Vu Jorr Orphanage

The boy with blond hair and red eyes paced up and down, his expression showing worry. The girl with the black hair and brown eyes sat on the stairs of the large house, watching him.

"Peter," The girl, Alfa, said, "He'll be alright."

"Alright? No. He's taking too long. He's been out for too long. What if he's been taking? Or hurt? Or…"

"Calm down, Peter." Alfa said, "You make it seem like he can't take care of himself."

"He's five."

"You did some questionable things when you were five, didn't you?"

"Hey, you weren't even there."

"I know, I'm just saying that he will be alright."

"Indeed he will." The calm voice came from inside. The figure appeared, a smile drawn on his wrinkled but handsome face. He had greyish white hair and he wore a dark green kimono, with his hands behind his back.

"Joy is a very energetic and smart boy. He may be a little stubborn at times, but then, he has a good heart."

"Yeah. Making everyone else have a heart attack." Peter said. No sooner had he seen this had the boy in question appeared. He had the same blond hair and red eyes as Peter with a touch of innocence. He was dragging a girl who was much older than him, with blue hair and orange eyes. The old man's eyes immediately fixated on her, with shock and wonder.

"Papa! I found a person!" Joy exclaimed, raising Meimei's hand in the air. Meimei looked around her, confused. Alfa looked at her as well, wondering where she was from. Peter, however, was already furious. He grabbed Joy's arm.

"I told you not to run off." Peter shouted

"I found her." Joy said, breaking free from Peter's grasp.

"Joy," The old man said, sitting down a step above the stair Alfa sat on, "Where did you find her?"

"A man was going to take her. He was creepy and he smelled a lot."

A man tried to take her? In Zero Ground. It was obvious that the man was not from the Below. And neither was the girl. The old man turned to the girl

"Little girl," he said with a smile, "What's your name."

The girl shook her head. She was afraid of them. The old man smiled.

"No one will hurt you here. I promise." He said. "We can help you."

Meimei looked at the man for a while, turning to look at Peter, who was reprimanding his little brother and Alfa who was curling her hair.

"Me…Me…Meimei Vonharte."

Vonharte. This was a problem. The old man still maintained the smile on his face. "Alfa, please take Meimei inside. She needs to be bathed."

"Wait… I need to find my friend."

"Your friend is here?" The old man asked. The girl shook his head.

"He helped me run away. He was being hurt by bad people." The girl said frantically, "I have to help him"

"What's his name?" Alfa said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I… I don't know." Meimei said, "But he has yellow hair like that boy and blue eyes and…and he has a green jacket."

"Green jacket? Alfa wondered

"Yellow hair?" The old man wondered.

"She's talking about Leo." Peter said nonchalantly, pulling at Joy's ear, the latter who whined through the ordeal.

"Leo?" Alfa said, surprised, "Thought he didn't like anybody."

"I thought so too." The old man said. "Don't worry Meimei, I will find him, I promise."

Alfa held Meimei's hand, leading her into the orphanage. Joy followed suite, excited to have a new member of the house.

Joy and the old man were left outside. Joy turned to the old man. "I'll go look for him."

"No, Joy."

"Old man, he's a friend. And a friend of my friend is my friend."

"I'll look for him myself, don't worry."

The bar had little to no customers. A few White Wolves came and left, drunk, but that was all. Madam Alicia sat at the counter, wondering if it might have been a good decision to open up a bar.

The door opened, revealing a man wearing black clothes, or rags. He was probably a homeless person, but his skin said otherwise. His black hair and brown eyes were too rich in color to be from around here. He sat at the counter, saying an inaudible 'hi'. Alicia walked to the other side of the counter.

"What can I hit you with?" She asked.

"Just a regular." He said.

"Sure."

Alicia poured the man a drink. The man drank it, putting the glass down putting his head down on the table. Alicia stared at him.

"You okay."

"Yeah." He said, "I just…missed the chance of a lifetime, that's all."

"Seems like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Oh it was." The guy said, looking at her. "Now, I have to remain here. Well, considering what I've done, I guess you could say that I don't even deserve it."

The lady looked at him. "Everyone deserves a second chance. It's only when we think that we are undeserving of it that we don't get."

"Hmm…" The man responded. He raised his head slowly, looking around the shop.

"This place looks kinda new."

"Yeah. I 'borrowed' it recently."

"Ah."

"I just wanted to move away from the Upper Half, that's all."

"You're telling me some personal stuff, madam. Don't you think I could be a spy or something?"

Alicia smiled, "You're not. You're too good of a pretender to even be from around here."

The man looked at her and couldn't help but smile. He drank to more rounds, conversing with her well into midnight, before he took hi leave.

Wren felt a little lighter now. He stopped his pretense drunkenness, passing behind the bar (and catching a glimpse of a sleeping boy, a boy he'd seen so many times.) He continued on through the streets, a broad smile across his face and a warmth in his heart that was a vast contrast to the cold around him