Chapter Text
Late Summer, 169 AG
She met her visage on the cloudy surface. The girl in the reflection had an expression of pure detachment. Her velvety taupe irises looked lifeless and gray under the harsh lights, giving an alarming prominence to the shadows beneath her eyes. With a sigh, she assessed the rest of her features: A sleek swipe of black accentuated her lashes, a subtle amount of rouge blossomed across her cheeks, and her lips were painted a deep maroon. Overall, she was pleased with how she looked, but her disconcertment was still imparting a rather dour image. Remembering the copious amounts of liquor being served upstairs, she planned to remedy this issue as soon as possible.
Countenance aside, the rest of her was up to standard. The girls had been informed that they would be hosting a special group of guests tonight. They were instructed to be on their best behavior and to dress accordingly—in black lace. Most of the girls had their own collections, paid for out of pocket. The set she wore belonged to one of the older girls, Ami, who was much taller and slimmer than she was. The bottoms were still high-cut and flattering, but they were riding between her cheeks in a rather uncomfortable manner. Her backside was far more exposed than she normally liked.
Something told her that this night, as a whole, would be far from normal.
“Rei!”
The sound of her name pulled her from her anxious thoughts, and she turned to the person calling her.
“Baby Rei!” Her coworker waved at her. “Get over here—you look like you could use something to take the edge off.”
She saw the joint that Akasha had rolled between her fingers, lifting it to her ruby-painted lips.
With a nod, Rei peeled herself away from the mirror, grabbing her duster from the table beside her and shrugging into it as she made her way across the dressing room.
The sun had set, and the guests upstairs were making their presence known. The sound of whooping and hollering echoed down the stairwell, the clinking of whisky tumblers punctuating every shout. The energy might be described as jovial if it didn’t also bring with it an air of such foreboding.
She made it to where Akasha was perched, one bare leg hugging her torso while the other was extended outward. The woman took a long drag with her eyes closed and held her breath as she rolled her head back onto her shoulders. Rei watched her relish the effects of the herb before exhaling a heady puff of smoke. Pinching the spliff from Akasha’s fingers, Rei brought it up to her own lips and took a harsh pull. The effects hit her almost instantly, making her aware of just how much tension she’d been holding.
But the relief provided by the herb was only ever physical.
Her mind still reeled.
Akasha’s eyes roamed her face as she retook the joint from Rei’s outstretched hand. “You look awful.”
Rei huffed. “Thanks.”
“No.” Akasha shook her head. “Obviously, you’re hot. Those idiots are gonna lose their minds fighting over whose lap you get to sit on.”
Rei rolled her eyes at the thought.
Akasha went on to clarify: “What I mean is that you look like you’re gonna be sick. I can’t remember the last time I saw you like this.”
Rei shrugged, not having an answer.
“Don’t get all moody and quiet right before we go out,” Akasha chided. “You’ll lose tips. What’s goin’ on?”
Rei sighed. “‘Kasha, these guys are triads—”
The woman balked. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid?”
“I’m not afraid,” Rei defended. “I’m just… nervous. These guys aren’t normal, ‘Kasha. Enzo’s security might not be enough to… k-keep them in line.”
Understanding dawned upon the woman’s face.
“Listen, babe,” she said slowly. “All triads are just a bunch of limp-biscuit beta-male losers. They specialize in petty crimes and turf disputes. All bark, no bite. Now, that’s not to say that they won’t be disgusting,” she rolled her eyes, “—but we already know how to handle that. Those idiots,” Akasha pointed at the ceiling, “—just want a pretty girl to sit in their laps and make them feel tough so they can go home and have a wank-off before returning to their sad, meaningless lives.”
At this, Rei finally cracked a smile. Her friend always had a blunt way of putting things into perspective.
Akasha was a source of calm energy and sage wisdom to all the girls. Nothing was ever sugarcoated with her, which only made whatever she said all the more poignant. Being ten years older than herself and far more streetwise, she was the mother figure that Rei had so desperately needed.
Rei had been just fourteen years old when her mother, Haruka, had died. At the time, the non-bender nurses at the tiny Dragon Flats Care Facility were stumped by her symptoms. It started as a constant ringing in her ears, which quickly progressed into chronic migraines that no number of pills seemed to quell. Two bed-ridden weeks in the care facility revealed no answers to her mother’s ailment, and the pain only worsened as the days passed. The sole thing that kept her mother going was a never-ending dilaudid drip. With the facility’s scant funds and scarce supplies, her mother was sent to the Republic City Medical Center for more “adequate” treatment.
Upon admission, her mother was subject to all kinds of tests—blood tests, heart tests, and even pregnancy tests. Everything came back negative. Stumped, the doctors enlisted the hospital’s most skilled healers to assess Haruka from head to toe. That day, Rei watched as her mother’s body was submerged in an ethereal pool of illuminated water. The healers, seated across from each other, began to move their arms back and forth, eliciting a glowing current. They started at her mother’s feet and worked their way up. Rei watched, silent, unsure of what she was witnessing. She’d never understood how bending worked; up until that point in her life, she’d never been so close to it in action, a reality that was unsurprising for someone born into her station.
