๐ฅ[๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐! ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐พ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ฎ!]๐ฅ
๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ #๐ญ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ! โ๏ธ
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The Girl with the Woolen Cloak
The market teemed with desperate commerce. Leonardo walked through the crowd, his gaze lowered, avoiding the gaze of the City Guards who stood on elevated platforms, their silver armor reflecting the grey, polluted afternoon light. He sought information, but mostly he sought a way to feel human again after a week spent in the dark sewers.
He arrived at the "Lower Basin," a plaza dominated by a dry fountain sculpted in the shape of a weeping dragon. It was there that he saw her.
She stood by the edge of the spring, staring at the cracked stone as if expecting it to speak. She wore a brown woolen cloak that was clearly too large for her, its hem dragging in the soot-stained mud. Even with the hood raised, a few strands of hair escapedโhair so silvery it looked like polished moonlight.
Leonardo felt a familiar shiver run down the back of his neck. His Empty Stateย was passive, but his left eyeโthe violet spotโbegan to throb.
"Hey! Silver top!"
A group of older boys, apprentice metalworkers with hands blackened by soot, surrounded her. The leader, a boy with a jagged scar on his chin, invaded her space.
"What a fancy cloak for a beggar," the leader mocked. "Where did a brat like you get silver hair? Did you run away from a nobleman's house?"
The girl didn't move. She didn't flinch. She just kept looking at the fountain. Her voice wasn't mystical or ancient; it was just the soft, curious voice of a girl who seemed lonely.
The bullies laughed, a harsh, shrill sound. "Come on, let's see the face under that hood."
He reached out to grab her. Leonardo didn't even think. He didn't want to reveal himself, but seeing four older boys cornering a girl his age awakened something his grandfather had taught him: The Void is a shield
Before the bully's hand could make contact, a sudden, powerful gust of wind struck him squarely. It wasn't a spell with an incantation; it was as if the air itself had lost patience. The leader was knocked backward, tripping over a box of rotten tubers.
"But what...?" exclaimed the boy, breathless, quickly standing up. He looked around frantically, but there was no wizard in sight.
Leonardo emerged from behind a pile of sacks of grain. He didn't look like a Supreme; he looked like a dirty, tired boy with a grease stain on his cheek.
"You'd better leave," Leonardo said in a monotone voice. "The guards are coming for their afternoon patrol. Do you want to explain to a level 4 sergeant why you're causing a disturbance?"
The bullies looked at Leonardo, then at the girl, and then into space. Fear of the law overcame greed. Hurriedly dispersed into the crowd.
Leonardo turned to the girl. She finally looked up. Her eyes were a deep, translucent violetโthe same color as the mark on her own eye.
"You didn't need to do that," she said. She wasn't thanking him; she was stating a fact.ย
Leonardo shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Maybe. If you hit them too hard, they'll come back with their older brothers."
He stepped forward, lowering his voice. "Your hair... it's practically a beacon. If you're trying to hide it, you're doing a terrible job."
The girl tightened her grip on the hood, but didn't run. She looked at Leonardo with a piercing intensity. "I can't feel your heart beating. Why can't I feel your heart beating?"
A normal conversation in an abnormal world.
Leonardo blinked, surprised by her frankness. Most people in the Lower District were too busy worrying about their next meal to notice someone's heartbeat, but this girl wasn't like most people. Instinctively, he adjusted the collar of his robe, feeling the cold weight of the Void Tailor hidden against his hip.
ย
"Maybe I just don't have one," Leonardo said, lowering his voice to a dry, teasing whisper. "Or maybe it's just too quiet. It's a useful trick"
ย
The girl didn't laugh, but the tension in her shoulders eased slightly. She looked at him with those translucent violet eyes, searching for a lie and finding only a strange, empty honesty.
ย
"I am Seraphina," she said, finally stepping away from the dry, dragon-shaped fountain. The heavy wool of her cloak rustled against the muddy cobblestones. "And I wasn't trying to hide. Here, it feels like it's suffocating."
ย
Leonardo looked around the square. A merchant was shouting about the price of iron nails, and a group of stray dogs were fighting over a bone near a drain. This was his worldโnoisy, dirty, and decaying. To her, it must have seemed like a nightmare.
ย
Leonardo replied, kicking a loose stone toward a drain. "My name is Leonardo. I... I work at the floodgates. Cleaning the pipes so the Upper District doesn't have to smell us."
ย
Seraphina tilted her head, a loose strand of silver hair falling across her forehead. "A gate worker intimidating bullies with a look? You don't talk like the guys who work in the steel mill. You talk like someone who's reading a book in their head."
ย
Leonardo felt his face flush. "My grandfather taught me that. He believes words are more dangerous than daggers. Although, in this district, I'd prefer the dagger most days."
ย
They began walking together, an odd pair: the boy covered in soot and the girl with the oversized cloak. The air between them vibrated with a restrained frequency.
ย
"So, Seraphina," Leonardo said, trying to sound casual despite the throbbing pain in his left eye. "What's a girl with moonlit hair doing in a place that smells like old socks? If the Paladins find you down here, they'll have a heart attack. You're an angel, aren't you?"
ย
Seraphina stiffened, reaching for her hood to pull it down even further. "Is it that obvious?"
ย
"Only for those who are looking," Leonardo admitted. "And in Albion, everyone is looking for something they can sell or pray to. "
ย
"They call me 'Saint in Waiting'," she whispered, her voice heavy with a bitterness that sounded too old for a twelve-year-old girl. "But I don't feel saintly at all. I feel like a bird in a box. I just wanted to step on real ground, at least once."
ย
Leonardo looked at her small bootsโexpensive leather hidden beneath layers of mud. "Well, you found them. There's a lot of dirt around here. But if you're exposed, will be kidnapped by a gang or arrested by the Church for 'unauthorized vagrancy'."
ย
"Then show me a place that isn't open," said Seraphina, her eyes gleaming with a sudden, stubborn spark. "Leonardo. I don't want to go back to the Tower yet. I want to see the parts of the city that aren't mentioned in the hymns."
ย
Leonardo hesitated. Taking a Angel to his hideout was a huge risk. If Kael found out, he would go mad. But looking at Seraphina, he saw the same loneliness he felt every time he looked in the mirror and saw the "Inept" boy reflected in his eyes.
ย
"All right," Leonardo sighed. "But if we get caught, I'll say you kidnapped me with your strange wind powers."
ย
Seraphina let out a genuine giggle. It was a sharp, clear sound that didn't fit with the favelas.ย