Italics = Writing/Thoughts

Bold = REAL SHIT/Big Signs

Chapter 13

December 26th, 2008

"Mark hurry up!" I called out to my younger brother as I stood atop the snow covered hill.

"I'm coming!" Mark replied hastily, trying to move through the snow in his new boots that were a little big on him.

Last night it snowed quite a lot, and even now snowflakes continued to fall to the ground, restoring any of the damaged parts of the thick, white blanket of snow that covered the landscape like sand on a beach when the waves come up. So naturally me and Mark found ourselves outside today with our brand new sleds that we had gotten for Christmas a day earlier. The hill we were at was steep enough to make sledding fun, and it was close to home to, therefore it was the perfect spot for us to test our new sleds.

Mark finally made it up the hill and stood next to me catching his breath. He wore a thick orange jacket with a red scarf around his mouth that slightly muffled his voice. A navy blue beanie hat protected his messy hair from the cold. He had on navy blue gloves and wore black snow pants, his boots were crimson red. Underneath the coat he had on a long sleeved shirt that made putting the coat on difficult. Despite all the lengths our parents went that morning to keep him warm, his cheeks were still flushed red from the cold.

I had on a black jacket as thick as his with its hood up, with black snow pants and orange gloves, I was sure to stick out in the sea of white in case of something happening.

"Took you long enough Mark." I said to Mark as he caught his breath.

"Too.." he huffed, "Deep.." he huffed again. At the time, my baby brother was four years old, and even now he still held some of his baby fat, so having to walk through all that snow would have felt like trudging through a waist deep swamp for the child. Six year old me on the other hand had little trouble trudging back up the hilltop. But at the time I didn't think much about the troubles the snow would have on him due to his height.

"I can walk in it just fine, your just a baby Mark." I scolded.

"Am not.." he whined.

"Whatever.." I said as I began to walk a few feet back, Mark following as best as his little body could.

"We're going to race this time Mark, hold your sled up." I said as I held mine up to my chin.

"But I don't wanna race, can't we just sled for fun Seth?" Mark asked.

"But racing is fun Mark, or are you still a baby!" I mocked.

"Stop calling me a baby! I'm not a baby Seth!" Mark cried out, his face went redder.

"Then prove it, let's race." I challenged.

"...fine." Mark gave in and stomped over to me with his sled.

"It'll be fun Mark, first one to the bottom wins. And that'll be me." I smirked.

"Nuh-uh" Mark replied as his expression lightened.

"We'll see about that..." I said as I readied myself.

"3...2..." I paused, looking over to Mark, he had a determined look on his face, I turned back to look ahead with a smile on my face.

"1!" Is shouted, and we both began to run to the slope of the hill, I jumped forward and my sled started to slide the moment I landed. I laid down on my chest as I sled, Mark doing the same on his next to me. Snow started to hit my face, burning it with that icy burn you get from something too icy when it touches your skin, but I couldn't let it get to me so I held on tighter to my sled and leaned forward to go faster. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Mark fall behind, but he also started to lean forward to try to pass me. Our sleds were almost parallel to each other, but I kept leaning forward. When we were close to the bottom our sleds hit a bump in the snow and we were launched thanks to our light bodies, I landed with my sled at the bottom with a grunt and an "ooffff". But I was sure I won.

When my sled stopped I stood up and shouted "I WON MARK!" My voice was filled with pride as I turned to look behind me, but Mark wasn't there.

"Mark?" I called out. No one answered at first.

"Ow..." I almost didn't hear Mark a little ways away, his voice had come from a nearby bush.

"Mark?" I started to walk over to him, and saw him on the ground, his sled having slid at least ten feet away.

I saw his exposed hand, realizing he never put his glove back on, he was clutching it in his other hand which was gloves up, then I noticed something red was dripping from it.

"OWWWWWWWW!" Mark screamed as he began to cry.

January 29th, 8:05 AM

I woke up in my bed in back in the present, I let out a sigh of relief as I caught my breath.

That wasn't just a dream, but a memory, back when I was six, me and my brother Mark went sledding the day after Christmas with our new sleds, I challenged him to a race and that's when things went wrong, Mark fell of his sled after landing from the bump and cut his hand on the bush he landed near. It was nothing serious but he later said it hurt a lot. He still has a scar from it to this day. In the aftermath, it would be the last time our parents would let us play outside in the snow without them supervising us for another eight years. Luckily Mark forgave me not long after, so we're good.

But the memory made me feel a bit nostalgic, Mark was my only sibling, so naturally I was close with him. Today he had neck length black hair and was in high school currently. He was good grade wise, we both are.

Though I'm not sure how he's doing now, I mean, he probably would've taken my death hard. I just hope he doesn't throw his own life away though.

But enough reminiscing on that, I have the day to myself, so what will I be doing then? Probably a quest or two at the guild.

I got up and changed into some decent clothing, munched herbs, and ate some bread before leaving my shelter.

Another clear day greeted me when I stepped out into the streets, business with locals when on as usual, beggars left their alleyways with cans and small boxes to collect money, in their place for the time would be muggers, and those who were more fortunate went off to work. Nothing unusual.

When I reached the end of the street I turned and saw Sasha leave her orphanage and head towards the city's gate, we waved to each other and went out separate ways.

As I was walking I turned around again and saw a kid following Sasha from behind, judging by his size he couldn't have been older than eight, he could've been six. I didn't get a good glimpse of him. From what I saw, he had brown hair, a white button up shirt, and baggy brown pants. He and Sasha vanished into a crowd of people before I saw anything else.

And I kept walking, thinking the boy was going shopping with her or something.

One and a half hours later...

Timmothy finally admitted to himself that he was lost, there was no other way to put it.

Usually Tim behaved himself well enough, he always did as he was told at the orphanage, at all his vegetables at supper, prayed to the Chief God daily, and did his chores without a second thought. Though he did feel lonely at times, he was content for now.

But today Timmothy did something he shouldn't of, he followed Ms. Fullmoon without her knowing.

Everyday Ms. Fullmoon would leave the orphanage for at least two hours each day and leave the older kids in charge for the time being, she never told them what it was other than "hero business". That answer dated the children's curiosity enough in the past, but recently it wasn't enough, specifically for Tim.

Tim had noticed whenever Fullmoon would leave, she'd bring with her a bag full of food, and when she came back the food she packed was gone, now it wasn't unheard of for her to donate to the homeless close by, which they all thought she did on her trips, eve Tim, until a week ago he followed her without her knowing and saw her leave the city.

Since then Timmothy's suspicion had gotten the better of him and he decided today he'd go all the way and follow her. Their travels led the boy into the forest surrounding Lescatie. While Fullmoon had taken the children on special trips into the forest occasionally if they all did their chores on time, Ms. Fullmoon went deeper than they normally did this time. And along the way Timmothy had gotten lost.

