The Forgotten

Those words left Steven reeling, wondering what else there was he didn't know. He already had more questions than he could even think of and now he was being told there was another influential faction that he hadn't even heard of yet. He just followed along with his sisters and made sure to ask Nathaniel for a word at a different table when they made it to the cafeteria, reassuring his sisters and sitting a couple of tables away.

"Okay, so your telling me there is another faction that isn't mentioned in Katelyn's book? Why would she purposely leave out an entire faction?" Steven was confused and it showed on his face as the image he had of Katelyn began to get distorted as a cause of the alleged deception. Everything she had done and said was beginning to take on a new light in his mind, his trauma caused him to be slow to trust and usually very critical when it came to people. He had been betrayed many times even at his young age so any discrepancy was an immediate red flag for him.

Nathaniel saw his emotions displayed on his face like a deer in the headlights, realizing his mistake and rushing to explain. "That's because it's not actually a faction but its entire own entity, It wasn't mentioned in the book as a faction of Sanctuary because its not a faction at all. The Forgotten is for anyone who for whatever reason don't mesh well with the other factions, their numbers are composed of the best and worst of the other factions. They admit most into their ranks as long as they can contribute, there are no minimum requirements to join them so many people do. They have a lot in common with the Pioneers and the Gallant and they openly work with the Visionaries, teachers and healers being something they usually lack."

Listening to his explanation Steven could understand why they hadn't been included in Katelyn's book and began to calm down. He no longer associated all of her actions with that of an evil stepmother, she was back to being a fairy god mother who rescued children. "Thank you for being honest with me but you should think of a better way to do it. So far you have mainly came off as a dick, just saying." Steven shrugged his shoulders while making that comment and continued, "But you did try to make it right and for that I thank you, actually you seem like a nice guy so lets do this again. Hi, I'm Steven." He put out his hand for a handshake as he reintroduced himself. Nathaniel shook his hand and avoided making anymore jokes, "I'm Nathaniel, its nice to meet you Steven. And thats fair, I am a dick most of the time. Most people usually just avoid me so its nice to meet someone that isn't afraid to stand up to me." He was actually as impressed with Steven as he was with him, he hadn't hesitated to protect his sisters or to stand up to him, he didn't have any problem challenging him and when things had turned around he immediately tried to reconcile and didn't withdraw like a coward. Nathaniel respected power and influence and he believed he was looking at someone who would one day hold a lot of both regardless of what faction he chose. He believed he was looking at someone that would have his pick of all three factions or would be welcomed among the Forgotten with open arms.

"I'm impressed by you Steven, I can see you doing well here. I hope we can be friends, if you need any guidance I would be happy to help. Also if you think of more questions you can just ask, my sister and I are assigned to be your liasons every other day. Tomorrow someone else will be around but the day after Natalie and I will be back." As Nathaniel continued his explanation Steven faced relaxed entirely, no longer concerned that he was being taken advantage of or that Katelyn had tricked him. Now he could see that Nathaniel just liked to stir up trouble and that Miss Kate was every bit the angel he had thought that she was.

"Thanks Nathaniel, I hope we can be friends too." Steven replied while looking down at his feet, "I've never had a friend before, I think you would make a great first friend." Steven was thinking about how hard of a time he had in public schools where most of the other children had teased him relentlessly. He fought back a tear while thinking about his old life and made a mental note to ask Katelyn about his parents. He wanted to make sure that from there on out he could forge his own path.

Nathaniel was taken aback by Steven's honesty, he usually used humor as a coping mechanism and avoided his feelings like the plague. He would deflect questions with jokes and sarcasm, preferring to work out his emotions on his own. He honestly had never had a friend either, he knew many people but had never trusted any of them, the realization surprised him. He released Steven's hand with a pensive expression on his face, lost in thought for a second.

Steven pretended not to notice while Nathaniel collected himself before replying, "Actually you would be my first friend too, most people don't make it past my sarcasm but you stood up to me. I think we could be great friends, how old are you Steven?"

"I'm almost eleven years old, Natalie said you were fifteen right? And she's sixteen?" Steven asked.

"That's right, fifteen and sixteen, if your almost eleven that means your a year younger than I was when I came here. I turned fifteen only last month." Nathaniel replied.

