3 - Her Name, Frost

“Ngk!" I let out a grunt, back smashing hard against the tree. The sudden snow storm heading our way swept us out of the warehouse. I pushed myself up, eyes searching for my teammates when I caught something from the corner of my eye that had me freezing on the spot.

A blizzard had started forming around the warehouse, fully trapping the building within it. Cold harsh wind cut through my skin, prickling in the way only winter could do. The whole scene was surreal, a situation you'd only dream of seeing in fantasy movies, yet the sharp and cold biting feeling of the wind snapped us back to reality. Making us realize that this was very much—reality.

"...What the—" Cyrus visibly stiffened as he saw the sight playing out before us.

Leah took in a sharp intake of air, "That woman is bad news," she moved to stand, "Did you see what she did? My eyes weren't playing tricks on me—she was able to pierce everyone in an instant with icicles, of all things!"

"That woman," Cyrus swallowed hard, "She's one of them, isn't she? A vampire."

"Shit. This is bad." She whispered, the blizzard continued on without stopping. We couldn't still wrap our heads around the fact that a blizzard had formed that surrounded the warehouse in the middle of summer.

"That's no ordinary power. This kind of affinity is on another level than the vampires we've had contact with. All of them had peculiar affinities, but nothing close to—" Leah motioned towards the warehouse. "—This!"

"...It's like a natural disaster."

Their heads snapped towards me, eyes wide, words dawning on their bewildered minds.

Leah paled, stumbling back as she came upon a conclusion. "That woman—she's able to manipulate nature..!"

I didn't move my eyes away from the continued onslaught of the blizzard, staring through it as my mind recalled the earlier events. Rei, the vampire who had asked for our cooperation, despite the difference in appearance, was the woman inside the warehouse.

What makes it more astonishing was the fact that it was her who did this. It was the woman who I had been sitting with at the cafe earlier in the day who commanded extreme power.

Simon wasn't kidding when he said she was on a different caliber of her own. Rei could've easily got what she wanted with her affinity, yet there she was, at the back of my mind's eye, sitting across from me at the table, eating cake and drinking coffee. Patiently agreeing to wait for our answer instead of forcing our hand to obey her words.

None of my teammates seemed to realize who the woman really was, it was understandable of course. Her appearance was different from the one we saw in her picture, and as far as I know, only I've been able to converse with her before. Refusing to talk to my other teammates, choosing instead to play the cat and mouse chase with the rest while she held no reservation in talking with me.

“We need to get out of here.” She ran towards the unconscious hunters that were knocked out closest to us, grabbing them by the arm and using her body to support them. I snapped out of my trance, following her orders, I moved towards the person near me.

We retreated back into the forest that was untouched by the whirling blizzard behind us.

Rei stared impassively at the carcass surrounding her. The blood of her kinsmen pooled beneath her feet. Bodies of vampires mercilessly impaled by sharp icicles, straight to their hearts, destroying what's important—their cores.

As a Celeste, it was her duty to punish those who dared to oppose the Will of the Goddess, vampires who turned their backs on their oaths deserved no mercy. Yet, they were still her kind, the least she could do for them was destroy their cores. To make sure their affinities would not be used even after death.

Her eyes settled towards the vampire who skillfully managed to avoid her blows. She wasn't trying to kill him anyways. Using her affinity to trap them inside the warehouse, it was a big risk even for her, she could no longer slip unnoticed the moment she announced her presence.

And here she was hoping to get the element of surprise against the rebels of Celestia.

"You are not born a vampire." She addressed him, gracefully moving towards him, avoiding the blood splotches on the cold floor. "A vampire cannot turn a human into one of our own."

The vampire seemed unfazed, "Your body had been modified to that of a vampire…" Rei tilted her head to the side, observing him. "Your affinity is dangerous, both to humans and vampires. Poison would be quite troublesome in the long run." She sighed, "I should get rid of you, but you're gonna be useful for my cause as well."

The vampire sneered, "You might be a Celeste, but I assure you, you're not gonna get me that easily."

