Fall Break - October (Viatroi) 9

When Justin brought her home last Saturday, Valon officially decided that they needed to take time to stop. Justin had carried her in saying she hadn’t stopped crying since she got into the car. They took her bed to soothe her and let her rest. The next day, she revealed Tyler's confession and how it broke her. Despite their protest, she was adamant that she couldn’t accept him because that would only put him at risk. She was so despondent that he received a call shortly after school from one of her coaches due to concern.

A few days into the school week, Valon announced that they would be going camping during her Fall break. Mizarmonie was never really a camping person, but she loved nature and being outdoors. She was usually more immersed than she had been since they ran from the Verdant Palace, so he hoped that getting the right gear for her comfort would help. He booked a campsite in the local forest. Based on the website, there was a lot to see and do. Trails, views, fishing for Don and Jus, and a lake to swim in, especially since it was the cold season, so they would be alone for the most part.

After Saturday he really needed to help get everything on track. Justin’s anger and Miza’s depression from being terrified after meeting Tyler were starting to way down on her. He knew that pretending that she didn’t feel the pull through their bond was excruciating especially since he had slowly been releasing her awareness again. He hoped the boy was doing well, but there was nothing he could do until Miza moved forward and told him. That was the agreement, and he may overrule her when it came to security matters, but he wouldn’t risk causing her harm by pushing her before she was ready.

They had just arrived at their site. It had taken them an hour to hike from the parking lot. Mizamonie looked unimpressed.

“And this can’t be a day trip.” She deadpanned. For a matron-earth goddess, she really was not about sleeping outside. Playing with the babies, hanging out in the trees, she could even get a little dirty, but sleeping here. What could she say? She grew up in a palace. Even if her father hated her, she was used to a luxurious lifestyle.

Valon, Donte, and Justin all chuckled, setting down their packs.

“No, darling, we are here to reset. You need to get back to nature, and we all need to get back to each other.” He sat out a blanket near the fire pit. “ Why don’t you light a fire and get Dinner out while we set up camp? It's all prepped in the cooler.”

By the time they had camp set up and protection stones laid in the surrounding areas, the sun was disappearing behind the trees. They spent a little time chatting about how they would spend the next day once they finished their sandwiches before retiring to their tent for the night, settling down to nest with Miza between them.

~

Miza had to admit, Valon did have great ideas. They left Friday straight after school. Donnie and Justin spent the early morning hours that Miza chose to rest in on the docks of the lake before the four of them followed a trail. Right now, Miza was sitting in a shady grove against a large pine tree focused on a deep communing session. She had

been at it for over two hours, and she was just starting to get somewhere.

“Holy shit. Sara! Sara, are you ok?” Miza heard a panicked voice.

“Oh, Goddess.” Miza blinked rapidly, recognizing the voice, but she was stuck in the daze that deep communing put her in. Where was Val? She focused intensely on bringing the grove she was sitting in back to the center of her reality. She blinked slowly, making her vision clear. There was Tyler. Tall and handsome, eyes wide with fear. Tilting her head in confusion, Miza realized that woodland creatures surrounded her. She felt excitement bubbling in her that she finally had a successful commune. She smiled widely, letting her hand drift to the adorable wolf pup that had its head in her lap.

“Well, hello there, darling one.” She cooed softly to the pup, giving herself a moment to relish her achievement at connecting so deeply with the natural world that animals recognized her for who she was. Hearing the sound of brush, she turned to see Valon making an appearance. He stopped short seeing Tyler’s shock and then Miza surrounded by animals.

“Love?” Valon said, hesitating to say or do anything,

“It worked, Val.” She giggled, snuggling the baby wolf. Valon coughed into his fist, clearing his throat as a ready distraction for the image in front of him. He clearly could not focus on the serene beauty of the scene when Tyler was confused and probably a little terrified walking into this.

“I can see that love. Who might this be?” He asked, giving her a chance to introduce him to the conversation since Tyler wasn’t aware that they knew so much about him. Valon watched as several emotions went through her features as she looked back at Tyler. Fear. Confusion. Happiness. Apprehension. She turned back to him with a final nod before looking at Tyler. Determination.

“He is one of us.” She said softly.

~

“Ok, so let me get this straight. Neither of you are Sara's dads.” Tyler asked, puzzled by this sudden revelation.

They all nodded.“You aren’t gay?” He asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Donte responded.

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“Um, okay. So you are supposed to be married to Sara?” He said, pointing at Valon.

“Yes. If Sara didn’t want to wait, then yes. We would have likely been married the week of her Rising. Probably actually that night of considering how adamant her father had been.” Valon said snidely.

“But you are old.” Tyler blurted out, slightly appalled.

“ I’m 25. I’m, like, ten years older than Sara. I’m not old. That would be D-George.” He joked, causing the older man to grunt in displeasure.

“Ok. Ok. And you are still figuring out what you are to Sara because you raised her, but you also are one of the protector dudes.” He said pointedly at Donte, who nodded.

“Ok. Let’s come back to that one. And Chris, you aren’t her brother? You are one of her boyfriends?” He said voice slightly rising in his confusion.

“Partners because there are more of us and we are different sexes and genders. We usually just refer to ourselves as mates.” Justin clarified.

