Chapter 4: Sister

A month among the humans had already passed, and I still didn't have the slightest clue about how to make them revere me and swear loyalty to me, or any deity for the fact. Certainly Eglaia had already warned me about their unfaithful ways of life, something that I checked myself to find it absolutely true. They didn't pray nor hope, the women dedicated fully to work and to do what they could to 'survive'.

Great Mother of Magic, how much I was starting to hate that word...

And I said it correctly, the women did that, because there was no male in sight. Not even a kid. As far as I saw, Limayl was the youngest one in the pitiful village, and I still hadn't met her adored brother. From children to elders, they were all females. They had started to talk with me a little, noticing that I wasn't going back to whatever place I came from. We only exchanged a few words, no more than hellos and goodbyes, but at least it was a beginning and I had no reason to be dejected so soon, when they talked as much a little to Lim for example, and that being her one of their kind... Yes, sometimes I still had to remember myself that for now I also was 'one of their kind'.

"You have a lot to learn about us, Manaesi, before you can be considered one of the tribe," Eglaia used to say just to tease me.

Well, the days were boring, I tell you. A day felt more or less the same as the previous and the next, with nothing really interesting to do. Sleeping, waking up, eating the delicious treats, spinning (I have yet to try), hunting... nothing new under the sun, and I only stayed for a month! How could humans go like this through their whole lives?! How did Hylia put up with it? Now, you may think I'm nowhere to speak of, considering I have the eternity to spend without doing a thing, but let's also recall that time doesn't flow the same to me than to you. I am a goddess from Heaven! A full century is a brief sigh for me.

But today, something actually did feel a bit different when I arrived back to home at noon for a meal.

"What's that fabric on the table, Eglaia?" I asked right away.

Even the cutlery looked polished and all.

"It's a tablecloth. I expect guests to come and eat with us today."

She didn't sound quite like her normal self either. This time her answer came out in a calmer way, almost warm, almost caring, almost... happy?

"What guests?"

"You'll see soon."

Oh nice, let me tell you something... if there's a single thing that I've already learnt during my month here, is that soon was a very relative term. Soon could mean the next ten minutes, the whole afternoon or the week after. And now look at us, already two hours waiting for Eglaia's guests to show up. She better be thankful that my curiosity was bigger than my hunger. Not that I was eager to eat the usual leever anyway.

And then, suddenly but softly, there was a knock on the door.

"Sister, we're home."

Eglaia was already opening the door even before the voice finished, and there was... guess what, another woman of the tribe! Yes, with the normal amber eyes and skin and nose and etc. Or should I say, there were two women, one older and another younger, both clad in grey threadbare cloaks.

"Sister, be welcome," Eglaia smiled, and they hugged. "The food is ready. How have you two been?"

"Not bad, but not very well either," answered the younger woman. "Who's the girl?"

"Excuse me... girl? GIRL?! I am a full grown (human) woman, thank you very much!" I thought to myself, furious.

I frowned and stood up, wanting to punish her for such insolence, but Eglaia raised a hand to stop me. However, my intention should've been clear enough, since the offender gave a small step back.

"This is Manaesi," Eglaia spoke. "I found her abandoned in open field a month ago, and took her in. She is still... adjusting to our ways. Manaesi, these are my sister Finoe and her daughter, my niece Tarisse."

I observed them up and down, same as they did with me. Finoe was slightly taller than Eglaia, and still shorter than me. Her hair was a vivid crimson with some strands completely white, and unlike the other women of the tribe, who had it sleek and messy, hers was curly and tied in a bun; I could see clearly the curvy pattern of the locks. The expression on her face was serene, peaceful... even cold; her eyes were dull, like they have lost their shine. She looked at me without fear, without interest, barely recognizing my presence there, and with the smallest of the smiles on her lips. She couldn't care less if I was there or not.

