Chapter 1
At the orphanage, dirty shoes are piled up, moulding at an already broken shoe rack. A teacher is baking chocolate cake with students, and little ones are playing with building blocks. A 5 year old girl, called Gretzer, is playing with a chess board outside.
‘Hey, Gretzer!’ announces a stout girl. ‘Hey, Gretzer! Over here.’ she runs, waving in her direction. Her lilac hair dazzles in the summer sunset that gleamed over the horizon. ‘I can’t wait to show you this!’
The girl gets up from playing chess alone, long, blue curls bouncing in the light, 'Madelaine!'
She tries to go towards Madelaine, but then, rustling out of the dark woods opposing the orphanage, runs a large hen as wide and as tall as a train.
‘Ahh look!’ screams some children outside.
‘It’s a beast!’
It stomps around, ruffling its sharp feathers, and runs up to ram Gretzer. 'Oh no!' she says as she falls to the ground and is almost trodden on by the large hen. The girl who is named Madelaine rushes to help her along with other alarmed kids.
'Are you alright?' says Madelaine. Her knee is bleeding.
'Oh no.' Says Gretzer, 'I might not be able to make it to the museum today with you all.'
Many orphans surround her, ‘Gretzer!’ they say with concern
At the nurse's office, she looks down at her leg where a sharp pain is springing up from. Gretzer squints her eyes in pain when the Nurse uses a cotton pad to cleanse concrete out of her small wound.
Slowly, a young boy, named Sam, appears through the yellow curtain doors of the office. 'Hi Gretzer-!' He is holding a freshly chosen bouquet of flowers. 'Daniela told me you were attacked by a corrupted hen, so I brought you these flowers.' Gretzer looks at the flowers and thanks him.
‘Awh, thank you so much, Sam.' Gretzer receives the flowers.
'They are golden, the same color as your pretty eyes.' He says, smiling at her. ‘You are pretty.’
'Wow thanks,' she grins. 'Actually, I just scratched my knee a bit.'
‘IF I were there, I would have gone up to that corrupted animal, and I would’ve GNASHED its teeth, and stabbed it with my sword,’ he demonstrates stabbing the hen with his sword by hitting the air.
The nurse interrupts, 'You are all set!'
She sits up, all happy, 'Yay, thank you nurse. I can go to the museum!'
In the museum, there are many people
Felina, a fellow orphan from the orphanage and Gretzer are holding hands delicately.
Upper classes of school students stand to behold the beauty of paintings. There is one painting sitting. A student goes up and points to it. ‘This is amazing! From the brushstrokes of the hair, and also to the…’ the student trails off when he notices Gretzer. ‘I’m called ‘shocked’, as you look similar to the lady in this painting of the famous Sergio.’
People wonder, ‘Could it be?’
‘No, it can’t be.’
‘Of course not! That family was killed by magic users about 3 years ago!’
‘That’s…so sad.’
‘Are they talking about me?’ Gretzer questioned.
the students look at her with sad eyes, some weeping. ‘Oh my gosh. Maybe she is the… orphan?’ They stare at the girl in shock.
Felina, who is next to her, grins teeth fully showing after she reads the painting’s caption. ‘No, that can’t be my Gretzer.’
Gretzer reads the caption and reads out loud, ‘Vestona Wald, Countess of Wildefir.’
She immediately cringed when she remembered the orphanage’s hate for nobles.
The students say that she has luscious blue curls just like the lady’s hair in the picture.
‘She is not my mother!’ she exclaims.
Some of the orphanage children come to them. And with gnashing looks, see the painting.
‘It is Gretzer’s mommy! She is a noble.’
When one of the kids said that, all of the orphanage children started gnawing at their teeth and seething with envy.
Felina lets go of Gretzer’s hand real slow.
At the orphanage, a terrible scream disturbs the night.
‘That’s what you get for being a noble lover.’ Daintily, the door creaks open. ‘Who was it that screamed?’ Gretzer rushes in and looks around the room. Several orphans are already in the room. Off white curtains blowing towards them like jellyfish.
'Who is it? Sounded like Madelaine.'
The nurse quickly steps into the room. 'What's going on here?' The seven children drool as Gretzer hunches over getting water from the water dispenser with grace. They all gasp. ‘Look at her, the way she does it-’ They whisper amongst each other.
