The first thing Ethan felt was how warm he was when he woke up. Though he felt a little sluggish, his eyes still flew open as he realized he was still alive. He looked up to the dirty cieling in awe. He honestly didn't expect it to work at all, but couldn't be quite sure that he was fixed just yet.
He sat up with a groan as he circulated his Mana to check the state of his body. Save for a little less blood in his system, it was as if his previous wounds didn't exist at all. He looked down at himself for any external marks just in case, but didn't find a single blemish on either his well built chest or toned arms.
Finally looking around the penthouse he was in, he realized the candles had all but burned out after they had melted down to their base. The flickering light was replaced by the afternoon sun that peeked from behind several bookshelves that lit up the ceiling in a dull yellowish hew.
After a quick check, he realized the place had been lived in for quite a while, even before Raven had been living here. It was only then that he remembered the child that had treated him the night before. Since he couldn't see her in the room, he quickly rolled out of the bed and wandered to the center of the room.
Just as he was about to call her name, he heard something drop in a separate room. He quickly raised his guard and snuck towards the open door the source of the sound had come from. Pressing his back against the bookshelf next to the door, he gathered his Mana in his left arm and peeked into the doorway.
His circulation stopped as he witnessed Raven leaning over a counter to reach for something just barely in reach of her fingertips. He figured the penthouse would have multiple rooms, but didn't expect to see such a clean kitchen compared to the master bedroom he stood in.
What's more, he didn't expect the small child to be bobbing her head, as if some tune was playing in her head. After she grabbed the cup she made so much effort for, she dropped down from the stool she stood on to wander to the fridge. She gave a small grunt as she opened the dead fridge as wide as it would go so she could rummage around the bottom shelf.
Letting out a small sigh, he dropped his guard and walked into the large kitchen with a warm smile. "What are you doing there, child?"
She didn't seem to hear him, instead grabbing a small thing of pepper from the shelf and closing it slowly. Satisfied that she made almost no noise, she grabbed the fridge door and slowly closed it before wandering over to the island. He was confused on how she couldn't hear him, much less feel him in the room as she went about her work in peace.
Deciding to watch instead, he folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the frame of the door. A warm smile crept on his face as he watched the adorable scene.
Over time, he could tell that she was listening to some music in her head by how she would occasionally stop and mouth some words. His eyes scanned the room as she walked over to the cupboard to grab a half loaf of bread and landed on an old phone with a cracked screen.
Sneaking in, he wandered to the phone and tapped on the screen to see what she was listening to. 'A Bar Song' were the words he read through the cracks, making him chuckle softly. Her taste in music was a bit strange given her age, but it was also amazing that she even had this working in the first place. Noticing a small case next to the phone, he opened it to find it would normally hold a small pair of wireless headphones, making him cock his brow.
He'd heard that the homeless in New York often found items like this, but it was a miracle that Raven was able to make these work like she wanted them to at all. After a soft chuckle, he tapped the screen to pause the music and turned to see Raven's reaction.
She'd just laid out some slices of bread when the music had stopped suddenly. At first, she thought the headphones had died on her, so she pulled them out of her ears and looked at the small blue lights on the devices closely to see if they were alive. After a bit, she stuck them back in her ears and turned around to see Ethan standing by her phone with his arms crossed over his chest and a warm smile on his face.
She jumped a bit at the sight, quickly running behind the island to hide from him and peek her head out the side. "M-mister...okay?"
Though it was weak, he was surprised to hear a single word from her at all. He took her for a mute, what with all the writing she did in the book. But as he heard her speak, he found she was actually a little older than he originally thought.
"I'm alright, child. Did I scare you?" He chuckled softly as he crouched down slowly next to the counter. He held his arms out a little to not only show that he was okay, but also to show he meant her no harm.
Raven bit her lip a bit, watching him for a while before meekly stepping away from her hiding place towards him. "Booboo...gone. Mana? Used...on Mister."
"Her speech is slowed and mangled, she must not have spoken in quite a while." Ethan thought as he reached his right arm out towards Raven for her to see. "See child, you did a great job in treating me, not a scratch in sight."
"Mister...not...go away?" The child asked as she gently grabbed Ethan's hand in her tiny hands.
She tilted her head side to side as her eyes scanned every part of his arm. He could see tiny bags behind the grime on her face, clearly exhausted from using her Mana to heal him. He gave a soft sigh and brought his hand up to gently rub her head as he gave a nod.
"What do you mean by 'go away', child?" He asked in a soft tone. He didn't know why, but the pain in her voice tugged at his heart more than it should have.
"Go away...lights...pretty ones...then vanish." Raven motioned her hands to sign something poofing into the air.
Ethan frowned at her descriptions. Though her speech was broken, he could immediately tell what she meant.
A Guided's passing.
"Did your parents 'vanish' like this?" He asked as he sat down on the hardwood floor with a soft groan.
Raven's eyes fell to the ground as she nodded. Tears welled in her eyes and a small sniffle left her nose while her hands gripped at the jacket she wore. "Papa...vanished...pretty, but sad."
"I'm sorry, Raven. How long ago was this?" Ethan asked as he reached up to gently hold one of her tiny fists.
She sniffled once more and brought her hand up to hold her hand open. He counted the five fingers in pity at the small girls situation, barely able to hold his grief for her. "Five days? Or do you mean weeks?"
She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes using her forearm. Though she should've been distraught, she recovered quickly after a few deep breaths before she answered. "Y-years..."
The stumbled over words broke Ethan's heart. He was almost thankful that he was the only one to hear about this. If his wife was here and heard this, she would've fallen into a deeper grief for this child and wept more than she did now. He couldn't imagine how lonely she was, but could already hear the hysterical cries of his lover to find a way to help this poor child.
