The pain was unbearable. Every muscle in her body felt it was going to rip itself apart. Yori gripped the hand of the midwife next to her as if her life depended on it. Her voice was tired as she screamed for what felt like the eight-hundredth time in the past day. Every person in the room was telling her to keep going, and that she could do this. But they were pushing something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a lemon, were they? She kind of just wished they’d all shut the hell up.
The pain passed again and Yori lied down against the many pillows that had been lazily thrown onto her bed. Her face was covered in sweat, and her blonde hair stuck to her face here and there, the rest of it pulled back quickly with ribbon. Her labored breath was noted by one of the mid-wives, who spoke worriedly. Apparently, they thought she couldn’t hear them talk about “complications”. Annoyed, Yori pushed their words away and tried to calm herself, thinking about other things-like how the hell this all started. She sighed, closing her bright blue eyes slowly.
Life had been so much more simple before all of this had happened. Yori had gone from a naïve, and rather stupid little girl living in Lamura to a quiet, half-jaded mother-to-be in less than two years. After the massacre at Lamura, she’d left her home with a man named Kaizen, afraid for her life. However, because she left, her life took so many wild turns. She wasn’t sure, when she looked back, whether any of it was a mistake or not. Either way, through Kaizen, she’d also met Ilam, as well as several other people, many of whom were still good friends. She traveled all over Gaea and learned more things than she could have ever imagined.
Who’d have thought that there was some sort of holy city floating in the sky? Or that there was some sort of ultimate evil that threatened all of Gaea? Yori sure didn’t, at least not until she saw each and every discovery with her own eyes.
And Ilam…she never had a chance to really tell him, but she did love him. She’d told him, the day he died, that she hated him. She’d fought him, making him think that she wanted him dead. However, she couldn’t have actually done it herself. Yori had just been angry, and didn’t really want him to die. Her heart was broken when it actually happened. Kaizen had done what she couldn’t and now she was alone.
A sudden jerk of pain brought Yori back to the present and she cried out in pain. Her body jerked upwards and she winced, wishing this would all just be over. The midwives rushed back to her side, ready, just incase this would finally be it. They were all worried because this wouldn’t be a human child that Yori was giving birth to. The fact that the baby would be half-voldo only made labor more complicated. Ilam had had wings. The baby probably would to, and it would cause all sorts of hell for the poor mother. Yori pushed again and again, fighting through any pain she felt. It wasn’t as if she could just say “I change my mind.” and quit. There was no choice. She had to do this and she wanted it done now.
Yori screamed again and squeezed the woman’s hand. They were saying something, but she was in so much pain she could hardly hear what they were saying. She just fought and fought through the pain. The sudden relief, if that was what you could call it, came so quickly that Yori’s head spun. She felt backwards, but a midwife caught her and lied her against the pillows. The exhaustion pulled at her and Yori’s eyes began to closer. But just before everything was taken over by darkness, Yori could have sworn she’d seen him…
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Eight Years Later
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Yori sat quietly on a grassy hill, staring off ahead of her. A light breeze pulled her loose hair and pulled it past her face. It was late mid-day, just before the sun was about to set. The familiar feeling of a small body pressed against her side told her that Jerico was sleeping. She sighed quietly, thankful for the silence. She’d let the boy sleep for a while.
That had been one of the best and worst days of her life. Obviously, going through labor was complicated enough. Then, because Yori was a human woman who was giving birth to a child that was not completely human…it was just painful. Apparently, she’d passed out due to some sort of complication. Blood loss, or some mess. The now twenty-seven year old woman usually tried not to think about it. She’d woken up with the baby next to her, both of them being watched closely by the midwives who had helped Yori through everything. Just seeing him had made all of the pain worth it.
Yori sighed. All of that was in the past, though. Jerico was eight years old, and hardly an infant anymore. To be honest, he was harder to care for then compared to now. Yori pushed a strand of pale hair out of his face as he slept, smiling down at him. He was a lot calmer than his father.
For the first few years after he was born, Yori kept herself busy with just being a mother, but as he got older, and his grandfather had showed up, she’d had a lot more free time to herself. It had been strange, at first. Being away from him for that first day had felt like one of the most frightening things she’d gone through. However, just like every parent did, Yori got over the initial fear. Though, given the old man’s…opinions on her parenting, it took a while longer than it probably should have.
There had been a few occasions where, after proving that she wasn’t about to go letting enemies of Gabrealle in like she had done for Ilam, the knights showed interest in her joining the ranks. They were less impressed with her physical strength, but everything seemed to know about her influence over light. After the battle where The Fall had taken place, most people seemed to know almost everything about her. Yet, every time the offer was made, Yori’s mind went back to Deluna. She couldn’t have ever imagined letting something like that happen to her. Jerico already didn’t’ have a father as it was.
However, they did allow her to train with them when she offered. Things like training and such ended up taking up a lot of her time in the beginning. It kept her mind off of all the things she didn’t want to think back on. There had also been a few men in her life sense then, but nothing ever really stuck. It wasn’t their fault. Yori just had…issues with trusting people these days. She did, however, still enjoy speaking with Dee and writing to Amaranth when she got the chance. Yori even took the time to visit Kaizen when she could. Even though he did kill Ilam, Yori knew that it hadn’t really been Kaizen’s fault. She didn’t feel that he belonged in some sort of dungeon. Yet no matter how much she tried to help, it seemed there had been nothing Yori could do to help him. It was the least she could do.
Today was one of those days where there didn’t seem to really be much to do, so Yori had decided just to take Jerico outside and have a little fun. She still lived in Gabrealle, and was thankful for the beautiful gardens and trails it allowed for recreation. It wasn’t the same city after the fall. As the people rebuilt it, they remade a city that looked nothing like it had before. While still beautiful, small buildings and houses were replaced with high towers that pierced the sky. The blue crystals that had once glowed at the bottom of the city were shattered in the fall, but were still used in decorations on buildings and in some of the royal family’s jewelry. Everything was just so different. Even the people seemed to be feeling the stress of the real world, the one they had escaped by living in a floating city, high above any pain and suffering caused by war and disease.
For now, however, everything seemed to be going well.
Yori
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