I didn't know my parents. Their nas, their faces, or what they were like. I didn't know anything.
In a random alley off a busy street, I was abandoned.
A few children looked at , but they didn't speak a word.
The sa for the people on the street.
They would rather not look at us, and whenever they did, their expression would briefly turn to one filled with disgust before they turned away and ignored us.
That day, I did nothing but stand in a corner, scared to look at either the people on the street or the children in the alley.
But when the night ca, the cold forced the children to approach each other, unnoticeably at first, but soon enough, undeniably.
By the ti the moon and stars had risen above the buildings, they had all huddled together, their skin pressing against each other, sharing their warmth.
And I... was no exception.
When the morning ca, I felt my stomach hurt.
Although I didn't rember well, it had to have been a while since I last ate.
I searched around, but I could find no food in the alley.
Until three kids appeared.
Slightly older than the rest of us, but still in their early teens, they carried one basket with them.
Inside it, there was bread and a few fruits, which they shared with the others.
Without understanding their words, I was unsure if they would let
eat or not.
But then, they pointed at , calling
closer, and I joined their al.
Soon after eating, the kids dispersed, but before the sun had set, one by one, they all had returned.
My only al that day was the small loaf of bread and the piece of fruit I had in the morning.
For about three years, I'd only eat when soone brought sothing, and my als were rarely any fancier than the first.
Slowly, I learned about the place we were in, the nas of the kids, what they did, and...
And why, sotis, they didn't all return.
This was especially true for the older ones.
They were the ones who brought in the most, but they were also the most frequent faces to change.
Every winter, the number of kids huddled beneath the half-collapsed wooden shack at the back of the alley shrank.
Before long, it was just
and four others, and I had beco the oldest one...
When the morning ca, and reality hit , I decided to venture out.
The other kids had taught
a lot, but I wasn't the smartest. Or the prettiest. Or the quickest. Or the strongest.
????: "...!"
I was too anxious, too desperate.
It was the first ti I had tried stealing anything, but it wasn't the vendors' first ti being stolen from.
Almost imdiately, I was caught.
For the first ti, I regretted the words I was taught.
The threats filled my heart with fear, and no matter how much I wanted to escape, there was nowhere to run.
They told
to let go of what I had stolen, but I knew I couldn't.
No matter how much they hit , I refused to let go.
Even when they threw
to the ground...
I tried my best to crawl away.
But when they kicked my back, instead of feeling my face hit the ground, I felt myself falling into the dark, until it was all I could see.
????: "Ack... Argh..."
Strangely, I wasn't dying.
The shadows around
weren't exactly comfortable, but they weren't hurting
either.
More importantly, it was just
and the food I had managed to grab.
After a few minutes of stumbling around confused, I learned how to move inside the shadows, and after glimpsing outside and confirming I was alone, I took the opportunity to run back to the alley.
That day was a close call.
The next day, again.
Every year since, no matter how accustod to it I beca, it never got any easier.
Still, I survived.
And with ti, the number of kids I had to take care of increased.
The responsibility had never been heavier, but at the sa ti, I started to feel a happiness I had never felt before.
I still couldn't understand the people outside the alley, and why they looked at us the way they did, but I stopped thinking about it.
Unfortunately, this lifestyle couldn't last forever.
I had missed every opportunity to leave it, worrying about the ones who'd be left behind.
And one day, I bit more than I could chew.
It was the sa as always, in a place I had not gone to in a long ti.
But my na was already known.
My abilities were already understood.
After so many complaints, they sent soone who could deal with .
A knight with the magic that allowed him to control the shadows.
Whenever I jumped into one to flee, he quickly isolated them.
I was left exposed.
The only saving grace was that I knew the streets better than my pursuers.
While making my way to the kids, I led them astray into dead ends and narrow streets.
The basket in my hands had never been so full.
It was slowing
down, but I couldn't afford to bring less.
I couldn't afford to let go, no matter how much I bled.
Only three streets away from them...
Only two streets away from them...
Only-
Suddenly, the world started to spin, and I was
Three streets...
Away...
I couldn't feel my legs, so I could only rely on my arms to pull myself forward.
With each passing second, the falling snow clung to , making it harder to breathe and move forward.
It had been the warst winter yet...
But the white and the cold bothered
so much.
I wanted to see the kids again... I was so close...
But I never reached them.
When I closed my eyes, the darkness was there to welco
again.
It wasn't the one I wanted. It wasn't as warm, and I couldn't leave it.
I was trapped for what felt like an eternity, and strangely, a single mont.
And then... I woke up.
Surrounded by unknown people, in a room I didn't know.
Their eyes were filled with suspicion, and beside , there were other won, all of whom seed as confused as I was.
But among the suspicious ones, there was an obvious leader.
His eyes were striking.
They reminded
of what I used to see in the older kids when I was young.
This bothered , and I-
I woke up.
Miwen: "Haah... Shit."
First Daughter: "...Who was it this ti?"
Miwen: "...Lana."
Almost as if forcibly ejected, my body slowly erged from the darkness of the "Infinitesimal Border
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