Vignette Summary: Dealing with the fallout of DL-6 and other personal issues, Misty leaves Kurain Village. She tells herself it will only be temporary.
Tags: Angst
Word Count: 6,679
CW: Brief reference at beginning to post-partum depression and body image issues.
Date: Thursday, January 3rd, 2002
Time: 1:15 pm
Location: Fey Manor, Kurain Village
The months and years immediately following Maya's birth were hard on Misty. Hormonally, Maya's pregnancy left Misty feeling quite tired, weepy, spacey, and anxious postpartum. She had what the villagers called the "gloomies," a very trivial name for a very challenging condition.
Like with her first, Misty experienced deep insecurity from the effects of pregnancy on her body. The issues had been there since she was a little girl, but pregnancy left her spiraling, especially a second pregnancy where the changes were more dramatic.
When she was pregnant ten years earlier, Sean was very supportive, and it made the issues seem manageable. With Maya, the marriage had become so strained by then that his unwavering support had waned. He made attempts to console her and mend her issues, but his attempts were less frequent and tepid. Mentally, he had already checked out.
He seemed happy with the family's new addition, despite Maya not being the boy he wanted, but Misty soon realized that his happiness was fleeting. He left three months after Maya was born, taking only a duffel bag and leaving only a one-page note.
In his note, he detailed his anguish over the decision but how he ultimately thought leaving was his only choice. He told Misty he loved her and the girls and that he was sorry, but the apology rang false. She couldn't see how that was possibly true. If he truly loved them, he wouldn't have left. Simple as that.
When the wound was fresh, she destroyed the letter, but soon regretted it. A part of her knew that Mia would have liked to see it. She consoled herself over her mistake by telling herself that, if he truly cared for Mia to have an explanation, he would have given her one himself. He would have tried calling shortly after. He would have done something.
The other villagers were somewhat sympathetic after he left, but not as much as she needed. Her husband of 11 years had left forever, leaving her a single mother of two kids and in an even more fragile state.
To them, he was mostly another number. One more man who unceremoniously left. The disdain was palpable, but his faults were shared with a century of men before him and her circumstances treated as common.
As if it couldn't get any worse, Mystic Ami died the following year. A superstitious woman, Ami was happy to both make it to the new millennium and to die in the millennium year. She had been ill for some time and feared she wouldn't reach the milestone.
Death was just the way of life in the Village. It was how they earned much of their livelihood and the death of one Master was needed for the next to take her place. While Misty had a greater pragmatism about death than her outsider counterparts, she still experienced grief over the death of her mother. Grief she wasn't allowed to wallow in.
Further exacerbating Misty's turmoil was the choice of Kurain Master in the wake of Ami's death. When they opened Ami's Master's talisman after she died, they found a note inside, recommending Misty take her place. Misty's powers had overtaken Morgan's and Mia was primed to be another worthy heir, unlike Dahlia or Iris.
The town council always held a vote on the new Master after the death of the previous one, but this was merely a ceremonial gesture. A rubber-stamping of sorts. The Master always bequeathed her title to her eldest daughter and the council always vote "yay" on this motion unanimously.
When given more agency, go with the Master or go with tradition, they chose to go with the Master's choice, voting for Misty. There were only two "nays" on the motion: Misty and Mia. In a show of good will to her sister, Misty voted to keep the status quo and asked Mia to do the same. However, it was a futile gesture with only two of them.
When it came time for Morgan to vote, she also voted for her sister, knowing the writing was on the wall. She could only view Misty and Mia's gestures as pitying.
After the vote went through, Misty and Morgan's families were asked to switch houses. Misty became the rightful mistress of Fey Manor and Morgan was asked to leave her home since birth and move next door to the Branch Manor. She had spent the entirety of her marriage under the prying eyes of her mother but, the second Ami died, she was kicked out.
After Morgan lost the title, Reginald made it clear that he was not interested in anything other than her position and the connections that came with it. Living with Ami, he heard many stories about her exploits. Her meetings with top-ranked police officers and government officials. Her spiritual espionage to help the country spy on foreign dignitaries. Those meetings and connections would now be Misty's instead.
He made a final play for those powers, making an advance on a single Misty which she righteously rebuffed. Misty did the right thing, confiding to Morgan what Reg tried to do before he left, but it only made Morgan resent her more. Without anything left he could do to secure his connections to the Master, he left shortly after Ami died, a few weeks before the twins' seventh birthday.
