No Need for a Core?

Fuyuko was happy to get the chance to provide for the Sanctuary that had been her home for six years, and providing the extra food was hardly a burden for her new family. Also, she got to show off her new cooking skills to all the younger kids.

Not that she knew all of them. Fuyuko had already been the oldest, and a year had passed. During that year, others had left, and more orphans had been taken in. That nephilim girl was still here, too; the one who had delivered the idea of traveling to Azeria and left the backpack of gear before losing more of her memories as she regressed to the age of five. She seemed to be six now, and utterly oblivious to the fact that she had met Fuyuko before.

There were plenty of mouths to feed, and Fuyuko was glad for Amrydor's help in preparing all the food. They had meat of course, along with some of those not-meat mushrooms Mama K had developed, and there was plenty of bread to go around. Not just normal loaf bread either, Fuyuko had loved all the other sorts of bread she'd tried when they made their trip to the south, so she had made sure to bring flat breads and such with her too. But she also made sure all the kids had veggies, using all the tricks she'd been taught to make them tastier for younger tongues. Cheese sauces, salty sauces with a little bit of spice, or dripping with butter.

She might have dipped some veggies into sauce and ate them while she cooked too, but she wasn't going to admit it, and Amrydor was very careful to not notice, even if he smiled when she had her little treat.

Once all the little ones had been served and portions provided for second servings, it was time to join Papa and Yvonne to eat her meal. Over the course of the meal, she cheerfully told her tale of adventure, including what happened with the peryton and how she had to be rescued by Gil, and all of the many things that had happened since then.

Telling her story made her the center of attention for all the kids of course, and they were suitably impressed by her being a fairy princess, though there were some initial doubts because she didn't "have wings". But she hadn't been born a fairy princess, she explained; she'd been adopted. You don't just sprout wings like that. Well, Mama K did, but she was the only one who had.

And Mama M could fly without them.

Hmm. Fuyuko really needed to find a way to fly or something. Could she make shadow wings? Something to ask Papa about later.

Once Fuyuko was done telling her story, Papa spoke up. "I have a little game for you all. Out in the city are two redheaded kitsune women. One is hanging out with an older human man who has tiny horns if you look closely, and looking after a wagon, a scary bird called a cassowary but this one is actually really nice, and a couple of horses, though they are actually magic horses. The other one is hanging out with a woman with some elven blood and two orcs, in the market area. Both kitsune are easy marks if you give them sad eyes, but don't try taking anything they don't give. Feel free to hit up the others too, especially the half-elf. She has a bunch of younger siblings she spoils, so she both has a soft spot for kids and is used to them wheedling, so you'll have a fun challenge with her."

Fuyuko stared at her papa as all the kids old enough started rushing out. By the time they found Mama K and Akahana, they'd probably be hungry again. Especially for sweets. "Ya didn't tell them you were gonna do that, did ya? That's evil." She giggled as she thought of the expressions the others would be wearing when they got swarmed by little kids.

When there were no longer so many prying eyes and ears, and the younger ones had lain down for naps after their big meal, Yvonne looked at Papa and said, "Well, you've given us some privacy. What is it you don't want them all to hear?"

He smiled, but it looked a little sad. "We need some information, as a starting point for some divination magic. I need to know where Fuyuko used to live."

"Oh." Yvonne sat in silence for a moment before glancing at Fuyuko. "Are you seeking vengeance?"

Fuyuko shifted in her seat and looked down. "Maybe. I'm not sure. But I need to at least know more first. And now probably isn't the time to chase anything down, but it's a good time for Papa to do his magic, before even more time passes."

"Alright," Yvonne said with a soft sigh. "I'll give you that information. But I should tell you something now, so that you aren't surprised. As I said before, instinct guided me there that night, though I wasn't certain what I was looking for until the house caught fire. Then there was shouting, and a window shattered before you were thrown out. It was a dangerous, desperate thing to do with a child, tossing them out of a second-story window. But I think they had good cause."

She took a deep breath and then continued. "After I caught you, I could have tried saving your parents, too. But I could tell that there was someone dangerous and hostile in there, and I am not sure I could have gotten your parents out. But even more important, I felt someone else hunting, and I was certain that you would not still have been there even if I had succeeded. It was time to hide in the shadows, so I ran and took you with me. The fire had drawn quite the crowd, so it was easy to slip away, but I still spent most of that night roaming the city's shadows, certain that I was being stalked somehow. Eventually, that sense faded, and only then did I make my way back to Sanctuary."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The revelations hurt. Nothing that Yvonne had said contradicted what she'd told Fuyuko previously, but there had never been a hint that there was even the smallest chance that Yvonne could have saved her parents. Fuyuko had often dreamt of what her life could have been, if not for the fire and the death of her parents. Now the specter of those dreams was both raised and destroyed again.

