When Greenvia awoke, she found herself in a foreign environment with barely any memory of what had happened the night before. She also saw that her clothes were gone and a girl was sleeping right next to her. Naturally, her mind raced, making far-fetched ideas and conclusions that finally landed on the more level-headed, but still ridiculous, thought that she’s been kidnapped. A sudden stroke of fear pierced its way into Greenvia’s gut, the same one that assaulted her last night, and caused her to hyperventilate and shake. She tried crawling away from the sleeping girl but fell out of the slightly raised futon which caused her to hit her head. With a red bump on her head, she rose from the fallen position and ran to a corner where she curled up into a fetal position and started weeping light tears.

Greenvia held her quivering hands out to try and calm herself down and remember what happened. She racked her brain for a few moments while tears streamed down her face until she remembered the screams and faces. Greenvia’s face, hands, and body froze. She didn’t want to believe it, she wanted it to be a sick nightmare, but she knocked her head against the nearby wall and the only thing that happened was the worsening of the red bump. She fell to the side and quietly sobbed heavy tears.

The scene went on for a few more minutes until she composed herself and tried to wipe away the still-falling tears. She sat up in criss-cross formation, put her hand and cast down to her side, and started talking to someone that wasn’t Asuli. “Elvia, please lend me your grace and help me push through this turbulent time. I know this is going according to your plan but…” she paused to hold back a hurricane. “But please, I need to rest for a moment with you,” she then fell silent.

The silence had the length and weight of a shearki elder’s wisdom with small projections of emotion from Greenvia. A little smile here, a chuckle there, and by the end, Greenvia had completely forgotten about the unpleasant situation, she was in a whole other world, a whole new life. The gleaning of sunlight from the nearby window shinned down upon her from the side, accentuating each feature of her face and bare figure while also encompassing her in warmth. Greenvia, her smile widened, held out her arms, and shed a tear after a while, bliss growing on her face.

Asuli woke up on the floor, dazed, when she spotted the oblivious girl in the corner. The sunshine fooled her into thinking that she was seeing a goddess in her house but soon came to her senses. She almost just felt like admiring the sight like it was painting.

“Hey,” Asuli said, but it felt like shouting to the girl’s ears. Greenvia was snatched out of her fantasy world into reality and fell backward from what seemed like the force of Asuli’s words. Genuine fear was on her face until she composed herself after realizing the other girl wasn’t a threat; a concerned, but also pitful, look was easily visible on Asuli. Greenvia tried to open her mouth to greet the girl back but something was holding her back, almost choking her, so she just settled with a nod.

“Well, uhhh,” her concern showed even in her voice. “My name is Asuli and don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you,” Greenvia loosened up a little, “What’s your name?”

The quiet girl was still choked up but managed to push passed it and mumbled her name, “Greenvia.”

“Greebia?” Asuli started in confusion, Greenvia almost didn’t want to correct her, to let the momentous, to her, conversation go, but she had the urge to.

“N-no, Greenvia,” she said with a slightly louder voice. The other girl, Asuli, nodded.

“Well,” Asuli broke the silence, “I don’t know what's going on fully either, so I’m going to go wake up my mom, she’s the one who took you in.” Greenvia nodded. Asuli gave a slight smile, stood up, and walked to her mother’s room while periodically looking back at the girl.

Greenvia breathed a sigh of relief, rose from the frozen position Asuli scared her into, and started to rationalize the situation to calm herself. She started to think about the girl she just met, she thought about how nice she was and determined that if she was that kind, the mother might be too. Then she started planning conversational scenarios in her head so she’d be prepared. This calmed her nerves for the upcoming mission.

Greenvia was going to stand for the conversation, but her legs were still weak and were already shaking from the talk with Asuli. So, she grabbed the leaf futon she slept on and brought it right underneath her. As she sat on it, waiting for the mother to come to knock down her heart’s doors, she noticed how comfortable the futon was. She had never really appreciated it when she woke up; almost wanted to lay back down, but she knew that her worry-rattled brain wouldn’t let her.

What would the mother think of a person she was supposed to meet sleeping when she’d enter? They would hate me and throw me out, banish me to an unknown location, and leave me to die… as they did. Greenvia’s tears started to drop without her even knowing, but she calmed herself.

It proved to be too late to calm herself as Akuli stumbled into the room along with her daughter. Akuli snapped out of her sleepy stupor and rushed when she saw Greenvia with tears in her eyes. She started asking the girl questions like a parent seeing a bruise on their child, and Greenvia, in a red-cheeked blush, lost all her plans like a bird struck by lightning.

