For a hostage situation, the ninja and the flame tribeswoman were very calm. I half-expected the food they served me to be drugged with a sleeping agent, but I slept regardless. Of course, I was still bound on both my wrists and ankles.
*knock* *knock*
Maybe my food was drugged-I couldn't wake up to see who it was, but it had only been an hour since I ate and went to bed.
"This is Lady Weiss?"
"Yes."
"Well done, Kaze. I am here with new orders from Advisor Yukimura."
Some silence, and some movement of a papers to review the new orders.
"…I understand."
"Understood. We'll take it from here."
"Will you allow me to stay with Lady Weiss until the destination?"
"Negative. You have your orders, Suzukaze."
"I understand."
I was suddenly lifted up and transferred outside of the pavilion and into a transport like box. Once inside, the box was shut, and any means of seeing the outside were shrouded by curtains.
Aside from going to Hoshido to be returned to my "mother" and family, I was truly traveling blind.
Do not resist. Remember yourself, Empress.
Iago's voice, but it also sounded like the songstress I met not long ago.
Empress…there wasn't anyone in the Nohrian royalty that I knew of that had the titleEmpress.
I was too tired to think any further.
…
I ended up not getting enough sleep, not from how the people were moving the box, but where they were moving the box. The armor I wore was meant for the harsh winters of the Northern Fortress-I was making a hotbox, with no means of changing clothes.
"Advisor…"
We were meeting an Advisor?
"Lady Weiss…"
I stifled a yawn, but it prevented me from hearing the conversation fully.
"Bring her out here."
They were taking me out. The box was opened-
"Augh…"
It was too bright-something grabbed my arms, and pulled me out of the box.
"Stand tall, milady."
I stood as tall as I could, despite being cramped in a strange box for so long.
"Welcome back, Lady Weiss."
I barely opened my eyes to see who was in front of me. It was a man with small spectacles. At his sides were a pair of dog-looking puppets.
"I am Advisor Yukimura. It's an honor to be in your presence, which means that the operation was successful."
I was too tired to speak.
"Your mother will be pleased to know that you are returned home, but I cannot allow that event immediately. For the time being, before you meet her, I will have you placed in the stockades-"
I wasn't listening anymore, but I was looking in his direction. My vision was clearing up. It was mid-morning. The skies overhead were a blue I had never seen in Nohr. In front of me, behind the Advisor, the space was filled with pink-colored trees with pink petals falling from them. Everywhere I could see was filled with the colors of red, white and pink, like it was something out of a dream, coupled with the very little sleep I was able to get. How long has it been?
"…so for the moment, get comfortable with what you can do here. Do you understand, Lady Weiss?"
My wondering and awestruck was stopped by this question. I nodded nonchalantly.
"Advisor, she appears to be tired from the travel."
"Very well. Have her cleaned up and interned. I will lead."
I couldn't resist as I was ushered forwards, but I resumed being awestruck by the colors on the trees. Sure, I had seen then on the soldiers that raided the Northern Fortress, but here they were meaning life and…peace to give it two words.
And I was ushered on. Even though my boots were still on me, I could feel how soft the ground was, how it was soft to walk on and not enough to sink your feet in with every step. Imagine if the Northern Fortress had this ground-you could grow anything!
"Advisor, she's taking her time."
"Let her. This is a new environment to her, but keep her moving."
This all felt strangely familiar, as if I had been here before. The way the sun warmed the bare parts of my skin, how the wind blew calmly-I don't have any memories of being here, but-
"Hold."
I was suddenly stopped in front of a building. Still carrying the red and white motif of Hoshido, but it felt austere compared to the peace surrounding it.
I was awake with every amount of my being now. All of this is to be my prison.
...
*splash*
Cold!
*scrub* *scrub* *scrub* *scrub* *scrub*
And the cleaning was soabrasive!"Augh!"
I was being restrained on both hands, forced to have my palms to the wall while facing the wall, and was being cleaned with coarse brushes. Thanks the Gods for decency, since it was women that were cleaning my body.
"Left leg up, please."
I lifted my leg-"Ah!?"
*scrub* *scrub* *scrub*
My soles were being scrubbed, and once that was done, they would be getting my right foot.
*scrub* *scrub* *scrub*
*splash*
Ah-cold again.
wrap*
Looks like they were done, and started drying me off. At least this part wasn't as rough.
