Eight days passed by. Prelinsa continued to train under Corynn and the Matriarch for most of the weekdays. She would also learn various subjects from tutors – making up for what she hadn’t learned during her time in the slums, and then some. The Matriarch had chosen Prelinsa’s tutors with the understanding that Prelinsa wasn’t much for learning from books. As a result, a number of Prelinsa’s lessons involved hands-on experience, like small tours around White Blossom Fortress – both the civilian and the military areas.

“As you can see from the architecture, White Blossom Fortress has been around for a very long time,” the history teacher, Miss Xenia Longtail, said one morning. The reddish-brown harpy woman guided Prelinsa through a commercial district. “When House Goldensun conquered the East Realm, they preserved the Fortress and used it as the regional capitol of the East Realm, constructing the city of Pyrus around it. Even after House Silvermoon came to power following the Civil War, this combination of both Eastern and Western architecture continues to reflect East Realm society as a whole. When we Easterners were enslaved by the West, we inherited Western customs, but we still retained many of the Eastern traditions. This fusion has given rise to modern East Realm culture.”

Prelinsa nodded, taking note of that in her head. Since she wasn’t expecting to work out while studying history, she was currently bundled up decently for the cold weather.

“They’re alone!” Someone suddenly yelled. “Surround ‘em!”

A group of teenagers – a bit older than Prelinsa – rushed out from alleyways on either side of the street. They surrounded both Prelinsa and Miss Longtail menacingly, wielding various weapons. A few even carried real weapons, some charged with magic. One wererabbit individual, who seemed stronger than the rest, held a falcata – a forward-curved sword – in her right hand, which crackled with fire. The presence of these thugs was such that the crowds around them mostly kept a distance. Some people made preparations to fight, while others made calls for supervisors.

Prelinsa looked around warily, putting her fists up.

“Prelinsa, stay close to me,” Miss Longtail warned. “Don’t get split up. We need to hold out until help comes. We’re better off together.”

Prelinsa nodded and complied, taking some steps towards her teacher.

The young harpy woman drew a metal war fan in one of her wing-claws. However, she was not a mage – this fan was solely a melee weapon. It wouldn’t be of much help against the magic opponents.

“You little slave!” One of the gangsters snarled at Prelinsa. “Don’t get too full of yourself just because you’re the Matriarch’s disciple!”

“Despicable,” Miss Longtail said icily. “You’ve all done well hiding your true colors until now. Otherwise, hooligans such as yourselves would never be allowed into White Blossom Fortress. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“Shut up! You’re no better – you’re just a lackey of the Matriarch!” Another thug snapped. “You’re helping teach this dirty one-eared ragdoll!”

The leader brandished her falcata, leaving a trail of sparks through the air. “Get ‘em!” She ordered.

Immediately, all the thugs closed in, swinging and jabbing with their weapons. Miss Longtail tried to fend them off, and some people in the crowd got involved to try and help. But there were simply too many of the thugs. In all the commotion, Prelinsa was inevitably forced to split up from her teacher.

“Back away! The bitch-fox is mine!” The leader instructed, closing in on Prelinsa.

“Prelinsa! Stay patient! You need to stay alive!” Miss Longtail ordered.

“Alive? Pff, I’m not gonna kill her. Just make her suffer a little!” The leader retorted.

“Stay on the defensive, Prelinsa!”

Prelinsa sized the wererabbit up, keeping her defenses up and not looking away from her opponent. It wouldn’t be easy to attack someone with this level of power anyway. The wererabbit swung her sword, and Prelinsa kept a safe distance away, avoiding the swings. She continued to keep her guard up as the thug leader pressed the offensive with cuts and jabs.

But suddenly, the fire seemed to cut out, and the wererabbit stumbled. Sensing an opening, Prelinsa tried to move in, aiming to close the gap.

“No, Prelinsa! No!” Miss Longtail urged.

