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FICTION

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Chapter 2: Promise Best Unkept

I am 8 and things have gotten a bit bumpier along my road.

While kids ranging from 1 to 7 could blissfully enjoy basic physical exercises, the age of 8 was deemed the starting point for some serious stuff. Weapon training, acrobatics, and all sort of stuff an operative may need on a more basic level.

'Simple' stuff as Mother called it and... I have to say I am quite gifted in doing parkour. Maybe it was my tendency to be a fast mofo in regular stuff, or maybe it was because my body had been struck and stabbed so many times that it kind of had an easier time adapting to be more flexible.

Thus, I was a little monkey. A 'naughty' monkey at that as I had to once again save some asses as I got punished a few times as scapegoat for some other kids' messes.

It only got worse as combat classes started and we were set against one another to see who was going to 'become the King'. The notion of 'King' was the goal that this cult-like orphanage was all about before Arlecchino took over: being the King meant being the teacher's pet, or the successor to Mother.

At first glance, this may not sound like much. After all, creating a false 'main objective' was the finest way to assure a degree of 'effort' to try and achieve the 'non-failure' role that we were introduced to. Stories and fairy tales were delivered with the sole purpose of drilling this concept into our heads.

Surprisingly enough, those that started to train as I was had already understood this wasn't worth it. But no one could say no to mother. Not when she would wander around with her sword unsheathed and swirling as we exercised. Her Hydro Vision sported like a trophy, a sign that she was not a mere placeholder for the role of Knave.

Despite how these sessions helped me get a better grip in swordsmanship, it was more difficult to 'fake' my personal losses. Especially when I was starting to develop a gap of power between myself and the normal orphans.

Hiding away the recently gained Anemo Vision, I thought that I would have been the standard kind of Vision holder. Lots of elemental stuff, not much in physical boosts. But I underestimated Venti's blessing when it comes to people seeking to achieve freedom.

I was a caged bird, and one that wanted to free myself and the other kids. My family. It was such a troublesome situation, that I could tell Mother had picked up something was up, but she had chalked it out as me being merely better-geared for combat.

A lucky misunderstanding, just not much when I was pitted against people that were four or six years my senior. Those were real thought fights, but at least I could accept draws or close defeats here and there. Once again, failure was punished as expected.

At this point, I could tell I sucked the joy Mother felt out of hurting me. It was a mechanical response now, her smile less confident as she realized that it wasn't working on me and... that was a problem. If a 'parent' knows a punishment is not getting the right results, then they will change tactics.

And if it wasn't a direct punishment, then an 'indirect' one would follow.

I was made aware of this tactic around June of that year. I had been woken up from bed by Peruere as it was night and... the girl managed to sneak past the patrollers. Quite a feat for a kid as tiny as her, but alas she was nimble enough to not get noticed.

"It's Clervie. She got... hurt."

Hm, such a dramatic pause meant much more than 'merely getitng hurt'. I nodded, slipping out of the covers, shifting into my daily gear and tailing after my little sister. While the Lil' Arlecchino had gotten a lot of affection as of those last few years, she was still a shy girl. No, actually- she was an introvert.

A shame, I know, but that didn't mean she missed on the limited appreciation she got from the rest of the family and, much to my relief, she understood that the reason the family was so broken was due to how insane our 'Mother' was.

Tragically too, she also lost her spider friend. Since those critters don't live for long, it's fair to say it was predictable but a loss akin to a kid losing their pet dog so suddenly.

We ultimately found Clervie sitting by one of the tall windows by eastern hall giving to the outside. It was too tall for anyone to jump from and get away from the orphanage, but it was still a pleasant place to sit by if given enough attention to not be on the edge.

The redhead turned her pretty blue eyes to us and offered a tense smile at me.

"B-Big Bro!"

"Oh my, oh my. What a disastrous sight," I hummed with a hint of dramatic flair to hide away the genuine concern I felt at seeing the poor kiddo with so many wounds on her arm and leg. "Who could have hurt such an adorable little bunny?"

Clervie's lips twitched as her smile widened a tiny bit. "Sorry-"

"None of that, you are hurt and you don't deserve it," I interrupted as I set down the first aid kit I fetched before leaving the boys' room. "Perry, look at what I am doing since you may have to handle that if I am ever busy due to Mother."

Despite the much-hated nickname always leaving her in contempt, Peruere nodded and quietly listened to my impromptu lesson on how to patch up any sort of injury that looked as extensive as the one the tiny redhead had.

