Farewell to a House of Broken Childhoods

With his stomach full and stamina entirely drained, Charlie collapsed on the bed next to his sister and drifted off in seconds. After one last routine checkup on his health, Solomon tucked him under the bedsheets and sealed the windows shut. He couldn’t help but look over the three youths before him, his heart breaking at the thought of their uncertain futures.

No doubt about it, their normal lives were gone. What a failure of an adult he was, unable to do anything about it.

He looked down at his calloused hands, observing the scars only he could see—the scars recording the battles, the murders, the mistakes, the regrets, and the pain in his youth.

The possibility of the next generation experiencing the same hell he went through plagued his heart with terrible anxiety. With King Carmin’s rule, an era of peace should’ve been everlasting.

And yet, looking at the situation of the kingdom now…

Just what was the king thinking?

With a sigh, he sat on his chair, turned to his backpack, and pulled out the tarot card, reading the familiar handwriting.

‘Your children are safe, and so am I. Whatever you do, absolutely do not let anyone find my kids’ whereabouts until Cherry awakens.’

It was a message so simple yet full of questions. How on earth did Fiona survive? Where was she? Where were his children? Why was it so important to hide her kids? What was she and Ren planning?

Solomon leaned back on his chair, gazing at the ticking grandfather clock that chimed nine. Without realizing it himself, he slipped away into slumber as well.

✦☆✦

Smoke lingered in the air, rousing Solomon up as the clock struck two in the morning.

Solomon stood up, and the tarot card slid off his lap, reminding him of Fiona’s words. He glanced at the sleeping trio, pausing briefly before covering their heads with their bedsheets—just for safety measures.

He walked back to the desk, slipped the backpack on, reached for the scabbard, unsheathed the sword, and carefully approached the door, yet before he could even touch the doorknob, it twisted open the door on its own.

Standing at the threshold was a man dressed in black with a raven mask, his cane pointed right at Solomon’s head.

“Here you are,” a familiar voice sneered.

Solomon’s heart dropped in horror and moved back. Before he could form a shield, Horace pressed a button on his cane.

A massive explosion blasted across the room, blowing all four residents out of the building.

Solomon grunted and raised himself with his elbows, frantically looking around.

Charlie groaned and swayed around, barely registering the cold cobblestone beneath him. A moment later, he sat up with a jolt and looked around with panic-stricken eyes. Once he spotted Cherry and Eloi lying nearby, he crawled toward them.

Solomon glanced back at his mansion, widening his eyes with despair as a large fire consumed a portion of the building. He already expected it, but to think it’d be so soon…

He glanced up at Horace’s silhouette enshrouded in dust and back at the youths, his heart dropping in terror once again when he finally noticed Eloi’s head bleeding and his shoulder missing an arm.

The choice was as clear as day. His fight with Horace would have to be on another day.

Solomon snatched Charlie, Eloi, and Cherry in one swoop and dashed into the darkness right before the dust cleared from Horace’s vision.

Horace floated up toward the sky, looking around the estate. “So you decided to flee, huh?” he muttered. “Your choice.”

He turned to the burning mansion and landed on the tip of its tallest spire, gazing down at the destruction of it all. A raven flew by and transformed into an old gentleman, floating beside him, and at another spire, a young man dressed in a dark green, slim trench coat with a leathery collar stood idly by, a hood covering his face.

“What the hell was that about, Horace?” Ren asked. “You’re going to wake up the neighbors.”

“Sorry, I got too excited and pressed the wrong button,” said Horace. “I only meant to shoot him.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Ren facepalmed. “Was Eloi in that room?”

“Was he? I didn’t see the whole room.” Horace turned to the man in the trench coat. “What about you, Clover? Did you find him?”

“No,” he said.

Ren threw a glare at Horace, who forced a cough. He sighed and shook his head. “Then Solomon must've taken Eloi with him,” he said. “It’d be a miracle if he didn’t sustain any bad injuries.”

Clover crossed his arms. “So be it.”

“You don’t care about him?”

“I know Solomon would be too protective to let him go. Besides…” He looked away and lowered his voice. “Only he could take care of him the best.”

“I heard that, kid.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Ren chuckled and shrugged. “Anyway, all of the kids’ belongings have been transferred except most of Penelope’s inventions,” he said. “They’re too damn heavy for me.”

Horace turned to the hooded boy. “Would Penelope be fine with that?”

Clover crossed his arms. “She isn’t the one to grow too attached to them,” he said. “She’d simply invent a better version.”

“I see. Then what about you? Are you sad to see your home gone?”

Clover looked away. “Now that the people are hysterically hunting down vampires left and right, it’s only a matter of time until they raid this place,” he muttered. “I’d rather destroy it myself before they can. Besides, this house… carried too many bad memories.”

Ren stroked his mustache as he observed the boy. “You don’t sound too happy about it, kid.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, respect your elders.”

“I know your old form is just a facade.”

“I’m still older than you.”

