User blog:Carol of the bells/Days of Ruin --- Zen's exile, part 14

Days of Ruin --- Zen's exile, part 14
Zen sat on a rock, knees pulled to her chest, overlooking the valley that she and her units had barely made it out of. She was alone, as she had let all of her units return and rest. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and she let her hest rest on her knee. "I'm so foolish..."

Is something bothering you? Selena's voice rang out in her head.

The summoner felt a pang of guilt as she heard her unit's voice. She would never forget the pained look on her face as the rogue unit beat her down. "I am fine, Selena," Zen replied unconvincingly.

''....hm....Zen, I do believe you need to work on your lying skills. ''She chuckled softly. Not that I condone lying, she added.

"Eh?"

''Summon me, if you will, Zen. I would rather speak face to face.''

Zen raised her head--she would admit that it was difficult to talk to someone who she couldn't see. "Ah...but you need to rest."

I'll be fine.

Hesitantly, the summoner called out the water unit's name, bringing her from her mind. Selena smiled kindly, sitting in a rather prim position next to Zen.

"That's better, dear," Selena sighed in contentment, smoothing out the skirts of her dress.

Zen looked away. "What did you want to speak about...?"

"You," The water unit said.

The summoner looked back at her, eyes widened sightly in surprised. "I do not understand."

Selena smiled patiently. "We're all worried about you, Zen." She let out a small giggle. "Even Mifun seems to be distressed, in his own way."

"But why....?" Zen's shoulders drooped. "Even though I said I would change, I almost caused a catostrophe last night. My foolish actions caused you and the others to get hurt."

"Silly child," She combed through the summoner's hair gently. "Don't you see? The fact that you are concerned for our safety is proof of your change." She looked out at the valley, where the sun was beginning to rise. "No one expects you to change right away. But we are here to help."

Zen followed Selena's gaze. "I do not deserve such privilages."

Selena hummed quietly, gently pushing Zen's head so that it rested in her lap. "The things that we do not deserve are often the things that we need most in our life." She continued to pet her hair affectionately.

The summoner instinctively snuggled into Selena's dress, closing her eyes. "You have such wisdom..."

The blue-haired woman sushed her quietly, continuing her humming. "Rest now, child. We're here for you."

"You don't have to be alone anymore."



Ko stared blankly at the path before him, doing his best to concentrate on his sister's presence.

But she was just too weak.

Normally, it would be easy to sense an opposite attribute, but since his own presence was so overwhelming, her aura was barely present. He continued north, regardless. He had the dream again--the same one he had every night.

The woman.

The words she said that he didn't hear.

The blood. So much blood.

Curiosly enough, from what he could see, the woman resembled his late mother. Strange that he would dream about her. Then again, he and Zen were the only ones to witness their mother's demise. But no matter how he hard he tried, he couldn't remember what had happened.

He did know it was Zen's fault. It must have been.

Even though he was certain of this, his father and brothers seemed to think differently. No one besides him knew how his mother really died. After the event, he had felt a change within him. Suddenly, he didn't care about his family's well being. And as for his father, well, he was simply the man that would die before Ko became the head of his family. If any of his siblings married, they would become branch families, basically holding no significance to the Samui clan.

In other words, he, as the oldest son, was the only who really mattered.



Yeah, so kind of a filler chapter. Selena recently became my first 6* unit, so I thought I'd let her shine a bit in this chapter. And I also took the opportunity to explain how the Samui family works.

The oldest child of the family is the next head. The other siblings aren't taken into consideration. But, if Ko were to die, Haku would be the next head. If he died, Ritz would be the head, and so on. But if Ko were to get married and have children before he died, his oldest child would succeed him. That's how the heirarchy works.

So...yeah. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Thanks for reading!