And while Clervie tried to make it seem like it was nothing, she spent most of the time I was busy applying medical alcohol on her wounds to clean up hissing and biting her lower lip to hold the pain back. Peruere watched and assisted me in providing me with all the tools needed to apply a fair amount of bandages once I was done applying some medical cream on the injuries.

"No stressful activities for a week, Clervie. You may be a durable child, but those are troublesome wounds."

"Okay," She replied quietly, but beamed at the tiny ribbon Peruere did with the bandages around her hand. "And thanks... Perry."

I ruffled the very pouty Peruere's hair, causing her to snort and pout even more before we sat by the window to watch the nightly sky. It was a risky move, but I was enough stable to keep the other two from falling off.

There was quite the silence, and the suave cool breeze was a blessing in those hot nights. As we were busy being mesmerized by the Fontainian sky, a certain blue-eyed child decided to ask about a peculiar topic.

"S-Sampo?"

"Yeppers, Bulle-head?"

Clervie pouted a bit at the nickname. "Is... is it true that lights dance in the sky in Snezhnaya?"

I felt Peruere look at me with equal curiosity and I offered a nod.

"Oh, the Aurora Borealis. I have heard of this fancy spectacle. Imagine the rainbow, but at night and, instead of hugging the land after the rain, it holds hands with fellow rainbows."

"...How is that possible?" Lil' Arlecchino inquired, surprised to hear this was true, but I didn't miss the chance to hand out more facts.

"It's something about the light from the moon and the air of the cold nights. The lights clash with the cold air and it creates this phenomenon."

It wasn't much, but it appeased them both that, as Clervie managed to snatch out of me, I promised that I would eventually bring them both to see Snezhnaya. I mean, I knew that we would be sent in missions there, so I didn't have much to be concerned about...

Ignoring the strange feeling that the plot was chuckling menaciously from the corner for some reason.

Still, I did ask that one question I needed an answer for.

"By the way, Bulle-head, who did this to you?"

She first said Mother, but I knew that was bullshit since the timing was wrong as Mother usually went to sleep right after dinner. And it was well around midnight at this point. Whoever did this not only had done it quite recently, but it had to have happened within the girls' dorm or somewhere nearby.

Eventually I had a name and... the scene that ensued the new day was particularly important to stress out something about the House of the Hearth. While it is true that loyalty towards Mother was ambiguous and that only the instructors were keen to be quite zealous over her demands, there was a sense of absolute loyalty towards one thing - we were all the Children of the Tsaritsa.

That was the core concept of the orphanage, and the one thing I decided against tackling since I couldn't do much about it. And it was also useful in handling this sort of situations as I had a name, and I knew how to best tackle this matter.

Not alone, not with a bunch of vigilantes, but with the 'entire Family'.

As lessons had finished just recently, two of the fourteen years old orphans were wandering into that very hall where I had patched up Clervie. The rest of the kids were there too much to the surprise of one of the duo, the girl.

Alix was a recent addition. She had been taken in quite old compared to other orphans and, while this may be an anomaly, it was easy to see why Mother had wanted her. She was a sociopath. And I wasn't using the term lightly here.

She was well aware that what violence was bad. But 'bad' wasn't necessarily bad for 'her'. In fact, pain was a good tool if used right and that's why she was known to be a bit of an attack dog for mother. A little bully that thought herself on top of the world whenever she got praised by Mother for 'showing what strength' was all about.

Alix thought herself above others, but she had a bitter bone towards me. On the opposite side, she had a crush on the boy that had been leading around, Sacha. And he was quite aware of how hideous of a person she was, which is why he wouldn't ask to talk with her in private unless strictly necessary.

Such as now as the doors of the hall were closed by the other children and... let's just say that a lot of cake went missing from the kitchen earlier that morning. When Mother was ultimately alerted by a patrolling instructor of what they found after we were done with Alix, she was quite annoyed. Not livid or angry, just irritated.

Alix had suffered a concussion- she was struck behind her back. Enough to make her lose consciousness before getting her entire body hit by various small cakes coming from various directions. She was a sobbing mess when she realized her crush had stabbed her in the back, but the worst part was how Mother handled this.

Since Alix had no clue on who truly hit her, and it became apparent that everyone was involved, Mother decided to be 'fair' and punish Alix instead. From that day onward, the bullying got to a bare minimum, and Sacha was freed from the creepy ogling of that crazy girl.

And while this reaffirmed that I had a great hold over the House, I was slowly becoming a problem for Mother. Not only it became clear that her minions could disobey to this extent, but I was getting at the age where I would go out for missions and... then that would become a problem for her.

While I thought I had a long time before that became a problem, I would soon be proved wrong when I hit 12 and... things went south really fast.

AN

Next time, a mistake, a promise, and an escape.