Mary was an orphan, abandoned by her parents for not having magic, like many others there, and for her unsettling stare that could strike fear into a dragon. Whenever people made eye contact, they felt great discomfort, as if they did something wrong. She didn’t make many friends, most of the kids left her alone.

  Kids with magic would get adopted more often, leaving more non-magical children there. Her soul-piercing stare and her lack of magic made people turn away from her, and leave her there. Over time, she became more and more lonely, almost crying every night.

  She eventually turned eighteen and had to leave the orphanage, fending for herself. Growing into a young woman, she was 5’9 (175 cm), with long brown hair, and a thin figure. She was on the streets, poor and without any clothing besides the couple of torn and worn clothes given to her by the orphanage she had before she was forced to leave.

  One day she was wandering the streets, starving and thirsty. A man took pity on her, and approached her. She looked up at him, weary and afraid.

  “Hey, are you looking for a job?”

  She gulped, her dry throat trying to swallow the small amount of saliva she had.

  “I-I’m not gonna s-sell my body, creep!”

  He sighed in amusement.

  “I’m not asking for that, I saw you may need a job, you look like you’re starving.”

  “W-what do you want, then?”

  “I’m just trying to spread some kindness. I could offer you a job at my clothing company.”

  “I have no experience, though…”

  He patted her on the shoulder, and she flinched, closing her eyes and tensing up. Realizing his mistake, he pulled his hand away.

  “Sorry, we could just teach you how to do that. But first, would you mind if I bought you some food to-”

  “Yes, please.”

  He chuckled at her, the interruption and responding so quickly humoring him.

  “Alright, let’s go somewhere. I’m Isaac, Isaac Castes. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Mary. I don’t have a last name, I was just abandoned at an orphanage…”

  “I see. Well, how about you take my last name?”

  Mary’s face flushed heavily, and she stammered heavily, before speaking again.

  “We just met, you can’t just say that!”

  “Not like that! Also, I’m way too old for you! I’m sixty-seven, and you’re like, eighteen?”

  Mary nodded her head.

  “Yes, I’m eighteen.”

  “Haha— No, no. I just meant it like, I’m taking you under my wing, y’know? Like we’re family.”

  He laughed heartily, and Mary forced herself to laugh.

  “Anyways, let’s get you some food.”

  He outstretched his hand, allowing her to grab it. Hesitantly, she took it, accepting his offer. They walked together to a tavern, and entered it. The hostess was waiting for customers, and her eyes lit up when she saw them.

  “Hello, and welcome to Yakov’s Rest. We just recently opened this location, so we are glad to have you here. How many guests are in your group?”

  Her voice quivered lightly, this being her first job, not wanting to mess it up.

  “Just a table for two, please,” Isaac said to her.

  “Right this way.”

  She guided them to a table, and sat them down. She set down menus in front of them.

  “A server will be here soon.”

  She went back to her post and they waited for a server to come. Mary picked up a menu off of the table and started reading off of it.

  “So, er, beautiful day outside, isn’t it?”

  Isaac said, trying to break the silence. .

  “I guess so…”

  He frowned slightly. Isaac had always wanted to give people a chance at life. Late in his own life he realized he was spoiled by his parents, being rich and able to inherit the second biggest clothing brand in the world, he wanted to give others the opportunity to be able to spoil themselves or their children, just like he was. No one should miss the chance to be something, especially if they came from nothing.

  Eventually a waiter arrived and pulled out a pencil and was holding a small notepad in his hand.

  “Are you guys ready to get drinks or to order food?”

  “Yes, I’d just like a ‘signature Yakov’s Cola?’”

  The waiter nodded at Isaac and turned to Mary.

  “Uhm, I’d just like some water, please.”

  The waiter nodded again and quickly jotted down what they wanted, a flash of concern crossing his eyes at Mary’s malnourished figure.

  “And you aren’t ready to order food yet?”

  “I’m still deciding.”

  Isaac said, and he looked at Mary.

  “You can get whatever you want, by the way. Don’t be hesitant to just order it.”

