Adriana would scurry towards her residential apartment building as she would soon get all her fur, dress, cape, and pretty much everything drenched in more rain. Unlike her younger sister, Adriana hated water unless to cleanse herself. The dripping of it onto her hair and her attire just was unbearable as frantically moved towards the steps of the apartment. As her two ruby red slippers would step up the steps they would send puddles of mud pouring up her legs, much to her dismay.
Still, Adriana wanted to get inside as fast as possible as she hastily took out her key card and opened the door. She was able to get inside the building while soaked in water, but she thought a simple and yet ironic bath and then some change of clothes would do the trick.
The apartment was just like any other in Siag, much to her depression. There were no special suite her brother has reserved for her, no guards protecting her room's door. No luxury or allure in sight, just a basic suburban building. While this tore on Adriana's mental health, with her brother living in that huge Central Administration Building towering over the city of Siag, and yet this is her only accommodations.
Still, the rent was low and she was able to make proverbial ends meat here. Still, this rundown structure was not reliving as she entered it.
"Same old, same old I guess" she muttered to herself as she would go over to wipe her feet on the door mat.
After wiping her good pair of shoes, Adriana headed towards her room. While she moved she would leave a trail of water, hoping the landlord didn't catch this she would move until she would go to her room. With a simple swipe of her keycard, the door would unlock as she entered inside. After she had done so, she took out a sigh and closed the door.
"Well at least, I'm home."
As she entered, a dark colored chao would float up joyfully towards this. This would be a rare time for her to smile, because if Adriana didn't have anything in her miserable existence, she had Sabrina her pet chao.
"Chao chao!" Sabrina let out as she hovered up to hug her mistress.
"It's nice to see you too Sabrina, even if I'm all wet" Adriana said as she chuckled.
"Chao chao chao!" Sabrina let out as she was trying to dry off the vixen's head with her hands.
"I got it Sabrina, you go over there and wait for me to clean up before we get you some food" Adriana stated.
Sabrina would nod and hover off until the black chao landed on a nearby coffee table. Adriana would nod and then head towards her bathroom. Sabrina was always faithful and very patient towards her, as if she could sense her own mistress's frustrations. Adriana was dry enough to head to her bathroom where she would eventually have a shower, before changing her wardrobe and coming out with a simple robe on.
Adriana would then walk over to the cupboard and pick out some chao food, the synthetic stuff manufactured by the Ironside corporation. While it wasn't all natural and clearly being created by one of her brother's more, suspicious corporations. It was all she had for her pet.
She put the food in a bowl and put it down onto the table as Sabrina would hover over and begin to nibble on it. This would make Adriana smile as she would take her hand and rub the creature's head. She then would look at the old television, one that was imported from the prime world, or stolen. Still she thought her pet and herself could at least find something calming to watch after an eventually afternoon.
The vixen then strode over to the couch and proceeded to turn on the ages old remote control. It was a small comfort of course, but it was one she needed never the less. As her foxy ears would twitch at the sound of Sabrina nibbling, Adriana would begin to change the channels. Suddenly, she would stop as she would see a breaking news report, or as she called it propaganda.
"In other spectacular news, our brave Moebian forces continue to push forwards on the Prime World. The Baron himself has launched a personal spearheaded invasion into Northamer! He has advanced straight into the bleeding heart of G.U.N! This along with Baroness Scylla's forces pushing on the West Coast will surely bring victory to the Order, and a better tomorrow for all of Moebius!"
"Ugh! What crap! Grief and Scylla get to go to that planet and get all the glory, and here I am stuck in this shithole?!? Vaffanculo you, fratello!" she said as she them proceeded to stomp her bar pawed foot on the floor.
"Grief and Scylla get all the glory, just because madre pumped them up with growth hormones! What did I get? I can float around. It's not fair!" Adriana yelped.
"Hey! Fairy godmother bitch! Keep it down in there!" she heard from the wall of her neighbors.
"Fine.." she said as she began to tear up before turning off the television and standing up before heading to her bedroom.
"Chao?" Sabrina asked, noticing her owner crying.
"I'll be fine Sabrina, I just need a moment alone" Adriana said as she would head into her room.
As she moved inside while tearing up, she would be relived in how neat and tidy everything was. At least, in this little corner in Siag things had order for her. Still, the vixen would move over her bed before collapsing on it as she began to weep. She felt like leftovers, forgotten and forsaken by her own family and an outcast in society. With her own powers being near useless and yet she saw a whole world that the average Moebian simply did not. While Siag was far better than the slum it was under the reign of the "Tyrant King", it was far from the utopia that her father Ivan once said it would be to her.
However, Adriana did not place blame on her father, nor her mother. No, this depressing urban sprawl was all her idiotic brother's fault. Grief forsakes their family legacy, their mystical heritage for heavy industrialization and bleak meaningless commerce.
The worst part, Adriana was powerless to stop all this, stop the Bradanska legacy from being dragged into the mud as she wept. She teared up so much that her tears would begin to ruin her makeup, but she simply didn't care. After all, she was just a crazy loon to everyone.
