Cinder's face was in the carpet and she internally sobbed. She had been asked to babysit the children and she accepted, seeing as a way to be seen as useful and she was offered a free meal in return. Maaya had the best cooking in her opinion, it had that feeling of a mother's love. The children had met her numerous times and grew to tolerate her presence, something very little people seemed to accomplish.
As soon as the doors closed, she found out that they were balls of boundless feral energy. It was hard to get one to sit still for more than fifteen seconds before they were off to the next thing that caught their attention. Nana chewed and ripped apart her toys like a wild animal, often moving onto the others' toys next. The others brought out all of their toys and left half of them strewn around the place. When they got bored of playing, they doodled which sounded nice at first.
Only for Cinder to use the bathroom for two minutes before coming back out to see dozens of drawings littering the living room and some even were seen in the kitchen.
That only lasted fifteen minutes before it was time for lunch, which was hard considering Nana stuck to her like glue and constantly called her name in childish glee. Making the food wasn't hard at all, but giving it to them and trying to keep the place clean was almost impossible. Arthur was feeling rather bold today and flicked some applesauce at Isaac and Cyrus, causing the former to flick some back while the latter teared up.
So she had to deal with a crying five year old, a miniature food fight, and the others riling them up. There was also the fact that Nana, being the little glutton that she was, kept trying to climb to the top of the fridge to get into the cookie jar.
All this was in the span of an hour and Maaya and Six weren't supposed to be back for another three. Cinder didn't even know if she could survive the next half an hour with the way things were going. She spit up a bit when Nana hopped on her back and crawled around on her, prompting the other children to do the same.
Not a single one of them tried to be careful and she winced when a pair of small feet stepped on her back and hopped off shortly after. Childish giggling could be heard and they bounced across her eardrums. She knew she couldn't do anything to them, because they were the adoptive children of one of the most dangerous beings on Remnant. Who not only slayed ancient Grimm, but killed Ozpin and made it look like a macabre show as well.
A sudden thought popped in her head of one of the children crying and Six finding out, stomping on her and turning her into a red paste. It made her shudder and she decided to do whatever it took to avoid such a fate.
She enjoyed living the new life she was given.
"Cinder!" Prushka shook her.
"Please leave me alone..." Cinder sobbed tiredly.
"Arthur spilled something!" Prushka tugged at Cinder's cheek, causing her to look up. In the kitchen stood the boy with a jug of apple juice in his hands. He wasn't tall enough to reach the counter and pour it over the sink, so he set his cup on the ground and tried to pour it from there. The only problem was that he didn't anticipate the juice to suddenly pour out quicker than he intended.
Not only did it spill all over the kitchen tile, it knocked his cup over and spilled whatever inside. She sighed tiredly and wormed her way out of the dog pile and started to clean up the mess before it spread too far. The other children just let her do it, much to her relief, before she poured some apple juice for Arthur then put it back in the fridge. It was merely a break before she was suddenly dogpiled once more and they didn't move this time, simply trapping her underneath.
She winced when Nana gripped her hand and nibbled on the joint of her index finger. Maaya had told her that Nana was prone to nibbling on things, whether it be toys, the furniture, or even people. It was a sign that she liked something, but needed to be reminded not to bite too hard.
Cinder had to remember that Nana's teeth were notoriously sharp, like a carnivore. She found out the hard way one time when she thought Nana was done with her food and the little demon bit her hand. Although the wound had healed, there was a rather noticeable scar on her hand from it. It didn't make any sense for a four year old's teeth to be that sharp.
The bad thing about it was that these were still her baby teeth...
Her scroll pinged and she received a message stating that Maaya and Six would return half an hour early. She felt her eyes widen when she looked up and saw the apartment a complete mess. Papers were strewn all over the place, pieces of food were stuck the table and counters, toys were scattered around, and half their bedding was thrown around haphazardly.
Myne walked into the living room and stopped when she saw its state. There was a book in her hand and she gave a small wave to Cinder. Out of all the children, Myne was probably the one who was the most well behaved. She was smart for her age and spent a majority of her time either drawing or reading books. Cinder swore she saw her attempting to read a chapter book, but gave up after several minutes.
Cyrus pushed the dining room chair towards the counter and climbed up on it. He teetered a bit and opened up the cupboard, causing Cinder to bolt up and pluck him off of it before he fell. The last thing she needed was for any of them to injure themselves, she wasn't about to jeopardize her life because she wasn't paying attention to them.
"What do you want?" She asked, carrying him in her right arm.
"..." He just gestured towards a bag of tea and she nodded before grabbing the chamomile tea, setting the box on the counter and shutting the cupboard door right after. The kettle was turned on and she just bounced him up and down a bit in her arms. He seemed to like it because he set his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes.