Tim was starting to get worried, all the other children had told stories about the dangers of the forest and if you weren't careful, a monster would jump out of the bushes and gobble you whole.

Timmothy's imagination ran wild, he could already picture a giant, hideous beast with claws sharper than any sword a knight had, with a thick, fleshy hide underneath a coat of dark fur, staring down at him with its red eyes, opening its gapping maw to devour him whole...

Timothy almost screamed when a raccoon came out of a bush to his right. It ran off back into the wilderness, leaving the boy alone again.

But then, he saw it...

A small, decrepit, two-story home. Right in the middle of a clearing in the forest.

"Maybe whoever lives there can help me get back home." Timmothy thought as he began to creep his was to over to the husk of a home...

I left the guild twenty gold richer, adding it to my now hefty allowance. While I did have a fortune, it would be just enough for me when I'd begin my journey across the continent. And if I ran low on gold I could always find another guild and do a quest or two for more money, hopefully the other guild leaders were as generous as Noah and didn't have any fees.

I decided I'd take a small break before doing another quest, that break entailed having a snack at a cafe near the guild. I had just finished my meal and got up to head back to the guild.

"I saw a few quests earlier, I guess I'll do-" I thought to myself before..

"Timmothy!" A woman's voice called out nearby, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to look at the source of the voice and saw none other than Sasha looking frantically around the street.

"TIMMOTHY! Timmothy!!!" She kept calling, catching a few stares and whispers from a few bystanders, but she didn't seem to care as she kept calling out for "Timmothy".

"Now now Seth, you should really keep your distance from Sasha, you've involved yourself quite a lot in the maidens' lives already." I could hear my conscience advise, that big logical part that I've sort of been disregarding a little too much, maybe I should listen for once and...

"Timmothy?! Ti-" Sasha almost bumped into me as she kept looking around. "Ah! Seth, I'm so sorry." She quickly apologized.

"Uh...it's fine, I-"

"But now that I have your attention..." She paused to catches her breath, "Have you seen a young boy wandering about by any chance? He had a white shirt on and brown pants.." Sasha explained while breathing heavily. My mind flashed back to earlier, the boy that was following Sasha matched his description.

"Yes, he was with you earlier wasn't he? I saw you two this morning." I said. Sasha frowned, "No, that can't be right..." Sasha replied "I left the orphanage by myself this morning, you must be mistaken Seth."

"But he was wearing a white shirt and brown pants that were baggy, and he looked about six." I explained.

Sasha was quiet, before she asked, "And, you saw us leave the orphanage, correct?"

"Yes..." I began, "Sasha, where did you..-"

"Is there something wrong everyone?" A stern voice said next to us, "I'm getting reports that someone is looking for their child, yes?" He continued.

"Oh, that would be me Guardsman." Sasha answered, the Guard's eyes widened when he heard who spoke and turned to Sasha. "Mrs. Fullmoon? Why-You had a son?!" He exclaimed, Sasha's mouth dropped as she shook her head quickly.

"No no, he's one of the children at my orphanage, not my son. I could never direct my devotion to the Chief God to someone else." Sasha explained as the Gaurd began to blush.

"Oh goodness, forgive me hero..." The guard said in an embarrassed tone before shaking his head. "But you're looking for one of your orphans? It wouldn't happen to have been the little one accompanying you into the forest would it?"

Sasha's face paled, "Wha-What?!"

"When I stopped the child at the gate he told me you were taking him with you for your business. So I let him by after scolding him for falling behind you by so much." He answered, his tone grew somewhat nervous.

I was speechless as the realization of what was happening hit me, and what was going to become of that child.

"Sir, are you alright? You're body is trembling a lot." The Guard asked me.

"Are you INSANE?!" I yelled as I spun around to face the guard. "YOU let a CHILD outside the city without talking with his GUARDIAN!?" I yelled, catching the guard by surprise.

"I assumed Lady Sasha was watching him, and that no monsters would try to harm to anyone under her watch." The guard defended.

"SHE DIDNT EVEN KNOW HE WAS WITH HER! Now look what's happened!" I exclaimed as I spun towards the direction of the gate, my hand clutching the hilt of my sword as I began to run towards the wall.

"Seth? SETH WAIT!" Sasha called out from behind me as I ran off to save a kid's innocence.

"Seth, I appreciate your concern, I really do, but you don't need to be out here..." Sasha tried to explain as she caught her breath, "Timmothy is my responsibility, so you should return to-"

"Screw that, I'm not going back until we find this kid." I answered before I forced my way past some bushes, Sasha following close behind calling out Timmothy's name. In a way Sasha was right, I didn't even know this kid, and Sasha is strong enough that even if a wild mamono were to try and get that kid for some "ara-ara" she'd easily kick their ass. Sasha wasn't a full-fledged knight like Wilmarina, but a war priestess apparently. My best guess is that means she's a more aggressive cleric. But the point is she could handles this by herself. So why was I out here then?

Because leaving a child in need like that would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Even if Sasha could handle it, I wanted to be there to make sure the kid is fine, and that Sasha doesn't do something drastic as leaving the boy to the children mamono to hide her secret. And plus these are child mamono, so they'd be probably be more open to "playing" with Tim than an older mamono would.

"...If you insist..." Sasha said in a defeated time, the two of us continued to search and yell for another five minutes before I decided to cut the tension around us with some small talk.

"Hey Sasha, is there anything you can tell me about Tim?" I asked, "Hm?" Sasha turned to me.

"Yeah, can you tell me a little about Tim? If I'm going to be helping I want to know if there's anyway to make him less scared." I said.

"Well.." Sasha began, "Sure, I could tell you a bit about him.." Sasha agreed.

"Timmothy, he's..." Sasha started, "What is there to say, he's a sweet boy really. I say that often, but when you really get to know him, Tim is such a sweetheart." The veteran hero said, though something felt off about that answer.

"Why do I feel like there's more to him than that?" I asked.

"Eh?"

"You said that he's a sweetheart 'when you get to know him'. But you make it sound like he's not always a sweetheart. Does he get along with other kids?"

"Oh, no no no, heavens no." Sasha defended, "All the children under my care get along well with one another, there is no hostility whatsoever.." Sasha hesitated, "But, Timmothy, he's a quiet child.." Sasha stated.

"So he's introverted?" I replied, to which Sasha nodded to me.

"Not that it's terrible, but Timmothy just doesn't open up often. He's always so quiet when around the other children, there are days he won't say a word at all even. " Sasha lamented, "But I suppose that's to be expected, considering his background..." Sasha trailed off.

"Seth..." she paused, "I'd rather not discuss Timmothy's past if it's alright with you, it's just..." Sasha hesitated as we walked through the brush. "...it's not a story I would like to retell if that makes sense."

"That's..." I cleared my throat, "It's okay, I can respect that." I answered. Sasha let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank you, but Tim is a treasure, and he always has looked up to the knights of the Holy Order.." Sasha said, though a part of her tone held some sadness, I could tell why.