Reg was never the most doting father, but taking the girls was one last knife twist he could give Morgan before he left. He thought it only fitting after she wasted some of his best years and failed to uphold her end of the bargain. He brought riches to her village, and she was supposed to bring him more power and influence.
The girls meant the world to Morgan, but she was always a creature of tradition and didn't fight the rules of the Village once they left. Without legal due process, her ex-husband had full custody. Misty offered to change the rules on banishment, but Morgan refused, as much as it pained her to do so. Traditions had to be upheld and the last thing she wanted was her traitorous sister coming to her rescue.
Morgan tried not to hold animosity towards Misty, but it was hard not to after everything that happened. Misty was always the sweet one and the pretty one, but she was also just the spare. Their gender and close ages would have naturally put them in competition, but Morgan having the birthright tempered some of the comparisons and enmity. Then, her title was taken, her home, her husband, and her girls.
Morgan also felt like a failure for not producing a suitable heir. While Misty found a spouse and became pregnant in three months, it wasn't that easy for Morgan. After years of no success and multiple miscarriages, Reg paid for expensive fertility treatments in the city, and she finally had her girls, nearly five years after Mia was born.
The poison stung her even more when her ex-husband remarried, took in his new wife's children, and decided he didn't have room in his life for both twins. Shortly after, he left Iris in the care of Morgan's third cousin at Hazakura Temple. After ripping her girls away from her, he couldn't even be bothered to raise both of them.
While she didn't admit it out loud, Morgan did feel vindicated when Misty disgraced the Village, only a little over a year into her position. Misty was asked to channel a murder victim for a case, a task that she and her mother had done for the police many times before. However, this case, DL-6, turned out to be no ordinary case.
The victim, defense attorney Gregory Edgeworth, had been trapped in a courthouse elevator for hours with his son and Yanni Yogi, a bailiff. He was found murdered when the doors finally opened.
The police presumed the murderer had to be the bailiff and not Gregory's nine-year-old son but both suspects had completely passed out next to the dead body. Misty channeled the victim, he implicated Mr. Yogi, and the state charged him for the crime.
However, through disingenuous tactics by defense attorney Robert Hammond, the defendant was found not criminally liable for the murder. He argued that the defendant killed the victim while devoid of oxygen, rendering him temporarily insane and not of sound mind. He lacked the necessary mens rea to be charged with second degree murder. The defendant, despite protestations to his innocence, was given psychological counseling, psychoanalysis, and state monitoring but ultimately walked free.
After the trial ended, Misty initially didn't think much about the case. The victim had implicated the defendant, and he was proven to be the killer, even if he was granted freedom. Shortly after the case though, smear articles and TV hit pieces came out that painted the case in a different light.
In the media's portrayal of the story, the police ridiculously relied on the help of a spirit medium to win their case but lost, proving the medium to be a fraud. The finer details of the case were not mentioned at all. Soon, the public began to view Misty, Kurain Village, and the police as a big joke. The Village's reliability and reputation was run into the ground.
The police apologized to Misty, saying they had no idea how the information was leaked, but they still pulled their support from the Village. The police and state government had secretly utilized the services of the Village for decades but needed to sever ties, at least for the time being. They didn't know the identity of the leaker, and they couldn't risk the reputational hit if another incident occurred.
Misty soon became a pariah back home. The villagers still called her Master but only out of obligation. In hushed voices, they gossiped about her. How she failed to live up to her mother's pristine 30-year track record as the Master. How Misty had ruined them financially by destroying the Village's reputation. Even their cottage industry of providing spirit channeling to grieving civilians had nosedived.
They started to wonder if Morgan was the right choice after all. Maybe going with tradition instead of Ami would have been more sensible. Too, if Morgan was the Master, Reg would have stayed and continued to tithe some of his jewelry empire earnings to the Village. As it was, they had to ramp up their agricultural and crafting production to pay their bills.
Misty felt completely helpless and unsupported. She kept playing the incident over and over in her head, but she couldn't figure out what she should have done differently. She had implicated the true killer with her channeling, even if he wasn't imprisoned. The only thing she could have done differently was ask for more details about the killing. In hindsight, it felt silly not to, but this series of events was unprecedented.
Sometimes, she would even get calls from the salacious press and media, looking for her input and comments on that case. She wasn't even sure how they got her number. After several of these calls, she was beginning to question if she'd have to change her phone number. Before she had decided though, she received an unexpected call from someone else: her ex-husband.
