It was a peaceful morning within the walls of a small room in a specialized hospital where Victoria was flipping the pages of a book, sitting beside Emilia, who her and her team had found.
Slowly, Emilia's eyes opened fluttering. As her eyes widened, her vision became less and less blurry. "Mmm… where… am… I?"
"You're in the hospital," said Victoria, her voice warm and reassuring.
"Hospital?" said Emilia as she shifted her head to look at the person talking to her.
"What… happened?" she asked as she tried to rise up from her bed sheets.
Putting her back to bed, "Easy now. You went through some very bad things so you should first get some rest. And you asked what happened, right? Does that mean you don't remember?" she asked perplexed at Emilia's attitude.
Sudden memories then filled Emilia's mind as she tried to remember. A flash of horrifying events coming back to her violently. The memories only noise in her head, made her have a seizure. Her breathing became heavy as she trembled, her eyes filled with dread and fear.
Seeing her reaction, Victoria became even more perplexed. Clapping her hands loud enough to distract Emilia, she said the following: "Okay! You must be hungry, right? Let me get you something to eat."
As she exited the room, Emilia's condition improved, her previous seizure ending.
"Exactly what did she go through to react like that?" she wondered as she walked away from the door.
"Why hello there, Captain Victoria Windsor," called someone behind Victoria.
"And what do you want, old man?" asked Victoria, glaring intensely at Hugo.
"I think you could show a little more kindness and respect towards your elders, young lady," said Hugo, his tone hiding a tinge of authority.
"You more than anyone should know not to expect those kinds of things from me, right?" said Victoria as they stood in the hallway, glaring at each other.
"Yes. I'm painfully aware of that," said Hugo with a sigh. "By the way, how is that child?"
"Why do you wanna know?" Victoria asked, a tinge of suspicion in her tone.
"Isn't it normal for any responsible adult to worry about a child?"
"That's rich coming from you, don't you think?" Victoria scoffed at him before giving him a piercing glare. "After all, aren't you the one that tipped off the S.I.B about that place? I find it rather suspicious how you came here right after the raid was finished."
"I find it rather offensive how you think I'm some kind of mastermind behind this whole incident," Hugo stayed composed until the end. "There's something else I wanted to tell you after all."
"What? Is it your confession?"
"No. It's nothing of the sort. Just a request to take extremely good care of that young girl."
Victoria was surprised by what Hugo said. "I was gonna do it without you telling me to."
"I see." Hugo momentarily lowered his gaze as he offered his farewell. "Well then, may you have a fruitful day."
As Victoria watched him walking away, "As always there's really no way to know what that old man is thinking. Creepy."
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Days turned to weeks and Emilia was discharged from the hospital. As she didn't have family, Victoria had taken a leave of absence to take care while she was in the hospital. She always talked to her, told her stories and fed her sweets every once in a while.
During that time at the hospital, Emilia never remembered what she went through, and she had become attached to Victoria, her only sister figure.
One day…
"How about coming and living with me?" Victoria asked, taking Emilia by surprise. "I might only be 20 but I have quite the load of money in my bank account since I'm a captain in the Sentinel Investigative Bureau. You won't have to worry about anything in life. I promise that I'll always protect you. What do you say?"
Victoria extended her hand with a warm smile. Emilia, hesitating momentarily, ended up taking her hand.
"O-okay," said Emilia, her voice barely a whisper.
"Okay then, Emi. I'll handle everything so you can come with me."
On those words, Victoria used the weight and influence she had as Captain of the Sentinels to become Emilia's guardian. She looked for a good house for the both of them to live in, bought her clothes and other necessities she could need, and even gave her the same name as hers, Windsor.
The day Emilia got discharged, she was dressed in a beautiful sky-blue dress that Victoria had bought for her.
"You ready?" asked Victoria as she took Emilia's hand.
"Yes!" Emilia replied, her voice full of vigor and joy.
"Then let's go."
The following months were only filled with happiness for Emilia. The atmosphere in her new home was always bright and warm. Her meals were always delicious and fulfilling.
"Have you eaten enough?" asked Victoria.
"Yes," answered Emilia, before her stomach growled, making her red with embarrassment while Victoria held back her laughter.
"You silly girl. There's still more where that came from. Just eat until you can no more," said Victoria as she gave the young girl another dish.
"Thank… thank you," Emilia said, still embarrassed.
"No problem lil' sis."
Emilia never lacked anything, and Victoria enjoyed this new life with her new little sister. But that darkness in Emilia's heart never faded. It was only suppressed and forgotten as it got locked inside the deepest corners of her mind.
And today, the past and darkness she had hidden from herself had come surging back, flooding her mind while she cried on her knees.
"Demons always keep their end of a deal. They never lie but they do hide the truth," Ace thought, his mind heavy with thoughts as he observed Emi who was drowning in her own trauma. "I don't know what you went through, nor do I care to know. Today, you only have two choices. Confront your demons and fight or drown in despair and disappear. What will you choose Emi?"