Serena held up her hands, wiggling her fingers at her tiny, captive audience.

“Wells,” She signed. “Gath, Doreen, Sonia, and Rell.”

The four children clustered around her let loose a chorus of excited screams as they bounced about.

“Again!” They screamed, almost in unison. “Again! Again!”

“Wells, Gath, Doreen, Sonia and Rell…”

Serena held the last syllable of their names, dragging it out; the effect was immediate. The children hushed into awed silence at the first name, only for each to squeal in turn when they heard their own.

“Again!” They shouted.

Suppressing a sigh, Serena smiled and obliged.

They’d been like this the moment she’d stepped foot in their house, like tiny animals bursting with energy. They’d almost torn the place apart scrambling towards Serena, clinging onto her, and demanding to hear her magic again, which quickly devolved into a burning desire to hear their own names in their heads. As odd as it was, asking why only furthered their excitement.

None of it was infectious enough to get to Baron, however, barely listening to Hugo as he demanded he stand down, sword raised above his head. It had taken the combined efforts of him and Serena to talk him down, and even then, he demanded to watch over them as the children lead Serena outside by tugging at her long skirt. He stood now leaning against the shade of house beside Werond, the heat of his glare burning a hole in Serena’s back. Werond had made some comment – or line – about watching him, but Serena wasn’t sure she could stop him if sword came to slashing.

“How do you do that?!” Wells, the oldest of the five, shrieked. He stood a head taller than his siblings, and when he jumped, he almost made it to Serena’s eye level.

“It’s just magic,” Serena replied. “but it’s my magic. I made the language with my stepdad.”

“You did?! Can you teach it to me?!” Doreen pleaded, tiny hands gripping Serena’s skirt, wide blue eyes like tiny moons. “Please! Please! Pretty please!”

“Well, I –”

“No, teach me!” Gath yelled; Doreen’s twin, he clutched at Serena’s leg, almost wrapping his tiny body about it. “She’s dumb! I’m smart, teach me!”

“That’s not –”

“Me too!” Rell, the youngest of the bunch, clutched at Doreen’s tunic like an odd shadow. “I’ll be the bestest ever!”

“No!” Sonia yelled from where she stood apart from them, further into the rubble. “You can’t! It’s magic and Mom said we can’t! Use! Magic!”

The pack of children descended into fierce argument, Wells telling off Sonia, Doreen and Gath petitioning Serena still, in between calling the other stupid, and Rell shrieking as loud as her tiny lungs allowed – Bahamut’s Teeth, she was just screaming.

Stunned, Serena began to twist around – as best she could with two tiny bodies clinging to her – trying to catch Werond’s eye, hoping she’d have some idea of what to do. After all, despite her initial excitement, Serena hadn’t a clue how to deal with children properly. But someone like Werond would. Working as a Masked Lord would have surely given her some ideas that she could impart to her.

That hope quickly vanished, however, as Serena finally turned around. In stark contrast to the brooding stare of Baron, Werond was bent over, parchment covering her face, as her entire body shook with laughter.

With a deep sigh, Serena twisted back around. She was on her own.

The children, of course, hadn’t noticed her dismay, each still locked in their arguments, or in Rell’s case, screaming at the sky. Oddly enough, it occurred to her that each looked similar to Nura, dressed in their darker colors with hair just as long and dark. Save for Sonia, however, who stood out with her head of gold. Gods, it looked almost like Pavel’s. Where did it even come from? Maybe Hugo had hair like that, before –

“No, you’re stupid!” Sonia screamed, shattering Serena’s thoughts.

“Nuh-uh!” Wells shouted.

“Yeah-huh!”

Wells screamed a scream that sounded more like a cat being strangled and leapt at Sonia, tackling her into the dirt. Sonia shrieked in turn, her tiny fists pounding against Wells as he hit her in turn, both looking like a pair of wild dogs snapping at each other’s throats. A fitting image, them locked together before the rubble of the other houses.

The child still clinging to Serena leapt off at once, yelling as they ran towards the struggling pair, dogpiling onto them to form a heap of tiny flailing arms and legs. And of course, everyone was still screaming.

It was within that moment that the desire to have children, wherever it might have been hiding in the deepest recesses of Serena’s mind, died completely.

Shaking her head, she stretched out her arms, twisting her fingers, before bringing her hands together. The clap was far louder than it should have been, like a hammer against an anvil, but it did the trick; the screaming, flailing mass of children broke apart, each stunned into silence as they untangled themselves to stare at her from the ground. Poor Rell looked ready to cry, hands over her ears.

“Sorry,” Serena signed, feeling a bit guilty. “But no more fighting. That’s not nice.”

“But –” Wells began.

“I said no more fighting!”

She hadn’t raised her voice in a mean way, more just trying to imitate how Mom spoke to drunks that tried to overstay their welcome. But it had the desired effect, each of the children stunned into silence as they leapt to their feet, staring at her with wide eyes.