"Hello," Misty answered.
"Hi. Happy belated birthday," Sean responded.
Misty was silent for a moment. There was a time shortly after he left where she had hoped for this call. Two and a half years later, and with everything else going on in her life, it was now very much unwanted.
"Why are you calling?" she asked severely.
He ignored her tone. "I was just checking in to see if you were okay."
"Really? Almost three years later and you suddenly care how I'm doing?"
"Well..." He hesitated. "I had heard about your case."
Misty swallowed. "The story made its way to the States?"
"Yeah. Somewhat. It's not a huge story or anything. I was watching a late-night show, and they had a joke about it in the opening monologue."
Misty laughed bitterly. "Thanks for calling just to tell me what a joke I am. I'm glad to know that the sentiment has crossed country lines."
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't call to rub it in your face. I promise."
"Why are you calling then?
"You're the Master now, right? That's how you got involved in that case?"
"Yes. My mother died two Septembers ago. She gave the title to me instead."
"I'm sorry about your mother. Or, congrats? Not sure what's appropriate."
"Yes," Misty replied, technically not responding to either of his sentiments.
"So, you can change the rules, then?"
Misty scoffed. "It all becomes very clear. You want me to fix your mistake?"
"I want to make things right. I'm back home, but I finally finished school. I have a new job, and I'm making decent money now. I can come visit a couple times a year, and the girls could come see me."
"Yes, but you left knowing you weren't allowed back. You didn't even try calling once."
"I know... I just... I figured you hated me. You didn't even get in contact when my lawyer sent the divorce papers."
"What was I supposed to do? You left us. I wasn't going to argue about it when you clearly wanted to leave."
"Maybe we could have figured things out in litigation."
"Really? You sent divorce papers, hoping we would reconcile?"
"No, you're right," he conceded. "I don't know. I guess I was hoping for more than a signature."
"That's all you deserved. All you left me was a note."
"I know. I'm sorry. I really struggled over the decision. I did. I just felt like I was drowning. I couldn't stay there anymore."
Misty pushed back. "You were drowning? You left me with a ten-year-old and an infant. You knew I wasn't doing well."
"I'm sorry. I'll say it a hundred times if you want. I can't build a time machine though. We can make this right though. Right?"
"I don't know."
"Just change the rule. I wouldn't stay at the Village; I'd stay at a hotel. I could pick them up at least. Then, maybe in the summers, I could fly them out. I just bought a house. I'll get them all set up in my spare bedroom."
"You have a house now?"
"Yes."
"All that space just for one person?"
He paused. "I got remarried last year. We're having a son in a few months."
"Of course you did. Moved on rather quickly."
"It kind of just happened."
"I'm sure it did. Glad to hear you're doing well without us. Was she also a divorcée?"
"No, she was never married before."
"So, she's younger, then?"
He sighed. "She's 27."
She sneered. "Why am I not surprised? You did turn 40 last year, so it looks like your midlife crisis arrived right on time."
Sean was irritated with her, but also mad at himself for introducing Misty to TV shows where she could have learned that term. "Look, I'm not going to be lectured about this by you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"'Misty, go to the city. Look for the biggest, dumbest idiot you can find. Marry him, have his kids, treat him like garbage, and then get angry when he leaves.' Or am I supposed to believe you had the best of intentions when you went to the hardware store that day?"
Misty didn't know what to say. It wasn't exactly like that, but it wasn't not like that either. "I'm sorry," she said insincerely. "I'm just surprised. We were already so different in age and then you marry someone even younger."
"I wasn't trawling the bars looking for a younger model. I met her at church for Christ sakes."
"You're religious now?" Misty asked incredulously.
Sean had renounced his old faith to live in the Village, but he was never an enthusiastic participant in their ceremonies and rituals.
"Not really," he admitted. "I had no money when I left, so I had to move back home. A condition of me living there was going back to church. Laura is the daughter of my parents' friends from church. She just got out of a bad relationship… the timing worked out."
"She got out of a bad relationship and her parents thought that an absentee father was a good replacement?"
"Yes, I'm better than her abusive ex-boyfriend," he growled back.
"Sorry," Misty said softly. She felt ashamed even though she couldn't have known.
There was a beat. "Obviously, I called at a bad time. Can you just think on it?" Sean asked.
"I don't know." It was hard for her to even think right now. Today really was the worst time for him to call.
