Little Zephyrus opened his eyes and rose from his bed. He outstretched his arm and yawned. It's been quite a while since he had a good night's sleep. He opened the window next to him and felt the warm rays of the sun.
However, Zephyrus did realize that something is different. He realizes that he isn't sleeping on his own comfy bed. He realizes that the window isn't actually located next to his bed. And he realizes one more thing. He is not in his own house.
Zephyrus observed the strange room. The walls of the room were white in color, while his room had beige colored walls. The room was big, unlike his room, which is much smaller. And he could somehow feel calmness in the room.
"Oh, you're awake already," said a young lady standing by the door. She was wearing a light red priestess suit, had shoulder-length hair and was in her early thirty's. She brought in a tray containing some toasted breads and butter. "Good morning, little child," she greeted Zephyrus with a kind and warm smile.
Zephyrus panicked and staggered backwards, as he was still afraid of strangers, as in what happened to him previously. His mind started to get confused when he remembered the previous incident. His mind wandered back to the time he was playing happily, when he was suddenly kidnapped, when he was abused and when…his parents died. He started to weep when he thought of what happened to his parents.
"Oh my, what's wrong my child?" The lady set her tray aside and sat beside him to comfort him. With a concerning voice, she asked, "What's wrong dear?" She lifted Zephyrus' face up and stared at his teary eyes. "Now now dear, problems won't be solved if you continued crying. Tell me what happened."
Somehow, Zephyrus could feel her warm and kind heart. Slowly, he accepted the lady's treatment and rested his head on her shoulder. "It's…It's my…parents…sob…mom…dad…they were…sob..killed…by…" Zephyrus couldn't continue his sentence as he was overwhelmed by depression and started to cry.
"Awww…poor thing…" The lady pat Zephyrus' back and whispered, "It's okay dear, I'll be your mother then."
Zephyrus stopped crying and stared at her. "Re…really?"
"Yes, dear," the lady looked at him and smiled.
Zephyrus stared at her in awe. "Mom!" The pair then hugged and laughed, and Zephyrus was cheered up a little.
A small girl with long, almost waist-length hair then entered the room. She stared wide-eyed at Zephyrus and asked the lady, "Mom? Who's that…?"
"Ah, Arigatou, come over here, will you?" The lady reckoned the little girl to come over. She came over shyly. Zephyrus too, looked at her shyly. "Dear, what's your name?" she asked Zephyrus.
"I'm…Zephyrus…Zephyrus Leonheart…" he said shyly.
"Aww, how cute," the lady teased a little. "This is Arigatou Aishite. She used to be an orphan, until I went and adopted her. Now she calls me 'mom' too," the lady said and laughed.
"Hi…you can call me Ari…" she said shyly. The two little ones continued looking at each other shyly. The lady smiled and said, "Well, dear, you still don't know my name yet, do you?"
Zephyrus shook his head.
"Well…" The lady then stood up, lifted her dress a little and bowed. "I'm Yunaliska Hattori, one of the High Priestess' that served under the Royal Prontera Sanctuary. The local folks usually call me Mother Yuna," she said as she introduced herself.
"Mo…Mother Yuna?" Zephyrus asked.
"Nope. You call me 'Mom' instead," Yuna giggled. She then looked at Arigatou and said, "And you call her nee-chan." She giggled again.
Arigatou looked at her mother and puffed her cheek. "Mom! No! Don't call me nee-chan! No no no!" she said as she stomped the floor.
Zephyrus looked at her and giggled. "Ari nee-chan" he teased.
"Hmph!" Arigatou puffed her little cheek again and left the room.
Yuna laughed by just looking at her cute and childish action. "She's cute isn't she?"
Zephyrus nodded. "Yeah…So this is how it feels like to have a sister…" he thought to himself.
Yuna noticed him thinking to himself. "Anything wrong, dear?"
"No…it's nothing…" Zephyrus said. He tried not to recall his bitter past again. He knew that his parents wanted him to live. He needs to continue living, and to start a new life and…to avenge his beloved parents.
"Aww, I think you just made your sister angry. Why don't you go and talk to her?" Yuna suggested. "After you finish the breakfast I brought for you."
"Okay, Mom," Zephyrus nodded and started nibbling on his toasted bread.
"Be good dear, Mom needs to go somewhere. Remember to talk to Arigatou, okay?" Yuna said as she prepared to leave.
"Okay, mom," Zephyrus then continued munching his toasted bread.
"That's good dear," she patted his head and left. She then came to a stop when she remembered something. "Ah, Zephyrus, there's another two girls in Ari's room. They're twins. You should ask Ari to introduce them to you. Okay, see you soon dear," Yuna then left the room.
"Offkayff momff," Zephyrus said with lots of bread crumbs stuck in his mouth.
Zephyrus had just finished his meal. He then stood up and went outside the door, looking for Arigatou's room. Her room was just opposite to his'. He opened his door slightly and saw Arigatou lying on her bed while reading a book. He tip-toed quietly inside the room and went next to Arigatou. "Ari nee-chan!" he suddenly cried out.
"Ahh!" Arigatou throws her book away suddenly as she got teased by Zephyrus. "Zephyrus! You'll wake them both up!" she scolded him as she pointed at the two sleeping identical sisters.
"Sorry…" Zephyrus lowered his head and apologized. "Oh, who is this two?"
"This is Reiko Hattori," she said as she pointed at the little girl, sleeping soundly. "And this is Mei Hattori," she then pointed at the little girl beside the other. She had similar physical appearance with her twin. The pair shared the same length of hair, same look, same clothes, same height and were also sharing the same bed. "They both look alike don't they? They're identical twins you know?"
"Ooo," Zephyrus looked at the two and nodded. "Erm, Ari nee-chan, sorry about earlier…" he apologized.
"Nah," Arigatou shook her head. "It's okay, I'm not angry over you anymore, Zephy-kun," she giggled as she teased him. Zephyrus puffed his cheek when he heard Arigatou teasing him. "Eeeee, kawaii ne!" she said as she pinched Zephyrus' cheek.
"Ari nee-chan! Stop it…" Zephyrus pleaded her to stop.
"Okay, Zephy-kun!" Arigatou teased again and both of them giggled. The room was quiet for a moment, until Zephyrus let out a long sigh. "Zephy-kun, what's wrong?"
"Ari nee-chan…" Zephyrus then laid his body next to her. "Actually…I never had an older sister before you know?"
"I see…Are you the only son?" she asked. Zephyrus nodded over her question. "Where are your parents?"
The question startled him for a while. Arigatou looked at him confusingly. He then placed his head on her shoulder and whispered, "Actually…my parents had passed away…I'm now…alone…" Zephyrus started to weep.
"Aww…poor Zephy-kun…" She patted his head and and said softly, "Its okay, me and Mom's here to accompany you. Besides, I know that feeling too. I used to be an orphan. I understand how it feels to lose both your parents." She hugged Zephyrus in a sisterly way. "Zephy-kun, cheer up okay?"
"Okay…" Zephyrus nodded and smiled. "Thank you Ari nee-chan…"
"Aww…those two sure do look cute together…" Yuna said to herself. She then closed the door quietly and went back to resume her work.
To be continued