"I could sign something if his if he wants." I said, "If you've got a pen that is."

"Not at the moment, but if you want to talk with him, he'll eventually start to open up more. When he first came to the orphanage, he hardly said anything to me unless I talked to him, though after a while he started opening up to me more, now he's fine with talking to me. If only he was that open with the others.."

Me and Sasha continued to traverse through the thick green vegetation as the sun shown above.

Earlier...

Timmothy stood outside the decrepit home, with one of his arm frozen in place. He's gone to knock but stopped himself, he tried leaking in through a window and saw that the home's interior was as bad as its exterior.

"There's now way someone lives here, who would want to live in such a dirty, old home like this?" He thought to himself, he'd seen the other homes in the slums, and even they looked like nicer places to live than the structure before him.

He turned back to the direction of the woods and pondered what to do next. "Ms. Fullmoon is probably on her way home now, she'll be angry if she sees me gone.." Tim thought, "I don't even know how to get back, and there are monsters out there in the forest to. I can't go back out there." Tim slowly turned back to the home before him.

"At least I'll be safe in there, monsters don't live in houses, right? Maybe some nice old granny lived here and left cookies or something." The young boy thought to himself as he repeated his actions before and reached out to grab the door knob, this time his hand made contact with the worn down doorknob. He turned it and slowly opened the door. It opened with a small creek*, but nothing too loud.

"Wait, I should've knocked before opening the door, what if someone does live here? Ms. Fullmoon would be even angrier if she knew I did that." The boy nervously thought as he peered inside.

Fortunately, he wasn't met with the sight of a tall, scary old man, or the hungry stare of a bloodthirsty monster either. Instead he saw the dark interior of the house, it was the same as was he saw from the window and just as dark.

Tim slowly stepped into the house before slowly shutting the door like he did earlier when he opened it. Tim looked around the room, to the left hand corner of the room was an open doorway that led into a dark corridor that led deeper into the home. An old couch was in front of him on the other side of the room, flanked by two wooden chairs. The wooden walls were dirtied due to years of poor maintenance and neglect, dust and stains covering the light brown wood. Despite being safe from the wild mamono that roamed the forests, Timmothy couldn't help but feel on edge still. It may have been because he was in a old home that was most likely abandoned.

Timmothy tried to shake off the edge, "I'm being silly, there shouldn't be anyone else here, and the monsters are out there. Why else am I scared, this place isn't haunted is it?" Tim couldn't but shudder slightly at the thought of a vengeful spirit phasing through a wall a chasing him down the dark hallway ahead.

"No, I haven't heard even a small 'boo' since I got here. I should explore more of this place.It'll be a little while before Ms. Fullmoon comes to find me." The boy thought as he slowly began to move down the hallway, a few small creeks* sounded as his small feet stepped on the old wooden planks. The hallway was very dark and Timmothy could hardly see as he walked straight, he saw two sources of light beside him after ten seconds of walking. It looked like they were coming from underneath two closed doors on either side of him, Tim also saw a staircase ahead of him at the end of the hallway, Tim briefly wondered which way to go before deciding to creep towards the stairs ahead of him. Maybe he'd find a bedroom and a bed, the boy didn't mind the thought of a nap to pass the time, he'd walked a long distance and felt he could use a nap.

And so, Timothy began the slow, careful journey to the stairs, he continued his slow pace to avoid tripping on anything or falling into any holes, because of how dark it was, seeing where he was going was hard. Keeping his arms slightly out, he raised a foot partially before placing it slowly back down in front of where it was before. He carefully shifted his weight to the forward-most foot before raising his back leg, slowly bringing it ahead of his front foot and repeating the process. It was slow, but he was able to avoid tripping on anything, and made little noise as he walked.

Timothy was now a few feet away from the stairs, in another minute he'd begin to go up, and stop his slow pacing because he saw light trickling from above, perhaps it was sunlight from another window. But the light dimmed noticeably, signaling that the clear weather turned cloudy.

As Tim went to put another foot foreword...

creek*

Tim's body froze and stiffened and he involuntarily gasped quietly.

Despite being muffled, Tim heard a creek* coming from one of the rooms behind him.

This scared Tim since it meant that he couldn't have made that sound. Which could've meant that Tim wasn't alone, and the home wasn't as empty as he thought it was.

But the sound was so quiet, it did startle him yes, but he heard it due to how quiet he was, surely it had to of been a mouse or another small rodent messing around in that room, he didn't need to go check it out did he?

But the boy felt his body quietly turn around, and he resumed his quiet creeping. Facing away from the stairs, the sound he heard came from his left-hand side. Dim light came from below the doorway. Tim put a hand on the knob and pressed his ear against the closed door and listened...

"..."

...He heard nothing, not even the faintest of sounds reached his ear, a part of him wanted to leave it at that and get away from the room and go back to the steps. However, his curiosity told him otherwise, edging him on to look inside the room.

After debating the idea for half a minute, Tim braved himself and slowly opened the door...

He saw no one hiding within the room, when he slowly closed the door behind him as he stopped inside. Two paintings hung on two of the walls, one to his right, and the other hung on the other end of the room, both partially revealed by the dim sunlight coming from the room next door. The former depicted a lighthouse atop a cliff, overlooking a vast, sapphire blue ocean. Four tiny figures stood on either sides of the structure, a big wooden boat was pictured near the horizon. And next to it was a small beach at the bottom, where the cliffs descended into a hill. More figures were seen on the beach.

"Mommy and Daddy took us to a beach back then." Tim briefly thought to himself, but stopped his memories there. The other painting ahead of him was of a mystical looking forest, filled with small orbs of light and tiny winged figures flying around a small flower bed.

"Are those Fairies?" Tim tiled his head slightly, his mother told him and his older sister stories of them, that they hid away in Fairy Kingdoms away from human civilization. His mother was a natural story teller, and always had new tales to tell him and his sister, father even said that her imagination was what he loved most about her, though he did say he wished her cooking was as good her mind.

How long had it been, since he heard her tell him more stories? Since father would come home with whatever animal he hunted that day and cooked for dinner, how long had it been since he heard his older sister's laugh? Too long. Too long since-

"No! No more. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts again." Tim clutched his head and tried to control his breathing like Sasha had taught him for whenever he'd have another one of his "episodes", as she called them.

"No more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more..." Tim mentally repeated his mantra. By the time he stopped, he was shaky, and not just from his fear from earlier either.

To clear his mind, Tim decided to explore more of the room. In the right hand corner of the room was a small, wide hallway that led into another room, which was where the light was coming from.

