「The turning point for Nathalie from the Marbot family」
The few hours of rest didn't manage to elevate the pain in the shoulder. The muscles were still relentlessly stimulated by the deeply inserted crystals. The mage knew very well that it would most likely never really go away. It was now a part of her, as long as she would harbour the desire to pursue the subject of magical arts further.
First thing she did was to inspect the leathery strap stabilizing the needles inside of her body. Fortunately for her, it didn't need any correction, at least for now. She smiled, looking at the raven Familiar which was now acting as it was still a fully living being. The behaviour would be hard to distinguish from the regular one, if not the lack of breathing. She quickly inspected it and noticed there is no sign of the would she inflicted on it last night. The dagger was enhanced properly. Oh right, the cutting! She very quickly put on herself her travel clothing. Initially, she tried to wear the guest yukata, but the shoulder was sticking out too much. Taking a bath with the rest might be a problem too... I think I should leave today. Besides, the power resources needs to be constantly replenished, after all. Despite of all that rationalization, a bit of sadness inhabited her heart.
During the last night she had carefully placed the door in the exact position as it was before the cutting. Now, it couldn't be opened at all, unmoving as if there wasn't any damage in the first place. Nice to know it works, still it would be better to see how it looks exactly on the other side. Well, that will wait until they will let people out. She have hoped that nothing suspicious would be visible. The knife had been essentially temporary deleting very small amount of matter from the object it was cutting off. Once the sign stopped working, those non-existent parts would materialize again, attached to the both parts of the object that was, until now, cut down. Naturally, if during that moment, the fragments would be placed sloppily, or even worse, far away from each other, the end result would stick out and would not look natural in the slightest. Nathalie had seen really extraordinary effects of that in the past. A weird, long string of matter connecting distant elements or an inorganic scar. Once of twice, she witnessed, a whole "wall" of the cut off substance materializing in between of the parts. This time, however it seemed that everything worked out as it should.
She directed her footsteps into the dining room, hoping that no one will notice anything of note has happened. And even if there was a clue on the hall, there shouldn't be anything that would point out to her specifically. Her demeanour tried to retain its calmness, with a success, but there was still a little doubt lingering in her mind. In that state, she has entered the dining room.
Nathalie quickly noticed her Miko friends and sit next to them. Ikena was looking in the need of sleep, while no symptoms like that could be seen on Marika. Just after the initial greetings, the question came from the blue-eyed girl:
"How was your last night, Nathalie?"
"Honestly, the whole thing surprised me.", the mage responded with a lie, "I wasn't sure about it, so I was nervous. I fell asleep very late.", she yawned immediately afterwards, genuinely. Ikena quickly followed the yawn with her own.
"So, it seems like both of you didn't rest much", said Marika, "I'm just hoping you won't fall asleep in the middle of the day."
"Marika, I said it before... I can control myself... I can stay awake...", Ikena responded with slow, rather quiet voice.
"We will see... Oh right, Nathalie, I see you're wearing your travelling outfit. Any particular reason?"
"No reason", Nathalie responded, "I got bored by that yukata"
"I guess nothing interesting will come up today, than. Yesterday happened and that's it."
Suddenly, the loud voice of the older priestess could be heard:
"Silence, Silence! Everyone listen carefully! We have the urgent news to say!"
The sounds present in the room just a second ago were extinguished in an instant. All the faces directed themselves over to the announcer. She continued:
"Last night, something terrible has happened while we weren't aware. For this reason, the One of the Utmost Importance will arrive in a matter of minutes. Prepare yourself to show the respect. May the wrath only reach of those who deserve it!"
The silence continued. Nathalie has glanced over her Miko friends. Their both were looking down with their hand raised, whispering quietly the lines of the prayer. She looked further. Every single member of the Daishinden staff seemed to start showing the devotion in a clear, but quiet way. Her heart started beating faster. Did they know? And who is coming... Is this... No... That wouldn't happen...
