Bree was pulled into the bathing room by Midori. When Bree glanced back, Byron had a half smile on his face and shrugged his shoulders. Then the flap for a door closed her out from the rest of the house. The new room she was in is a decent sized room and a bit larger than she was expecting. All of the walls were lined with smooth rocks and that same light blue foam like stuff was holding all of the rocks in place. In the floor was a large ceramic tub, like an in ground garden tub, but round like a bowl. At the top was a little ceramic bowl and resting inside it, was a shiny blue crystal, sparkling and faceted like a blue diamond, the size of an eye.
Along the edge of the in ground tub were more ceramic bowls with lids and in the wall next to the tub were more floating shelves with more ceramic bowls with lids. On the left wall there was a small fireplace made from stone that had a flat top and a vent pipe sticking into the wall. On the top of it was another bowl, but this one was full of smooth stones the size of a large hand. The top of the bowl was lined with a thick layer of blue foam wrapped in leather.
Bree watched as Midori walked over to the bowl of rocks and picked it up. Then she leaned over and dumped the rocks into the tub. The rocks sizzled as they were dumped into the water and the surface of the water bubbled slightly.
"That should make the water nice and warm. What kind of dried flowers do you like in you bathwater? We don't have a whole lot of choices, but when we go to market I'm sure we'll pick out some things that you prefer. Some of my favorites are around the tub and if you don't like those, we have some more on the shelf. You should have a look," Midori said.
Bree crouched down and picked up the little pot that was the closest to her. When she lifted the lid she found dried red petals that smelled like hibiscus blossoms. The next pot was filled with leaves that smelled like mint. After that she found a pot that was filled with dried wild roses. Then she found a small pot that had thick coconut oil in it. There was another bowl with crude chunks of light green soap inside it. The soap smelled kind of fishy but also like avocados and catnip. Bree put the lid back on the jar securely. The final bowl was full of chucks of that light blue foam that Bree had been seeing everywhere.
"What's this?" Bree said while pointing at the chunks of blue foam.
"This?" Midori said while picking up a chunk of the blue foam and handing it to Bree.
"I guess you aren't from around here. It's foam made from a Blue Gum tree. The inside of a Blue Gum tree has blue colored goo in it and when the blue goo has air blown into it, it turns into a spongy material that can be used as great cushions and for insulation. It's really sturdy, so it can be used for all sorts of things. We also use it to clean and dry off with."
Bree holds the foam between her hands and squeezes it. It kind of feels like a firm memory foam.
"The water should have cooled off enough by now for you to get into the tub. If you need anything else, just let me know. I left a clean dress for you on the shelf and some sandals," Midori walks out while talking and Bree is finally alone again.
Bree quickly strips off her nasty clothing and throws it away from herself. She crouches down and touches the water, it's a tad bit warmer than she usually would have ran it for herself, but it feels heavenly. she slides into the tub and settles inside it. It's so deep that the water just covers her shoulders and it's large enough to stretch out in. If it was just a bit bigger, she could probably swim in it. She pulls out some flower petals and throws them into the water. A sweet fragrance starts to float off the surface of the water and Bree sighs contentedly.
This seemed like a good opportunity to assign her boosting points, so she pulled up her menu while she was soaking in the tub.
Assignable Points: 0
Strength: 0
Charisma: 0
Agility: 5
Luck: 10
Stealth: 5
Senses: 0
Intelligence: 0
Mana: 0
Although she really wanted to add points to mana and try out charisma and strength, she felt a stronger desire to turn her luck around and be able to escape from danger more easily.
After quite some time soaking and pulling out sticks and what have you, Bree was ready to get out. Her bath was something that she had desperately needed and was generally a wonderful experience, all except for the stinky soap. She was never able to get a good lather out of it, but the worse part was the smell. She still used it because she really needed to be clean and it did the job, but she has to figure out something else.
