A brunette girl sat in one of the private family tents, watching her baby sister attempt to climb out of her crib on her own for the third ti. The toddler’s determined spirit was admirable... though probably exhausting for her caretakers. As usual, they had been dismissed while the eldest daughter spent ti with the child.
’That woman’s confusion over my dress was rather entertaining. She’s oddly terrible at socializing despite being so sharp. Maybe it’s just instinct?’
The heiress couldn’t help but shift her dull eyes from the child. The Frozen Duskblade had tried to sound casual when asking about the fabric, as if it were womanly interest. Letting her touch it had only seed to deepen suspicions - as if confirming it felt real sohow made everything else all more questionable.
"E-wa! E-wa!"
Onya’s demand for attention pulled her from her thoughts. The tiny reddish-blonde girl had given up on escape and now held her arms up insistently. Elua lifted her sister out, settling her against the genuine black and gold outfit that she had been wearing all day.
"Finally calling for . I guess you *weren’t* waiting to see all day? You just needed to break you out now."
The child was far too young to be involved in the ’social graces’ displayed at dinner. The toddler’s only response to the monotone was to grab at her sister’s wavy brown hair and attempt to put it in her mouth. Onya seed far more interested in using her sibling as the next climbing challenge.
Elua’s dull eyes shook as chubby little fingers patted at her face. Her spirit roiled with that familiar mix of ’affection’ and ’uncertainty’ that dealing with her sister always brought out.
The ancient cultivator still wasn’t entirely sure how to handle being soone’s older sibling. She couldn’t know if her approach was the way others usually felt about family. It was subtly different from what she felt for the parents of this life.
’It could just be that I recognize her as... helpless.’
That was the part that made her hesitate the most. She could view the little girl as ’hers’ and feel protective of her in a sowhat possessive sense. Yet, she still felt incapable of genuinely protecting the girl just for *existing*.
Part of her liked to compare the relationship to a favored disciple. The connection was stronger than any of those she had in the past, but it still had so of the sa details. Especially how she mostly went about her own business and occasionally showed up to teach.
"I suppose you’re more interested in the shapes and pictures... but I hope you pay attention to the letters just a bit. They’ll make sense to you soday."
Simple illusions were woven in the air above them. Onya’s eyes widened with delight at the floating geotric examples. Each held script above them, titling what it was. The eldest knew that it was too early to expect a child to grasp the concept of writing.
But if she was going to design a personal little playground, she didn’t think the extra study details would hurt. The little hand reached up to try and catch any of them as they spun around. All of them were imbued with tactile feel, so she *could* if she was quick.
Her favorite ’sibling disciple’ deserved her most realistic illusions and best teaching effort!
’Everything I make for her to play with in these monts is false, yet she accepts it without question."
"Not like our dinner guest, searching for the deception in honest cloth. Don’t grow up to be a silly woman like that, okay?"
Onya managed to snag a floating triangle that felt like glass and lit up with a soft glow and tone. Elua held her steady as she squealed in delight at her success. The ancient cultivator had made sure these simple shapes that were easy to hold always floated closer.
"That one is a triangle. Okay? Triangle."
She made sure her voice was being paid attention to as she pointed at the shape. It was the sa way she taught the child to say her na... after learning that Yatrel had persistently taught her ’mama’.
When the full blueprint of the next illusory tool she planned was done, she intended to have the words of objects called out on their own. However, she was here in front of her... so just pausing and saying it on her own saved so energy.
"E-wa..."
"Oh? Over here?"
The shapes drifted and made the toddler stretch and wiggle in her arms. Elua adjusted her grip carefully, monitoring her sister’s balance as she struggled toward a flower. When she finally got a hold of it, the senseless little creature stuffed it right in her own face.
"This is a problem. I lowered the strength of the scent so it wouldn’t overwhelm you, but now I fear you’ll think it’s alright to do this with real ones."