"Hn. So the vampires, then?" She mused out loud. She had been debating internally on which side he belonged to, whether he might be a product of another one of those twisted experiments the humans conducted against her kind or if he was modified by her kinsmen themselves.

The knowledge he had regarding the Celestes was the only assurance she needed. She shook her head in dismay. What had become of her fellow vampires? What had caused them to drown in greed? Choosing to modify bodies, creating artificial vampires, letting the human access their powers, goddess forbid if they had managed to foolishly let the concept of true names to humans.

"What's your name?"

He scoffed, "Like hell I would tell you."

She sighed, "Have my fellow vampires forgotten manners as well?" She shook her head, she raised her hand, and in an instant, a polearm had materialized in front of her. "It wouldn't matter anyways."

The woman disappeared, what remained on where she stood was a trail of mist. Suddenly, the vampire was parrying an onslaught of attacks against the woman, causing him to stumble back as she swiped her polearm towards him. Eyes hard, the corner of her lips lifted as she danced, moving her body with swift movements that the vampire had a hard time focusing on her whereabouts.

The vampire let out a hiss as she managed to injure his shoulder, piercing the flesh, mercilessly retching her polearm, causing his body to move towards her. Pulling her arm back, she prepared to entrap him with her affinity when a sudden gust of poison was thrown her way. She used her arm to cover her front, subconsciously using her affinity to create a block of ice that took all the burnt from the acid. Her brows furrowed, noticing how the block of ice melted in an instant.

Under normal circumstances, her ice wouldn't have melted that easily—especially when it was her who was using it.

Realizing how dangerous of an opponent the vampire is, she wouldn't be able to play around any longer. She had to capture him.

Rei swiftly moved away, eyes scanning the area for her enemy when the rooftop exploded. She frowned, her blizzard was running rampant outside. No one should've been able to come close to the dome she created.

No one, unless—

As the dust cleared, she stared up into the broken ceiling, the blizzard was still swirling wildly outside. On top of the broken opening, a man covered in a black cloak stood proudly, beside him was the vampire she was fighting with.

Under the hood, her eyes met briefly with the unknown man.

Silver eyes flashed her vision.

Before she could stop them, the unknown man and the vampire had disappeared. Managing to go through her affinity without a hitch.

Rei had frozen on the spot, mind racing through various scenarios as she learned important information with her fight tonight.

And the revelations she came across wasn't something she wanted to admit.

Not to her, not to the Celestes and not to Celestia.

There was a traitor in their midst.

The raid on the 8th ward was declared a failure. Not only did the teams fail to eliminate the vampires, but there were major casualties on our side as well. No one could tell of what had become of the vampires trapped inside the warehouse and the woman who had appeared.

During that night, the organization managed to access two important intel: the existence of a vampire who was able to control nature at will, and a nature affinity. Because of this, the woman was labeled as a Disaster Vampire—a different category of its own from the usual vampires. Due to her signs corresponding to winter, she was named as the Frost.

No one knew her real identity.

Other than me.

The most logical thing to do in my situation was to tell the organization who she really was, help them comprehend her and stop future threats that she possessed, but somehow, I didn't.

And that was completely fine with me.

I should’ve felt a little guilty for withholding information, but nothing triggered my conscience more than the idea of ratting her out—betraying her.

Which was completely foolish if you asked me, but I couldn’t really help it.

Other than that, the organization was now aware of artificial vampires being made, this caused them to be alert more than usual. With this news, the Science Department had completely huddled up Simon as well as both Luis and Samantha—something about needing to counter the artificial vampires.

It wasn’t just them that was occupied. Orders to hunt down the disaster vampire had spread far and wide, but with no luck, she hadn’t made an appearance ever since. Causing some hunters to speculate if her existence was truly real or not just a fragment of imagination iof those who were present that night. Because after calling for back ups and arriving on the scene, there was no sign of a blizzard anywhere, but the carcass left behind inside the warehouse was enough proof that she definitely existed.

