2 The Orphanage

Sera took a sip of the tea Sister Liz had prepared for her. It was nothing extraordinary but it contained warmth she didn't feel from anyone else. In this orphanage no one believed her and protected her more than Sister Liz did. That's why she lowered her guard down whenever she was with her.

Sister Liz stood up and got some clothes for Sera. "Finish your tea and change in these clothes. They're mine when I was still as skinny as you." She said with a gentle laugh.

Sera drank all that is left and walked towards Sister Liz, took the clothes and went into the other room to change. When she came out Sister Liz was sipping her own tea and held her heads up to see Sera in her clothes.

"It fits! Sera, you have to take good care of your body and don't be fat like Sister Min." She said with a wink and a wide smile.

Sera giggled and the deep dimple on her right face showed. Sister Liz smiled and hugged Sera and said, "I know what happened and I believe you're innocent."

With those words Sera couldn't hold it any longer and burst out in tears.

"Why is my life like this Sister Liz?"

"Am I a bad person?"

"What did I do to deserve this?" Sera asked without pause.

"Shhh now my little sister. You're a good, wonderful person. It is them who is bad." Sister Liz said as she patted her back comfortingly to make her stop crying. She pulled back and looked at Sera's tear stained face, gently wiped the tears away, looked at her eyes deeply and vowed,

"Sera, from now on, I promise to get you a family soon." She paused for a while, and continued,

"I have been selfish enough in keeping you here because I want to take good care of you myself. But I realized even with my position I can't protect you fully."

"Will that be fine with you?" she asked.

Sera understood this. At one time, she wondered why no one sent her out to foster parents. She only realized afterwards that Sister Liz was choosing the perfect family for her but it never came. She never got mad at Sister Liz for doing this because she knew Sister Liz was doing it for her. Since then she had always treated Sister Liz as her real older sister. Sera nodded and uttered demurely,

"Thank you, old sis."

Sister Liz was touched with Sera calling her, her old sister. She was about to say something when someone knocked. tok,tok,tok.

"Come in." She said as she pulled out of the hug and let Sera sit in comfort.

A nun came in and asked her to go to the conference room. Sister Liz responded with a nod and looked at Sera.

"Take a nap here first and don't forget to lock the door. I will be back in a while." she said smiling and walked out of the room with the other nun.

Sera did what Sister Liz said but she couldn't sleep. She was still thinking about what Sister Liz had promised her. "A family..." she closed her eyes and tried to remember what her parents looked like. But all she saw were blurry images of two people playing with her and slowly they were getting farther and farther even as she chased after them relentlessly. "Mom..." "Dad..." ".....wait..." she whispered and with that she fell asleep.

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In the conference room, Sister Min was sitting beside Father Sev when Sister Liz came in. Two more priests sat in the room with three more nuns.

"Sister Liz, I heard from Sister Min that you took care of Sera, that beautiful girl. How is she?" Father Sev said in a perverted manner it sent Sister Liz heart pulsate apace in anger.

The nuns looked at each other with his statement. This was not something new to them. But they were shocked that Father Sev would say it directly to Sister Liz and in front of them. Father Sev has a bad reputation, many within the orphanage knew about his pedophilia but no one dared to talk about it openly.

The Arcane Surge caused many religious groups to be cast aside and they have been careful not to make mistakes to further cause their downfall. Their orphanage was only significant because the people were happy that they took care of the children left behind by their parents. If word got out that such acts are happening in the orphanage, the people would not think twice to put down these religious sects.

Sister Liz sat down, calmed her heart and looked at Father Sev evenly, "I hope Father Sev remembers that the only thing keeping this religion sect from crumbling is through the support of the people. They know we are taking good care of the children. If you want to put this sect down because of your selfish desires you might as well tell us beforehand. We wouldn't want to be here when the people barge in and take the orphanage down, correct?", addressing the other people in the room.

An uneasy murmuring filled the room.

Father Sev's face reddened with rage and embarrassment. "You! How dare you talk back to a priest! Even if you're the head of this orphanage you're still only a nun!", he screamed as he slammed his fist at the conference table.

Sister Liz still calm, looked at Father Sev spouting all of his nonsense. She smiled and said,

"Father Sev, you think too highly of yourself. We are now in 2080. Did you forget that because of the decline of priests' credibility, our sect had been greatly affected. It was through the efforts of the nuns who fought through all the problems YOU priests created that we are still surviving. I understand that you are old. I just hope next time you act your age."

Sister Liz emphasized 'you' to make Father Sev's ego slump. The other priests looked defeated with all Sister Liz aforesaid. So they didn't dare talk back. The same goes for Father Sev, he wanted to slap this woman in front of him but he can't because all she said was true. The priests and nuns' stature now are equal. It was only because the nuns firmly believe in the old teachings that they still held greater respect to priests, but not with Sister Liz. Sister Liz did not become the head of the orphanage because of nothing. She was smart and sharp tongued to those she despised. The room fell silent. Sister Liz felt accomplished so she looked at the nun who called her,

"What is the matter that we have to gather here?"