DreamStoryVerse Story Arc Book 2

The Sacred Way

"WAKE UP ROSE, IT'S TIME TO RISE AND SHINE!"

Rose Quartz shot up, knocking her head right into Matera's. "Ow...." She whined, "What was that for?"

"Matera, where I come from, people don't usually jump on people and scream in their faces to wake them up." Rose replied, slightly agitated.

"People do not usually do that here either. I just found that it's a very effective method."

"W-what time is it?" Rose asked drowsily, positioning herself to go right back to sleep.

"It is time for waking up!" Matera exclaimed, grabbing Rose's pale arm in an attempt to pull her out of bed. "You said you wanted to ask Apollo a question! That means waking up early. I know you're not used to waking up early so I let you sleep in while I did my chores and stuff, but I can allow no more time to be wasted!"

Rose lazily forced her body upright. "Alright, alright, I'm up." Rose Quartz gently massaged her face before putting on her prescription two tone amber frame sunglasses. Now that she could see better, she noticed that Matera Shariee was wearing a short, plain white dress that fastened on her right shoulder, leaving the other exposed. It reminded Rose that she hadn't yet worn the traditional clothes Matera bought her from next door. She suggested to Matera that she wear them today, hopefully making Apollo more eager to answer her question, and Matera agreed to help her.

She fastened the cloth in all the right places using pin-like fasteners, transforming the simple square fabric into clothing. It had loose elbow-length sleeves and was so long that her feet were not visible. Rose could tell that it too was made out of "clotton". Matera offered her some traditional undergarments as well, though Rose declined, as her host intended to share some of her own.

After helping Rose dress, Matera sat down at her vanity, her face illuminated by the lantern on the desk. As Rose watched Matera Shariee apply her makeup (she wasn't even aware she wore any), her eyes seemed to settle at her neck and exposed shoulder for a reason that was unknown to her. Her neck was nice and slender, not too long and not too short. Her beautiful, curly locks looked so perfectly soft and bouncy, as opposed to the frizzy, looser curls Rose had.

Matera Shariee then took a bit of creamy substance from a jar on the vanity and began rubbing it on her skin. Gradually, her freckles began to slowly disappear.

"What are you putting on your skin?" Rose Quartz asked even though she knew it wasn't really her business.

"Εεε I don't really know how you call it in Fruitish, but this lotion makes my skin beautiful and white! And it gets rid of the pesky freckles." She explained nonchalantly. As a girl with freckles herself, Rose felt a little attacked by her friend's careless comment.

"What do you mean it makes your skin white?" Rose asked.

"It lightens my skin to a more...desirable color, of course!" Matera clarified.

Rose Quartz had never really "noticed" that Matera Shariee wasn't white. To her achromat eyes, her skin only looked a tad bit darker than her parents', but she assumed this was because Matera had some sort of tan as a result of living in such a hot, sunny country. She must've been what Brigitta had described as "light-skinned"....but still she'd also been told--if she remembered correctly--that her Uncle Ludwig had "dark" skin (It didn't look that dark to her, definitely not as dark as Brigitta's) so she should've know that Matera would inherit this. Still, she didn't understand why Matera Shariee was whitening her skin, it looked just fine the way it was, to Rose anyway.

"Matera Shariee, why are you whitening your skin?! It looks just fine the way it is, I.... don't understand."

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're already white and you're colorblind. And besides, I'm old enough to do what I want with my own body! This is none of your concern." Matera retorted defensively.