Empty Orphanage

"Wither Pirates? Could he be talking about the pirates that Corbel leads?" Erich asks, chills going down his spine. 'Wow, that's a terrifying name,'. Hearing the Pirate Captian's name, the fisherman turns around and scans the group.

"If you know what the captain's name is, then you must know how terrifying the pirates themselves are," The fisherman says, becoming surprised when the group shakes their heads.

Stepping forward, Sydra holds out his hand to the man. "My name is Sydra, and we would be grateful if you could tell us more about the pirates,".

Shaking his hand, the man points towards a lighthouse on the edge of the town. "Name's Crum, we can talk inside my place,". Turning around, Crum leads the group down the dock and into the lighthouse. The bottom of the lighthouse has a few living materials inside, but everything is covered with fishing poles and supplies.

After everyone is inside the lighthouse, Crum walks over to the wooden stairs that lead up to the light. "Madeline, we have guests. Make some food for us," he calls out as a young girl around the age of eleven runs down the stairs. Glancing towards the girl, Sydra notices she has two small horns at the top of her forehead, slightly covered by her curly blond hair.

Jumping into Crum's arms, the girl gives him a kiss on the cheek before getting back down. "Okay, what should I make?" she asks, walking over to the oak counter.

Opening a cabinet, Crum pulls out several packs of tea, as well as crackers and cheese. "Make some fish crackers and tea," Crum says, handing the items to Madeline, who pulls out a cutting board and gets to work. Leaving Madeline to her job, Crum picks up some of the fishing supplies, making room for the group to sit down.

"Do the two of you live alone?" Sydra asks, noticing the lack of a woman's touch in the room.

Nodding his head, Crum pulls a picture frame off the mantle behind him. "Her mother died when she was young, and since I'm her uncle they gave her to me instead of sending her to that dreadful orphanage," he says, looking down at the picture frame in his hand.

"Here you go," Madeline says, placing a tray of fish crackers on top of a small chest that acted as the table. "The tea will be ready in a bit,"

Picking up one of the crakers, Sydra was impressed by the delicious balance of meat, salt, and cracker. Finishing the cracker, Sydra picks up another one before speaking, "Do you mind telling us why the Wither Pirates are coming to the island?" Sydra asks, the rest of the group looking at Crum in curiosity.

Sighing, Crum puts the picture frame back on the mantle, a sad look coming over his face. "They are coming to collect the Rainbow Egg of the Chaos Swan, which has the ability to bring people back to full health, as long as even a smidge of their life remains,"

"Are they trying to heal their curse with the eggs?" Robert asks, "And why not just take the swan with them?"

"The eggs are unable to heal their curse, but they are still incredibly useful, especially to someone who everyone wants dead," Crum says, turning to face Robert. "But they can't take the Chaos Swan away from the island, because it would die if they did,"

"How many eggs does the Chaos Swan produce in a year?" Sydra asks, picking up another fish cracker.

"Only one, and the pirates will kill those who get in their way of obtaining it," Crum says, sadness becoming etched on his face. "It's how my sister died, actually,"

Seeing the pain on Crum's face, Sydra begins to feel guilty. "I see, I'm sorry for bringing it up. If you don't mind me asking, where is the Chaos Swan?"

"Hmm, it should be inside the Yiel Mountain, making the egg as we speak," Crum says, pointing towards a map on the wall behind him. Studying the map, Sydra listened as the others began to ask questions they had about the island and pirates.

The next few hours passed by quickly, and it was starting to become dark out. Bidding farewell to Crum, the group returned to the boat to discuss what they had found out. Sitting down behind his desk, Sydra pulls out a piece of paper and begins to draw the map he had studied earlier.

"What should we do? I mean, we plan on fighting the pirates eventually, and now we know exactly where they are going," Cidre says, watching as Sydra finishes the map and pulls out the one Jemma gave him.

"Before we prepare to fight the pirates, we should finish the mission we came here for," Sydra says, holding up Jemma's drawing of the Divine Cloud Sheep. "While we are searching for the sheep though, we can check on the area around the Chaos Swan,"

"Are we going tonight?" Robert asks, motioning towards the darkening sky outside. "It would be easier for us to see things in the morning,"

Leaning forward, Erich picks up the map of the island Sydra had drawn. "True, we should wait until tomorrow so we can study the map tonight," he says.

"Alright, we will leave as soon as the sun rises," Sydra says, standing up and walking around the desk. After sending everyone into the Arbor Sanctum, Sydra puts on his Void Shadow Cloak and leaves the ship.

Traveling within the shadows, Sydra follows his map in the direction of the orphanage. Along the way, Sydra is forced to stop when people who have sharper sense due to their animal parts, notice him. After taking several detours to stay out of the lights of street lamps, Sydra finds himself in front of a run-down building, holes pocketing the roof.

Emerging from the shadows, Sydra looks down at the map in his shaking hands, "This is the orphanage?! This building isn't fit for children to live in, but maybe I made a mistake on the way here,"

Turning the map in different directions, Sydra realized that the building in front of him was truly the orphanage. Putting the map back into his pocket, Sydra hops over the dark metal fence surrounding the yard and makes his way up to the front door. Pushing open the door, Sydra looks around the orphanage, stepping lightly to not make any noise.

"It doesn't seem like anyone has lived here in ages," Sydra murmurs as he closes the door to the third room. So far every room has been empty except for a single mattress on the floor, and the only living things he had seen so far were rats.

Glancing through the building, Sydra notices a rickety staircase leading up to a single door on the second floor. Approaching the door, Sydra hears the sounds of someone snoring on the other side. Returning to the shadows, Sydra opens the creaky door and scans the room on the other side. The room is surprisingly nicer than some of the rooms in Sydra's palace, as everything is covered in a layer of gold.

In the center of the room is a large velvety bed, and laying among the red blankets is a stunning man. The man has short golden hair, and he is wearing grey silk pajamas, trimmed with a golden lining. Hearing the door open, the man's eyes flutter, showing his deep brown eyes.

'There is something off about this man, but I don't know what it is,' Sydra thinks, studying the man as he sits up in the bed.

"Hello? Is someone there?" The man asks, getting off the bed and approaching the door. Peering out into the hallway on the other side, the man sighs as he shuts the door and returns to his bed. "Must have been the wind,"

Standing inside the room, Sydra leaves the shadows behind the man, disgust covering his face. "Explain to me something," Sydra says, causing the man to jump into the air, and turn around.

Before Sydra had entered the room, he had changed his body back to its form of his new evolution and covered his face with a white mask. This caused the man to believe he had been visited by one of Death's Reapers and was now cowering on the floor.

"Who... Who are you?" The man asks, his body shaking as Sydra sits down in one of the golden chairs in the room.

"I'm not sure that matters. I simply came here to ask you a question about the orphanage, and its previous residents," Sydra says, pulling out a dagger and tossing it into the air.

"You mean the children? If you want to know where they are, I don't know," The man says, his eyes darting around the room for a way to escape.

"I know that, but maybe you know how they disappeared, or who took them," Sydra says, hoping to find out if the man worked for the Evowave group. "You should tell me what I wish to know, for your own sake,"

Finding no way out, the man lowers his head to the ground, his body trembling as he activates his aura in secret. "I guess this is the real price for my sins," The man says, confusing Sydra.

'Price for his sins? I'm not even doing anything to him,' Sydra thinks, before noticing a green light emitting from the man's hands. Jumping out of the chair, Sydra runs to the window and launches himself through the glass pane. As he falls to the ground outside the orphanage, the room he had just been in explodes, sending planks of wood encased in a green substance through the air.