Bree was getting dressed in a clean brown leather dress that was a bit tight, but would work for now. It was brushed and kind of warn, so it was surprisingly soft. She pulled her hair back with a braided vine rope and put the crudely made sandals on her feet. It would do for now. It was definitely better than what she was wearing before.
Bree was just walking out of the bathing room so that she could find Midori and ask her about how to drain the water, when she heard another girl's voice.
"Midori! I was collecting some flower petals when this golden bee showed up on my hand. Do you know what's going on?"
A little girl, slightly shorter than Midori walks into the room from outside and practically walks into Bree.
The little girl had super pale skin with a sparkling sheen and long white curly hair that looks like it's made of freshly fallen snow and diamonds, but smooth like silk. She has big purple eyes that look like violets and lips the color of cherries. She looks delicate like an otherworldly goddess, to the point that it's somewhat frightening and pulls out a need to protect her. She's wearing a brown leather dress with a neckline that covers her collarbones, but Bree could almost guarantee that there's the mark of a Muse hidden underneath her clothing. With a daughter like this, it's no wonder why Byron moved his home into the woods.
The little girl looks up at Bree and then backs up, bumping into the wall behind her. "Midori! Someone's here! Midori!"
Midori comes rushing over and puts her arms around the other girl. "Shh. Shh, it's alright. Everything's alright. This nice lady is our new Mommy. See, doesn't she seem nice."
"But Dad said that I have to stay away from strangers," she said while hiding her face in her older sister's hair.
Bree crouches down to the little girl's levels. "Hi there. I'm sorry that I startled you. My name's Bree. Although strangers can be bad and it's good to be careful, I'm not really a stranger, because I'm going to be your Mom from now on."
The little girl peeks her eyes over the top of Midori's shoulder. "My name's Cyra. You want to be my Mommy? Other female's usually don't like me. They won't pick my Daddy because having me around is bad." Cyra lets go of her older sister and then looks down at her feet while facing Bree. "I don't mean to make people feel bad. I don't try to be bad. I just want people to like me and I don't want to make Daddy and my Sissy feel lonely. I really don't mean it." Tears start to drip down Cyra's face while she's talking and looking down at her feet.
"Oh goodness, what have these awful people been saying to an innocent little girl?" Bree reaches out and gently rubs Cyra's tears away. "You didn't do anything bad just by existing." Bree says while holding up her hand. She activates her marker, which started to glow from the center of her palm and you can see the golden bee.
"See my marker? It's the same as the golden bee that appeared on your hand. My symbol showing up on you, only smaller, means that I've accepted you as my daughter. It's the same one that's on your older sister. Since You're my daughter, you don't have to worry about other people anymore. Your Daddy already has a Mate and you already have a Mommy, right?"
The little girl lifts up her own hand and looks at the back of it where a smaller version of the same bee is. Her eyes widen as she compares the two bees and then a big grin lights up her adorable little face.
"You're really going to be my Mommy?"
"That's right," says Bree.
"You're really okay with being my Mommy even though you didn't lay my birth egg?"
Bree slowly reaches out her hand and touches the top of the little girl's head. "You know, my relationship with my Mother wasn't the greatest, so I don't really think that it matters who laid your egg. Family isn't always who you were born to, sometimes it's the people who you meet along your life's journey. I would feel lucky and super happy to be your Mommy. I know that it's pretty sudden and none of us were expecting this, but I promise to try to be the best Mommy to you two girls that I can be. I've never been a Mom before, so I might not always get it right, but I'll try my best," says Bree.
"Okay Mommy!" says Cyra.
She reaches out both of her arms and throws them around the back of Bree's neck and gives her a tight hug. Then she kisses Bree loudly on the cheek. Bree nearly loses her footing and is startled, but her heart feels warm. Then Midori joins in and hugs Bree too.
This was definitely not what Bree was expecting, my goodness she suddenly became a Mother, but she can't say that she regrets it. Thinking about what these two girls must have gone through already at their young ages makes anger bubble up in Bree. She's going to do everything in her power to make things better for her new family. Finally Bree has a heart warming family to call home and she will do everything in her power to protect it.