Post by Reya Serra on Mar 25, 2015 13:31:41 GMT -6
Nothing Else Matters
“Why are you here?”
It was a question that Reya Serra Janason had been asked many times in her thirty years of life. Why was she here when she could devote herself to being a full fledged member of the clergy? Why was she here when she could simply live a quiet life in Los Angeles? Many had questioned her choices over the years, from those she did not know even to family and friends. The person asking on this particular occasion though was Sophie Blanc, a young paleish skinned brunette woman that did not appear to be over the age of twenty-five dressed in a tan t-shirt and khaki shorts, posing the question with the hint of a French accent to her voice.
The answer from Reya, however, was always the same. This time, even with the two women sweating profusely as they sat across from each other in a small room of a Liberian hospital lacking air conditioning, was no different.
“The Lord called me here.”
Her sisters and her friends took this response at face value, as they always did. They knew that Reya, a woman known the world over as The Herald of Holiness, held the utmost faith in the Lord in her heart and though they did not always agree with her decisions based on that reasoning they understood. At least, Reya hoped that they had when she packed her bags and abruptly left them to go to Liberia in the first place. This woman was not one of her sisters, nor was she a friend. At least, she was not yet. To her, as it was to just about anyone that did not know about Reya and her devout faith, this answer was simply…
“Bullshit.”
The vulgar language caused Reya to cringe slightly, though she said not a word about it. She had only just met this woman who upon introductions had absolutely no idea of who Reya was. Despite being an International Champion on several occasions, it appeared that she was not as well known internationally as she thought that she was. Still, she did not want to offend Sophie with a warning about her language but at the same time sought to defend her reasoning for having come to Liberia.
“It is the truth, Miss Blanc,” Reya stated as she stared deeply into the blue eyes of Sophie. “The Lord called me, His Herald of Holiness, here to help those in need that are suffering from this terrible Ebola virus.”
“These people are dying, holy girl,” Sophie declared bluntly as she leaned in closer to Reya staring back at her. “Do you understand that? Prayers and verses from your little book won’t help them. They need medical attention if they even have a hope of surviving. People like me have to be careful trying to take care of them that we don’t contract the virus ourselves, which let me assure you isn’t an easy task. This isn’t a place for Ginger Barbie that has absolutely no medical experience to make herself feel good with humanitarian work so if that’s why you’re really here you’re better off getting on the next plane back to the States…”
That of course was not the reason Reya was here. Reya is simply not that type of person in the slightest. However, the call of the Lord was not the only force that drove her to Liberia either and it was apparent that both women knew it. The wrestling career of the woman known professionally as Reya Serra had hit a bit of a downturn and rather than simply admitting it to those closest to her that looked up to her and feeling shame and embarrassment as a result, she had chosen to leave them all abruptly to travel thousands of miles away to spend the next several months in a disease ravaged country with barely a goodbye.
“Miss Blanc, I am well aware of the risks involved and will take the necessary precautions,” Reya interrupts abruptly. “And while you are correct in that I lack proper medical education I have been told that I am a fast learner. I truly do want to help these people, that is if you will allow me to do so. All I ask is that you simply give me a chance.”
Sophie pondered to herself for a moment before standing to her feet to announce her decision. “Alright, holy girl,” Sophie told her. “I’ll give you a shot and show you the ropes I guess, we are short handed after all, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Just be careful. There’s enough blood on my gloved hands on a daily basis as it is.”
Upon hearing the decision, Reya nearly leapt from her seat beaming from ear to ear at Sophie. “Thank you. You shall not regret this, Miss Blanc.”
“Please, Miss Blanc’s my divorced millionaire mother that lives in Normandy sipping wine every chance she gets from her half of my father’s successful wine business,” Sophie stated to Reya bluntly. “I work for a living. Just call me Sophie.”
✝
Remorse.
That is what Reya has been feeling deep down for quite some time now, guilt stemming from her decision to abruptly uproot herself to spend the last several months in Liberia away from all of those that she cares about.
It was evident upon her return to the United States and her return to Visionaries of Wrestling that many of those she holds most dear are still upset with her. Not only that but in her first match in her return to the ring Reya was forced to compete against Vanessa, her younger sister who by nearly all accounts did not take the departure of The Herald well. Reya could see the sadness in her eyes when she left but had hoped that Vanessa would understand.
