Family [Closed]

J and Selena had left Aria a few days ago and continued on their journey. They had received the information they wanted, well kind of, and were healed up. After the two had a rather pleasurable night together, Selena was almost happy for a while. There was a certain glow about her, at least for a day. On the second day, Selena fell silent as concerns came slithering their way back into her mind. The elation that the sex with J had allowed was gone and replaced by what she knew was going to happen. Not only that, but her mind drifted to her sisters and Mother. It had been months since she had seen them and that was normal for her. She found her sisters being controlled by something and that wasn't a good sign. Selena now felt like she needed to make her way home to check on her family.

It was the middle of the day and the autumn breeze made travel much more comfortable than the heat of the summer. Selena was able to let her mind wander out in the wilderness of Arcadia and it showed. There were a few too many times that Selena tripped or almost walked into a tree. Her mind was just not in it today and it should have been. Incoming was a group of bandits riding quickly on horseback. She could feel the vibrations through the earth, but her mind wasn't registering it. When she finally did realize it, she came out of her thoughts and stopped. "We've got incoming." she said as six men on horses rounded a corner, "I guess I was a little late on the warning, sorry." Selena knew this was her fault. She should have been much more alert. She'd probably be scolded later. "Damn it to hell."

The bandits weren't hostile, thankfully. If they had been, Selena really would have been scolded. As they passed them by, Selena had to hold her head from the amount of banging the horses hooves were doing against the ground. As they got closer, it got worse. The vibrations hit her hard and made her dizzy. She took a step back, forgetting the placement of the river behind her and falling into the rushing water with a splash that blended in with the regular waves. Water. It was one of Selena's weaknesses. Not only could she not swim, but she couldn't see inside this blurry mess either. She kicked and twirled about in the water as the rapids pushed her along. She felt her head come out the water. She was able to gasp in some air and let loose a horrified shriek in the form of Reapers name.

Selena's body went tumbling over the waterfall, a bushel of lavender locks sliding over the watery cliff face, with a pair of uncontrolled chains following after her. Her body hit the surface of the water and Selena soon began to sink. She did not know how to control her own body while in the water. She began to panic and thrash around desperately trying to gain hold of something, but was only falling farther into the depths of the pond at the bottom of the falls. She couldn't breathe and soon accidently took in water to replace the air she wasn't getting. Her chest was in pain as her lungs filled with liquid.

Selena's panic was not helping her situation at all, but it wasn't something she could really control. She couldn't even get control of the chains. However, she felt one pulling at her waist and prayed it was because he was coming after her. Her mind began to get fuzzy as her body kept taking in water. She was being pulled up, but she was not aware of actually getting to the surface. By the time she was out of the water, Selena had breathed in water and wasn't able to pull in actual air. She didn't hear Reaper call to her, and she really wished she would have been able to. However, she didn't get to hear that caring tone in his voice and Selena laid there in the dirt soaking wet and not breathing.

If Selena had planned this, she would be enjoying the mouth to mouth. However, the moment her lungs got the air they needed, they forced the water out. She coughed harshly, water splattering from her mouth as she took in a desperate intake of air. She wheezed and coughed as she caught her breath. She gasped for air and ripped off her blindfold as she sat up and hit the ground. She quickly regained her composure as the surrounding area was becoming a bit clearer for her mind's eye. She turned her ear to Reaper and placed her hand on his cheek. "Thank you." she said, coughing a few more times again, "I hate water. I can't see *cough* in it... It all gets blurry and I can't control anything. Besides that... Never learned to swim." Selena was struggling to talk for a bit, but it was getting better.

Selena closed her eyes and chuckled. She tried laughing, but it ended up turning into a few tears, ones that she shut down very quickly. Selena forced herself to her feet, still a little dizzy, but regained that balance quickly. She put her blindfold back over her eyes and returned the chains to her waist. "I don't want to be scolded right now. I'm sorry I didn't see them coming." Selena decided to speak up before he could say anything. Her voice was strained and something was bugging her, "It won't happen again."

Selena said nothing more to his first reply. She disagreed with it, but didn't feel like arguing with him. She just gave his cheek a gentle pat before continuing on. Selena stiffened at the idea of swimming. Water wasn't something she liked at all because of not knowing how to swim, however her dislike of it came before her powers existed, so that was gonna be an interesting mission of his. Selena assumed she was going to be scolded because she usually was when she messed up. His irritation came as quite the shocker and her expression showed it. "Yet." she repeated and sighed. Their was silence for a moment and then he spoke up again. She was standing by now. Selena's head jerked around and she lifted her blindfold with one hand to snap him a bit of a glare. "Yeah, but that is normal..."

"I need to go see my family." Selena finally brought the issue up. She opened the bag of coins she had at her side and sighed. "I left home because of a ten thousand gold debt that my family stacked up... I needed jobs to get the debt on. I usually return every month to give them a chunk of coin to help and it keeps them living normally. However, the last time I was headed out from home, I met this man with the oddest sense of the world and became distracted with him. And because of that, I don't know if my family even has a home or whether it's been taken away from them. I need to return to Zakat."

"Yeah... Yeah, it was..." Selena replied quietly and crossed her arms. She wasn't sure how he was going to react to her wanting to return home. She might not even be allowed to go, and that would be the one thing that she'd say goodbye to him over. She'd try to return later, but doubt she'd be accepted. However, his reply wasn't the one she expected. Selena's lips twitched into a smile. She loved hearing his laugh. His explanation for the laugh was even more interesting. He was surprising her a lot today. "Who says?" Selena raised an eyebrow at him and then giggled, "Who says you're not someone that you bring home to the parents? Hm? You may have a... unique look on the world, but I still don't see you as a bad guy, J. For one, a bad guy would probably have let me drown."

