Natalia wasn't even in preschool when she began to have vivid dreams. She was playing with some dolls and was over hearing the conversation her mother was having with her aunt. It had to do with an ancestor who hid gold in his land during the war. He wanted to make sure he wasn't left with nothing. So he took a jar and filled it with as many gold coins as he could. Then before dawn he hiked the woods to dig a hole. He made sure he wasn't followed so that only he knew where the gold was. Then once the war ended the man told his descendants where the gold was hidden. They men gathered supplies and dug through that forest without finding anything. Natalia's mother then said it was probably because the gold moved with the shift of the earth.Her aunt said that was crazy and that there was probably never gold. It was just a senile man's story. Natalia fell asleep on the floor as they kept talking.
That night Natalia dreamt of a giant man in comparison to her size. He was wearing overalls and had a large beard. He walked into the house and dug a really deep hole in the middle of the living room. Then he left and walked back in with a large boulder that glowed yellow. As Natalia walked closer to the middle where the hole was, she saw the man drop the large boulder into the hole that turned into many coins. She looked down and saw the piles of gold coins in the bottom of the hole. It looked to her like lava. She looked at the man who then turned to look at her and then she felt the floor beneath her disappear. She was falling and Natalia woke up panicking. When her mother tried to calm her down and ask her what happened, Natalia just said, "the gold is under the house." Her mother looked pensive and then said, "it's fine honey, no one will find it." Natalia's mother then began to call her little star after that.
A few days passed and Natalia had another dream. This dream was of her walking and skipping in darkness. She was humming a song and twirling like a happy little girl. Then she saw a bright light appear. She walked closer to the light and it was shining over a lady. The lady was on her knees and praying. Her hair covered with a cloth and her face was barely noticeable. Natalia approached the lady that prayed fervently with her head down. There were only whispers in the area. Natalia got close to look at her face. She had soft features and looked like a young adult. Then Natalia noticed she was crying while she prayed. Unsure what was going on, Natalia asked her, "Why are you crying?" Her words of a child in the room were loud and it echoed despite them being surrounded by total darkness. The lady continued to pray and Natalia stood there trying to listen to her whispers, but then total darkness. A pressure over her was felt. She felt like the air had changed. There was something that held her down. Then she could smell something familiar. It was that smell of alcohol escaping the pores of once body. Paired with the hot air of someone's breath who has been drinking. Then Natalia woke up as her senses told her she was no longer dreaming. She saw the man her mother was living with as she opened her eyes. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she felt an excruciating pain in her lower body.
Eden jumped up gasping for air. She looked around and saw she was in her room. She looked at her body and covered herself with her blanket. Still catching her breath from what she relieved in her nightmare. She pulled all the sheets closer and covered her face. She knew she was about to start diving into an emotional state. There was no one to comfort her and tell her it was just a dream. But even if there was someone to tell that, she knew that these were just memories of her childhood she long wished to completely forget. It was a past she hated being reminded of because she didn't want to be weak or for anyone to feel sorry for her. She just wanted people to like her for her, not for her struggle.
In her life before Evansly, she had dealt with that man. After years, that man was placed in jail and his fate was sealed. The lowest of the lowest criminals got the most punishment by their fellow inmates. However, nothing replaces what was stolen or makes up for a lifetime of constant internal struggle. Thankfully, she grew up with the determination to seek justice and protect others from experiencing such cruelty. The only problem was that sometimes she felt alone. Others like her would go into solitude and not openly share their pain. She learned to diminish her experience for the sake of others. While sitting there thinking about her past and how she can negate those feelings she heard Erza say, "give it all to God, lean not on your understanding." Eden looked at Erza and thought, that's right, I'm not alone, but it sure does hurt. Then she took a deep breath, did a prayer and went back to sleep.