A soft step of a bare foot could be heard nearby the entrance. In a split second Nathalie glanced over there. That moment shook her to her very core. She noticed a figure of the shape of a woman of seemingly the perfect proportions. Looking more like a idealized statue brought to life than a person. Her hair were unnaturally blue, as the clear water. Long and flowing in the way that captivated the heart of a one who looked. The movement resembled that of the hair of a person underwater. Her eyes similarly were of the lazure colour, bright and giving the impression of the calm waves. Somehow, the details could be noticed even from the other side of the room as if their image was present directly in the heart of the observer. On the body, a loose, simple, flowing white dress was present, worn in a way that clearly allowed for the quick undressing. It's humility only underlined the near perfection of the physical body. The clothes were lacking of any sleeves and on the legs, covered by the dress, the long trousers and bare feet could be seen. Nathalie was immediately overwhelmed by that sight that has burned in her mind in an instant, leading to heavy increase of the heart beating. The Bethunian guest's face instinctively diverted it's gaze despite the conscious demanding it's beauty. Half second later and she was looking down like both of her Miko friends. She didn't need any more announcement. Even a single declaration would be a waste of a moment. This one moment was enough for her to know perfectly well that her meek human eyes were honoured by gazing on the Goddess Mizu herself.
For a few minutes, not a single person dared to mutter a word. The only sound heard were the soft footsteps of the goddess. She looked around and finally stopped the silence:
"My people, gathered here, you can arise and look!", her voice, in the Nathalie's opinion, was nearly completely human, with an incredibly small difference in its texture that was enough to make the impression that she's something else. The mage looked above, at the divine figure. Her eyes immediately started greedily devouring every bit of the goddess in sight, while her heart was pounding out of fear and overwhelming presence, with no trace of mercy. Mizu continued:
"The last night, a great offence was committed. Someone, arrived to the altar of mine, to the image of mine and ripped the power from me by the ritual of the magical arts! I have arrived here, to ask you, my dear retainers, to help me find the guilty. I greatly desire to talk with them. Naturally, no one will leave the room until the release will be announced!", hearing that the caretakers inside immediately closed the door and started guarding the way out, "But fear not, I did not arrive here to bring the punishment, just to uncover the truth. Dear Kannushi, I'll start with you, tell me about the yesterday. The rest, please wait"
Mizu proceeded to talk with the priestess individually. No other person was saying a word, only glancing at each other with the uneasy feeling. Nathalie tried to hold herself, but between the tension and the captivating goddess, her face was looking in every possible direction. Her fears were increasing every time she was glancing over Mizu talking with the Kannushi Aoko. She even felt as if the goddess' eye was looking directly at her for a moment, but she couldn't say if that was the case or just she herself couldn't perceive things straight out of all of the emotions. The one information was, however, very clear:
She knows
The hope of going away without anyone noticing turned out to be completely worthless. Her fate now depended solely on the goddess. If only, I could pray to her..., she thought, knowing that doing it in this very moment would be one of the most dangerous things she could do if she still would be clinging to the hope of not being discovered as a mage. Suddenly, Mizu stopped talking with the Kannushi. She started approaching the table where Nathalie, Ikena and Marika were sitting at. That's it, that's it.... I'm so much done...
"My dear Mikos, I want to ask you a few questions", the inhumanely harmonious voice said. Ikena and Marika in response immediately stood up, bowed down and told as one:
"We are at your service, The Great Protector"
Just after that, the goddess and two girl were engaging in a conversation. Nathalie could now hear some words and she had unpleasant impression she is the topic discussed there. Yet, at the same time, with lower distance, Mizu's hair were looking even more wondrous, moving harmoniously with the never ending flow. They looked like the perpetual azure waves, thick and lustrous, giving impression of the living work of art. Nathalie has let her mind submerge into the admiration of beauty, purging herself from any worry. Her head was now mostly empty, filled only with an image of the goddess.
"I think I will need to talk with you, my dear guest", the harmonious voice said, putting the end to the admiring trance. The tension came back in an instant, although the eyes of the Mizu, which was now facing Nathalie, were dangerously captivating. After a few second pause, the Daishinden's guest responded:
"Ask me, the Divine Sister"
"How should I call you, my dear guest? Lady Marbot, Nathalie, the Bethunian or something else?"
"Lady Marbot, the Divine Sister. I'm a guest, not a friend."
"It will be that, than. Lady Marbot, I've just heard many things about you, mostly from Kannushi Aoko and your Miko friends. You seem to be generally liked by them."