I was still shivering, but the room was warm.
My new attire, a white cloth of a material that I had never felt in my life, was draped over me. The advisor came into the room, and checked on my cleanliness.
"She has been washed, Advisor."
"Alright. Bring in the physician."
I was sat down on a nearby chair while still restrained. A new face appeared in the room. She was someone a lot older than all of us in the room, glasses over her eyes, carrying a stave and a book in her hands, and a rather large backpack.
"…Lady Weiss…how wonderful."
She knew of me?
"Nohrian…at least 10 years…haaaaahhhh…"
*snore* *snore* *snoorre*
We were all confused.
"Ahem!"
The advisor roused her.
"Yes…Yes…I will check up on her. Please..."
*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*
*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*
Everyone else left the room, not before shackling me to the wall. The physician had her book opened in her left hand, and her stave in her right. She moved the stave in a circular motion, and then the book in her left hand started to float in the air, and travel in front of her. A blue aura encompassed the book, and then…letters of strange orient of the same color started coming from out of the book and swirling around me. Some of them letters started turning green or red.
The physician reviewed the book. "No traces of any known diseases, from Nohr. Hoshido might be different if you stay here without conditioning."
She then removed her backpack, and pulled out some of its contents. Herbs, a teapot-medicine.
"I'll have you drink this to ensure that you can withstand those diseases."
I was bound, and unable to harm her. I nodded.
…
It was more than one tea that she had me drink. I think her old age might have caused me to drink the same tea three times in a row. The cup she used to have me drink was from her stave-it was a small sip every time, so there was no fear of drowning in the various teas they gave me. But I couldn't help feel sick to my stomach.
"We are finished, Advisor."
"That will do. Intern her."
*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*
*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*
A hood was brought over my head. Now, I was to walk with this concoction in my body.
Led by the iron shackles to my internment, with only the number of steps and the directions of left and right to guide me-
*warblewarblewarblewarblewarble*
Almost everywhere we walked, it was the sounds of birds. All of these new sensations up to this point have been overwhelming my senses. They had effectively ruined my chances of going back the way I came from.
"Here is good."
*click* *creak*
A door was unlocked. I was moved forwards.
"Release her shackles. Move her to the opposite wall."
*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick* *clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*
The shackles were off, and I was moved forwards again. I still couldn't see, but I could feel a wall in front of me, as if the heat of the sun was barely emanating from it.
"Unhood her. Have her face the door."
I was unhooded and turned around. It was a cell, but it was very well kept, compared to the prison that we keep in the Northern Fortress. The walls were a calming white. The bedding was on the floor, but it didn't look like straw bedding, or they hid the straw really well. There was a table, meant for kneeling at.
The guard that was with the advisor had their weapons drawn at me.
"Lady Weiss, this will be your abode until the time comes to meet your mother. Until then, take comfort in what you have."
The advisor left, then the guards, and then the door was effectively sealed shut.
warblewarblewarblewarblewarble*
So, this was to be home before being welcomed home.
zing* *growl*
"Ngh."
I was being overloaded with new feelings.
A headache was onsetting, and the concoction had me at the point of where I wanted to throw up, but something was stopping me.
ZING*
"Augh! No!"
thump*
The headache was getting stronger! I collapsed!
Remember, Empress. Remember.
I could muster enough strength to at least make it to the bed. The flooring was too cold. The bedding was warmer. It was comfortable. It was...familiar?
Good. You are ready.
...
A dream. A new dream.
I was in a room with two people, figures of a man and a woman, looking over me, but their faces were blurred. The woman draws her hand close to me and I'm only able to grab her finger. As I grab her finger, she then lifts me up, and I could see that I came from a cradle, and that I'm dreaming of when I was a child. She dances me around in her arms.
The dream suddenly shifts, and I'm seeing myself in a carriage. I was sat down in that carriage, probably older than before, and I was with the same man and woman figure from before, but there were two other people there, but I could only see their figures-everything about them was dark and hazy. I looked outside. We were traveling in a city filled with rivers and boats.
Suddenly, a blinding flash covers my eyes.
I find myself, lying on the cold floor, watching people around me. There was fighting, madness everywhere. In the midst of the fighting, a figure, not recognizable, or any of the ones that I had encountered, was drawing close to me.
Orphaned, at such a tender young age...
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YOU ARE MY CHILD, NOW.