Tales of Undeath: The Von Virtus Chronicles

Virno and his mother make their way to the orphanage, to begin their first day of work.

Virno: Anyone home?

Asks Virno, peeking his head through the front doors. The corridors inside were pretty quiet, as it was quite early in the morning. Still, one young girl hears him and replies.

Young girl: Yes? Can I help you?

Virno: We came to work, Faya said we could start today.

Young girl: Oh, it's you! Yes, come with me.

Virno and his mother follow her through the rightmost corridor. She guides them through a door that leads into the back of the orphanage, which is an open garden area. There, other people were tending to the place, by pulling out weeds and watering plants, mostly.

Young girl: We could use an extra pair of hands in the garden here... Do either of you have any experience with this sort of work?

Anya steps forward.

Anya: Leave it to me, I had many beautiful gardens once, and spent many a days taking care of them tending to them. Do you mind, Virno?

Virno shakes his head.

Virno: Not at all, sounds good to me.

Young girl: Good! You can talk to that man over there.

She points towards an elderly man that was cleaning some gardening tools.

Young girl: That elderly gentleman will tell you exactly what you need to do.

Anya nods, and walks toward the man. She turns back to Virno as she walks.

Anya: I'll meet you home later, Virno!

He nods. He could tell his mother was excited, it had been a long time since she had any proper occupation...

Young girl: Alright, come with me then, Virno...

He follows her back into the orphanage. They walk up a flight of stairs, which leads to a floor similar to the one they were just at, with two long corridors at each side. They go through the leftmost one.

Young girl: I know you're still recovering from your injury, so please don't overdo it. The work we have for you is simple, but it can require some heavy lifting. If something seems too heavy to lift alone, don't hesitate to ask for help...

She seemed genuinely concerned.

Virno: Don't worry about it, I feel just fine.

As they are walking through the corridor, Virno remembers the two girls he had seen the day before...

Virno: Sorry if I'm being too blunt, but... What exactly does Cabdan have you do for money...?

As soon as Virno asked about him, he could sense her demeanor shift. She got more defensive.

Young girl: What do you mean? It's mostly work around the orphanage to keep things tidy and in working condition.

Virno: Right... No. I meant you girls, specifically...

She does not reply.

Virno: Does he, uh...

She stops walking.

Young girl: What? Say it.

Virno tenses up.

Virno: Does he... Force you to do things you don't want...?

Young girl: Do you want to be here today? You don't, right? You're here because you need to. It's the same with us. He's not forcing anyone. We just don't have anywhere else to go.

He felt like she wasn't answering him fully...

Virno: ... I don't mean around here. I was talking about outside of the orphanage. Does he ask other things of you...?

She turns around to face him.

Young girl: Why do you ask?

She walks toward him.

Young girl: What have you seen, exactly?

He dry swallows.

Virno: Nothing in particular... I just overheard two girls talking about it...

She approaches him further.

Young girl: You did? What did they look like? Do you know their names?

She was out for blood. It didn't feel like she was at all fazed by any of it, or concerned with them... It rather felt like she wanted to know which girls she had to punish.

Virno: They... You know what, they probably weren't from here. Forget I asked.

She looks at him dead in the eye.

Young girl: Mister Cabdan is the reason why we have a roof over our heads and food on our table. You would do well to be more careful of what you say about him...

Virno: You're right, I didn't mean any disrespect... Sorry.

She turns around and continues walking. He exhales a quiet sigh of relief. After a short while, they arrive at the entrance of one of the rooms.

Young girl: Here we are.

As she opens the door, Virno sees an old room. A good chunk of the wooden wall was missing, and many of the floorboards were rotting. There were two men ripping out the old and rotting planks, and replacing them with new ones.

Young girl: This room needs some repairs... You two! Here's an extra pair of hands. Make sure you tell him what needs doing.

Man with scruffy beard: ... Leave it to us, Tyssa. We'll put him to work.

Tyssa (Young girl): You are expected to work until lunch, Virno. We'll pay you for the morning, then you can come back in the afternoon if you want to work some more. Understand?

Virno: Yeah, sure. Thanks.

Tyssa leaves the room.

Man with scruffy beard: Virno...?

The man was ripping out some planks with his bare hands. As he hears his name, he stops, smiling from ear to ear. He turns around and extends his hand to him.

Man with scruffy beard: Heck of a fight yesterday, boy!

He seemed to have genuinely enjoyed it. Virno shakes his hand.

Man with scruffy beard: Punjo, this is the kid I saw yesterday! The one who kicked Rel's ass!

Virno: Well, he kicked my ass as much as I kicked his...

The man lets out a short laugh. The other one, who was nailing new planks down to the floor, looks up toward Virno. He was fat and sweaty, but had a kind smile.

Punjo: Ye're Virno?! Oh boy...

He gets up, and hastily wiped his sweaty hands on his dirty pants. He also extends his hand in greeting.