"Misty, I know I fucked up, but I'm trying not to be a deadbeat."
When Sean first left, he felt justified. That cult of a Village did this; it wasn't his fault. Then, the thoughts of being another male statistic weighed on him. That and being a worse father than his dad. Sean might have left while his dad stayed, but there were many times growing up where Sean wished he hadn't. Yet, when his life fell apart and he had to move back home, at least his dad was there for him. He had even stopped drinking and somewhat apologized. Sean had to fix this.
"Please don't be so vulgar," Misty requested.
Misty never liked swearing and Sean had mostly observed this rule while they were together. Now, he didn't care.
"I'll talk how I want to."
"And I'll hang up and change my number," she countered.
"Is it really best for the girls for you to keep them from me?"
She laughed sardonically. "You don't get to tell me what's best for the girls. You left."
"I can't keep going around in circles on this with you. I'm sorry. I'm trying. I wouldn't have left if that Village of yours wasn't so fucked up."
That was a gut punch to Misty, and she responded in kind. "That's not my fault. I didn't make the rules. I also told you everything. No one tricked you into living there!"
"I know." He exhaled. "I don't think anyone could have prepared me for it." He paused. "You have the power now though. You can change things."
"Maybe."
"Think about it."
"Okay," she agreed. "Goodbye."
"Bye."
They both hung up.
After the call, Misty thought about it with mixed feelings. She knew it would be better for the girls to grow up with a father. She was completely overwhelmed though, with two kids, no support from the Village, tabloids smearing her name, and an ex-husband needling her.
That evening, a few more phone calls made up her mind for her. Before Mia got home from school, another journalist called Misty. When Misty hung up on him after the first call, he called back two more times in quick succession.
When the three of them were eating supper that evening, another called. Mia went to answer the phone, but Misty instructed her to leave it, saying it was just another tabloid. Misty called the phone company first thing the next morning and managed to get a technician later that same day to change her phone number.
The calls finally stopped but her fragile mental state had not improved. She just needed a break; she told herself. Time to reset and figure things out. It wouldn't be like what he did. She would go away for a little bit and come back. She was the Master; she could do that. She wasn't being a bad mother. She was leaving to fix herself, so she could be a better mother.
Late on Saturday night, after the kids had gone to bed, she wrote two notes. One for Mia, and one for Morgan. She wrapped up Mia's birthday gift in case she ended up being longer than a few weeks. She packed a bag, including the family photo albums, so she could have her daughters with her while she was away.
Early the following morning, she left Mia's note and gift on the kitchen counter. She placed Morgan's note in her mailbox. Then, she took her car and drove away. She didn't know then that she wouldn't ever be back.
Date: Sunday, January 6th, 2002
Time: 7:23 am
Location: Fey Manor, Kurain Village
Mia was going to be a teenager soon and found herself waking up later and later the older she got. Gone were the days when she was up at the crack of dawn and knocking on her parents' door like she did as a little girl.
On days when she didn't have school, she usually wouldn't wake up until 9 am and only because Misty wouldn't let her sleep in past that. It wasn't virtuous to sleep that late; Misty told her. More and more, Misty's queenly and melodic voice would greet her as Mia woke up, with a gentle knock on her bedroom door and a "Mia, it's time to wake up, dear."
This morning, however, she woke up earlier than normal, to the tear-streaked face of her cute early-riser sister and her higher-pitched tones. "Mia?" Maya asked, sniffling.
Mia opened her eyes. "Maya, what's wrong?" she asked groggily before checking her alarm clock.
"Where's Mom?"
Mia smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, Sis. You know Mom gets called away sometimes. Do you want to stay here until she gets back?" Maya nodded. "Come here."
Maya climbed up, crawled under the covers, and snuggled up to her big sister.
Mia didn't wake up again until hours later, her very bored and very wide-awake little sister playing with her hair. She checked her alarm clock again: 11:03 am. She had never slept in that late, so her mom couldn't be home yet. Mia wondered where she could be but figured it must be important.
"Are you messing up my hair?" Mia asked playfully.
"I make it pretty!"
Mia smiled. "Why don't we have some breakfast?"
"Okay! Cereal?"
"I'll see what we have."
They both got up and Mia led Maya by the hand into the hallway. "Mom?" Mia called out. There was no answer. They walked to their mom's bedroom and found the door open and no one inside. The bed was perfectly made, and the room was pristinely clean.
