Count On Me (Don't Tear Me Down)

Sun and Weiss arrived at Sienna and Yang’s room where Sun knocked on the door. There was no answer for several minutes and they looked at each other, only to see Sienna, Johathan, and Yang walking up. Sun’s tail curled. “Hey, you guys!” He grinned at them. He wondered what was going on with them and why they were out, but that was probably none of his concern in the end. Yang looked absolutelyflabbergastedby something. What was going on with all of that? Yang blinked and moved behind Johnathan a bit. Sun rubbed the back of his neck. Right… She was stillincrediblyuneasy around him. They barely knew each other which… Yeah. He was just a bit too friendly for his own good in the end. He didn’t want to see anybody get hurt orbehurt. He knew what it was like to be hurt by others that weresupposedto love him but only treated him like a puppet and something to push into submission. Hehatedhis parents and wished he could leave, but he knew they’d only track him down with ruthless precision and make his life a living hell afterward. “What’s going on?” Sienna asked. “Oh, we were just coming to check on you,” Sun said. “But it seems like you were out and about. What was up with that?” He tried to keep his tone casual, hoping to not spook them too much by seeming too nosy. Hereallyjust wanted to befriend them. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Sienna held what his father had done to her people against him. He personally would haveneverdone that toanybody,but his father was incredibly ruthless… He knew that all too well. “Oh, I was just showing Yang that women can fight.” Sienna looked and sounded pleased with herself. Yang grinned and looked at Yang. “Oh yeah, women can be complete and absolutebadasses.I’ve had my ass handed to me byplentyof women.” He laughed. “Then again, I’m not super into the whole martial thing personally.” Yang blinked. “You…You aren’t…?” “How about we go into your room then talk?” Yang nodded and Johnathan led them into Yang’s room. They all found a place to sit, Sienna and Yang on the bed, Weiss in the big, comfy chair, Sun on the couch, and Johnathan on the floor. “What do you mean you aren’t into the martial thing…? It’s basicallyrequiredfor men in Efrana to learn to fight…” Yang’s eyes were wide and she looked at him owlishly. She couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around the fact that Noci was pretty much a different culture… Sun nodded, his tail curling again. “Yeah, I’m not somebody that’s too interested in the martial prowess thing… I mean Icanfight, but I’m not someone that’ssuperinto learning about it. Sienna and Johnathan could probably hand me my ass on a silver platter.” He chuckled as he looked at the two. Sienna was definitely amused, judging by the smile on her face and the way her ears twitched. “I’m actually pretty on the low end of what Noci considers ‘acceptable’ for martial prowess.” “Why?” Yang asked. “Well, Noci worships Yurha, the Eternal Warrior as our only god. The more martial you are, the more religious you’re seen as because you’re a lot closer to Yuhra. When you aren’t dedicated to being martial, you’re seen as weak and not very pious.” He shrugged. “I was raised in it, but I still see it as kinda weird personally.” He just didn’t really see how martial prowess tied into religiosity. Then again, he had also just…never been particularly devoted to Yuhra either. He rarely attended the usual Tuesday gatherings and usually just skipped out to go read or something. “You have only one god?” Yang asked. “Yeah. As far as I know, mermaids also have one god as well, though I don’t know about it in depth.” Sun looked over at Weiss. “Care to elaborate?” “Oh, sure!” Weiss smiled and clapped her hands together. “We worship The One, though there are many different facets to them. However, I’ve heard that different settlements interpret The One differently. But we have our beliefs in Astana. I’m…not particularly reverent, though.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “It is seen as somewhat blasphemous for someone of my standing, but I haven’t gone into apostasy or anything… I go through the motions of holidays and such. I don’t want to be completely ostracised.” “What are the different facets of The One?” Sienna asked. “I’ve never met a mermaid before you, so I’m interested to hear.” “Well, there’s Alathis who represents mystery, Rithale who represents the cycles of the sea, Tassul the nurturer, and Olivian the bringer of storms. Each one has their own unique ideas behind them, but they’realljust The One. A lot of mermaids find it a lot easier to approach these different aspects of The One instead of trying to approach The One in total… The One is like the ocean—dark, deep, mysterious, dangerous, and unknowable.” Sienna tilted her head. “Interesting… We have a… I’m not sure what the word would be, but multiple gods. Kumatara