Selena stepped up to him and placed her hands on each side of his face. "You're not the guy you seem to think you are. If you ever decided to be mine, I'd be proud to take you home to meet my family for that reason. And besides..." Selena smiled widely and kissed his cheek, taking advantage of the fact that he wasn't putting his mask back on, "My sister is going to love you, so will my other once I get her home. If you really think I'm the only one with my outlook in my family, you're very wrong. Mom will be the only one you have to worry about, but that's because she's been play Mom and Dad for a long time now. Sometimes she forgets which one she actually is." Selena kissed his lips real quick and then smiled, "Now let's go. The quicker we get this done, the quicker we get back to your goal."

For every move Selena made forward, it felt like he was taking three steps back. For the minutes after being rescued by him, Selena thought she had saw a change, but his words only stung her harder than before. She had opened herself up to fail again, and though her promise kept her by his side, she knew that this was not going to be a happy life. Her silence through their trip spoke miles of her disheartened state. She spoke little, acting as the bodyguard that she was used to being. The two arrived in Zakat and in the town her family lived in. It was the city of Vellbruck, a quaint market town whose tourism came from those traveling over the borders. It's biggest income comes from the copper mines, where most people can easily get a job, but it's proven to be very dangerous.

When Selena approached the town, she was recognized by many people. Her lavender colored hair was once a problem here, but as her family became more known and trusted throughout the community, she was accepted. Selena was first approached by a very large man that was covered from head to toe in soot. "Still can't see, can you?" the man's strong voice asked her. Selena just shook her head, "Not like the rest of you anyways..." "Your Mother is back home; you should get to her. Your sister... she woke up yesterday." the man explained and then nudged Selena along. Selena had an easy time walking through the town, but she noticed the stares that Reaper was getting. People showed a little bit of fear, but more curiosity than anything. However, no one had the courage to approach.

Selena led him up to a small house and went inside, unlocking the door with a small tap to the wood. "... Mom?" Selena called out. It was silent for a while and then she could hear the rush of footsteps coming from the kitchen. A woman with eyes and hair like Selena's came around the corner. Selena waved a little shyly. "H-Hey..." The look on her Mother's face shifted from sadness, to surprise, to anger. It was like the woman didn't know what to feel. Before Selena spoke up again, her Mother rushed at her and hugged her. Selena was about three inches taller than her Mother, getting her height from her Father. "You're alive...?" Her mother asked. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry tha-..." Selena was stopped with a strong slap across the face. it was something she could have stopped. She chose not to.

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you? Or how worried your sister's have? I don't even know where Sabrina is now!" Her Mother was angry, which was understandable, "And Samantha... She comes home after being hurt? After fighting you? Are you kidding me?!" Selena pulled her blindfold off and set it on a shelf next to the front door. "Mom, I'm sorry." Selena said apologetically, her voice low and cracking a bit. "Oh, don't you give me that. I told you it's dangerous out there, especially for a woman... Especially for a woman who can't even see." "I can see just fine, Mom." Selena retorted quickly, "It's just... different... That's all, different. Anyways..." Selena stepped to the side and motioned for Reaper to come up, "This is my friend, more like a boss. Call him... Grim." "No." her Mother said and held a hand out to Reaper, "What would you like me to call you?"

Selena couldn't help but smile when he actually called that funny. She felt butterflies in her stomach and had to hold back the school-girl-giggle. Well, she tried to, but a few snuck their way out. "If Grim is what you want to be called, I would call you that, dear, but I know my daughter. It's likely not what she calls you, but some sort of inside joke. It will be J, then. My name is Sarah, J. Welcome to my home." Sarah happily shook J's hand, but was extremely caught off guard by his request. Sarah stared at him, taking in that hard gaze he held, and then looked to Selena. Selena was just as surprised and was blushing because of it. Seeing that, Sarah only smiled and looking at J with a raised eyebrow.

"Well alright then." Sarah said with knowing smile.  Sarah turned to walk toward the kitchen and motioned for them both to follow, "SAM, YOUR SISTER IS HERE." Selena nudged J's hand lightly and smiled at him, "Thank you." Half of a moment later, the sound of shattering glass could be heard downstairs. "WHAT DID YOU BREAK?" Sarah called up, but got no answer. The sound of footsteps running through the upstairs were heard and coming closer. Selena hurried over to the stairs just in time to see Samantha practically flying down stairs. Selena caught her and put her back on her feet. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Samantha cried into Selena's stomach, unable to keep standing.

"Sam, you did nothing wrong. It wasn't your fault." Selena said and her mother slammed her hand on the wall. "Don't you dare say that." Sarah said and looked to Samantha, "Tell her. Tell your sister what you did. Tell her how you got that power, why you got that power." Selena looked back to Samantha worriedly. She saw the look on her little sister's face and immediately became worried. "Sam, what did you do!?" Samantha pulled away and sat on the stairs. "We wanted to find you, but knew you wouldn't come home without the money! This man came and said that we needed power to bring you home. He said that if we worked for him, we would be able to do it, but there was a problem. He also said that you were enslaved. You were being controlled by..." Samantha went quiet and looked away from them.

"Controlled by what?" Selena asked and Sarah put her hand on her shoulder. "By a man with a mask." Everyone turned toward Reaper in that moment and Selena chuckled. She actually found that funny, but quickly calmed her laughter down. "He's not controlling me." "I know now that's not true, but Sabrina is still with him." "Where?" "In Colburn." "You've got to be kidding me." "Nuh'uh... The man's name is Professor Vonnera. It's all we know about him besides that he works at the arcana school." Selena looked back to Reaper and sighed, "What do you think about all of this?"