Dad and I called it on mom’s reaction for when we got back home. While Sol was still in the sky, he was in the process of greeting other places and leaving us, so by the time we actually got back to our house in the Farming Orbit, our shadows were as long as we were tall, of which we were taller than most others in the Conclave. When we approached our door, the figure of my mother was there to greet us. She was much shorter than we were, easily by a head and a half in my case and two heads in my dad’s.
Yet the figure that stood before us appeared taller and more menacing than what either my father or myself could have anticipated. The lecture we received that night was no mere lecture as I have had previously, my mother went all out on making sure that it was well drilled into not just my head, but the head of my Father as well, ab out how worried she was, about how much heart ache we caused her, and how much more difficult her day was with having to watch Elaine and make sure, and I quote, “that the house didn’t fall apart any further than what it already had.”
After the first thirty minutes of lecturing us she broke down crying as all her pent-up emotions were spent and relief began to spread across her face. Bending down next to where she had us sitting on the floor, she gave us a hug that lasted longer than I would have liked, but long enough for her to calm down. In and amongst the hugs, the years of farm work showed as she liked to have crushed both myself and my dad in half causing the both of us to try and gasp for breath. Not that either of us had room to complain about her reaction.
After some more time passed and she began to calm down, we started to explain the reason we were gone for so long using bits and pieces of the cover story provided to us at the meeting with the gods. And it’s a good thing too, because we talked about how we should word it so that there aren’t any major gaps between what I said and what my dad said, that and I needed a new shirt due to the whole being touched by Sol moment. So when mom’s interrogation finally started, she took my father to their room and talked to him there for a bit, and then came out to where I was seated in the living room and talked with me.
Explaining that I was in the Center because I was nervous and looking for guidance from Sol about what I’m supposed to do when I become an adult in what is basically 5 days at this point, I spent so long looking for answers that I fell asleep; and how his Luminous, making sure to leave out the whole ‘I know his name’ bit, was interested in me as to why I was nervous when I hadn’t been up to that point. It basically boiled down to a sudden case of bad nerves sue due to the uncertainty of what my life would entail. Up to this point, I had lived my life under my parents with really no worry as to what tomorrow would hold because I knew I would have help; but come the transition ceremony I just a few days, it will be more expected of me to deal with problems more independently than requiring someone to fix my problems for me. Looked like mom bought it because her expression softened quite a bit. Well thank Sol for that… or should I thank Luna?
Both? Both sounds good.
I’ll continue to send prayers and thanks to both until I am otherwise told what to do. I can’t see this going to horribly considering Sol told me not to forget my roots while listening to Luna.
My mother, Justicia, was of average height, if maybe a bit on the short side, when it came to the people of the Conclave. Her hair was a soft yellow and tied up in a bun on the back side of her head, and held together with a wooden comb my father made on his down time during his patrols. She had eyes as blue as the sky and a slightly freckled complexion. Her usual serious personality betrayed her soft looks, but was reinforced by her fierce gaze when she decided to make her presence known.
As Sol had stated, my mother had the uncanny ability of piecing together events from fractured pieces of information, forming a cohesive picture. This ability has come into play a few times during the harsher cold seasons when our food reserves had depleted faster than she thought they would have. One of which was this past cold season. Two days after discovering that our food had dropped further than it should have, she caught the culprit, well, culprits in this case. Turns out some rodents had dug into the store room and were taking food from the back forward. Considering their size and the fact she had to make several trips to bring them all up, we got to eat rodent for the next few days. When we inquired as to how she was able to do that, she simply chuckled to us and said to ‘not touch any of the food unless I’m present, unless you want to be bed ridden for the next few days.’
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Intentional threat or not, my dad, sister, and myself decided to not take any chances and leave the food cellar to mom. It was safer for everyone that way.
As we finished our conversation, she got up and knocked on the door to her room letting my father know that he could come out now. It was always humbling to see the strongest person I know be submissive to someone so much shorter than him. As my father came out, my mother went to the hall, planted her feet and crossed her arms. After a few moments, my sister began to walk out of the door frame that lead to her room. Her tiny frame clutching the stuffed rabbit that was roughly her size. After a moment, Elaine began speaking. “I didn’t mean to listen in, but you were so loud mom, it was kind of hard not to.”
A few moments more, she stated more than asked one more line. “… It was the opening of the door wasn’t it? I thought I had opened slow enough for you not to notice…”
“it was in fact the door, yes,” my mother answered through a shaky voice that betrayed her recent rush of emotions. “You’re a few years to early for trying to fool my eyes,” she said as she took a pointer finger and pointed to her eyes. “Now back to bed with you missy, it is way passed Sol’s descent, and you need to get up early with me tomorrow.”
“Ok.” Elaine said dejectedly. As she went to turn, she stopped, looked at me, and bolted in my direction. Crossing the distance between us faster than I thought her legs could carry her. Reaching me, in one fluid motion, she wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a hug as strong as her tiny arms could muster. “Good night Ady, and welcome back.” Releasing me just as quickly as she hugged me, she turned back and started walking back to her room, a much brighter mood than when she came out.
“Night El, see you tomorrow.”
By this time my father had fully exited the room and joined mom and I. swooping down to pick Elaine up and give her a quick hug before putting down was an action met with an accompaniment of giggles. “Good night daddy. Good night mommy.”
“Good night,” they both responded in unison. As the door to Elain’s room closed, my mom turned to both of us and spoke. “You’re hiding something, the both of you. But your stories matched and it was a reasonable enough excuse for why you, Adamas, disappeared for a night. And why you, dear Daimos, decided not to return within a reasonable amount of time. However, your stories match to well, there’s no tiny bits of discrepancies between the two of you, just your stories told from your views, but the events happened the same way. So don’t think for a second that either of you are scot-free just yet. I’ll find what it was the two of you were hiding. But for now,” she said as she once again wrapped her arms around the necks of both myself and my father, “I’m simply glad behind belief that the both of you returned safe and sound.”
Taking a step away from me and grabbing my father’s hand, she motioned with her head in a ‘I’m done with you now’ gesture and saying “Shoo”. So off to my room I went. In the distance behind me I heard the door to their room open and shut before I even got to my door. I guess dad’s in for another round of interrogation again. Your sacrifice will be remembered. I thought to myself as I let out a slight chuckle.
Getting to my room, I open and close the door in a fluid motion, with me sliding through the slight gap made in that brief moment. My door seemed to shut harder than I thought it would have as a SLAM echoed through my small room. Apparently not hard as I thought it had as no one seemed to have responded to the loud noise. “It… it was loud, right?” I said to myself as I stood looking at the door. Striding across the floorboards that comprised the floor in my room, I walk past the few embellishments that adorn it. A small sized desk with two drawers on the right side that held any of the given assignments that Bright Daphne assigned throughout the weeks. A feather rested as my writing utensil with a small well of black ink sat in a small indentation on the right of the desk above the drawers. After the desk was the simple rack that my dad made for me so I could hang what clothes I did have up. And then my bed.
Oh how I’ve missed this thing now that I see it. Not even bothering to take my shirt off before crawling onto it and resting my head on my pillow. Pulling up my blanket as I looked out the window at the crescent moon that peered through my window. Nodding off to sleep, I could have sworn I saw Luna sitting on the bottom of the crescent overlooking everything much like Sol through the day. As the last bits of consciousness left me, I thought I saw her look at me, and mouth ‘sleep tight’.
The next thing I remember, Sol was beaming into my eyes. Best sleep I’ve had in the past few nights.