Upon entering this room, Tim saw another couch on the other end of the room, in front of a big window, which showed that in place of the clear blue sky, was now a blanket of grey clouds. Though Tim couldn't see any rain drops outside. Next to the couch was another smaller couch closer to Tim, and behind it was a small closet, with white doors that nearly blended in with the walls. On the other end of the room was a countertop that held nothing on it, when Tim crept over and stood on his toes, he also saw that it didn't have much dust on it either. But he paid no attention to this detail and looked to his left. The full rays of light that came from outside landed on a gray door. For once, Tim's curiosity wasn't enough to draw him to the new door, this time he was drawn to the cabinets beneath the countertops. His hands clasped the knob and he pulled the door open. It was here that Tim discovered something peculiar.

Within the cabinet were a bunch of toys, and not only toys, but paper, crayons, and colored pencils to. From the looks of it, they were all just thrown into the cabinet judging by how messy they were out in.

"Toys?" Timmothy thought as his small hands scooped up a few of the pages in the cabinet and examined them, the ones he held had drawings on them. The first one he had depicted a small home that resembled the house he was currently in, with a few trees and a sun also drawn on, standing outside the house were a few stick figures, the tallest of them had green hair and wore an outfit that Timmothy often saw Sasha wear.

"That's what Ms. Fullmoon wears, is that her?" This question wouldn't be the last how ever, because when he looked at the smaller figures, he saw that they all had weird things coming out of them, not to mention they looked sort of inhuman. Some had what looked like horns growing from their heads, one even having wings, another resembled a caterpillar. The second tallest figure was orange and red and had a tail growing from behind her. Timothy flipped through the rest and they showed many of the same figures, if drawn differently. The pictures showed them doing things kids normally did, like playing with toys and running around. Some of them even had names.

The caterpillar was named "Kesha", the red girl was "Theresa", the winged and horned girl was "Patty", and the tall woman was...

"Ms. Sasha?!" Timothy knew it was her, but if what he was seeing was right, then she was with monsters. Literal honest-to-Chief-God monsters.

"But-But that can't be right, Ms. Fullmoon is a hero, she'd never play with monsters. They're all evil and mean and eat people, why would she want to play with them?" Timothy questioned himself. But he had little time to think on it because it was then that he heard footsteps coming from both the gray door, and from outside the way he came.

Timothy began to panic, if those really were monsters, then that meant he had to hide immediately. Tim quickly threw the papers back into the cabinet and closed it, he spun around and saw the closet behind the couch. He quickly began to creep over, trying as hard as he could not to make a squeak as he did, the footsteps drew closer, and now they were accompanied by soft whispering to. By then the boy had opened the closet and quickly shut it behind him. The closet itself was somewhat spacious from what Tim saw briefly as he raced into it, in the back were four stacks of boxes, if he needed to move deeper into the closet he'd hide behind those boxes then. For now however, Tim peered through the door's blinds to see who was coming.

The whispering stopped along with the footsteps as they reached the door finally, for ten seconds there was only silence. Then the gray door opened, and out came two figures, from the way Tim came was one more figure.

All three looked to be Timothy's age, and were as tall as him, and all three were girls. But they weren't human.

One of them looked sleepy as she began to converse, had two small sheep-like horns and had most of her body covered in sheep's wool. Next to her was a girl that almost looked human, wearing a simple cloth shirt and a skirt. She pair of wings exposed from her back, and had horns on her head as well. She had long blonde hair with red eyes. The third figure that came from the hallway looked like a bear, she had on overalls and a yellow cloth shirt. One of her hands was covered in honey, some of which dripped to the floor below.

"Hiya Patty an Betty" The bear girl girl greeted cheerfully. But the winged girl immediately started shushing her.

"Tammy, you can't be too loud. That human can still be here." She warned, looking around nervously.

"But Patty.." The sheep girl named Betty began, "They would've came down by now if they were." She said drowsily, "And we're still fine though..." Betty finished with a yawn.

"But, I can still smell them. Their spirit energy says they were here just now." Patty said as she sniffed the air.

Tim held his breath, "Does she smell me?..." Tim had to stop himself from trembling.

"How can you be so sure? Ms. Fullmoon says your sense of smell isn't..." Tammy paused as she thought for a moment, "What's the word she used? Under-heloved?"

"Under..." Betty yawned, "...developed. Her sense is still underdeveloped is what Sasha said." The sheep girl explained, Tammy replied with an "ohhh".

"But, I swear he was just here. You smell that too right?" The child succubus asked, her two friends sniffed the air for a second and nodded.

"We do, but not as well as you Patty." Tammy said, "So they're probably gone now, so let's play again!" She announced.

"But...we were just playing Tammy, let's all nap..." Betty suggested, to which Tammy shook her head, "You can sleep later, let's go do tag again. Or hide and seek even." Tammy smiled.

"...Fine." Patty relented, "But we have to wait for everyone else first. The others are still in the basement." Patty gestured to the open door behind her.

"Big Sis Theresa is still upstairs, she fell asleep just now, and Kesha.." Tammy paused, "Where did she hide again?" She asked her two friends, who both shrugged.

Tim was too busy watching the three to notice the soft rustling sounds behind him, nor did he notice the soft *pitter patter of footsteps behind him. "Chief God help me, I don't want to die yet..." as he sat there in that dark closet his memories started coming back yet again, him yet again hiding in a closet, his sister telling him to stay hidden before running off, before...

Tim heard a soft gasp behind him, at first he was as still as a statue, but then he slowly started to crane his body around to the source of the gasp. Partially revealed by the light coming from outside the closet was another monster, the caterpillar girl from the pictures, she was as tall as Tim and was staring at him with wide eyes.

"You're.." she started, "A human?" She whispered in awe.

That was all it took for the boy to lose it and screamed as he burst through the closet door, landing on his back, he began backing away, still screaming as the now alert caterpillar girl exited the closet. Tim's eyes darted to the other figures in the room in fear as they're attention was now focused on him.

"Kesha..." Tammy started, "Is he..." she continued, her surprise turning to awe and excitement.

"I knew it!" Shouted Patty, "I told you girls there was someone here, I told you." Patty said smugly as Tim started to hyperventilate.

"He's not an adult though.." Betty examined, "He's just a boy.." she continued as her eyes shot open when the realization of what was happening dawned on her, "He's as old as us." She finished.

Tammy was almost bursting with excitement, "Patty, get the others." She ordered as her eyes shot back to the quivering boy, "I've always wanted to play with a boy..." she began.

"N-NO!" Tim shouted, catching the trio off guard, "DON'T EAT ME!!" He shrieked. Before the girls could say another word Timothy scrambled to his feet and pushed Tammy aside, who fell to the floor with an audible "Oooff". Timothy ran through the dark hallway as he heard Patty calling out, both to him and the other girls. His leg broke through a weak wooden board and he screamed again as pain shot through his leg, he heard footsteps approaching him and struggled out of the hole, he heard panicked voices talking about smelling blood, others screaming he's hurt, in his mind it would be all the better for them, injured prey are easy prey. He felt someone try to grab him from behind but he dodged and lunged for the steps, he clenched his mouth shut as he scrambled up the steps, the pain in his leg was unbearable but he knew what would happen if he stopped, they'd get him and eat him.