She understood why Yvonne had made that decision. Saving the adults had been risky at best, and it would have put a child in unacceptable danger. So Yvonne had saved the child. It still hurt, it still made Fuyuko want to cry and yell at Yvonne, but she also knew Yvonne didn't deserve to be yelled at; she'd made the right choice.

"Fuyuko," her papa said softly, and Fuyuko looked up at him through watery eyes. "It's alright to be feeling what you feel. You don't need to hide it from any of us." She looked over at Yvonne to see that the caretaker was tense with worry as she watched Fuyuko.

Fuyuko slid out of her seat to kneel beside Yvonne's chair and wrap her arms tight around the woman. Then she let herself start crying, sobs breaking up her words. "I'm sorry, it just hurts so much. I want to be angry because I want them to be alive, but I know you did what they'd have wanted, and what you had to do. But it still hurts, and I miss them so much."

She hadn't realized how much pain and loss she still had in her heart, and she clung to Yvonne and cried as the caretaker petted her hair and softly murmured words of comfort. After several long moments, Fuyuko began to calm down, and eventually she was able to wipe her eyes dry and stand back up, though she glanced guiltily at Papa, who smiled and shook his head.

"Silly girl, do you think we'd want you to forget your first parents? We'd never want to replace them in your heart. We're happy to have been there for you for almost a year now, but you should remember your origins too."

Eh heh. Papa was right of course. She was embarrassing herself again. Hmm. That thought tickled something in her mind, and she glanced down to find all the dishes had been cleared. Amrydor was in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes he had taken away as he very studiously made sure to appear to not be paying any attention at all to what had just happened.

Fuyuko's eyes widened at a sudden concern, and she rushed over to him. "Not a word! Don't you dare tell anyone! Especially Shizo. Or Derek." Telling Derek was as good as telling Shizoku after all. She didn't want to let Shizo know anything this embarrassing.

Amrydor looked very somber as he said, "Why, Princess Fuyuko, I would never tell anyone such an embarrassing secret." Then he smiled as he raised a forefinger, "Unless, of course, it was to balance the scales, should it ever be needed."

Balance the scales? "That's, that's blackmail!" she said. It wasn't, not exactly, but he was holding on to the option to tell Shizo about her crying session if he felt it balanced things, and it felt like blackmail. "You're supposed to be a champion of Zagaroth, don't you have to be nice and stuff?"

"Only when nice is what people need. I am supposed to protect and help people, and be fair in how I treat people. Nice is something I am free to use my judgment on." Amrydor's smile was radiant with false innocence.

Fuyuko tried to find a response but was coming up with nothing, when she heard someone laughing behind her. She spun to point at Mordecai. "Papa, don't laugh about it! It's not funny! Oh no, not you too, Yvonne. You're all ganging up on me!"

That just made them laugh harder, and Amry was laughing now too, though he was trying to muffle it with his hand. It took her a moment more to realize how ridiculously over the top her reaction had been, and she slunk back to her chair in defeat. She tried to then capitalize on that by pouting and sniffling in Mordecai's direction, but that just made Papa look more amused. It looked like she was out of practice; she used to be pretty decent at looking like a sad waif.

Mama K could make it work on just about anyone. Maybe she should ask her for some tips?

While Fuyuko's thoughts wandered, Yvonne gave Papa the instructions on how to get to Fuyuko's old home. It was in a very different part of the city, and Fuyuko hadn't dared go there herself at first, and by the time she was willing to venture that far from Sanctuary, well, she'd been eight when her home burned down. She hadn't known how to get there from here, and had not wanted to ask.

Knowing the route home made Fuyuko think about what was near that route, and that reminded her of something she'd dreamed about, but she'd not been strong enough to do. However, she understood a little better that there were always complications. "Yvonne, um, so, even with the safety of Sanctuary, you have to be careful, right? About not upsetting anything, er, political I guess? If strong enough people really wanted to, they could find sanctuary, or at least find you when you were outside?"

Yvonne gave her a searching look, but nodded. "Yes, I can't always do as I please."

Fuyuko smiled slightly. "Well, I don't really look like I'm from here anymore, do I?" While she hadn't worn anything actually fancy, the quality of the materials of her clothes and armor were fancy by sanctuary standards, and she had been gone for almost a year. "So if I did something a little rash, it shouldn't directly affect you. Um, I think on the way, we should go over here for a little bit," she said, point at a spot on the map. "I want to take care of this myself, but Papa, Amry, I want to ask you to be sort of guards; only some people get to pass by. And Yvonne, I think you should follow us. Discreetly."

She was getting some odd looks, but she didn't really have the words to say what she wanted to do. "It'll be just easier to show you. You'll understand." At least, she hoped they would.