Natalia was now around seven and she was already home from school grabbing a snack, milk and cereal. She was dancing when she heard a knock on the door. She thought it was the nice tenant lady who rented a room with her husband. She ran to the door and greeted with a loud cheerful smile, "Mago!" But to her surprise, it was her mother with a very sour face. Her mother was angry and she suddenly slapped Natalia in the face. "Why did you take so long to open the door!" She yelled at her and continued to beat her. Natalia cried in pain, "what did I do wrong." Her mother looked up at the table and yelled, "you're wasting milk? You left it open!" Natalia tried to cover her face as the swings of her mother kept hitting her. Then he mother looked around and said, "you haven't even done your chores, yet you sit around doing nothing!" Natalia trying not to scream or yell because it would only make it worse for her, she answered, "I was going to have a snack and then do my chores." Natalia didn't receive lunch that day at school because she was late to the cafeteria after being on time out for talking in class. She was always cheerful and talkative with her classmates which got her in time out. The teacher wanted to teach her a lesson for not being quiet during class. So she deliberately made her stay behind and wait until lunch time was almost over. However, Natalia got distracted on her way to the cafeteria with one of her friends and the food was already put away. She went without eating lunch that day. So getting home to eat something was her top priority. A smack on Natalia's head was felt. It was her mother hitting her with the broom. She said, "since you don't use this, then I'm going to punish you with it." Finally, after so much emotional and physical pain, Natalia fell unconscious under the table where she found refuge from the violence her mother was using.
The next day Natalia felt sore from the punishment she received. She continued her day as if nothing happened and got up to do her chores. She then noticed her mother sitting at the dining table drinking coffee. Afraid to enrage her she quickly went for the broom to sweep the floor. Her mother said, "You don't need to do chores today, it's already done." Natalia looked around and saw it was clean. Then her mother asked, "is there a place you want to go? Somewhere special?" Natalia said without a second thought, "the fair, there's one in town that we always drive past. We never go." Her mother smiled and said, "okay, I'll take you there. Go get dressed and tell your brother and sisters to do the same." Natalia ran back to her room in excitement and shook her siblings to get up. They got ready right away and planned out what ride they wanted to get on. They all agreed on the ferris wheel because it was the highest and they could see the city. Then a knock on the door was heard. Her cousins had arrived with her aunt. Natalia told them of where they were headed and her cousins begged their mom to go too. Her aunt agreed, but asked Natalia's mother "why are you taking them to the fair?" "Because I took my anger out on her and I'm trying to make up for it," answered Natalia's mother.
Everyone was getting ready to leave, the kids assumed that they were going to go in Natalia's mothers' car parked across the street, but she said they were taking the van. Then they all started to get out of the car and run across the street to get in the van. Natalia was the last one to get out of the car and then ran behind them to catch up. That's when a car hit her. In that instance she saw everything go white. When she opened her eyes, she saw a big tire. She tried to move her body but couldn't. Then she saw her sister run towards her and tried to pull her up to stand. Her mother stopped her and said, "you shouldn't move her." Minutes had gone by and she was then transported via ambulance. On the ride to the hospital, the paramedic kept talking to Natalia, "don't go to sleep, stay awake sweety." The only words Natalia was able to say were, "where's my mom? I want my mom." Her mother was crying and saying, "I'm here! Don't worry baby, I'm here." Then Natalia fell asleep.
Natalia opened her eyes and she was being held by 5 girls on the ground. She was still in middle school, but in seventh grade now. The girls were encouraging the 6th girl to hit her. Her name was Vivian and she had short straight hair. She laughed and said, "You think it's fun to make fun of someone?" Natalia just stayed quiet, not because she was scared, but because she was angry. This was nothing different than the treatment she received at home by her sisters. Earlier that week, Natalia had made a joke among her friends that maybe people needed extra lotion because they had ash skin after she saw someone eagerly put on lotion during recess. Vivian got impatient when Natalia didn't answer, then slapped her. Natalia just gave her an angrier look. After a stare down, Vivian told her friends, "Let her go, she's already humiliated." Actually, Natalia was thinking of how to get Vivian alone to whoop her as. She had to bring others to hold her back. She obviously knew that Natalia would fight the boys and make them cry after a beat down. It was because Natalia didn't want to get jumped, then fight anyone that made fun of her in the future that she decided not to say anything, but work in silence and plot. After the girls released Natalia, she got up to wash her hands. Vivian didn't use much force, she only did it because of pressure. Natalia's best friend was out sick and her other companion disappeared. As Natalia dried her hands, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. No sign of injury. Then she thought to herself, I probably deserved that. She thought of the girl she made a joke at her expense and didn't think anything of it. She saw how her words could have effects on people. Then she decided that she would educate herself on how to disarm someone without having a physical fight.