Mia went to the kitchen next, finding an envelope with her name sitting on the counter along with a wrapped gift. She was confused; her birthday was still almost three weeks away. Maybe her mom was too excited and gave it to her early. 13 was a big milestone.
Mia left it for a moment and got Maya her breakfast. They never had any "fun" cereals in the house, but she put a heaping spoonful of sugar into Maya's unsweetened whole wheat cereal and milk since her mom wasn't there to object. Maya was a notorious sugarholic, so was quite pleased with the addition.
While Maya munched her cereal and nibbled on her banana, Mia opened the envelope and read what it said. Her head started spinning once she read through most of it and realized what it meant. Her mom had left. She said she'd be back, but she didn't say when.
Misty poured her heart into the letter, explaining how much she loved them, but how hurt, stressed, and ashamed she had been since DL-6. She didn't detail the other issues causing her distress.
Mia was still young, but she could understand why the case would affect her mom so greatly. She didn't know the full details, but she knew how people talked and how the news harassed her. Even her young classmates had disparaged her mother. All Mia hoped was that she'd get better and come back soon.
She unwrapped her present and read the small card in the box: These were your grandmother's. Now that you're so grown up, I wanted you to have them.
Inside was a pair of diamond earrings, so beautiful, but also so priceless that Mia was almost scared to wear them. She re-lidded the box and put it back on the counter.
Mia planned to make herself something to eat too, but she was too sick to her stomach. The last time she felt this anxious, her dad had left. It wasn't going to be the same this time; she reminded herself. Her mom said she was coming back.
While Mia was silently contemplating, Maya generously offered Mia a bite of her cereal. Mia politely declined.
"Want to go to Aunt Morgan's after you finish eating?" Mia asked.
"Okay."
Mia wanted to go next door as soon as Maya finished, but made sure she and Maya were changed out of their pajamas and presentable first. Formality wasn't important to her, given the circumstances, but Aunt Morgan would lecture them if they weren't dressed properly at noon time.
When Mia knocked on her aunt's door, Morgan immediately noted Mia's distressed countenance and how it contrasted with Maya's wide smile.
"Hi, Aunt Morgan," Maya chirped.
"Hi, dear," Morgan responded. She bent down to Maya's level. "Would you like to watch TV in the living room?"
Maya nodded enthusiastically.
"Mia, I'll meet you at the kitchen table," Morgan instructed. "I've put some tea on, if you'd like."
Mia nodded in understanding.
Morgan got Maya seated crisscross apple sauce on a fluffy floor cushion, watching a samurai children's program, and then met Mia in the kitchen.
"Did your mother leave you a letter as well?" Morgan asked.
"She did," Mia replied. "Did you see her this morning?"
Morgan shook her head. "Not at all. I wake up at dawn, so she must have left quite early in the morning."
"What did your letter say?"
"Your mother would like me to look after you both while she's away. She has asked me to chair the council meetings until she returns."
"Oh. Will we be moving back here or will you go next door?" Mia asked.
"No, that wouldn't be proper. We'll remain where we are, but I'll look after you. I'm always right next door if you need anything."
Mia smiled feebly. "Thank you, Aunt Morgan."
"That's what family does." Morgan was displeased with being the guardian to her nieces, especially with her sister leaving so senselessly, but she knew it wasn't their fault. They were children and she had a duty to take care of them. "What did your letter say?"
"That she was very ashamed after that case. That she ruined the family name. That she needed some time to feel better. She said she'd be back soon."
"Did she say when she was coming back?"
Mia shook her head. "No. Just soon."
"Same as my letter, then. Well, from now on, you'll come next door for your meals. We'll eat together. I'll do most of Maya's care. Her bathing, getting her dressed, her diapers. You'll need to take the responsibility during the night. You're almost 13 now; I know you can handle it."
"I can," Mia agreed. She was nervous about it all, but she wanted to prove she was capable. "Maya is mostly potty-trained now anyway."
"Well, that helps matters, doesn't it?" Morgan gave Mia a reserved smile. "It'll only be a short while."
Mia simply nodded again and took a sip of her bitter green tea.
Mia never heard from Misty again, but Morgan heard from her three days later. Misty was at a hotel and very distraught. She was ashamed over leaving her daughters but too upset to come back. She meant to call them, but she forgot her new phone number.
