Carmilla knew that there was more than what Vaeri let on. Some sort of complicated drama that she couldn't find the correct dots to connect.
A little child, not welcomed in a village of elves? Because what? They weren't keen on her existence.
That can't be it. It felt... shallow. Hundreds of theories popped up in Carmilla's head. Ranging from blatant racism to Niana doing something atrocious when she was a defenseless baby.
It was all possible. Carmilla remembered when she first showed signs that she was a mutant. She easily destroyed a house because she was fussy. Perhaps it was a similar event?
Nonetheless, she was going in blind either way. Even if she wanted to repay the favor, wouldn't taking this kind of job be too... risky? She had other goals in mind after all.
Perhaps this was just another punishment for her selfishness. A side-quest. Something she had to conquer to finally achieve the freedom she desperately wanted.
Still, Vaeri's suggestion had holes.
"You want me, another human, to come with you and Niana while you're in the village?" She asked, "Wouldn't that make the villagers even more wary?"
Vaeri let out a weak laugh. "They're wary, alright. Fortunately for us, they're... they're as harmless as the ambient echoes in a cave."
"But you're 'not confident enough in your strength to protect her'?"
Carmilla didn't mean to sound so accusatory. For one, the situation could be delicate, Niana was a unique child after all.
Maybe they wanted Niana to experiment with. Since she was the only human in the whole realm for as long as she's lived. Her body, being human, is extremely conductive to manipulating mana and performing magic.
"They've tried to take her away from me multiple times. Not directly, but through their laws and regulations." She paused, "We're not going to go inside the village directly. I have this... friend. We meet regularly outside of the village. Niana doesn't know though."
Carmilla thought it over.
She thought they were going to waltz in the middle of a village without any kind of equipment or protection. But if it was a secret trade on the outskirts, she could get by it.
She didn't understand why Vaeri had to build up the story so much. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. Carmilla wondered why she rejected her daughter's request to go until now. Her sudden appearance barely changed how things were.
Sure, she's done her fare share of protection work. Compared to her previous assignments, this looked easy on the surface.
Key word, on the surface. Things could easily go to shit if she wasn't vigilant.
A realm full of mana? There's bound to be more magic users. There was one in front of her, in fact. The situation was already out of her experience the moment she was dragged in to another realm.
Maybe she was overthinking this.
"Okay. What do you want me to do exactly?"
Vaeri smiled brightly. A smile that mirrored the one on Niana's face. Despite their vast difference in features, they smiled the same. "Just make sure Niana doesn't wander off too far."
Carmilla couldn't react in time to dodge Vaeri's hands. Vaeri wrapped her fingers around Carmilla's with a quiet weight, squeezing firmly as she whispered. "Thank you, Carmilla."
Carmilla nodded stiffly. "Thank me when the job is done, Miss Vaeri."
"Please, just call me Vaeri. I can't have you be formal when my daughter calls you Mimi."
It ended rather peacefully. While there was a lot in Carmilla's mind, being around Vaeri was easy. The woman exuded a gentle aura that lulled her to relax.
Again, her mind drifted to Lilith. They were the same in that regard.
The women eventually joined Niana on the table. The child made sure that they were taking longer than what she had been promised. Her stare could rival that of a great bear. Or at least that's what she said. Niana was loud and annoyed that they keep talking without her.
Eventually, she was tamed with stew, a gentle kiss and apology from her mother. Despite her complaints earlier, she was ravaging that stew like there was no tomorrow.
Breakfast went along well. Vaeri and Niana filled the silence with their conversations, something that Carmilla noted was... normal.
The food was great, the atmosphere was fantastic, and the mana in her surroundings made her feel more relaxed than she had ever been in her entire life. She knew close to nothing about these people, yet she was more comfortable in their presence than she had ever been in her family's.
Was this the kind of freedom that she wanted? A relaxed state of mind with no worries of the future that might be ahead of them?
Family dinners were often suffocating. Doing anything in that District felt suffocating. She was proud to have hailed from there but there was nothing that tied her down to her role.
After all, at the end of the day, she was their weapon. One of their assets that they were going to use in one of their future plans. Train her up through scout missions before she would be sent to the outside world to join the other mutants.
She was expected to rally the other humans under one flag. A leader. The person who would bring salvation to the humans that have forgotten what it was like to live in a normal civilization without the threat of monsters and beasts. With normal governance, houses and a community that helped one another.
Her mother would often call her a God. She never really understood where that came from. None of the feats she's done in her life were godlike.
It was a toxic whisper in her ear that only pressured her to leave. She didn't want that kind of responsibility.
There was that one time where she asked her mother why she was chosen. Her mother only repeated the same spiel that she heard all her life. She still didn't understand and her mother didn't feel the need to explain exactly.
Vaeri and Niana were so different.
Niana was still on about fishing. Particularly, ice fishing. She seemed insistent about doing it, exclaiming that it was her favorite activity in the world.
Instead of a harsh tongue-lashing, or a pointed stare, or a predictable answer, Vaeri talked to her like she was a person. She explained now that winter was over, the ice in the river was slowly melting away. Reminding her the last time they went where they almost fell in the water because of the uneven surface.
Niana eventually gave up. She could have understood what her mother said or not. That didn't matter. In Carmilla's eyes, that was a wonderful answer to a frustrating question.
Perhaps it was a good idea to make sure nothing bad will happen to this family.
"Mama, did you know that Carmilla hasn't gone fishing yet? She doesn't eat fish! Can you believe that?!"
All of the sudden, she was being dragged into their conversation. It was a loaded gun aimed at her point blank. And with Vaeri's playful emerald eyes landing on her, she knew that she had nowhere to escape.
"Really?"
"Well..." Carmilla started, "We live in the middle of a dense forest. The nearest river was outside of it, guarded by incredibly powerful beasts. The District couldn't risk it."
Vaeri was surprised, while Niana made sure that even the critters outside could hear her disbelief.
"Have you even seen fish?"
Carmilla frowned. She could feel the flush in her cheeks continuing to rise as she replied, "N-no... outside of picture books, I haven't seen any fish."
Vaeri rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Wait. If you live in the middle of a forest does that mean you haven't seen the ocean either?" When Carmilla shook her head, Vaeri's voice failed to hide her surprise. "Or even the river?"
"I told you. The district couldn't risk disturbing the beasts outside of our walls."
Although, her original plan was to disturb them to force her district into a more active role in Itov. That seemed impossible now that she was stuck in another realm.
"Then what about water?"
"We have ground and rain water. My family makes sure that we have a surplus of supplies in case of emergencies or the likes of a natural disaster will affect us."
Other than those two sources, for her church, she was often a guest speaker that would use her magic to make water for nothing to offer to her citizens. Embody the God that brought them salvation through performing miracles.
She didn't want to do it, of course. It felt a disservice to the actual people that dug up the water wells around the district or the ones that built the intricate system of collecting and storing rainwater. But it was her responsibility to ease the citizen's tension.
They needed something tangible to believe that there was a brighter tomorrow so that they will continue to fall in love and feel safe enough to bring children into their community. That way, the purpose of their District will be passed down until they reach the final peace that was similar to their lives on Earth.
Carmilla was shaken from her thoughts when Niana slammed her little hands on the wooden table, rattling her utensils and stew.
Vaeri just sighed, "Manners, Niana, please..."
"Mama! We can't let that happen! She needs to see the river now!"
"Maybe not now, my dear. I don't think we can last another day without our supplies. We can go tomorrow. Have fun and swim around, how about that?"
"Yes! Yes yes yes! Oh, we will have so much fun, Mimi! I'll show you all there is to know about rivers and show you all the cool spots! I promise you!"