the Eternal Flow, Verena the Shape of Balance, Tharuni the Warden of Shadows, Khora the Heart of Strength, Liyana the Healer of Souls, Azhir the Seeker of Truth, Na’ari the Keeper of Dreams, Xairos the Weaver of Fate, Malak the Judge of Souls, and Lira the Song of Life.” Weiss blinked. “I didn’t know people could have multiple gods…” She looked at Sun. “Yuhra is the only god the Noci people have.” Sun nodded. “Yeah. I wasn’t aware there could be multiple gods either.” How interesting. He wasn’t stupid by any means, but he definitelyhad notbeen educated in a way that allowed him to learn about other cultures. It was all about Noci. That was it. His parents didn’t care about any other country than Noci. In this case, he could kind of understand. He was their only remaining child, so it wasn’t like he was liable to travel to another country in order to be betrothed… Honestly, he was even surprised he’d been betrothedat all.He was still young enough that he could find a young lady to fall in love with. If it weren’t for the entire mermaid thing, he could almost see himself living with Weiss…but he needed to continue his bloodline, so he was lucky he hadn’t fallen for his best friend. “Efrana has multiple gods too… Yodehado the King of Gods, Luthra who is the goddess of Love and Beauty, Vorran who is god of War and Valor, Aerys the goddess of Nature and Growth, Mavla the god of Knowledge and Discovery, Zyra the goddess of Fate and Time, Rhanos the gods of Death and Afterlife, Sylvara the goddess of Healing and Protection, Karnok the god of Trade and Prosperity, and Jurnak the god of the Underworld, Shadows, and Secrets…” Yang explained. Sun curled his tail again. “Huh. I’m surprised there are multiple gods in your pantheon.” “I’m surprised there’s only one in yours,” Yang said. There was no malice or frustration there, just an observation. “Yeah, fair. I’ve never interacted with anybody from outside of Noci before… Well, not unless you count Weiss.” He looked at her, but she didn’t seem too upset by the comment. She looked at him and shrugged. Well, that definitely confirmed what he’d been thinking… Shecouldread his soul, after all, even if it was incredibly frustrating to not be able to have his mind as his sanctuary. It was really the only place aside from the beach that he’d had as a place to retreat from his parents. His mind was his only bastion, yet Weiss could see right through it… But he knew she wouldn’t use the ability poorly and he trusted her. “And I’m monotheistic as well,” Weiss said with a shrug. “So neither of us ever thought of anything but monotheism as the standard…” “I knew that Noci was monotheistic because I’ve spent so much time here, but I never really spent time to learn about Yuhra,” Sienna said. “I just…never thought it would be necessary.” She sighed, her ears drooping. Sun’s heart went out to her; it really did. She was trapped in an awful situation. He didn’t know how he could get her out of it. He really just wanted to set her free. She didn’t want to be here and didn’t deserve to be treated like a slave, but it wasn’t that easy. His father could andwouldtrack her down if he knew she had escaped. They were making the best of a bad situation. At least she would be treated kindly by everyone around her as long as it wasn’t the duke or the dutchess. But he avoided them as much as he possibly could anyway and he hoped Yang would do the same thing… He really just wished he could set YangandSienna free to live their lives. It wasn’t fair to either of them to be treated as slaves… Yang was supposed to just be a vessel for him to have children, but he didn’t want thatat all. “Do you know if your gods are real or not?” Sun asked Sienna. “I’ve heard of people not believing in Yuhra before. It’s rare, but it does happen. Granted, that’s not really accepted. It’s one thing if you’re not devout; it’s another to not believeentirely.I’m simply not devout. The people that don’t believe are generally ostracised and excommunicated from the community. It’s…really not good, but with how my parents are, I’m not entirely surprised that people that don’t believe are treated poorly.” He hated it, but it wasn’t like he was a prince that could reshape Noci. And even if he could reshape laws, reshapingculturewasn’t something that could be done under one ruler in a single generation. He was so frustrated with the state of Noci and wished he could justleave,but he was trapped here just as much as Yang and Sienna were. A slave in his own way. Sienna nodded. “Theydefinitelyare. I was supposed to be a sub-chieftain of the Amiira people, but I was high in the Grades of advanced aura. I was no priestess, but anybody could approach Kumatara or any of the other deities. There was nothing stopping anybody from doing that. We were all equally able to speak to the gods and ask them for whatever we needed, or to send them offerings.” Yang