I haven't seen her since the raid. Due to Luis and Samantha being occupied, the mission was left to the three of us. We tried locating Rei with the tracker installed within the phone Simon had given her, but upon coming to the place where it was leading us, there was nothing but a phone and a note left in its place.

A note with a precise and elegant stroke of letters that wrote that she will be the one to come to them, not the other way around.

My phone buzzed beside me, distracting me from my thoughts as well as the careful brush of my pen. Startled, I stared at the drawing my hand created subconsciously. It was her-the picture she presented that night.

Fluttering white hair and white irises behind the mask.

I furrowed my brows, closing my sketchpad and shoving it away-somewhere hidden where I wont see it.

I grabbed my phone, checking what it was about. It was a message from Simon, ordering us to come meet him at his office. It's been a while since I last saw him. I called out for Leah and Cyrus, asking if they got the message as well. After confirming, I offered to drive all three of us to his office.

Upon arriving, Luis and Samantha were already there together with Simon. We froze in our tracks upon seeing who the person was along with them. It was her—Rei, the vampire and the very same woman who had caused a storm in the organization, the same person who had everyone hunting out for her.

Our eyes met, this time it was the usual midnight depths that greeted me, and the familiar silver hair that shined under the light.

It was her—the Rei I've come to associate with the moment she sat across from me. Rei with the silver hair and midnight eyes—the embodiment of the moon herself in nothing but appearance.

She's like la luna.

"Sit down, everyone." Simon motioned for the sitting area in his office.

We did as we were told, quietly listening as Simon started speaking.

"Now that you're all here I can start explaining. I expect you all to act like rational adults." Simon shot Leah a pointed look beside me. It was no secret that she had a deep animosity against the vampires. It was only then that I realized she was oddly quiet. I snuck a glance at her, Leah had her lips pursed, eyes pointedly staring at the empty wall, refusing to acknowledge the vampire across the room nor the staring everyone was giving her.

“First of all, I think an introduction is necessary. This is Leah, the leader of the team. You've met Luis and Samantha, they both work for me. The two over there are Cyrus and Cain." He introduced everyone, "They are the team that works exclusively under me. They don't accept any missions without my approval."

Rei politely smiled at us, “It’s nice to meet all of you. My name is Rei la Dominique. We'd all be working together from now on, please take care of me."

Leah frowned, he shot an accusing glare at Simon. "Working with us?"

Simon nodded, "Miss Rei and I came on the conclusion that she will be under surveillance while working with us. This extra precaution is much needed due to the appearance of the disaster vampire." He tilted his head towards Rei, "Do you know of this vampire, Miss Rei?"

"Honestly? I have not. What is it about?" She started with curious eyes. Simon scrutinized her, looking away after a moment.

"It is a vampire who is able to manipulate nature."

"And so? What do you want us to do?" Leah cut off impatiently, causing Simon to frown at her. She had just completely blown off the chance to coax Rei into revealing what she knows about the vampires. In normal circumstances, Leah would've noticed this, but as she was currently running under the influence of silent fury, it had caused her to be impatient.

After all, Simon had always taught us to read underneath the underneath.

"One of you will be with Miss Rei at all times. Any volunteers?"

Leah and Cyrus visibly shrink away beside me. My eyes briefly connected with hers, there was a hidden understanding behind her stare. The acknowledgement of keeping her secret.

"Ah. I'll make it easy for everyone. Cain, you'd be in charge of taking care of Miss Rei." At the incredulous look I sent him, he promptly explained. "Luis and Samantha are too busy working with me. Leaving this matter to both Cyrus and Leah spells disaster all over it. I hope you don't mind. You are capable of doing this, don't you?"

Simon held my gaze, a tense silence falling over the room. With a sigh, I relented and looked away. Nodding my confirmation.

"Great. You'd be escorting Miss Rei to the apartment I prepared for her. Other than that, we're done here. You all are free to go." He dismissed the team, turning to address Rei. "Thanks again, for your cooperation, Miss Rei."