Nine Hells, maybe she was over thinking this. And really, they were acting just like some of the drunks she’d seen before…

“Now,” Serena signed. “I can’t teach anyone anything, sorry. Magic is…really, really hard, even for the best of you.”

“Aww.” Doreen said, shoulders falling.

“But I can do other things! And they’re really cool too!”

The pack stared at her with eyes that plainly questioned whether that was true or not. Serena smiled in return.

“Watch!”

And she stepped back, throwing her arms out with a flourish, pointing her hands over their heads, fingers twisting.

Three bolts of flames rocketed from her hands, shrieking through the air above them. The children flipped around in stunned silence, watching as the bolts flew higher – higher – higher…

Until they detonated into a ball of orange fire, the explosion hitting their ears a few seconds later.

The children went wild.

Shrieking in excitement, they leapt at Serena, grabbing the hem of her skirt and leaping up and down, their cries for more echoing over the rubble. Grinning, Serena swept her hands out in front of her –

And reappeared a few feet away, the children left holding silver mist. As they swung about trying to find her, Serena snapped her fingers, a sharp whistle sounding from them.

“Don’t move!” She signed.

The children froze, none daring to draw breath, their wide eyes glued to her.

She clapped her hands together, then slowly drew them apart; in the space between, balls of different colored light – blue, red, orange, purple, and green – winked into existence, bobbing as though tied together. Flicking her wrist, she flung them out, sending the balls of light over the children’s heads; they flew for a bit, before lazily drifting towards the spaces between the heaps of rubble.

“Better go get them!” Serena signed.

The children yelled and took off, each chasing after their own magical light. Serena’s grin widened as they leapt about, their squeals of delight filling the air as the lights barely bobbed out of arms reach.

Serena turned and made her way back to the house, willing the lights closer to her as she did. Her heart jumped a little as she caught sight of Werond, parchment clutched against her chest, watching the circus before her with a smile. There wasn’t anything special about the way she leaned against the wall yet all the same, Serena couldn’t stop herself from being pulled in.

“Gonna just leave them there!?”

Serena jerked, Baron’s furious voice ripping her from her thoughts, the stomping of his boots yanking her attention towards him as he rounded on her.

“Bunch of rubble and stuff to trip on and you just let them out like that?!” He spat, waving his sword around.

“Baron,” Serena signed, glancing over her shoulder. “they’re a few feet away. They’ll be okay. They need to go burn off that energy anyways.”

“And you do it in the worst way possible!” Baron shook his head. “Too much room to hurt themselves, and the hole is right there!”

It most certainly wasn’t, but Serena knew there’d be no arguing with the boy. With a shrug, she stepped around him and continued towards Werond, a snort of disgust and the crunching of rocks assuring her that Baron would be out of the way.

“F – U – N?” Werond signed as Serena leaned against the wall beside her, pointing at the kids; they hadn’t noticed Baron now standing a foot away, watching with arms crossed.

“Oh yeah! Exhausting though.” Serena signed. “I can’t imagine having to deal with them for any longer…I was kind of just…making stuff up.”

Werond raised a brow.

“I’ve never dealt with kids before.” Serena admitted. “I just…liked the idea honestly. I mean, it wasn’t hard but at the same time…it kind of was.”

Werond cocked her head, eyes flicking towards the sky. She cradled the parchment against her arm, plucked the charcoal stick from her pocket, and began to write. Serena leaned over to watch and caught the remnants of some conversation she’d tried to have with Baron, painfully one sided. Each sentence was neatly stacked upon the other, and the entire conversation was shoved to one side of the parchment, giving her ample room to write her question.

“You never played with other kids at your Mom’s?” It said.

“Oh, no. Never got the chance.” Serena signed. “We weren’t really a…family tavern either, and back then, I was really the only other helper so…even if they were there, I wouldn’t have time. Made friends with a lot of Mom’s friends though. Which…probably wasn’t good for me, but I still had fun.”

“Wouldn’t trade it for the world?”

“Nope. Too many memories.”

Werond nodded, her attention drifting towards a yell from the children. Wells had managed to catch his orb of light, half his body glowing a dull blue as he held it over his head, yelling triumphantly. As the rest of his siblings began to mob him, Baron on their heels, Serena willed the light up and out of his hands, pulling it to the side as Wells and the rest chased after it. She watched for a moment, until Werond nudged her with her elbow.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen a good reaction to your magic.” It said.

“No, I’ve…oh, you mean my signs?” Serena asked; Werond nodded. “Yeah…I suppose so. Wonder why though, they’re the only ones who’ve reacted like that.”

“Probably just because they’re kids.”

“Yeah, maybe. Lot of people could learn from them then.”

Werond laughed as she wrote. “I’m sure there’s some book somewhere that says that.”

“Oh yeah. It sounds like…it sounds smart, you know? Very wise, I guess.”

“Two different things, wise and smart.”

“Sure, sure. So, what would the kids be then?”