Steven's brow furrowed with a thoughtful expression, "So if you turned fifteen last month and I turn eleven next week then your about three years older than me. Are you sure you want to be friends with someone so much younger than you?"

Nathaniel just smiled at his observation and replied wholeheartedly, "Sure I do, no kid my age has ever tried to be my friend. You stood your ground and fiercely protected your sisters and called me out, you also were quick to forgive me. To me that shows you have a strong heart, so I'd be happy to call you my friend."

Steven smiled glad to have impressed his first friend, he had only been trying to keep his sisters safe from harm. In his own eyes he hadn't done anything special, he had stood up to older kids and even his own parents to protect them. One more kid, even if he looked strong and was older was still just one more kid. "I'd be glad to ge your friend too, do you want to go back and sit with the girls? I don't want to leave my sisters alone for very long." Steven looked over at them, they seemed to be fine, it looked like Natalie was telling them a story because they were both smiling and staring intently at her while she spoke.

Nathaniel followed his line of sight and replied sarcastically, "Yeah it looks like they need you or at least you might not want to miss that story." Nathaniel laughed while he spoke but also smiled and stood up to lead the way.

Steven smiled as well and grabbed his tray and followed him over to the big table they had originally shared with their respective sisters. Natalie looked up as they arrived and smirked at Nathaniel while saying, "Looks like you two made nice, good thing. You guys are just in time for the best part, they asked me what happened to my tooth, I just got done telling them about our most recent sparring match when you knocked it out. Usually I kick his ass, right Nathaniel."

Nathaniel turned red at those words, but replied evenly, "Well you are a year and a half older than me but you still lost our last bout. Even if I haven't been accepted as an officer among the Gallant yet I still whooped you last time." He said the last part with mixed emotions, even if the Gallant had yet to grant him anything more than the rank of recruit he was still proud to have beaten his sister once out of countless spars.

"Oh wow! You must actually like this kid if your willing to speak openly about the Gallant in front of him. You usually never bring it up between us, let alone anyone else." Natalie was impressed by her brother opening up to a stranger and hoped he was turning over a new leaf, maybe this would be what he needed to get over his current funk and move up in rank.

"He has heart." Nathaniel replied with a shrug, dismissing the matter without any thought. Being open with his new friend seemed like the right thing to do. He just wanted to be a good friend.

"Oh, so your both in the Gallant then? How do you like it?" Steven skipped the pleasantries and went straight for the juicy part shamelessly, now that he had a friend he was more confident and less afraid of rejection. Even if someone did try to take advantage of him at least he knew he had a friend he could count on now.

Nathaniel was the first to reply, "Yes we are both part of the Gallant, when I turned fifteen I took the exam to become a junior officer, which I failed. Natalie passed the same exam on her first try when she turned fifteen, I had hoped I would pass it as well but I was easily bested in the physical exam and barely scored half points on the written portion of the test. I tried to rush through it because I expected to ace the physical exam but I couldn't land a single blow. In the physical exam you face one of your peers or someone only slightly above you in rank and ability but I rushed into that test too, expecting it to be easy. My best advice if you seek to join the Gallant is to be prepared and never take anything for granted. They won't hand you anything, you have to earn it." By the time Nathaniel finished his speech he was even more embarrassed but he felt relieved having told another person what his instructor had told him. By admitting his mistakes he hoped to learn from them and better himself. Plus after he had gotten started he had found it hard to stop talking, letting everything off his chest had made him feel lighter.

"Well little brother, it sounds like your finally ready to learn from your mistakes, all you had to do was meet a stranger who called you out on your bullshit. Congratulations bro! I hope it works out for you." Despite her patronizing tone she wrapped her brother into a hug, which he returned instead of slipping away from.

"Thanks Sis, I've been needing to admit my mistakes. I hope this will help my focus so I can be better prepared for my next examination."

The scene touched the other three siblings as well, Steven smiled to see his new friend ready to admit his faults. His sisters were more straightforward and joined the hug, making it a group hug. Natalie and Nathaniel wrapped them in as well before breaking the hug while Nathaniel exclaimed, "Well I'm glad to see you two have forgiven me for being a jerk before, we are under a lot of pressure with the Gallant and from the other factions as well but that's no excuse for me to act like that."