Punjo: Couldn't see ya yesterday, money's a bit tight, heh... But I 'eard a lot about ya from Jargen here!

Virno shakes his hand, too.

Jargen (Man with scruffy beard): You sure you're in any condition to work, though...? Your injuries didn't seem pretty.

Virno: Yeah, don't worry. That weird doctor fixed me up in an instant.

Jargen taps Punjo on the chest twice.

Jargen: I told you that doctor knows witchcraft! There's no way this kid should be walking around today... And you should've seen the guy Faya fought, the way she caved in his head he should have died then and there...!

Punjo laughs.

Punjo: Well, I guess if anybody around 'ere has connections with magic folk it'd be Cabdan... With pockets that deep who doncha know, right?

Punjo turns to Virno.

Punjo: 'Twas nice meeting ya. Take it easy on yer fights though, alright? Trust me, I've met plenty o' folk who weren't as lucky as ya... Living yer life paralysed from the waist down is no fun.

Jargen pushes him away in a playful manner.

Jargen: Damn Punjo, way to ruin the mood! The kid's young, let him have some fun.

Punjo shakes his head as he goes back to what he was doing.

Jargen: Alright, so here's the deal Virno: Punjo and I are ripping out some of these old wood planks, and replacing them with new ones. Think you could fetch some more for us? They should be by the stairs you went up. I know it's a bit far, but at least it shouldn't be as bad for your injuries as ripping out wood planks with your bare hands!

Virno: Yeah, sure. I'll be back in a sec.

Virno goes to fetch the planks. The two men seemed nice enough, at least. After he walks down the corridor and finally grabs some planks, he hears footsteps quickly coming up the stairs as he's walking back to the room. He then hears an unmistakable voice...

Faya: And here I thought little kids were the only thing you liked carrying around...!

He sighs, betraying a slight smile. Faya quickly catches up to him.

Faya: Morning! So, construction work, is it? Are your injuries okay? Do you like Jargen and Punjo?

He takes a deep breath after the barrage of questions.

Virno: It's way too early for this...

Faya: Well, you seem happy enough to me! Here, let me help.

She takes some of his planks with her.

Faya: I know you met Tyssa, too... And that you asked her about something.

Virno: Yeah...

Faya: "Yeah"? Don't "yeah" me! You can't go around asking those kind of questions! Remember what I told you when we met? About the relationship with Cabdan being a love-hate kind of deal? I may be more a hate person, but not everyone is like that. Some people like him enough to spy for him... If you act too suspicious he's gonna know. So, next time you see something fishy, tell only me or Rel. Got it?

Virno: And why exactly should I trust you?

Faya's expression revealed a mixture of shock and disbelief.

Faya: How dare you!! After all we've done for you!

Virno: Alright, fine I guess I can trust you specifically... But why should I trust Rel?

Faya: Because I trust him, so you can too!

Virno: Well, guess I can't argue with that logic...

He said, sarcastically.

Faya: Rel and I have known each other since we were little... He's like a brother to me. So anything you can tell me, you can tell him. Got that?!

Virno: Got it...

Faya: Good. We can discuss what happened to them later... Just not here.

They keep walking towards the room.

Virno: So what are you going to be doing today?

Faya: Hmm... Not much. I have a match in the afternoon, but that's pretty much it. I just heard you had arrived already, so I came to check on you. I also want to meet your mother, so make sure you introduce me!

Virno: Why the hell would I do that?!

She smacks him in the arm.

Faya: Because...!

She struggles to find a logical reason.

Faya: ... If anything happens to you, she knows who to trust!

Virno: Trust with what, exactly...?

Faya: Just shut up and introduce me, alright?!

Virno: Fiiine...

He ponders about what she had said.

Virno: So, if you're fighting today... Will the doc be around?

Faya: Hm? Oh yeah, I guess so! He'll probably want to talk with you today. Guess you have the afternoon off, lucky you!

Virno: Yeah, lucky me...

They finally arrive at the room. Faya quietly drops all her planks on the floor but one, and sneaks behind Jargen. With the one plank she was carrying, she sweeps at his feet with unmatched speed. His legs go to one side, his torso to the other. Jargen lands on the floor face down, as he yells in surprise. He immediately knew who had pulled it off...

Jargen: FAYA! WHO LET YOU IN HERE AGAIN?!

Punjo witnesses all of it happening and bursts out laughing almost immediately, as if he had seen this exact same event take place multiple times before. Faya runs out of the room.

Faya: Good morning Jargen! Good morning Punjo!

She flies down the stairs, never to be seen again. Jargen gets up slowly.

Jargen: That goddamn girl... I'm getting too old for this shit...!

Virno helps Jargen stand up, and spends the morning helping him and Punjo.

Lunch comes, and he joins them for a meal. His mother also had lunch with some of the people who were gardening. For the first time in a long time, they were both having a peaceful day...