"That's correct, the Divine Sister. I like them very much and they like me as well."
"However... I've also herd some things about you, lady Marbot, that with the context of the recent situation could be thought of as rather unfortunate."
"What unfortunate things?"
"First, your morality. It is not a proof of anything, but could be a source of concern. Apparently, you seem to not like very much the idea of the selfless help, is this correct?"
"It is, the Divine Sister, but how is caring of oneself more than the others concerning if no one gets hurt?"
"Honestly, lady Marbot? Not so much in most of the situations. It only grabbed my attention due to the similar approach the practitioners of the magical arts often employ, but as I've said: it really means nothing. Just wanted to be sure. Now, I want to ask you about something more intriguing. Apparently, few times the caretakers were cleaning your room, they've noticed they couldn't have opened the chest located there at all", Nathalie has felt really unwell in the stomach as soon as she heard that, "I find two things there noteworthy. First, I get that they wanted to clean up, but the ones who attempted to look into what guest deemed as their private things was simply overstepping for what they should do. The guests should be able to have privacy here and I think I will need to personally talk about it later. The second thing however... why the chest couldn’t be opened? As far as I know, there are no locks there. Do you know something about it?"
Initially, Nathalie was dumbfounded. The question felt dangerous and she knew that now, this reaction to it was making her looking even more suspicious. She quickly, however, managed to find a lie to say:
"My family have two substances. One is glue. At first wet, but dries as solid. We lock our private things by that. The second substance dissolves the glue."
"Interesting, lady Marbot. Can you show me those? I want to see them myself."
"I'm sorry, the Divine Sister. Used it all the few days ago."
"It's a shame... Speaking of your family, lady Marbot, you have arrived in the Kosui by yourself, leaving your horse and spear to be hold here during you stay, right?"
"This is correct."
"Can I know what this lady was doing here by herself?"
"I was travelling out of curiosity."
"In such distant land? Alone? Bethune lies far away. Was your family happy with that?"
"They were, the Divine Sister...", Nathalie decided to say part of the truth that could cause problem, better for me to be seen as that than a mage, lies are easy to get lost to, "My journey was done by Marbot family working with the Ryuudou Machi. My father knows personally one of the ministers there. It was.. partially diplomatic visit in Yama. I even have the letter from the Divine King to allow me for easier travel."
The goddess, smiled hearing that and said, happily:
"So, was this the reason why you were so nervous? Lady Marbot, were you afraid of being seen as a spy colluding with the Kosui enemies? Worry not, although me and my brother do not have the best relations with the Dragon's servants, you really have nothing to do with any hostile things. By the way, by you arriving here, alone, I conclude the visit wasn't that great. "
"Why is that?"
"You seem to have no husband, my lady. Isn't that what your families are doing during the diplomacy?"
"Not mine, the Divine Sister"
"I'm sorry, lady Marbot. Truth be told, some details about your human society are easy to mix up. Anyways, you travel here alone as part of the journey arranged by your family, right?"
"That's right. The journey by my father, the head of the Marbot family."
"I also think I've heard about something about that family before... Oh right, some god I think captured someone suspicious bearing that name. I've got the warning to be careful, because apparently, that one was practising magical arts."
My clan... known to her... How... If I manage to come out of it alive, I will need to have a serious talk with 'Father' about someone else not being careful enough
Nathalie dismissed it:
"Really? I never heard of it, the Divine Sister. I don't personally know all of my family members."
"Probably just an interesting coincidence, lady Marbot. Now, I have another interesting question. You apparently knew about the last night's ritual existence, is this true?"
"Correct. I've heard about it. Didn't knew the date and details."
"That is what I got to know as well. You had some curiosity about it, but you stepped asking, that's it?"
"That's it."
"One more thing, lady Marbot. Did you pray to me in more ritualized way after coming here? Maybe you had the blessing ritual?"
"I... did... Why..."
"I'm asking, because I've remembered that not long time ago I've received some blessing ritual. The one who was supposed to be blessed by me was a newcomer from Bethune. It was about your arrival. I've helped the guest slightly,. but I've noticed there was something... unpleasant in the mind. The guilt combined with the desire to keep things hidden. I did not gone deeper than that, I respect privacy, but could it be... you? I did not look into that person later on"
"It might be me, the Divine Sister. Everyone has some troubles, me too. Thank you, for respecting my privacy if that was me." I knew it was a mistake, I'm just hoping she's notlying...