"It's okay, we forgive you." Sybel replied with a smile. Sophie smiled as well, "What is the Gallant? What are factions?", she was burning with curiosity after their short exchange. She had played with toys and art supplies while Steven had read up about Sanctuary.

"I'd be happy to tell you girls all about it, but its a long story so we should go get some more food." Nathaniel replied, "Your brother knows quite a bit as well and can probably help us explain some things."

Sophie and Sybel beamed at their brother with pride while following everyone back to the kitchen window for more snacks and sweets, it was long after lunch time but the kitchens ran 24/7 for anyone who was hungry and Chris had been keeping an eye on the kids and was happy to fill their bellys.

"I see you children are all smiles this afternoon, I'm sure it has a lot to do with your daily liaisons. These two will steer you right, most of the time." Chris winked at Nathaniel when he finished his sentence making him smile.

"We don't have lee ay sons Mr. Chris, but we do have new friends." Sophie sounding out the word liasons was more than Chirs could handle, making his mouth curve into a smile that soon turned into a chuckle while he beamed at the little angel that had stolen his heart. "Well that's great news, who needs liasons anyways when you can have new friends. I'm sure you kids have a lot to talk about so here are some doggy bags to take back to your rooms. There you can have a little privacy, I'll send someone up with some milk for your cookies. Just bring my dishes back here to the kitchen so we can wash them." Chris got slightly stern when he finished his sentence so he would make his point.

"Yes sir!" Sophie and Sybel said together with a huge smile while thinking about having even more cookies. Steven smiled and said, "Don't worry Sir, I'll make sure they get back here."

"That's good children, now you all run along." Chris sent them away with a smile and a doggy bag each, waving enthusiastically as the made their way out of the cafeteria.

Back in their room they sat down at the table together after bringing another chair from one of their desks and Natalie, Nathaniel and Steven began to explain to them about the different factions and what they did. All explanations about the Forgotten was left to Natalie and Nathaniel, but even they didn't know a lot about them apart from that they helped Sanctuary and worked with the Visionaries sometimes. It took quite awhile for them to explain what they knew in a way the girls could understand.

During the explanations there was a knock at the door, a young brunette wearing a chef uniform carried in a tray with glasses and a full pitcher of ice cold milk and freshly baked cookies for them to snack on. She sat the tray down on the table and then introduced herself. "Hello, you three must be Steven, Sophie and Sybel, my name is Lila. I'm helping down in the kitchens trying to become a chef like Chef Chris. I made these cookies myself, they are peanut butter chocolate chip and they are fresh from the oven." She gave them a small bow and a smile while taking a step back, inviting them to speak.

"Mmmm, they smell so good! Thank you so much!" Sybel was the first to speak per usual when sweets were involved. "I'm Sybel and this is my sister Sophie and my brother Steven." Sybel mimicked Lila's bow which was more of a curtsy.

Sophie then said thank you while Steven did the same and offered Lila his hand in a handshake. "It's nice to meet you Lila, everything smells amazing. How old do you have to be to start in the kitchens? You don't seem much older than me.."

Lila replied, "Thank you for the compliment little one, your very welcome!" Then she turned to Steven while shaking his hand, "There is no age requirement to work in the kitchens, you have to be tall enough to see over the stove and have a knack for cooking, or at least be eager to learn. I'm thirteen years old in a couple of months so I'm not much older than you. Now I have to go, I still have many duties to finish today to be ready for dinner. I hope you enjoy the cookies." She let herself out of the door as she spoke not giving them a chance to reply.

The explanations ensued after everyone had a belly full of cookies and milk, Natalie and Nathaniel both ate in moderation, not wanting to ruin their perfect physique. They had to keep their bodies in tip top shape to keep up with their daily physical training required by the Gallant. By the time the explanations and questions were finished it was dinner time and the two groups of siblings decided to go down to the cafeteria together. Steven reminded his sisters about their promise to return the dishes and helped them carry them. Everyone was quiet on the walk down, each one lost in thought about what faction they would join and what they believed the Forgotten actually were. Natalie and Nathaniel walked with them in silence, each also having a lot on their minds.