Makeshift Hearts

District 58: Orphanage

"Wh-where am I?" said Rei. His head hurt and his vision was blurry. He looked around the room he was in. He was alone, lying on a bed. On the opposite side of the room was a large desk full of potted plants. There were larger plants in pots near him as well. Towards the right of the room was the door which was left ajar. 

"Yeah I made sure he's okay," said a man outside the door. "Not much physical damage other than minor traces of frostbite. It's nothing my plants can't handle." 

"If you say so doc. Anyways, I have to go take care of all the legal stuff. Shard made a bit of a mess on Grand St." said another man.

"I thought Luna was on patrol with him, wasn't she? Couldn't she stop him? And didn't we tell Tawny to follow them? She could have stepped in too."

"I guess not. I mean in the heat of the moment this wasn't the worst possible outcome that we could have had given the circumstances. Thank you for all that you do Sage. I'll be on my way now. Don't let the rascals get too ahead of themselves now. They're still just kids." One man walked away and his footsteps faded. The door opened and in stepped a man that Rei assumed must be Sage. Rei's eyes were focused on the man, trying to make something out of the information he had.

"Ah, so you're awake son. My name's Sage and I'm the medic of this orphanage," said Sage.

"Erm... Thanks," was all Rei could manage to say. He was just in shock. He was about to die and then two people showed up and there was ice and he was alive and it was cold and it was just all too much for him to take in.  He was still so confused.

"You must be confused," said Sage reading the atmosphere well. "It's okay to ask me any of the various questions you undoubtedly have on your mind and I'll try to answer them as best I can, but first, I'd like to know your name. I have to fill out a file for you." He was relatively kind for a stranger.

"Um. I'm Rei. R-E-I." He spelled it out and drew the letters in the air.

"And where are you from Rei?" Rei realized that he looked drastically different from everyone else. It was wicked cold outside and he had had on sandals and overalls with a thin shirt underneath.

"I'm from District 117." Sage's eyebrow's lifted up in attention.

"117? That's really far, Rei. How did you end up here in 58?"

"I came in a ship. The captain let me sail with him and dropped me off here." Rei was looking at the floor.

"Well Rei you must be hungry after coming this far. Not to mention cold since this probably isn't the weather you're used to. The Upper Neptune partial has some drastic changes from season to season. Is there some place you have to go Rei?"

"Well..." He hesitated. "It's complicated but yes. I need to go to central."

Sage's thick eyebrows furrowed at this sentence. "Is anyone with you? Parents? Relatives? Friends? Or are you alone."

Rei kept to himself. He didn't know how to respond without giving too much about himself away. He didn't exactly trust Sage since that was pretty difficult for him at this point. The only person he trusted was a liar and a cheater.

"How did you say you spell your name again? Was it R-E-I?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well," said Sage as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "Luna found this ring last night and your name is carved into it." He held out the ring for Rei to take which he grabbed eagerly. "It seems to be a Z rank gem. Tell me Rei, what do you know about magic?"

"I know a decent amount," he replied. "I was the best magic user in my family. I taught my older brothers too." He lied profusely. Rei knew next to nothing about magic except from the stories Uncle Ferdi told him but he wasn't about to let Sage know that. He had a reputation to create. "I got this stone when I was a lil' boy and been usin' it ever since. Do you have a stone, sir?"