Eventually, the water healers found something.
“Do you feel that?” the male healer asked.
“Yes. Small, but definitely an abnormality,” the female replied.
She bent a stream of water out of the pool, bringing a pair of hands encased in glowing fluid flush against her mother’s temples. The healer closed her eyes, and the water began to glow infinitely brighter. A silent moment had passed before the water was abruptly dropped, sliding back into the pool.
The healer began scribbling into the nearby file.
“We need to get these findings back to Doctor Hiro as soon as possible,” she said. “He’ll know what to make of this.”
The male healer nodded in agreement. They both left in haste then, leaving a bewildered Rei by herself.
From her place in the corner, Rei noticed her mother stirring from her narcotic-induced stupor. She rose to her feet to approach the pool at the center of the room.
“Momma…?” she whispered.
Haruka’s eyelids twitched.
“Momma, it’s me…,” Rei pushed, hopeful.
It’d been almost a fortnight since her mother was last lucid enough to speak. Haruka’s eyes slowly shifted toward the sound of her daughter’s voice.
When they landed on Rei’s face, her mouth pulled into a weak smile.
“Reina…,” she greeted meekly. “M-my sweet baby…”
“Yes, momma, I’m here.”
Rei smiled, reaching into the water for her mother’s limp hand and holding it gently at the edge of the pool.
“H-how are you?” Haruka croaked with great effort.
“Better than you are,” Rei joked halfheartedly.
“Y-yes…,” Haruka quipped back, a feeble chuckle. “It… it would seem so…”
The minuscule movement jostled her head, causing her to wince in pain.
Rei watched helplessly.
“Momma?” she asked. “Do you think these people can fix you?”
With a dry swallow, Haruka replied, “Y-yes…”
Rei was unconvinced. “How?”
Haruka’s brows smoothed back into a neutral position as she locked eyes with her daughter, a look of pure determination overcoming her.
“I don’t have all the answers," she coughed, “—b-but I do have you. You are my reason, Reina… to be strong.”
She closed her eyes, taking shallow breaths. A long silence passed before she continued.
“When the time comes, and you have a child of your own, you’ll understand. You will do… w-whatever it takes… to be what they need.”
Tears were streaming down Rei’s cheeks when she replied. “I understand, momma, b-but—”
A sob burst from her chest before she could stifle it.
“But I’m scared! W-what if they can’t fix you, and I’m all alone?!”
She hung her head to continue to sob, vaguely aware that her mother’s hand had left her own.
Cold fingertips landed softly on her cheek, wiping away the tears.
“Baby-doll…,” Haruka hushed her. “Don’t waste your precious thoughts on things that have yet to happen. I’m still here, and I don’t plan on leaving.”
The healers had found a growth. A tumor, the doctor had said.
It was small but malignant. In less than two months, it’d grown. Water healing could do nothing to excise it from deep within her tissue. Surgery was an alternative but highly risky. Intravenous treatments only seemed to suck the life out of her. Haruka lost her appetite, her hair, and her willpower. Before long, her body gave out. With Rei being a minor and Haruka having no legal next-of-kin, her body was sent to the morgue to be cremated.
Burials were reserved for those who could afford a plot.
Rei could not.
She could have asked to receive her mother’s ashes from the hospital.
She did not.
She could have stayed at the non-bending girls’ home that she was sent to.
She did not.
Her fifteenth birthday passed while she was living alone on the streets of the Borough. Months came and went, and the harsh cold of winter was soon upon her. After a particularly unsuccessful week of begging for scraps, Rei was resigned to digging through the trash. She was bent over a waste bin one evening, sifting through its contents, when she heard a door creek open in the alleyway behind her. Completely desperate in her starved state, she ignored the noise and kept digging toward her target: the discarded remains of a half-eaten chicken leg.
“Digging for treasure, are we?” a velvety voice lilted behind her.
Rei halted. Regardless of who this person was, direct attention from strangers was exceedingly rare during these times. The homeless were universally ignored, except for when they needed to be shooed from places of loitering. Wrenching herself out of the trash can, she turned to examine the person who’d just spoken to her.
She was met with the sight of the most stunning woman she’d ever seen.
Long raven locks tumbled past a shapely waist. Her smooth skin was as pale as the fallen snow, and she had striking hazel eyes—the color of warm ochre. Clad in a fur-trim coat and stiletto pumps, she held a cigarette between her fingers. Rei noticed that her nails were polished in a decadent red.
The woman struck the tip of her smoke, taking a long drag before meeting Rei’s gaze.
“What’s your name, love?” she asked.
Taken aback, Rei was only able to stare at the woman in shock. A stagnant silence washed over them until she finally pulled herself together.
Clearing her throat, she spoke for the first time in many days.
“R-Rei…,” she croaked. “My name’s Rei.”