  “I’m still not ready, there’s so much food it’s hard to pick…”

  “Alright, I’ll be back with your drinks in a couple of minutes, just holler at one of us if you need anything.”

  The waiter walked away, and Mary and Isaac turned back to their menus, deciding what to eat.

  “Maybe you should order something easily digestible, like some soup? I heard that people have died from their systems going into shock over trying to consume solid food.”

  “O-oh… Okay, I’ll do that if you think I should…”

  At times whenever she attempted to speak her throat would close, making her have to restart the word.

  Eventually, the waiter came back, handing water to Mary and the cola to Isaac. The cola was the average dark dark brown, and the water handed to Mary had a lemon on the side of it.

  “Alright, are you guys ready to order?”

  “Yes, I’d like uh, a general chicken with rice, and can I get an eggroll with that please?”

  “It comes with an eggroll.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  The waiter turned to Mary.

  “What would you like?”

  “Can I just get some chicken noodle soup?”

  The waiter jotted down what they asked for.

  “Will that be all?”

  “I think so.”

  Isaac said, glancing at Mary. Mary said nothing, and the waiter walked away again, leaving them to each other. Mary squeezed the lemon into her drink and mixed it up with the straw, before drinking it thirstily. Isaac was surprised at how fast she was consuming it, but it was expected since she was out on the streets for so long.

  “When’d you have to leave the orphanage?”

  She pulled away from her drink, sighing, slightly relieved to have something to hydrate herself.

  “Uhm, about six months ago…? Why?”

  “Just wondering. I’m guessing that’s when your birthday was?”

  She nodded her head. She started quivering a little bit. Isaac shook his leg nervously.

  “So, er, what’s your favorite animal?”

  Mary looked at him with confusion.

  “Uhm, foxes, I guess?”

  “Ah, those are good ones. I personally like dogs.”

  Mary looked at him, and their eyes locked. She quickly looked away, muttering something to herself.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Usually people don’t like it when I stare directly at them for too long…”

  “It’s okay, you can look at me.”

  Her eyes drifted up towards his again. His eyes were already looking at hers, and they stared at each other. This is the first time Mary had looked at someone for so long, his dark blue eyes looking like galaxies, hers looking like hazel, the mixture of brown, green, and gold, unsettling to most, dazzling to the few.

  “I don’t see what’s wrong with you staring, it’s not like you have a scary demeanor or spooky eyes, it’s quite the opposite.”

  Her eyes started watering, and two tears almost simultaneously rolled down her cheeks. Isaac got a look of concern.

  “Oh, don’t cry, please!”

  He whispered to her urgently as he picked up a napkin and patted her tears.

  “I’m sorry, no one’s complimented me like that before…”

  “I’m sorry, please don’t cry.”

  After Isaac said this, the waiter came with a large platter, and saw Isaac patting away her tears, and he hesitated before approaching.

  “Sorry, here’s your food.”

  They both looked at him as he started setting down the plates of food, Isaac pulling away from Mary. The waiter left again, and Mary almost instantly started eating the food.

  “It’s so good!”

  “Slow down, you shouldn’t eat so fast. You might get indigestion or something. And chew more thoroughly on the chicken and noodles.”

  “You’re right, sorry.”

  She took slower and more deliberate bites of the soup, slowly putting the spoon up to her mouth, chewing on the noodles and chicken with care. Eventually they finished eating and drinking, Isaac paid and they left.

  “Why are you so nice to me?”

  Isaac thought about Mary’s question as they walked.

  “Why not?”

  “There’s gotta be some ulterior motive or something.”

  “No, not really. I just think people deserve a chance at something. I was rich, and I was spoiled. Why shouldn’t other people get even a fraction of what I have?”

  Mary sighed.

  “Whatever, man. You confuse me.”

  They continued walking and talking about random nonsense. Eventually, they reached the warehouse, and Isaac allowed Mary in after him. Mary looked in awe at the inside of it, the large space and magical devices filling it, as well as the large walls of clothing and textile filling it.