"No problem, lady Marbot... Hmm... Your answers could rise some eyebrows, but I don't think any of that count as the proof that you actually did anything. Especially since my retainers seem to have good opinion about you... I think I'm right now done. Thank you for the talking and I'm sorry for troubling you.", Nathalie has sighted internally from the relief, she wasn't discovered after all, "For now, I need to go to talk with some more people..."
Miko extended her arm to Nathalie’s left shoulder and said:
"Here, have a personal blessing for a good luck, lady Marbot. It won't do much, but I hope it will calm you down..."
The goddess' hand patted delicately the Nathalie's shoulder. The mage felt slight pain out of the needles being inserted deeper by the touch. Mizu has clearly felt something too, as her face expression became momentarily much more troubled. She asked:
"Is everything all right with your shoulder, lady Marbot?"
"Ehmm... Yes, I mean... no.. I had an injury there last night. Visited caretakers. It's taken care of, but it's the wound."
"Show me please, I could help it even more"
"I'm grateful, but I don't think there's a need..."
"Hmm... Wait for a moment"
Mizu quickly walked away and started talking with some members of the staff, including Ikena and Marika. It was so close..., Nathalie thought. Soon after, the goddess came back and said:
"Lady Marbot, no one here, including your friends or caretakers seem to know anything about your wound. Is it really taken care off?"
"It is, the Divine Sister."
"I want to be sure. I don't want you to get infection. Show me the shoulder."
The goddess extended her arm and revealed the left shoulder. She was greeted with the image of the leather strap and few bright, crystal needles coming out if it, clearly inserted into the flesh. he truth was for all to see.
"Lady Marbot, I think we're really done here. This is not the accidental wound. I can recognize the equipment used for the magical arts perfectly well. I'm going to ask you: did you do this last night? Breaking into my temple and all that?"
Nathalie knew there was no longer point in pretending.
"Yes... I did it. All of it."
Mizu responded shortly, with a face showing clear sadness:
"I'm so much disappointed, lady Marbot..."
「the short time after」
"Do you know what you did?", the divine voice asked. Nathalie was shocked upon hearing local goddess Mizu speaking in her native Bethunian instead of the Kitsune tongue, but it made sense. After all, they have left the dining room, as the Divine Sister wanted to talk with the mage completely privately. They did not left the building, but now they were standing in the small, isolated chamber. Nathalie had hard time finding an answer, petrified by the unknown fate awaiting for her.
"I thought that you would have easier time talking in your parent tongue." Mizu continued, "Are you that afraid? Don't worry, I won't do anything to you by this answer. I'm going to ask again: do you know what you did?"
"I'm sorry... I was just nervous...", Nathalie responded with the slow, monotone voice, her face was looking down with the gaze directed at her own feet. In that very moment in the beauty of a person standing nearby wasn't enough for her to overcome the tension of the situation . "I have told you before... I've conducted magical ritual in the temple of yours..."
"That's right, but do you know what that means?"
"Using the power present in there... This is what it means..."
"Are you trying to obscure it hard or are the mages nowadays not even conscious of what they are doing?"
