The next time Aurora woke up, she was much more awake than before. She could even feel her arms and other parts of her body responding to her command.
The room she had been brought back to was vaguely familiar to her but Aurora had a hard time remembering where she had seen it before.
‘Ugh, it’s on the tip of my tongue. I just need to try harder to remember.’
Aurora was sure that she would be able to remember if she was given enough time to consider her situation. But she had been kidnapped and that made time luxury to her.
The door to the room was locked shut with that weird anti-magic thing that was preventing Aurora from using her powers or her system.
The person who had locked her in here must be really strong to be able to do this to a goddess.
Well, either strong or completely knowledgeable on how a goddess’s powers worked. And that narrowed the list down a lot for Aurora.
“Ah miss, you are finally awake. Master was worried that you would not wake up for some time but we are happy to see you up and moving now.”
The speaker was a shadow doll without features. The only thing remotely human about the doll was its shape.
But still, Aurora could not help but feel a vague familiarity as she looked at the doll. She felt like she knew what the doll was and how it operated.
Even the cold feeling of the doll’s hand was familiar to Aurora in a way that this room had been – a distant feeling of nostalgia.
“Since you are awake, we should get master here to meet you. Master was looking forward to this opportunity.”
“Hey, wait. At least tell me where I am being-“
But the shadow doll did not listen to Aurora’s words. Before she could finish speaking, the shadow doll dissolved into the ground and left just as quickly as it had arrived on the scene.
Aurora tried to relax but the more she tried, the more on edge she got.
Why was she here? What brought her to be kidnapped and why was Clove helping the opposition? Was this the tower’s doing? It did not seem like the tower’s style but one might never know.
‘I need to take a chance as soon as the door opens. I just need to overpower my opponent on the other side and I will be able to run away without any problem.’
Aurora had a plan brewing inside her head. She knew that a normal human won’t be able to win against a goddess and that was what Aurora was banking on to get a complete victory.
That was until the door opened up and a familiar face looked back at her.
All of a sudden, all of these familiar dolls as well as the familiar room made sense to Aurora. There was a reason she felt like she knew them all.
It was because she did know them all quite well.
“Hello, Aurora. It’s been some time since we last met but I can see that you went through something that changed you. Not that it matters much now since you are finally home.’
That voice and that face, it was engraved into Aurora’s memories and she could not help but feel light-headed and scared.
‘There is nothing to be scared of now. She’s not who she used to be and I am also not who I used to be. I need to get myself to relax.’
Aurora’s brain tried to calm her down but her body had other ideas. It was terrifying of seeing those familiar eyes locked down at her.
Those eyes could see through Aurora’s soul and nitpick even the smallest detail of how she was feeling.
“What’s wrong? Are you not going to greet your mother? One would think that I raised you to be an ungrateful adult.”
Her mother’s voice sounded as if Aurora had wronged her in a way. But Aurora knew that it was not true at all.
Her mother was the one who had given up on Aurora. She had traded her only alive daughter and handed them to the tower to take care of.
All because she did not believe that Aurora was talented enough to handle the family business.
That was something Aurora resented her mother a lot at first before realizing how freeing it was to get out of that home’s shadow.
‘To think that I ended up here of all places. How shameful for me.’
Aurora thought as her lips were pulled back into a snarl. She would prefer to be dead than to be here but she doubted that she would be allowed to just off herself.
“I don’t consider you as a mother. Not after you threw me away like that. I want nothing to do with you in this life or the next.”
Aurora’s emotions were running high and making her speak up things she would not have otherwise. But she could not help herself either in this situation.
The person in front of Aurora was someone she had always felt complex emotions toward and even now she did not know how to treat her mother.
“I know how you feel about me and what kind of misconceptions you might harbor toward me but I won’t resent you for it. I just ask you to make yourself comfortable for now and think your options through. You might find that things are not as bad as you make them out to be.”
Her mother spoke those words in the same ridley pattern as she always had. Why did she not make the meaning of her words obvious, Aurora had no idea.
But she did know that her mother was a dangerous person Aurora needed to stay away from.
“Enough of your word-plays. Why was I brought here? What are you planning on doing?”
There was no point in asking all this of her mother but Aurora still held hope in her heart that her mother would answer her. But it seemed as if her hopes were meant to be dashed outright.
“You don’t need to know all the details of what I am planning, nor do you need to participate in my plan. You just need to stay in this room and stay out of the way. So Aurora, behave yourself, or I will be forced to make you obey.”
Aurora wanted to rebel but her body remembered the feeling of her mother’s punishments. It froze at the commanding tone her mother used and that was it.
Aurora knew she had lost that round already but she was not bitter. She knew that her time would come sooner or later anyway.
‘It’s not like my teammates will abandon me. At least Rex and Rita will come for me and so will Ava. I just need to trust them to come soon.’
“I will leave you to your device now since I need to take care of our guests who will be arriving soon.”
Her mother leveled Aurora with a look that clearly said to ‘not come out and embarrass me’.
Yeah, nothing had changed from that time Aurora had managed to run away from this place. She was still stuck in the past and had not even realized it yet.
“Oh, and also. Your friend will be visiting you in the evening so do be ready. She’s been a big help to me all this time so I will approve of her. But make sure you clean your mess if you decide to end things with her.”
‘As typical of my mother. She’s not worried about me but the loss of a potential alley down the road. But then again, what could I have expected from such a cold and ruthless woman like her? She never liked me in the first place.’
It stung that her mother did not turn around to give Aurora a last glance. She just left the room and closed the door behind her.
Aurora tried to open the door but it did not help at all. The door had been locked tightly and there was no way to escape it now.
“Don’t give me such a pitying look like that. I will get out of here one way or another. So don’t you dare pity me?”
The shadow doll had no expression on her face but Aurora still got a feeling that she was being made fun of.
“Aurora, are you in there? Can I come in and talk with you?”
The voice belonged to Clove. She did not need to hide behind the door and ask Aurora for permission. Not when Aurora’s mother trusted Clove more than she trusted Aurora.
And it stung to know. How did things come to be this way?
“Aurora, are you alright? Can I come in now?”
Clove asked again, now sounding extremely worried but Aurora was having none of it.
“No, you cannot come in right now. Just return back to your room and leave me alone.” Aurora picked up the vase and threw it at the door. She just wanted to be left alone.
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