You're An Orphan Now

Yin Huan sat frozen between his parents' bodies, not completely understanding what had just happened. Blood was all over his mom's face, a deep gash across her chest that was not moving anymore. His dad's state was worse, he lost an arm to the monster in the beginning of the fight. His movements had gotten slower and slower until he had lost his balance as he swung his sword. Then, the monster clawed at him, and his dad went down. He had yet to move from the place he had fallen. His mom tried her best to hold the monster back on her own, but soon the monster got to her too.

With his parents out of the way, why had the monster not attacked him? It had just looked at him, straight in the eye, and then it left. Just left. So, Yin Huan sat there, between his parents, hoping that one of them would open their eyes and tell him everything was fine. They would tell him what to do, how he could help.

Now he did not know what he could do. He was never allowed to join his parents when they went monster hunting, he was always left behind in an inn. This time however, they did not make it to the inn before the monster ambushed them. They had been running late because Yin Huan had thrown a fit because he wanted to chase a butterfly along the way, and he got picked up before he could run after it. If he had not wanted to play with that butterfly, would they have arrived at the inn before dark?

But why had the monster left? Yin Huan was only six, it was not like he could do anything against it. Maybe it did not want to hurt children? His parents had never told him of such a monster, but what else could it be?

Yin Huan stared at the pale face of his mother, wanting those eyes to turn to him instead of staring up at the dark sky. He crawled closer, waving his hand before her face, but she did not react. He had never seen his mother so still. He had never seen his mother without a kind smile on her face, her eyes twinkling as stars as Yin Huan was telling some elaborate story.

"A-niang?"

But his mother did not react to his voice, did not seem to notice him. It was clear to Yin Huan now, she was not here anymore. A sob escaped his throat, but instead of caving into the heavy sobs that followed, Yin Huan took a deep breath and crawled over to his dad.

"A-die?"

Yin Huan clung onto the faint hope that he still had, wanting his dad here so he could cry about his sorrow about his mom. Dad had to be alive, he had to.

"A-die?" he tried again, because sometimes his father was deep in thought, so deep he could not hear people calling out to him. This had to be the case this time too.

But no answer came. At least not from him.

[[The Orphanage System has detected that you are an orphan now.]]

What was this voice? Where did it come from? He looked around, looking around for the intruder, but all he could see was a bit further down the path they had been ambushed on, and the dark shadows of the forest around them. If someone was there, he could not see them.

[[You will be assigned new parents now.]]

New parents? What new parents? He still had his parents! Who was this? Were they just sprouting nonsense?

[[Please wait.]]

Wait on what? New parents? No, his mom and dad were here, they were fine, everything was fine.

Yin Huan kept his sight on the dark woods surrounding him, but nothing was moving. The voice sounded close, but unless the man kept completely still, he should still be able to see him.

Oh no. Had the monster come back? Was this the monster speaking? His parents had told him that some very intelligent monsters could speak our language, was this one of them? Was that why the monster had not attacked him?

[[Your new parents have been selected. Your parents will raise you as their own, shape you into a man they could be proud of. They will punish and award you fairly, but if you fail to obey, if you choose to rebel, only death will await you.]]

Yin Huan reached for his dad's hand and squeezed it. It felt cold, as cold as Yin Huan would be if he failed to listen to some strangers.

[[You start with 100 G-Points. If this amount drops to zero, you will die. Your parents will be in charge of your G-Points.]]

He did not understand, not at all. This was too much.

[[Good luck with your new family.]]

He did not want a new family! He just wanted his mom and dad.

{Oh sweetheart! Look at you, you're so adorable! I think you and I will get along great! I'm your muqin.}

That woman did not sound as his mother! His mother laid next to him, and she had not said anything. Yin Huan looked around, trying to find where this woman was hiding, but again, he was alone on the path.

"Who are you?" he asked to the emptiness around him.

{I told you, I'm your muqin, silly!}

Yin Huan did not agree, at all, but he guessed he could not win this fight. "Where are you?"

{I'm in your head. Just like your fuqin.}

[Yes.] a new voice said. [I'll be your fuqin. We're both in your head, a-Huan. You can only hear us, not see us. But we can see and hear you.]

They were in his head? There were two strangers here now that could see him, but he could not see them? A shiver went down his spine.

Moreover, they knew his name. How much did they already know about him? "You know my name."

{We're your parents, of course we know your name! We would be really bad parents if we did not even know that.}

"You're not my parents."

A silence fell. Then the woman cackled in laughter. The high pitch gave him goosebumps.

{You're saying that we're not? Are you sure of that? I'll show you that you have to listen to us. Pick up your late mother's dagger. Her sword is too heavy for you, her dagger will be fine.}

Yin Huan looked over to his mom. At her side laid the dagger she only used in rare cases; it was her weapon of choice to use when her sword failed in a long-distance battle. He looked at the dagger but did not move.

{You want to play it like this?}

[[50 G-Points have been subtracted by your mother. You still have 50 G-Points. Remember, if the number falls to zero, you will die.]]

Most of these words he did not even understand. The only thing he did understand was that if he did not obey this woman, he would die. So, he released his dad's hand and crawled over to the dagger. The blade was still clean, but the hilt was drenched with blood. It was his mom's blood that had stained the dagger, not that of the monster. He took a deep breath and picked the dagger up.

{Good boy. Now, let's make use of that dagger.}