Rei shook Simon's offered hand, smiling sweetly. "Likewise, Professor. I'm looking forward to working with you."

We filtered out from his office. Leah immediately bolted out of the room, as if she couldn't physically hold it in being in the same room as a vampire any longer. Cyrus followed after her worriedly. Luis and Samantha were ordered to stay behind. We were the last ones to leave.

Rei fell into step beside me, hands clasped behind her back.

She was silent for a while, taking her time to break the silence. "...You didn't say anything."

She was concerned about that night. We both knew I was aware of who she truly was under the pretense she displayed inside Simon's office earlier.

"It's not my place to tell."

She shot me an amused look, lips tugging at the corner. She didn't mention that it was very much my duty to inform the organization about her real identity.

"It seems like you're stuck with me for a while." She decided on a different approach, closing the topic of that night. "I told you, didn't I? We'd be seeing each other a lot."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but couldn't help but mutter underneath my breath. "Good riddance."

Rei let out a laugh, "I'm not that bad as company."

I stopped on my tracks, scowling at her. "I'm not your friend."

"You're right, I'm not." She turned to face me, not backing down. "But that doesn't mean I can't make it easier for the both of us. Civility won't kill you, you know?" Her midnight eyes had a gleaming tint into it, making me look away.

I moved past her, muttering. "Whatever."

She chuckled behind me.

We arrived at the apartment Simon had set up for Rei. It wasn't extravagant, just a simple living space for someone who'd be staying here for a while.

I offered helping her to bring in her own stuff, which she just shook her head at. Briefly explaining that she didn't have any belongings with her. Which prompts me to question how she survived so far in this world when she barely has anything with her.

She dismissed it by saying she wandered here and there.

Wherever 'here and there' are, I have no idea.

Turns out, she didn't have a clue about anything. Especially with anything associated with technology. I spent the rest of the day explaining and teaching her how to use certain appliances in her new apartment. Thankfully, Simon had the insight to purchase a place already fully equipped with furniture.

The other necessities she might have would need to be purchased tomorrow.

Making sure to set everything up for the building's safety in case she accidentally burned the place down, I caught sight of her at the living room, front facing the floor to ceiling windows that captures the entire view of the city.

The sun had already long set in the distance, and outside, specks of light illuminated the city buildings. It looked enchanting in its own way. I've never really thought much about it, but the city lights at night briefly reminded me of the twinkling stars in the sky.

"This world…is beautiful." Her palm touched the glass, "It has light, and everything is bright. Different from my world."

I slowly approached her, standing beside her on the glass window. "At my home, the light has long died. There is no sunshine, only eternal darkness and the stars." A wistful look passed her face, "Yet it was still beautiful in its own way. Your world has the sun while mine has the moon. It's a sharp contrast to what we really are. Humans and Vampires. Never the same—would not be the same."

I shot her a confused look, "Why is there no light?"

"Because those who command the light to soar into the skies have long passed. They are…the descendants of my Goddess."

I tilted my head to the side, wondering what got her to talk, or why was she sharing information about her world. Nevertheless, it was welcomed, Rei mentioning small details about where she came from let me understand her a little better.

"The Goddess Alina was the one who helped the vampires before in a dire crisis. It was her who separated the vampires and humans. The Goddess created a new world for those who were labeled as unnatural by humanity, in this way, there would be no conflict. She is responsible for the border between my world and yours."

She turned to face me, "In her we found salvation, it was the Goddess who protected us from the plague of betrayal. And so, we honor her will and wishes. Do the best we can to respect her parting desires." Rei reached out towards my shoulder, holding a lock of my raven hair in her hands, staring intently. "It was in her wishes that no conflict nor contact should ever be made between the two worlds."

She pulled her hand away, eyes falling back outside the window. "Do you get it now, Cain? Why I'm here. What my purpose is."

I nodded, looking away from the picture she made. Standing there, silver hair falling behind her back like waterfalls, half lidded midnight eyes reflecting the tiniest bit of sparkle from the lights, she looked ethereal in beauty.

