Calling Aurelia

Carver had told the three of them were to find the two water monsters they were looking for. The place they were sent to was a remote location hardly accessible by land. Hardly didn't mean impossible though and so the group decided to walk up to there.

The journey was a long one. Most of it wasn't hard in away way but the place was just ridiculously far. Blaze could have circumvented this whole thing if he just used a master ball on one of the two steel typed monster instead of going out of his way to get a turtle to beat something that would enable him to catch said steel type more easily.

He didn't want to use a master ball on this though. Both him and Aurora had the same opinion on those balls, they were really hard to find, they were a treasure that no one could buy with only money. Using them on anything else than a legendary beast or a mythical creature was a true waste. He would only use them if he had no other choice.

because of that, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure the long travel time. Going there and back would take them a few weeks, a bit more than half a month just for two monsters.

Blaze really didn't like to be limited in time for anything, even if it seemed like a long time, he kept getting frustrated over it. He had to manage the time and their money as if they were both extremely limited resources. It was all the more frustrating knowing that Aurora was actually immortal and filthy rich.

Thinking of Aurora, the working order would probably start spreading in the region soon. They would no doubt witness the record of her getting her badge and immediately know she was here.

Blaze wasn't that worried about them, as long as they kept moving, the chances of getting caught were slim. Even then, if they were only as good as the three that had previously attacked them, they had nothing to fear.

The video, and the badge she won in it, did however give her an excuse to call her mother.

It had been more than a month now and she still had not talked to her.

Once she had a bit of time alone, she hesitantly picked up her phone and sent a video call to her mother. She still didn't know what to say and she still felt mad but she really felt like she had to call now.

It didn't take long before her mother picked up. The phone flashed into life and the worried face of her mother filled the screen. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw Aurora.

"Aurora! Hi sweetheart, I saw your win a few dozen times now already!"

Aurora made a small smile, hearing her.

"Mother was very relieved to see you were well and I was so excited too! I'm very happy you got your badge, congratulation, my cute Aurora is the best after all."

Aurora felt... satisfied of her mom's joy. It didn't feel as good as she hoped it would, despite her apparent revelry.

"Now that you have a badge, you'll finally be able to came back here and stay safe with me."

Aurelia was clearly convinced that her daughter would go back to her now and she was clearly impatient to see it happen. Aurora wasn't in agreement with her though. She shook her head and typed an answer to her mother.

<I'm not going back right now, I just started. My team isn't even filled yet. I only have one badge too.>

Aurelia's face froze as she read the message. She bit her lip as if trying to hold back her emotions and awkwardly changed the subject.

"I see that your hair is fine..."

Since her mother didn't know what to say, she had went back to talking about hair...

<No.1 helped me with them.>

It may have sounded a bit dumb, but Aurora felt guilty to let Gilly help her with her hair. Her hair was her mom's territory. Aurora had swore she would share everything with Gilly and Blaze but letting her dress her hair in her mother's stead felt a bit like she was betraying her.

It was true that Aurelia had given her the book of all her hairstyles to let a professional help her with it but this wasn't truly the same thing. If she placed herself in her mother's shoes, she was letting a girl who took her away from her mother casually play with her hair like her mother would have done. It felt like she was replacing her.

"Who's number 1?"

<The girl that was with me last time.>

"..."

Aurelia didn't react for a long time. Aurora didn't say anything either, she didn't know how to follow up on that conversation.

"... I'm sorry Aurora." Her mother painfully whispered.

She seemed very hurt and filled with guilt. Seeing her mother like that saddened her but she couldn't help but think again and again about what she was doing with Hergis that day.

<I did not call sooner because I didn't know what to tell you. I still don't know what to tell you. I do not understand what you did, why you did it.>

"You know I never meant to hurt you, you're the most precious thing I have."

<What about dad?>

Her mother made a pained sigh.

"He would be right to be hurt from what I did with Hergis, yes, but he deserved it."

