“Um… Hello… Why are you looking over there?”
Over where?
It didn’t matter where I was looking; there was just an endless expanse of white stretching out in every direction.
“What’s going on?”
As the voice said that to , a light breeze brushed over my face as if soone was waving sothing in front of my face.
“Hmm…”
I instinctively stepped back to try and get away from whatever was in front of .
“Oh, I know what’s going on.”
Then I heard a snap, and the world suddenly opened up in front of . There was a garden that seed to stretch far beyond the horizon. It was filled with various marble structures that themselves were adorned with vines that sprouted white flowers.
“Sorry about that. I had the lights up a bit too high. It’s a bad habit of mine.”
I spun around to try and find the source of the voice, but as soon as I did, I froze up.
Standing in front of was a very tall woman, probably taller than Raynelle, even without considering the extra height coming from the two fox ears adorning her head. She had the sa golden eyes as the woman from the temple, although the inner white ring was much brighter. Her hair, reaching down to her hips, was a radiant blonde, along with a matching set of nine tails that poked out just above her head.
“I’m sure you have a lot you want to ask about, but how about we get comfortable first?” The woman said as she gestured towards an empty space.
What have I gotten myself into?
“Co on, co on; you’ll figure it out,” the woman said as she picked up and carried over.
Huh?
As soon we reached the area she had gestured to, I was just dropped.
HUH?!
I braced myself, fully expecting to hit the floor, but it didn’t hurt. Instead, it felt like I had fallen onto a cloud.
…
“See, I knew you would figure it out.” The woman said, softly smiling at , “Go ahead, make yourself comfortable.”
Looking down, I could see that a chair had appeared beneath out of nowhere. The woman walked a short distance away from , and then a similar-looking chair appeared, which she sat on herself.
“…”
“…”
The woman just stared at , looking up and down; it felt like she was judging for so reason.
Can I just leave?
“I knew you were quiet, but I was really expecting questions to start pouring out of you by now.”
I have plenty of questions.
…
But why would I ask you?
“Hmm… You do know who I am, right?”
“…”
Why would I know so random person?
“Really?! That’s a first. I haven’t been in this situation for… I don’t even rember how many years now.”
What do you an?
“Well then, I’m Ellaria, although you can just call Aria, as I think we will be eting quite often from now on.”
“…”
“Still not ringing any bells?”
No?
“This is actually a little fun. Unfortunately for , I don’t have all the ti in the world to play with you today, as I don’t want to leave a certain soone waiting too long.”
I knew it!
They were trying to sell off!
It didn’t matter that I couldn’t find an exit; I just needed to get out of there. I jumped from my seat and was about to start running, but Ellaria said sothing that froze in place.
“Most people call the Goddess of Light, although I’m also the Goddess of Transformation and Titles.”
What?
As soon as the word Goddess reached my ears, they began to twitch.
A Goddess…
But you’re…
“…the wrong one…”
“Oh, so you do have a voice.”
Looking up at the Goddess, her smile got noticeably wider.
“Well, luckily for you, I happen to know quite a few Goddesses, so if I’m the ‘wrong one’, maybe we can sort sothing out?”
…
She might be lying…
But…
I climbed back onto the chair, looking up at the Goddess while making sure to avoid any eye contact just in case she would find it rude.
Maybe…
“Good, so the first question I have for you is, how are you feeling? Did Celica do a good job?”
Celica?
“She’s my Emissary of Light. Her eyes should look similar to mine?” The Goddess pointed at her eyes.
So that’s who that person from the temple was…
I nodded, but the goddess didn’t respond. She just kept looking at as if she was expecting sothing else.
I don’t want to…
But…
If there’s even a chance…
“Y-yes… G-Goddess.”
The Goddess’s smile faded.
“I thought I already told you my na?”
…
“E-Ellaria…”
Once again, the Goddess didn’t respond to but continued to stare.
“…A-Aria.”
“There you go!” Her smile ca back instantly, “Now, don’t go forgetting it.”
Is it okay for to refer to a Goddess like that?
…
W-wait, what if she can read my mind?!
…
I’m sorry, Aria.
Looking up, Aria’s expression didn’t change, but that didn’t an that she couldn’t read my mind; she might have just been pretending.
I’ll just be safe… I don’t want to anger a Goddess…
A Baron was already too much…
“Well, I’m glad she did a good job. I know that soone would be quite upset if you weren’t alright, and unfortunately, I myself wouldn’t be able to help you very much. After all, I’m the Goddess of Light, not the Goddess of Life.” Aria said as she leaned back in her chair.