“Wise, in a very stupid way.”

Serena rolled her eyes and grinned. Her attention drifted back towards the children; the chase now forgotten, Wells had begun to lead the group into a heap of rubble, finding stones to throw at the lights, now dancing over them in a circle. Baron had taken up a position to the side, his protests falling on deaf ears.

“You must be that stupid wise then,” Serena signed. “because you didn’t freak out when you first saw my signs.”

Werond chortled. “If I’m being honest, it was very surprising. I just hid that.”

“But you didn’t run off or yell at me or anything like that. And I appreciated that.”

“Of course. I got over it quickly too. I was too busy being distracted by other things.”

“Oh?” Serena signed. “Like what?”

Werond pulled the parchment back, a small smile on her lips as she put the charcoal back to the sheet. The stick stayed in place however, the tip pressed into the brown-yellowish sheet. Serena watched it for a moment, glancing up when it was clear Werond wasn’t writing, to see –

Pain.

Etched so clearly in the furrow of her brows, the frown of lips, and the glistening in her eyes. Pain, so tangible that Serena felt its talons rip her breath away. Pain, painted so vividly that it wrenched forth the only memory she’d had of it.

“Werond?” Serena signed.

It vanished, gone with the jerking of Werond’s body. She looked over at her, eyes widened, charcoal still stationary.

“Are you okay?” Serena asked.

No response came. Serena shifted in place, skin beginning to prickle.

“You…you made a face.” She continued. “Like before, back when you told me about…your job. And…” She sucked in a breath. “You’d tell me if something was –”

A wail went up.

Both of them jumped, heads flipping towards the children. In the center of a rubble pile, Rell had fallen down, clutching her knee as she screamed into the sky. The rest of the children gathered around her, their voices an incomprehensible babble drifting towards Serena and Werond. Baron quickly shoved himself through the crowd and knelt beside Rell, pulling back her hands to reveal a bright red wound – nothing but a scrapped knee.

“I uh…” Serena signed, pushing off the wall. “I’ll make sure they’re okay.”

Werond ducked her head and nodded; she squeezed her eyes shut and dug a knuckle into her forehead, rubbing it as though it hurt. Serena watched for a moment, chest tight, wishing she knew what to say, before making her way towards the children.

They parted immediately when she drew close, a legion of wide eyes staring at her as she knelt before Rell. Baron, now rubbing her back, offered his sister words of encouragement, but nothing else as Rell continued to sob.

“Now, Rell, it’s alright,” He said. “no need to fuss, it’ll make you tougher, you know? You want to be – don’t poke at it!”

Rell jumped as Serena looked up at him, hands hovering over the wound.

“I’m not,” She signed. “I’m fixing it. I can do that, remember?”

Baron grumbled something, but otherwise remained silent as Serena pressed her hand to the scrape. Rell shrieked and jerked away, but the wound had already sizzled over, new skin where it’d once been an angry red. Serena snapped her fingers over the spot, vanishing the bits of dirt and rubble still stuck to her knee.

“There,” She signed, standing up. “good as new. Shouldn’t hurt either.”

Rell was too young to understand what had happened, and now clung to Baron as she continued to cry. The other children, however, peered closer at her knee, each letting loose some noise of awe as they’d realized what Serena had done.

“Wow!” Gath said, flipping towards her. “You’re like a – a god!”

Serena burst out laughing.

“No, no, don’t say that,” She signed as she stood up. “I might get ideas if you.”

“But it’s true!” Wells yelled.

“No, it’s just basic magic, it’s –”

But her signs died upon her fingers, as her gaze flicked toward the city walls, and gaping hole within them.

Framed in that hole strode two figures, each using spears as walking sticks. Though they wore rough tunics and pants, various types of animal furs covered their bodies, wrapped about their arms and torso, matched by the bones strapped to their shoulders. Even from a distance, Serena could make out the red stripe painted across their eyes, almost a similar color to blood.

“Gods damn it!” Serena jerked, head flipping to Baron, who stood gripping his sword with both hands. “gods…fuck!”

He flipped around, waving his arms at the children.

“Inside, now!” He shouted, causing them to cringe back. “Get! Now! Go get dad!”

“Wait,” Serena’s head flipped between the children, scrambling to obey, and Baron. “are those the –”

“Course they are! Who in the hells would they be?!” Baron began backing away, never turning from the two figures. “Gods damned barbs coming to get their pay! And Mom isn’t home to get it, fuck!”

Serena looked back towards the house, watching the children scramble around to the front, catching Werond’s eye as she stared back with a confused expression. After a moment, however, she turned and followed the children, hurrying after them.

“So Nura – your mom, just needs to pay them?” Serena signed, heart speeding up.

“Yes!” Baron said. “But your friend fucking took her so –”

“So go get her,” Serena signed, walking towards the figures. “I’ll stall them.”

“What?! You got some death wish!?”

But Serena waved him off, shaking out her hands as she began to make her way towards the figures.