Raising Wonders

Chapter 10: Her story. (Part 2)

"Good morning Chloe. Care for some breakfast?"

The first words Chloe heard as she opened her eyes were Mask's as usual. The fact that he had welcomed her this morning like any other touched her in a way she hadn't expected. The sun still had barely risen but the welcoming light was enjoyable regardless. Chloe pushed herself out of her bed and propped herself onto her chair, sitting opposite of Mask. Breakfast was standard. Toren's classic mutt fruit and vegetable stew, though since a few weeks ago it had been given the addition of slime strung noodles.

Chloe picked up her spoon and took a sip of the stew, letting the warm liquid refresh her body. She laughed, "To be honest, the food in this world isn't as nice as the one I came from. Even at home, living that extravagant life, it was never as satisfying."

"Hmm, that could just be because you haven't tried enough. You said that the festival food was delicious didn't you?"

"It really was," she nodded. "But I think that was because of the mood."

"Well I can say that you are partly right. I will also agree that Toren's cuisine isn't the most developed, but, there is much better things to eat. The nobles of the Central region tend to not flavour their food as much and rely on quality ingredients and a refined palate. That may be why you were never satisfied. Food in the southern Empire of Kitsugaya or the Kingdom or Xia however pride themselves on their use of spices. It's an entire different game."

Chloe caught onto his word's in wander. The names of countries she had only heard in passing but from Mask's brief description she could picture what they might be like.

"Do you think I'll ever be able to visit?" she asked.

"Well that depends on you," Mask began his answer. "We have a contract to get you home. After that, what do you want to do?"

The young girl paused, finally answering almost blankly, "I don't know. I know I want to go home. To prove to my parents what I am, then after... I'm not sure yet."

"And that's perfectly fine." Mask smiled, "It's the right of the young to mull things over and change their minds."

"Aren't you pretty young Uncle?" Chloe smirked.

A rough chuckle escaped his throat, "Well I suppose I am in the grand schemes of things."

As they finished breakfast Chloe put her cutlery down and gripped her legs. Despite what had happened last night, and though the casual conversation they just had eased her mind, there was still something that was bothering her.

"Don't you want to know who I am? Who I was before I met you?" she looked at Mask with a calm seriousness. Though her heart beat hard, her body and mind knew that she'd be fine.

"I am curious," Mask admitted. "But I can wait however long you'd like. Even if that means you'll never tell me. What's important is how you think you'll feel after. Don't say anything for my sake. I already have plenty of other people's secrets trapped up here." He laughed, knocking against his head.

"How I'll feel?" Chloe thought about her own question. She had never told anyone about her past. She was so used to keeping it bottled up that the thought of telling anyone else had been anxiety inducing. Now that she had opened the jar of who she was, she could only admit that a layer of her stress had been shaved away. She took a deep breath. "Is it okay to tell you? I mean, can I tell you?"

Mask checked a watch and nodded, "We have time."

"Then I will." For a moment Chloe closed her eyes, remembering what life was like before. "My world was very different than this one. We didn't have magic or monsters. Our technology was really good though. We had phones that could communicate with anyone and could access almost any information we wanted. We could travel in planes and be around the entire world in less than a day. Really I took it all for granted." She laughed, "It's different right?"