- Day 2 -
Yun opened his eyes to a whistling kettle.
The ceiling above him was low and water-stained, the footsteps from the level above making it sound like it was about to come crashing down on top of him. An outdated everglow fixture buzzed faintly overhead, its light a tired orange that threatened to go silent any second.
The cot Yun lay on was nestled into one corner of the room. Somebody had tucked him into a blanket that had seen better years — decades, it looked like, from the way its colours had faded like a forgotten memory.
While on the subject of forgotten memories, what the fuck was he doing in what was clearly some creeper's basement? The last thing Yun recalled was returning home after an exhausting meeting with Gambino, and then…
"That damn voice."
He awakened Severin's Curse, after which Yun remembered making plans to go to the Stone District.
Did something else happen to him after that?
Yun threw the blanket onto the floor and leapt to his feet on the metal cot.
"Ouch!"
His ribs protested against the sudden movement. Yun clutched them and hunched over, teeth clenched. That was when he noticed the taste of copper in his mouth, and that the room suspiciously smelled of medicine and painkillers.
"What in Severin's name did they do to me?"
A silent moment passed. Then an older woman descended the narrow stairs adjacent to the bed. She was a short woman with close-cropped grey hair and reading glasses pushed up on her forehead.
"What did you do with my organs?!" Yun shouted.
The woman simply paused and regarded him with the annoyed face of a peevish librarian.
"Boy, get your dumb behind off my bed. Those dirty feet of yours are ruining my sheets."
She held a ceramic mug as she shuffled toward the kettle, where she had prepared a tray with tea ingredients. Yun slowly climbed down from the cot, wincing as his ribs reminded him of their grievances.
Wait. I think I know her.
He sat back down on the mattress, scanning his mind for the woman's name. "Sorry, uh… Miss…?"
The old woman clicked her tongue. She poured hot water into her mug, stirring the steaming concoction with unhurried precision before pacing across the basement and pulling a chair next to Yun. She set the cup of tea on the table beside him with a definitive little clack.
"Mxm, just like your sister — how rude. How could you forget Ma Siya?"
Right. Ma Siya, the older lady who ran the fabric repair shop a level above. This basement must be her workshop, then. Shelves lined every wall, packed with bolts of fabric, spools of thread, and miscellaneous objects Yun couldn't name if he tried.
He chuckled softly. "Sorry, Ma Siya. I don't know what's going on with me today."
With warmth in his chest, he reached for the cup of tea. How could he forget the kind old lady from the Ascending Shanties? Regardless of what led him here, he could at least be grateful first and ask questions later.
His hands gripped the handle, the warmth snuggling them like a glove, and for a second even his ribs seemed to be soothed.
That was until Ma Siya slapped his hands away. Yun retreated and winced.
"See? This is what I'm talking about. Rude!"
"But I thought—"
"Why would I waste time making tea for you, idiot? You disturbed my lunch. At least let me enjoy it here in peace." Ma Siya took a short, pointed sip.
"Uh… sorry, I guess," said Yun.
"Don't guess. You should be extremely sorry. I wasted precious spirit cleaning your wounds."
So that was the medicine he was smelling. At least Ma Siya wasn't asking questions, not that Yun could answer them even if he wanted to.
Just then, Yun heard a soft giggle and realised someone else was in the room. A girl, young and perhaps thirteen or fourteen, sat on the bottom step of the staircase, half-hidden behind the bannister. She wore a sheepish grin and watched him with barely concealed delight.
Yun gave her a curt wave.
"Were you in here the whole time?"
"Um… yes?"
I didn't even notice her. Something's definitely wrong with my head.
"Dalie here came home running, saying she saw a boy as beautiful as a Descendant standing on the air-lift concourse." Ma Siya's tone was somewhat muffled, like she was suppressing a chuckle. "Said she'd never seen anyone like him."
Dalie briefly turned into a tomato as she buried her face behind the bannister. Only her eyes remained visible, still watching.
"At first, I didn't believe it. What would one of them Descendants be doing all the way down here, you know? But then I remembered — who else would it be, other than the son of the mysterious family that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Your mother and sister also made quite a stir because of their beauty."
Yun coughed.
Ma Siya and Dalie were the perfect image of Hollows residents — incredibly pale skin and sharp eyes adapted to a life spent under permanent shadow. Yun and his sister both had medium-brown skin, and although Mother was fair-skinned, she also stood out from your average Hollower.