“Idiot,” the wererabbit sneered. Much too late, Prelinsa realized it was the biggest bait ever. With deft movements, the gang leader reignited her sword, swung, and cut off Prelinsa’s left hand halfway through the forearm. There wasn’t much blood as the heat almost instantly cauterized the wound, but it hurt like nothing else. It was the most pain Prelinsa had ever felt in any single instant. Searing agony burned up her arm and into her nerves.

“ARRRRRGHHH!” Prelinsa howled, dropping to the ground and clutching the cut stump. She then rushed to grab her disembodied hand with her remaining working hand.

“Ohhhh, how I’ve waited for this! Now the Matriarch will see that I’m way more worthy to be a Phoenix Warrior!” The wererabbit gloated.

“No. You are not worthy,” a familiar voice said sternly.

“Huh?!”

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping noise and a blast of heat, and the wererabbit fell forward to the ground, unconscious. Then, in rapid succession, the rest of the gangsters were knocked out as well. This happened so quickly that Prelinsa barely even had time to blink.

Miss Longtail rushed to Prelinsa’s side, along with some other people around. Prelinsa could faintly make out people kneeling and bowing to a familiar imposing presence.

“I greet the Matriarch!” Miss Longtail said hurriedly, not looking up as she knelt down and looked worriedly at Prelinsa, who was still wincing and clenching her teeth in pain.

“Prelinsa,” the Matriarch said gently, bending down to study the young half-pokkit’s injury. “Let me reattach your hand. Please. Give it to me.”

For a few moments, Prelinsa was reluctant to give up her hand, but eventually she nodded, handing it to the Matriarch.

The Matriarch touched the hand to the cut stump, aligning it very carefully. Prelinsa winced again, fighting back tears, as the elder pokkit held her staff against the cut. There was a bright white light, and suddenly, Prelinsa felt a warm sensation. Warmer and more comfortable than anything else she’d felt. She could feel the pain receding, as normal sensations came back to her left arm.

In only a few moments, the light faded, and the pain was gone. Prelinsa looked, and her left hand was completely reattached. She pulled down the cut section of her jacket and shirt sleeves to look. There wasn’t even a scar – the damage to the sleeves was the only visible sign of anything having happened.

Prelinsa tried to move her hand and fingers. They felt awkward and stiff, not at all natural, and were difficult to move precisely. The feeling was deeply uncomfortable, almost like watching someone else try to move their hand.

“It will take you some time to regain full control of your hand,” the Matriarch advised, her expression unreadable behind her mask. “For the remainder of the day, and the entirety of tomorrow, your lessons shall be canceled as you rehabilitate.”

Prelinsa nodded silently, and sullenly. The pain was still very fresh in her mind – she never wanted to experience anything like that ever again. It was a stern reminder of her own impatience.

“As a precaution against further incidents like this, Corynn will accompany you for the rest of the day. I hope you can be understanding.”

“Yes, Matriarch.”

----------------------------------------

Prelinsa and Corynn got some food to go from a restaurant, and brought it to a table in a plaza to eat – at the intersection of Little Silk Road and Black Swan Street. People walked through this plaza a lot to get to places. Just like the last time they were together, most people just ignored the two girls, some were respectful or curious, and a few people still gave them terrible looks and comments. This was especially the case because Corynn had to help Prelinsa eat, due to her recovering left hand.

“The urchin shouldn’t be so casual with the princess,” one person whispered, as Corynn fed Prelinsa directly with a spoon.

“You’re being too generous. They’re both insignificant things. Who cares how casual they are with each other?” Another replied.

“…Are you sure that doesn’t bother you?” Prelinsa asked, as they finished up their food.

Corynn nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well… the Matriarch said we should get to know each other better, so I thought I’d make sure,” Prelinsa said, a bit awkwardly.

Corynn giggled softly. “You don’t need to speak formally with me. I may be a ‘princess,’ but we’re almost the same age.”

