Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Keeping the series of Anna fanfics that suddenly burst in my mind, this one is the sequence for The end of the innocence - a soul wounded forever. It has more or less the same "heavy" tones of the previous story, since it focus in a time of her life where she had lived amongst the dredges of the society.

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The girl received the news coldly. "You are almost fully recovered. You will leave the hospital today." In fact, she wanted the opposite. In the previous weeks, the hospital has been a shell where she could hide from the terrifying reality. She took the last shower in the room which has been her home all those weeks. The shower was a long one and she used the last minutes she has got inside her protective shell to think about her situation. "And now I have nothing. I have no one to lean on. Was it worthy to survive?"

The girl got dressed and left her room. She instinctively stopped for a moment at the doorstep, hesitating. Then, she finally left her shelter. As she walked through the corridor, seeing people passing by, she felt as if she had just started living. Though they were just nurses talking, entering and existing rooms, assistants carrying instruments, it all seemed full of life. She still walked with some difficulty, but her thoughts were not on her physical condition. As she walked to the hospital administration, she started remembering how living feels like.

"Ms. Zirski, would you please sign these papers?"
Still not accustomed to be talked to, Anna answered startled.
"Which papers? Ah, these... excuse, me, how I am supposed to sign? I don't have an official signature yet..."
"Oh, just the way you want. I just need these papers signed because someone has to sign it in order to allow you leave the hospital. As there is no one responsible for you, you must sign them yourself."

That came as a shock of reality. She knew that, but it was still strange to hear that from other people's mouths. "I'm still a girl and there is no one responsible for me... I used to desire this freedom so much, Lord must be punishing me. Everything I wanted know were my parents with me..."

Anna signed the papers, bid farewell to the clerk and let the hospital. The sunlight stunned her a bit. It was the first time in weeks that she went outdoors. To feel the warmth of the sun in her skin, to hear the street noises, to see people passing by, she felt as she had just been born.

"Ms. Anna Zirski?"

Anna is taken by surprise. She quickly turns to where the voice has come. She meets a tall youngster, with short blond hair, wearing dark sunglasses and with a shy smile in his mouth.

"It is me."
"Hi, Anna, I'm agent Steiner. Would you please come with me?"
"What for?". Anna eyes him suspiciously.
"Excuse-me, I forgot to introduce myself properly. I'm a junior assistant from the City Hall. Your presence was requested there, to attend some business, but what business I just can't tell, since I was not informed."
"Well, that must be because I'm responsible for myself now. Well, let's get going..."
"Alright! Put on this helmet, we are going on my scooter."

Anna followed the man. She was a bit unsure whether she was doing the right thing. She was going away with the first man who presented himself to her. She has never been on a scooter before. She had to hug the agent's waist and she felt a bit shy about that. Agent Steiner started a conversation.

"Were you sick?"
Taken by surprise, Anna joined the conversation, expecting that it could ease her tension.
"Oh, no! Yes! Err... more or less..."
"What happened?"
"I've got hurt, but I'm fine now."
"How?"

Anna remained silent for a moment. "Who is this stranger? Why does he keep asking me such questions?" After a small pause, she decided to answer the guy. "I'll have to face these questions over and over, so it is better to face the truth".

"My house was attacked by scoundrels. I managed to escape, but the rest of my family didn't..."
She paused. Thinking about those tragic events would never be an easy thing to do, but they were still too fresh on her mind. She had to fight back the tears as she didn't want to cry anymore.
"Oh, sorry, I couldn't imagine..."
"No problems, I didn't think you would..."

The rest of the trip was done in silence. Agent Steiner dropped Anna at the parking lot of the City Hall and left to attend another business. Anna was on her own again. Not that the agent helped too much, but the feeling of being alone overwhelmed her.

In the City Hall, Anna introduced herself, waited almost an hour, which made her feel tense. Then, she was taken to a room. There was a public attorney inside. He explained the situation to her.

"As you were orphaned, you must be taken to an orphanage till you reach the age of 18. People in your situation are sent to a suitable public orphanage. But, as you are the only heir of your parents' state, you can afford a private one. Your dad's estate was sold to pay the inheritance taxes and the costs of their funeral. The rest of the money is yours, but the law forbids you to withdrawing the money, as you are underage. The money will rest in a bank. The state, as your temporary suitor, can give you a permission to use the money in the bank to pay for a private orphanage of your choice. So I ask you if you will take the private offer or if you prefer to go to a public one."

She had a difficult decision to do. Her inheritance was a good sum, but a private orphanage would cost a considerable part of her money. She also had heard a lot about some public orphanages, where children were treated very bad. This happened at lot among the poorer communities and, as she would be put into a random orphanage and the outskirts of her city were infested by scoundrels and other dredges of the society, it all depended on luck. She was at risky of being sent to one of the worst orphanages and there would not be anyone who would bother trying to transfer her to a better orphanage. Though she couldn't choose the private orphanage, they were generally better. So she decided to take the safest alternative.

"I'd rather go to a private one."
"So be it."