Exalted Warlock 14 Chapter 3: Bluebird Orphanage

Magnus went about his daily morning ritual, where he washed up, brushed his teeth, and cleaned up his only pair of clothes the best he could. Then he broke a third of a loaf off, added a hint of sugar to shake things up, and headed out. Magnus also made sure to bring his peace offering, which was all the food he bought yesterday.

The morning crowd where few in number since the two suns, Vrox and Avax did not even break through the sky yet, so Magnus was able to make his way through the streets unmolested. Finally and yet very quickly in Magnus's view, who was secretly dragging his feet since he was dreading the meeting that would come up-- Magnus stepped right up to a small, quaint building.

The place was made out of grey brick stones with dull red colored roofing, and sticking right out of the middle of the roof was a sort of attic. The place was a bit over two stories tall; from the outside, it looked like a big mash-up with chimneys sticking out of everywhere--and mats, sheets, and ropes holding everything together. Connected to the building by stone ramp was a side tower, three stores tall and covered in vines and weeds.

Written in bold letters in common tongue was the place's name--Bluebird Orphanage. Magnus stopped staring at the orphanage building and firmed himself to walk right up to the front entrance, as he did that he came into view of the front garden which had occupancies inside of it, who immediately recognized him.

"Look, Edgar is back!" one small child cried out as he pointed at Magnus with his muddy finger.

At the young child's shout, the only adult in the area turned to face where the child was pointing at and gasped once she saw Magnus. Immediately the plump and rounded middle-aged woman dropped whatever she was doing and ran over to Magnus.

Once she was in reach of Magnus, she cupped his face into her hands, totally forgetting the dirt that stained her fingers and scrutinizing Magnus all over. After she had a good long look at him and saw that nothing was wrong, she let go of Magnus's face and started to pepper him with questions.

"Oh, Edgar-- I mean Magnus. That is what you are going with now, right? Well, never mind that, where were you this whole week? What were you doing? You didn't get into trouble, right? Were you eating all right? Did you remember to wash? Did you..."

And the question when on and on, Ma.n.u.s could see that the woman was distraught, her chestnut-colored eyes were watery with unkempt tears, and her fair skin with an olive undertone, which was found in all mountain folk, was marred with worry.

Magnus who was feeling very guilty for all the worry and sleepless nights that he caused the woman. Sh looked tried but tried to ease her anxiety by putting on a bright, happy smile and saying, "Mother Selin, I am perfectly alright and I swear I have been taking care of myself, also I brought some goods for the place."

At Magnus's rea.s.surance and show of food, Mother Selin started to calm down and cease with her endless tirade of questions. However, there was one thing that Mother Selin was still curious about, "Magnus, what have you been up to, and why did you have to leave?"

Magnus faltered at that questions from Mother Selin, before he could reply somebody cut in, "I will tell you what he was up to, he ran off! Isn't that right, boy, huh? Now he has come back when he saw that there was nothing out there for him."

The two of them, Mother Selin and Magnus, both turned to face where the raucous voice came from, and there standing on a gnarled old crane was an elderly woman. She was stooped back, with curly grey hair, and hard grey eyes, which she is using to stare at Magnus. Her skin was wrinkled and ebony colored, pointing to her wetland heritage, and different occult-like rings and necklaces lined her body.

Magnus wanted to deny what the elderly woman was saying dearly but he couldn't since it was the hard, cold truth. When he left this place, he had bright, hopeful dreams that his modern ideas will make him rich in this medieval world, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Forget even getting started; he could even walk into the front doors of the right representative to present his ideas. So Magnus set out to take the hard road and find his own funds, but who would hire somebody with no certification. After that Magnus sought out the proper channels, but once again, he was blocked from that as well. Since who would take on a n.o.body with zero connects as an apprentice.

And that is how Magnus ended up in the streets; begging for chump change in a matter of a few days.

Right before things became awkward, Magnus was saved as another voice which cut into the conversation. "Matron Kiama come on stop embarra.s.sing the poor boy, he has learned his lesson very well, and I am sure he will not do that again."

Magnus turned to face the new speaker, which turned out to be Mother Nevra. If ever there were to be a fatherly figure for the orphans, then it would be Mother Nevra. She was dressed in the same black and white kirtles as Mother Selin and had her black hair tied in a bun. She was tall and lean with brown eyes and a smile that bordered a smirk.

Matron Kiama waved her crane at that the two women as she said, "The two of you spoil these brats rotten, you hear?!" Yet even Magnus could tell that it was half-hearted, and a fleeting thought that pa.s.sed through Magnus's mind was, 'Does the old witch have a heart after all.'

At that comment, the Matron turned around to walk back into the orphanage, but she was cut short from doing so as Mother Selin stopped her. "Are both of you just going to leave things at that? He tried to run off, what if something happened to him or even worse..."

