The Romani of Night Raven

~Chapter 4-3: Treasure of Freedom~

"Whoa~... Everywhere you look has a golden shine to it... It's very different from Ramshackle Dorm." Grim says as he looks around the hallway they were currently walking through. Ezera himself couldn't help but be in awe of the extravagance.

"Is it that surprising? My dad did give a small donation to remodel the dorm when I got accepted but..." Kalim comments. Wait, what?

"Just how rich are you!? Are you some kind of prince like Leona!?" The fire feline exclaims and asks.

"The Asim family isn't royalty, so technically I'm not a prince, but there are some of my family who're related to the royal family." The albino boy explains.

"Asim...? Wait, isn't your name Al-Asim though?" Grim inquires.

"'Al' is an old word from the Land of Hot Sands which means 'son'. Family names are passed down by one's ancestors so... They say all boys born into the family will be called 'son of'... My ancestor was 'Asim' and since I'm a boy, I get 'Al' and... Since my name is Kalim Al-Asim, it means 'Kalim, son of the Asim family'..." The white haired boy explains.

"Woah... I've never even thought about the origins behind names before." The fire-breathing cat admits.

"It's hard when you're not familiar with it? You can just call me Kalim!" The boy says then turns to Ezera. "Does your name mean anything? I've never heard the name Ezera before. I guess that's partly why I'm able to remember it, because it's so unique." He asks and says, which got the Roma thinking.

"When I asked, my parents told me my name, 'Ezera', means 'help' or 'helper'." He recounts. "Though, my mother once told me that an ancestor of hers was known as 'La Esmeralda', which means, 'emerald'." He decides to add.

"Really? Wow... What a pretty name." Kalim says, intrigued. "Why didn't you go visit them though?" He then asks and the blue eyed boy looks down, saddened.

"They're gone. They got sick when I was young, didn't make it. The same illness took over half of the tribe. I've been alone ever since. Actually, to me, Grim is the closet to having family again." The Roma boy explains and admits, then picks up the said feline, holding him close.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." The albino boy apologizes, feeling bad.

"It's okay. You didn't know." Ezera tells him. "Though, hearing you talk about your homeland, makes me realize there are students here from all over the world. And I don't feel so out of place..." The blue eyed boy then admits.

"In that case, you should come visit me in the Land of Hot Sands sometime! We'll take good care of you." The albino boy suggests.

"I bet your house is as big as a castle." Grim guesses.

"Not really. We only have about 100 servants." The dorm leader says dismissively.

"Seriously!?" Ezera says, surprised.

"100 is way more than enough! I've just got Ezera here." Grim himself says.

"It's mostly because I've got more than thirty younger siblings. There's no way we could take care of them all without that many servants." Kalim adds.

"Th-thirty!?" The feline exclaims, the Romani being just as shocked.

"Uuhhh, it might be forty. Honestly, I stopped counting once it got to over thirty. I've got all their names and faces down though! Ah-ha-ha!" The young heir adds while laughing.

"That's in a whole other league from us normal people..." Grim comments, Ezera having to agree with him.

"Jamil's mother and father are also part of the staff. So Jamil has been with me since we were both little. Jamil is amazing. He's smart, observant and more than that, a great cook!" The Scarabia dorm leader goes on.