Bad Dream

After some finagling, Yang stepped through Raven’s portal into a dimly lit room. Summer and Taiyang looked exhausted, but Summer came over and wrapped her arms around Yang. “I’ve missed you so much.” Summer’s voice cracked and Yang felt moisture mist over her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Summer, taking every bit of self-control she had to not break down crying. “Hey Mom.” Her voice was hushed as Summer held her close. She had missed both of them so much. She looked over at her father who got up and also hugged her. Verana, she had missed them. She hated this entire situation, but she could at least see them again. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay too long today, but I wrote you a letter.” She took it out of her dress pocket and offered it to Summer. “Oh, okay. Well, don’t be afraid to turn to us if you need something, okay, honey?” Summer looked up at her and Yang nodded. She’d turn to Raven first and foremost due to the time difference. But if she really needed something, she’d come home. She was so glad she could see her parents again. She had thought she’d never see them again. She had thought she’d never see them again. And Kali supported her. It was so weird to think the queen of Chiole would allow her such freedom. Yang left the room and made her way to the servent’s quarters. She knocked on each door and talked to each of them in turn. Emi agreed to come though the other two—sisters—couldn’t leave their family behind. She was disappointed, but she understood. Her point wasn’t to separate families; she just wanted some familiar face. Yang let Emi pack her things and then they returned to her parents’ room where Taiyang and Raven spoke quietly. Once Yang entered with Emi, though, they parted ways with Taiyang giving her a hug. He still loved her—clearly—even though she didn’t reciprocate. Yang could imagine that now unfortunately. She might be trapped in a loveless marriage for the rest of her life. So far, things had bene pretty okay with Blake, but it wasn’t necessarily a sign of long-term happiness. She hoped it was, though. Yang hugged Summer and Taiyang again and returned to Chiole. They were still in Kali’s room. “Oh, good evening, dears. I’ll have Petunia get you settled for the night. How does that sound?” Yang looked at Emi who gave a nervous nod. She did feel bad for Emi, but she had told her what she was getting into. It sucked, but there was nothing she could really do about it. Chiole’s culture had been born of generational scars and hurts. Slavery was abhorrent but what could be done to stop it? Yang was only one girl. She couldn’t stop a practice that had been going on for millennia. With all of that done, Yang went back to her room with Raven in tow, then flopped down on the mattress. “What a mess.” She hated all of this. It was terrible. She didn't understand now the king could throw her under like this. It was the absolute worst thing that could’ve happened to her. She wouldn’t complain about time spent with Raven, but it shouldn’t have been under thesesorts of circumstances. Raven settled next to Yang and pulled her head into her lap. “I know things didn’t work out between me and your father, but don’t let that cloud what could be. Look at your father and Summer. Unlike me, you have people that are supportive of you. Kali is a high-Grade advanced aura user. You couldn’t ask for a better support system.” Raven began to thread her fingers through Yang’s hair which elicited another sigh from her. “I was still ripped away from my family without consent.” That was one of the biggest things to her. No, she wouldn’t have inherited the Rose family’s title or anything, but her life had been laid out. She had known what she wanted to do. Her life was set. Would there have been unforeseen issues and such? Sure, would she possibly have found someone? Maybe. She didn’t want this. It was so absolutely unfair to force this marriage onto her. It had upset Ruby so badly… “Yeah. That isn’t fun. It doesn’t that my father was the one to sell me off.” Raven sighed and Yang looked up at her. Raven had never told her thatbefore. Summer and Taiyang had fought tooth and nail to keep her and it seemed like Kali had fought this too. How had Raven’s father sold her off in good conscience? Raven nodded. “Yeah. He was the one that negotiated my marriage. He had always been abusive toward me, but I couldn’t believe he’d do thatto me. Thankfully, Unu had had him meet justice by time I got back.” Yang looked down. Could she really complain about her own marriage after all the hell Raven had been through? She at least had an in-law family that seemed welcoming and supportive. What Summer had said about the letter seemed to be true. “After that, I feel like I shouldn’t complain.” Kali seemed legitimately kind. She hadn’t had many dealing with advanced aura users outside of Raven, but even so. It was night and day. Blake had told her to find someone else if they didn’t work out. Kali would let her go home whenever she wanted and she wasn’t objecting to Raven staying with her. This could all be some crazy ruse, but from what she knew of advanced aura users, deep, ulterior motives weren’t common or even in their nature. Plus Blake was the same. “You have every right to complain. You got the rug pulled from under you in a horrible way. You were forced to live in a place you’ll be treated poorly. You cancomplain. In fact, I’d recommend it. Let your emotions. Talk about them. I’m here to back you up as needed.” Raven smiled at her and Yang managed a fragile one in return. She wasn’t sure what to do. She was incredibly tired. “Let’s go to bed, my fledgeling.” With that, they got ready and turned out the magic light.