“Ok. That’s super cool, I guess. None of you think it is weird that you are betrothed to a teenager. Like, I’m freaking out about it. She’s 14. Like, we are aware she is 14 right? That is not even age of consent here.” He said, looking at Valon, who stared at him incredulously because how was he supposed to explain to a human teenager their laws?

“Ty, our culture is different. Where we come from, yes, I am a teenager, but I am not a kid. And honestly I think V-Geo-Greg and I are only this close because I grew up with him. He was ten, and I was a newborn when he was brought to my home to stay. He was always there and safe. It's not like how my older sister just had some random guy show up the day of her thirteenth birthday, and then she was married to a 50-year-old aristocrat. But also this pull you feel, is the same for all of them as well. They can’t stay away, but I decided for a long time that I really wanted to try being a normal American teen, so we decided to fight against the social expectations and the pull of the tether.” Tyler looked lost, but she continued.

“ And I mean, if I weren’t the Goddess, then there would only be, um, Greg. Every Goddess Incarnate has a Consortium, just like Leana did. I doubt the other Goddess Incarnates had boundaries like mine, though. The first laws in our kingdom related to child marriage only happened the year before I was born. My mother fought hard for that because she was afraid that what happened to my older sister would happen to me. After my mother’s death, parliament convinced my father that the law was wrong, so he took it away. So yeah, in the context of your culture, it’s weird. I don’t think it’s weird, but I do think not having the choice to decide is a bit problematic. At the very least, I should be able to choose when I get married without it being a fight.” She explained.

Sara stopped and took a deep breath.

“I never admitted this. Never talked about it to anyone.” She looked down and then up to Valon, biting her lip nervously before focusing on Tyler again. “I was really angry for a while when I was younger. From the moment I could comprehend life, I was told that I was his and he was mine. We were so close, but I didn’t get a say. I wasn’t mad at Greg, but I did ask George why Greg was a part of my life like that. At that point, he was just Greg. I understood that he was part of my, um, the people that were responsible for taking care of me. Then, at four years old I was told my entire life was planned for me. I didn’t know Greg didn’t choose to be around me or how much it affected his life. I was just really mad that suddenly the life I thought I could have wasn’t mine, and to me Greg took my choices until I learned that wasn’t true. I didn’t have a life without Greg so him being with me however we are is not weird to me. It was my normal. A few months before my thirteenth birthday, we got another new normal, and you are part of that. Also, age of consent is not a major issue.” She said, feeling awkward about that topic because she wasn’t there yet.

“So what is this new normal?” Tyler asked curiously. Sara was throwing around a lot of interesting, if that was even the right term, words.

“You belong to me the same way I belong to you. By default, you belong with all of us.” She replied matter-of-factly cocking her head to the side as she said that in a way he could only describe as enduring.

“Ok, so explain this. I am confused. You are clearly leaving stuff out. Obviously, your names are not Sara, George, Chris, and Greg.”

“I can’t tell you everything. It's not safe.” Sara admitted to him.

“Not safe?” He asked, perplexed and stiffening. He had never considered that she wasn’t safe.

They all paused, looking at each other.

“We can’t divulge the details, but we are in hiding to keep Sara alive,” Valon said quietly. Tyler paused as his eyes widened. What kind of fucked up mess was he getting himself involved in?

“So this entire time, you knew what was going on and why I feel so crazy with you, Sara?” Tyler asked.

“Yes.” She mumbled, choking on a small sob. “Staying away has been the hardest thing I have had to do in a long time. But it's the best choice right now. I can’t even try to see my other partners right now because it's too dangerous to try to find them or get to them. I’m just waiting. And they have special training. You would be defenseless against my world. This is the safest thing for you.” She looked up at him, and the tears started to fall as everyone sat quietly.

“I think I should be allowed to make decisions about what is safe for me too.” Tyler said into the silence.

~

Tyler stayed with them that night since he was there to work on an Environmental Science research project. He went back to his campsite and gathered his gear to bring it back to theirs. By the time he got back, it was late afternoon. He unsuccessfully attempted to persuade her to tell him more. When it didn’t work, he decided to focus on learning more about her.

They were honest that she was struggling with the fact that she was fighting the tether's natural pull by refusing to allow their bond to complete. Greg said this camping trip was an attempt to help relieve her stress. So Tyler had decided to instead focus on getting Sara to talk to him about herself.

He didn’t understand what was happening, but he knew enough to realize that he felt deeply for her, and he would do what he could to keep her safe. If that was what all of this was about, then he would do whatever he could on his side to make her safe, except give her up.

Now he was home because he only had permission from his parents to be away for a night, but he wanted to go back. Now that he knew about her, well, he didn’t fully understand. Tyler just knew that he needed to see her again. They wouldn’t be back until the weekend, at least.

He turned over on his stomach. When she was away to relieve herself, the guys mentioned to him that they had been trying to convince her that it was acceptable to be with him. They were also just as adamant that he couldn’t know the whole truth just yet because it put him at unnecessary risk. They truly believed that because he was from outside of this place that they came from, the more they kept from him, the safer he would be. He just needed to convince her that more information would keep him safe and that ignoring their feelings would not help.

~