At the top of the steps Tim saw two doors on either sides of the hallway ahead of him. He picked the door to his left and threw himself to it, grabbing the knob, he stumbled into the room and slammed the door shut behind him, he was able to locked it just as his pursuers reached the door, he saw the knob jerk side to side as the monster children tried opening the door, begging him to let them in, spouting off promises of fun and no harm, but he didn't listen and backed away from the door.

"I..." he sputtered, "I'm safe, I got away." He whispered. It was then however, that the boy heard another noise behind him, the sound of someone getting out of bed.

Behind the boy was an older looking girl, her skin was yellow and her arms and legs were covered in ruby-red scales. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and she stared at the kid with golden lizard like eyes. She stood more than two feet taller than the boy.

"A human, here?" She whispered to herself as Tim backed away slowly, her eyes widened when her gaze reached his leg, "You're bleeding, what happened?" The lizard girl began searching around for something. The boy didn't want to know what it was, his focus turned to a window on the other end of the room, a dangerous idea formed in his head.

"I could get hurt, but I could get away, and maybe a hero will find me..." Tim reasoned as the girl found what she was searching for, as she began to stand back up Tim raced towards the window as the adrenaline numbed his bleeding leg, opening it up, he had tried to then leap out the window. But he then heard a loud and panicked "NO!" from behind, followed by feeling a powerful hand grab his shirt from behind and toss him back into the bed, the boy let out a scream as the girl then slammed the window shut and walked towards the boy.

Me and Sasha split up after another hour of searching, the sky was now dark and cloudy, though luckily for us it wasn't raining. I silently prayed to my god and whatever merciful god existed in this world that Tim was okay, and not getting "played with" by any child mamono.

That was when I saw a clearing up ahead, and in that clearing was a duplicated, two story house. Looking around, I didn't see any mamono or Sasha, so I began making my way over to the home.

"Could it be that this is Sasha's other orphanage?" I wondered as I stepped onto the porch and reached the door knob. I opened the door and saw that the inside was in the same condition as the outside, despite the house's condition, I had a feeling it wasn't really abandoned, and that I wasn't alone either. I crept out of the room into the hallway and saw two doors on either sides, and some stairs at the end of the hallway. I decided to enter the door to my right first.

The room was a kitchen, fit with a furnace, a table with over a dozen seats, a sink, countertops, and a pantry. I walked over to one of the cabinets and opened it, inside were dozens of small pouches labeled "essence supplement". This confirmed my suspicions and I shut the drawer. After this I crept out of the kitchen and went to the next room.

When I entered this room I saw two paintings, one ahead of me, and the other to my right. The first showed a lighthouse atop a clif, standing on either of its sides were a few small figures, on the ocean imahead of it was was big ship close to a beach with a handful of other figures. The second one showed a forest full of small orbs, and a plethora of small winged figures flying around. They were fairies by the looks of it. I saw a small hallway in the right hand corner of the room, I walked through the small corridor and saw that it led into another room, fit with two couches, an closet that was open, a counter top below the window, and on the far end to my left was a gray door. I went over to the door and tried opening it, it opened and was greeted by a blanket of darkness over a descending staircase wading into a basement.

I started my descent into the basement, squinting my eyes to try and spot any lanterns but found none, when I reached the bottom the only light I could rely on was the light coming from the floor above, but even then it was limited due to how cloudy it was. I felt around with my hands gazing the walls, but felt nothing else. No trap doors, levers, or anything. But I still felt something was down there, something I couldn't put my finger in, this surprisingly made me feel more uninterested than curious and I found myself having the strong urge to investigate elsewhere in the house. I turned around and made my way back up the steps and into the living room. I turned to leave the room when..

"There you ar-eep!" A girl said to my right, I turned to see a younger looking succubus standing in the hallway. She looked nervous as I made eye contact.

The young succubus looked like she was about to cry as she shakily spoke, "P-Please, don't hurt me.." she begged.

"Hey, hey easy, easy." I said as I crept over to the child, she may have been a mamono, but this was still a kid. "I won't hurt you, alright." She tensed up when I first approached, but after I said my piece she looked back at me with her eyes still watery. "You..." she sniffed, "You won't? But, you're..." her eyes glanced down to my sheathed sword, and the order belt I wore.

"I'm not one of those kinds of knights.." I started, "Actually, I'm a friend of Ms. Sasha." I said, the girl's eyes lit up.

"You are?!" She let out a relived sigh.

"Yeah, we're even neighbors actually." I smiled, though I couldn't let my guard down, kid or not, this was a mamono. Before she could get any ideas I said, "Where are the other kids at by the way?"

"There..." she paused, "Hiding, we sensed someone coming and hid where Ms. Sasha told us to hide, she told us never to tell anyone about it though.." she answered nervously.

"I understand, that's smart of you..." I trailed off, the girl seemed to understand the cue and answered, "Patty, my names Patty."

"Patty, that's a cute name." I answered. "So, if everyone else is hiding, why aren't you hiding either?"

"Two of my friends, Tammy and Betty snuck off to find a boy we found earlier." Patty replied, "He ran into big sis's room earlier and those two wanted to know if he slipped out the window, he hurt himself earlier.." Patty shuffled a little.

"A boy?" I was alert again, "What did he look like?"

"He had a white shirt and brown pants, he was my age to." Patty described before pouting, "He screamed at us and ran off before we could play."

"And who's this big sis of yours, and what kind of mamono is she?" I asked, feeling worried, this wasn't good. A shota has no chance against your average onee-sama in any setting. The chances of one getting "ara ara'd" by one are as high as they are in the presence of a milf.

"Well, she's-" Patty suddenly shut her mouth as we heard the front door open and a man's voice echo, "Is there anyone there?", I placed myself in front of Patty before turning to her, "Hide." I whispered, to which to she replied and hurried into the basement, shutting it behind her. My hand traveled to my sword's hilt as I left the room and stepped into the hallway. I saw a man in armor turn towards me and say, "Halt!". He muttered an incantation, and a ball of light illuminated the hallway, revealing a man older than me dressed in armor worn by my fellow Holy Order of Knights.

"Identify yourself." The knight ordered calmly. "Seth Philips, I'm a member of the Holy Order of Knights too." I said handing him my ID, "I'm off duty today." The knight was silent as he examined my ID, before handing it back to me, "I see." He said as I pocketed my ID. "Knight Seth Philips, I'm Lieutenant Hardwall, I was alerted of a missing child in this forest, a child who was in the care of Hero Sasha Fullmoon." Hardwall answered.

"That's why I was out here actually." I replied, "Sasha is my neighbor, she asked me to help her look for him." I answered, the knight nodded. "My partner is outside searching the perimeter of the home, have you found anyone during your search?" He asked.

"No sir, I've checked this room and the room next to us, and was going to search the upstairs to. Though I doubt we'll find anyone." I said, yet that didn't stop Hardwall from turning the kitchen.