tilted her head. “That’s so strange… We only have priests that can speak to Yalehdo and the other gods… Rarely,veryrarely, a woman may be called to be a priestess, but shemustbe celibate if she is called.” Sienna frowned. “That sounds so weird to me… I don’t understand why your kingdom is so stratified. I mean, it’s not like Nociisn’tstratified in its own ways, but to add sex into the mix? We don’t even expect people to identify as how they were born! We have men take up women’s roles and women take up men’s roles; men can become women, and women can become men. Then there are people who are neither or somewhere inbetween.” She shrugged. “I don’t understand how anybody can be seen as inferior like that.” Yang’s eyes widened. “What…? What are you talking about? Men can’t become women and vice versa!” Sienna shook her head. “Not in the Amiira tribe… If you don’t feel like a man, you can become a woman. Or neither. Honestly, it’s usually people that were neither gender that were often the strongest spiritually… They often had the closest connections with the deities. Again, not that we had any real assigned clergy, but the deities often spoke to them more directly than the normal, everyday person and even chieftains and sub-chieftains. I had run-ins with the deities a few times, but I got most of my messages and prophecies through those that were outside of a binary.” “That’s…so strange to me… Men and women are strictly themselves in Efrana.” “I mean, strength is the thing that’s more important here,” Sun said, curling his tail. “Some women canreallyoverpower men without much issue. It’s all about knowing your opponent’s strength, then using it against them. Granted, men do tend to be more dominant here than women…but I know somereallykickass women.” One of his favorite combat instructors was a woman who had been a veteran of multiple foreign wars. Noci often helped its allies by sending knights out to wars for years at a time. She’d been through numerous wars and could kick even his father’s ass. He’d seen her hand his father his ass numerous times. Being in war hadreallyshored up her strength and ability to be a combatant. His father was no slouch, but this woman made him seem like one. “It’s still so strange to me… Women are strictly forbidden from combat in Noci…” “Is it a capital offense to teach a woman to fight?” Sun asked. “No… But it wouldn’t be taken very well. You can see how I act…” Yang rubbed her arm. “I’m not even allowed to show my hands to people really…” Yeah, she was really expected to just be a little doll which was sad. He knew he’d eventually have to figure out what to do with her, but for right now, he just wanted to get to know her. She was a sweet girl, but that probably came from the fact that she’d been forced to be docile, pleasant, and easily controlled. He felt so bad for Yang. Sienna was definitely more up his alley with how spunky and upbeat she was, but his parentswould notapprove of that relationship. Plus, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to pursue her. She just seemed to have this magnetism about her and a definite charisma. “We’re not in Noci anymore, so you can doliterally anythingyou want to, Yang. I’m going to teach you to read and write like you wanted, and if you want to learn to fight, Sienna can handle that.” Sun smiled at her. He wasn’t super martial at least when it came to Nocian standards. He was probably a better warrior than most, but heseverelyslacked in his martial studies. He just didn’t see a need to be super martial for himself… Even if he could buck the marriage to Yang, though, she wouldn’t be able to go back to Efrana. He did want to protect her as well as Weiss. He knew Weiss could fight, but her training was in the water, not on land… “Weiss, you’d have trouble fighting on land, wouldn’t you?” Weiss frowned and nodded. “Yeah, I would… I really only go a short distance on land most of the time. This is the farthest I’ve ever come… I wouldn’t haveanyidea how to fight with feet.” “I could teach you as well,” Sienna offered. “I mean I’m not surewhyyou’d need it, but if you want to be able to defend yourself on land, I can teach you.” “That would beveryuseful. Thank you.” Weiss smiled bashfully. Sienna smiled, her ears twitching. “No problem at all. It’ll just be a pain because youdohave combat muscle memory but it’s in acompletelyseparate environment.” Weiss nodded and sighed. “I’m not the most martial by any means, but I can definitely hold my own as long as I’m in the water. I’m pretty good with a spear and a trident.” “Well, I can teach youwaymore than just spear and trident. My tribe’s way of fighting is to use momentum against the enemy. Maybe I can show you later today or tomorrow.” “That might be nice…” Weiss looked at Sun. “Maybe you can show me how you fight too!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I never have done that, huh?