chapter 10

"5:00 in the afternoon. It's a Saturday, so everyone should still be up."

"Is there anything you need to confirm before you can take me to my family?"

Griselda offered a small, sad smile, "No, you being with me is enough. We're all set to go whenever."

"Well then," Vin stood up slowly, his body shaking, "Let's go, shall we?"

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, with Griselda sitting beside Vin in the back seats of a moving van, while a random Vatican worker drove up front.

No words were exchanged, Griselda offered no sympathies aside from the occasional sad smile, and a firm, but caring hold on Vin's hand the entire half-hour trip. A gesture not ignored by the distraught, yet concerningly-reserved boy.

Soon enough, the telltale squeak of the vehicle's brakes sounded out, as the car pulled to a stop in the driveway of the Corsetti household. All three left the van, and walked up to the door. The worker stood in front of the two, and rang the doorbell.

Just as fast as the doorbell rang, it opened to reveal Vin's mother standing in the doorway.

"Ah! Hello, you must be the workers from the camp! Oh come in, come in."

Once they all stepped into the house, Vin's vision began to swim. Even as they moved throughout the house, he couldn't tell how much time was passing. All his brain could comprehend was the reminders of his family decorating the walls, and just how empty everything was going to feel when his pictures were going to be gone from that wall, and how the next morning, his family was going to wake up, and not think for a moment about the son that they lost overnight.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, but nothing was coming out. At one point, he felt a familiar burning in his fingers; and upon looking down, was greeted with the sight of the rings, his Sacred Gear manifesting on his hands once more. Could he fight? Could he beat back the church, tell his family the truth, and fight to keep them safe? The hypotheticals began to flood his mind, until a sudden pressure encapsulated his left hand, ceasing his rampant thoughts. As he looked over to find Griselda giving his hand a squeeze.

Slowly, the rings twinkled, until they disappeared once more. From then on out, Griselda would occasionally squeeze his hand, anchoring Vin back into the present, until eventually, the family was gathered in the kitchen.

"Just let me know when you're done, and I'll do it, alright?" Griselda whispered.

"Guys…" Vin croaked, before his voice caught.

Squeeze. Vin took a breath.

"Guys, I'm sorry… I… I have to leave, for a long time… And, and when I-"

Squeeze. Breath.

"When I walk out that door, n-none of you guys are going to be able to remember me anymore. I- I just-"

Squeeze. Breath.

His family looked at him with various expressions: confusion, sympathy, worry.

His father finally chimed in, "Kiddo, what's the problem? You… you look like you're going to cry."

And cry he did, raising his head to the ceiling, Vin sniffled as a few stray tears made their way out.

"F-fuck, I can't take this…" Vin rasped, as he wiped and pinched his eyes with his free hand.

Squeeze. Breath.

Vin returned his gaze to his family, "I love you guys. I-I'm going to come back one day. One day, I'm going to be strong; strong enough to share a life with you guys again. And when that happens, then we can truly become a family again, ok?"

"B-Big Bro…" Lisa looked up at him, eyes scared, small, terrified… "What's happening?"

It nearly broke him to see those eyes.

"Goodbye guys," Vin shakily smiled through pouring tears, before he looked down to the ground, shaking.

"Do it."

And in a bright flash of light, the Corsetti family fell unconscious.

Griselda gave Vin's hand another squeeze, and finally spoke up.

"They won't wake up for another twelve hours," Griselda explained, "Sister Dorothy has already loaded all the things from your room into the van. Is there anything else here that you want to bring?"

Vin nodded, as Griselda finally let go of his hand, and walked out of the room. Coming back not ten seconds later with a large cardboard moving box in her hands.

"Let's get packing, then. I'll help you."

Vin couldn't bring himself to smile, so he simply nodded his head.

In the end, the two managed to gather up a variety of things; from the few game systems in the house, to movies, records, and books purchased by and for Vin. And at the very end, the most agonizing process: taking every photo that contained Vin from the various walls in the house, each and every frame going neatly into the same box, stacked in rows like books on a shelf.

In the end, it took them around three hours to fully pack everything that had anything to do with Vin that was worth keeping. Soon enough, the three piled back into the now-full van, and headed back towards the Vatican.

It was about three-quarters of the way back when Griselda finally addressed the elephant in the room.

"Dare I say, you've taken this… much better than I thought you would have."

Vin stared out the window at the passing houses through the van's tinted windows

"I'm not taking this well, Ms. Quarta," A single tear twinkled down Vin's cheek.

Griselda returned to looking ahead, "I see…"

Once they reached the Vatican, Griselda directed Vin out of the van, before it drove off.

"They're going to unpack your stuff into your room. You'll have to unbox everything else yourself, but they can at least make you a bed for later. In the meantime, I'm going to show you how to get around here, and get to your new quarters."

Silently, Vin followed Griselda around the Vatican. Memorizing the way around the halls, until they reached an elevator.

"Come, step inside Vin," Griselda instructed.

Once the two were in the elevator, Griselda pressed the 'close doors' button, and instead of going to press a floor button, Griselda instead reached into her robes, and produced a set of keys, handing them over to Vin.