Chapter 180 The Fools Observant Eyes (1/2)

Olly had been pretty stumped on how to proceed. He'd been given a bed within The Ruin, alongside the Charm Craftsman. He was given food as well, and instructed to wash often. But during the day, when the little shadow called Kit entered the workroom to carve charms, Olly was not allowed to enter. Everyone else was, because they could not see the mist and therefore could not replicate the process. Olly however, though his reasoning was rather flimsy - it being based on his interaction with a 'special rock' when he was just hours old - could see the Mist. Therefore, Kit was not permitted to share the process with him.

It had been over a fortnight since he arrived at the Ruin. He spent most of his days in silence, just like he had everywhere else. The children that inhabited the Ruin had at first given him a wide berth. However, after discovering how 'funny' Olly was, they frequently requested him to play games with them. Olly, having little else to do, complied.

It was also his attempt at getting the others to trust him. The Mist had told him that this Miss Falla, the one to whom he had to prove his secret-keeping skills, was the pretty woman who had the mountain of Evanine behind her. From what Olly had learned, Miss Falla had a business deal with Mr Moonshadow to provide Evanine, and then share the profits of the charms. Miss Falla was also training Kit, Miss Sharli and Miss Iah to run a business.

After a fortnight, Olly honestly still felt like he was an outsider. Though there were things that he seemed to notice before everyone else thanks to his ability to communicate with the Mist.

For instance, he knew that the teachers that Miss Falla sent were rather unenthusiastic about their job. He sensed that at first it had been a great honour for them. But now that Mr Moonshadow was gone and Kit utterly refused to let them anywhere near his workroom or the vault, they were rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. After all, they were just teaching a bunch of street kids how to read and write and run a business. There was nothing else special about this task that Miss Falla had set them.

Olly also knew that Miss Sharli was rather conflicted about her current predicament. She had disagreed with Miss Falla and Miss Iah about pursuing Mr Moonshadow. Olly's confession about him had only seemed to unsettle her more. She wanted to help him, as he was the one that had brought her out of a bad situation. He'd given her money, shelter, food and a sense of security...but then he'd left.

Miss Sharli didn't seem to be taken his absense very well. Like she somehow expected him to always be there despite his insistence that she learn to survive on her own. Not having that secure feeling to fall back on...it was a hard thing for Miss Sharli to accept, and the Mist knew it.

Olly however, after many days of playing the the children and being another strange addition to the Ruin, had come to know just how much they relied on Sharli. How much they looked up to her as a mother figure or older sister. Olly had seen how she cared for them, but her absentmindedness and worry was starting to become more obvious to even those young children.

”Sharli, is something wrong?” asked one of the children one evening at dinner.

Sharli was barely paying attention as she chewed slowly on her food. After the table became quiet, waiting for an answer, Iah nudged her sister. Sharli jumped and looked at her sister who pointed at the child.

”Sorry?” asked Sharli.

”There's something wrong, isn't there?” asked the child.

Sharli smiled warmly, ”Come now, why would you say that?”

Olly didn't need the Mist to tell him that was a lie. Everyone in the room heard it.

”Because...you're acting weird,” the child had stated.

Sharli looked surprised for a minute before she frowned, seemingly thinking about her actions. After a minute she took a big bite of her food and smiled again, ”It's nothing for you to worry about. I'm sure it'll all be fine soon and I'd have worried you for nothing”.

That was a lie too, but even children can sense when those close to them don't wish to talk about something. Luckily, these children seemed to have enough restraint to not ask.