Quite the opposite, Tarisse seemed very interested in me. We were the same height, I could look directly at her amber eyes. Her hair was exactly the same length and bloody hue as mine, though hers was well combed and mine wasn't; besides, she had it in a ponytail, and that certainly looked convenient for the windy and sandy environment we lived in. Her eyes were the most beautiful I had seen among the tribe, and contrary to her mother's, were bright and full of life.

"Surely this is something worthy to see," Finoe spoke, her voice mild and clear. "If I didn't know for sure I gave birth to only one child, I would have sworn they are twins."

"Yes, I thought the same when I met her. For a second, I believed maybe Tarisse had lost her path and tried to come back to the village."

"Me, losing my path through the desert?" Tarisse snorted. "Now that's funny."

The three women laughed a bit, but I didn't understand the joke. Twins? If I remembered well, that was when two children born together looked the same, like reflects on a mirror. Did this mean I was like this young woman, Eglaia's niece? Or was she like me? Were we like the other? The thought of a second me was making my head too heavy to comprehend.

"Sister, give me your cloaks and I'll wash them after lunch," Eglaia offered.

"Thank you, sister," Finoe said, giving her the dusty clothes.

When they undressed, I saw they were wearing the same style as everybody else. Finoe was in white like Eglaia, and Tarisse wore violet like me. Then we washed hands and sat down at the table, and for the first time since the day I arrived, I didn't know what to do or to say. The atmosphere was strange, too... warm. The three humans were talking placidly, eating the barely edible food like it was the best in the world, smiling and laughing happily. I almost couldn't recognize Eglaia as the woman who I spent a month with.

"Where are you from, Manaesi?" Finoe asked me.

My sight drove to Eglaia for a second, unsure of what to answer. She had warned me against revealing my origin.

"From far, far away."

"We also have travelled far away," Tarisse said. "How much far are you from?"

"A lot," I responded harshly, not wanting them to insist anymore.

"And how old are you?"

"My age?" I wasn't sure, maybe four or five thousand years. "Uh... twenty?"

Or at least, Eglaia opined I looked no older than that when she found me.

"Then you are younger than me. I'm twenty-three. Nice to meet you, junior!"

"Tarisse," her mother reprimanded her, noticing my growing anger. "Be more polite to our guest."

"And how old are you, Finoe?" I dared to ask. "Same as Eglaia?"

"No, I'm a bit older. I'm forty-six."

The topic had died, and I was... I assure you, I was suffocating. There was actually something in the room, between these three women, that I felt it was pushing me back. It wasn't their words, their features, their gestures... I didn't know what is was, but I couldn't take it anymore. Without saying a word, I stood up and stormed out the shack, to the fresh air.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I ran a little, just a few metres away, where I could breathe freely and deeply. My heart was racing due unknown reasons. I bent over and laid my hands over my knees, until my lungs went back to their normal rhythm.

"Goddess?"

Nice, just what I needed right now. The spooky voice and the soft fluttering of wings were unmistakable.

"Hello, Limayl."

"Are you alright?" she whispered, coming by my side. "Are you sick? Are you hurt? Are you sad? Are you...?"

"I'm perfectly fine," I cut her off pretty bad.

She stopped silent immediately, and I regretted talking to her that way. I sighed and tousled her hair.

"Sorry," I apologized. "But there is no need to worry. You know better than anyone I'm a goddess. I won't get sick."

"But you are human right know. One of us!"

"According to Eglaia, I have a lot to learn before calling myself 'one of you'."

Lim opened her mouth, wanting to disagree, but she knew when a truth was true. She had to accept it.

"Someday you will be, I am sure! But you looked in pain right a moment ago. Why?"

"I don't really know. I was eating at home with some new people who arrived today, and suddenly I felt like choking. I had to get out."

"New people? Who?"

"Eglaia's sister and niece, Finoe and Tarisse."

"Oh, they are already back..." Limayl said cheerless, sitting down on the ground. "Good to know, I guess."

"You don't like them?" I sat down too.