‘It is like a graceful royal.’
‘You say when, and we’ll get ‘er!’
‘Wait! Not yet.’
Sam says, ‘NURSE! Gretzer just pushed Madelaine out t-the window!’ The nurse gasps and rushes to look down and see Madeleine's body on the concrete floor.
‘What on Earth are you talking about, … Sam?’ Gretzer stumbled, pouring water out of her cup and onto the floor. She steps forward, ‘I thought we were friends!’ Gretzer slips over it and falls to the cold ground. ‘Ow!’
‘I have never pushed Madelaine over the window.’
Sam crosses his arms, ‘Yes she did, I saw her.’ Gretzer covers her mouth with her hand, eyes wide as saucers.
A child gives the nurse 7 golden coins. Then they all surround Gretzer with knives in their hands. ‘We’ll cut ‘er throat for being a noble!’
‘Yeah, we don’t need you, Gretzer! Arrogant.’ And with that, a girl swings a baseball bat.
‘What? But I’m not an arrogant noble.’
‘The picture says it.’
‘Well even if I am, I can’t fix it.’
The people stand aback, ‘What!?’ They all say in unison.
Children furrow their brows together, ‘Go get ’er!’ A loud scream breaks out!
‘Madelaine!’ shouts Gretzer. It is coming from the outside. The children hurry down the creaking stairs with the nurse, but Gretzer slides down the roof and falls onto the ground. Her hands and knees hit the concrete, with her blood splattered on them. She runs to Madelaine.
‘Don’t come closer,’ warns Madelaine, who is lying on the hard ground.
‘Oh Maddie! They did this to you!’ Gretzer cries, with tears shimmering down her cheeks. She is hunched over on her knees beside her and holds Madeleine's pale hand.
‘I - am sorry,’ says Gretzer, quivering. Madelaine looks at Gretzer’s face, and her head turns to face the dark starry sky again. ‘It’s okay. But promise me one thing-.’
Gretzer waits patiently for what Madelaine would say.
‘Have this necklace,’ she passes Gretzer the purple amulet from her neck. Gretzer grips it with all of her strength. ‘Make sure, when you get out of here…’ She breathes again, ‘That you follow your dreams and… and to find- find your pa-,’ but just then, Madelaine Harley dies. Rainwater starts to drip down on them, encapsulating them in an abyss of scarcity. The green grass blades are caressed by water droplets as they sway around two orphans.
Ten orphanage children surround Gretzer, some with weapons in their hands, and circle around her. ‘Last words?’ The kids begin to enclose the young girl.
Sam hits Gretzer on the back of her head with the baseball bat.
THWACK.
Gretzer screams out in agony.
Sam lowers his head. ‘If only you were still a lowly commoner like us…’
‘W-what!’ Gretzer begins to stutter.
Suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, a tall man dressed in black draping marshal attire appears from the trees ahead of them. The man springs up, and takes out his diamond sword.
Children cry, and poo their pants.
The man slices off one of the children’s hands in his anger, his black coattail swishing in the wind. Fwoosh.
‘Waaahh, let’s run away!’ says Sam. They all turn their backs and run toward the orphanage building.
Gretzer says, ‘Thank you for helping me…uh,’.
‘I am Kai.’ He extends his hand out to help her up. ‘What about you?’ Gretzer looks up at him with tears streaming down her face, and remembers the woman in the painting. She stutters and seems to be unable to talk properly.
‘M-my name is Gretzer. It’s Gretzer W-Wald.’ She reaches out with her hand and the two touch each other's hand. She jolts up when she remembers Madelaine who’s body is right next to her. ‘Please! Help my friend – there might still be time!’
A voice coming from the orphanage’s direction says ‘What are you doing here at my orphanage?’ The woman raises an eyebrow to question.
‘I am adopting this girl,’ says Kai.
‘Oh! Holy Marshal,’ the woman salutes. ‘Consider this girl as your daughter then! Very well.’
The marshal, Kai, throws to the woman a cheque of $1,000,000. ‘You better improve this place.’ He gives the woman a stern look.
‘Yes sir,’ she says, grinning teeth-fully.