“Uh, right,” Prelinsa said. “Well. I still want to know more about you. You already know why some people don’t like me. So I want to hear about why some people don’t like you.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Sure, I think that’s fair,” Corynn said. “It’s a very heavy subject though. Are you sure you want to hear it right now?” The idea of talking about it didn’t seem to bother her – she seemed more concerned about Prelinsa.

“I am,” Prelinsa said. There wasn’t much out there that was heavier than what she’d already been through.

“Let’s find somewhere more private, then.”

Corynn guided Prelinsa to a corner of the plaza, where there was a small, single-room building that had no other people in it. It seemed like it was made solely for the purpose of private conversations. She slid the door shut and locked it. There were a table and chairs in the middle of the room.

“Sit down,” she said, a serious look on her face.

Prelinsa did so. Corynn sat across from her.

“The reason people don’t like me is because I’m a clone of my mother, the Matriarch,” the Silvermoon princess began.

“A clone,” Prelinsa repeated. “Like… you were made in a lab somewhere?” She’d heard of cloning from her stay in Cydonia’s hospital, but growing an entire person was restricted heavily by law.

Corynn nodded, seeing that Prelinsa understood. “That’s right. I was created, not born.”

“And your mom wasn’t the one who wanted you made,” Prelinsa guessed. She recalled that Corynn was supposedly adopted. Adoption didn’t make any sense if the Matriarch was the one who ordered Corynn’s creation.

“She wasn’t,” Corynn confirmed. “I was created by a radical militant group known as the Magic Freedom Fighters. They were trying to clone Mother, and create an army of magic soldiers with the power of phoenixfire. I was one of many sisters, but none of us could be created with a Phoenix Spark. In the end, House Silvermoon dismantled the Fighters, and I was adopted by Mother.”

“But you’re a Phoenix Warrior now, right?”

“Only because Mother gave me a Phoenix Spark.”

Prelinsa paused, uncertainly. “…What happened to your sisters?” She dared ask.

“They died,” Corynn said sadly, her ears drooping. This time, she did seem really bothered. “We were all much too new for the world to really understand what was happening to us. For the sake of efficiency, we were created with the bodies of children, but we were even more naive than that. The worst thing was that we never got the love and care that children need. While we were with the Fighters, we were experimented on in terrible ways. To them, we weren’t children, let alone people. We were tools. No, less than tools. After all the torture, I was the only one who survived.”

Prelinsa’s right hand balled up into a fist, as she seethed with anger. Her left hand would’ve done the same, but it just twitched. “That’s fucking awful.” She could relate, having experienced the terrible conditions on the slaver ship. The slavers didn’t treat her as a person, either. If it weren’t for Rona, she might well have died.

But what Corynn went through sounded far, far worse. She hadn’t had a mother like Prelinsa, or anyone like Rona to help her, and she didn’t even understand what was happening to her. As her sisters died around her one by one, she too might have died never knowing any better. Until she was rescued, that life of inhumane suffering and abuse was the only one she ever knew.

“It was fucking awful,” Corynn agreed, not mincing Prelinsa’s words. “That’s one reason why I see Mother as my savior, and look up to her. She’s done so much for me. She saved me from the Fighters, showed me what it means to be a person, and taught me how to live my own life. She and my siblings taught me everything that I know. Because of that, I’m incredibly grateful to all of them.”

“I can only imagine,” Prelinsa said, her anger still not fading. “But some people still treat you unfairly here. Even if it’s not as bad, they don’t even know what you went through.”

“Please calm down, Prelinsa,” Corynn said softly. “I’m living my best life right now, and won’t let some ignorant people get to me. I need you to calm down before I continue.”

“Right.” Prelinsa took deep breaths, doing her best to ease her rage. Letting go of her anger was hard. Corynn let her do so for several, long moments before continuing.

“…Like you said, even here in Pyrus, there are still people who view me unfavorably. Some still think of me as a tool, or a thing,” she said. “Others are wary of me because of my time with the Fighters. And then there are some who are jealous, because they think Mother shows me favoritism as her clone. I used to worry about that, so I asked her about it.”