"Finoe is pretty nice when she gives me the time of a day. She knows a lot about potions and medicines, has healed me many times, and sometimes teaches me. But usually she is boring and does not care for anything, it is difficult even make her talk to you. And she does not like my flying friends either!"

"I see. What about Tarisse?"

"She is great friends with brother, they always talk of grown-ups things and sometimes train together."

I waited for her to continue, but it seemed that was all.

"And nothing more? I believed she made something bad to you, so you don't like her, but you haven't said it."

"I... I think Tarisse wants to marry brother too!" Lim exclaimed, strange in her. "She wants to marry brother so I cannot!"

"So that's it," I tried very hard to not laugh. "But I'm sure that even if your brother married Tarisse, he would still love you more than anyone."

"He better! But he promised to marry me when I grow up, and brother never breaks his promises."

I was feeling it again, now coming out from Limayl, though this time the sensation was a bit different. Was it something new, or was it always there and just now I began to notice? I looked at the child, trying to figure out what had changed since she started to talk about his brother. All her thoughts were concentrated on him, it was so clear that almost visible, almost tangible...

"Goddess?"

And it vanished the moment she focused on me again.

"Yes?"

"Your stomach is growling," she had already regained her usual low voice. "Now that you feel better, you should go back to Eglaia and eat."

"Of course, yes..." I babbled, standing up. "See you tomorrow, Limayl. Ah, just one last thing... do you think Tarisse and I look alike?"

"What? Such a silly idea, how could she ever compare to you? She wishes!"

And even if I knew her opinion was far from being impartial, oddly it still made me smile.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I went back. They three were still eating and chatting, but I didn't sit with them. I could be hungry, but truth be told I didn't have appetite anymore. Instead I sat away, the farthest possible inside the small house, and watched them trying to decipher what had happened before.

Everything seemed normal, but even from distance, I could feel the same as before and barely some minutes after I came. Since I was away from them, I could bear the sensation quite well, and this time wasn't suffocating but rather... warming, welcoming, but damn it was still strong! It also shone, don't ask me how, but it truly did. And it didn't flow equal from one to another either. The flows had different colours: it was a soft pink between Finoe and Tarisse, a light green between Tarisse and Eglaia, and the strongest of all was a solid orange between Finoe and Eglaia.

When I was talking with little Lim about her brother, her shine felt more like red, but I couldn't grasp it very well. What all of this could mean?

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to eat?"

I got lost in my thoughts, so I didn't notice Tarisse approaching until she sat beside me.

"I'm not in the mood to eat right now..."

"As you want. And my first question?"

"I was..." I tilted my head. "I don't quite know how to explain."

"You were studying us like we were some strange specimen."

"Maybe. You know, I lived here with Eglaia for a month and she never mentioned having family. She only told me not having daughters when she gave me these purple clothes."

"These clothes have been the custom since before the sea evaporated and the temperature went wild during day and night, because long ago the land was already humid and warm. Also the colour change still remains, purple for youths and white for matures."

"You aren't mentioning family either, Tarisse."

"Ah, you got me, witty one!" she laughed. "It's difficult to talk about family when half of it is already missing. If you are here for a month already, surely you realized there are no males."

"Clearly, who wouldn't?"

"All the males of our tribe are already dead, there are none left. Mother and aunt," she moved her head towards them, "aren't sisters by blood, but they have been together their whole life. They learned everything together. Mother married Eglaia's brother, and Eglaia married mother's brother. When I was about to born, it was aunt who helped mother deliver. Believe me, they couldn't be more sisterly were they twigs from the same tree."

I guessed Tarisse was right, given that both Eglaia and Finoe didn't call each other by the name but with the fraternal word.

"Sister, eh..."

Now that kept me thinking all night along. What was like to have a sister down here? Up there, Din was like my older sister, but it was different. She was one of the Three Golden Goddesses, the most important triad in the Sacred Realm. I was born from her own spilled blood, for which I felt very proud. I always referred to her with the utmost respect and reverence, nothing like the easy familiarity between Eglaia and Finoe.

I just couldn't understand where the difference came from.


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