The two stared at each other for a good ten seconds not knowing what to do. A piece of bread was clasped tightly in the child's small hands while his countenance was riddled with fear.
Closing the door behind him, Lucian was the first to break the odd silence, "Umm, good morning?"
For a moment, the boy's eyes searched around for a place to run or hide but in the end, there was nothing. Slowly backing away, the boy responded, "W-who are you?" His voice was a bit high and trembled.
Lucian thought for a while before saying, "I-I'm a good guy and I promise I won't harm you." Yes, that's what you say in these situations, right?
"How can I know that you're telling the truth?"
Lucian looked around for something to prove himself eventually landing his gaze on the couch and slowly made his way there, "You'll just have to trust me on it. From what I've learned it helps in situations like these." In this moment, Lucian didn't know how to deal with a kid, but he did know that the child was in almost exactly the same position that he used to be in.
As he sat down, Lucian kept a caring and gentle countenance and partially extended his hand to point at the ice box, "There's some fish in there if you'd like some. We made sure to save that for you."
Hearing those words, the boy steadily walked over to the ice box, still keeping an eye on Lucian. Sure enough, a large portion of fish could be found inside the ice box. The boy then put the bread down and grabbed the fish to take a bite, then another, then another, until it was gone.
Lucian let out a small chuckle, "Hungry, are we?"
Before the boy could let out a word, the door opened, "Rise and shine Lucian!" Standing in the doorway was Ozzus who appeared to have just gotten changed.
The boy scrambled back to the corner, leaving the hard bread where it was and kept his eyes focused on Ozzus. The room was left dead silent with the gentle sound of high tide against the ship. Great job Ozzus, I'm back at square one with this kid!
Ozzus adjusted his glasses as he spoke, "I certainly didn't presume this of all things would happen today. When did he wake?"
"I'd say that he's been up for only a couple of minutes. It appears that the first thing he did was steal that piece of bread from the pantry.", remarked Lucian while gesturing to the counter.
"I see.", said Ozzus as he began walking towards the boy in the corner. Grabbing the bread, he knelt down and held it out, not moving a muscle. "Here, you wanted this, right?"
The boy was apprehensive, but for some reason he actually started inching closer to Ozzus and a second later, the bread was back in the boy's hands. Ozzus then put his hands in his pockets and stood up very slowly. "My name is Ozzus. Would you be okay with sharing yours?" The boy stayed quiet, as if to say he didn't.
Ozzus's eyes were clear as he said, "Okay, how about I guess it with a magic trick?"
The boy's attention was then grasped leading him to nod up and down. "Alright, for this magic trick you'll need to put your hand on mine. Can you do that?" A few moments later, the child's hand was resting in Ozzus's.
Closing his eyes, Ozzus spoke, "Good, now I will guess the first letter by formation of the celestials. Hmm, the stars seem to be pointing towards the letter O."
The boy's expression got a bit brighter out of surprise and curiosity. Ozzus opened his eyes for a moment, "By that expression, my guess must have been right on the mark."
Closing his eyes again, Ozzus kept acting like one of those mystical people with the crystal ball, "It seems that the stars have come together to reveal the courageous name of Orion."
The boy's mouth then silently whispered, "Woah"
To Lucian, the magic trick was obviously just Ozzus reading the kid's mind, but to the boy, Ozzus was a wonderous magician. Magicians were a common find in Novus so the boy couldn't suspect Ozzus of any real magic.
Proud of himself Ozzus adjusted his glasses once more and asked, "So, are the stars correct?"
"Y-yes", replied Orion. The star struck expression still lingering on his face.
Ozzus then gave a warm smile, "Nice to meet you Orion."
***
A few minutes went by as Orion slowly consumed his bread and gained back his will to fully speak. Priscilla still hadn't woken yet, so it was just the three of them at the table sitting tranquilly.
As Lucian sat there at the table, he thought to himself, how is this child going to react when someone tells him what happened to his family? He's not acting as though he remembers what happened so he must have been unconscious during the carnage. Lucian turned his attention to Ozzus who had clasped his hands together as if to show he was in thought.
"If it's alright with you, would it be okay to tell us about what happened before you fell asleep?", asked Ozzus trying to break the rooms tension.
Orion set the small remains of his bread down and stayed silent for a bit trying to recall what had transpired. He then touched his lower eyelid and spoke, "It was the middle of the night, and I had been sleeping normally until I my mother started shaking me awake. She wanted me and her to go on a trip far away. It sounded fun...very fun." Orions hands began to quiver a bit. "My father had started acting strange a couple weeks ago, although he wasn't a good father to begin with, but he just recently started hitting and yelling at my mother like she didn't matter to him anymore. Before we could even leave my room, he barged in holding something small and sharp...like a knife. In his other hand was a needle, but I didn't know what was inside."
"In those next few seconds, my mother was stabbed and a dark red liquid that I didn't want to believe flowed out of her stomach. My father then stabbed me with that needle, making everything blurrier in each passing moment. The only pieces I really remember were men in white, my mother trying to hold onto me, and some sort of fight breaking out among the white men and other people.", remarked Orion as he felt his other lower eyelid. "Tell me, do you know if my mother is okay?"
Lucian nearly flinched at the question. The cold corpse was still vivid in his mind, but he spoke anyway. "Your mother is in a better place now, I promise."
"So, she's dead.", corrected Orion coldly.