Prelinsa leaned forward, curiously. “What did she say?”

Corynn smiled at that. “She said it didn’t matter that I was her clone. If I wasn’t fit to learn the Path of the Phoenix, then she wouldn’t teach it to me. And if I ended up being irredeemable, she would disown me herself. That day, I learned there’s more to me than just being a tool or a clone. I am Corynn Silvermoon. I am both my mother’s disciple and daughter.”

She really did seem at peace with this idea – so much so that what other people thought genuinely didn’t bother her. It was enough for her to have people who treated her with the respect she deserved, and saw past her origins. No – it was enough for her to see all of those things for herself.

“Well… I’m happy for you,” Prelinsa said, giving her a crooked smile. And yet, she also envied Corynn for not only escaping from her suffering, but finding a real mother for herself. It was a really horrible feeling, after hearing everything Corynn had gone through. Prelinsa still needed the immunosuppressants to keep her condition from getting worse. She had also been growing closer with Missus B. – even more so than she could’ve imagined – but still had a bit of a hard time calling the ailuran woman mom.

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Corynn called it out where she saw it, and it stung Prelinsa, who made a bit of an ashamed face at that. “It’s okay to be jealous. We all have different worries and different ways of handling them, and you haven’t gotten over… everything that’s happened to you. But I think you still have a good mother. Missus B. seems like a wonderful person.”

“Right. It’s just… hard. It feels weird calling Missus B. mom,” Prelinsa mumbled, looking down at her hands.

“Well, you can think of it as both of them being your moms,” Corynn suggested.

“Hmm.”

“For now, you don’t need to think too hard about it.” She stood, coming around and hugging Prelinsa tightly.

Prelinsa tensed up briefly, then relaxed and accepted the embrace. It was warm, and very comfortable – more so than Corynn’s appearance alone would suggest. The two of them stayed that way for several long moments, as Prelinsa’s turbulent emotions were calmed.

Eventually, Corynn withdrew, and patted Prelinsa on the shoulder a few times.

“Let’s walk around for a bit to digest our food,” she said. “I can show you a little more around White Blossom Fortress. After that, we’ll go back to the training field. We won’t fight – just watch people spar.”

Prelinsa nodded. “Sure,” she said.

----------------------------------------

After a relatively quiet evening, Prelinsa entered her house.

“I’m home!” She called out, the door shutting behind her.

“Prelinsa!” Missus B. rushed over to give her a hug. She didn’t even give Prelinsa a chance to take off her shoes. “They told me everything about what happened! My gods, are you okay?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t even hurt,” Prelinsa said, showing Missus B. her left hand. The only sign that anything went wrong was that this hand was still stiff and moved awkwardly. But it was already much better than it was earlier in the day, when Prelinsa could barely move it properly at all.

Missus B. pulled back and sized things up, frowning as she watched Prelinsa struggle to move her fingers. “Well. I don’t wanna be too preachy since ya got hurt by people who really hate your guts. But at the same time, I do hope ya learned an important lesson today,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Don’t be too reckless, ya hear me? This time it was just a hand, and Missus Matriarch was there to fix it up. Ya got off real easy this time.”

Prelinsa nodded, grimacing at the memory. “Yeah. I’ll try to be more careful. I don’t want to feel anything like that ever again,” she replied.

Missus B. slapped her on the shoulder. “Good. I’m not gonna talk your ear off now – dinner’s almost ready. Just go shower and I’ll have everything ready for ya by the time you’re done!”

“Thanks, Missus-” Prelinsa paused, struggling for the words. “…Thanks, mom,” she said, more quietly.

Missus B. laughed. “Well now, what brought this on?”

“I thought it was fine to think of you as my second mom. It was Corynn’s idea.”

The old cat lady smiled warmly. “Bless both of your hearts. Ya know, I always did think of ya as something like a daughter.”

Prelinsa smiled back, awkwardly.