Magnus was surprised at that. Mother Selin was always the loving and caring type while Mother Nevra was always the carefree and fun one, it was always Matron Kiama who dispense out punishment. Now to see Mother Selin wholeheartedly wanting Magnus to get punished was a big surprise.

Magnus was not the only one surprised at this turn of events, Matron Kiama turned back to face Mother Selin with an astonished gaze which immediately broke into a wicked grin. Letting loose a mad chuckle of laughter, Matron Kiama's gaze turned sly. "Well Mother Selin, if you wish to punish the boy, do it yourself, I am heading back in."

With that final comment, the Matron was gone, Magnus cursed himself and the Matron as he thought, 'how dare you try to sullied poor innocent Mother Selin, you old witch! I can see what you are up to, you want her to fall into the same category as you.'

And that is exactly what happened, Mother Selin steeled herself up, looked down at Magnus with her best stern gaze and said, "Matron Kiama is correct, you need to be punished and I cannot go soft on you. Not at all!"

Magnus looked around for help out of this mess, but the only adult left didn't seem to want any part in this, so Mother Nevra hurriedly shepherd all children that were watching what was going on inside.

Mother Selin, on the other hand, continued with her berating, showing a side that many have never seen before, an angry side. That made Magnus feel even more miserable of himself, if that could have been possible with how he was already feeling.

"What you did young man- running off- was very foolish and it caused everyone in our family a lot of emotional damage. So for this whole month, you will be staying indoors and your ch.o.r.es will double- no it will triple."

As the verdict came down from Mother Selin, Magnus hung his head down in shame, however a small part of him wanted to defend and justify himself, so Magnus spoke up. "But Mother Selin all I wanted to do was help everyone in our family. I thought I could go out there, into the big wide world, and make something out of myself so that I could come back here and ease the difficulty that the orphanage faces."

At Magnus's heart-wrenching statement, Mother Selin scowl started to ease up, but once she replayed what Magnus said in her mind, a look of shock and alarm pa.s.sed through her face.

"How did you even know that our funds have been cut?" Mother Selin shouted out before she could think, then she instantly put her hands over her mouth as she became aware that she just gave the game away.

Mother Selin then looked over at Magnus with an almost pleading look on her face as she asked, "Could you please forget what I just said, Magnus. It is only us--adults-- that are supposed to know that, and we do not want the kids to find out."

Magnus hastily nodded his head, showing his full agreement to Mother Seelin's request, however, he had to admit he was a bit confused since this is the first time he was hearing about any sort of cuts to the orphanage.

Things are tough around here, in the orphanage and everyone: whether they be the little ones who help around the place, or the middling children who go out looking for sc.r.a.ps on a daily basis, and the older kids who take on odd jobs here and there. Everyone in the orphanage needs to help out-whatever way they can so that we can get by.

That is the whole reason why Magnus decided to make it out on his own, he wanted to come back here and lift them all out of poverty, but we all know how that worked out. Now to find out the meager amount that could make or break this place is being cut, now that is very bleak news indeed.

Magnus immediately caught on to that point, so in a tone that leaked a bit of dismay, he asked, "Who are these sponsors of ours, Mother Selin? Do you know why are they slas.h.i.+ng funds? Is there another way we can support this place?"

Mother Selin sighed out loud at Magnus's onslaught of questions, she did not want to get into this at all, but it was clear from the look in Magnus's eyes that nothing is going to stop him until he gets some answers.

Giving into Magnus near incessant demands for answers, Mother Selin responded to Magnus questions. "Well, your first question is quite obvious, our supporters are the people who run this city, fund every facet of it, and control it as well-- the DuskGear Builders.

Anyways, I do not know if you heard, but the guild seems to be at war, and it is going quite badly. So do not go ahead and start thinking that they are only cutting us off, there are so many other businesses, minor guilds, sectors, and other places that got major cuts.

And to answer your last question, our Matron is trying to see what she can do, so pray that she can work something out."

As the questionnaire came to a close and Mother Selin answered all of them, Magnus only became more confused and curious. A lot more questions came up inside of his mind like what the h.e.l.l is this war that the Guild is in? Who are they fighting? Also, what can an old lady- even though Magnus has to admit she is quite spirited for her age-- do to help the orphanage out of this crisis.

Before Magnus could even put forth those questions, Mother Selin held out her hand in a stop gesture, which halted the flood gates that is Magnus's mouth. "Look young man, I answered more enough inquiries of yours, so let's leave things at that. Anyways you got me so off track, so let's get back to your punishment, shall we?"

From that statement, Magnus arose from his pondering thoughts, the situation he was in immediately came into view, and he couldn't help himself from swallowing down on the lump building in his throat.
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"Even though your excuse was sincere and your intentions were well meant, the matter still stands- you ran off! So in light of everything your punishment still stands ...but I am willing to cut it down to one week of double, indoor ch.o.r.es."

