It was a breezy Monday morning. Not too cold, but not too warm at the same time; the current season was changing from spring to summer.
A red haired girl was still fast asleep in her bed. She wore a pajamas with crescent moon design on it. A purple blanket was wrapped around her petite figure.
Then, a tall woman stood near bed. "Shizuka-chan, wake up, dear."
The girl stirred. "Please, leave me be, Artemis. I still want to sleep."
"But... do you know? Now it's 8 am", she informed her with a mischievous smirk on her face.
Shizuka immediately opened her eyes wide. "What? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" She quickly got up and made her way to the bathroom, until she realized something. Wait a minute! Doesn't this a bit too sooner for morning? The girl checked her alarm, and it's still 5:45 am. "Artemis, that's not a funny joke at all! Really? God, I'm still sleepy!"
The woman laughed. "Hahaha, sorry dear, but you need to get up early. Besides, isn't this your first day of school?"
Shizuka buried her face behind the pillows and groaned. For the love of the gods, why did she reminded her of that? "Don't disturb me Artemis, please. I still want to sleep, for Christ's sake!"
Artemis clicked her tongue in disapproval. This girl and her bad habitual of sleeping, especially in school days. It's nothing new to her. "Shizuka, you can't always act like this. Come on, your parents are waiting downstairs. Do you prefer Hecate to wake you up?"
She shot her eyes open again. Great, the mentioning of the goddess of magic succeeded in making her lost her sleepiness. No, also added to that, it made her headache was coming as well. Hecate would defitinitely be displeased with her childish attitude.
"Fine, fine. I'll get up. But don't tell her about what happened here."
Artemis only shrugged her shoulders while watching her get to the bathroom and cleaned herself up. Shizuka only grumbled while she wore her new uniform, about the disturbance of her morning routine with the moon goddess waking her in the early morning; something that she absolutely hated.
She went downstairs, meeting her mother who had prepared her breakfast for her only child. Her father was reading a newspaper, sitting not too far from his wife.
"Morning, Shizuka-chan."
"Morning", she replied and yawning.
"I see you are still sleepy", her mother giggled at Shizuka.
"A bit. Artemis got me awake so early. She really likes to see me thrashing up and about in the morning. Damn, I got a headache, thanks to her", she glared at the moon goddess, who only smiled knowingly. "What, Artemis?"
"I would like to eat as well", she blinked her eyes in a very familiar way to Shizuka.
The girl sighed. Great. "My offering for you is on the altar. You know, the usual place in my room, near my window."
Artemis grinned in gratitude and the girl could only shake her head as she witnessed the old deity went back upstairs to eat.
This is Shizuka Lovegood. A girl with regular day basis; for example: going to school, studying, and other similar stuff. Like other girls her age, she was just trying to go through her days smoothly. Well, except she lived not only with her parents. She was also surrounded by the spirits that has been guarding her since the day she came into this world.
"Well, the news nowadays is not really uplifting my spirit", her father commented on the newspaper he was reading.
"What is it, Simon?", his wife questioned.
Simon answered, "Demons are starting to get more active. They are usually active on nights, but people have testified that they saw odd occurrences, all over the world. Japan is also no exception. What do you think, Keiko?"
"Don't worry too much. We have many spirits like Hecate, Artemis and the others to protect us. Not to mention, I heard in this city, an important person called Mephisto Pheles has created many barriers to protect us", Keiko tried to reassure her husband.
Shizuka went still at the mention of demons. Those beings… they have been bothering her since she was a little. "Mom, tell me the reason why did we move here again?"
"Shizuka-chan, I thought we have talked about this before we move from Tokyo to this place."
"I know Mom, but still I prefer Tokyo. Besides, don't you think this is getting too troublesome? True Cross Campus Town is a city within city in this country. I'm tired with us constantly moving."
Keiko sighed in desperation. Their only daughter can be a little stubborn sometimes, even when they have tried to explain their circumstance to her in the best way possible. 'Shizuka-chan, we moved here because your father has been sent by his boss in order to continue his work."
She formed a thin line on her mouth. "Isn't it because we don't have anything left for us there in Tokyo?"
"Shizuka Lovegood, no bad mouthing on the table! Just finish your breakfast, dear", Simon rebuffed her.
"Dad, no matter where we go, we almost never accepted by the neighbors."
"I know our family is unconventional, but at least wherever we are, we never made any problems, right? Shizuka, I know that moving to places tires you, but please, give this town a chance."
"How can I know that people here would accept us? In our old neighborhood, they always spread gossips about us witches."
"Indeed, but in the end, some of our neighbors were asking for our help, right? Shizuka, you need to solve your issue with trusting people", Simon advised his little girl gently.
'I know Dad, sorry for that. I didn't mean to act so unbecoming. I… I just hate what those kids had done to me. It's not my fault I was born this way."
Keiko went to where she sat. "Shizuka-chan, we heard in the academy, there's a cram school that trains people with your abilities to be an exorcist. Why don't you try?"
Her curiosity piqued. "Wait, exorcists?"
"Yeah. Your ability as a witch in our family can be useful, Shizuka-chan! It's time for you to use your powers to help people in need."
"I don't know. Sounds dangerous", her voice hinted uncertainty.
"Shizuka-chan, we don't mind if you want to try. You always told us that you want to make a difference. Why don't you try by becoming an exorcist?"
Shizuka was still a bit doubtful, but the sound of working as an exorcist was promising. She nodded.