“Then you should act like one.”

“Enough, you two,” said Horace. “If you want to bicker, do it elsewhere. Let me watch in peace.”

Clover and Ren turned back at the flames, watching it fully envelop the mansion. While the former residents lost themselves in their thoughts, Ren observed them.

He had a reason not to mention his kids Solomon was also looking after.

At this moment, all of Theatreux’s spotlights were on Horace, the hero stopping The Star-Crushing Tragedy. Despite his calm, polite, and friendly demeanor, his soulless eyes stood out like a sore thumb.

If Horace were to discover Cherry’s survival and bring back the hopeful light into his eyes, Monty could potentially find out and target his kids again.

But Cherry hadn’t fully recovered yet. Until it was time, Horace must not know a thing. As much as he wanted to hide Solomon and the kids at his home with Fiona, that would also mean luring Monty right to them. Besides, he needed those two old fools in the spotlight of the streets to distract that lunatic.

If those two remained constantly at each other’s throats, then clearly Monty wouldn’t waste his time on them, ironically buying his supposedly dead kids more time.

Solomon and Charlie, too, must not know Cherry’s former relationship with Horace. If they were to hold back on their battles and seek a truce before resolving Clover’s conflicts, Monty would, without a shred of doubt, throw a wrench.

All in all, this whole operation was entirely a complex web of masquerades. After all…

“To fool Monty, we have to fool our own families. The more whimsical and confusing the scheme, the harder it is for him to predict our moves. Should he somehow kill me one day, you all better confuse the shit out of him for me.”

Those words weren’t Fiona’s but from Maribel herself. That crazy woman saw everything: Monty’s uncertainty, her own death, and all the counter-measures after it—that crazy smartass saw even more than Fiona’s cards, and thanks to her, they now had a chance to recover from this whole mess.

With that in mind, he cursed himself for underestimating Horace’s knowledge. He didn’t expect him to march right toward Solomon while he and Clover were too busy transferring the remaining stuff! Was it years of them living together that he knew him inside out? It was sheer dumb luck that Horace was entirely fixated on Solomon to notice his kids in the room!

At the very least, it seemed like Solomon understood Fiona’s memo and fled.

For now, all he could do was watch over these two sad blokes and be on the lookout for Monty’s whereabouts. What a huge pain in the ass.

Ren faced the fire, joining the two as he pondered to himself.

Sorry for my mistake, Eloi. I’ll make it up to you soon. Promise.

Sorry, Solomon. Bear with Horace’s stubbornness for a little while.

And sorry, Cherry, Charlie. I’ll buy you as much time as I can.

✦☆✦

Days later, Ren began to fulfill his promise. Disguised as a random old man, he gave them coordinates and let them go. And thus, that was how the two reunited with Eloi.

There, hidden and surrounded by the thicket, Eloi grasped their arms in fright while Solomon patted their shoulders.

“We should get going as well,” said the doctor. “If you stay out here any longer, your siblings may start looking for you.”

“But… how can I act normal around them after everything you’ve told me?!” Eloi cried. “I don’t get it—why is Horace killing everyone now?! I thought he was nice?!”

“I… don’t know…”

“Then… then what should I do?! Isn’t it about time I reveal myself to everyone? I’ve been keeping myself a secret this whole time!”

Solomon bit his lip. “My wife had already explained that if someone is genuinely after your life, your secret must not be revealed to anyone, even to friends.”

“But I’m pretty damn sure your kids aren’t after me?!”

“I believe that as well, but if one of them happens to report that to Horace, however…”

Eloi squeezed their fists. “Goddamn it… I thought… I thought Horace cared about us. Was he faking it this whole time? Was he planning to backstab us?!”

“I… find that hard to believe...”

“But we’ll try to get some answers,” said Charlie. “As long as you act like Penelope, I’m sure he won’t hurt you guys—even I didn’t realize you were with us this whole time until he told me everything just recently,” he said, pointing a thumb at the doctor.

Eloi groaned and clawed their masks. “God, you have to come back soon. I don’t know how long I’m gonna stand this!”

Solomon stepped out of the bush and gave Eloi another tight hug. “Rest assured, we will return another day,” he said wholeheartedly. “Our cabin isn’t too far from here, so we should still be able to frequently keep in touch.”

Charlie patted their shoulder. “Hang in there, buddy. Just wait for us. We’re going to stop Horace and come back for you soon.”

“But what if… what if you don’t?” Eloi whimpered, tears leaking out of their sockets. “What if one day, Horace kills you both, and you never come back? What then?”

“Don’t think of such things,” said Solomon, wiping their mask. “I’ve survived in worse situations than this. I will be fine, and so will Charlie.”

“Solomon is a tough trainer,” said Charlie with a shudder. “I’ll be fine too.”

Eloi slowly inhaled and weakly nodded. “Fine, I’ll be waiting then.”

With a long group hug, the three departed from the scene, ironing their wills to endure months of hell from here on out.