"Chao, chao!" she would hear as Sabrina would begin to pock the back of her back.
"I'll be fine Sabrina! I promise!" Adriana said as she lifted up her face to see Sabrina, pointing at something?
"W-what is it?" she said as she would notice Sabrina hover over to what looked like a package?
"Chao! Chao chao!" she would say as she would try to lift up it and carry it over to Adriana's bed.
Adriana would reach out to grab it, as her poor companion was small enough to carry something of that weight. She would take what it is and look. It looked like some sort of rectangle pattern, but it was modestly heavy. Was it a bomb? Someone was trying to finish her up off once and for good? She then shook her head to try to snap herself out of her delusion. She would then notice something, it felt like the same weight of a book.
"A book? Did this come in the mail, Sabrina?" she asked her floating chao friend.
"Chao! Chao!" Sabrina replied as she nodded.
"But-why? I didn't order anything" she said as she would slowly begin to unravel the book.
As she used red covered nails to cut off the string and begin to tear off the wrapping,
something very odd would transpire. As she would open it up, the book would suddenly feel warm. Not hot, but clearly something was off about this book. At first she thought it was going to explode, and had half a mind to try to toss it away. But something about this book, it was just alluring to her.
Eventually, Adriana would take off the wrapping and look at the book. There was a simple white card that fell out with it on her bed. Adriana would pick it up and begin to read it.
"This belongs to you, it is your birthright" it simply stated.
Now Adriana was really confused, almost wondering if she was in some sort of dream. Still, she shook her head and begin to look at it. The book would suddenly begin to glow bright green. This startled her anymore, yet something about this glow. It felt, natural. This radiance was warm and comforting, like it was calling to her to open it. Adriana would get a slight shiver.
"This can't be real" she said as she would gather her nerves and begin to open it to the front page.
There she fount a simple name, one she only vaguely heard before. As she opened the tome, the name began to literally glow in it's ink in a bright red radiance, one name translated from her native tongue of Spagonia. It simply uttered a single word.
"Aurelia"
"Nonna Aurelia? But how?" she said as she thought of just how old this book had to be.
The book had to have been in her family for literally thousands of years. If it were somehow real, then it raised so many questions. How did it stay in this pristine condition after all these years? Why is it even here? Most importantly, who even sent it? All these questions buzzed in Adriana's head, but still she needed anything to get her mind off her woes.
She would slowly begin to turn the page. The next page was almost archaic, using words that were almost long forgotten. Yet for some reason, she could fathom what it was saying. It was like the letters were shifting and being translated by her very eyes. Her heart beat was frantic now. She began to get sick in her stomach and her head would begin to feel light.
Yet, Adriana was still somehow connected to this book. From the looks of things, it appeared to be some sort of tome or spell book. To anyone else, it would sound like gibberish and chants. Hymns, incantations, passages, rites, and hexes. Yet, she couldn't read everything. It was as if the book wouldn't let her know certain bits of knowledge.
"Could it be? That time dad told me his grandmother was a witch. I remember, Grief. He just laughed at it and walked off. Typical of that man" Adriana said as she muttered and began to turn another page.
As she did, a certain phrase would suddenly glow red. But it wasn't modern Spagonia, it was ye old Spagonian. She had tried to learn that in high school, taking that class. However, to most modern citizens under the Order, such a language was near useless. She could only make out what it said, as she tried to speak it.
"Fatorum Vices"
"I have no idea what this even means. I guess there's things even my nonna didn't understand, that or I'm just unlucky" she said as she sighed.
Eventually, she would hear the intercom coming from the walls of Siag, this sound indicated that nighttime was about to befall the city and that all citizens were to enter their homes to rest. It also meant that a curfew would be issued and night patrols would move around Siag, oh and to prevent air-raids citizens were to turn off their lights.
"I guess I should head to bed. I don't think people would believe me about this book. Heh, but it's still my little secret regardless. After all, I'm just some crazy fairy godmother and fake magician, right Sabrina?" she said as she looked over at Sabrina and smiled.
The book proved one thing, that she wasn't just some generically altered mutant freak. This book meant that she was at least an actual witch, even if nobody would believe her. Aurelia's book brought her solace in her families linage. However, she needed to put it away and go to bed. Nobody would try to mug her, she was too poor and too crazy for them.
Adriana simply would get up and put the book in a shelf before going over and turning off the lights. Too many thoughts raced in her head, but she knew she had to get some sleep for the good of her health. So she would go over and fall on her bed. It wouldn't be too long before she would dose off.
As Adriana laid there in her slumber, she would have a nightmare. Only, it wasn't exactly a nightmare. It was some form of warped dream. She could see the city of Siag, burning. It's shield disabled, it's walls on fire. Thousands were screaming in pure agony, yet oddly enough it felt good. She then would see in a large black silhouette. This titanic being was above the city, yet it wasn't Grief. The silhouette was feminine in form, it was her. She was towering over the city, laughing as it burnt to the ground. In her hand, was only blood.
