Mother carried Celestine a bit before she put her down on her own legs to walk along side her the rest of the way. We were in an area of the city Celestine had never seen before. The roads weren't just hardened sandy dirt. They were sandy cobblestone. The buildings were taller and better kept. There were metal poles by the side of the roads that resembled streetlights, but were obviously not on during the daytime. A few people passed by us in really expensive looking fabrics. One even had a look of disgust when he saw us. Well fuck you too, guy. I'll remember your face and get you back one day!
We turned a corner onto a larger street and stayed off to the side while wooden carts were being pulled by some ostrich-looking birds with long necks and long legs. More wood! Celestine's eyes were glued to the novelty of the material. Most of what she's seen are carts made of bone and rigid cloth. It's amazing how ingenious people can be when they lack a material as depended-upon for modern society as wood.
Guiding the bird thing from the cart with leather leads was a man with weird looking ears and a collar on his neck. His ears looked almost like dog ears and his hair covered a lot of his head, face, and arms. The guy even had a bushy tail! Where am I? This is like we were brought into another world! Up until now Celestine had only seen humans. But today we were already made aware of demons and now this dog-man. What else is there in store for us in this world? Elves? Mermaids? Who knows! I'm excited now!
As we got further into more opulent buildings, the terrain began to change. The road was still the same, but in the front yards of a lot of really beautiful houses was greenery. Gardens and grasses decorated a lot of yards and walkways. People were out and about with still more decorative clothing. The men wore fancy leather coats and the women wore dresses with a lot of lace and embroidery. The mother and child pair were sticking out like a sore thumb. Even Celestine noticed how plain she was dressed compared to the other people in this area of the city. They were all sweating, though, so at least no one was blessed with anti-heat magic like the head priest was earlier. The women were waving fabric fans and held parasols while the men wore wide-brimmed hats. Fashion clearly took priority over comfort in this area of the city.
We seemed to reach our destination. Mother stopped in front of a metal gate. She casually opened it and had Celestine follow her inside. The gate was surrounding a, frankly, ugly box-shaped mansion. There were two stories with windows for each room, but the building itself lacked any imagination in terms of architecture. Sure it was better than our simple stone house, but this was a mansion. There's no excuse when you build a mansion! Not only that, but the grass, bushes, and flowerbeds in the front yard were all dried and dead. Whoever lived here obviously doesn't care about appearances. They also don't have much in the way of protection. Most of the other better-kept houses we passed at least had a guard by the fence if they had one.
Mother reached the front door and knocked hard. Immediately a man with brown hair and brown eyes opened the door. His hair was a mess and he had bags under his eyes. His face was moist like he just got done shaving. He was wearing a gaudy green blazer and green pants. They appeared to be made out of some kind of reptilian leather because they were covered in little circles like scales. The man had a wily appearance and as soon as he opened the door, his face broke into a wide smile. His eyes also seemed to water a bit like he was about to cry. But he seemed to have at least a little control over his emotions.
"Syl! An acolyte said you were coming! It's so good to see yo-" The man tried to reach for Mother to hug her, but he was met with her foot planted square between his legs. MOTHER! Don't teach this to your daughter! My past male lives are weeping! Also a few of my female lives are giggling. What the fuck. Did I ever do this?
Wait, when was I ever able to hear my past lives like they were an audience. Oh my god that's creepy. Be quiet you lot! Now's not the time!
"Please... come in..." The man said, backing up with his face beet red while holding back the urge to drop to the ground. He really was crying this time.
Mother casually walked into the mansion and Celestine followed, wanting to stay in her shadow. The inside of the mansion was GORGIOUS. Beautiful polished white stone floors, intricately carved darkwood wood walls, gold-colored metal detailing, and light crystal wall sconces. The furniture was wooden-framed with dyed leather cushions. The doors to other rooms were wood and the staircase was stone and wood banisters. This might not be a castle fit for royalty, but is it certainly a place a very rich family lives. Shame about the front yard and the boring building design, though.
Mother and Celestine sat on one of the leather couches with their back to the wall. In front of them was a wooden coffee table, or would be a coffee table if there was coffee in this world. I don't know if there is, though. The new greenery today kinda proved that everything isn't totally lifeless here. But then, I guess I should have realized that by the greens in Celestine's food, too. Never mind that.
The man in green leather and messy hair limped over to an armchair opposite of the table in front of us and sat down. Everything was silent for a while. Mother simply crossed her left leg over the other and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at the man like he was dirt. Celestine just looked uneasily back and forth between the two. The man had a seriously troubled expression. His mouth was twitching and he was sweating, which shouldn't happen because it's actually rather cool inside the mansion. His legs were twitching slightly from the residual pain.
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Something else I noticed was the lack of servants. A house like this, you would expect at least a butler to answer the door. But instead, this man, who is clearly the house head, opened the door himself. And he didn't take offense to Mother's cheap shot. He's acting like he deserved it. What's the history of these two now?
