on him with a curious expression as she walked up to him. "Sis said that it's bad to keep secrets."
"That woman taught you that?" He snorted. "There are some secrets that are better kept well hidden." when he looked back he saw that the girl was mere inches away from him, her expression remained the same. "Who did you hurt?" she inquired.
"Fine then, if it would keep you quiet…" He took a few moments to recollect himself before he divulged another part of his life. "I had a smith forge my weapon, made from the fangs of the wolf I had slain. It was sheer perfection, no blade could come close to it. I did not want anyone else to have a weapon like this so I…" His voice trailed off, not wanting to explain further. The girl took this as a hint that he indeed did something awful, she poked him again. "I'm sure that they would have forgiven you for what you did."
The knight chuckled at the girl's attempt to reassure him. "You are a naive one, aren't you? Do you really think forgiveness comes that easily?"
The girl nodded in reply. Her innocence was both comical and admirable at the same time, though considering he was talking to an orphan of all people, she would have some foundation to her beliefs. "And how would you know?"
The girl looks down. "My Mommy and Daddy were taken away by some bad man too. I would hate him too, but I was taught that things happen for a reason. Maybe that man wanted to steal because he had nothing. Even though they don't look like it, they probably would feel sorry deep down, right?"
"You are right on that, but…" Galtier was immediately cut off.
"Even if she does hate you, it doesn't last forever. Besides, now isn't the time for hate, it's Christmas after all." She said with a smile.
"You are confident in this holiday, aren't you?"
"It's not so much about getting the things you want, it's about sharing and spending time with people that care about you. It's also the time where people should get along, even if they hate each other." Her smile continued to grow wider and wider. Galtier chuckled not only of the irony that he was being lectured by a child, but also the concept of the holiday. Just what is it about this holiday that gets everyone in such a happy mood? Is it really possible that for that girl to forgive him on in this holiday? His head was a little sore from all the thinking he had to do. Feeling defeated, he had no choice. "Fine, I concede. If you think that I could even be forgiven, then maybe I will keep an open mind on the holiday."
"Yay! The girl jumped for joy, most likely feeling proud that she accomplished something. "Come on! The others want to play with you!"
At this point he did not seem to mind, whatever that girl did, it seemed to make him more open. "Fine then, we will do things your way." With that, the child grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the orphanage. As they made their way inside, the kids crossed over to the knight and asked the same question as before. "Are you going to play with us now?"
Galtier nodded. "I will join you in your little games. Make this entertaining." The kids all cheered as they pulled him into a game of tag, with him being "it". Fray looked at this with another smile, happy to know things were all going very well, and that his prediction would be correct. I guess the whole "epiphany over the holidays" trope isn't all that exaggerated as they portray them in the media. He thought. This randomness continued on for a few hours until the sun began to set.
The door softly creaked open as an elderly man walked inside, eyeing at what is happening around him with delight. "Oho." He chuckled. "Well, this is a lovely surprise." The children turned around to face the old man, who served as the head caretaker of the orphanage. "Mr. Hostanus!" They shouted as they all gathered around him. The old man chuckled again "It has certainly gotten quite lively here while I was gone." He then faced Sheryl and Fray "You two certainly know how to bring the energy in here."
"You asked us to look after the children, we like to add a little more excitement," Fray replied.
"Indeed you have," he smiled. He looked over to Galtier. "Hmm. He is a new unit, I reckon?"
"Yes, Mr. Hostanus. You should see how he played with the children earlier." Fray chuckled. The knight simply stood there, hiding an embarrassed look underneath the shadow that obscured his face. Mr. Hostanus walked over to Galtier with a warm smile. "You don't know how happy it makes me feel seeing these children smile. I hope you continue to come back to visit us again."
Galtier bowed. "It would be an honor."
"I suppose that's my cue to leave," Fray announced. "I forgot that I still haven't decorated my house yet. Are you going to be alright?" he asked Sheryl. She shook her head in reply. "I'll be fine. I know my family will be back soon, so go on and enjoy yourself."
Fray looked back to the caretaker. "Sorry I have to go off like this, but you know how the holidays are."
"Oh, of course," said Mr. Hostanus. "Take care, and Merry Christmas to you all."
"Merry Christmas." He and his units waved goodbye to the children. Galtier faced to the little girl from earlier., she was waving ecstatically. "Bye Galtier!" She shouted. Finally, she gets my name right. He thought. He waved back as he made his exit, walking over to his horse to detach the reins and mounted on his horse.
"You did very well out there, Galtier. I didn't think you would come out of that shell."
The Knight gave no reply, not wanting to give his summoner the satisfaction of responding to any of his quips. "I'm serious, I don't think I've seen the children that happy before."
Limera chimed in. "Maybe the next time we visit, we could both tell some stories. They'll love it!"
Galtier motioned his horse to exit the gate. "Perhaps..." Was all he said as he rode off into the direction leading back to the Village of the Venturer, leaving the two behind.
"He definitely liked it." Limera smiled.
"Yep." Fray nodded. "Well, time to make sure he doesn't slip some ice patch again."
"Right!" The two ran off after Galtier again, much like this morning, running back to their home with the sunset slowly setting on the horizon, and a sense of ease and comfort still fresh on all their minds.
Fray belongs to Cryptek12, I hope this chapter is to your liking as well. Sorry if Galtier took much of the spotlight. I had this crazy idea and with the holidays coming up, I just couldn't resist.
