Chapter 4: Meeting Niffty

Anya walked behind Charlie, still smiling and looking around the hallway they were both walking down.

Not only was she happy to find a place to stay, but she also found people who were willing to take care of her. Anya realized that her decision to leave the orphanage and enter that cave was the best one of her life.

But despite this, she still had to keep her secrets from everyone at the hotel, especially her ability to read minds. She didn't know how they might react to this and if they would be able to trust being around her. No, Anya would keep this secret and make sure that no one would abandon her or use her for their own gain.

As she thought to herself, the child ended up bumping into Charlie, who had stopped walking at that moment.

"Hey, is everything okay there, Anya?" - Charlie asked, worried, after realizing what shook her head slightly from side to side, regaining her senses, and looked straight at Charlie. - "Oh, Anya's fine, princess." - She replied, smiling.

The princess smiled at her, and declared. - "Oh, please, Anya. Just call me Charlie. No need to be formal." - she watched the little child stare at her for a few seconds, until she began to think a little and then nodded at her.

"Okay, Charlie." - Anya replied, smiling slightly.

With that, Charlie opened one of the doors they were both standing next to. - "Well, this is my room. While we're still figuring out where your room will be, you'll be taking your bath in mine today, understood?"

Anya glanced briefly into Charlie's room, before following her inside. Once inside, the child looked around, fascinated by the appearance of the room.

"Are the other rooms in the hotel like this too?" - she asked curiously. - "Basically, but the guest can decorate it however they want once they're there." - Charlie explained, smiling.

"Ooooh, cool." - Anya was excited at the prospect of being able to decorate her own room or something.

"But while we're still at it, let's start preparing your bath." - Charlie declared, before turning and leaving the room for a moment.

And then she came back with someone else, and it seemed to be... another child? Anya was surprised, because she had heard Vaggie say that they had never dealt with a child before.

"Anya, this is Niffty. She's our housekeeper and one of the hotel's employees. And Niffty, this is Anya. She'll be staying with us." - Charlie introduced them to each other.

They both looked at each other briefly, and the difference in height between the two was visible. Niffty was the first to break the silence. - "She looks... Too alive to me. How did a mortal child like her end up here?"

Anya was briefly silent, still staring at the small cyclops in front of her. The thoughts running through her mind caused the child to shiver briefly. In one of her thoughts, Anya noticed the mention of a name: Alastor.

Despite not knowing who he was, that name caused nausea in Anya's head, making her almost lose her balance.

Charlie noticed this and quickly ran towards her, stopping her from fainting or something. - "Oh my God, Anya! What happened?! Is everything okay?!"

After being almost unconscious for a few seconds, Anya regained her senses and mumbled in a groggy tone. - "Anya was just a little nervous when she met the girl in red... she seems to be... a little... scary."

What Anya heard then from Niffty's mind was scary. -"Weird... I didn't even say anything, and she found me scary... It's like she can read minds or something. Interesting."-the child began to shake slightly in Charlie's arms, as she tried to get the little cyclops' thoughts out of her head as quickly as possible.

"B-But A-Anya is willing to g-get to know t-the girl in red better! Maybe she has a cool personality or something!"

Anya began to breathe frantically, trying to control herself. She looked at the two of them, hoping they wouldn't suspect her reaction.

After a few seconds of silence, Charlie decided to try to change the subject to get rid of that awkwardness. - "O-okay, it's a good thing to know that you're okay now. But let's just focus on what to do now, okay?"

And then, she turned to Niffty and explained. - "Niffty, could you please take Anya's clothes to the laundry, and then help me with her in the shower, yes?"

Niffty nodded, smiling at Charlie. - "Sure." - Then Charlie turned to Anya. - "You can go to the bathroom now, Anya. We'll take care of the rest soon, okay?"

The child nodded slightly and walked towards the bathroom, trying to open the door. Charlie quickly rushed over and opened the door for watched her briefly, before bowing in thanks and walking into the bathroom.

