The Rise Of The Consortium

Rio Tarnilier kept walking unevenly until she reached the final lane that leads to her home. Maybe the city lights never revealed how dark it was but she could tell that it was really late for her to reach home. It also never went that long for her weekly patrolling, even if there was a lot of people on the square. She would always feel happy to lead them out with ease. But that wasn't the time to be happy. A moment ago she was swinging between whether she should ask her mother about her disease and about her father or not.

Her mother had always a different reaction when it came to personal matters. Either she's asked the first or it's diverted, but she'd be silenced anyway. She'd occasionally stop on her way trying to think why she should ask. Thinking hard, she'd find that ridiculous and give up. A fact said by Kner was true, no matter how hard one tries to avoid that. Everyone has a father. Why she never knew whether she had one? Why she had to get that information from someone else? She had more reasons to know than not to know. She made her mind. The moment she'd enter the door, she would ask her mother directly. That would save all the embarrassment. The door was left ajar. The light from the living room fell through the gap. Surprisingly, the house didn't produce any sound. She felt that was crazy because she knew it never did.

Keeping a stone in her heart, she pushed the door and entered into it. On entering the living room, she found her mother sitting on a chair. Her eyes looked desolate as it looked at the virtual screen that a gadget on her right wrist produced. The screen was covered with writings that was hard to read from a distance. Rio hoped it wouldn't be about her and Kner again. She was lucky, but not so much.

"Who is this Norliera Sokestyn?" that was her mother's first response on seeing her. She felt blood drained out of her face. She lost her chance to shoot the question. She didn't know how will she get to know that.

"I don't know." her mind was quick to reply without her realising that she can't lie. The news might be everywhere so it was pointless to bend the truth.

"What were you doing after being released from the hospital?" so now that was difficult to answer. Why did she lie in the first place? What reason she should makeup now? She didn't have to. She heard her mother saying something.

"Answer me!". The intensity of the voice woke her up. Now she must be ready to listen to all that she didn't want to.

" What would you be doing after being released from the hospital? Didn't you meet anyone?" it sounded rather a bit friendly. Or that's what she could hear.

"She was a client of mine." technically that was true. Her mind ran off to the day when she met the woman in dark blue hair, grey suit and quite generous in manner.

"What could you possibly be talking to your Zolzein client at such an odd time of the night?" so the depth of the truth is known to her. Is it a point to lie to her anymore? How she could say what Ms Sokestyn told her that night, given that her words were ambiguous enough to make any sense. She didn't have any time to process the hidden meaning of all these.

"Can't you answer? Or you're out of your stock of lies?" one might forget everything but not her sarcastic way of dealing with people.

It was anything but not lies, Rio thought to herself. So decided not to say a single word. But her mind was struggling to find ways to ask about her father. She must know about it.

"Will you even answer or not?" she snapped out of her thoughts as her mother spoke in such a low growl.

"We were talking about work." Rio had to say something. She hoped that might work.

"What did you say?" her mother pretended not being able to listen. "Work? With a Zolzein?" her mother looked piercing at her who had her head bent forward. "What kind of work? Kidnapping? Or poisoning someone?" Rio found it hard to swallow such possibilities. It was such a brief meeting but they never touched those boundaries of cruelty. Involuntarily her mind flew to the day she met Ms. Sokestyn. She tried to recall why she met her.

"Could it be you behind Sheme's getaway?" "It's Sheime." Rio corrected the name her mother wanted to refer. Her mother didn't seem to be pleased with it. "Couldn't it be you? Jealous of her? A beautiful, talented friend of yours, but clutched under a worthless, jobless wanderer." her ears couldn't believe her mother kept spilling things like that. "Tell me it's you who helped your Zolzein client to kidnap her." Rio could sense the amount of derision in her mother's voice. Her mind swinging between why was her mother doing that and things were not like that. She could feel some greater pain on the way.

"What? Have you got no answer?" said her mother mockingly.

"It-it is not like that." Rio carefully laid her point. She has to say something believable. "We were talking about my work."

"To appoint you as a spy? Let me see if you got something." her mother got up suddenly to reach to her, the light of the virtual screen turning off. She quickly reached for her shirt pockets and trouser pockets harshly. Rio covered her face with hands to prevent her mother's ravaging search.

"Mother, leave me. I've got nothing," said Rio sobbing loudly. What did her mother think? That Rio would turn into a spy and send everyone to Zolzeim? She just met the fine lady two days before and never mentioned anything like that.

"Then why did you see her?" asked her mother, grabbing the collar of her shirt with her right hand. "Don't you know she is a criminal?" Rio could feel her tightly buttoned shirt stuck in her throat. She tried to take a deep breath to stop her tears and thoughts that made her cry.

"But she's not." that's all she could say after coughing to make her heart steady.

"How? Did she give you anything? Millions of coins or any evil powers?" she shook Rio through the collar. "First this fling with the Maning boy then your so-called meeting with a Zolzein, what do you want to do, you moron?" her mother slammed Rio on the wall by shaking her fiercely. Rio hit her back and felt as if she was going to throw up. She wiped her teary eyes that blurred her vision and heaved herself.

"Don't you want to live in peace?" Rio's cry intensified with her mother's ear-splitting loud question. It followed by a crash of a glass vase near the front door where she stood. She was a few inches away from the impact. She didn't understand what she must do to stop the chaos. If she knew such would be the consequences of just a single meeting, she would have considered that.

"When both of you would learn?" Rio heard as she saw her mother suddenly bent down on the floor clutching her head, sobbing as she hid her face with her left hand.

Rio stood there frozen, her tears couldn't be stopped by her, breathing fast. Her eyes swept towards the broken pieces of the glass, she couldn't remember when the ear glass vase had been in her house. She didn't want to say anything nor wanted to be asked. As she sensed some movement in front of her, her eyes went to the plopped body of her mother on the ground. Gasping, she ran towards the body and turned her on her back, finding her unconscious. She shook her calling her to wake up.

After several attempts, her mother flicked open her eyes, flinging her arms straight. Rio's eyes missed the action as she got pushed back, although her nose got hit from her mother's arms.

Rio was horrified to see her mother sit straight suddenly as if she was some machine, without easing her legs. Her arms were stretched out in front of her and eyes without any emotions.

Her mother got up from the ground and headed towards the door. Rio also suddenly got up and called her mother. She dared not to go close to her but she didn't know how to stop her mother who opened the front door. She tried to pull back her mother from going out, but as if attracted by a bigger force, she kept moving forward. Rio pushed her aside as she was going to step on the broken glass pieces but her mother walked away stepping on those without flinching.

Rio's heart was beating non-uniformly as her eyes started to well up again. Neither her mother stopped, nor she responded anything said to her. Her sobs then sounded hysterical as her mother walked quickly with a heavy force. Rio had to keep up with the speed her mother was gaining quickly. As she occasionally stumbled on her way, she saw some of the faces from the neighborhood, trying to get a view sneakily. At the end of the street where her home was, she lost the view of her mother. She searched around but couldn't find anyone at that time of the night. She didn't know where to go, whom to ask. The home which was a place to stay then felt inhabitable to her. Something in her mind made her feel as if she could never go back to her home ever. Her mind whirled around the directions in front of her, confusing her to choose one and frightening her to think anything.