However, much had changed while she was away. Over the course of the last several months, this so called Orphanage has been allowed to run roughshod not only over Visionaries as a whole, but had beaten down not only Vanessa but Rayne, Stacy, and others. They even went so far as to commandeer the broadcasting of the match on the last Breakthrough between Reya and Vanessa, which was just another in a series of antics they have perpetrated that has angered The Herald, though perhaps it was best for all involved that nobody was able to view it.
Vanessa was angry with Reya, furious even, and it showed when they stepped into the ring with each other. This was not another instance of The Queen taking control during the match. No, this was the anger of a woman scorned, a woman who had been wounded to her core, and much to her regret Reya had been the one to deliver that wound.
Yet her younger sister was not the only one. There were also the Omegas, Rayne more specifically. The two had formed a bond so close that they each thought of the other as a sister despite having no blood connection. Despite coming to the aid of Rayne in first appearance in months, the two members of The Awakening had still yet to even speak a word to each other. Was Rayne just as upset as Vanessa and would she take out that aggression upon her? Reya did not know, but with them teaming up for the upcoming Breakthrough to take on the Visionaries of Wrestling Tag Team Champions in The Gang Stars she was about to find out…
“Wait, so you’re telling me the two of you still haven’t talked?” Her best friend and manager Paxar Vega asks as she and The Herald sit in a booth of a local Winnipeg coffee shop talking. “That’s kinda weird.”
“Considering how I left in the first place I was not expecting to be welcomed back with open arms, not even by you,” Reya tells her bluntly before lifting the cup in her hands to her lips to take a sip of her hot chocolate. “Vanessa certainly did not particularly take it well, as evidenced by our match last week, nor is she speaking with me at this moment which should come as no surprise. Rayne could very well feel similarly.”
“Well you know me, Reya...I can’t stay mad at you for too long. It’s all about dat face,” Paxar replies with a slight chuckle. “If you want I could try to talk to her and Nessa, kinda soften the ground a little?”
The Herald of Holiness shakes her head in response. “I doubt Vanessa is in any mood to speak with me or with anyone about me right now. I will just give her some time for now. As for Rayne, we shall speak when she is ready to do so, which I hope is before comes before we step into the ring together at Breakthrough.”
“I hope so too,” Paxar states positively, a faint smile appearing on her face. “The Awakening needs to be on the same page if you guys are gonna win the VOW Tag Team titles. Despite them being weird and total opposites The Gangstas are surprisingly a good team.”
“I believe they are called The Gang Stars, actually,” Reya corrects her politely. “But yes, you are correct. Rayne and I will need to work together if we are to capture the Tag Team Championships.”
“It’s been a long time since you’ve had gold around your waist, Reya,” Paxar reminds me. “It’d be nice to see some there again, plus some gold around Rayne Drop’s too.”
“Indeed,” Reya agrees as she starts to feel the vibration of her phone in her pocket and pulls it out. She reads the message that was sent for a few moments before taking the phone and sliding it back into her pocket as she looks at Paxar seriously. “Rayne was requested that I meet with her. Come, we must go.”
Reya slides out of the booth and gets to her feet, beginning to leave the establishment. Paxar takes a final quick drink of her coffee before following behind her.
✝
Since my return, I have had only one thing which I have wanted to say. Three simple words that are perhaps the most difficult in the English language when put together for me to say.
I am sorry.
I am sorry Vanessa, my younger sister, my Queen for leaving you just as you had re-dedicated yourself to being by my side. Though it was never my intention to do so and it saddens me greatly that I have I hurt you deeply, a wound that I pray with all of my heart that I will be able to repair over time. Just know that I love you as I always have and I hope that with time you find it in your heart to forgive me.
Rayne, you have been as close to a sister to me as you possibly can be. I love you with all of my heart and though I know that you were understanding of my departure that you were saddened by it as well. If this has caused a rift of any sort between us, I am sorry. My friendship with you is important to me, even more important than the Tag Team Championships this week, and I do not want to lose that. I hope that I have not done so already.
As for those that oppose us both this week in The Gang Stars and in the weeks ahead in Brett Carson and The Orphanage, I want to say that I am sorry to them as well. Why? Because The Herald of Holiness is putting them all on notice. I am on the path of redemption in the eyes of the women I care about more than anything except for The Lord Himself and The Gang Stars and The Orphanage are all standing right in that path. I will do whatever it takes to redeem myself, to repair those relationships which I have broken.
To me, nothing else matters.