Am I supposed to say sothing?
Fortunately for , Aria continued to talk.
“Actually, speaking of that certain soone, it would probably be good for to apologise to you. What happened is partially my fault, and I’d rather you didn’t hold a grudge against . That’d make our future etings a bit awkward.”
Why would a Goddess need to apologise to ?
I couldn’t do anything to her even if I wanted to.
“You seem confused… Maybe I should just start at the beginning?… Yeah, I’ll do that. How much do you know about magic?”
“…”
“Nothing… Alright then, it might be a bit hard for a child to understand, so I’ll try to make things simple.”
Aria waved her hand in the air, and a large panel appeared out of nowhere, showing a bunch of colourful semi-transparent blobs. It looked similar to a stained glass window.
“You can treat this like a map, although it has been quite heavily simplified; each of those coloured areas represents so kind of magic. Is it simple enough so far?”
“Y-yes, Aria.”
“You really need to stop stuttering so much. I expect we’ll be talking to each other quite a bit in the future, and it will be difficult if you’re always this nervous.”
Why would I want to talk to you again?
There is only one thing I want from you.
I didn’t say anything, and Aria just continued with her explanation.
“Well, all the way in the top right corner of this ‘map’ is where Light Magic resides.” She pointed at the large white area on the panel, “You’ve probably already noticed, but this Light Magic area overlaps quite a lot with that pale green area; that’s Life Magic, although I think most people call it Healing Magic these days.”
Aria looked at , probably waiting for to confirm that I understood, so I nodded, although I didn’t really understand why she was telling all of this.
“So, what that ans is that many people who end up with Light Magic also end up with Life Magic, as they overlap.”
But what does that have to do with ?
“Now, onto the more unfortunate part. Sotis, if soone has a particularly good affinity for so kind of magic, it can manifest in so physical change-”
My mind started to put together so things, but it still didn’t make sense why they were related to .
“-your white hair cos from a very high affinity with Light Magic, even higher than my own natural affinity, which is why I myself don’t have white hair,” Aria ran her fingers through her hair, “My affinity as the Goddess of Light only ca after I ascended. Funny enough, when I did ascend, what changed were my eyes, not my hair… You might not believe it, but a long, long ti ago, I used to have green eyes.”
“But-”
“Anyway, I can show you where that should put you on the map,” Aria interrupted and continued with her explanation, “You would be all the way there, right in the corner, where Light Magic doesn’t overlap with anything.”
A small grey dot appeared right up against the edge of the map.
Should?
“Now, the reason you get called a heretic in that city cos from here. As Light and Life Magic are so close to each other, most people are under the impression that they are actually the sa thing, or more accurately, people think that Light Magic heals people.” Aria let out a sigh and paused for a short mont before continuing, “People with white hair get Light Magic but won’t be able to use any Life Magic and, as such, can’t heal people.”
…
What?
Aria leaned forward before continuing, “Because you can’t heal anyone, people think you are just imitating Light Magic, which they believe is an offence to .”
…
That’s it?
…
Everything I’ve had to go through…
…
It was just a misunderstanding…
…
Both my ears and tail drooped down, causing Aria to start panicking.
“Wait! You can’t be sad. You need to go et my sister after this!” Aria got up and ca over to before picking up once again, this ti hugging tightly against her chest.
…
It took a little while, but I eventually managed to calm down.
When did I beco so comfortable around her?…
…
I forced my head out of Aria’s chest to ask the only question that had co to mind.
“But… Aria… How’s that your fault?”
“Well, it isn’t sothing that I did myself, but at the sa ti, I can’t say I’ve helped very much.”
What does that an?
“Well, just look at . I’m supposed to be the pinnacle of Light Magic, yet I don’t even have white hair, so even when I tell them the truth, they just ignore it.”
“But-” Once again, I was cut off.
“Appointing Celica as the Emissary of Light also doesn’t help; she doesn’t have white hair either and isn’t even that good with Light Magic. The only reason she was chosen was that she was very good with Life magic while still having so Light Affinity.”
…
“T-then, why did you pick her?”
“That’s because it’s what those people need, and I need to make sure that I keep my relevance. Especially because I’m busy protecting soone else.”
…
She doesn’t seem like a bad person…
…
And she is a Goddess…
“I… forgive you.”
“Well, thank you very much, little kitsune.” Aria smiled at before putting her hand on my head, which started to glow, “That there is a little gift as a sign of you accepting my apology.”
…
“You didn’t need to do that… It wasn’t even your fault…” I said it under my breath, and Aria didn’t react, but she probably still heard it as her smile grew wider once again.
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