The only answer meeting the question was the dead silence. The goddess, continued:
"I think we're not getting anywhere when doing it this way, so let me spell it out for you. When a 'mortal' person, human, oni, doesn't matter, prays to a god, there is possibility for the god to answer that and create Connection with the one who prays, right? There is no way you, the mage, wouldn't know it as everything you do relies on that, but I think we need to define some terms first to be completely clear that you understand the ramifications. The Connection basically goes directly through the reality itself, avoiding all the Law that governs it normally. This rift creates something like a scar, or rather, the trace. It is possible to re-open the Connection using this trace, although in the incredibly one-sided manner. Now, we are coming to the most important part: you, mages, are calling those traces, those scars of reality that gives you access to us anytime you would want 'power' as if it was nothing more than a resource, uselessly waiting to be taken and moulded into something functional. But, it is not. It never was. Are you lying to yourself or are really unaware? What you, mages, do in your ritual is not using some additional power. Connection doesn't create it. It takes the power, in that very moment, from a god that was involved with the Connections that left the trace. This re-opening forces reality to 'fix' itself after the certain time so this particular trace is removed when enough power was taken.", her harmonious voice was gradually getting more and more angry, " The more traces are present, the more power you could take from the god. This is what you did last night. You did not just 'used the power' or 'made a ritual'. You have ripped the power out of me directly, for your own goals, essentially forcing me to do something for you, not considering anything related to me, as if I, myself, was just nothing more but a power source, not even a person. You, mages, like to justify doing this well after being confronted. You like to tell that 'it's not bad, the gods don't view humans as people anyways so why I should I care?'. That's true that many don't, but I do. And I don't like being lumped with those that don't just because what am I, or the power I naturally possess. Yes, me and my brother did something humans could consider neglectful, but it's not because we didn't thought of them as people. It's because we don't understand humans enough to feel we have authority to intervene in the matters between humans. What do you say? Do you understand?"
"I do... I understand what I did."
The goddess manner of speech became visibly more sad than angry:
"Just tell me... what do you think of me? To do that to your host? You were welcomed well, my retainers treated you as a proper guest. You even prayed to me in seemingly a good will. Why did you betray me like that? How are you seeing me? Do you... view me as a person? Or just a resource to be utilized?"
"I... see you as a person", Nathalie responded calmly and looked directly in the Mizu's eyes, "I always did. I liked people here and the more time I've spend among them, the more I have thought of your greatness. I've heard about your adventures with Sakusen in the past long gone. I know how both of you lost your dear friends. I know how you decoupled Kosui form the Yama, by your incredible feats of raising mountains. I know of your grief. I know how, when the time came, you both of you defeated the Dragon of the Storm and stopped the invasion on the city. I think you are a person. A great person who, in any other situation, I would desire to meet in person. I think that of you. And of your servants. I admire you. But... I did it. I did it anyways. Consciously and willingly. I chose to betray a person."
"... Why? Why did you do this?"
"Simple. I have thought that increasing my own power was more important than a person I admire."
"Despite all that..."
"No, the Divine Sister. Not despite that. Because of that. I admire you. In fact, I generally admire gods. But, you see, humans often feel envy to the objects of their admiration and I'm not the exception here. I want to be like you, would love to be like the Great Defender, the mighty Goddess Mizu. This is why I did this, this is why I do all of it. Why I practice the magical arts at all. I think this will bring me closer to that goal. Simple."
"So, you are willing to sacrifice others to do this? But I thought you aren't like that. You seem to be careful to not be like that."
"Is it really a sacrifice? After all, no one get hurt."
"My personhood got hurt. If you wish for me to make you abandon your humanity for the sake of your wishes, you could have, I don't know... ask about it? Sure I am unable to make you into a goddess, but there is still plenty of things I could do. They would be hard for me as well, so I wouldn't do it often, but maybe I could have make the exception for you, if you approached it the different way. But no, you didn't even bother to that. You consciously decided to go directly against my wishes, you took something directly from me, just because you have feared that you would get 'no' as the answer. Is that right?"
Nathalie waited few more second before an answer:
"That is completely correct."
"Moreover, it's not like there are no sacrifices. I have managed to travel here and I'll be able to travel back home, but still for quite some time I will be unable to do some things I did as a goddess, it will be a necessity to be careful. Before I fully recover, every person in Kosui who dies out of lethal injury, every victim of a drought will be on you. You have took, so many power from me last night... I even took a blade with me just in case.", Mizu put up her dress a bit, revealing a sheathed sword attached to her belt, "Sure I could have kill a human even without it, but I could never know when I would be exhausted in my divine power."
Nathalie's eyes got brighter upon seeing the sword, she seemingly forgot about the topic in an instant:
"Oh, is that this sword you have used to defend against the Dragon? Can you show me? I would have love that."
Mizu's mouth formed a grin:
"Oh, you want to see it... Come closer, you will see it very well."
