The next day Jia woke up to an annoying sound of girl laughing and wishing each other Mother`s Day. She just kept her eyes closed and pretended to be deep asleep. Luckily she remembered to put an eye mask and wireless earpieces on last night. She could hear Zoey moving around to her bed and touching her head before leaving the room. The door closing behind her made it possible for her to take off her eye mask and blinked. On her night stand, she could see a glittery red box with a card saying wishing her a happy future mother`s day.
She signed and turned to lie on her back. Days like today, her birthday, her parent's anniversary, her death anniversary and Yuletide made her miss her mama more than anything. Marina had been a force to be reckoned with and her story about her love life with her papa had been so heartbreaking. She reasoned out the universe was cruel to Marcellus and Marina as they had only few years to be together before that horrible day.
Why couldn`t her family be happy?
A knock on the door interrupted her musings. She pulled the covers over her face and called out for whoever who was at the door to enter. Light footsteps were heard before she felt her bed shift.
"I know you`re awake, come out from under there."
Jia bit her lip and lowered the sheets to just reveal the upper parts of her face. Fiona sat on her bed, still clad in her pajamas which consisted of black tank top and silk boy shorts.
"Wanna go out with me today? So we can avoid everyone else?" Fiona asked.
Jia blinked twice before nodding.
"Get dressed in five," Fiona ordered before standing," I know a quiet place we can go to."
Jia pushed back her sheets before running a hand through her hair. She turned to glance at the balcony doors and saw morning sun had already risen. It was probably around 9 in the morning. She quickly moves to shower and get ready for the day. Her papa was still away on three months' assignment so she wouldn`t be hearing form him today. She checked her phone and saw multiple messages from her aunts and uncles so she sent a simply mass text to them all, wishing them a happy day and sending a separate message to her grandmother.
Once she was done with her hair, she ventured out into the living room and saw that all the girls were gone, save for Fiona who had microwaved last night`s monster pizza for their breakfast.
"Better than going down to find everyone having their Mother`s Day Breakfast Feast, "Fiona explained.
Jia nodded in agreement before selecting her pieces and chewing through it. They ate in silence before sneaking off campus. The bus took them to the another Animal Sanctuary and Jia frowned.
She turned to her friend as they entered the gates, "Another Sanctuary?"
The red haired sorceress scoffed, "Relax, this is a nature reserve, it`s supposed to be the nesting ground for the near extinct Bird of Paradise. No one has ever broken through the barrier spells," Fiona assures her.
"I hope so," Jia muttered. Not wishing to have a repeat of what happened. "So I`m guessing you and your papa don`t celebrate Mother`s Day together."
Rose turned to her, "You, know you say a lot of weird things for someone who was raised in this century."
"What do you mean?" Jia asked with a frown. She didn`t think she spoke weird.
"You always say papa, mama, dearest cousin and dearest friend,"
"Oh, that."
Fiona gave her an amused grin as the white haired teen face turned hot," Yeah, that."
Jia ran a hand over her mouth and shrugged," I grew up speaking like that and when no one bothered to correct me, I just kept going."
"And if someone wanted to correct you now?"
Jia grinned, "Depends, if it was someone higher than me, I`d accept it gracelessly and if it was someone in my age group, I`d tell them to go and jump in a lake."
Fiona laughed out loud before slapping her shoulder," Right on".
Jia gave her stern glance," By the way, I know your misdirecting the conversation, you still haven`t answered my question."
"Then let me ask you something, do you and your dad celebrate it?"
The lightning sorceress gave her sad smile before they stopped near a picnic table and sat down. Jia traced the geo-metric patterns on her gloves, a mother`s day gift from Rose.
"We try to, though sometimes we`re forced to celebrate it on our own," Jia explained, "He has work that pulls him away from me and I have a hard time celebrating it on my own. I feel guilty."
"How come?"
The white haired teen shrugged," It was my fault that we left the house. If we had stayed where we were protected. My mother would still be alive."
Fiona watched her friend wrestle with her emotions before speaking," She died when I was born."
Jia turned to her friend as she continued," I don`t remember her but my dad says I remind him of her. Not appearance wise. I look like my grandmother but in personality. She loved causing trouble and building bikes, that`s how they met. My parents. They fought over who had the best bike. "She paused and chuckled," Dad ended up with a black eye and a date. Some love story."
"There are sadder ones," Jia muttered sadly.
"I don`t have any memory of her but sometimes I wish… I`d wish so badly that I would have some connection to her so whenever I came across a problem, I know what she`d say to me." Fiona then ran a hand through her hair, "I'd give anything for just one day with her. Days like this just make the pain even more extreme and I try not to burden my dad with it. It hurts him just as much because he can tell me a lot about her but it's nothing compared to the real person."
"How touching."
Both girls frown and spun around. Standing behind them was a tall man in a long grey trench coat. His silver hair matching Jia`s and his eyes glowed a faint red.
"Excuse me, this is a private conversation," Fiona pointed out as she and Jia moved to stand side by side.
The man nodded, "I am well aware, I just wanted to have a word with the lightning sorceress."
Jia exchanged a confused glance with Fiona before stepping forward," Who are you exactly?"
"Oh dear me, "the man laughed before composing himself and bowing slightly, "I am an old acquaintance of your ancestor. I suppose you would not know me but you did meet my pet in the Butterfly sanctuary last month."
Fiona gasped and both successes tried to activate their magic. Fiona frowned and glanced down at her palms, "What in the-?"
"It was you that sent that thing to attack me!" Jia exclaimed.
"Yes, I apologize for that and for this," the man hummed thought fully before moving to a nearby bench and sitting with his hands clasped in front of him," Unfortunately, your magic has been disabled temporarily. I needed a quiet atmosphere to talk to you and this sanctuary is the only place in the universe that has neutralizing magic from the old Gods that allows a magic free land. I came here considering what happened last time. I do not want a repeat of senseless violence."
"Senseless?" Fiona repeated as she gritted her teeth, clearly the man thought that he was playing around with his actions," You destroyed a butterfly sanctuary!"
"I apologize again."
Turning to a nearby hibiscus tree, she snapped of a branch and pointed it at the man. "Who are you?!"
Fiona turned to her friend with a questioning glance as if to say, what's-a-branch-going-to-do-to-him. Jia shrugged. Her usual weapons were at her home and Roy had refused to give her his.
The man smiled at Jia, "Allow me to introduce myself, Zong or you might know me by my more colorful title, Emperor Zong."
Both girls turned pale. The Emperor was here. He was alive and sitting in front of them like he wasn`t some kind of fugitive. Jia knew that if her father were here, he`d tell her to call in for help. Fiona stated to think of ways to get them out of this place. She risked a glance to see that no one was coming in their direction and the park seemed deserted.
"Do not worry, we will not be interrupted, I would just need a few minutes of your time, "the man said as he patted the space next to him.
Fiona turned to Jia," What do we do?"
Jia shrugged before she turned to Zong," You won`t attack? Promise?""
"Promise? I apologize, I don`t know what that means," Zong asked, his brows furrowing.
"I guess you could say, I want your word," Jia explained.
"I give you my word, I swear on the name of your ancestor Rowena."