She really is la luna.

That night, we came to a silent understanding. Acknowledgement from both sides, her accepting me worthy of her trust to share information about her and her world, and me accepting the truth behind why she was here, accepting that she truly did not bring any bad intent to my world.

Standing there, staring out the window, we came to accept the fact that both Human and Vampire had a common goal.

It was peace.

"So how's it been working out for you?"

I glanced up, momentarily stopping with cleaning my room. Cyrus is loitering near my door. "It's good." I raised my brow, "Why?"

He shrugged, "It's just that you've been busy. You're barely home anymore."

I ran my hand through my hair, pushing the bangs away. "Yeah. Rei really takes off a lot of my time. She's troublesome—not in a bad way. There's just a lot of things to teach her that I have to supervise or else before I know it things would go out of proportion."

A shiver ran down my spine, remembering a particular accident where I had the mistake of bringing her along with me while shopping. The moment I took my eyes off her, something had crashed in the background creating a whole mess where Rei would stand there so innocently while purposely ignoring the chaos in her background—which I knew she was the perpetrator if her trying to avoid my gaze was something unusual. It was utter chaos, and a lot of screaming and complaints from shoppers and staff. I had to steer away from the shop for a few days before I was allowed to go back in, and even then, the staff was already looking out for a certain silver haired individual. The way they had eyed me suspiciously while expecting for someone to pop off behind my back any minute was not a memory I would like to revisit every time I visit the market.

And that had been a week ago after Rei settled in on her apartment.

Gauging out my reaction, Cyrus let out a chuckle."That bad, huh?"

"It's okay. She just has her moments." I cleared away the mess on my desk, "So, what's up? Anything troubling you?"

Cyrus sat himself down at the edge of my bed, "Nothing much. Just the usual. Leah's as merciless at training as ever, I swear I feel like we're having a death match these days."

I winced, Leah and training was not a good word together. She was a strong woman, strong enough to become our team's leader and she's capable of protecting those who are precious to her when needed be. Leah also took it upon herself to make sure that the team would be strong enough on their own without relying on others. And that meant training without breaks, pushing you to the limits until your limbs go numb. It's especially bad whenever she's in one of her moods. Which I guess is one of those days, and she only ever gets into those moods whenever something connected to the vampires happens that is not in her favor.

"Is she still upset?"

Cyrus played with his hands, "She is, but she'll accept the situation regardless of her feelings about it. But that doesn't mean she doesn't complain about it all the damn time though."

"And you? Are you okay with this setup?" I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. Leah had deep animosity with the vampires, while Luis and Samantha had no qualms about it, often saying that it is their work so there was nothing to complain about. Cyrus meanwhile, had history with them. His family had been one of the first to suffer from the onslaught of vampire attacks. At the tender age of eight, he had seen his entire family murdered in front of him. Orphaned, he was taken in by the Hunter Organization along with other children who had lost their purpose in life. Ever since then, they had dedicated their time to grow and learn, to be strong enough for the organization to deem as a hunter of their own.

I met Cyrus at fourteen. Along with Leah and Samantha who had been under Simon's care since then, all of us had grown up together, eventually living in the same house.

He furrowed his brows. "...I don't know." He lowered his gaze. The vampires we encounter, they're cruel and evil. Drunk with power and malicious intent. There's always a reason to hate them…so, is she—?"

I shook my head, "No, she's not."

It was one of the first things I've come to know about her. Other than her aggravating tendency to cause trouble, I had learned that Rei was genuine with her intentions. There was nothing evil about her, only vexatious accidents that can get exasperating. Even after getting scolded by humans, (which she totally deserved), Rei had hung her head and accepted the reprimand without complaint. Apologizing profusely for the trouble she caused even if the person talking to her would come close to insulting her. Far from being offended, (despite having the right to do so), not once did she raise a finger against the humans. Even knowing full well what she was capable of, that by just flicking her wrist she could annihilate everyone in an instant, I didn't have to worry about their well being, because it's that unexplainable reason when you meet someone that you'd just know they will never do anything bad.