"It wouldn't hurt if I gave it a sweep would it? Perhaps you missed something." He said as we entered the kitchen, his eyes scanned the room from left to right before approaching a nearby drawer.

"This house is in such terrible disarray, don't you agree fellow knight?" The lieutenant asked. "I caught glimpses of some holes in the floor a head of us, and the wood creeks in certain places, such and old, worn down home..." Hardwall paused, "And yet" he finally reached the drawer, "Dose it not strike you off, that a structure this old, so damaged, has hardly a speck of dust?" He asked, "Such an old home should have had enough dust to choke someone to death, but since I've entered, I haven't seen dust anywhere but underneath the furniture in the foyer." He said as a hand gripped the handle of the drawer. "Not too mention, the lack of any small animals or rodents here. I've yet to see as much as a cobweb in the corners of this ruined home. Signs such as that must mean this shelter has had company recently." Before I could answer him, he opened the drawer and inside were the supplements. He grabbed a bag, red the label, and opened it. I walked over and peered inside the small sack, in it was a white power that almost looked like sugar.

"Essence supplements, Mr. Philips did you see this during your sweep?" Hardwall asked me. I shook my head, "Essence supplements are a powdery substance produced by spirit energy, a product of the diabolical organization known as Sabbath. They produce all kinds of devious devices and spells to drown humanity into depravity and darkness. And while some mages use this powder to, monsters are commonly known for having such items." Hardwall put the supplement back into the drawer, "This must mean that either a mage lives here by their lonesome, or." Hardwall closed the drawer and approached the doorway. "This home is housing monsters, when they don't have enough men to drain, they'll use that powder to sustain themselves." He finished as he hurried towards the other room.

We found no one there of course, but that didn't stop the Lieutenant, he turned to the basement door, and before I knew it we were heading downstairs. "I assume you haven't explored this place either?" He asked. "No sir." I replied as the ball of light he summoned earlier followed us down the steps. Looking around, we saw old furniture and some boxes piled into each other, and in the corner was an ice box, a magic device that was basically a freezer, using magic to keep meat, fruits, and vegetables cool. Opening it, we saw a handful of meat in there. "If this wasn't proof of someone living here, than nothing else is." Hardwall closed the box and turned to a closet beneath the steps. We both began to creep over to the closet, as we did my hand reached to my sword hilt, in case that closet wasn't empty I would have to act. Knocking him out and saying he was a monster sympathizers back in town had a fifty percent chance of working, less if we add Hardwall's partner in, and Sasha wasn't here yet either. If push comes to shove I'd probably have to use some more...permanent method to keep Hardwall and his partner quiet, even if I don't like the idea. It was that or risk the chance of the knights hurting these kids and Sasha being tied to said children and getting her into trouble.

"It would be quick, his neck isn'tprotected as much as the rest of him, a quick and powerful thrust is all it would take, and he'd be none the wiser." I thought as we drew closer to the closet. "His partner may need to be dealt with to, I'll just say some bandits jumped us from behind and ran off before me and Sasha could do something." I thought, "It's not too far fetched right? Bandits are a problem in the forest besides mamono, so.." I stopped myself before I could continue that train of thought. "No, killing is a last resort, I just have to wait and see what happens." I watched as the lieutenant's hand gripped the closet door's knob before swinging open the door.

Nothing was inside, the orb flew around twice so that we could see, after that the orb returned to Hardwall's side. "It's empty, let's head back up, we still have the second floor to cover knight." He said as we left the basement, that was when two child monsters were pushed into the room outside the basement, behind them came another knight with his sword drawn. "Lieutenant Hardwall, I found these two in the bushes nearby." The newcomer said as the two mamono trembled.

"Well would you look at this." Hardwall said as he reached for his blade, "Two demon spawn, lurking around the property." He said menacingly.

"Now then." Hardwall glared at the two as he drew his sword, "Where is the boy? Have you already devoured him?!" He growled as the mamono screamed.

"We don't know!" One of them screamed, it was a Grizzly, her friend was a Weresheep. "He ran away from us. We didn't hurt him we swear." The grizzly cried, the other knight with us scowled.

"How can we trust you? You're both abominations, now tell us what you done to him!" The knight drew closer.

The children whimpered as the knights drew closer, "He ran upstairs. He could up there..." the sheep gulped.

"Is that so?" The knight questioned, he turned to Hardwall and they both nodded. "We'll check upstairs then, but first." Hardwall drew closer.

"Hey, uh Hardwall? We aren't going to kill them right now, are we?" I asked, the lieutenant gave me a semi-confused look, "Why not? If we let them go, they'll grow up to capture and harm more innocent people, dealing with them now is the best option for Lescatie." Hardwall said.

"Now hang on, surely that won't be for a a couple of years, and shouldn't we take them to the dungeons first?" I asked.

"As I said knight, it's better that we take care of them now rather than later when they're grown up and dangerous. Besides, they'll be executed anyway, so what difference does it make?" Hardwall suddenly raised his sword, preparing to lunge forward for a clean strike at the children. Despite being outnumber two to one, I grabbed the lieutenant by his arm, halting him to his and his partner's surprise.

"Philips, what is the meaning of this?!" Hardwall demanded, "You are consciously interrupting an official execution. Release my arm at once!"

"An official execution? Based on who's orders lieutenant?" I said in a raised voice. The other knight began to aim his sword away from the cowering monsters.

"Block the door knight!" Hardwall commanded, and his partner complied, after his partner blocked one our only escape routes Hardwall turned back to me, "Based on the orders of the Chief Goddess herself, all monsters are abominations that unilaterally strive for humanity's extinction, killing them is our duty as the Chief Goddess's followers knight, by stopping this execution your labeling yourself a traitor and a sinner, if you do not unhand me this second, you shall face the wrath of our Chief God, knight!" Hardwall seethed.

"Screw that, these are children, they've done nothing wrong, you can at least give them a chance you coward." I said angrily.

"Coward?! How dare you traitor!" Hardwall growled as he forced his arm free.

"What else are you? Only a coward like you would kill children for preemptive defense." I said, unsheathing my sword, "All you have to do is leave them be, didn't you say you two only came here for the kid that went missing?" I reminded them.

"For all we know, that boy is probably dead, killed and feasted upon by those savages you call 'children'" Hardwall pointed to the mamono children, "Have you not heard the tales of these fiends' brutality? Their disregard for any and all human life?"

"Bullshit, they don't kill anymore, you of all people should know that lieutenant, you and your partner here have been knights longer than I have, you damn well know that's a lie." I was starting lose my cool, even if they still outnumbered me.

