A person was standing in a field of periwinkle flowers, waving their hand at me as a warm summer breeze swept across the field. The sounds of swaying grass, chirping birds, and the joyous laughter of children echoed in my head. The sun was shining with an intense yet gentle warmth and the wind was cool and comforting.
The hands of children pressed against my back and started to push me towards the person standing in front of me. I looked at the woman twirling around in the field of her favorite flowers. Her floral dress perfectly matched the colors of the periwinkles and danced with such elegance in the wind.
My brothers ran past me, one of them smiling and trying to encourage me to continue forwards whilst the other one was mocking me for being a slowpoke and a scaredy cat. My older brother stuck out his tongue and gave me a thumbs down before running up towards my dancing mother.
"Mom…" I reached out my hand and started to walk in her direction.
She gently caressed the cheeks of my brothers before stretching out her arms for me. Her embrace was awaiting my arrival.
I was only a mere meter from her when the flowers at my feet started to wilt. The flowers around my mother started to wilt as well. The grass turned brown and the sun was clouded and replaced with the star-filled night sky. The mild and comforting wind became a bone-chilling winter breeze. My breath turned into mist as I breathed into the cold air.
"The moon, o the moon, Vivshi, anytime you see the moon full, it means Celestia is watching over you."
"Mommy, who is Celetia?" Baby Vivhsi asked her mom with childlike curiosity.
"A goddess who will grant those who have the most gentle of souls their deepest desires!" Vivshi's mom said enthusiastically.
"Any wish?"
Vivshi's mom grabbed his hand and lifted it towards the full moon,
"Any wish!" She smiled brightly.
"Then mommy, I wish for…"
The dream abruptly ended as I found myself standing in the heart of the capital again. Surrounding me was the sound of sick strays coughing up blood from breathing in too much pollution. Smells of trash and diarrhea and the sights of bodies littering the alleys like trash.
I peered into the sky again and saw that it was one of those nights when the moon was actually full.
"I wish for…"
My eyes fluttered open as light hit my eyelids. Was this a dream as well? I sat up in bed and touched my chest which was completely bandaged up. Memories finally came back as I recollected everything that happened. I looked up and saw the person who had been taking care of me.
The pink-haired girl was sitting on an armchair sleeping with a thin blanket over her. It was not covering her properly so I decided to pull it up a bit for her but as my hands slightly touched her skin.
Her eyes shuddered and her body repulsed in terror from my touch.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She shrieked in fear.
She fell out of the chair covering the place I had touched and was shaking terribly.
But when she looked behind her and saw me she finally calmed down a bit and apologized for her sudden outburst before leaving the room.
That fear in her eyes… her eyes were trembling in horror from a mere touch. I sat back down on the bed to think for a bit before deciding to go out of the room. The door creaked open and I peeped around the corners to see if anyone was there and as I was checking if anyone was behind me. I suddenly felt an intimidating presence behind me. Slowly turning my head I saw it was that old hag who was staring at me with soul-piercing eyes.
"Where is Aylin?" She asked suddenly.
"She ran out of the room a few minutes ago," I replied calmly.
The old lady sighed before hitting me on the head with her smoking pipe and telling me to follow her. She told me that I was now officially indebted to her and that I needed to pay her back.
"But no matter how hard I work in the slums I couldn't ever afford to repay you for what you did for me."
"That's why you are going to do me a little favor instead, kiddo." She coughed as some smoke got caught in her throat.
She ordered me to sit down at a table and I quietly obliged. Warm food was placed onto the table and a clean cup of water.
"Eat up!" She impatiently demanded.
It wasn't anything fancy like the food Emovi had offered me, it was a piece of bread and vegetable soup but this was something only a stray could dream of.
I gracefully accepted her offer and ate the food and whilst I was dipping the bread into the soup she suddenly caught me off guard asking me a question.
"So did you two do anything last night?" She bluntly blurted out.
I spat out the soup and almost choked on the bread after she asked me. But I quickly shook my head and reassured her that nothing had happened between Aylin and me last night.
She grinned before telling me that she knew that I was too much of a chivalrous man to ever dare to touch a lady on the first night of meeting.
"How did you know I wouldn't do anything to her?"
"Decades of judging people and an old woman's intuition," she shrugged.
I had to ask, Why did she assign Aylin to me. Her saggy and wrinkled skin sagged even more as she squinted one eye to think.
"That girl…" she sighed.
"She is in a special circumstance… You could say."
"How so?"
"Most of the women working here in my brothel came out of their own volition, to be able to earn money to support their families. There were some that I bought at slave auctions, but Aylin is special. You could say, an old friend kinda forced her into my care…" she said in a voice full of annoyance.
She continued by telling me that Aylin didn't take customers. She only served as a nurse for the other workers and a drink pourer.
"Then why did you assign her to me?"
The old lady rolled her eyes and stood up and left the dining room leaving my question completely unanswered. I lay my head down onto the table wondering what I should even do now and when I turned my head I saw Aylin standing there with a bowl and we made eye contact.
Her eyes averted as she saw me and she left the dining room with her bowl and sat on the stairs instead to eat her food.