Calm and Calamity

Chapter 27

"No, come on," cooed Corinna, attempting to exit the caravan whilst seven imps were latched onto her legs and pulling at her sleeves. "If I don't leave, then I'll never be able to come back."

The trick seemed to fool the imps, and they settled down but continued to clutch onto her.

Corinna crouched down to their level and smiled at all of them. "I promise that I'll visit again, and we can play more games."

Cheering, the imps jumped up and down, causing the caravan to shake and rattle slightly.

"Okay, okay!" Corinna calmed them down as she laughed. "Now, let's take Reggie back-"
She froze, her voice trailing away.

Before her, one of the imps' horns began to shrink back into its head, its fangs shortening, its skin fading from the hellish red to a cool umbre. Something clattered onto the floor- an imp mask. Standing in front of Corinna, was a human boy no older than six, his black afro hair speckled with dust, leaves, and moss. The boy grinned up at her, one of his front teeth missing.

One by one, the other imps' masks fell off until seven children stood in the caravan in all shapes and sizes, the oldest appearing to be thirteen and the youngest five years old.

Corinna was silent as she gazed down at their beaming faces.

Children... they were children.

She cupped her hands over her mouth and swallowed as her eyes began to water.

How could she have not noticed? She treated them like kids due to how they behaved, so why was it still such a shock to find out that they were actually children?

Her hands trembled, horrified as she remembered back to her first day in the Eternal Abyss when she had first fought them. If they hadn't been in the Abyss, she would have killed a couple of them. She would have killed a child.

What were children even doing in the Eternal Abyss?

What could have a child done to deserve being imprisoned in this place?

Sniffing away the tears, Corinna attempted to compose herself and put on a brave face as the imps, or rather the children, were beginning to worry. They gave Corinna comforting hugs and spoke words of reasurement in their incomprehensible language.

Corinna glanced around at the caravan, realising how small and cramped the place was for seven children. Most of their belongings were stored outside as some of the shelves were occupied with blankets and pillows, presumably converted into beds.

She knew that she couldn't atone fully for hurting a child, but there was something Corinna could do to help them.

*

"I want to build a house for the imps!" Corinna addressed the gathering of people in Ivette's trading post. "No! I will build a house for the imps!"

"Knew it was going to be long until she started making houses," Harmony whispered aside to Calixte.

"As did I," Calixte replied. "Though, I predicted that she would start with an extension to the house rather than a whole building."
"The caravan they're living in is too small for all seven of them," continued Corinna. "So, I'm going to build a new place with enough space."

"I think that is a splendid idea!" chimed Calixte.

"Do you need help building it?" asked Rin. "Is that why you're telling us?"

"No, no, it's alright," said Corinna. "I'm just... announcing it, so you all know." She turned to Ivette. "I will be finishing my current project before moving onto this one."