Yun wasn't so sure about the whole beautiful part, though.
"Can you tell me how I ended up here?"
Ma Siya cradled her mug with a pensive expression, taking her time. "Before I answer that, tell me this, and be honest."
She met his eyes. "Are y'all one of them?"
The question was deliberately vague, but Yun knew what she meant. He also knew the risks that came with outing himself.
Humans were always at risk with Descendants around, especially when a Vision Cycle was on the horizon. During this time, multitudes of Descendants would awaken Severin's Curse and undergo the First Vision. Failure meant death, and their bodies would become empty husks — Plague catalysts that caused everything in their vicinity to corrupt or mutate.
It was the main reason the Stone District had to be lifted above everything else, as much a safety precaution as it was a statement of status. So Yun understood Ma Siya's apprehension about having a Descendant in her midst.
He swallowed. "Yes."
"Okay then. Thank you for telling me." She took a sip, apparently unbothered. Yun heaved a silent sigh.
"Regarding how you got here… Dalie said she tried talking to you, but you were unresponsive. She did like a good citizen and distanced herself immediately, but that didn't sit well with my conscience. I used to have tea with your mother, you know."
Ma Siya took an extended sip.
"But did you hear that? Unresponsive. You know what that means, right?"
Yun looked down at the faded blanket pooled at his feet. He couldn't feel its warmth anymore.
"Of course."
"What's your mother saying about all this?"
For a second, there was silence as Yun blanked out. What would she say about her son awakening Severin's Curse? Would her face finally show some concern over her son potentially dying during a Vision? Or would she simply flash her usual warm smile and say, "Good luck!"
Yun cleared his throat, burying the thought. Such thoughts never helped anyone.
"Yeah, that's the thing. She's waiting for me at the Stone District. I was on my way to meet her there when the Curse awakened, it seems."
Ma Siya didn't react. She just stared at him over the rim of her mug.
"So you're going to the Stone District alone? Which Clan, if you don't mind me asking?"
"High Clan Morrigan."
The old woman's expression didn't change, not exactly. But she went still as if the name meant something to her. Yun wasn't going to press it, though.
"And who are you asking for when you get there?"
Mother, of course. Yun opened his mouth to answer.
But he drew a blank.
The silence that followed had nothing to do with hesitation. If his mind was a shelf, fully stocked with memories from his life, the "names" section was currently empty.
He rummaged through them, but only came back with fog — effects of the Curse.
But with Mother, it was different. The section wasn't missing; it simply never existed. He had always just called her Mother. That was all there ever was.
He did not know her name.
That wasn't a big deal, though. Really.
"Yun?"
"I—" he stopped. Started again. "I don't know."
Dalie had gone still on the staircase.
Ma Siya looked at him for a long moment, her sharp eyes doing several quiet calculations. Then she exhaled slowly through her nose.
"Adelaide," she said.
"She came through the Hollows years ago with a baby and a girl who never seemed to smile. Mxm, now that baby's old enough to steal my granddaughter's heart."
Ma Siya punctuated herself with another sip of her tea.
"Life, huh? I'm too young for this. I swear."
Adelaide.
Yun said it without moving his lips, just to make sure it stayed.
Ma Siya looked at him a moment longer, then stood, smoothing her skirt with both hands. The conversation, apparently, was concluded.
She crossed to one shelf and returned with a folded jacket. It was worn and had been re-stitched so much that it turned into patchwork art. Yun was immediately drawn to it.
Ma Siya held it out.
"It's cold up there," she said, when Yun didn't immediately take it.
Given that the weather was controlled, that was most definitely a choice. What a bunch of weirdos.
Yun took the jacket.
"Ma Siya—"
"Go find your mother." She had already turned back toward her kettle. "The next time I hear from you, bring me more spirit. That stuff is mighty expensive."
From the staircase, Dalie let out a small sound that might have been a suppressed laugh. When Yun glanced at her, she looked immediately at the ceiling.
He pulled the jacket on. It smelled faintly of artificial lavender and chemical odor, just like the workshop.
That was the last smell he'd remember the Hollows by.
***
Yun stood outside Ma Siya's shop. Waving goodbye to Dalie, he walked towards the air-lift.
And so, he set out for the Stone District to confront his estranged family.
"Guess who's coming back home."