"You should get to know her. Decide on your own if she's bad or not. Wanna come along tonight?" I offered, putting back a few books back in their bookshelves and I'm officially done with cleaning. "I have to make sure she doesn't burn the building down again trying to make dinner or something."

Cyrus let out a sigh, "I guess if you're saying that, then it's true. Alright, I'll come with you—wait, what? Burn the building?"

I let out a tired shake of my head, "You wouldn't want to hear about it."

Judging from my expression, he probably realized just how bad it was that he just gave me a sympathetic look in return.

"So, where are we headed?" Rei asked with a bounce on her feet as we left her apartment. Cyrus trailing after us, introducing them again with each other had been pretty normal, *thankfully*. Cyrus expressed his desire to get to know her better, not wanting to categorize her as an evil monster that's sole purpose is to destroy the world right away. Rei had beamed at him then, thanking him for giving her the chance. Because despite being only here for her duty, as she so called it, Rei had declared countless times that she wanted to make her stay worthwhile. Choosing this chance to learn and know more about the world beyond Celestia and grow as a person while she was here. And lessons often come with people, people who had different experiences from her own, people who had stories to share. And Cyrus was much welcomed company after a week of my constant glowering at her, no doubt.

Thankfully, no accident came our way so far, we decided to eat out instead of making dinner because who knows what could happen with Cyrus *and* Rei in the kitchen.

I certainly do not want to handle any complaints again tonight.

We ate at Cyrus' favorite restaurant. Rei was enthusiastic to try out something that Cyrus liked. He showed her his favorites, ordering a bunch of foods where they tried out everything—all in all we ended up binge eating. Both Cyrus and Rei had clicked in an instant when they found camaraderie in each other thanks to food. It was quite amusing to think that this was the same troubled man from earlier who worried about whether Rei was evil or not. Well, looking at her now —stuffing her face which she *somehow* still managed to do gracefully—you wouldn't have thought she was a vampire labeled as a disaster type.

"This is so good!" She moaned, shoving food into her mouth once again, "Do you know that back at home I wouldn't be able to do this? It's always-be proper like this and that, swallow your food before speaking, don't eat more than you should-kind of rules, you know?"

Cyrus frowned, "Sounds like a pain. Are you a noble lady or something?" He joked around a mouthful.

She shrugged good naturedly, "Actually, I am."

Her words got the two of us pausing, we shared a glance of surprise.

"You *are*?" I asked, bewildered.

She scowled at me, "What's that supposed to mean?" Rei wiped her lips with the napkin, "I might act like this, but I'm a proper lady of noble birth. I'm just not as restrained as usual since there's freedom here. No one's breathing around the back of my neck at any second."

"Well…I guess it kinda makes sense? Sort of?"

Rei furrowed her brows at Cyrus', "You sound more unsure than you should."

"And so? What are you a Lady of? Is it the Lady of nothing but trouble?" The sarcasm in my voice could not be mistaken.

Rei let out a chuckle, surprisingly. "I actually am. I've got quite the reputation back home as a troublemaker. Pranks here left and right. It got so bad to the point that the crown prince had to send me off in a far away land as an excuse to get me off his back."

"Wow, Rei. I'd never thought you actually had it in you."

She sat straighter, smiling proudly at Cyrus'. "Thanks."

I shook my head, "That's not a compliment."

She scowled in return.

"Hey, why don't we show you around town?"

Cyrus proposed as we left the restaurant, Rei had immediately beamed at the idea which I refused immediately. "Not tonight, it's getting late."

She pursed her lips, "You're such a killjoy."

"Whatever. I'd rather be the villain in your little story if it means I don't have to deal with you any longer."

Rei frowned, "You make it sound as if it's bad to be in my company."

"It's because it actually is."

She glared at me. "Rude."

Cyrus laughed, "Don't worry, Rei. He's like that to people he likes."