The relief on Magnus's face was clearly palpable as once more Mother Selin came to a decision, and deep down even he knew that the crime did not fit the bill. Magnus knew that he got off very lightly and that was only because Mother Selin was new to this, he could help himself from shuddering in dread as he thought about the sort of punishment he would have gotten if it was Matron Kiama allocating discipline.

Without looking back Mother Selin said, "Let's go inside now, Magnus," then she started to walk into the orphanage and Magnus quickly followed.

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As Magnus walked into the orphanage the first thing that greeted him was the waiting room, this place was reserved for people coming in to adopt, but as Magnus could see n.o.body was there.

If the streets did not teach Magnus anything at all then the sight of this empty place taught him much, they- the orphans- are not wanted anywhere.

Magnus walked after Mother Selin as she pa.s.sed the fireplace, then the kitchen room on the left which was closed but you still could smell the food wafting through. Then the two of them, Mother Selin and Magnus, pa.s.sed the boys' room on the right which was wide open, showing a mess of tangled bed sheets and dirty clothes laying everywhere.

The look on Mother Selin's face once she saw the mess was exasperation and a bit of resignation, but Magnus, on the other hand, cracked a grin and silently thought, 'boys will be boys.'

Finally, the two of them walked into the dining hall, two simple words could describe this place- a rowdy mess. Children chatted away as they eat creating a cacophony of noise, others run around the place playing with each other, some of the older ones tried to feed the little ones who resisted and fought back, and the final group did the best they could cleaning up every mess that appeared.

From a side door leading to the kitchen room Mother Nevra walked out from it as she held a large steaming pot of food, she quickly noticed Mother Selin a released a sigh of relief. "Good to see you, Sister Selin," Mother Nevra said, "could you help out here? I am totally understaffed."

Mother Selin nodded her head, and without saying anything more, she picked up the pot from Mother Nevra, brought it over to one of the wooden benches, and started serving the remaining few who did not eat yet.

Without stopping to get any food, Magnus made his to the bench that housed the older kids in the orphanage.

One of the older boys immediately spotted him and shouted out, "Hey Edg- Magnus… that is what you are going with, right?" All the other occupants seated on the bench either broke away from their conversation or turned away from their food to face Magnus.

Magnus grinned in mirth at the large bulky boy; he had wild red hair with brown soft eyes and a square-jawed face. The older boy got up and offered Magnus room to sit, which Magnus happy accepted while he also gave his thanks to the older boy.

Once Magnus was seated, he answered the older boy's question with a simple reply, "Yeah, that is what I am going with now, Erhan."

A painful expression flickered through Erhan's face, but the older boy quickly suppressed it, and he put on a cheerful smile just for Magnus only.

"Well.." Erhan started off with, but before he could say anything more, a voice interrupted him.

The speaker was an older boy with a wiry frame, dirt brown hair and navy blue eyes. "I tell what guys," he said as he looked at everyone who was seated on the bench right in the eyes one by one. "We should be out there looking for those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who beat Edge- I mean Magnus to a b.l.o.o.d.y pulp and gave him memory loss."

"And how would you go about finding them, Tamer?" Another boy asked, he was lean with both dark blue hair and eyes, and Magnus could have sworn if Mazhar had a pair of gla.s.ses he would have been adjusting it.

"Yeah, Mazhar is right Tamer, even though we wish to find those responsible, it is impossible." This time a boy with a fit build spoke up, he had golden hair and smoke grey eyes, also instead of the fair, olive skin tone he had pale, white skin which pointed to his plain folk heritage.

Which Magnus had to admit was surprising since commoners never really travel, actually, you know what, they never even leave the city, town, village, or hamlet they grow up in. It is mostly guild members who do the travels, so even though Andrew does not know it, it must have been a tale on how he ended up in the Starry Mountains.

Anyways Magnus got his head out of the clouds and cut into the argument building up as Tamer was flinging accusations that the rest of them didn't care about family. "Look guys I might have run into a clue about what happened to Ed-... I mean me," Magnus quickly amended, hoping that the older boys would not notice his slip up.

Everyone on the bench turned to face Magnus and the last occupants who had not spoken yet, asked. "What did you find out, Magnus?" The person who spoke up was Etkin, he had a lanky form with black hair and even blacker eyes.

"Well," Magnus replied, "I run into these four guys- I caught two of their names, Tansel and Bertan, they were part of the Liontooth Gang and they seem to have known that I got a beating. I would have asked about it but… other things occupied my mind."

"Other things like money, right?" Codex asked in an amused tone in the back of Magnus's mind, "I swear when you saw the money they had, there were dollar signs in your eyes."

Magnus ignored Codex remark even though it was true and listened to what Etkin had to say. "We could go off from that information."

However, before Magnus could ask Etkin to clarify what he meant a loud voice, almost close to a beast's growl cut him off from asking.

"MAGNUS!" The speaker said, and Magnus immediately paled once he recognized the owner of the voice.