Standing up slowly, he placed a hand on Raven's head and gave her a warm smile. "Raven, I'm going to go call someone. Some people are going to come here afterwards, are you okay with that?"
After a few sniffles and desperate wipes of her face, Raven looked up at him in confusion. "People...like you?"
"Yes, they are friends and family who use the same powers we both use. Can they come over?"
Raven fell silent and thought to herself for a few moments before finally nodding. "Okay. Can look...no take...books mine." She finally said before coughing a bit into her hands.
Leaning in, he gently patted her back and gave her a sorrowful look. He figured she spoke to much when she wasn't used to it yet, probably making her throat dry. Raising his hand, he gathered his Mana to reach into a small pocket in the air and pull out a bottle of water.
"Drink this, and don't eat the food you've made. I'll have them bring you something tasty." He spoke softly as he rubbed her back and offered the bottle.
He was shocked to see her face light up so quickly at the sound of tasty food. For the first time, he saw her smile like the child she was after such a long night.
"Food! Chicken...crunchy!" Raven cheered through her coughing fit after speaking louder than she did before.
A warm laugh left Ethan's lips as he opened the bottle for Raven. He tipped it to the child's lips to let her know it was okay to drink and gave her one last rub to the top of her head. "Go ahead and read your books until they get here. I'll make sure they bring you more food than you can handle."
Raven's cheerful smile disappeared at his last sentence. He watched as she pouted a little through her small gulps from the bottle, immediately letting him know what the issue was.
"If you think the food will go to waste, how about I finish it with you?" He asked in a soothing tone, trying to wash Raven's worrys away with that small promise.
Thankfully, her smile appeared once more as she nodded enthusiastically to him. After finishing half of the bottle, she offered it back to him with a heartfelt giggle. "Okie...no waste...bad."
"Keep it, I've got my own." Ethan chuckled as he grabbed Raven's phone and offered it back to her.
Taking both the phone and the bottle back happily, she scampered back into the main room. Ethan watched her go with a long sigh, debating on what he wad supposed to do with her. She clearly had a future as a Guided, but it was more of a question on whether she was willing to leave with him or not.
Shaking his head, he reached into the Mana Pocket once more to grab his own phone and turn it on. No sooner had the screen come to life did he get a call from a familiar number. He hesitated to answer, knowing how well this would go, but eventually swiped his finger on the screen and held the phone up to his mouth. "Vallen, good to hear from you."
"Guildmaster! By the Gods you're alive! Where are you? Are you safe? What about your injuries? Have you called your wife yet?" An older voice rambled through the phone, making Ethan push the phone away a bit to get away from the insistent yelling.
"I'll ping my location. Yes, healed, not yet." Ethan sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He'd gotten so used to Vallen's ramblings over the years that he instinctively answered each question in order. "First, what's the situation?"
"Not good. The Saber Guild's been on the hunt for you since your duel ended. Apparently their Guildmaster hasn't yet woken up, but they refuse to accept defeat. In any case, I have your location and am sending a team to you now. Your wife is also going to be there along with your daughter." Vallen droned on with his report over the sound of keys clacking on a keyboard.
"Figures they would. Until Drew admits he lost, they are going to keep up their act. What about my son?" Ethan asked as he wandered to the doorway to peer at Raven and see what she was doing.
"He's still in training. He's been updated, but simply said you'll be back and to not worry so much. I'll also be sending Dr. Thewin to check up on you."
"Don't send him. Send a doctor that's good with kids. Make sure the rest of the team is also good around kids as well." Ethan ordered as he leaned against a bookshelf to watch the small figure that was huddled on the bed over a large book.
"Sorry? What do you mean, Guildmaster?"
"Listen closely, Vallen. First, I was saved by a child, an Unguided who's been living alone for around 5 years. Second, she has an amazing talent, enough to bring me back from the verge of death. You'll know as soon as you see the state of my clothes. Third, she's unstable. I'm already worried about how she will react to Sarah and Lilly, so I don't need a bunch of mean looking men walking in like they own the place, got it?"
A loud silence was heard on the other end of the call, meaning Vallen was in such a shock that he couldn't find the words to reply. After a few moments, he heard him clear his throat and type away at the keyboard again. "I'll relay your orders, sir. Anything else we should be wary of?"
"No one is to touch her books. There's no telling how she will react if someone were to take one away from her." Ethan spoke in a stern tone as he eyed the various shelves.
"...Understood. I've got a few candidates than can be around her. The rest will stay away and guard the area." Vallen reported after a few more taps at his keyboard. "They will arrive within the hour, sir."
"Oh, also. Fried chicken. Get the best in the area and bring enough for us to eat." Ethan chuckled softly as he looked back at Raven with a warm smile.
"Fried...? But sir, yo-"
"Just get it done, Vallen." Ethan ordered before cutting the call with an annoyed sigh.
He shook his head a bit as he put the phone back into the Mana Pocket. Feeling a pair of eyes on him, he saw Raven had pulled out a headphone and was staring at him in worry.
He quickly changed his demeanor and walked to the child with a warm smile. "They will be here soon. I told them to bring extra for you."
His heart warmed as he saw the child's face brighten up once again. She then hopped off the bed and wandered to a bookshelf quickly. Reaching around, she pressed on something just barely out of her reach and caused the bookshelf to swing open slowly.
"Clothes...Papa's...wear them." Raven said excitedly as she skipped into the walk-in closet.
He sighed softly as he followed her in and looked around. He could feel the stale Mana that had been woven into Runes many years ago, catching quickly that they were used to keep the clothes from decaying. "As long as you'll let me, I'll wear them, child."