♠

Yang felt shifting and her eyes opened. She could see Raven’s figure in the still-dark room. She sat looked up at and looked at her. “Raven?” What was the woman doing? She had no idea. She simply didn’t want to be alone. “Go back to sleep, Yang. It’ll be fine.” Yang shook her head. She was having a hard time sleeping due to how alone she felt. She likely wouldn’t go back to sleep without Raven there. She had no idea what time it was either. It could be midnight or just before dawn for all she knew. Raven put a hand on Yang’s head. She felt a sharp blast of aura and everything went black again.

♠

When Yang came to again, the first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. She rolled over and looked around. Raven still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She wasn’t really sure what to do with herself, though… Breakfast probably wouldn’t be for a few more hours so she would have to fill the morning herself somehow. She got dressed and sat at the desk. Hm. She had gotten everything out in the letter to her parents so that wouldn’t do… Oh right. She could unpack. With that decided, she started to move stuff from her trunks to around the room. She saw no reason she couldn’t. This was her room, after all, so she might as well get comfortable, though the walls… She had brought some affects from home to hang. She wasn’t sure how Kali would take to her putting nails in the walls to hang her pictures and such… Time slipped and a knock came on the door. Petunia stood there with Emi. “Her Majesty has requested your presence for breakfast.” Petunia bowed and Emi hastily copied the motion. That was going to take a while… Yang could vaguely remember bowing in central Mistral, but it wasn’t a greeting in Vale. They made their way down to the small outside courtyard where the Belladonnas sat as did Raven. The two women spoke to each other in a shockingly familiar way. Had they met before? No, she didn’t think they had. What was going on here? “Good morning, Yang.” Kali smiled at her as she sat down at the table across from Blake. Blake’s ears twitched slightly but she said nothing. “Good morning, Mrs. Belladonna.” She shifted a bit uncomfortably. She didn’t know what was going on between Kali and Raven and it sat her on edge. She still wasn’t sure why Raven had left in the middle of the night and forced her back to sleep. Raven wasn’t really one to do that to her knowledge. It was so hard to know what to say right now. She felt a little bit betrayed if anything. “Sorry about that, Yang. Kali wanted to talk to me.” Raven rubbed the back of her neck and Yang folded her arms. “You could’ve just told me.” She didn’t understand why Raven hadn’t simply said something. It wasn’t like it was some clandestine meeting from the sound of it. Seriously, it would’ve been fine. She didn’t need a crazy, in-depth explanation for why Raven was leaving. She already had abandonment issues due to Raven having left when she was such a young child. She didn’t need those issues exacerbated by Raven randomly leaving during the night when she needed her. Raven sat next to Yang and pulled her into her arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it’d cause you so much distress.” Yang closed her eyes and leaned into Raven dragging her fingers through her hair. She normally didn’t like people touching her hair, but she could make exceptions for people she trusted. And she had been starved of affection for three months. She hated all of this so much. It was terrible. But she had no choice. Was her own happiness worth the lives of the Chilese people? “Just don’t do it again, okay?” Yang’s voice was low. SHe really didn’t want to be alone right now. It was so isolating. She couldn’t even rely on Emi for company since she had to learn how things operated in the household as well as learn the Chilese language. Yang would have to get started on that today too. She was sick and tired of people thinking she was looking down on them due to not speaking their language. It would just take time for her to learn even with the promise of Celaecyal’s blessing. “Sorry.” Raven kissed Yang’s head and Yang sat up, only to be face to face with Blake. Now things were even more awkward. She still wasn’t really sure how to approach Blake. It seemed like the same was true of her fiance. Neither really knew how to talk to the other. The tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife. “By the way, Yang, call me Kali.” She looked over at the woman whose smile never seemed to run out. How someone had so much kindness and patience, she wasn’t sure. Was it a virtue of being an advanced aura user? Was it her natural personality? Both? Neither of the above? She didn’t know. She could read people but Kali was basically an unbreachable fortress. The woman was so guarded despite her kindness. “Are you sure? You are the queen.” Vale’s queen would’ve flipped if somebody didn’t pay her proper due. King Ivan and his wife were all about courtly propriety. Which was yet another reason for Yang to stay as far away from court as she possibly could. She had no place in the Valian court. She had no title or anything. It was going to take her time to understand the Chilese court. She wanted to give people the proper due. “You’ll be family soon enough. There’s no need for such formalities between us. I’m not going to throw you in prison for calling your future mother-in-law by name.” Kali continued to smile. “We’re not the same type King Ivan is. We won’t punish minor transgressions and honest mistakes. I wantyou to come to me if you have an issue. Okay.” Once again, the smile never left Kali’s face. It was almost kinda creepy. She seemed so unnaturally warm and kind. She wanted to suspect ulterior motives, but she couldn’t sense any. “Okay.” She had seen Kali get angry at the sailors, but ot her than that, she hadn’t seen the