Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 15 – The Goddess of Light

“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 me, a light breeze brushed over my face as if someone was waving something in front of my face.

“Hmm…”

I instinctively stepped back to try and get away from whatever was in front of me.

“Oh, I know what’s going on.”

Then I heard a snap, and the world suddenly opened up in front of me. There was a garden that seemed 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 me 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 same 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 me about, but how about we get comfortable first?” The woman said as she gestured towards an empty space.

What have I gotten myself into?

“Come on, come on; you’ll figure it out,” the woman said as she picked me up and carried me 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 me, “Go ahead, make yourself comfortable.”

Looking down, I could see that a chair had appeared beneath me out of nowhere. The woman walked a short distance away from me, and then a similar-looking chair appeared, which she sat on herself.

“…”

“…”

The woman just stared at me, looking me up and down; it felt like she was judging me for some 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 some random person?

“Really?! That’s a first. I haven’t been in this situation for… I don’t even remember how many years now.”

What do you mean?

“Well then, I’m Ellaria, although you can just call me Aria, as I think we will be meeting quite often from now on.”

“…”

“Still not ringing any bells?”

No?

“This is actually a little fun. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have all the time in the world to play with you today, as I don’t want to leave a certain someone waiting too long.”

I knew it!

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They were trying to sell me 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 something that froze me in place.

“Most people call me 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 something 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 me as if she was expecting something 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 name?”

…

“E-Ellaria…”

Once again, the Goddess didn’t respond to me but continued to stare.

“…A-Aria.”

“There you go!” Her smile came back instantly, “Now, don’t go forgetting it.”

Is it okay for me 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 mean 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 someone 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 something?

Fortunately for me, Aria continued to talk.

“Actually, speaking of that certain someone, it would probably be good for me to apologise to you. What happened is partially my fault, and I’d rather you didn’t hold a grudge against me. That’d make our future meetings a bit awkward.”

Why would a Goddess need to apologise to me?

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 some 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 me, probably waiting for me to confirm that I understood, so I nodded, although I didn’t really understand why she was telling me all of this.

“So, what that means 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 me?

“Now, onto the more unfortunate part. Sometimes, if someone has a particularly good affinity for some kind of magic, it can manifest in some physical change-”

My mind started to put together some things, but it still didn’t make sense why they were related to me.

“-your white hair comes 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 came 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 time ago, I used to have green eyes.”

“But-”

“Anyway, I can show you where that should put you on the map,” Aria interrupted me 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 comes from here. As Light and Life Magic are so close to each other, most people are under the impression that they are actually the same thing, or more accurately, people think that Light Magic heals people.” Aria let out a sigh and paused for a short moment 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 me.”

…

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 meet my sister after this!” Aria got up and came over to me before picking me up once again, this time hugging me tightly against her chest.

…

It took a little while, but I eventually managed to calm down.

When did I become so comfortable around her?…

…

I forced my head out of Aria’s chest to ask the only question that had come to mind.

“But… Aria… How’s that your fault?”

“Well, it isn’t something that I did myself, but at the same time, I can’t say I’ve helped very much.”

What does that mean?

“Well, just look at me. 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 some 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 someone 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 me 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.