Warlock of Oceans: My Poseidon System

"Are you Petra…?"

"Y-Yes," She stuttered, nervously blushing as we began to follow her out of the courtroom. She may have been only a few years younger, but she was just so adorable that I couldn't help but scoop her up into my arms and squeeze those adorable cheeks of hers. "P-Please stop…"

"Oh, I'm sorry… you're just too cute," I smiled, setting her down on the ground and then following her out of the courtroom. We went even further, walking down the streets until we reached the very edge of the city where a decently-sized slum had been built up.

We walked and walked and walked some more until we reached a small green hill with a small cottage house at the very top. It was probably the only decent-looking place in these slums, and upon reaching the front door, a woman with long brown hair and entrancing hazel eyes greeted us.

"Come in. You must be his friends…."

"U-Ummm… W-We're not really his friends. We're just-"

I didn't get to add anything else as the woman already left the door open for us, allowing us to come inside. It was cozy and multiple children ran around, their smiles being the lights for this slightly run-down orphanage. On the outside, it looked perfect, but upon coming inside, you realize it was almost like every other house in the slums.

"Come, sit down," the woman smiled, and so as we took her up on her offer and she gave us all a cup of tea to drink, a few of the kids came up to us.

"Play with us!" They shouted adorably, and as my heart was warmed and my stomach was heated up by the cup of tea I had been given, two more children but this time a bit older stepped into the dining room.

One, a boy with short, wavy black hair and two entrancing gray pupils. The other was a girl with long black hair and pitch-black eyes, making Panther grip her cup of tea just a bit harder. And while Petra walked over to the girl with black hair, hugging her with all her might, I stepped up to try and say something, only to be interrupted.

"You… You're from my family, aren't you?" Panther asked, standing up from her chair and walking over to the small girl who took a few steps back. She shielded who I presumed to be her sister, almost glaring at the girl who was supposedly her family.

"What do you want?" Mari responded, her teeth angrily gnashing together. It seemed they had some beef, but it was hard to tell which kind. Was it familial or personal…?

"I don't want anything from you. I just want to know if you're from the Wixx family," Panther smiled, attempting to calm down Mari, who pulled Petra behind her, a drop of sweat falling down her face. "My name is Sage. I'm from the third branch… may I ask what branch you're from?"

"I've long ditched the last name of Wixx. I hate that fucking family for how they treated my sister… if you're trying to get me to come back, then you can go fuck yourself. I'm not returning to that family."

"Ah… I see… is it because of your sister?" Panther's scarred eyes shifted to Petra behind Mari, and as she had a bit of a creepy aura surrounding her, Mari stayed on the defensive, all while Asger watched from the sideline. He was ready to step in but wanted to give Mari the respect of tackling her own problems… they were smart and mature for their age. "It is…"
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"So what if it is? Have you been sent to kill her!?" Mari shouted, causing the woman who greeted us at the door to poke her head in. She was busy handling some of the other kids, but upon hearing Mari yell at Panther, she was forced to step in. "Y-YOU'VE ALREADY DONE ENOUGH! YOU PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM US! FROM ME! SO DON'T TAKE ANYTHING ELSE-"

She handled it perfectly. Panther, using her immense speed, crouched down to get eye level with Mari and hugged her. She even managed to rope in Petra, who cried at just the simple sight of her own sister crying. Clearly, they loved each other very much, and Panther realized that. So instead of exacerbating the situation with excuses for her own family, she just hugged her. Tightly.

"D-Don't touch us… get your filthy hands off of…."

Panther placed her forehead against Mari's forehead while using her scarred eyes to stare into the little girl's eyes. I couldn't tell if she used some kind of skill to calm her down, but suddenly Mari's breathing came to a slow while Petra learned to enjoy the embrace of her distant family member.

"I'm sorry… you're not even part of the family that tortured us-"

"You've been through a lot. I'm proud of you for coming this far," Panther smiled, slowly reeling her head back while Mari looked at the floor, her childish side slowly coming through. She attempted to hold back an even bigger flood of tears, but upon feeling the gentle petting of Panther's hand, the floodgates opened, and she cried into her arms.

The caretaker for all of these children looked upon this situation and made the smart decision of not stepping in. She probably had an inkling that there was something up with Mari's past and knew that tackling it head-on was probably a good decision.

"And you, Petra," Panther embraced Mari into her chest while glancing over at the girl with white hair, now outside of her embrace. The little girl looked nervous, taking a step back. She looked as if she was about to cry as Panther reached out her hand and even took a fetal position to guard herself.

Everybody present gulped down a drop of saliva. The little girl had made herself as small as possible while guarding every vital point on her body… meaning only one thing… she had been beaten. Heavily. To the point where she had to learn how to guard her most important parts otherwise, the effects after would be way too much for her tiny body to handle.

Panther, upon seeing this, had her scarred eyes wide open. She almost couldn't believe the sight, and as she hugged Mari even tighter, her scarred eyes sharpened, and her teeth gritted against each other.

"Those fucking bastards… it must have been them… the first branch… I'll kill them all… forcing these kids to-"

Mari suddenly winced with pain, causing Panther to snap out of her rageful hypnosis. She quickly let go of Mari and allowed her to walk over to Asger, who continued to comfort her while she slowly approached Petra. She was shaking so much that you'd think an earthquake was under us, but no. It was just her and her own endless amount of fear.

"It's okay… I won't hurt you…" Panther smiled gently, this time using both of her hands to gesture a large hug. Instead of threatening her with a stretched-out single hand, she used one hand to ease her worries.

Petra cautiously poked her head out of the shell she had created, seeing Panther's image as some kind of divine revelation. Her eyes filled with tears, and as Panther stopped right before her, her gentle aura stretching across the small girl, she got up and dashed into her.

"*cough*... damn… maybe… too much enthusiasm."

She had knocked the wind out of Panther. But, instead of pushing her away to regain her breath, she expertly brought her into her embrace while trying to remain as cool as possible in front of the other kids.

"What an idiot…" Lothin muttered, rolling his eyes and then taking a glance at the kids beside him. They all backed away, fearful of his threatening eyes, so Wolf instantly gestured for him to come closer, welcoming them into his gentle aura.

"I'm glad you all have come," A voice stretched out towards us. And like the sounding of an angelic bell, all of our eyes were drawn to the caretaker of this orphanage. She was beautiful and radiant, dazzling brightly in the sun peering through the glass slide door right beside us.

"Ma'am, may we see Cyrus? I need to ask him something," I immediately spoke up, expecting him to come right around the corner since that seemed like him, but… nothing. There was absolutely nothing.

The woman's eyes shifted to the ground, a hint of sorrow dropping in her voice. "You just missed him. He had visited me, hoping you all would know where to go to meet him, but the governmental workers were already on his tail. Not wanting to put me or any of the children in danger or suspicion, he immediately left, making it seem like he questioned me for something… so, I helped him with his escape, directing them in the direction he was going in."

But, just as we all sunk our eyes down in disappointment, the woman handed me a letter meant for everybody here. The daggers, his closest siblings, and the rest of the children at the orphanage.

And I cried. I cried endlessly as I read his apology scribbled down quickly.