"No, I'm not."

He gave me a teasing smile, "Yes, you are."

I was about to refute his words when someone paused in front of us. "Hey, it's been so long since I last saw you two!"

"Marius! It's good to see you! What's up?"

"I'm good. I've recovered well. Last I heard you guys saved my *** back in the raid. I still haven't thanked you for that yet."

I shook my head, "Don't worry about it."

"Who's this?" He motioned for Rei which prompted me to introduce them. She greeted him all gracefully and politely, making me remember the first time I met her. A sharp contrast to the woman who was shoving food down her throat earlier without a care even if she looked out of her element.

"Say, have you seen Leah around lately? I've been wanting to talk to her but I can't reach her."

Cyrus laughed nervously, "Something must've come up with her, just give it time."

"Oh." A forlorn expression crosses his face. "I see. Well, I gotta go. See you guys around. It was nice meeting you, Miss Rei."

Marius left abruptly. I sighed internally, it looks like Marius hasn't resolved that thing he had with Leah up until now. I was pretty sure she was adamant about cutting off things with him when he started developing feelings with their arrangement or something.

In the middle of my musing, a boy not older than thirteen bumped into me. Reaching out to steady him, I checked him over. "Woah, are you okay?"

The boy looked up, wide amethyst eyes staring up at me, it made me recall something familiar. In the back of my mind I swear I'd seen this shade of purple before.

"I'm o-okay. Thanks." He immediately pulled away. Eyes shifting at us nervously.

"What are you doing out this late? Young boys like you shouldn't wander around all by yourself." Cyrus scolded him, no doubt worrying about the danger the night risks especially to unsuspecting civilians.

"I was running errands for the place I'm staying at. I had free time so I decided to take a walk."

"It's not a good idea to walk at night, kid. Where's your home? We'll walk you there."

The young boy shook his head, "There's no need. I live at the orphanage near the park." He pointed towards the direction behind his back, from the corner of my eyes, I noticed Rei staring intently at the boy.

I raised a brow, "Rei, what's wrong?"

"Are you little Almira's brother?"

Amethyst eyes widened, he gaped in shock. "How'd you know?"

"You look like her."

It suddenly dawned on me why the boy's eyes looked familiar, he resembled the little girl that we helped all those weeks ago.

"A few weeks ago, she was lost in the park. We helped her search for you but you were gone. When we brought back Almira to the orphanage the caretaker said you hadn't come home yet. Where were you?"

I crossed my arms, "It's not a good idea to lose your sister in the crowd. What if you two got separated? You were lucky we were the ones to help her."

He lowered his head, "I know… That's why I'm trying my best so that doesn't happen." Amethyst eyes locked gazes with Rei, showing determination.

Understanding flashed in her eyes. She reached out, patting the young boy's locks. "I admire your resolve. Take care of your sister well. It's the older sibling's job to make sure of their safety no matter the means." Midnight eyes slipped past the boy, settling towards the direction of the orphanage. "Hold on a little longer. Someone will take you and your sister away from that orphanage. A new home just for you and your family, so stay strong until then." She smiled down at him in that mesmerizing way that she always did, a smile full of resolution, and somehow it makes you feel that things will get better.

The boy nodded and said his apologies for bumping into me once again. Waving his goodbye as he left.

Cyrus let out a sigh, "I hope a good family comes and adopts him and his sister. It's worrisome that someone as young as him is out at night."

"Don't worry," Rei patted his shoulder, "I will."

"What?"

(A/N: I got the plot moving around faster than the old ones! There's no unnecessary filler in the edited version of the chapters, good riddance we don't actually need that and I just noticed how I had lots of fillers. This time around, I only stuck with necessary details and you would know what I mean if you belonged to the ones who read up until chapter thirty one of the unedited version in Mangatoon. Nevertheless, I strongly advise you to read this version instead of the old one, this is cleaner and I've put much work and effort into this unlike my old work where I just focused on updating instead of paying attention to the words and grammars.)

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