The kettle started to whistle and she turned it off before pouring the hot water in the mug. She placed the bag inside and continued to bounce him up and down a bit for the next few minutes. The bag was taken from the mug and she let the excess tea drip off of it as she held it over the sink, discarding it in the trash right after.
He let out a whine when she tried to give him the tea and turned his face stubbornly while puffing his cheeks.
"You were being so good earlier. Why are you acting up now?" She sighed.
"You have to put milk and honey in it." Myne said from the couch. She sank into the cushions and twisted her little feet as she read a book.
"What?" Cinder turned to her.
"Cyrus won't drink the tea if you don't put milk and honey in it." Myne looked up at her before looking back down.
Cinder nodded and brought out the milk and poured some in, turning the tea a lighter shade. She poured some honey in it and stirred it around thoroughly with a spoon, tapping the inside before tossing the utensil in the sink.
Little hands excitedly grasped the mug and he sipped it eagerly, making her carefully tilt it down. His breaths echoed inside the cup and she just stayed as still as she could in order to avoid having him choke. He simply enjoyed the tea before finishing it and letting out a small burp and bouncing in her arms a bit.
She took the mug and rinsed it in the sink before placing it on the top rack of the dishwasher, closing the door shortly after. There was a tug on her pant leg and she looked down to see Nana, being the little gluttonous gremlin that she was, gesture towards her mouth.
"You just ate ten minutes ago." Cinder gestured towards the clock.
"Hungry!" She bounced on her feet.
"Fine..." Cinder sighed before looking through the cupboard. She was told that Nana wasn't allowed to have too much sugar this late because she would have a sugar rush. If this was her normal, then she'd hate to see her hopped up on sugar. It was a terrifying thought on its own. How did Maaya do this?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted some popcorn and grabbed a bag of it. She shook it in her hand while using her semblance and the popping sound was heard throughout the living room. Nearly all the children stopped and crowded around her as she cooked the kernels. It was the most docile she had seen them and it gave her a nice breather.
Once it was done, she shook it around to make sure there weren't any spare kernels left over. She handed to steamy bag to the little Faunus and she squeaked in excitement, it was adorable in her honest opinion. The bag was torn open and Nana stuffed her mouth with popcorn, nuzzling Cinder's knee a bit in gratitude before scampering off towards the living room with the others.
Cyrus was set down and he trotted off to grab some popcorn while Cinder just sighed and cleaned up. She had thrown on a small movie and went to work; cleaning the floor, wiping down the counters, picking up the paper and trash. The dishes were even done.
Her body moved on autopilot as she did the chores and her mind started to drift back when she was at that hellhole of a hotel. A place where she thought that she had an original second chance and could have a normal life. How many times had she been punished for the wrongdoings of that vile woman and her despicable daughters? Those long nights where she was sent to bed with barely a scrap of food or was locked in a room with no light for looking at a patron wrong.
Day in and day out, it was a constant cycle of abuse from the owner and her daughters; sometimes it even extended to a random elite. She remembered being severely punished and shocked one night because she wouldn't allow a patron to have his way with her. The madam watched from above with a scornful expression when Cinder threw a hot drink in his face, blinding him in one eye.
What kind of woman would allow a man in his sixties to prey on a fourteen year old?
Her eye watered a bit and she shook the horrible memory away while tightly clenching the counter. She had to remember where she was now, in an outer settlement with people who greeted her despite not knowing who she was. This place was that wicked hotel and it would never be.
Maaya wasn't the madam, and it was taboo to even try to compare that wicked soul to Maaya. The kind receptionist gave Cinder a place to stay for a few days before getting her a job at the guild. She never got mad at her for trying to adjust with only one eye, and even helped her at times. She would praise her for doing something simple such as organizing books and documents.
Cinder even got an apartment a couple doors down the hall from Maaya. The woman had done so much for her and didn't really want anything back with the exception of watching over her children and occasionally doing a favor or two. For that, she was forever indebted to her.
Six was... he was someone who she feared more than Salem. Something about him felt off... like he was an anomaly within Remnant. At this point, he wasn't even a threat to many but viewed as a force of nature. The more fanatical followers of his outright worshiped him, and felt it was a blessing to be breathing the same air as him. To them, he was more than a man, but a god in a mortal's skin. They'd readily sacrifice themselves in his name if he simply told them to.
Yet, he didn't. So long as they weren't a threat to civilians or other innocent people then he ultimately left them alone. They knew approaching him or anyone he associated with was considered taboo and prayed for the day he approached them first. If he wanted to, he'd find them and get what he wanted.