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The girl tried to speak but it seemed she swallowed a Chokepear as the only things that came out of her mouth were pitiful squeaks. This, combined with the faces that the mother & daughter were making, made Greenvia break down crying. It wasn’t like the faces were hostile, in fact, they were ones of pity and concern, but Greenvia interpreted it differently. While she saw the pity, she also saw their disgusted, patronizing gaze hidden deep within them. It reminded her of the people back in her village, they never really cared, they didn’t care, they didn’t care abou-

“Asuli, get her some water and a berry bar,” were the words that snapped Greenvia out of her degrading thoughts. Akuli then hugged the girl like she was her own child, embracing her in warmth while the Fall breeze brushed them. She let out a few more squeaks until Akuli started to pat and rub her hair, shushing her to silence. While Greenvia was already crying, the head pats and cooing were what pushed her to wail. It reminded her of her…

The absolute bawling continued for a while until Asuli appeared with the water and bar, and even then, the tears still streamed. Akuli let go of her embrace and Greenvia felt a much-needed piece of her breaking away. Akuli handed her the water and bar and told her to eat with a stern tone. Greenvia stared at the wooden cup and berry bar and hesitated, making Akuli worry, “Need something?”

Greenvia nodded slightly and opened her mouth to talk, “S-some eating sticks, p-please?” It was almost like a sheep was talking, but Akuli obliged and, once again, sent Asuli to fetch it. Akuli was about to question the need for utensils but was too tired even after the panic. She started to space out, thinking out what she was going to do with this timid girl, and started staring at Greenvia with her dark, sunken eyes. Greenvia tried to ignore it but the silence almost vacuumed all the air out of her.

The pressure was too much and she blurted out, “Sorry!” Sorry? Sorry for what, Akuli thought when she snapped out of hourly trances, and before she could respond, the girl continued. “I am sorry for intruding on your lives and annoying you with my presence! I will leave as soon as possible, again, sorry,” she then bowed, almost spilling the water she was holding in her non-wooden hand.

Akuli sat there in stunned silence as she processed the shocking, almost confusing, words coming out of the frail girl’s mouth. Asuli made it just in time to hear the girl’s words but felt the situation too tense to intrude. Akuli finally responded by telling her that she’s no bother and that she doesn’t mind if she stays or even lives here as she has nowhere else to go. Greenvia still kept on apologizing.

It went back and forth for a while with Greenvia apologizing for trivial things to Akuli who persistently said it was no problem. Annoyance was appearing in Akuli’s tone with each repeat and that made Greenvia feel the need to apologize even more. Asuli moved into the room and just analyzed the girl; while the situation was sad that the girl felt the need to apologize for nothing, the scene was almost comical as seeing her mom’s annoyed face while trying to be nice made her snicker.

The commotion was put to an end when Akuli firmly and sternly asserted that she took her in because she wanted to, she was going to live in her house, no debate, and that she will be placed under her guardianship from now on. Asuli was taken aback by the abrasiveness of her mother’s demands but Greenvia quickly agreed to them, mainly out of fear.

When both parties calmed down, Asuli gave Greenvia her eating sticks; she bowed in response with a slightly audible, “Thank you.” She then dunked the bar in the water and started mixing the concoction with the thin wooden stick. The mother-daughter duo looked upon the event with shocked eyes with a spritz of horror. Greenvia didn’t even notice as the pins in her stomach were more of an issue.

She slowly sipped the drink, enjoying the relief it brought to her insides; she even closed her eyes as well, savoring her berry juice concoction. She had a strange face between her first few sips, ‘Sweeter but with a bitter aftertaste,’ she thought, ‘they must use a different recipe.’ She then continued to enjoy her drink until the last, long swig. This is when she finally realized that the duo was staring at her with one of them, Asuli, raising one of her eyebrows.

“D-did I do something wrong,” she asked in a timid voice. Akuli reassured her she did nothing wrong, saying she was just spacing out.

Asuli, on the other hand, interrupted her mother’s attempts to calm Greenvia down and asked, “Why did you mix the berry bar in the water, never seen anyone do that before.” Akuli swatted at her daughter's arm with her letting out an audible, “Ouch.” Greenvia was put on the spot, a rare occurrence in her life, so she stammered her response.

“W-well I, umm, back at my village, we had something similar to this bar a-and sometimes I mix it together with water when my tummy was upset.” Asuli smirked at the word ‘tummy’ and glanced at her daughter who was unaware that her mother was thinking of her most embarrassing moments; Greenvia continued. “After some time, it was the only way to keep my tummy at bay. I didn’t really mind though as it allowed me to continue being with her even more,” She whispered, tilting her head down with an empty gaze but snapped back when Asuli asked what.

“Well,” Akuli said as she rose, “I gotta get going to the clinic. Asuli, you’re going to be in charge of the place, you already know where everything is, but take some time to explain and show the town to Greenvia while you’re at it.” She turned to Greenvia, “Don’t worry, you're in… alright hands,” Asuli shot her mother a piercing side-eye. Akuli tried to pat Greenvia’s head before she headed out the door but she slowly moved her head as the hand came closer; a shallow dart struck Akuli’s gut, but she powered through it and finally left.

Silence filled the room with only wind rumbling the eardrums of the girls who sat crisscrossed. “So,” Asuli started to break the silence, “when do you want to explore the town?” Greenvia, through the stammering, said she would rather go later. Asuli respected her decision and left her to go to her room but not after explaining where the basic necessities were.