In my whole 14 years worth of living, I have never seen my mother in a state like this.

She kept pacing back and forth, muttering incoherent words under her breath.
"This can't be happening, can it? No one would ever do such a thing."

I was trying to read a good book, but the endless swishing of her dress distracted me every time I tried to focus on the plot. In the end, I gave up and grabbed my mother's collar and yanked it down towards me.

"For goodness sake, woman, get a hold of yourself! Whatever happened can't be that bad."

My mother stopped and turned to look at me.

"How dare you treat your mother like this!" She shouted.
Finally, after ten minutes, her eyes had a different emotion rather than anxiety. I placed my hands on my hips, and snapped at her.

"Be grateful I didn't do anything worse! You've been pacing around for a whole half and hour! And you're only my adopted mother!"

She gave a loud sigh, and sat down on one of the chairs next to me. Her silky white dress folded naturally around her legs, not a speck of dirt to been seen. Her pale blonde hair trailed wearily down her shoulders, a strand covering her sky blue eyes. We looked nothing alike.

After all, I wasn't related to her.

The woman in front of me was Astraea, the star maiden. The goddess of purity. My adpoted mother.

"Look, Vergri, I'm sorry. I know I'm not a good mother, so please, just bear with me."
She looked me with her innocent, clear sky blue eyes. I couldn't but help give a big sigh.

"Alright, alright. So, what's bothering you then?" I asked.

As soon as I finished the sentence, her eyes were glued to knees and her hands were clenched in tight fists. It was like looking at a naughty child who was caught eating lollies when she wasn't supposed to.

"S-someone sent me. . ." her voice faltered. "The Blood Rose."

Her voice was barely a whisper

I was confused. What's a blood rose? I was about to interrupt, but she carried on.

"The palace in the Mortal Kingdom. The palace with the Garden of Purity."

I nodded, even though I knew she wouldn't see me. I vaguely remember that there was a palace that grew a garden full of white roses in dedication to my mother.

"I blessed one of those roses, and it grew more beautiful and purer than all the others. They named it, The Purissimo Rosa, or The Purest Rose."

Purissiomo Rosa?

From what I can recall, the Purissimo Rosa was the largest and the whitest rose of the whole kingdom.

Well, the Mortal Kingdom anyways. Such roses can easily be found in the Sacred Kingdom. I always thought that some decity, like Demeter, the Goddess of Harvest, placed an enchantment on the rose, but I never realized that it was my mother who blessed the rose.

"How long the rose grew there, I don't know. All I know is that yesterday evening, the rose was erased from its brilliance and wilted." She choked on the words, once again feeling the sadness of it all. It must be painful for her to relive the memories.

I gave a frown. The plants in the Sacred Kingdom usually never wilted, so I assumed that the flowers from the Mortal Kingdom that were blessed by decities were immortal as well.

"How come? Do blessed flowers still wilt?" I ask innocently. Even though I wasn't related to Astraea, I had her innocence.

Astraea sadly shook her head.

"Blessed flowers don't wilt unless they are cursed. Usually, cursed flowers mean nothing, but there is one curse that is far worse than others. It is none other than the Blood Rose."

"And . . . what is so bad about this . . . Blood Rose?"

I still couldn't understand how the Blood Rose is so bad.

Astraea wailed in horror.

"This damages my reputation! Badly! For I, the Goddess of Purity, recieving the Blood Rose means to the others that I have a tainted heart! A tainted heart! The Blood Rose curse is hardly ever done - one must sacrifice a noble and use all their blood to taint an item, specifically a rose. Who would do such a thing?! Better question:
What have I done to anyone?!"

"Oh dear. That does sound horrible. Although . . . I thought you didn't care much about your reputation."

I'm horrible with words. Completely horrible.

"I usually don't, but this is going over the line!" Astraea yelled. I cover my ears.

With that, she bursted into tears. I was still standing around awkwardly, so I darted off. Who can blame me?

"I figure you need some . . . personal space. I might as well go see . . . what my friends are doing." I say as I poke my around the doorway.

My mother suddenly stood up and faced me, brushing away tears. "No, I like your company!"

She tried to ruffle my long black hair, but I was gone by then. Already outside in the fresh air. She gave another wail and sat back down again.

"Today just isn't my day."

-------------------------------------

The woman in the picture is Astraea.

If you liked this chapter, vote! Don't be shy :)