Nathalie has tried to make a step, but just before her foot has connected with the floor, she noticed goddess' arm reaching for the sword's handle. She instinctively jumped back and nearly automatically grabbed a knife out of her robes, unsheathing it as fast as possible. Her mind in an instant forgot about all the talking, focusing purely on the upcoming threat. She could hear a sound of a metal blade coming out , so she made another fast step back. Everything happened in less than three seconds. Nathalie was now standing further away, with the tip of the bronze blade being directly in front of her, aiming between her eyes and occupying the space her head was just present. In her light brown hand, she was holding her own bronze knife, in the defence position. Mizu was looking directly at her, smiling. She noticed the goddess' foot coming close to move, so she decided to move herself to the right, while attempting to black the reach of the enemy sword with her own blade. The strike would have landed right between her eyes, but she manged to dodge. Immediately after that, the opponent has made another strike, with the edge of the sword making the upwards slash, aiming directly into the Nathalie's stomach. It was too long to avoid in that short of time, so she desperately moved her knife to block and mentally prepared for the possibility of the worst. Fortunately for her, the strike, while powerful, was easy enough to divert. The exchange wasn't over, yet, however.
Nathalie tried to protect herself in similar way once again, this time barely managing. From now on, the strikes only intensified. Her mind in a time close to being instant recognised where is danger and acted accordingly. She has noticed that it's way harder to defend, but the strikes themselves felt less direct. Still, it was so fast that she couldn't really think about it. The bronze blades have clashed few more times, but it was feeling more and more overwhelming. Eventually, when attempting take a step back, the sword has managed to make her drop the knife. Now, the tip of the enemy blade was pointing out directly into her heart, being one push away from ending her own life, while she herself had no longer mean to defend herself. She recognized quickly approaching death, waiting for it to come.
It have not come.
Mizu's quickly sheathed her sword and said:
"Take up your blade. I think we're done with this."
"Are you.. not going to kill me?", asked Nathalie. Her mind was slowly reminding itself of the rest of the situation.
"I'm not, don't worry. Only the first three strikes had this intention. Anything later was just to check your skill a bit."
"Only the first... wait, why did you made those anyways? We were just discussing. Was that the punishment?"
"A test, not punishment. If I wanted to kill you, I could have to do this way easier and more reliably. Truth be told, you were incredibly bold, making such a request concerning my blade in your situation."
"Oh..., that's why..."
"What were you thinking when you made it, lady Marbot? Such a request could only mean two things: either one who makes it has no respect for me or... they are the fellow adept in the art of the blade. So, I have checked. Few strikes to test if you actually know something about it. Deadly, but easy enough for someone who have trained to mitigate."
"And if I weren't skilled enough?"
"Simple, I would have kill you where you stood and your entire case would be closed. Together with your life. It would be fair punishment for the audacity of disrespecting me and my blade so much. And by the way, this was not my famous sword. It's a regular, bronze one. I couldn't take mine with myself when changing locations so fast... Anyways, you fortunately were ready to defend your life at the every moment, so your actions weren't that recklessly stupid as it would look otherwise."
"But... I have broken the rules of the Great Temple, if I complied than..."
"Your body, would be laying down completely dead and your blood would spilled all over the floor. Again, if you make the request about someone's blade like that, especially if you've wronged that someone in the past and you were just discussing it with them... better for you to be prepared to prove you can preserve your very life on your own. If you don't think you are ready, do not ask a question like that. Simple. Blade is a weapon, not an accessory. Once it gets unsheathed, one must be ready for the possibility of losing or taking a life. Can we finally go back to the topic?"
"I... I think we can, the Divine Sister.", said Nathalie, still in a shock.
"So let's be it. To sum it up: you have betrayed me, people who've welcomed you, and weakened me consciously and intentionally to boost your own power. Normally, you would be considered a criminal and most likely you would have been exiled from Kosui, especially since you have documents proving those in the Ryuudou Machi empire see no problem with you, so you have a place nearby to go, so you will be able to not bother us anymore. I suspect some would like to see you executed, but I wouldn't agree on that."
"But you..."
"Death in a duel is the other thing, lady Marbot. That wouldn't be the punishment on its own, just the consequence of drawing a blade. You wanted me to unsheathe it, did you not? Anyways, I'm not a legal expert on anything, but since the issue connects to me directly more than to the community, I will be the one deciding. Truth be told, after talking with you and about you... you seem an interesting person, lady Marbot. I'm sad that you did it to me, but you can always make it up. We can end up as allies, not enemies."
