Cherished By Seven Sisters by Melvin Houle

Jadeborough in July was scorching. A skinny young man in the crowd was silently gazing at the familiar and yet somewhat unfamiliar city. “It’s been fifteen years… I’m finally back. I wonder how the girls are,” the young man mumbled under his breath. Emrys Lund was an orphan who grew up in an orphanage. There, seven girls who were not related to him by blood still loved him like family. Their favorite game as children was to play house with Emrys. They even promised to marry Emrys in the future. Emrys was only five back then. In his cute voice, he told them that their promises had to be genuine because they were no longer three years old. The seven girls gave him a pinky promise for that. From then on, the young Emrys looked forward to growing up quickly, until a fire destroyed his life. Those girls could have escaped, but they had run back into the building to look for him and were trapped in the flames. Frightened out of his mind, the young Emrys began bawling. The eldest of the girls held him in her arms and told him not to be afraid. The flames raged on. The eight children huddled together, but they soon passed out from the smoke. When young Emrys opened his eyes again, the flames were still there. What was different was that there was an elderly friar standing before him in the fire, his clothes perfectly intact. The young Emrys was stunned. He thought he was hallucinating until the elderly friar said, “I can save the girls, but you have to serve as my apprentice.” Those words were lifesaving words, and Emrys agreed to them immediately. Back then, he did not realize that his life story would be rewritten because of that. After leaving the orphanage, the elderly friar brought Emrys to a monastery and taught him medical skills, martial arts, and magic. He even made Emrys train in a Nameless Divine Art. That lasted for ten years. When Emrys turned fifteen and thought he could finally return to Jadeborough, the elderly friar sent him to the war zone at the border. That went on for five years. During those years, an organization named Sky Devourer rose to power in the midst of the bloody battles. With Sky Devourer and its Thirty-six Sky Generals in power guarding over the four regions, no one dared to lay a finger on Chanaea from then on. Their lord, Empyrean Lord, in the meantime, had discreetly returned to the land where he spent his childhood—Jadeborough. Emrys was mulling over his past, his memories flashing across his mind as if he was dreaming. Truly, if he hadn’t been through all those incidents—if he were to hear it from someone else—he would have thought of them as insane. Sunshine Children’s Home was still around, but Emrys had complicated feelings about it. The fire fifteen years ago had put the orphanage in the spotlight, with kindhearted people donating generously to rebuild the orphanage. The shabby, concrete building was now a much taller building, and it had better facilities than before. However, it was no longer the place Emrys was familiar with. Still, when Emrys’ gaze landed on the children’s innocent smiles, the strangeness of it all dissipated. He felt as if he was looking at a younger version of himself and the girls. Everything was still the same, and the orphanage was still the wondrous place it used to be. Emrys soon found one of the orphanage’s staff and told them the reason for his visit. In no time, a woman with reading glasses came to Emrys and began studying him in confusion. “I’m the director of Sunshine Children’s Home. May I know who you’re looking for?” “You’re the director?” Emrys froze. The director he remembered had the last name Olman, and he was an elderly man. He was definitely not the woman standing before him. The elderly woman nodded. “I’ve been the director for over ten years. Aren’t you here to see me?” “I’m here to see Mr. Olman.” “Oh, you’re looking for the old director! It’s been some time since he retired!” The director was no longer suspicious of Emrys when she realized he was there to look for the previous director. In fact, she became friendlier. However, Emrys frowned. Mr. Olman retired? And it seems that he retired over ten years ago. Is it because of that fire? Emrys hastily asked, “Then, do you have Mr. Olman’s address?” “I do, I do! Give me a moment. I’ll write it down for you.” The woman turned to enter a room. Not long after, she returned with a note containing the previous director’s address and handed it to Emrys. “Thank you!” Following the address, Emrys arrived at a house. A graying elderly man was hunching over, sweeping the yard. Emrys recognized him as the previous director—Walter Olman—instantly. It’s been fifteen years since I saw Mr. Olman. He looks like he has aged tremendously. A wave of sorrow washed over Emrys, and he hurried toward him. However, what he saw next made rage course through his veins. While Walter was sweeping the floor, a young man in a flowery shirt shoved him all of a sudden and snapped, “I know those women send you money every month, coffin-dodger. Where is it? Spit it out!” This is a robbery in broad daylight! Emrys was livid. He lunged at the young man and grabbed his collar. “How dare you try to steal an old man’s money? Are you even human? You beast!” The young man did not expect someone to lunge at him. A trace of panic flitted across his face, but he soon calmed down again. “L-Let go of me. This is a family matter. What does this have to do with you?” “Family matter?” It was Emrys’ turn to be confused as he turned to look at Walter. A melancholic look manifested on Walter’s face, and he sighed. “He’s not lying, kid. He’s no robber. He’s Gavin Wahl, my adopted son.” Gavin Wahl? Oh, it’s Gavin! Emrys had to stare at the other young man for a while before he finally recalled who he was. No wonder he looks familiar. He’s Gavin, the one who used to bully me and was beaten up by the girls. Why did Mr. Olman adopt him? For a moment, Emrys was in a daze. Gavin took the opportunity to struggle away from him. He coughed violently for a while before he managed to recompose himself. “You b*stard, don’t be a busyb*dy. Since you know this is a family matter, now scram!” Gavin shot Emrys a glare before turning to shout at Walter again. “Grayhead, you should be giving me good food, clothes, and money for entertainment if you took me in. Why did you adopt me if you can’t give me the best things in life? Where is the money those women gave you? Give it to me! What are you trying to do by hiding it? Are you trying to bring it to the grave with you? You don’t have many years to live, and you need me to make the arrangements for your funeral. Who are you going to give the money to if not me? What a brainless old fart.” The more Gavin spoke, the more he was getting out of line. Walter’s b*dy was shaking, but he kept his head low as he endured Gavin’s cursing. Emrys could not bear to watch any longer. He raised his hand and gave Gavin a slap. Smack! “This slap is for your impudence and your foul mouth!” Smack! “This is for your ingratitude! You are a shame to humankind!” Smack! “And this is for your foolishness and ignorance!”