Morgan assured her that everyone was okay, but asked Misty to return once she was well. Morgan lied and said she'd ask Mia for the phone number some time but never did. Misty was allowed back; Morgan reasoned. She should have been there with them instead of calling. Morgan knew what it was like to lose her girls. She would have never abandoned them like that.
Later that week, Morgan got a call from Sean. He was up late, watching TV in bed, his pregnant wife sleeping soundly next to him, when there was another joke on a late-night show that piqued his interest: Remember that "spirit medium" back in Japanifornia? Everyone hear about this? They say she's gone missing. Yeah. The police don't know where she is or if she's dead or alive. They say there's somebody who could find out, but she's gone missing! Ah shucks. God, I hate when that happens.
While his heart sank in realization, the crowd responded with shocked murmurs of laughter. He went down to the kitchen and tried to call Mia, but the number was no longer in service. Misty had changed it after all. He called Morgan next.
Morgan made it clear that she had little time for him. Her sister may have disappointed her, but Morgan had no regard for the man who abandoned his children and broke her sister's heart. After Sean called Misty a hypocrite, Morgan hung up on him and temporarily disconnected the line after he tried to call back right away. He tried a few more times in the following months before giving up.
Misty called many more times in the months after she left. She checked in on the girls and on the Village. She asked Morgan to wish Mia a happy birthday and Maya the same when those days came. She tried to give Morgan an estimate of when she'd be back, but she never gave a specific date, and her timeline kept getting pushed back.
After a month, Morgan realized that Misty wouldn't be back soon, despite her protestations to the contrary. Morgan kept assuring her that everyone was fine and that the Village was running well in her absence. While it wasn't real, Morgan was essentially the acting Master, so long as Misty was gone. It was the one silver lining to this situation.
Misty continued to call sporadically over the years, but she never spoke to her daughters. Morgan never passed on the messages either. If Mia knew Misty called, she'd ask to be put on the phone with her. She'd ask Morgan to give Misty her phone number. Morgan maintained that Misty should be there in-person to talk with them herself.
When Misty first left, she got a cheap hotel and paid to stay there for a month. Still not mentally ready to return, and realizing she was running out of money, she started looking for work. She saw an ad in the newspaper for a job at a publishing company as an illustrator. The pay wasn't very good, but it was something she knew she could do that only required an art portfolio instead of a résumé.
She spent many late nights preparing her portfolio with hundreds of drawings and beat out many applicants for the role. Soon, she was illustrating children's activity and coloring books, uncredited. The publisher even allowed her to work from home, something she much preferred, being away from the prying eyes of the public. She soon got her own apartment too, so she would have the space for a studio.
On one serendipitous day, an editor at the company told her that one of their flagship children's authors was retiring and he thought that Misty had the talent to take on the vacancy. Misty knew she needed to go back home eventually, so told him she'd think about it. The editor frankly explained that publishing was a brutal business and that this was a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Never again would someone hand her a publishing deal.
Wanting desperately to continue with her work, knowing in her heart of hearts that it was what she preferred over being the Master, she took the offer and wrote and illustrated her first book under the pen name Elise Deauxnim.
Her first book wasn't a runaway success, but it gradually grew in sales, and she built a following. Misty never did book readings or promotions, but she was successful without it and her publisher was happy to save the money on marketing. Her book was profitable four months after its release, and they offered her another contract. Then, another and another.
After a few years, Misty finally realized that she wouldn't be back. She had too much to give up: her dreams and passions. If only she could share them with her kids, but they would soon have duties and titles of their own back home.
Eventually, on one call, Morgan asked Misty if she would ever come back, and Misty said probably not. Morgan asked her to abdicate, but Misty said no. Mia was set to be the next Master, but she was too young. Misty wanted her to be at least 18 first. Misty asked Morgan to continue leading in the interim, and said she would abdicate once Mia was of age.
Later, Morgan informed Misty that Mia was leaving the Village that summer to go to Ivy University. Misty was shocked by the news but understood. She and Sean both left and maybe Mia realized that was best for her too. Misty still wouldn't abdicate though, knowing the duty would go to Maya next and she was far too young.
Morgan suggested that Misty officially give the duties to Morgan instead, but she refused. Even though Misty didn't want the responsibility, and Morgan had no heir to succeed her at the time, she didn't want to change the line of succession. The role had to go to Maya.
When Misty first left, the thing keeping her away from her daughters was shame and poor mental health. She couldn't handle the responsibility, the gossip of her peers, and the slandering of her name in the press. After years passed, shame is still what kept her away from them but shame of a different kind.