Lucian looked down in disappointment, "Yes." The boy was clearly not gullible like other children his age.
Orion let out a breath, "What will you do with me now?"
"We will do what anyone would and take you to an orphanage.", stated Ozzus
"I see. When?"
"Soon, I'll send you there with this man right here. I just need to talk with him about something first."
"Oh, alright."
Afterwards, Lucian and Ozzus then headed out onto the deck to speak. For some odd reason, Ozzus had had his fingers blocking both of his nostrils. "What did you want to speak to me about?", asked Lucian.
"This.", said Ozzus as he stopped holding his fingers up to let a large amount of blood to slowly flow out of his nose. "It's nothing serious but it is definitely more than what comes out when I read your mind.", remarked Ozzus as he wiped the blood off, smearing a small part of his face a light red.
"But you only read his name, didn't you?"
"Yes, and the fact that he's not even a teenager makes things stranger. I could read an entire inner monologue in a grown man's head and still have less blood drip out than this which means that one of two possibilities is occurring. The first being that the boy has an abnormally large mental fortitude. That may have been demonstrated when he didn't cry or show any signs of sadness as he told us the story. The second possibility is that the boy is somehow an Ethereal."
Lucian was confounded at the mention of this, A child can't become an Ethereal? You have to have certain characteristics build up over time and based on what I've experienced then these characteristics are only built by high exposure to possible carnage and stress. The latter one is most likely the key development factor though. "Before jumping to conclusions, we should test to see if he really is one by having me attempt to convey that we are Ethereals. The goddess's ability will keep me silent if he is.", said Lucian with a serious countenance.
Ozzus looked a bit taken back, "I see your finally starting to show your family's intelligence Lucian. I wouldn't have done anything different."
A bit embarrassed, Lucian replied, "I think you should keep the praise for later; we should first see if this kid really is an Ethereal."
Sometime later after their brief conversation, Lucian and Ozzus sat back down at the table. If Orion truly is an Ethereal then this may put us in a difficult situation. I don't think any one of us has the ability to currently care for a child.
Lucian took in a light breath and tried to speak...nothing. He tried to speak again...nothing. To his and Ozzus's relief, Lucian's mouth had been closed shut by the goddess.
Due to the awkward silence, the boy cleared his throat and asked, "Is everything alright sir?"
"Yes, he was just thinking about something. I believe we'll be taking you to the orphanage now to receive better care."
***
Standing on the concrete ground of the harbor, Ozzus handed Lucian a rolled-up newspaper then spoke, "Take him to the police station instead, I've circled its location on the map within this newspaper."
"Alright, but why?"
"Read the front page on your way there. You'll understand.", said Ozzus in a more orderly tone.
Lucian nodded and started walking with the boy through the bright, sunny day filled with the noise of civilians going about their day.
Making it to Fisher Street the boy spoke, "Excuse me sir, but why did you guys take care of me instead of sending me to the police station or hospital in the first place?"
Guess I should have expected a question like this sooner or later. "Think of me as someone more important than the police and more able to care than the hospital. In the event that you found yourself in, the police wouldn't have gotten to you fast enough to save you and the hospital...well you pay for more than what you'd actually get."
Orion was silent for a couple seconds, making Lucian think he'd said something wrong, but then said, "Thank you mister."
"For what?"
Orion's face then made a genuine smile and replied, "For saving me."
"All I did was do what any other person would have and I'm glad I did, but you should also save another one of those thanks. A superior of mine was extremely helpful in your rescue aswell."
"Oh, then I'll be sure to save it.", replied Orion with his still lingering smile.
After that Orion stayed quiet as they kept strolling through Novus's stone streets. The air felt fresher than any other day had while the sounds of bustling individuals quieted. It gave Lucian and Orion their own little moment of peace.
Following that, Lucian pulled out the rolled-up paper Ozzus had handed him and opened it, though the front page was something he would never have seen coming. "Kartour family torn apart! Benjamin Kartour found dead at Phelt Harbor! Harper Kartour and deacon of the church massacred in the Kartour residence! Orion Kartour missing!"
Shit, this paper saved our asses. Bringing the kid straight to the orphanage would have made me seem extremely suspicous. Ignoring the death of Mr. Kartour Lucian then flipped to the next page finding a large map covering a good portion of the city. A nice route was drawn from the ship all the way to the police station. Apparently Ozzus had very neat handwriting when it came to labeling certain places like the bar as if he wanted Lucian to stop by.
Since the kid has been declared missing, I guess that it is best to send him to the police station. Entering the station myself may be dangerous so I should probably just send Orion in there my himself.
***
Finally reaching the large squat police station of soot-darkened brick and gray stone, Lucian spoke, "You'll have to go in there alone now alright?"
"But why can't you come in?", inquired Orion with a frightened tone.
Lucian felt bad for the boy and replied in a more empathetic voice, "I have things that I must get to today. The police are nice and they will take you to where you need to be."
"Okay." Orion then turned to walk away, but Lucian tapped him on the shoulder for one last reminder.
"I'll make sure you never need to go through a hardship like that ever again."
Orions little smile then returned, "Thanks mister." The boy then headed off through the bronze doors.
Children get clingy fast don't they? It's strange though how he was able to bond with me so quickly after losing so much. This thought left an ominous feeling in Lucian. It was as if Orion wasn't a young child but a forgiving monk who had long gotten over the awful event which stained his life so cruely.