The first step before moving was to meet Father Nathan. He was a middle aged man that liked the simple things in life. This made coexistence between them good.

"This is the girl I told you about, Father," the superior mother introduced her to the priest.

"Well, well. Nice to meet you. Your name is Alisa, isn't it? Mother told me a little about you. I hope we can get along," he said with a grin from ear to ear.

At the time, Alisa was still reluctant to leave the convent, especially to live with a man again. However, the priest did not represent any risk, which helped her to relax a lot in his presence. At first, they traveled from city to city, from village to village, preaching the word of the Goddess. Until one day a messenger came to meet them.

"I have important news," he announced, handing the priest an envelope.

"Thanks my lad. May the Goddess bless you," he blessed the boy before he left.

Alisa watched as the priest opened the letter and read it slowly, occasionally running his hand through his blond hair. When he finished reading, Alisa wondered if she should ask him anything. She didn't need to.

"I have good news and bad news, Alisa."

"What is the letter about, Father?"

"It seems we'll have to settle on an island for a while. I don't know for how long, but we should leave today."

"And is that the good or the bad news?" She asked curiously.

"Both."

Alisa didn't know, but Father Nathan was a man who preferred to live freely, preaching where his heart led him. Having to settle on an island didn't seem like such a good idea to him, however, these were orders from above directed specifically at him. There was no way to refuse. And he knew a little about Alisa's traumas. Mother had told him how the girl was shy around men, even if these men were men who served the Goddess. He didn't ask her and she didn't tell him, however they were happy with the status quo. Now, however, he didn't know what to expect. It took two days of travel until they reached the nearest port city and were able to board the boat that would take them to the island. And the poor priest prayed throughout the journey.

Alisa, however, had not yet realized the risks of settling in one place again. She did not think about the boys she might meet, nor the problems she might have. To her, traveling seemed like a good thing. And it was with these good thoughts that she headed towards the unknown.

The island they were headed for was not very large and the church where they were supposed to live was not even half the size of the one in the convent where she had taken her vows. However, it had a welcoming aura and that seemed to be enough.

"Could you look for dry branches so we can prepare a meal, Alisa? I think it would be more than deserved after our long journey," he suggested.

The girl agreed and without further delay walked out the main doors and looked around. It was already afternoon, the sun was beginning to set and the landscape around the church was breathtaking. It was already autumn, so the contrast of the sun's rays on the trees made the landscape have a color very similar to her hair. She smiled and began to walk around the church, looking for dry twigs. That was when she came across a spring of crystal clear waters near the church. And she wondered if the priest would also need water.

"It's not like I have a bucket with me right now, anyway" she thought.

Leaving the spring behind, Alisa walked around the church building. Getting behind it, she saw a bridge and, driven by her curiosity, decided to explore.

"If we have to live around here for a long time it would be good to get to know the surroundings as much as possible," she pondered.

It wasn't long before he heard a shrill, malicious laugh.

"Now, this is a new face," a female voice coming from behind her said.

Alisa turned around quickly but saw no one. Tilting her head to the side and wondering if she was imagining things, she heard the laughter again.

"You look confused. What's wrong? Don't you believe in witches?"

Alisa felt a chill run down her spine and decided it was time to go back. But not before taking one last look at the place where the laughter seemed to be coming from. Still, she saw nothing.

"You took your time. I was starting to get worried," Nathan said as he lit the fire.

"I'm sorry. I thought I heard a voice," she said, a little embarrassed. What if it was all just her imagination?

However, the priest seemed to perk up and began to ask her what the voice sounded like and where she had heard it.

"Across the bridge," she said. "There's an island next to ours, connected by a bridge. That's where I heard the voice."

The priest looked puzzled and muttered something that Alisa only understood from "the source." Both the priest and Alisa put the matter aside to focus on preparing the meal, and once they were satisfied, they concentrated on cleaning the place.

"I've been thinking about asking around for a Goddess statue to be crafted to put it behind the altar. What do you think?" he asked.

"I think it would be good, after all, we want people to know Her doctrine, don't we?"

"You're right. I'll talk to the person in charge tomorrow morning," he decided.

Nathan invited Alisa to go to the other islands so they could introduce themselves, but she preferred to stay and clean the church.

