Spending time Together

After taking a short toilette break Sher Aka meets Miguel in the hallway.

“You know she doesn’t really see you as a mother, right?”

“Excuse me?”

“She’s just a baby and doesn’t understand the importance this holds to you. To her you’re just a second candy bar dangled in front of her head that she is taking because she thinks having two of a good thing will be nice. But in the end, the reason you suggested the two mother idea is because you know very well that had she needed to choose between her real mother and you she would not have chosen you. She doesn’t even love you, she just likes you.”

“I don’t understand why you’re just stating the obvious. I know this.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Like you said, Rose is just a baby, especially now after her mind regressed permanently. The only difference between her birth mother and I is a measly two years out of four to five hundred years until she’s an adult and a few imprints. You might be confident about her allegiance now but what will happen in three years from now? Ten years? Fifty? The more time she spends with me the less relevant her birth mother will become.”

“Tsk My aunt is not going to lose to you and your underhanded tactics.”

“Oh~ Underhanded you say?”

Suddenly putting on a really scary face, Sher Aka steps really close to Miguel and whispers, “You know what’s even more underhanded? Stealing my precious daughter away from me only to exploit her strong biological bonding instinct to your advantage. You people stole her away from me first. I’m just taking back my daughter out of your clutches.”

Putting on her usual kind face she adds, “I’ll be spending some time with my daughter now.”

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After finishing our meal we ask a server to pay and after we do he brings us a heart shaped dessert with two spoons. He then gives us a smile and a thumbs up and says, “This one’s on the house. Have a great day.”

“Thank you! Look mima, we got a free dessert!”

Looking at the dessert, mima chuckles and says, “Yeah, at least they were able to see my love for you.”

“Miguel, do you want some too?”

“No thank you, Rose.”

“Are you sure? Not even one spoon?”

“Yes I’m sure.”

“Hmm…But you like sweets. Did the steak not taste right?”

Brushing through my hair he says, “It was fine, but I’m just here to observe, remember?”

“Gao! But can’t you observe while eating sweets with us?”

“Sigh…I guess a spoonful will be fine.”

“Gao gao! Say, ‘ahhhhhh’!”

Rolling his eyes he opens his mouth, “Aaaaaaah.”

“So? It’s good, right?”

“Yes it is,” he answers with a smile, then brushes through my hair and adds, “But in the future just looking at you is enough sweetness for me, okay?”

“Gao!”

Taking her spoon over to me, Sher Aka says, “Alright, now it’s your turn~ Say ‘aaaaaah’.”

“Aaaaah! Mmmmh~ It’s good!”

“I’m glad you like it~”

After lunch mima and I go walk around the city some more to do some sight seeing. We visit a nice shopping street and a giant bronze statue of an angel defeating what looks like a pretty weird creature whose body is kind of shaped like a sausage. It has four wings. Two pairs on the front side of its body and two pairs on the back side. It has 8 legs, four of them on its lower body aligned like those of a horse and 4 on its back. Between its pairs of wings it has a large spike and above it a pair of eyes. It  also has two eyes, one horn as well as a mouth on its front side and two eyes, a horn and its butt on the backside. The Legged parts of the monster look like they’re segmented, perhaps it can turn them? It also looks like its back and belly are armored with black leathery spots similar to a bear's paw. 

On a plaque beneath it it says, ‘In honor of the guardian angel that saved this city from the Grimjilow. Eight thousand people perished but we pray that the angel took their souls to heaven with him. 4th of March 112 Age of Earth.’

“Hey, mima? What’s a Grimjilow? This is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“It’s a very frightening monster. Thankfully they are very rare and avoid people but when they get angered they can cause great destruction. From what I’ve heard they’re invulnerable against physical attacks and can both run and fly at immense speeds. They are also said to be able to walk through any physical barricade and have immense regenerative abilities.”

“I see…I have one more question, it says Age of Earth here. How long ago was that?”

“Hmm…I don’t know. It depends on the Era. It doesn’t look like they wrote down what era it happened in though.”

“I heard you use the word before but what does Era mean?”

Taking me by the hand to a park bench she gets a smile on her face and says, “I’ll explain it to you.”

“Thank you!”

“Pfft You’re so cute. Alright, you know how this year is the year 399 of the Age of Water right?”

“Gao.”

“Next year will be the last year of the Age of Water and then we’ll go to year one of the Age of Wind. The Age changes every four hundred years. An Era consists of six Ages. First, is the Age of Darkness, followed by the Age of Fire, the Age of Light, the Age of Water, the Age of Wind and lastly the Age of Earth before repeating again in a new Era.”

Thinking for a bit I have a realization, “It’s just like the rituals to the Spirit Kings! They are in the same order!”

“I see! That’s probably no coincidence. The calendar we use today was originally an Elven calendar, after all. It follows the creation myth of the Church of Six.”

“What’s the Church of Six, mima?”

“It’s a church that worships the Spirit Kings.”

“There are people that worship the Spirit Kings? Why?”

“Well…There are a lot of people that think Spirits are very wise and very kind and that if we act more like them the Spirit Kings will protect us as well.”

“Do they not know how scary the Spirit Kings are?”

“Hmm? Do you think they’re scary, Rose?”

“Yeah…Don’t you?”

“No. I think they’re really kind. At least from what I know about them. They gifted you a new body, gave you a family and they care very much about all the spirits in the world.”

“But they also make disasters, right? Tornadoes and floods are also the Spirit Kings and…And…They even changed my race without ever asking me! I never wanted to be part Waterdragon and Elqueenes still just changed me like that! Also Lum and Nox can just change your mind if they want to. I-I’m scared of what they could do!”

“Hmm…Are you scared of what they could do or are you scared of them?”

“What?”

“Well, think about this. It’s possible that your sisters or I could kill you in your sleep, right? But that’s not something you need to be afraid of because you know we wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Yeah…So?”

“So…Is the thing that scares you the power or who wields it? Would you be scared if Rayla was the Spirit King of Darkness?”

“No.”

“So you’re scared of the Spirit King’s personality?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Can you tell me what scares you about them? So far they all seem to have been nice to you and gave you gifts, right?”

“I…Well…I guess…But they don’t really ask me what I want, they just do things that they think are good for me, not what I want. What if one day they just change my memories or give me a different family because they think it’s best that way?”

“Is that what you’re most scared about?”

“Yes! I don’t ever want that to happen.”

“Then, have you asked them not to do that to you?”

“What?”

“You have met all Spirit Kings before and they even gave you gifts so they do seem to care about you on some level, right? So, why not just ask them to promise that they won’t do that to you. Will that not ease your mind?”

“I…I guess it would but I can’t just…Call them over, right? They just show up whenever they want to.”

“Aren’t your rituals ways to commune with the Spirit Kings? I can also teach you a prayer to accompany it if you want to heighten the chances.”

“...”

Thinking about it for a bit I ask, “And what should I say if someone answers?”

Miguel interjects, “From what I have heard, at least when talking to Ifrit, you should just be direct. Say exactly what you think without holding back. From what I know she respects that sort of thing. Also you’re her descendant so you have the best chance to have a successful talk with her.”

“In that case…We should do that!”

Miguel puts his hand on my shoulder, “In that case you should take a nap while we get everything prepared.”

“Gao!”

Turning into my draconic form I put my tail in my mouth and take a nap.

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