"And what of you? How are you so sure of this? Don't tell me you've read that heretical encyclopedia of monsters too?" Hardwall shook his head in disgust. "Whatever, it appears you are nothing more than a parasite hiding amongst the god-fearing crowd of the order's people, for your defense of the enemy, you shall be executed right here, and now Seth Philips, disgraced knight of the Holy Order!" Hardwall yelled as he lunged for a horizontal slash to my neck from the right. I put my right foot back quickly and raised my blade vertically to match the lieutenant's strike, as quick as he was, I was as quick thanks to my training with Noah and at the Holy Order. He quickly stepped back as his partner turned towards me with his own sword unsheathed, looking ready join in.

But then-

"MERCY'S JUDGEMENT!"

A woman's voice shouted as a ball of light formed behind the other knight and blasted him into the room, both Hardwall and me stopped to see what became of him. He was now face down and let out a pained moan before going silent.

Moments later, a familiar figure walked in and stood before the two of us, the atmosphere around us became tense from the mana that surged from the figure.

"You. Shall. Not. Hurt. Those.Children!" Sasha Fullmoon said, her voice lacked the softness and mercy she was known for, now she sounded like a parent protecting their child from harm.

"L-L-L-Lady F-F-Fullmoon?! Y-Y-You-" Hardwall stammered, before a ball of light struck him to, sending him through the window and onto the dirt in the opening. I quickly dropped my blade and raised my hands as she then turned to me.

"Hey wait! Don't-"

The atmosphere lost its tension as Sasha began to calm down after recognizing me and seeing I meant no harm, but she was still cautious.

"Seth.." she began, "It appears you've found my secret.." her expression darkened, she started to walk towards me. Fuck me, was she going to kill me? Or do a Men In Black memory wipe? No thanks to either of those. "At this point, you'll leave me no other choice, but-"

"Knock it off." I said suddenly, causing Sasha to pause and blink, "What? What was that?" She asked confused.

"Sasha, I have an idea what's going on, and I honestly don't care." I replied, causing the veteran cleric to tilt her head, "I came here to find Tim, that's all that matters Sasha, so cut the shady crap and help me find this kid before he gets fiddled." I said stoically, though I was all but stoic inside, here I was acting tough in front of a Veteran Hero who has probably wiped the floor with countless mamono and other ruffians before. This time, it seemed my act payed off, as Sasha shook her head and sighed, "O-Okay." She replied.

"One of your kids, Patty, said Tim was upstairs with big sis, so should we be worried or not?" I asked. Sasha's eyes widened, "Theresa, she's a salamander." She said, before a loud *Thump echoed above us.

I found myself running out of the room and down the hall in seconds, Sasha's voice yet again calling for me to wait, which I ignored and found the room the sound came from, I quickly jiggled the door knob a few times to find it locked, I readied my leg to kick the door open before Sasha arrived, "Wait, I can handle this." She ordered calmly, her hand lit up and a second later we heard the lock go *click, and I swung open the door to find the kid on the ground, huddled next to a salamander who looked to be twelve. She wore a black shirt and some red shorts, and held broadsword in her hands. But lowered it when she saw Sasha next to me, "Ms. Sasha?" She asked as Timothy emerged from behind her, looking dry and safe as he did that morning.

"It's okay, you are all safe now, two knights found this shelter somehow, but they've been taken care of, both are unconscious, and will be for a while." She finished before turning to me, "This, is Seth, a knight who came with me to help find Timothy. Speaking of.." she turned to face the boy, who lowered his head when she faced him.

"Ms. Sasha, I-I'm sorry.." the boy teared up, "I-I wanted to know where it was that you went, and-and I got lost, and found this home, and-and there were monsters and-" Theresa put a hand to the boy's head and held him close to her.

"He was scared of the younger ones and ran into my room not knowing I was here." Theresa began. "And he fell into one of the holes downstairs during his run, gave him a nasty wound on his leg too, but I patched it up with that med kit you left us." she gestured to his right leg, we saw a few bloodstained bandages wrapped around his leg. "Since then, I've kept the kid with me until you arrived, least the other kids were to try and get..touchy with him." She continued.

Sasha nodded, "I see, thank you Theresa." She said, "What has he told you about himself?"

"That he's a part of your human orphanage in town, even some his old family." She ruffled his hair a bit. "Tough kid, I'll give him that."

Sasha nodded again, by now we were both relieved that Tim was alright, but then my mind wandered to the two guards down below.

"I'd hate to interrupt this reunion Sasha.." I began, "But if you haven't forgotten, we've got two guards unconscious downstairs that know this place exists. Not to mention Timmy knows about it as well. You don't plan on keeping all three here do you?" I asked.

"I don't mind staying here with Big Sis." Timmy suddenly spoke up, "She's nice, and she said the other kids aren't scary either." He continued.

Sasha seemed startled, and mumbled something about "big sis" and "so soon". Looks like another thing I'll have to ask her about later then.

"But, it's best you don't kid." I said, "Yeah, they won't eat you alive, but..." I paused, "You can't stay here."

"Why not?" Tim asked.

"Because.." I said as Sasha shot me a panicked look, I gave her a thumbs up before turning back to Timmy, "..You'll learn when your older." Sasha calmed down, but not much. She was probably conflicted about this, if we let the guards go, they'd blabber to the government and all of us would be hung. And heavens knows what would happen to Sasha's human orphanage either. But on the other hand, killing them would be less than ideal, because I'd rather not live with their blood on my hands, even if these guys were willing to be potential child murderers. And leaving them here with the kids...fuck no, no way would I aid in turning two dudes into pedophiles like that. No way. I started to think for a second before I thought of a solution.

"Well, for the two guards, I have an idea." Sasha turned to me as I began to to explain my plan.

"Unhand us, this is madness!" Hardwall yelled as he and his partner were thrown into a cart by his former subordinates.

"We aren't the traitors, they are. We swear." Hardwall's partner yelled as he too was thrown into the cart as me and Sasha watched from the side. My idea was that we could frame the two knights for being monster sympathizers, which we did by gathering some hair and spit from the mamono children, and no, none of them did it with the guards. Sure, they could get executed, but maybe Sasha could free them before that happens, although, she might not considering what they were going to do to the orphans.

"The nerve of those two." The guard said after the two knights were loaded onto the wagon, "Having the audacity to accuse such a celebrated hero such as you Lady Sasha..." the guard continued, now addressing Sasha, because who'd give a shit about a lowly knight such as myself right?

"I can only hope the Chief God can forgive those two for their transgressions." Sasha hardly sounded troubled or guilty, perhaps she developed this during her time betraying the Order. "Even now you still feel pity for those monster sympathizers, where that mercy comes from we may never know." The guard finished as we boarded a carriage to take us back to Lescatie, Timothy was already waiting inside of it for us.

For the rest of the ride the three of us were silent, with the threat of our driver hearing us present until we reached the orphanage, I followed Sasha and Tim inside, where the other orphans waited to greet her, and Elt was there to, because it was the weekend.

After she was finished greeting her children, Sasha shooed them all off with Elt and brought me and Timothy with her to her bedroom, now came for the talk.

