The industrial interior with the rusty ceiling was a familiar sight for Magmae. She sat in silence at the lengthy iron table that was placed on the concrete ground, one of the few pieces of furniture in the living room of the Flamisle Home for the Challenged, while eating her stew.
"Is everything according to wish?" One of the two caregives approached Magmae. Without looking at the carer, Magmae responded with a faint nod. "How about you, Marsie?" The woman in the maid uniform took a glance at the stout middle-aged woman who was sitting opposite of Magmae, clumsily eating iron crabs from her plate with her hands. A giggle was heard from the overweight woman, her slanted eyes lighting up with happiness.
"Have you not heard the story?"
"About what?"
"Our great leader, Altezar. Have you not heard that rumor?"
"Which one?"
"Hey..." The nurse sighed as she turned towards the youngblood and a woman in the wheelchair at the other side of the table. The youngblood was hyperactively shaking her legs and occasionally waving her arms around. She watched in slight confusion at the two challenged Tephra who were talking about the latest rumours.
"You haven't heard, Flowla? About how Altezar allegedly eats Pyrhenes?" The hyperactive girl in the black dress asked the lady in the wheelchair.
"You mean... Eruption players? That's what Pyrhenes are, right?" Flowla responded in her slurred speech, followed by a yawn.
"Yes. And he eats them. Just like that! Nom nom. For strength, they say!" The hyperactive gal raised her voice followed by laughter while making a couple of exaggerated gestures in front of her roommate. "But only if no one loves them. So worry not, he won't eat you if you were a Pyrhene. Because he'd have to face off against me!"
"Hey, knock it off." The aforementioned nurse stepped in, placing her hands against her sides as she stood next to the two roommates at the end of the table, looking down at the the hyperactive one with a disapproving look. "You're scaring the others, Flamy. Not okay!"
"Sure, nurse Lafaye." Flamy shrugged as she continued talking animatedly to her roommate Flowla, whose eyes betrayed disinterest in the hyperactive girl's ramblings.
"You alright, Magmae?" Another nurse made her way to the adult Pyrhene who had stopped eating her stew, looking at the warm mixture with wide and terrified eyes, her mouth slightly open. Magmae shook her head. "If it makes you more comfortable, you can go now..."
Magmae made a nonverbal noise in response. She stood up and left the table with her stew in hand, making her way to the two sofas.
"Hey Andra, how's that daughter of yours doing?" Nurse Lafaye made her way to the brown-haired lady in the maid costume.
"Well, I haven't seen her in quite a while. She refuses all contact with me. Makes me wonder whether I'm at fault for making her feel estranged and prompting her to leave me." Nurse Andra crossed her arms with a sigh, a sad look in her eyes. "All I know is that she may be quitting the Eruption competition soon. Maybe I'll see her more after that. I can't express how much I lament not being able to see her much since our falling-out."
"It saddens me to hear that." Nurse Lafaye replied.
"I think I'll join Magmae at the couch. See if she wants to play some games. We got two new boards. I remember her liking the last one." Nurse Andra turned around and made her way to the two sofas, where Magmae was looking down at the dirty floor, sensing the vibrations of the magma flows beneath the ground.