"Umm..." Celestine was the one to break the silence, but she was interrupted by Mother as she took control of the conversation with a cough.
She sighed and placed her hand on Celestine's head. "Daemon, this is Celestine. My daughter." She patted Celestine's head and turned to face her. "Celestine, this is your worthless father, Daemon Tanett." She put extra emphasis on the surname and he seemed to flinch when she said it.
"She really does have my eyes. And my mother's nose!" Daemon murmured while he looked Celestine up and down.
"Father?" Celestine asked, even tilting her head at the sudden revelation.
Daemon seems to have broken. He sighed deeply and fell forward out of his chair. Mother ignored him.
"What's a father?" She asked Mother. Of course, she's a sheltered girl of four of this world's years of age, which equates to roughly seven or eight of Earth's years I think. Still haven't figured out how time compares to Earth. Anyway, she's lived only with Mother. She has no idea what sex is or how babies are made. She knows men and women are different, but she's still too innocent to know exactly how. They're not going to have 'the talk' right here, are they?
"Let's just say... I couldn't have had you without his help." she put disdain in her voice when she mentioned him. "Then he left us all alone. He's really an awful man, isn't he, baby?"
"I guess?" Celestine was still confused. But when she said that, the man on the floor flinched like he was just shot. If words were arrows, hers just pierced his heart.
"Sylvianna... you're so cruel!" He whined.
"I don't want to hear complaints from you, Daemon."
"What happened to the Sylvianna I knew growing up?"
"Oh she's still here. You will never see her again, though." She spoke in an almost singsong voice.
"What's going on?" Celestine asked, still confused.
"Quiet, baby. Momma's talking to a scumbag." Mother replied.
He flinched again, another arrow to his heart.
Mother raised her voice, "You will raise the weekly @%#$#&*^ so I can better prepare my daughter's future, Daemon."
"OUR daughter!" He got up on his knees.
"MY daughter!" She shouted. Celestine had never heard Mother yell so loudly before. "You gave up all rights when you left to ^@@$ those sisters and left me in the slums in a strange city with her in my belly!"
"But I've been paying for everything for her and you! You haven't had to work a day since she was born!"
"Hmph, that's not how I remember it, scum. I was forced to live on what little I had until I begged the Church to intervene after those $#^&@ skipped town and left you with your little mistake."
"You lie! You're lying to our little girl!" He cried.
"MY LITTLE GIRL!"
"Celestine! Listen to me! It's not as bad as she said!" Is this man groveling to a child? He pushed the wooden table out of the way and kneeled in front of her. "Please listen. Let me make it up to you! Toys, clothes, food, anything!" He crawled up to her legs and tried to hug them before Mother's foot planted square onto his face and forced him back. She then held her hand in front of her and a bolt of electricity arched from Mother's hand and struck Daemon's already messy hair. He convulsed for a bit before he fell over with smoke coming off of his head. He was still breathing, so he wasn't dead.
"You so much as touch her and I will cut them off!" She put emphasis on 'them'. Daemon's hands instinctively gripped between his legs. Celestine was still confused, but was dazzled by whatever Mother just used to zap the man.
He returned to his knees, waddled past Celestine and stopped in front of Mother. "Live with me! Please! Let me make everything up to you, Syl!"
Mother's hand was held out in front of her again and little sparks of lightning were arching between her fingers.
"PLEASE! I BEG YOU! SYLVIANNA!" He fell forward and hugged her legs. She zapped him, but he held on with a vice grip. "I'm going mad! I can't even hire servants because they refuse to work under me! I won't ask your forgiveness! I'll give you your space! I'll give you both anything you need, no not need, want! Just live here with me!"
"Hmph. I do feel sorry for whatever spawn of yours has had to put up with you." Mother looked over and up the stairs. Celestine followed her gaze and there between the banisters was the face of a boy with bright blond hair and blue eyes looking down at the idiocy happening in the room below. "I'll consider it, Daemon. But I won't live here for free. I won't give you a reason to say I owe you anything. I suppose I will work as the house maid."
Daemon noticed the boy and jumped up to his feet. "Sullivan! Look at what Dad brought home! Two beautiful black-haired flowe-RRRRRRRRZZZZZZZ" Mother zapped him again. He fell to the floor and the blond boy disappeared. "I missed your tough love, Syl..." He whimpered on the floor.
"You will hire a tutor for Celestine. The church gave you the details." Mother said.
"Ah yes. I already sent a letter for one before you arrived. An old friend owes me a favor anyway. Though I do wonder why the church allowed the awakening ceremony early." He was still on the floor, eyes closed. "I won't pry, though. Ahh, my soul feels lighter already. Or perhaps the shocks are messing with my heart."
Celestine just sat on the couch beside her mother all the while, still confused as ever.