A yawn interrupted her voiced thoughts as the little girl began to tire again. All her prior attempts at escape had taken their toll. The shapes lowered gradually, maintaining their gentle spin while growing softer in color and detail.
Elua had learned through trial and error that abruptly ending illusions could startle her sister awake again. Just like she’d learned not to place her back in the crib too quickly... or protests would be made.
"Ti for sleep, little ’river bend’. I’ll make ti again tomorrow."
The grip on her hair tightened briefly in response, but her brown eyes were already starting to droop. Her forehead dipped and bounced into the illusionist’s cheek multiple ti. The reincarnator rallied her facade back to begin humming a tune.
She barely rembered it at this point. Her past life was long and so many details from the earliest days were easy to lose. The heiress settled back into the chair beside the crib while holding her sister to her chest, shoulder, and face.
As she repeated the tune, her overall thoughts drifted imdiately to Qat. What she was doing... what she would think if she were here... a kaleidoscope of patterns in all emotional directions added dissonance to her humming.
The cultivator’s heart felt sour. The song had made her think of deceased mothers more than she usually did... and that made her think of Qatrand er Yecine’s upbringing.
"Even if I was the one born three years earlier between us... we still wouldn’t have intersected in a way for to change things."
This life and era was so peaceful in comparison, but it had its share of tiless problems. Bad things still happened and long life was never a guarantee, even if the potential span of it could be increased by seeking to ascend the path. It was sothing that Elua was used to.
That didn’t an that she couldn’t wish deep inside that certain circumstances could have been different for the one she loved now. That a parent other than Anper had lived. She quickly wiped at her eyes before any tears fell and woke her sister.
"I’m being silly. I don’t know what ca over ."
Her monotone voice, after shoving her facade aside, spoke toward the tent’s pitched ceiling. So much ti had passed since the wedding, but she’d found herself unexpectedly upset over sothing that had never bothered her in the past.
’I never cared who saw fit to celebrate any union of mine before. I certainly didn’t even think of it on that day this ti. One little half-rembered song... and now I’m bothered that Qat’s mother never got the chance to see her grow up.’
She wondered if this sudden bleeding heart was related to this vague sense of ’raising’ Onya. The scher would be lying if she claid that she had not thought that interacting with the infant was a very good proving ground for the potential children she had... accidentally started the process toward.
The fragnt of her own spirit that she gave freely so that her beloved might understand her subtle emotions better at tis. There was of course the main insistence on it so early in this relationship being that she could better detect the presence of her fortress while she ditated.
Though it also had the side effect of making it simpler to keep track at *all* tis. The similar connection - though admittedly stolen and not so much given *freely* - pulsed with ’worry’ before she had composed herself.
Footsteps approached the tent the siblings were in. If she had to rely only on that, they were too heavy to be a servant. However, they carried that familiar rhythm she would know anywhere.
’How dreadful. I planned to "be good" tonight.’
The brunette carefully rose and settled Onya into her crib. The illusion she had maintained had long faded once the child had been lost to slumber. Though the ones helping her dreams were still alive and well. Elua eased the leather Ogre doll closer to her sister.
Qat’s spirit had already reached out with tendrils of comfort before the tent flap rustled quietly. The tall girl slipped inside, pigeon-blue eyes imdiately finding her wife. Raven hair continually shifted pignt to her natural blonde even as she kept her voice low.
She had moved so quickly across the grounds that she hadn’t had ti to finish.
"I felt your... distress."
"Did I interrupt your evening?"
The monotone wouldn’t quite hide the ’gratitude’ beneath her deflection. The swordswoman crossed the space between them in one long stride with a hand rising to cup her slow turning wife’s cheek.
"You should know better than to ask that."
The ancient cultivator leaned into the touch, letting her dull mint eyes close. The ’warmth’ flowing through their connection slowly began to settle her remaining emotions. But that wasn’t good enough for Qat.
"Would you like to go take a walk with ? The night air might help."
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