Anya found herself covered in foam in the bathtub, while Charlie and especially Niffty helped her. It was the first time she had taken a bath in a bathtub, since the orphanages she had been to had only showers.

And she had to say, it was a pleasant experience.

After a while, they helped her out and put on a bathrobe and wrapped a towel around her hair.

As soon as they left the bathroom, Niffty watched a timer and quickly left the room. Meanwhile, Charlie removed the towel from the child's hair and began to fix her hair.

As soon as it was finished, Niffty entered the room, with Anya's freshly cleaned and dried clothes.

After getting dressed, Anya briefly stared at herself in the mirror, as she heard Charlie comment. - "Hmmm... now that I think about it, I think we should buy you some new clothes, Anya. We can't just make you settle with this one."

Anya stopped to think for a moment and realized that Charlie was right. She couldn't just settle for that outfit. Especially since she would be taking showers frequently and would need to change her clothes.

Out of nowhere, a knock on Charlie's bedroom door was heard. As soon as she opened it, shewas met with Angel Dust standing outside.

"Well, hi. I was just passing by, when I heard you mention that Anya needed new clothes or something..." - he began.

Charlie just watched him, waiting for him to finish. - "And so... I've decided I'll offer to buy some of those clothes for her. After all, I've kind of become her legal guardian now, and I think it should be my duty as such to do so." - he concluded, awkwardly.

Hearing that, Anya sighed and smiled widely at that gesture. She then ran to him and hugged him by the legs. -"Yayyy, Anya will get new clothes! Thank you so much, Mr. Dust!"

Charlie smiled at Dust's reaction to the girl's hug, while Niffty headed for the door, curious about the scene in front of her. - "Okay, can someone explain to me what this 'legal guardian' thing is?" - she asked, not being aware of the situation.

Charlie and Angel stared at her briefly, while Anya continued to hug him, too happy to notice the tension around her.

"Well, it was pretty much Angel who found her and brought her here to the hotel, after she almost got caught by some bad guys in town." - Charlie began. - "And then, Vaggie threw the legal responsibility on me, out of the blue. And now, I have to take care of this girl here." - Angel concluded, watching Anya still hugging him.

He would normally have pushed her away from him, but for some reason, he ended up liking that contact. But he wouldn't admit it to others.

And then Niffty commented. - "Oh, how sweet, Angel. I didn't think you could get along with kids or anything." - "Actually, I've never been into kids. In fact, I've never interacted with one, as far back as I can remember." - he replied,in a tone of voice that clearly showed he was lying.

Suddenly, Anya released him from the hug and stepped back. - "Uh, sorry, Mr. Dust. Anya couldn't resist. It's just that you're so nice to hug, and I couldn't help myself." - She muttered shyly.

Angel smiled at her and replied, - "It's okay, girl. By the way, you must still be hungry, right?"

At that moment, Anya heard her stomach growl again, confirming his question. - "Yes, Anya is definitely hungry, right now." - she replied awkwardly.

With that, Charlie also left the room, with Niffty following her. - "That's good, because I believe dinner should be ready right now. So we better head to the dining room now."

With that, the others nodded and began to head to the dining room. In the end, Anya found herself even happier to be able to meet more people from the hotel at dinner. Although she felt that this Alastor guy gave off an aura of someone very dangerous and scary.

Out of nowhere, she felt something poke her shoulder and she realized it was Niffty. - "Well then, Anya... since you came from the world of the living, could you tell me how things are there or something?"

The girl was taken aback by the question, but decided to try to think of something. Even though she had spent most of her last years locked up, she wanted to make an effort to remember something good and be able to share it with someone. And so, she began to tell the little red cyclops girl what she knew.

01/13/2025: And here's another chapter. I feel like the next one will be complicated, and then I'll need to watch a few more episodes.

And yes, I looked up the height of the characters Anya and Niffty, and I was surprised by the 25-inch height difference between the two (yes, Anya is taller than Niffty.). Well, I'll take any ideas for the next chapter during that time.