The mess hall was relatively small, but it had a warm and inviting atmosphere. There were a total of 12 large tables with kids around the age of 8-12 gathered around them. Most of the kids were hanging out in their usual group. Alyssia, the girl Torren had a crush on, could be seen hanging out with her clique. Torren would occasionally glance at the pale girl, his mind seemingly trying to prepare himself to tell her something. Mark was sitting on his left, and on his right sat a boy named Elia.
"Torren, are you finally going to speak to her?" inquired Mark, his tone rather curious.
Snapping out of his daze, Torren grumpily replied,
" None of your business, Mark."
"I feel like it's a good chance to ask her out, Tor, after all, next week is the ceremony for the Age of Becoming."
The ceremony, scheduled to be held next week, will be a defining moment for the kids at the Orphanage. It was fair to say that the results they received during the ceremony would determine their collective fate. They were turning 13, after all, the age when those who are deemed worthy enough could receive the blessings of a God, as well as awaken their innate talents.
Torren did not reply, his gaze slowly lingering towards a child sitting alone. But his two friends seemed to have guessed his answer...
Sitting further away from them, in a dark corner of the Hall, was a lonesome child. At least that is what one would think, after all, the child had the table completely to himself. But this child had a smile on his face. A warm smile. A cold smile. A slightly twisted smile. A smile that refused to go away. It was as if this smile was etched permanently on his face. He was, of course, Aly.
"Listen, Aly," Nyth said, gazing at him, "Whatever happens at the ceremony next week, we hope that you won't beat yourself up too harshly."
"Aye, Talent or no Talent, Blessing or no Blessing, we would all still love you," Oro mentioned. "Plenty of folks live just fine without Talents or Blessings. You'll be fine, kid. Paah, who needs talents or useless blessings from those useless deities? I will tell you what you need, Aly. It is this thing called love. You need to find love, you brat. When I was your age, girls were flocking towards me!"
Mari, who was eating calmly, quickly interjected and scrutinized the words of Oro,
"Shut up, you brute. What are you saying to a child his age?"
"Ah, those two again" Aur muttered softly
Aly, whose gaze remained on Nyth the entire time, calmly replied to his sister.
"I will be fine. I'm sure I will receive a decent talent. Whatever Talent or Blessing I receive will be more than enough to change my life around. Besides, I don't think I will ever receive a Blessing from a God."
Getting a Blessing was rare and brought incredible power and prestige. Why would a God choose to bless an orphan, especially one plagued with a troubled mind? If that ever happens, people would probably think that the God was simply not sound himself and no one would want to follow someone insane like that willingly.
Aly's family exchanged anxious glances behind his back, their concern plain as day. They were not alone; the other children often watched him too. Aly was used to their stares by now. He could easily guess what they were thinking about him. He tried ignoring their judgmental and harsh gazes, hoping they would just leave him alone and let him finish his meal in peace.
"Why does he always sit alone?" asked Leah. She was relatively new to the orphanage and had actually been transferred here from the town of Tibol.
"Ah, him? Well, he is actually quite famous in the city. Not for a good reason, tho..." a girl replied to her question.
"What do you mean by that?" Leah asked, her eyebrows raised.
"He is mad. We don't know what's wrong with him, but he always talks to himself. That's not the only weird thing about him, though; he always has this creepy-looking smile on his face, even when he cries or when he is angry. It's kind of gross, to be honest," the girl next to her replied calmly.
"Let's not even speak about his eyes. Those golden eyes shouldn't belong to any race, let alone a human. It's best if you stick with us and avoid him. I'm telling you that boy is cursed," the girl, whose name was Andrea, retorted with disgust clearly visible on her face.
"Cursed? That's pretty harsh, don't you think? Just because his eyes are a different color does not mean he is cursed, come on, Andrea."
"Well, cursed or not, I had still rather not be around him. Oscar and his friends deemed him their toy."
Leah glanced back at Aly, her eyes softening with pity after hearing those words and seeing his trembling hands as desperate as he was to hide them