Aurora didn't understand what she meant and it was clear on her face.

"I was hurt too you know? He cheated much more than me, I know. I'm not blind, I could see it. I gave him his daughter and then he lost interest in me."

She confessed her sorrow with reddened eyes and shaking voice. Her words shocking for the young girl. Even her father wasn't loyal?

"Once he had what he wanted from me, it was like I ceased to exist in his eyes. I only understood after you were born, after your gift revealed itself. It wasn't me he wanted, it was the power over aura. I felt cheated, I admit. He would leave to have fun with those... others. I stayed there unable to say anything, shacking in frustration. I asked for a bunch of things I didn't need nor want from him in revenge. He bled my heart so I bled his pockets. That wasn't satisfying at all. The only reason I kept it all together was because of you, my light in the sky. The only thing we both agree on, the most precious thing there is."

Aurora remained silent as a tear rolled down the cheek of her mother. She didn't know how to answer, again. Her mind was frozen, stuck in pool of confused thoughts.

"I was so desperate to get revenge, so angry all the time. It was so easy for that... that... man, to trick me. I fell for it right away. I feel so, wrong, gross, dirty."

Her voice broke then and she had to swallow her words a few times before she was able to finish what she wanted to say.

"I wish I could scrape even his existence out my memories altogether. You're the only one I didn't want to offend. The last one I wanted to offend. You're the only one I care about and I, I, *sniff*, so sorry... Please forgive me..."

After that, she started sobbing and hid her face behind her hands. The head of her fox Taki came in from the border of the screen and rubbed against her arm in an effort to comfort her.

Aurora felt sadness for her mom and cried too. The power over aura had truly been a curse for her, everything that went wrong in her life had been caused by it.

She wanted to sympathize with her and forgive her unknowing betrayal, but she couldn't. She couldn't get over the memory of it.

She wanted to be angry at her because of those memories and point at her mistakes but she couldn't resolve herself to do that either. She did love her mother and didn't want to make her suffer more.

She was in this strange place, paralyzed between those two paths, unable to chose between pain and pain, like a rock and a hard place. However much she tried to say something, anything at all, words would not grace her of their presence.

She just cried with her mother in an awkward silence. She dearly wished to have everything go back to how it was before again. She just didn't know how to achieve it.

|| Just say that you do love her.|| Proposed a sad looking Sunsun, butting in on the conversation.

She made a small nod and wrote a message to her mother. After the first few words were typed, the others just flowed out.

< I love you mom I love you a lot. I know you love me too. But, Hergis is too much. I can't word it, too scary, too evil.>

She shivered thinking back to that day when his hand squeezed around her neck.

< I want to forgive you but I don't know how. I'm scared that whenever I see you now, I will think of him again. I don't know what to do mom. I want a hug but you're too far and I can't come back yet. I want to improve and grow, I want to not be scared anymore.>

It took a while to Aurelia to clear her eyes of enough tears to be able to read the message properly. She sniffled and answered with a weak voice.

"I... understand. Will you call again?"

She seemed very defeated.

Aurora nodded and texted her a clear <yes>.

"Good luck for now then. Be careful... I love you too."

Shortly after, they ended the call and both stayed silent on their own for a while. Neither of them really got what they hoped for and on top of that, Aurora learned something displeasing about her father.

She had seen him many times in the middle of the night, with a strangely colored aura. She had never thought of it before but when she met Blaze, she had learned what that color was for, lust. It should have been obvious to her at that point. He was just as much in the wrong as her mother was.

She could have called him as well to get some explanation, an answer to his misdeeds but she had enough for now. She was all turned around already, she didn't want another conversation like this for a while.

Aurora tried to calm herself a bit and looked over to Blaze and Gilly. She was currently trying to convince him that the length of the heel in high heeled shoes had a big significance while he was maintaining that it was pointless. She was vehement and explosive in her argument while he was completely unfazed.