In all honesty, she found it creepy. Some places, he was viewed as a normal person that was highly respected, others he was revered as a divine being. Although in others, mainly the cities, he was a monster that put more fear into the hearts of the citizens than the Grimm ever did. Even fanatics in the city worshiped him, claiming his was some type of death god. She had seen pictures of people making runes in his name.
She wasn't about to meddle with a man that held that sort of status. Not when she saw the aftermath of what he did to Ozpin.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that everything looked cleaner than before and the children had merely doodled. She felt a bit tired and lied down on the ground, closing her eye. The stress from the past two and a half hours had started to fade away. There was a sudden weight on her back and she internally groaned in fatigue and annoyance.
"Now's not the time to play..." She sighed. When she didn't hear anything, she just turned her head and saw them all pile onto her with their blankets and pillows. They had finally calmed down and got comfortable, finding some spot on her to sleep on. Even Myne had joined in and wormed her way into the pile.
The clock ticked quietly and each of them started to close their eyes slowly, curled up against her body and drifting off slowly after. She just sighed quietly to avoid waking them up and closed her eye, feeling the slight fatigue catch up to her. The more time she spent around them, the more she realized that they weren't malicious children at all. If anything, they were more like wild animals.
They had their own set of scars that she had seen, and it was impossible to ignore them. While she had it bad with Ozpin and Ironwood's treatment, she was pretty sure these kids went through what was similar to hell. They deserved to be kids and get finally experience what they never had in their early lives. In some ways, she was jealous of them. At times, she wished she got to experience what it was like to be a kid.
She was left in the dark for so long that people used her like a toy, forgetting about her when she was finally used up. It was different being in a good environment though. People around here didn't want to use her for their own ulterior motive; if they asked her to do something then they'd repay her back later. She remembered when an older woman baked her an apple pie for helping her find her guinea pig.
Another time was when someone made her some clothes for helping them skin some potatoes for a few hours. After that, they made her mashed potatoes as a sign of good will. While there were a few bad apples, they weren't as bad as she was. She typically stayed away from them and some of the higher class. To this day, she wouldn't grow fond of the elite and possibly never would.
Her thoughts slowly started to drift as she fell asleep in the sleeping pile. The ticking of the clock provided good background noise that lulled them to sleep and kept them from waking up. Its constant ticks were comforting it some ways for some reason.
After another hour, when the sky was well past dark, Six and Maaya returned to the apartment. They stopped when they saw Cinder sleeping in the middle of the pile while the children were curled up around her. The mass of slumbering individuals made Maaya's heart swell up a bit and she covered her mouth then gasped. All he did was just stand there and look at them while she took a picture with her scroll.
They walked and saw that it was cleaner, indicating that Cinder had done some cleaning herself. The drawings were neatly stacked on the coffee table, making her pick them up and look at each one. Some were just random doodles while others was just of them two. The last one made Maaya smile a bit as she looked at it.
It was a picture of Cinder drawn in the middle. The children were holding her hands in a line. Each one had a smiling face on their little body and Cinder did as well, but they added her hair covering her eye. The sun was drawn in the upper right hand corner while a bag of popcorn and mug of tea were drawn in the left. They had a hunch as to why they drew that.
The picture was stuck on the fridge and displayed for everyone to see. The two of them just covered the sleeping pile with a blanket then left the room shortly after. It was nice to see, and they'd let them have nothing but peaceful dreams.
I actually was going to leave this as a one-shot but decided against it. As for last chapter, I apologize for those who had to deal with the ads in the middle of reading it. If there was a way for me to fix it, I would because it's actually pretty annoying to see a bunch of them in the middle of the story. Hopefully that isn't the case this time, and if it is... then sorry.
Napster153: Thank you.
Darkkon27: Thank you.
whatsupman: Alright, if you want it to be canon for you, then you go for it.
UndeadLord22: Then it served its purpose.
Jack Huynh: Meh.
LiquidusSnake: I like what you did there.
Maniacalharp747: You're welcome.
Akin2018: Yeah, I might do that for a minute.
IX404: Thank you.
Krieger Techpriest: It's probably going to be a little mini-series of one-shots.
ODSTFRymann: Probably continue with both of these.
AzureChevalier: Alrighty then.
your-Local-scytherifle: Yeah, the original story's pretty dark. Might get even more dark in the future.
Salamandra9137: You're welcome.
Austin: Well, it might just be different one-shots regarding them all.
Gundam-Knight-Chris: Here you go.
nantono: sure
Malgrath: A shame indeed.
Well, thanks for reading this. Here's to hoping that the ads won't pop up in the middle of the chapter like I said before. Truly sorry about all of that business.