  “Woah, this place is massive!”

  “I’ve been working hard, this place cost a lot of money.”

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  “I can tell.”

  “Anyways, let’s get you learning how to make some clothes! Or, uh, processing clothes. Or processing the cloths for the clothes. Or maybe even harvesting the material to make them. We’ll figure it out.”

  Isaac guided Mary to a table, and started teaching her the basics, how to fold clothes properly, how to stack them, and how to operate magical machinery. Most magical machinery is powered by items, usually stones, that radiate magic from years of absorbing them naturally, or objects, also usually stones, that stored magical power from people.

  They tried processing the clothes, which included inspecting them, folding them and storing them, as well as delivery to other locations or clients. Then it was making clothes, attempting to stitch the clothes together in the design that was requested for them. Harvesting the material was picking up cotton, collecting wool, and other items for cloth. Over the months, Isaac taught Mary how to do these things, clothing her and feeding her, her payment being the work she did for him.

  They eventually figured that making the clothes was best for her, as her steady hand and gentle craft made her clothing high quality and well-stitched together. Isaac had a feeling that she’d be a great new employee. Over time her skill grew, and she began brewing ideas for clothing items, as well. Isaac peer-reviewed the designs, and while most of them flopped, some of them were accepted, and Mary got a large commission from it. Her main job was making clothes, while in her free time she designed them, it was her passion.

  Eventually she was recognized by other higher ups and given more pay and higher positions. It’s been multiple years, her experiences shaping her. She’s become more wise, more experienced. She’s now twenty-three, and independent from the handouts of others.

  She was closing up shop, Isaac had left to go to another town months ago, and she was left with the responsibility of managing the warehouse there. She still stitched together clothes, but was more on the managing side of things. One of the other workers walked up to her.

  “It’s pretty late, huh?” The worker tried to make small talk with Mary.

  “Yes, it is. Jessica’s been gone a while now, do we know what happened to her?”

  “I’m not too sure. It’s only been two days. I sent her a letter through the company’s mail system, since I don’t really know where she lives.”

  “Hmm. Well, we’ll contact her if she doesn’t come back soon.”

  After letting the other worker leave, she locked all the openings to the store and jumped down to close the shutters. She headed home, picking up her umbrella under the cover above the door, opened it and walked home.

  The rain was pitter pattering on the ground and her umbrella, sending a chill down her spine. She worked overtime, as she knew she had nothing to do when she got home, and needed the extra money. It was already dark outside, and the rain wasn’t making it better.

  A man bumped into her, knocking her back. He was quite tall, and he stank of sulfur and charred skin.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

  Lightning struck as she was left on the ground, clutching her stomach and crying. The umbrella she held was broken in half, pooling up with water. All she could wonder was why? Why her? What did she do to deserve this? She felt like she was going to vomit. She did.

  She got up off the cobblestone, soaking wet. She shivered, and walked slowly back home. She shakily took her key and fidgeted with it, scratching the paint near the lock. She eventually unlocked it, and went over the trash can in her kitchen, vomiting into it again. Her body kept trying to eject the food in her stomach, even when there was none. She fell over on the cold wood floor, crying and gagging.

  She woke up the next morning, wondering if it was a dream. She still had the bruises from the attacker on the body. She cried again, and she kept crying. Missing work that day, and the next, and the next.

  She could barely eat, staying in her home and wondering what she did wrong for her to deserve this. Her hunger took over, and she had to start eating again. It was slow, but her eating habits returned to normal. Over the course of weeks, she had eaten all of her food. Eventually, she had to go out and get some more.

  Heading out to an open market, it was the closest place near her house. It was relatively empty, except for the few people purchasing food at unusual hours and the vendors staying in their shops. She hesitantly went up to one of the female shop owners, looking directly at what she wanted.

  “Can I get some mutton and beef, please?”

  The voice she was producing was quiet, and barely audible. Slightly leaning in closer to her, the worker asked a question.

  “How many pounds of each?”

  “Uhm, five pounds of each, please.”

