Note Gray's parents are not Silver and Mika in this. They're completely different characters.

Nasha wasn't sure what it was Greige was trying to tell her. She read the last few pages of the final story in his book and even though she noticed the illustration that resembled Edolas she still didn't get the idea.

"Greige I'm reading the book and I still don't have a single clue to what it is you're trying to tell me."

"Well..." He said while hoping that she wouldn't react negatively to what he was about to tell her. "Okay keep in mind that this is just a theory and that I don't one hundred percent believe this."

"What? Spit it out shorty."

"I'm not that short!"

"You're short compared to me. Now cut to the point."

"Alright...You read in the last chapter that the princess of darkness cast a curse that banished all everyone in Fiore to another world. And you know how the characters in my book look like someone in this town? Well I theorize that Fiore is a real place and that every story in this book actually happened and that the characters are real people but when the princess cast her curse she brought them all here to Edolas. So everyone in this town is actually a character in my book."

Nasha became speechless for a moment because she wasn't sure that she had heard correctly. But eventually she realized she heard him clearly and that he wasn't joking.

"Are you serious?" She asked.

"Sort of." He said. "Like I said it's only a theory."

"A theory that doesn't make any sense. You're telling me that everyone in this town is a fairy tale character."

"Uh-huh."

"Including Elkis?"

"That's right."

"I'm sorry but wouldn't Elkis or anyone else here know that they came from another world or had another life."

"That's the thing, they don't remember who they are. The curse took away their memories and gave them false ones. At least that's what the book says."

"Greige it's just a story. It's not real."

"Then why does every character look exactly like someone in Edolas? And why is the illustration of where the characters were banished drawn in the town's exact image? Come on Nasha, you can't really think it's just a coincidence."

"Well the alternative sounds crazy."

"Maybe but that doesn't mean it can't be true."

"Greige I don't think it's healthy for you to keep reading this book. Have you ever considered selling it or something? It looks like an old book and the cover and the illustrations look vintage. You could get a lot of money for it."

"I could never sell this!" He slammed the book shut and held it to his chest. "It's the only connection I have to my mother."

"Another reason for why you should probably get rid of it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Greige I don't think you should cling to something that reminds you of the people who abandoned you."

"My mother did not abandon me."

"How do you know that? You were a baby the last time you saw her. You don't remember her. You don't know anything about her."

"I know in my heart that she didn't give me away. Not willingly at least. Something forced us to be apart."

"Oh grow up will you?!"

"Hey what's with all the yelling up here?" Elkis asked entering the room.

"Don't think it's time you stopped believing in that stupid hope that every orphan has?!" Nasha said ignoring Elkis. "That Mommy and Daddy didn't want to give you away but they had no choice? Well that's bull! The truth is your parents had a choice and they chose not to keep you because they didn't want you! They never loved you!"

"You're lying!" Greige shouted as his eyes filled with tears. "My mother loved me! I know she did! And I'm gonna find her! And prove you wrong!"

He then ran out of the room.

"Nasha how dare you say such horrible things to that little boy." Elkis scolded. 

"I only told him the truth." Nasha said.

"You don't know for a fact that what you said is the truth. You know nothing about his parents."

"If they had wanted him they would have kept him."

"It's not always that simple Nasha. They are parents who love their children and want to keep them but sometimes they have to part from them to give them their best chance in life.  And weather or not what you said was true you had no right to be so cruel."

"It's not my fault if that the truth hurts and the sooner he accepts the fact that they didn't want-"

"You don't know if they didn't want him or not. You're making assumptions based on nothing except how you feel and that's not the same as facts. You think you're so grown up but you have a great deal to learn."

Elkis then left the room and went to look for Greige. At first Nasha couldn't understand what she did wrong. She only told him the truth. He was ten years old, it was time to stop believing in fairy tales and accept the truth about reality. That his parents never really loved and didn't want anything to do with him. Yeah it was painful but it was a fact and learning it at a young age was for the best. That's what all her previous foster parents always told her. And that's when she realized her mistake.

