She Who Woke Among Eternity

“Mom.”

Nevella looked out the window, her mind focused on the events of today. Meeting Avalyn was a very eye opening experience.

“Mom.”

Avalyn really was just a person. Of course Nevella had known that from her time with Eternity, but it was still such a strange experience to interact with a truly alive non-organic being. She had always imagined that if she ever met a regent that they would struggle to understand emotion, that they would have no regard for life, even just having a flat tone in their voice. Avalyn wasn’t that, though. If it wasn’t for the automaton body, it would have just been like talking to someone back from her youth. Mostly because of the way she talked, both in words and accent, and the level of understanding people had back then.

“Mom!”

Nevella jumped a little in her seat at the end of her daughter’s bed. “What?” Nevella turned back to her daughter. Though the pair weren’t the spitting image of one another, it was clear they were related, albeit with Bethany not having the glowing skin and hair like her mother. However, her hair was a deep dark navy that appeared near black in most lighting.

“I’ve never seen you so distracted. Well, except when you discover something new.” Bethany gave her mom the look that told Nevella to tell her everything.

“I’m just distracted, and I haven’t slept in rotations.”

“How many?”

Nevella blushed. “Four.”

“So you have found something new?” Bethany started to get excited.

A tight anxiety built in Nevella’s chest. Bethany could always read her so well. How should she handle this while keeping the secret but satisfying her daughter’s curiosity? “I just met someone, and it’s been an experience, okay?”

Now Bethany’s eyes went a little wide. “Oh.” There was a moment of silence. “I didn’t realize you’ve been looking to meet people again.”

“I meet people all the time,” Nevella said defensively.

“People at excavations and gods of different species in the Alliance.”

“Well, both things are true for her. Sort of.”

There was more silence. “Her? You aren’t normally attracted to women.”

Nevella’s face grew darker in a deep blush. “I’m not attracted to her! Where did you get that from?”

“So you don’t want to see her naked?”

“I’ve already seen her naked,” she said as a matter of fact.

“So, you’ve already had sex with her?”

Nevella’s jaw was agape. “No! It was for scientific purposes only. I learned a lot about her anatomy. I wasn’t having sex with her. Besides…” Nevella’s voice went quiet. “She doesn’t experience physical attraction.”

Bethany shrugged. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have sex with her.”

“I’m not having sex with her!” Nevella hated how hot her face felt.

“Fine,” Bethany said. “Who is she, anyway?”

With a sigh Nevella said, “I made a promise that I can’t tell people. Her species is new to the Alliance and only her and her daughter are here in Alliance space. Of course, Des has already found out all on his own.”

“That man knows too much and has too many ears everywhere,” Bethany conceded.

“He does, but I have to give him he was very good at handling this and I actually have a lot of trust that he will continue to handle this well.” Nevella put her head in her hands, feeling more tired than she had been letting on. “I really want to tell you everything. I need someone I can talk to about all of this, because even though the past few rotations have been the most eye opening and amazing experience of my life, I’m so overwhelmed.”

Bethany scooted closer to her mom. “What’s been so overwhelming about it?”

Nevella couldn’t answer right away. “There is just so much to do and learn, and I can’t vent about it anywhere.”

“Can you not tell this woman you need time to calm down?”

“I don’t feel like I can. She’s desperately trying to help her daughter and I need to help in any way I can.” Maybe she was already saying too much and Bethany could start putting pieces together. “I just need to sleep and spend some time in one place. We’ve been constantly traveling and going to new and astounding places, and I just need to sit down for a rotation and figure out what to do from here.”

“Then tell her you need a break.”

“I think maybe finding a place of operation might be the best way to get a little settled without asking her to stop in her quest.” There had already been some talk about setting up a base camp somewhere, but mostly they had just been searching places for anything they might need and leaving it at the ruin where Avalyn's cradle was. That couldn’t have that go on if Bethany and everyone else made their way over to the ruin. They would also have to tidy up the place so it didn’t look like anyone had been there. Or maybe not. Maybe they could make it look like the place had already been raided, which it had been.