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about fighting with people that could definitely kick his ass. Sienna was a few years older than them, or so it seemed, and she hadactualexperience, no doubt, whereas he’d only been trained. He hoped he would never have to go to war or anything like that… It just didn’t appeal to him. He would be duke one day after his father passed. He didn’t want to do that either, but there was no real hope for him to do anything but hold power. He had no doubt that Sienna was a formidable opponent. She was kind and warm, but he knew the kindest, warmest people could sometimes be the fiercest. Weiss was pretty fierce when she felt threatened or the people she cared about were threatened… “Maybe we could have a match together.” Sienna laughed, her ears twitching. “That’d show me as well as everyone else how you fight and it’d give me an idea of howyoufight as well.” “Yeah, that’s not too bad of an idea,” Sun agreed. “But I know you’re gonna hand my ass to me on a silver platter.” He laughed. Sienna tilted her head, obviously confused. “Oh, that just means you’re gonna beat me pretty easily. You’ve fought for real before, right?” She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve only been trained; I’ve never really been on the battlefield. You’re gonna beat me. I have no shame in admitting when I know I’m beaten. Though in this case, it’s really just an exercise to show how we both fight to Weiss as well as Yang and each other.” He could be proud sometimes, but he knew better than to not admit when he wasn’t going to be beaten. Sienna had experience hedidn’t,so he had no problem admitting he was going to wind up face down in the dirt, possibly literally. “Do you want to do that now or wait?” Sienna asked. “I did already spar with Johnathan, but I’m not against sparring with you too.” “It’s just a long walk…” Yang sighed. “I take it you don’t want to go down there again, huh?” Sienna asked. Yang shook her head. “Well, maybe we could do something else. Sun, you know anything we could do here in the room while Yang rests?” He tapped his chin. “Hmm… I mean I could always start teaching you guys to read and write again, though I’d have to go fetch the materials.” “I can do that,” Johnathan said with a bow. Sun gave the man directions to his room and then he left. Sun stretched and looked up. “Well, we still have some waiting to do while Johnathan gets the stuff from my room. You guys wanted to know more about Noci? What all did you wanna know?” Yang swallowed hard and looked at Sun. She was probably still nervous about the entire speaking for herself thing, if he had to guess. “Um… A lot. I don’t want to offend people, so I’m wondering what to do for norms and greetings or things tonotdo…” “Well, whistling indoors for one thing. It causes malevolent spirits to enter the place. It’snotsomething you want to do. It can andwillget you sent into the lower class if you’re upper class like I am,” Sun explained. Sienna’s ears went down. “Good thing I haven’t done that yet… I can only imagine how displeased the duke would be…” she muttered. “You whistle?” “And hum. I like to do hymns and prayers to the gods while I work,” Sienna said. “I don’t always sing, but I do whistle and hum to them. It’s just a way to dedicate my actions to the gods.” “You can hum, but definitely not whistle. The duke woulddefinitelybe very violent if he learned about it, and the servants wouldn’t want to work with you if you did that.” Sun’s tail curled. Yeah, it would be abadidea for her to whistle indoors. Some might see it as a silly belief, but he’d seen the consequences of it. People took itincrediblyseriously. He’d seen people be ostracised forweeksfor simply forgetting and whistling a little tune while indoors. One could do it while outside, but not inside. He didn’t want Sienna to feel confined, but she was already a slave… Ugh. He felt so bad for her. If only he had his father’s power, he would absolutely set her free. But he was just the scion of the house, not the master of it. It’d be alongtime until he became master… His parents still had a good couple decades left in them before they transferred power to him. “What else?” Yang asked. “Dabbling in mind-altering substances and failing to offer a visitor a drink. We’re also supposed to rub noses, but it’s just fallen to the wayside in light of everything going on.