Somehow, this scene helped to calm her down a lot. This was a bit heartwarming, how could they be so close to each other despite never being in agreement? They did sometimes think the same but they were much more often in disagreement. Even then, it was clearly all in good fun and appreciation of the other.

Why couldn't her parents be like that?

She didn't really understand what was the difference between the two pairs. There were many similarities but somehow, instead of all coming together nicely, it crumbled completely.

The prime example was the similarities between how Blaze and her father acted and thoughts. Both stayed serious and impassive most of the time, only seeing the objective far ahead instead of taking part of the fun in front of them. Blaze was a bit more wild and a bit more open but not by much and mostly because of Gilly.

Blaze could be seen as a very intelligent machine but a simple minded one. He would think of nothing else but his own objective if not for Gilly forcibly dragging him into some other state of mind from time to time.

After watching them for a while, Aurora felt that Gilly was akin to his humanity, she was in some way, what gave him true life. Without her, his aura would be still like dead water most of the time.

She couldn't imagine him betraying Gilly's trust. Although, she wouldn't have imagined her father doing it either until the call a few minutes ago. How come they were so similar and could easily come up with the same answers but the conclusion still ended up different?

She felt a tingling sensation in her head and understood that Sunsun was looking into her mind. After weeks of constant practice, she was now able to sense the intrusion more often than not, Sunny was very impressed by her progress.

|| Even if you compare for your whole life, you may never find. After all, each person is unique. Blaze isn't your father, he doesn't even share any familial relation with him. I'm pretty sure he never compared himself to your father either, only you. If anything, you are the only one who is close enough to your father to understand his reasons, it has nothing to do with Blaze. You only know one half of the story too.||

Maybe Sunsun was right, maybe all this thinking was pointless. Sunsun was an empath after all, she understood feelings better than anyone.

|| You might be able to become one as well. Sunsun believes you have talent. As for your questions, I think you should wait for your father's half of the story and keep looking at how these two act and change over time. You might understand something at some point. It will be great training too, to reach your full potential, you need to understand yourself and to really understand yourself, you need to understand others too.||

|| Should it not be the other way around?||

|| No, understanding yourself is much harder than understanding other, the more you try to understand it, the more your self will change in answer. Even I cannot do it. They say it's a constant process and that you need to search yourself all the time to reach true comprehension.||

She decided to listen to Sunsun's advice, she would try to truly understand everyone around her. Placing herself in their shoes wasn't enough, she needed to wear their clothes and skin too.

***

On their way to the designated spot, barely anything interesting happened. Gilly caught herself a scorchling she called Falmy. He was a nervous fellow she defeated in battle using Houndy, if you could call that a battle.

The bird was resting on a low branch when they saw it. When it sensed them it tried to flee in fear right away but Houndy jumped up and caught it in his mouth. He brought back the bird like a normal dog would have fetched a stick. The bird kept screaming in fright and surrendered right away.

Hopefully, Falmy would gain confidence as it grew into a falscorch and she would be able to fly on his back. If not, they would have a giant flaming bird that did nothing but hide.

Speaking of caught creatures, Blaze had healed the bug he caught and named it Graka Dusklance. He kept it out of its ball all the time as he tried to get it to evolve as fast as possible. As it was now, the bug was mostly useless and even its second form would not give him any sort of advantage.

He jokingly proposed to tape it onto a wooden plank and use it as a shield once it reached the stage of a cocoon but everyone disagreed thinking he was serious. None of them had any sense of humor.

The bug was in fact so useless that it couldn't even talk. Even Aurora and Sunsun had no clue about what it was thinking. Even if they all thought, aside from Blaze, that Dusklance wasn't a useful team member, Blaze did his utter best to make it grow and improve. He gave it so much attention that Dawnshield would have felt left down if not for the fact that Blaze constantly gave him new objectives to reach.

He trained them and trained them, never slacking off.

Like that, they reached the designated spot and started looking for a frog and a turtle.