Eden opened her eyes and furrowed her brows. "Pesky memories" she said as she sat up. Why was she having flashbacks? Things she told herself shouldn't define her. She's made so much progress on herself to not be held back by them. So why were they emerging again she asked herself. She pulled her knees up and held her legs to rest her chin on them. Then she stared into space. After some time she came to a conclusion, the memories were emerging because she's been holding back how lonely she's felt. Dinner with her Generals had triggered emotions she had always avoided having, sad ones. She always smiled through everything and thought of solutions, not allowing herself to feel those emotions. She's been allowing those emotions to slip out because there was lack of physical contact. In real life, she would hug her friend, dog or a relative when she was having a bad day. How she wished she could snuggle with her dog or sit next to her friend, lean on her while spilling all her feelings out. There were no outlets and she always had to keep it together because everyone depended on her. She needed to show strength and be eligible to think clearly. Eden took a deep breath and let it out. "The weight of the world is hard to carry, that is why it's not your burden to carry," said Erza as she handed her a cup of coffee.
Eden looked up and noticed that dawn was approaching. It was really early and she was usually up once the birds would chirp, but not at dawn. Eden pondered Erza's words. Wow, I'm only worried about 50 people in my alliance and God thinks about every soul. That is such a heavy weight to carry indeed. Eden was thinking of all the connections people had and each decision was a factor on the results like a math equation. Then she shook her head and said to herself, "I'm going to give myself an aneurysm if I think this far."
After switching to a comfortable dress, Eden began to brush her hair. She then realized Erza had been giving her some reassuring words as if she was reading her mind. She looked at Erza who was standing a few feet away already dressed in the training outfit. Then Eden turned to look at her as she placed her brush down. "Erza, are you able to talk to me on your own accord?" asked Eden even though she already knew the answer. "Yes," answered Erza. "How are you able to know my thoughts?" asked Eden. Without hesitation, Erza answered, "I can't. I am guided by the same spirit you are." Eden understood who she was referring to, but she didn't want to keep asking. Sometimes the less you know is more peaceful.
Eden then looked down to reach for her cup of coffee and then thought of her mother. I wonder if she's worried about me and if she even prays for my safety. "Her prayers are always heard. A mother's prayers can be persistent," answered Erza. Eden then smiled and let out a small chuckle. Her eyes were sad but her smile showed it was a sign of relief. At least she had the blessing of being able to hear some confirmations to her questions. She didn't know how much Erza was able to reveal, but that's not what was important. She knew Erza was there for a reason. Whatever that reason was, she was glad she was on her side.
Eden then went to the dining hall to have breakfast with her crew. They were excited to go to a boss hunt to gather more materials. Eden had informed them that they would not return until the day was gone and to eat plenty. With the boosts that they will get from the armor Gunther was going to forge for them, they could take out more Bosses and upgrade that armor as well. Before they were scheduled to leave she would meet the new hires because she already said she would and she disliked breaking her word.
While taking her seat, Arthur asked, "Commander, did you sleep well?" Eden responded with, "Good morning to you too, it's great to see you up this early." Arthur leaned back a little with his hands up and palms showing towards Eden. "I didn't mean anything by it, it's just that you were slouching and when you sat down, it looked like it was work. You just let your body drop on the chair." Eden looked at Erza and asked, "do I look tired?" "Did you really want me to answer that?" asked Erza in response. Eden gave her a shocked look. This was the first time Erza answered with sass, but she probably did it unintentionally because she knew Eden would feel a pang in her heart. Even though Eden wore light make up, she's still a girl and likes to look nice. Eden then told Arthur, "After I breakfast, give me 20 minutes to freshen up and have the kitchen send me two tea bags dipped in warm water, but don't fill the cup." "Yes Commander," answered Arthur. They then continued to eat their meal awkwardly.
"I for one am happy to see you here commander!" exclaimed Gabriel from afar. "Yeah!" added the surrounding men. Sir Tristan added, "We just care that our Commander is present." "Yeah!" exclaimed the men. Then Sir Lancelot said, " It's good to see you at the table, I hope we get to spend more time like this as a team." Everyone nodded. Oh, that reminded Eden that she wanted them to move into a wing inside the castle. She then raised her hand to silence them and said, "I would like to announce that I wish to reward everyone with an upgrade on accommodations, but as of now I will begin with the Generals. They will no longer be required to live in the villa assigned to them. A wing inside the main castle has been assigned to them." The Generals all took this by surprise. For a monarch to open their castle to them was unheard of. Was it even possible? Then a notification popped up in front of each of them, Congratulations! You have been promoted to Baron. Eden was a little surprised too. Then Erza spoke up, "they can never be anything higher than Duke or than you." That was interesting for Eden because she was also recently promoted to Duchess. Then she got up and clapped for them. Everyone got up and clapped as well. The generals gave a thankful nod towards the crowd because they were all speechless. Although Eden wanted to learn more about this, she just decided not to question it.