For as long as she could remember she had been told the neither her father or her mother had any love for her and that always made her feel so pathetic. It made her feel like she was stupid or ugly or that there was something wrong with her that drove her parents to leave her on the side of that road. She remembered how it always drove her to tears and as she got older she wondered why anyone would say something so horrible? Why anyone would make a child feel so bad about themselves? And now here she was doing exactly what they did but she was worse than them because she knew from first hand experience how painful those words were. She should have known better.

Meanwhile Elkis had gone to look for Greige. He was a very fast little boy, he practically bolted out of there. She hoped that he hadn't of gone outside because she was sure that he would get himself into a whole mess of trouble and would probably hurt himself. When she couldn't find him in any of the other bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathrooms, or the living room she feared the worse and headed for the front door but then stopped when she heard a humming coming from the broom closet.

She opened the closet door and was relieved to see Greige inside. He was sitting in the floor, clutching his book like a security blanket, and humming a little tune to himself.

"Greige are you okay?" Elkis said.

"Go away!" He said turning away from her.

But Elkis didn't leave. Instead she grabbed a tissue from a nearby table and sat down next to him on the floor.

"I'm sorry but I can't go away." She said gently.

"Why?"

"Well for one thing your face is a complete mess."

Using the tissue, she wiped the tear stains from his eyes and cheeks and she wiped the dripples from his nose.

"There we go. That's better right?"

He didn't answer. He just hugged his book tighter.

"Greige I know what Nasha said was terrible but she didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Yes she did. She hates me."

"No it's me that she hates." Elkis joked. "She likes you. She probably wouldn't have said those things if she didn't."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would she not say that if she didn't like me?"

"Greige I don't Nasha said those things to hurt you. I think she said them because she believes that your parents did abandon you and she didn't want you to be too hurt or disappointed if what she believed was true."

"But it's not true! It's not! You don't believe my mom abandoned me do you?"

Elkis sighed.

"Honey I don't know anything about your parents but judging by the little message you showed me in your book I do believe that if your mother did give you away, she did it out of love. In other words she probably gave you up because she felt that you could have a better life with another family instead of her."

"Why would she feel like that?"

"You're probably too young to understand it but sometimes when parents have children even if they do love them and want to keep them they don't always have what it takes to take care of them or make them happy and when that happens sometimes the best thing the parent can do for their child is give them to someone who can provide the child what they can't. Nasha believes that when a biological parent gives away their child it's like they're throwing them away and sadly sometimes that is the case but not always. Other times it's a sacrifice. They're sacrificing their wish to keep their child so that child can have his or her best chance."

"And you think that's why my mom gave me up?"

"Until I see evidence that proves otherwise yes."

"But I don't want my best chance. I want my mom." 

"I know sweetie." Elkis said as she carefully hugged the boy to comfort him. "I know."

After calming him down she fixed him some dinner which he ate and later she tucked him into bed. She tried to get Nasha to eat something but she had lost her appetite for the whole night. The next day was a Saturday so the kids didn't have school. Elkis decided to think of something fun for them to do today to help the three of them bond and to get passed their little spat. The problem was she didn't know what to do.

Knock-knock! 

"Coming." Elkis went to answer the door. The person on the other side was Gren which meant there was trouble. "Detective Fullbuster what are you doing here? Something wrong?"

"I got a call last night about a few burglaries that took place in this neighborhood. You're a single woman and you've got kids so I just wanted to make sure no one was hurt."

"Oh...Well thank you for your concern but we're fine. Nothing happened last night. At least nothing illegal that is."

"Oh? Motherhood giving you trouble?"

"Sort of. Nasha and Gerige got into a little argument that ended badly and since it's a Saturday I thought the three of us could do something fun to make up for it. Unfortunately I don't know enough about them to know what would be fun for them."