"Tim, what you saw today is something you absolutely cannot repeat to anyone else outside this room.." Sasha warned, Tim shuffled uncomfortably, "I-I know, I'm so sorry and. Sasha, I am."

"I understand, I'm just glad your okay. Heaven forbid anything we're to happen to you." The cleric said with relief.

"But Ms. Sasha, why do you look after them? Aren't they.." before Tim could finish, Sasha piped up, "They have no where else to go, and even though they're not human, they're still children, like you and the other children I watch." Sasha whispered, "You may not understand it now Tim, but this war isn't as simple as the Order wants us to believe, maybe one day, you'll understand."

"Why can't I now?" Tim whined.

"It's, it's best that I don't talk about it now, we'd all be in trouble if I said anymore than I have now.." Sasha looked out the window behind us, "I care for all of you so much, lest my beliefs bring you harm for being under my care..." Sasha was silent for a short bit before Tim nodded.

"But..." Tim paused, "...when can I see Theresa again?" from her reflection in the window I briefly caught one of Sasha's eyes widen, before she turned back to Tim with an almost bittersweet smile.

"...another time, Tim, maybe another time." Sasha replied, Timothy accepted that answer and smiled. "You can go back to the other children now." Sasha told Timothy. Me and him turned to leave Sasha's room, I had one foot out before a hand softly held my shoulder. "Seth, I need to talk with you still. If you would stay for another minute please?" Sasha requested, I slumped my shoulders before replying with "...sure".

I reentered Sasha's room and shut the door behind me, I knew we were going to have this conversation eventually, but I didn't think it would happen this soon. I thought it would be a day or two before this would happen.

Sasha sighed before she began, "I already know I don't need to tell you this Seth, for you are well aware of the dangers someone such as myself would face if my secret were known." She said, before I nodded. Sasha was silent for a few moments again.

"Why?" She asked me, "Why are you okay with this? As far as I know, all of you experiences with mamono so far have been all but negative, your first day here you were attacked by mamono even. So why then are you so accepting of this?" Sasha seemed genuinely confused, but also relieved.

"At this point I may as well give her a decent answer, one that won't put me in trouble with her later when Lescatie falls." I thought before opening my mouth. "Well, I guess I just don't hate monsters like everyone else here." I replied.

"How come?"

"I mean..." I paused, trying to think of a good way to word my next answer, "It's impossible for every single mamono to be nothing but evil in my opinion." I started, "Regardless of what the Chief God says, they're intelligent beings like you and me, so they can't be that shallow and simple right?" I contiued, "If that were the case, those two kids those knights held would've been trying to get in their pants rather than getting away from them, they were actually afraid Sasha, afraid like a human kid alone in a dark room or something." I finished. Of course, Sasha wasn't satisfied yet.

"But Seth, don't you care about the Chief Goddess's teachings? Do you not fear being labeled a heretic, or a traitor of humanity?" She asked.

"If you're going to go that far, then..." I opened my mouth again, "Don't you care, first of all?" I said, causing her eyes to widen, "And if I'm going to be honest, I don't care about this war." I revealed. "You what?" The war priestess asked.

"As nihilistic as it sounds, I have my own problems to deal with, like my amnesia and possibly finding my home. I don't want to get myself involved in this war."

"So then what is your goal here Seth? If you truly don't believe in the Chief God's teachings why are you a part of the Holy Order?" Sasha asked.

"For my own benefit, if I went out to find my home with almost none of my memories and without any proper training, then I could get killed by bandits, or forcibly married to a monster, neither of which are desirable outcomes." I took a breath, "So naturally, by joining the order as a knight, I can get the training I need to fend off bandits, and to forcibly teach monsters the meaning of consent. And all I have to do in return is put on a 'death to all monsters facade' and act like my fellow knights." I explained.

"I never thought you'd be so pessimistic Seth.." Sasha said with concern.

"I'm not completely heartless, I don't even want to kill anyone, even during my missions I've only injured and disarmed my opponents, my body count is a big zero pretty much. And I've made some friends to. But the point is, why should I worry about such a big conflict like this war, when I can hardly do anything about it period?" I finished.

Sasha gave my an understanding look, "I see, it's understandable that you put your amnesia first, perhaps many would act and feel the same way in your shoes." She frowned slightly, "But what if you go out there, and don't like what you discover or remember? Have you ever wondered if there was a reason you woke up that day with no memories?" Sasha questioned.

"...I'll face that problem when I get there." I answered, there had to be a way out of this world if I could somehow get in it. "But, thanks for understanding me I guess."

"As pessimistic as you came off, you aren't the best at it, after all, you went out of your way to help me find Timothy, didn't you?" Sasha smiled.

"Well, I did say I wasn't heartless." I replied, though she did have a point about me being a shitty pessimist.

"Anyway, I believe I've kept you here long enough. Thank you for your help Seth, I appreciate it." Sasha smiled again as I turned to the door.

"In that case, I'll see you around then." I bid Sasha farewell and left her room, and soon found myself outside her orphanage yet again.

Sunset was an hour or two away, and I was already on my way back to my shelter for the day, I thought about just kicking back there for a few minutes and then seeing if I could get one more quest in for the day, I could use the money for tomorrow. I wouldn't want to have to rely on my the Musketeers' pockets the whole time.

As I opened my door I stretched my arms up and shut it behind me, and went to go sit down.

"Finally-"

"SETH!!!!"

A woman screamed from outside my door, before I could go to check, I heard my door slam open and almost fell over, the door was shut as quick and as hard as it was opened. And standing behind me, catching her breath, was Paula.

"Paula?!" I asked in shock.

Paula didn't answer immediately, she was still catching her breath, but when I listened to her, I heard her sob to.

"Hey, Paula, are you okay?" Was all I got in, the next thing I knew, she lifted her head up, and I saw Paula's eyes water, and tears start to drop.

"Seth." Paula whispered, meanwhile I was still confused and in the dark.

"Paula, what's-"

Suddenly, Paula's arms were around my shoulders and I was dragged close to her in a strong hug, Paula started sobbing harder as she clutched me. I was shocked even more being so close to the musketeer, her skin was soft, and she smelled a bit like hay as well. A few seconds ticked by and my shock wore off, and my arms opened up and hugged Paula back. This caused her to cling tighter to me. For what felt like hours we just stood there holding each other. But eventually Paula found the strength to loosen her hold and take a step back, her eyes were still watery as she looked into my eyes.

"Seth." She sobbed, "It's, it's horrible."

"Paula, what's horrible? What's happening?" I asked, Paula whipped her eyes with a gloved hand.

"They.." she paused, "They got her, those darn inquisitors just barged in and dragged her out. We couldn't do anything Seth, me and Olivie just stood there..." Paula sniffled.

"Paula, who did they take?" I asked, trying to stay calm as my worries started to rise.

Paula held her stare as she spoke again. And my horrid were confirmed.

"They arrested Alameria, Seth. They're sayin she's a monster."