"Oh, what do you want to do with me, The Divine Sister?"
"You like me and even admire me. You would love to be like me. You also are fond of few people in the temple and they are fond of yourself. There is a way out of that. I have an offer. Serve me, lady Marbot as one of my retainers. Give me your magical equipment away, abandon this path and join the Great Temple. I bet Miko Ikena and Miko Mizutamarika would love to see you as their colleague, you would be looking great in white and blue as well, I'm sure... I will be also keeping an eye on you personally. Maybe one day, I’ll give you some gifts, making you a bit more similar to us, the gods. I am unable to make you one for sure, but still there is a lot that I can do. I could also show you my palace, my brother and our divine retainers. We could even play board games together and you can see my art... I like you lady Marbot. This is not an offer of subservience. This is an offer of friendship."
"Thank you for the offer, goddess Mizu, but I am not sure what I need to abandon really in the process... Isn't being part of the Great Temple means rejection of your own name, formal ties to your family, your previous home? Basically, the change of one's life? That's a lot to ask in exchange for a friendship."
"It's not an exchange for the friendship. Yes, I would want you to give up on your life up to this point. Haven't you wronged me? Haven't you wringed priestesses here? Aren't you basically a criminal? You have a chance to make up for all those years. I will allow you to send messages to your father, if you care about him that much. I will not stand in your way if you want to meet him again one day. Aren't this generous offer made to someone who committed a crime? Or, you can just reject it completely, take you all things and go away from the Kosui until you have a change of heart and come to me taking my offer once again. I will however not guarantee how well my retainers will think of you the second time... You don't need to answer me. I will now return to the dining room and you are free to go and do what you want. here, have this", Mizu gave her some sort of bronze badge with a symbol on it, "it should be a proof enough. I will be waiting for you. Until this day will end, I'll be there. If you want to take my offer, come there and give away your equipment and be ready to become a priestess of mine. If you don't want, you are free to take all your things, your spear and your horse and just go away. When the sun sets and you will not join us, you will be treated by us as a criminal. Here, I have decided. The next decision is yours, Nathalie of the Marbot family."
Mizu has left the room immediately after finishing, leaving the mage all alone.
The goddess came back to the dining room and explained to all of the priestesses what was decided. She wasn’t surprised that this didn't calm them down completely.
"Forgive me, great Mizu that I did not notice the risk", blamed herself Kannushi Aoko, "Lady Marbot was under me, I am responsible..."
"Don't be harsh to yourself, I've just told you that I have already passed a judgement. The only choice that is left belongs to her."
"Does Your Utmost Excellency believes she will agree?"
"Truth be told, I am not sure. I know that abandonment of the previous life and starting anew is something hard. I could have just force her, but would that change be genuine? Wouldn't she harbour a resentment? I'll be waiting here until the sun sets, just in case."
"I will trust your judgement, than and hope for the best."
The discussions didn't stop, however. Various priestesses were telling numerous opinions, about the Bethunian guest that betrayed them. Their emotions were boiling hot, but Mizu already managed to calm down. She wasn't angry at her servants. Everyone needs to go through it. Occasionally, the weeping of two Mikos could be heard.
Eventually, the sun has set and no one has come.
Nathalie was on the road, outside of the city, riding her trusty horse with her spear attached. She was wearing her usual clothing. A raven was sitting on her right shoulder. She was observing how the red lights from the sky became more and more dim. The night was approaching. She was going deeper and deeper into the wild territory, not even looking back at the city she will never return to. Yet, the events of the ending day were still a subject of her thoughts. Not because of her conflict, but the lack of it.
First time since she began her profession, she was found the inner peace, the answer to all of her dilemmas. She no longer was trying to convince herself of anything.
Morality is to be rejected. I am who I am and my ambitions are mine. They make me... me. Rejecting them would be denying myself. Rejecting them would hurt my personhood in the very core.
The mage was riding south, back in the direction of Bethune. She would reach it someday. Her mind was now settled. Nathalie shall usurp the divinity eventually. Even if it is not possible, she would come up with the way that no one ever walked. A goal worth of every sacrifice that is to come. Everything and everyone could be put on her altar.