"I see. If I may suggest Miss Scarlet why don't you just play a game with them or cook something with them or do a little craft or project. That's what my mother always did to cheer me up when I was a boy."

"Really?"

"Well we didn't have much at the time so we just did with what we could. When you get down to it, it doesn't really matter what you do for fun as long as you're doing it with the ones you love."

"Thanks for the advice but right now neither one of them have any love for me."

"Give it time. They'll come around. Every child needs a mother's love and for some it's the only joy they have in life." He said. "I have to go now. Glad to see that you all are alright. Have a good day."

Without another word he left the house.

...

Gray looked at the sun nervously. It was setting which meant that it would be dark soon and he had promised his mother that he wouldn't stay out after dark but he wasn't sure if he had gathered enough cotton plants. They were running low on money and in desperate need of product to sell. His mother was a spinner and weaver who made money buy spinning wool and cotton into cloth, yarn, and thread which they would then sell but due to the fact that the soil for their cotton plants had become to brittle to fertilize and that the high priced taxes had forced them to sell some of their finest sheep, they were dangerously close to not being able to feed themselves.

They only had two good sheep left and they only cotton plants they could find thriving were in the woods. So instead of playing and having fun like most children his age, Gray spent his days collecting cotton plants from the woods and tending to their remaining sheep. He had also learned how to spin and weave like his mother so she wouldn't have to exhaust herself so much with her work. Many peasants thought it was odd for a boy to learn textile work but Gray rather enjoyed it. He liked watching the wheel turn as he spun because it would make him forget how poor he was. 

"I guess this enough." He said looking at the basket off cotton plants in his hand. "I better get home."

He walked toward the pathway in the forest that led to the village unaware that he was being followed by a group of older boys. When he did notice them he right away knew who they were and what they wanted so he started to run but they were so much bigger than he was and faster so he couldn't outrun them. In the end they had him cornered.

"Well, well, look who it is boys." Said the leader of the group of bullies. "It's our favorite little runt."

 "Look I can't stay and talk Rufus." Gray said nervously. "I have to get back home. Mama is expecting me to be back before dark and I don't want her to worry."

"Mama is expecting me to be back before dark  and I don't want her to worry." He mocked. "Look at you acting all innocent. Like you couldn't even hurt a fly. Who do you think you're fooling you beast!"

"Stop calling me that Rufus. Why do you all say that about me?"

"Because my father says that you're the spawn of dark magic and that when you get older you're going to turn into a hideous beast and kill everyone."

"That's not true."

"It is true. You think we all don't remember what you did to that horse?"

"That was an accident. I didn't mean to turn it to stone I was only trying to fix it's leg."

"You're just lucky you're a little kid right now and head of the village has a policy against hurting kids but once you're grown up my father and whole the village is going to kill you."

"No they're not."

"Yes they are!"

"Hey maybe the real reason why they haven't killed him yet is because he doesn't actually look like a beast yet." Another older boy suggested.

"Only one way to find out isn't there?" Rufus said. 

They closed in on him, he tried to run but it was no use. They over powered him and needless to say it was dark when he came home. As expected his mother was sick with worry and ready to scold him.

"Gray thank goodness." She said when she saw him walking home from a distance. Gray couldn't help but smile a little when he saw her. He loved how the moonlight reflected off her dark hair and how her gentle eyes sparkled like all the stars in the night sky. There was no question to why she was considered the most beautiful woman in their village. "Where on earth were you? I've told you over and over again you cannot stay-"

But she trailed off and her stern demeanor became soft when she saw that her boy's face had dirt, grime, and mud smeared all over it along with a few scrapes and bruises. 

"Gray what happened? Who did this to you?"

"No one." He said. "I tripped."

"No don't you lie to me. You know how much I hate lies. Tell me the truth."

"It...It was the duke's son and his friends."

"Why would they do this to you?"

"They...They wanted to see if the village would kill me if I looked like a beast."

Horrified and hurt, she wiped his face with a handkerchief and brought him inside to clean him up.