The woman puffed her cigarette again before responding. “Where’s your parents, Rei?”
Rei was frozen once more at the woman’s words. The question nearly knocked the wind from her lungs.
Rei had never known her father. As far as she knew, he was a damned coward who’d fled Republic City days after learning of his impending fatherhood. Her mother had been left pregnant and devastated, abandoned to raise a child on her own.
And her mother… Well, her mother was—
“Gone,” Rei spat resentfully.
The woman regarded her then with understanding as opposed to the usual pity.
“You’re all by yourself, then?” she surmised.
Rei nodded.
“And how old are you?” the woman inquired.
On the rare occasions that she was asked this question, Rei would lie. A fifteen-year-old living on the streets would undoubtedly be sent to a girls’ home, willing or not. But something about this woman disarmed her, so she took a chance and spoke truthfully.
“I turned fifteen—this autumn.”
The woman took one last puff of her cigarette before casting it aside. She then proceeded to stuff her hands into her pockets and shrug her shoulders.
“Well, Miss Rei, My name’s Akasha. I live in the apartment right here.” She pointed at the building behind her. “If you want, I can offer you a place for the night. I don’t get off work ‘til four in the morning, but you’re welcome to hang around. My boss Enzo—he’s a real nice guy.”
Rei was startled by the onslaught. Her knees felt like they might give out from under her.
“I… I-I would appreciate that very much.”
As was promised, Enzo was indeed a very nice guy. For the next three years, he employed Rei as a runner for his nightclub—buying supplies, sweeping floors, and cleaning toilets. All the while, she slept on a spare cot in Akasha’s apartment.
As time progressed, Rei became more and more interested in Akasha’s work—more so in the money that she brought home every night. Sometimes, there would be upwards of a thousand yuans sprawled across the apartment floor. But Enzo had several rules for his entertainment, the most resolute of which regarded underage talent. Other clubs were more permissive, often concealing the truth to get past legal codes and entice more… nefarious customers.
The less stringent the morals, the more money was to be made.
But Enzo had said, quote:
“I refuse to steep to that level of degeneracy for the sake of profit.”
And Rei infinitely respected him for it. She’d waited dutifully to turn eighteen and, in the six months leading up to her birthday, had approached Akasha for advice on the matter.
The woman was nothing but supportive. She had no shame in her work, and she was damned good at it. On her nights off, she would shack up with Rei in her tiny apartment and teach her how to sway her hips, arch her back, and move seductively. The one night each week that the club was closed, she would take Rei on stage and teach her how to work the poles. When it came to lap dancing, she would pour Rei a glass of sake to loosen her nerves before demonstrating the moves that always garnered the most tips. Then, they’d switched positions, and she’d have Rei reenact them on her. And instead of feeling awkward—as she might have expected—Rei found that she was enamored. Akasha had given it the most generous explanation one evening.
“You’re not selling your body. They’re paying to look at you and touch you, but they can’t be with you, and they love it. You’re selling them a fantasy. They’re paying for the high—the excitement of being teased.”
On the day of her eighteenth birthday, Rei walked straight up to Enzo and asked for his approval. He didn't deny her, but like the others before her, she’d have to audition. She’d finished her impromptu performance and approached him off-stage, only to see him fanning away tears.
“Our sweet baby, all grown up…,” he pseudo-sobbed. “Spirits, where did the time go? You’re a dream, darling.” He embraced her in what she could only imagine was a fatherly hug, then pulled away, looking as if he were really about to start crying. “It makes me realize how old I’ve gotten!”
A stage name was given to her by her coworkers—a form of initiation. All the girls had one. Her long-standing endearment earned her the nickname Baby, and from that moment on, she was one of Enzo’s Ladies. And, like her teacher before her, she was damned good. Just as she’d hoped, she began making excellent money each night. She had no problem keeping up with the other girls, and the customers soon became fascinated with the fresh-faced addition. The months passed quickly while she acquainted herself with her new lifestyle, and for the first time in a long time, she found herself happy.
She had a job, a home, and for all intents and purposes, a family to call her own.
“Ladies!” Enzo’s voice beckoned them from beyond the dressing room. “I hope you’re decent!”
The old mahogany door creaked open, revealing him in all his slender glory. He donned a purple satin button-up and white slacks, hair slicked back into a perfect coif, ready to play his role of ponce.
“You all look stunning!” He surveyed his dancers with a look of satisfaction. “Let’s make tonight a good one! These gentlemen are liquored up and ready to be milked for all they’ve got!”
With a wave of his arm, he beckoned them upstairs. The roster of nearly a dozen women began to follow him. Akasha fell into stride beside Rei, the two of them bringing up the rear. Her hand found Rei’s, grasping it with a reassuring squeeze. At the top of the steps, they heard Enzo’s announcement over the stage.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen, may I have your attention!”
The crowd quieted.
“Tonight, it is my honor to introduce the seductive, the alluring, the captivating… Enzo’s Ladies!”