“It is still okay to ask to take a break. Maybe go to the hot springs of Hemlestic 5.”

“Fuck, that sounds so nice.” Nevella took her head out of her hands and flopped back on the bed. “The problem is she doesn’t want people to see her?”

“Why?” There was a little suspicion in Bethany’s voice.

“Because she’s really shy and anxious. Granted, she doesn’t speak common very well, but even then she’s just so painfully shy and it clearly takes effort to put so much as a sentence together in front of people she doesn’t know. And on top of that, she’s a new species. People would be all over her asking no end of questions. I have a hard time asking no end of questions…”

“She’s not Yechun, is she?” Bethany asked in a very low and harsh tone.

“No! Far far far from it!” Nevella sighed. “Maybe I can book a private spring, or find a less well-known resort.”

“What’s her species name?”

Nevella hesitated again. Even the goddess of ancient history didn’t know the word Vysven, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be potentially discovered soon. “I can’t say. By my grandparents, I want to tell you everything.” A tear ran down her cheek. “This is the most amazing thing to happen to me, and I can’t share it with you.”

Bethany was quiet. “More amazing than me?”

Nevella shot right up, with wide eyes and tears streaming down her face. “No, no, no!” Her arms reached out and pulled Bethany into a big hug. “No, Bethany.” When Bethany’s arms wrapped around her, she felt so much relief. “Nothing will ever beat you.” She took a deep breath and tried to put her words together. “I just mean… I… I’m learning about a whole new species’ ancient history and I don’t feel I’ve ever been this excited about something in relation to what I’m the very god of.”

Hugging her mom tighter, Bethany said, “More than figuring out the potential crash sight of an unborn regent?”

“Okay, those twelve rotations of putting that all together were pretty damn amazing.” They were also what directly led to this, so in some way this was still one experience. “Still, what’s been happening has been amazing beyond measure. It’s just overwhelming.”

“Then take a break and go get a massage or something.”

“That would be nice. I wonder how massages would work for her…” Eternity had so many limbs, not to mention she had feathers, so how would a massage therapist work around those? There were other species in the Alliance that had feathers, so certainly they had massage therapists.

“Well, you’ve already seen her naked. Maybe she would let you take a shot at it,” Bethany said in a teasing tone.

“Bethany!”

“What? You can get a more in-depth study of her anatomy.”

“Stop it.”

“Why?” Bethany teased.

Nevella pulled away. “You want to play this game, huh? Tell me out of your four-bedroom house with your ‘roommate’, how many of those bedrooms are guest rooms?”

Bethany’s face started to turn red. “We’re just friends! We don’t like each other or anything like that.”

“Then why have you shared a bed for the last three vols?”

“Aresa just likes having something to cuddle when she sleeps,” Bethany said defensively.

“Are pillows not good enough?”

“Pillows aren’t warm.”

Nevella’s mind went back to Avalyn. She really hoped they could find a way for Avalyn to have something that she can feel in some way to cuddle. If it was Eternity’s magic, would Avalyn be able to feel it as if it was touching her skin? How horrid it must be to live in a body with only two senses, and occasionally have a third, but only when touching a god? How long was she going to have to suffer, knowing she could have had so much more, or from her perspective, having it ripped away from her?

“Mom?” The thoughts of Avalyn faded as Bethany’s voice brought her back to the moment. “Are you alright? You’re crying.”

“I am?” Nevella reached up and felt tears on her face. “Huh, I am.” Bethany looked even more concerned. “Sorry, I was thinking about her daughter…” Without saying anything, she pulled her own daughter back into a deep hug, treasuring even the minutest of physical sensations she got from it.

Bethany was clearly confused, but hugged her mom back. “Is something wrong with her daughter?”

Nodding her head, Nevella said, “She was in an accident and… It was bad. Very bad. Now the only way she can move and interact with people is through an automaton she controls. She can’t feel touch, smell, or even taste anymore.” She squeezed her daughter harder. “I was just thinking about how we’re going to try using some god magic to get her something that she can cuddle and feel warmth from.”

Bethany didn’t speak right away, but after some time she said, “I hope you two can make that happen for her.”

“Me too.”