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “A lot’s happened.” Plus, it wasn’t something he really did with his parents at all. They greeted him with angry words and raised hands, so it wasn’t something that was deeply ingrained into him. They preferred to strike him rather than be gentle with him. “Oh, um, should I be doing that now?” Yang asked. “It probably wouldn’t hurt to adopt it now that you know. I try to remember, but I often don’t.” Sun raised his arms and shook his head. It was custom for almost everybody else, but it wasn’t intuitive or second nature for him due to how his parents were. He didn’t even do it with Sage. Then again, Sage was also more informal than most other nobility. Sometimes nobility came and visited here, though he’d never been to royal court before. He never wanted to. Then again, if he had, he might have found some noble girl and absconded with her in order to get away from his parents… There was a reason they had never sent him to court, though itwouldhurt him in the long run as he’d need to make his way up there sometimes. Yang nodded. “Will I get hurt for not remembering?” Sun felt a stab of sympathy for Yang. He was used to being hurt as well, but he fought back. Yang had been so beaten down that she just accepted it as the standard, the norm, and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. “You’re a foreigner, Yang. Nobody’s going to be upset when you just arrived here. It would be good to try to remember, but again, nobody’s going to expect it right away.” He looked at Sienna. “However, I’m not sure about you…” Sienna sighed, her ears going down. “Yeah. I’m aslave.I don’t know what my status will look like either. I know some of Noci’s customs, but not a ton. I didn’t know about the whistling, though I did know about the nose rubbing. But I’m not sure if I should do that or not…” “I’m not either. I’d ask my parents what they expect of you, but I try to avoid them as much as is possible.” He curled his tail. He knew he should be showing his parents that he and Weiss were engaged, but he really tried to avoid them as much as he could. He didn’t want to be in their sights whenever possible. If he was lucky, he could goweekswithout interacting with them. He really didn’t like them and honestly wished they were die if he were honest. They weren’t kind people and the fact his father had ordered the annihilation of Sienna’s people spokevolumesabout how he viewed others. Sun hated his parents and really wished they would just evaporate. They needed to be ended, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. “That…does make sense. Considering what the duke did to me, I would avoid him too.” Sienna placed a hand on her abdomen. He frowned. “Whatdidhe do?” “I had to deactivate my aura so I wouldn’t starve while I was transported here and he hit me for speaking up.” Her ears pressed flat against her head. Sun winced. “I’ll have a nasty bruise.” “I’m so sorry.” Sun walked over to her and offered her his hand.”They’re awful people, but I’llneverraise a hand to you personally.” He looked at Weiss. “Same for you.” He didn’t want to be the same as his parents. They had hurt, used, and abused him in awful ways, and he didn’t want to continue that cycle. He sawnotwhat to do by his parents’ example and didn’t want to replicate it. He just… It was so awful what they did and how they treated others. He unfortunately didn’t have high hopes for the Amiira people… If his father had sent out a squad to kill them, then they were probably mostly killed off. He didn’t want to say that to Sienna, though. Her ears remained down. “I can feel it, you know.” He caught himself, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, yeah, right. Sorry.” “You’re right though; there isn’t much hope for my people living. I know some of the women and girls were taken the same as me, but the men… Probably all killed.” Her head lowered. “I’m so sorry.” She took his hand regardless and looked up at him. “It’s not your fault.Youweren’t complicit in the slaughter. You didn’t know until I arrived here, right?” He shook his head. No, he hadn’t known. He legitimately hadn’t. “Then you have no fault or hand in this.” “Still… I’m so sorry this happened in the first place; you shouldn’t evenbehere.” He didn’t know how to make this situation right. It wasn’t like he could bring back everyone that was killed. He doubted even Yuhra could bring back the dead. As far as he was aware, the gods didn’t bring back people that crossed the threshold of death. “I wish I could do more for you.” “Your kindness is enough. You’re treating me with kindness, respect, and compassion. I really couldn’t ask for more. So thank you.” She bowed her head to him, her ears still against her skull. His heart truly did go out to her. She didn’t deserve this. Despite everything, she was taking it withextremegrace and understanding. He wished he could let her go, but if he did, then his parents may very well track her down and kill her to end what they had started. He was honestly just as much of a prisoner as she was. He could move about somewhat freely in the city and down to the coast, but that was it… He was still pretty much a prisoner by his own parents. “It’s the least I can do.” He squeezed her hand, then sat back down. It was then that Johnathan came back with the materials. Sun grinned. “All right, ladies, let’s get this show on the road!”