"If anyone shows up, it would be sad to find the place abandoned and dirty like this. I'll do my best!" She said with a smile.

"I'm counting on you then. See you later."

Alisa spent most of the morning cleaning the floor and dusting the instruments used in the ceremony. It was lunchtime when she stopped to eat. And as she ate, she found herself thinking about the island next door.

"I guess I can visit it when I have some time to spare."

And that's what she did. She left, determined to hear the voice again. However, this time, no matter how much she walked around the island, she couldn't hear any sound.

"She had mentioned the word witch, but..."

Alisa didn't believe in supernatural things. When people told her that the Goddess was also something supernatural, she quickly argued that no, she was a deity, while supernatural things were just figments of the imagination.

"Maybe I was too tired yesterday," she thought. But when she was near the bridge, she thought she heard laughter. Muffled, but still the same laughter. She turned around but, again, saw nothing. And she gave up her search to return to her tasks of cleaning and maintaining the church.

The days passed slowly at the church and few people showed up. Alisa discovered in an interesting way that it wasn't just the island's residents who would visit the church, but also people from other corners of the world. Supposedly, that archipelago was attracting a lot of attention, or so the visitors said.

"It's so kind of you to come visit us," Alisa was thanking a girl who wore a red bandana over her head and who always smelled of earth or some animal that Alisa couldn't tell. She just knew it was definitely not a dog smell.

"It's a pleasure to come see you Alisa," she said with a smile. "And I usually take the opportunity to see the witch. She's an adorably annoying person," she said, laughing.

"Witch!?" Alisa repeated, her voice a little louder than usual, startling not only the farmer girl but also herself. "What do you mean, a witch?" She questioned in a whisper, barely audible.

"She lives on the island crossing the bridge. I can't believe you've been living here for so long and you still haven't met her? Should I introduce you? Although I think she'd hate you, Alisa. She harbors a completely strange hatred for the Harvest Goddess."

That night Alisa found herself thinking. How could anyone hate the Goddess? Such a good and loving deity could only be admired, right? So she decided to change the witch's opinion. All she had to do was find her. And that was exactly what she couldn't do. For several days Alisa crossed the bridge and searched, hoping to find her. She imagined that she might be as small as a goblin, but she had no success looking for goblin houses there. She also didn't hear the malicious laughter. Nor the shrill voice. Nothing.

"You have to believe," said the girl in the bandana whose name Alisa had learned was Chelsea. "If you don't believe in witches, they won't appear to you."

"But I really don't believe in them!" Alisa protested.

"Then try doing something naughty!" Chelsea taunted. "I bet you couldn't even throw a candy wrapper on the ground."

Those words offended Alisa, but at the same time, that was her best chance. Being evil wasn't something she would do deliberately, but if it meant finding the owner of the mysterious laugh, she was willing to take the risk. So the next day, Alisa took an empty container of her favorite ice cream, asked the Goddess for forgiveness for what she was about to do, and threw it into the sea.

"Now, now. Who would have thought that a proper little girl like you would be capable of doing something so nasty. I'm amazed."

Alisa turned around suddenly and saw her. A girl with blond hair, red eyes, purple clothes and a black cape with the edges frayed by time. She lose her footing, startled, and grabbed the other girl when she felt like she was going to fall, throwing herself and the other into the small waves that broke on the beach. Alisa was ready to apologize when she heard the other girl laugh.

"You're an interesting girl. Should I take your heart?"

Alisa didn't sleep that night. She couldn't forget her encounter with the blonde girl who called herself a witch.

"Why do they call you a witch?" She had asked.

"Because that's what I am, of course. I do spells and enchantments like no one else. I was surprised when I found out that there were people coming to live in the church on the island crossing the bridge, but I didn't imagine that there would be someone so interesting amidst them."

"Interesting?" Alisa asked in an offended tone, thinking the other was making fun of her. "What's so interesting?"

"You're a follower of the Goddess, aren't you? Followers of the Goddess are supposed to follow order and good customs and never do anything wrong. Chelsea told me that you had heard me and that I should show myself to you, but how could I if you don't believe in me?"

"But I still don't believe in witches," Alisa protested.

"That's true. But you were curious enough to do something bad. That was enough for you to see me."

Alisa felt uncomfortable but at the same time curious. And she thought that in time she would try to find out more about the other girl.