  “That’ll be two thousand nine hundred and ten Dravins.”

  Mary rummaged around her purse and pulled out three thousand coins worth of Dravins, and dropped it on the table.

  “You can keep the change…”

  The worker opened a cooler with an ice stone inside, cooling the mutton. She put the mutton on the table and cut it up into one pound packs. Placing them in a large bag, she put it on the table. She opened another cooler with a similar stone, cooling beef, and did the same process as the mutton with the beef. Mary took the bag and headed home quickly, shaking heavily.

  She was running out of money, and had to return to her job eventually. Her mailbox was full of unread letters. She felt like crying every time she tried to leave her house.

  Time felt like it was so slow, and so fast at the same time. She had lost track of it, but she snapped back to reality when she heard a knock on her door. Frozen in place, her fork dropped on the table. She gulped and slowly approached the door. It was cracked, and she peaked through and saw Isaac.

  “Mary? Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you in a while, and me and your coworkers are starting to worry about you.”

  Her throat closed up, and she felt like she couldn’t talk. Murmuring some words, she started crying again. Isaac bit his tongue, confused on what to do.

  “Can I come in? We can talk if you want.”

  She moved away from the door, and collapsed on the floor crying. He walked in and saw her crying, and sat on the ground next to her. Knowing she didn’t like to be touched in any way, he just let her cry. He noticed the difference in her stomach size, and his jaw almost dropped in realization. Trying to keep composure, he comforted her.

  “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

  Her tears faltered for a moment, and she stared at him. The eye contact felt somewhat understanding, and she wondered to herself when the last time anyone made direct eye contact with her was. It was only him. But she hasn’t seen him in months, and her tears started pouring again.

  She fell onto his arm, clinging to it like he was going to vanish if she let go.

  “I’m sorry…”

  “There’s no need to be sorry, you can take all the time you need.”

  She knew that he was the only one she could trust, but she wasn’t quite sure after what happened. It’s been three months since it happened, and the loneliness was killing her more than anything.

  “You’ll only get worse if you just stay locked up and don’t talk about it. I understand if you don’t want to.”

  She wiped her tears on his sleeve and pulled away from his arm.

  “You’re right… A couple months ago, I was walking home from work in the rain, late at night, and-”

  Before she could finish her sentence, she started crying again. Isaac ground his teeth. He was in pure rage. He knew what happened to her, and he couldn’t stop it.

  “He touched me, and hurt me–”

  She cried harder, and he got angrier.

  “We’ll take care of him.”

  And with that, Isaac took a break from his job of managing the company and working on it to take care of Mary. Private investigators were hired to look into what happened to Mary. Her description was vague, but helped a lot. There had been reports of demons of some sort in the surrounding area, but they were usually taken as myths and folklore.

  There weren’t any miners in town, nor any jobs that would warrant what the mix of the two smells she described together. There was a spot of forest in the land nearby that had been dead for years, a slice of it being burnt. The fire must have died quickly for it not to spread.

  The two investigators approached the spot for the first time, examining the area.

  “The dead area is almost a perfect circle…”

  “Yeah, it is. Very strange. Also this line of burnt grass in the middle is kinda weird.”

  “This spot apparently appeared around when the demonic incidents were reported. People were reporting demons and related things even if they did not know of this location.”

  “I think they’re probably real, don’t you think, Jackson?”

  “Hmm, I suppose so, Caesar.”

  Jackson bent down and picked up the burnt pieces of grass, examining them with his magic.

  “Seems there’s residue of magic, but it isn’t fire.”

  Caesar scratched his chin, the unshaven fibers caused from lack of care making a noise as he rubbed against them.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not too sure. But, it killed the grass in the surrounding area, as well. And it isn’t regrowing.”

  “Do you think it could’ve been a portal from Hell?”

  “Honestly? Probably. They banished them centuries ago, why couldn’t they reverse engineer the spell to come back?”