woman feel anything else. She did seem legitimately kind, but she didn’t know how someone could be so smiley all the time. She looked at Raven and spoke to her in Branwae. “Is this normal for advanced aura users? Being so smiley and warm all the time?”Raven sure didn’t act like that. She still had fluctuations in her emotions that Yang could see. “It definitely can be yes. My mother is a lot like her. She rarely strays from being warm and kind. Hell, her Semblance is to create a calm atmosphere. Most people aren’t this extreme though.”Yang nodded a bit as she thought back. Yeah, Dove had been a lot like Kali.S he had only been about nine at the time, so she hadn’t thought much about how Dove acted. She really hadn’t veered from the warmth and kindness like how Kali was. So there was nothing to suspect. It was then that Blake broke the tension. “So, what are your plans for today, Yang?” Yang looked over at her fiance. That…was a good question. She was used to having her days spent at her chapel in acolyte training. She was so used ot those days and still hadn’t really settled in Chiole let. All she knew were her language lessons. “Not really sure honestly. I still have things to move around my room.” She glanced at Kali. “Is it okay for me to hang things in my room?” She didn’t want to do anything that might get them upset at her. But she did have things she wanted to hang. Summer had oragnised to have some family photos taken, so she wanted those on her walls. Plus, she had some religious affects to hang too… They were basically required for anyone in service to Verana. “Go ahead.” Kali took a sip of her tea. “It’s wood. It isn’t going to hurt anything. Plus, it’s yourroom. You can do what you want to with it.” Yang nodded a bit. Reassurances or no, she was still afraid to do something that might risk Kali’s ire. The last thing she needed was the woman angry at her. She was far too used to King Ivan and his wife. They ruled by fear and she definitely feared them. “Well, would you like to join me for tea again today?” She could see the discomfort in Blake’s body language. They still had a very long way to go before they got used to each other. They were making a good effort though… But seeing as she didn’t have anything else to do… “Yeah.” There was really nothing for her to do here in Chiole yet. She could at least spend the day getting her room in order and attending a few language lessons, but her day was clear other than that. The chaplain had said she could attend choir services but that was only two nights a week. She really didn’t know what to do with her time. The people didn’t appreciate her to the point she needed guards. She really felt like a prisoner here. Blake’s ears did twitch and she pursed her lips together. She clearly wanted to say something but she passed on it. Yang sighed. “Lay it on me, Blake. If we’re going to make this work, we need to talk to each other.” Yeah, no point in pussyfooting around. If Blake wanted to say something, she might as well do it. She didn’t want Blake to feel like she couldn’t speak up. They were trying to make this work, right? Blake’s ears flattened and she glanced away. “Well, if you want the people to like you, staying holed up here will give off the impression of not caring. Maybe if you spend your days in the city doing charity work and such, people will start to warm up to you.” Yang sighed. That was a good point, but on the other hand… “I’m human, Blake. People will find anyfault with what I do. It’s going to be lose-lose no matter what I do.” She clearly wasn’t welcome in Chiole. People would find some sort of fault with what she did even if she had the best of intents at heart. She did want the people to like her. She really did. But in cases like this, she knew how people thought. Vale’s nobility tended to find fault no matter what she did. She was too foreign. She wasn’t Valian enough. She spoke too much. She spoke too little. She attended too many events. She didn’t attend enough. She couldn’t please anybody no matter what she did. Blake extended her hand over the table to Yang. “How about we go together then?” She looked at her parents. “Could I skip lessons for a while?” Kali nodded. Yang hesitated before putting her hand in Blake’s. She wanted to suspect ulterior motives, but everyone kept denying them. This was so hard… “Okay.” Yang felt bad for relying on the Belladonnas for everything, but she couldn’t get around it. She was a stranger here, a foreigner. She wasn’t sure if the people would ever truly accept her. All she knew was she hated feeling so trapped. At least she wasn’t being shunted off to the side and ignored. She could have landed in a worst-case scenario but she hadn’t. Kali and Blake were warm, accepting people that were doing their best to make her feel loved and welcome. Blake smiled and squeezed Yang’s hand. Their meal arrived and they started to eat. “So where are we going to go?” That…seemed like a reasonable question from Yang’s point of view. Blake would know where was best to go. She would probably know the city pretty well and where people would flock to. She wasn’t sure if they’d be in the main city or the Valian enclave. Blake tapped her chin. “Well, let me think about about. I have some places I frequent, but I don’t know if they’d be good for you or not. They’re in the main city. Let me weigh the pros and cons and we’ll meet up about forty-five minutes after we finish eating. Sound good?” Yang nodded. She had no reason to really object. It’d give her a bit more time to get her room in order, but that wasn’t a lot of time… Kali and Ghira started talking to each other quietly and Blake fell silent as well. She was clearly deep in thought. Which Yang couldn’t blame for her. That made the rest of breakfast a quiet affair. Everyone headed back to her room with Raven in tow. Nothing to do but wait for now.