How could she possibly face them after what she did? After two years passed, she felt it was too late. Once five had passed, she wished that she had done something at two years because five years was definitely too late, and two years no longer seemed so bad. And so on, and so forth, until almost fifteen years had passed.
She thought maybe it was for the best anyway. Morgan was running the Village well in her absence. The police still weren't using mediums, but grieving relatives were again. Morgan was even able to pass a motion which allowed all men to work outside the Village without banishment. This brought more wealth and prosperity to the Village.
Maya was doing well with her training without her. Mia was becoming successful as a lawyer, a career Misty never imagined for her daughter but one that she excelled at. She saw many articles and pictures of Mia online. Misty figured, the last time she was home, everything fell apart. She couldn't tempt fate by coming back.
One day, however, Misty had to confront that cognitive dissonance head-on when she saw her daughter in other articles; the ones that reported her murder. She felt ashamed for thinking she was justified in leaving. That everyone was better off without her.
She was inconsolable for months after Mia died and took time off work. She couldn't do anything. Misty thought about channeling her, but she wouldn't be able to channel Mia and see her at the same time. All she wanted to do was hug her.
Misty knew that she had to go back for her other daughter but, with absentia rules, she couldn't justify that either. It had been nearly fifteen years since she left, and Maya would automatically be placed in the Master role once Misty was gone for twenty years. Morgan told her that Maya still wasn't ready though. Misty thought she'd either wait until the absentia rules took effect or wait until Maya was ready to take over; whichever came first.
While still grieving her daughter, Misty received a call from the police. They had figured out where she was years ago and had been tracking her movements, or lack thereof, without her knowledge. Now that the DL-6 case had been retried and solved, they asked Misty to offer her assistance again on a casual basis.
She agreed on two conditions: that she have access to the court database, and that they allow her to channel from home. The police obliged. Once granted access to the database, she learned everything about her daughter's career as a lawyer. All the cases Mia was on and the details of her murder trial and the DL-6 retrial.
Misty read the court transcripts from her daughter's first case. She learned how tragic that case was and noticed that Mia didn't go to trial for over a year after it. The court stenographer didn't catch most conversations at the defense stand but there were fragments of interactions in that transcript between Mia and her co-counsel on that case, him alternating between encouraging her and teasing her. Misty thought this man liked Mia, but she wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual.
When Misty read about Mia's second case, she realized that her daughter had a relationship with this man, although she couldn't tell how serious it was. What she did know for sure is that her niece, little Dahlia, had grown up and poisoned him and killed another man, and that Mia was insistent on avenging them both.
When Misty finally read the records for Mia's murder trial, she grieved the loss all over again. She knew the name of Mia's murderer, Redd White, but she didn't know how he knew Mia or why he killed her. After Misty read the court transcripts, she realized that he was the one who smeared her name after the DL-6 case. Mia had become a lawyer to find her and to punish the man who ruined her reputation. This man found out and killed Mia.
Overwhelmed with guilt, Misty swore she'd be there to protect Maya. To make sure nothing so horrible happened to her too. However, she didn't know what to do. As it was, Misty basically never left her apartment. She only spoke to her publisher and the police over the phone. She planned her errands out in advance and usually gathered everything she needed in monthly intervals and during off-hours.
The only person she saw outside of a few store patrons and cashiers was a young man who showed up at her door one day. She wasn't sure how he found her, but he said he was a big fan and an artist. He asked to be her apprentice, but she said no. He kept showing up, so she eventually relented. She soon found that she liked the company, he was harmless enough, and he was quite complimentary to her and her work.
Besides, Maya was back at the Village, safe and sound, or so she thought. Morgan tried to frame Maya for a murder, a ploy to install her youngest daughter as Master, and Maya narrowly escaped prison and the death penalty. Luckily, Maya had become friends with Mia's lawyer protégé, and he had defended her innocence.
While Misty was alarmed by this news and by her sister's betrayal, she thought any worries about Maya were behind her after Morgan was imprisoned. Then, Maya was kidnapped and held ransom shortly after, once again being saved by Mia's protégé. Misty wanted to do something, but she didn't know how she could have helped, even if she had been there.
Her chance to redeem herself came one day in the form of an unexpected phone call from the prosecutor's office. She soon realized who this man was and why he contacted her, and she agreed to help him. She vowed that she'd be there for Maya and now she would prove it.