  “If that’s true, we’re in bigger danger than some low class demons. We thought maybe only a few of them slipped through, but it was probably more. The research from the damaged bodies isn’t gonna help us defeat them, with how little information it gave the kingdom.”

  “Low key? I think we’re cooked. They must have sent weaker people from their ranks to test the portals, they weren’t nearly as strong as they are mentioned in legend.”

  Jackson had a shiver sent down his spine. He was scared before, but not like this. If his theory was right, then they had a lot stronger people coming, and fast. Caesar lit a cigarette and puffed it. He coughed slightly, and Jackson frowned.

  “You shouldn’t smoke, man.”

  “Eh, I’ll be fine. Let’s just focus on what Mr. Castes hired us to do.”

  “I don’t think we’re gonna be able to catch this guy, or even do anything to him. I mean, he’s definitely an Aclotyre, man.”

  “You’re right… But, how would we even tell him? ‘Sorry, we couldn’t find the guy that assaulted your granddaughter because we’re too scared and we think he could he an Aclotyre?’”

  “No, just… AUGHHHH!”

  Jackson grabbed his head and leaned back in anger.

  “You’re so annoying. We don’t word it like that. We’re gonna say ‘our research led us to believe that her assaulter was probably an Aclotyre, and we can’t find any trace of him. We’re sincerely sorry.’”

  “That’s not much better.”

  “Yeah, it really isn’t. But, we do really have basically zero leads and Aclotyres are strong as fuck dude.”

  Caesar sighed and rubbed his temples. Jackson sat on the ground next to him.

  “Let’s just try to break it to him softly. He’s probably not gonna pay us as much, but we have basically nothing to go off of, and the evidence supports what we said.”

  Caesar’s voice carried a hint of disappointment, carrying pity for the situation they’re both in. Jackson got up, and motioned for Caesar to go back to Isaac to report to him their conclusion.

  They arrived back at Mary’s home, and they knocked on the door, almost instantly, Isaac opened it, seeing them. He let them in.

  “What happened?”

  Caesar pushed Jackson forward.

  “Tell him.”

  “Uhm… We’ve figured out that uhm, it was likely an Aclotyre that assaulted Mary…”

  Isaac’s eyes widened.

  “I see. Do you know which one it was?”

  “N-no, we have barely any leads, and we’ve hypothesized that there were many testing portals in which the Aclotyres forced weaker ones to go through, and those are the ones who were defeated by the kingdom. We believe this because they were a lot weaker than ones mentioned in legend. Even then, if they weren’t ‘weak’ Aclotyres, we still wouldn’t be able to catch Mary’s assaulter, as he is incredibly likely to be much stronger than us. Also, as mentioned earlier, we have no real leads.”

  Isaac’s eyes dropped to the floor, and he clenched his fists.

  “I understand.”

  Mary overheard the conversation, and a hole of despair hit her. She was bearing the child of the most evil peoples, and she didn’t know what to do. Should she get rid of them? Leave them for someone else to take care of?

  Then she realized. That’s what happened to her. She was outcast, for not being normal. For having no magic. Why should she subject her child to the same suffering she endured?

  She walked out of her bedroom, trembling. Isaac heard her, and glanced back. He quickly went up to her.

  “What’s wrong? Do you need anything?”

  “I’m…”

  She swallowed hard, tears pouring down her face. Her expression showed courage, and anger.

  “Keeping my child.”

  The investigators’ jaws dropped and Isaac was surprised.

  “I will not let them deal with the torture I did. Why should they be punished for the actions they did not commit?”

  Jackson was crying, too, and Caesar was comforting him. “She’s so strong…” Jackson said to Caesar. Isaac was still in shock, speechless. He felt very confused, but remembered the first day they met, and what he told her.

  “I’m proud of you, Mary.”

  Isaac outstretched his arms, and Mary walked into them. They hugged each other, his shoulder was absorbing all her tears, and he was patting her on the back.

  “You’ve grown into a great young woman. I’m glad you remembered, I had almost forgotten myself.”

  She nodded.

  “Why shouldn’t others be able to get a fraction of what I have?”

