Praying.
That was the gods main source of life. It was how they knew that people still believed in them, and about twenty or thirty years back when her mother was still a little girl, no one believed in them. Then Amaterasu and her Celestial Envoy, Issun, had made their presences known throughout all of Nippon. It was a lovely story, yes, but her generation came along and Louna was afraid she could no longer believe in the existences of the gods, and she had a fair reason indeed.
Why believe in the gods when the last family member you had left was a seven-year-old sister who counted on you hand and foot? Why believe in the gods when you weren't capable of saving your own mother from lava pouring through the Oina's village? Why believe in the gods when everything first started with the murder of your father at age sixteen? Yeah, she definitely had good reasons.
"Louna!"
The voice of her playful sister caught her ear, and pale blue eyes looked at the little girl running in her direction. "Look what me and Titus caught!"
In her hand, the girl held a rarely seen butterfly, one that made Louna's eyebrows wrinkle behind her mask. Small hands opened to reveal a small butterfly, one with a white with and the other with a blue one. Both wings had lines on them connecting to the butterflies body. How strange.
"Milly?" Louna's voice spoke softly, curiously. "Isn't this a messenger butterfly?" she asked.
"A messenger butterfly?" Milly asked, her making it clear that she had yet to learn what a messenger butterfly was.
Louna and Milly both came from a normal family, one that often prayed to the gods. Though she didn't believe now, she believed in them then. She prayed often, and was taught the ways of a priestess. Many stories had been learned over the years of becoming a priestess before she had rebelled against it, and messenger butterflies were included in those stories. They were like a personal message from the gods to the receiver. But they were just stories, ones she had convinced herself two years ago not to believe.
Continuing to stare down into Milly's hands, the butterfly fluttered its wings, crawling about on the girl's hand until lifting itself into the air. Louna's eyes watched in fascination as the butterfly flew around her, as if examining her, sizing her up, but what for?
"Louna! The butterfly is glowing!"
She could see that very clearly. The faster the butterfly flew, the brighter it glowed. The brighter it glowed, the more wind that formed around her, like standing in eye of a tornado. Louna found herself losing her balance, trying to block the wind from her face, wisp of black and white hair flying everywhere. What was possibly going on?
"Someone help! My sister's getting attacked by a butterfly!" Milly's voice cried out, her voice panicked, though the statement silly. No one would believe her.
Louna was lifted off the ground, the winds becoming harsher and lashing at her skin. "Put me down! Put me down!" Her screams seemed useless, the butterfly continued to fly. Villagers finally took noticed, most gathering towards the tornado in their canine forms. But at her most panicked scream, the butterfly merged itself into her body, casting a warm glow around her, making her feel extremely light. Louna was silenced, and weightlessly back down to the ground.
"What just happened?" The tribe leader spoke to the silent girl who looked like she was dazed. Louna just stood, swaying slightly. "Louna? Louna?"
Thump.
"Louna!"
The young woman hit the ground.
Her eyes opened hours later to a darkened room. With thin eyebrows pushed together, Louna pressed her hand against her face, searching for her mask. It must have flown off, or had been taken off. With the most awkward grace possible in all of Nippon, Louna rose to her feet, still off balance from event before, and stumbled through the room.
Was this even her own home?
"Hello?" Louna called out, feeling her way out of the room. Her eyes spotted a fire, someone had to be here.
"Louna," Someone spoke with deep concern. "Do you know that what just happened to you means that the gods are showing you concern?"
"Jin?" Louna said softly. Was that the young tribe leader? Her eyes were still adjusting, things in her path were blurry and just random objects to fall over if she had the chance. "What do you mean?"
"The three colored butterfly who spins around the receiver and merges with them is a sign that the gods are tracking them." Jin said, taking on a more serious tone. "How long has it been since you stopped believing again?"
"Two years, Jin, but that's nonsense." Louna spoke, incredulous.
"It's nonsense because you don't believe." Jin sighed, and rose from the floor to his feet. Slowly he made his way over the girl, her dark skinned complexion even darker in the shadows. "The villagers are concerned about you and your sister. You two have the most priestess like potential, and no one wants to lose either of you. A message from the gods can be either good or bad, but from the stories most of them turn out to be bad."
"…"
"Milly's in the other room just incase you're wondering. You should head back to sleep." Jin said, turning the girl around and pushing her in.