Chapter 1 hopes AngleStan Janus 17 1923 AV New Lundun Henry Henry a small voice called out to him as small stumpy legs ran out to collide with the young man she hit his legs with a thud but didn't mind the impact at all continuing to giggle and hug his legs easy there Camilla you'd get yourself hurt Henry said looking down at the little girl wrapping herself around his legs she let out a cheerful giggle play with us play with us Henry let out a soft sigh he looked down at the young girl smiling
back at him his lips betraying a small frown I can't today dear he said I have work to do today maybe next time oh you're no fun why don't you play with all the other orphans then but we're waiting for you Henry sighed again trying not to look down on and peer into the young girls pleading eyes still clinging to his leg he tilted his head back and face the sky hmm how about this if I get off from work early I'll play with you and brother promise promise he smiled speaking of where is Jeremy he's
playing with Amber and Olson ah good why don't you join them for now and I'll play with you guys when I get back deal hmm okay Henry gave a soft chuckle and bent down ruffling Camilla's short Auburn hair she was the oldest of the orphans at only 9 years old with her brother following behind at the age of eight the two siblings lost their parents to a strigoi attack before they could even remember their faces they were only spared when the Watchmen guard rushed in and slain the attackers thus th
ey had spent most of their life at Saint Salarius Orphanage and they didn't seem to really fit in with the other orphan children at first her brother Jeremy was the loud one always asking questions and trying to make friends even if others found him a little weird Camilla was the quiet one never really seeming to join in with the rest she would always stick to her small little corner at the edge of her bed rarely speaking eating alone and never interacting with anyone but her brother though that
all changed when she met Henry he thought of visiting the orphanage donation drive to give away some of his childhood clothes and decided to stay a little while and play with some of the orphans having lost his younger brother to disease a year earlier he found the children really endearing and fun to play with the orphans rarely ever got visitors so having one play with them was a new change of scenery even for young Camilla experimentally she had decided to walk up and watch them play Henry h
ad wanted to meet everyone and as soon as he saw the young girl watching from afar he tried to walk up and talk to her but only ended up scaring her away during lunch however everything changed while all the other children were already having their meals Henry noticed that Camilla was still by the corner too shy to ask for a serving as soon as he saw this he walked over and offered her half of his food he tore half of his grilled cheese sandwich and handed it to her which she took with shaking h
ands she gave it a big bite and immediately lit up she had never tried cheese before in her life and was instantly enamored by the new flavor it soon then became her favorite food and took a quick liking to the young man with that she decided to talk to him her first words being a soft thank you just under her breath Henry was happy to have finally made some progress he smiled at her and began talking to her about anything he thought she would find interesting Henry did most of the talking of co
urse but the young girl responded in soft sounds and nods from time to time since then they had formed an instant bond and the little girl began to open up little by little overtime eventually breaking out of her shell and becoming quite attached much like she currently was to his leg um Henry she looked up at him a small frown slowly forming around the corner of her lips what's wrong Henry asked you said you'd adopt me and my brother today are you still going to Henry gave a long sigh and held
her by the shoulders pulling her away from his legs and bending down to face her he gave a warm smile and patted her head I'm going to adopt you and Jeremy I promise I'm just a little busy right now but believe me I'm getting all the papers ready okay okay hey I only need a few documents left if not today then very very soon alright I promise okay but you'll play with us today too right you promised he let out a soft chuckle and stood up dusting himself off yes yes I'll play don't worry he smile
d now you have to let me go to work so I can play with you guys a lot earlier hopefully we'll have an hour or two before the orphanage closes yeah okay she smiled giving the young man a big hug before pulling away and running back in the direction of the orphanage she turned out for a second to wave back at him goodbye see you see you Henry smiled waving back before nodding to himself right time to get to work he started his walk to the tram station just a few blocks away it would probably take
him a few minutes but he had time it wasn't like his boss was screaming for him to get to work as soon as possible though if he arrived late he'd have to work an extra hour or so and he couldn't do that with his promise to Camilla his feet picked up the pace a bit briskly walking the streets of New Lundun he looked around him as he did taking in the sights he'd seen it 1,000 times before walking the same streets to the station like a well practiced routine though it wasn't without its charm the
city wasn't something one would particularly call pretty though it can be quite fascinating once one gets used to the scenery buildings with large steel works old Gothic and classical architecture melded together with practicality before aesthetics in mind old buildings roped in with new ones made mostly of steel exhaust pipes puffing out dark fumes while attached to white marble structures turning a shade of gray due to the soot mid rise towers and skyscrapers strewn along the city together wit
h old establishments still standing with their old wooden posts and walls of brick and stone large covered bridges connecting one building to another creating tall reaching archways for the people walking along the street there were also elegant looking structures with silver accents in fact silver accents were common place among both old and new buildings so much so that the city was often dubbed the city of silver by its neighbors he turned to glance at the road as some vehicles passed by larg
e walkers long heavy steel mechanical legs moving across the asphalt guided by their drivers they trekked along with other bigger and lighter walker variants some with two legs others with three or four plotting alongside cars and street trains each of them puffing out heavy smoke he wished he had one of those only the rich could afford cars they were built for comfort the rest had walkers not as comfortable or sleek but highly maneuverable and cheap to manufacture as clunky as they looked they
were actually very agile and at the very least they got the job done besides cars were more like novelty items most preferred to take the trams and street trains anyway it wasn't all doom and gloom however there were parts of the city that truly shine among the others especially the great statues of Saint Salarius the great savior of Old Lundun during the war of darkness over three centuries ago there were huge golden monuments in the likeness of the sun towering cathedrals with intricate design
s white marble and sandstone walls steel arches and stained glass hand carved depictions of the great battle of Inferno monuments made of silver covered in ornate gold coatings the cathedrals were made during the time of Saint Salarius and were dedicated to the sun soul and the sun goddess Helena he had visited it a few times and couldn't look away from its beauty each time he did the outside was certainly incredible but the inside was beyond anything else in the city carved pillars stone and st
eel arches golden statues and marble floors tapestries depicting iconic members of the golden sun back silvered mirrors placed just behind the altar perhaps the most impressive part of the cathedral was the 12 foot lifelike statue of Helena made entirely of silver and gold 6 golden wings a silver torso with a golden carving in the shape of the sun just above her sternum she wore a golden crown and a golden Halo extending around her back her upper body was exposed while her lower body was clothed
in a golden stola extending just above her toes it depicted her in flight with her left arm outstretched into the sky holding a sword of silver and gold while her right arm rested on the side and held a golden orb her other two lower arms were open palmed and outstretched as if to welcome the broken into her embrace it was beautiful truly a sight to behold perhaps he would visit it later after the orphanage Henry could see the tram station up ahead with a tram about to leave hey wait up he said
taking off into a sprint he was going to be late again if he waited for another to come by in his worry however he didn't see the person coming out of one of the alleys crashing into them the force sent the two falling to the pavement with the ladder landing on their back oh oh dear I'm so sorry I was in a hurry he said quickly picking himself up and helping the one on his back he offered up his hand which the stranger took without a word it was then that Henry noticed the violet armband bearin
g the symbol of a crescent moon his eyes widened his instincts telling him to pull away and run but he steeled himself to stand his ground a dusk walker he had just crashed into a dusk walker
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