A Maiden's Life
Chapter 2
Their Beginning
With a contract made, the two of them were bound.
It took some time for the two of them to get comfortable with each other. In the beginning, Nozomi mostly cleaned the shrine grounds and did her best to repair anything she could with her current ability. On the other hand, her Goddess was able to recuperate her strength with the presence of her Shrine Maiden. Once they got through the awkward phase of their relationship, that's when the Goddess started to open up to Nozomi.
"I am the Goddess of Misfortune. I've never liked the idea of titles and such so if you want, you may call me by my true name: Elisandria Ayasemichi."
"Um… No disrespect Goddess, but that name is kind of long and hard to remember."
"If I nickname serves you better, then feel free to bestow one upon me."
"Hm… How about Elicchi?"
"Haha, that does rather childish, but for you, I will accept."
…
The two of them slowly began to trust and understand one another. Because of the rules of a Shrine Maiden and her age, Nozomi was forced to remain within the Shrine grounds until her unbound age of 18. This allowed Elisandria to teach Nozomi everything she knew about the world.
Her lessons were tough and very complex, but she wanted to make sure that Nozomi understood the world and its every component. At times, Nozomi refused to learn, but other times, she seemed eager to fill her brain with new knowledge from her Goddess.
"Elicchi, may I ask you a question?"
"Of course, my child."
"Why are you the Goddess of Misfortune? I understand why God created his Goddesses, but why Misfortune? It's such a horrible thing to bestow on someone and the stories you tell me, the other Goddesses don't seem to like you."
"Nozomi, you have to understand that everything happens for a reason. God created a plan and everything has gone according to His plan. The other Goddesses just don't like things that they don't fully understand."
"But I thought the Goddesses were the smartest beings in this world."
"We are. It's just… Time disrupts everything, even us Goddesses."
"Well, I think you're the best Goddess regardless."
"Thank you Nozomi. Most people don't seem to share your ideal though."
"What do you mean?"
"The day you found me; I was on my dying breath. A Goddess needs her worshippers and her Shrine Maidens. Without those things, she can wither away forever. Before you came, no one ever visited my Shrine and I was running out of power to survive. I owe so much to you."
"Then I'll go out and find worshippers for you. That should be easy."
"I appreciate that, but an underage Shrine Maiden is prohibited from leaving these grounds until her unbound age of 18. Destiny is what brings worshippers to these Shrines. Neither you or I have that kind of power to influence people."
"So what'll happen to you if no one comes?"
"My Shrine will crumble and I will be left powerless. All I can do is pray that you remain by my side and for someone to find my wisdom."
…
The years went by and Nozomi approached her unbound age. Before then, she was hard at work restoring the Shrine. She restructured the broken-down buildings and repainted the ones that were starting to grow old. Every day, she would sweep the Shrine grounds with the hopes that someone would come across their Shrine and grovel at the majesty of her Goddess.
Meanwhile, Elisandria had her own daily plans. She had a fountain of wisdom and a hot spring located far up the mountain, away from sight. She would venture into the mountains every morning and not return until dusk. Nozomi only knew about the location that her Goddess was traveling to. She didn't know about the importance of this place and Elisandria kept that secret from her for a reason.
Upon her return, that's when Nozomi's lessons started. With her growing age and perception, Nozomi started to challenge her own Goddess with what could be told and what was kept hidden from her. Nozomi wanted to know more, but Elisandria kept telling her that it was best that she wait until the time was right to know about the other things she was hiding. When she reached the age of 17, Nozomi refused Elisandria's teachings. She told Elisandria that she wasn't doing enough for her. By explicitly telling her that there were things best not spoken made Nozomi cautious of learning any more from her. She was afraid that Elisandria's teachings were all a lie to keep her as her Shrine Maiden.
When this occurred, Elisandria retreated to her fountain. She examined the water carefully to see if there were any changes, but nothing changed. As much as it hurt her to see her own Shrine Maiden neglect her, she knew that this was God's plan and that she was going to follow it through till the end.
…
The morning of her 18th birthday was nothing different. She did her normal round of sweeping the grounds while Elisandria travelled to her fountain. However, as she finished up her task for the morning, a young girl entered the grounds. Nozomi immediately spotted her and tried to act natural. She welcomed her to the Shrine and left her to her business while watching her carefully. The girl walked up to the prayer building and went through the motions.
"Goddess, I have nothing. I horrible man has taken my family away from me. I loved my family and they loved me. Why does such evil have to exist in this world? I ask you to give me justice. Something… I just want my family to rest in peace. I want them to know that I tried."
The prayer bell rang far and loud, echoing all the way to the top of the mountain where Elisandria heard that girl's prayer. She suddenly reappeared inside the prayer building and took the coin that was used for prayer. She held it in her hand and the coin slowly vanished into nothingness. She then whispered to herself.
"You call upon my services for something that can be done. Have no fear, my child. Your voice is heard and your wish will be granted."
Once the girl left the grounds, Elisandria walked out onto the Shrine grounds meeting Nozomi in familiar bewilderment.
"So… Can you fulfill that girl's wish?"
"I will see what I can do." She turned around and headed back to her normal resting place.
"I plan on attending a university."
Suddenly, Elisandria stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to face Nozomi.
"You what?"
"I can't do this forever. I have to get out there and learn about this world. I'm no longer bound so there's not much that you can do to prevent me from doing this."
"My child, please don't do this. I need you here with me. Without you, I will die."
"Elicchi, I don't mean it like that. I will remain your Shrine Maiden and do my normal tasks. I just have to be a normal girl for once. I'm 18 years old. There are things I want to do. Don't deny this right that I have."
"But…" Elisandria suddenly closed her mouth. She had nothing on Nozomi. She was of unbound age and a normal girl, aside from the fact that she was a Shrine Maiden. As a Goddess, it's her responsibility to allow Man to reach their fullest potential. Letting a part of Nozomi go was just something that had to happen. "You'll need this." Out of nowhere, Elisandria created a stack of papers that she handed to Nozomi.
"What is this?"
"You've never been to school. These will allow you to enter into a university without any hassle." Elisandria then turned around and went into her room in silence.
Nozomi looked down and read through everything. It was a bunch of documents stating her qualifications and what she did in order to get into the school that she was thinking of. She wanted to approach Elisandria about this, but she was already to far gone. That's when she decided to pack up her things and go try her luck at the local university.
Nozomi ended up being gone for a long time so Elisandria had a lot of time to think. She returned to her fountain and watched Nozomi. As she watched her, nothing seemed out of the ordinary so she decided to turn in for the day. She uncloaked herself and stepped into the hot spring.
At the end of the day, Nozomi managed to get some good news from the local university. However, Nozomi didn't feel quite right about the whole situation. She didn't know much about the normal life of a student, but it just didn't seem like the normal way. When she returned, Elisandria was nowhere to be seen so she finished up her jobs as the shrine maiden and went to bed. As the night matured, Elisandria returned from her fountain and sat outside of Nozomi's room. She listened silently and heard that she was already asleep.
"You're an adult now so I know I can't really control you anymore. However, I hope you remember that I need you in order to remain on this planet. If you forget about me, I'll cease to exist. Please don't do anything stupid because there's only so much that I can do for you now."
Elisandria's facing the truth of her own destiny as well as her own Shrine Maiden. She just couldn't convince herself about it until now. All she wanted was for Nozomi to remain loyal to her with forgetting her past.
End of Chapter 2