Dark Magus Returns

"We're all going to die?" Charlotte said, grabbing her own shoulders as a shiver went through her body, urging her to turn back.

She had to get out of here; it couldn't be a coincidence, not when her life was already on the line.

"Wait, sister!" the little boy said, sucking his thumb. "It's okay... the woman is... the woman is... her brain, not 100 percent?"

The little boy turned to Sunder, who had jumped out of bed and patted the kid on the head.

"He means that Tithiny there has gone through a lot. She has good and bad spells, and right now she's going through a bad one. She has her own story as to how she ended up here," Sunder said. "As do I," he added, pointing to his own eye. freewebnσvel.cѳm

"My name is Harper," the little boy said, pointing proudly to his chest.

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief, and being able to talk to the others settled her down a little. Bending down to Harper's eye level, she smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Charlotte."

Sunder introduced himself and then went on to introduce the other two in the room. The man in the back wasn't much of a talker; his name was Byon.

Byon gave a brief wave before staring back out the window, and Sunder advised it was best to try speaking with Tithiny later, as it wasn't a good time right now.

Eventually, Charlotte started talking with little Harper and Sunder, picking a bed next to the two of them. They talked about the church and how long they had been there.

Harper was just a kid who had lost his parents, an orphan wandering the streets until the church took him in. Currently, the religion was trying to find someone willing to adopt him, as they didn't have an orphanage in town, and it wasn't the kind of place one was meant to stay long-term.

"Wait, why can't they just look after Harper until he's older? I mean, they say they take people in all the time," Charlotte asked.

"That's because of the program they have. Actually, people come in and out of this place weekly," Sunder explained. "I'm meant to leave in two days myself.

"The religion doesn't give us money, but they give us food, a place to eat and stay. But if a person's been here a month, they hand them enough coin to last another month outside and tell us to be on our way.

"They say that we can come back, but only after a month. I think it's something to make us less reliant on this place. I'm a bit scared and nervous at the same time."

Charlotte found it strange. After all, what could a little boy like Harper do, and Sunder was just a teenager? They were practically kicking them out after taking them in.

It didn't make complete sense to her, but at least they were helping in some ways rather than ignoring everything outside.

The more prominent thought on her mind was that she only had a month or so here. Maybe, in that time, she could gather strength and things would change.

As the day went on, Sunder and Harper took Charlotte to the canteen where food was served. They ate together, and Sunder even gave some of his food to Charlotte.

It wasn't enough to fill her, so she felt a bit embarrassed, but Sunder insisted he was full.

"Sister, take mine!" Harper said, handing over half of his bun. "Harper's small, small stomach already filled with food. You need to eat!"

When she looked down at her wrists, she realized how thin she had become, and maybe that was why they were giving her extra food.

This feeling was nice compared to the things she saw as an agent of Alter and the harshness of Pagna. The religion and this place had a comforting vibe, and she could see why people wanted to give back in the future.

Finally feeling she was in a safe environment, when night fell, she went to sleep almost instantly. She was more worn out than ever, and even the sound of rain hitting the window wasn't enough to wake her up.

Harper, however, was having trouble falling asleep. Rubbing his eyes, the little boy got up and jumped down from his bed.

He quietly moved across the room, opened the door, and headed to the bathroom. After finishing, he aimed to just head back to bed and try to get more sleep.

"Charlotte was so happy today when I gave her food... maybe I should get some more!" Harper thought.

He turned around and decided to head to the kitchen. He spotted a basket of bread left out, but it was out of his reach.

So he pulled a chair over and started to climb, eventually grabbing a few pieces of bread. With a smile on his face, he walked out of the kitchen, ready to head back to the room again. When he entered the hall a second time, he heard something strange.

"Is it from outside?" Harper thought.

He followed the strange muffled noises, and when he got closer, he realized they were coming from the staircase-the one that led downstairs.

"Harper doesn't like this... it's too scary... I want to go back now!" Harper whispered as he turned, only to bump into a soft piece of cloth.

"Harper!" Carl said with a smile. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Harper felt embarrassed, realizing he had taken food from the kitchen when he wasn't

supposed to.

Seeing this, Carl began to tut.

"You know, Harper, it's not good to take things that aren't yours. Bad people need to be punished."

Carl lifted his leg and forcefully kicked Harper straight in the stomach.

Harper's legs lifted off the ground, and the bread he was holding scattered across the floor.

Harper could only see the smile on Carl's face as he fell into darkness, his pieces of bread left scattered on the floor.