  Isaac laughed to himself.

  “Sounds about right. Do you feel better?”

  “Yes, I do. I think I’ve come to terms with what happened, and that I can’t change it. I have to move on, even if it’s hard.”

  She wiped her tears on his shoulder and pulled away, and showed a shaky smile.

  “I still need time, though.”

  Isaac nodded, and patted her on the back. She didn’t flinch this time.

  “I understand, you can take all the time you need, Mary.”

  The investigators applauded, both of them crying. “We’re so proud of you!” Mary’s smile got a little bigger, feeling more relaxed. She was done crying, and done being weak.

  The investigators left soon after, and Isaac lingered before leaving.

  “Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?”

  “Yes, I am. Thank you for your help, Isaac.”

  He nodded, and with that, he exited her home. She felt a little better than before, her recent epiphany providing relief to her suffering. The stress tired her out, and she headed back to bed, and went to sleep.

  When she woke up, she had the energy to leave her bed without forcing herself to. Looking in the mirror, she was able to look at herself for the first time in months. Realization of the situation she was in, and the clarity it provided comforted her some.

  After she prepared herself, she hesitated at the door. She shook her head, and opened it, and walked to the warehouse, where Isaac was waiting inside.

  When she entered, he was shocked to see her so soon. It’d only been a day since her break of courage.

  “You’re here already? Are you sure you’re able to work?”

  “Yes, I think I’m ready. If I just stood still, would I ever be able to move forward?”

  Isaac smiled worriedly.

  “No, you wouldn’t. I guess I’ll leave you to it, then. Just holler at me if you need anything.”

  The work day dragged on, and she was still jumpy at sudden noises and at other people, but a lot less. She pushed herself to bravery, to continue to repay Isaac for his kindness and to be better.

  As the months passed, she was nearing her child’s birth, and she became anxious. Her courage faltered, and she was scared of what it may be. She took leave off of work during her eighth month, and mailed Isaac to help her.

  Isaac entered her home, and she was sitting on her couch, reading a book.

  “Hello?”

  Mary immediately snapped her head toward Isaac, a relaxed loom bestowing her face.

  “I’m scared. I’m trying to distract myself but I’m scared.”

  “It’s okay. Nothing bad will happen.”

  “What if they’re, like, super evil? Like, they’re dad? Or his race? I want them to be kind, and to be a family with me.”

  “They’re not going to be evil, you’ll have a nice little family, Mary.”

  “I hope so. I think they’re coming soon. I’m scared, I don’t want to die.”

  “Mary, please, look at me.”

  She stopped her ranting and stared at Isaac. His eyes told her that he wasn’t lying.

  “Okay, I’ll calm down.”

  She relaxed, going limp on the couch. She breathed in and sighed, becoming flatter than she was before. She lied down, resting her head on a pillow she set down.

  “Alright, so, what were you reading about in your book?”

  Isaac leaned on the couch, hovering over Mary.

  “Well, currently, the main character, Scarla, was about to confess her love to her friend, Eli. She was stuttering a lot, and Eli was getting annoyed, but he was trying to be patient with her. Eventually, she calmed down and told him. Unfortunately, Eli didn’t feel the same way, and Scarla was heartbroken. Keep in mind they’re both in high school.” She sighed. “I wish I had a childhood like her. But I’m kind of glad I didn’t, because I wouldn’t have met you.”

  He smiled at her, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly.

  “Thank you, Mary. I’m glad we met, too.”

  Suddenly Mary’s water broke.

  “Oh dear.”

  “Shit.”

  They reacted at the same time, Mary’s reaction much more vulgar than Isaac’s.

  She was rushed to the nearest hospital by carriage, and she went into premature labor. It was incredibly taxing. Doctors were freaking out at the disruption of their medical devices, the magic stones powering them being disrupted by something. She was trying to give birth for 25 hours, 12 minutes, 37 seconds, and 874 milliseconds. When he finally came out, she felt like she was about to die. Thankfully, she didn’t, but she did faint soon after she was done.