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Aisling was in Crius's office explaining the mission to April and Scarlet. Crius, Erebus and Arius were there as usual, they already knew what to do.
"I'll be the high priestess who tends the temple, Crius will be with me. You will be my apprentice. Scarlet, you'll be the innkeeper, and keep our target entertained. Erebus you know what to do. Arius, you'll be back up." Aisling explained.
"How come I'm stuck with grumpy pants over here?" Scarlet asked as she pointed at Erebus with her thumb.
"Yeah, how come I'm stuck with this bitch?" Erebus asked, "Oh, I didn't know I was a mirror today," Scarlet chuckled as she side glared at Erebus.
Aisling sighed irritated. "Listen, you either suck it up or I'll have The Artist instead do your side of the mission," Aisling glared at them both.
"I mean-"
"Fuck no...She's way worse."
"Way to sidestep that landmine," Scarlet snorted.
Aisling was squinting and glaring at Erebus, with an expression that says 'wanna fucking finish that sentence, mate?'
Erebus sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes as he folded his arms over his chest. "Fuck it, fine. I don't see the point of me being there, but fine."
Aisling's eye landed on Crius who seemed awfully quiet as he played with the head of his cane.
"Crius?" She called out, but he was too zoned out to hear her, which caught everyone's attention.
April leaned close to him and tilted her head, so she was in his sight and waved her hand. She flinched when his sharp eyes made contact with her, as he grinned.
He tilted his head to the side and stared back, his grin stretched wider when he sensed that he made April nervous.
"Darling~"
April flushed slightly, glanced away and leaned back in her seat, and mumbled to herself. Aisling sighed and rubbed her temples. "Were you even listening?"
"Yes, I just wanted to hear you call out my name," he smirked as he looked at Aisling, elbow on the table while he leaned on his hand. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Right, let's get going. I want to be over with this mission as soon as possible. Don't want Selena after our asses." Aisling said as she grabbed her phone and checked the message she got from her friend.
"Whaaat? C'mon, what is she gonna do? Blind us with her holy lightness?" Scarlet snorted, Erebus joined scoffing. "As if. She knows better than to mess with us."
"You have time to chit-chat, you have enough time to get your asses up and get moving." Aisling hissed in annoyance, noticing that nobody moved from their spot. With a wave of her hand, she made Scarlet and Erebus disappear first sending them back to their rooms so they could get ready, leaving April, Arius and Crius.
"I'll be in my spot if needed. If you'll excuse me," Arius said with a bow of his head to Aisling and waved bye to April who waved back with a smile. Crius got up from his spot hands on his cane and a mischievous smirk.
"I'll be in our room, darling." He said as Aisling nodded as he walked out, but stopped and ruffled April's hair, "Good luck, sweetheart."
"Thanks, you too." April replied.
Aisling glanced back at her phone rereading the message.
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Being a high priestess wasn't an easy task back then, Where they had to go was a major time gap, way back when April was still getting used to the place, yes. They were back in the past. One of her followers prayed for her, so she answered their calling but something seemed off about them.
And Aisling and April both had to play major parts in this. The worst part they were playing as a High priestess -again- but this time it's different.
Aisling and April who's using her other name, Aelin. A name the three -Aisling, April, and Scarlet- shared. They were in the temple of the Twin Gods, Kun the God of Light, and Selena the Goddess of Order. In this timeline they didn't hear about Aisling yet, so they don't know about Aelin. So here Aisling was, kneeling in front of the statue of the twins pretending to pray to them. It was her job as a high priestess to attend her duty in the temple. She remembers this temple. It was originally abandoned, but she altered the village's memories making them think it was not abandoned. Although Aisling could've gone with an alternative approach, she chose to play as a saint again. A way to taunt the twin gods and an excuse to wear the outfits as a way to mock Selena, Plus, she really liked the style so.
Anyways, as I was saying. Nobody is allowed to enter the temple since Selena didn't want filth in her temple so the only people who are allowed in are pure-blood light borns and her loyalists, as she likes to call them. And since this village is filled with 'sinners and filthy mixed bloods' as Selena said, the only person who was allowed here was a high elf warrior, pure blood, named Athtar Naesys.
He was a known hero in the village, who sacrificed his sight to save his friend, Everyone saw it as a loyal heroic act, but Selena disagreed on that. He prayed to her every day and night, that she might give him his sight back but she refused. Told him it was his punishment for saving a filthy human, that was abandoned by her own blood.
Which was half the truth, and that human was none other than Angilena, one of the chaos followers. She grabbed Aisling's attention which is not an easy task, and a very bad thing to do.
Aisling's face was covered with 2 pairs of white soft feathery wings, and a hallow as bright as the sun was behind her head. She could be mistaken for an angel, but the white pale snake that was wrapped around her waist and chest said otherwise. It's scales shined brightly, reflecting off the lights making it's scales look a mixture of purple, green, and blue. It nestled around Aisling's torso as it slithered around her lower torso and arm, not daring to go near her hood.
The temple was filled with the soft chimes of the bells. The temple was near a village, a 25-minute walk away, but the tall trees hid the temple away from the village's view, but there was a clear path lit way that led straight to the village.
Resting outside the temple was Aelin, as she waited for her friend, Athtar. She was sitting on the stairs outside as she stared into the woods. It was midday, on a Minkauw, or as humans call it 'Monday'. Athtar visited every day, his faith in Selena unfaltering, believing that one day that she would forgive him, he didn't care about his sight anymore, but just the thought of his Goddess being mad at him didn't do well with him.
Bored out of her mind, 'Aelin' summoned hand-sized planets as she waved her hands around replicating galaxies, planets, stars, and nebulas. It was a gift from a God, one of her favorites. She used to give him special roses, which made one of her guardians freak out since apparently, it meant a whole other thing, to offer a God, something personal.
Her mind slowly slipped into the memory, making her smile softly.
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Little Aelin was again, in her favorite spot, the rose garden. It's an abandoned spot in the castle that nobody dares to go to, so she took that spot for herself since it led directly to the dark forest. She covered the place with her thorny vines and colorful roses and different flowers, and an altar of the only God she truly respects and follows, Astraios. Every midnight she sneaks out of the castle and reads the forbidden book that Astraios himself wrote, she has all of his books, she hid them in her dimensions, and one time when one of Silas's servants tried to take it away from her, she ripped both of their arms off and ate it and squeezed their head with her vines until their eyes popped out, and threatened to destroy the very planet itself if they dared to touch her stuff again.
Now here she was, on her knees as she waved her hands around while glancing down at the book trying to master one of the spells. It wasn't easy to master since her magic was unstable.
Once she casted the spell, her hands slightly burned, as her astral skin around her hand got exposed. She stared at it. They told her that she was an abomination for having such weird hands. Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized that her vines were wrapped around her arms and black roses sprouted out of her hand, they felt different...
The petals had a soft tint of stars-like glitter on them. She stared in awe until she heard someone shouting her name.
When she looked up it was the very first time, she saw him.
"AELIN!"
She remembers the rumors about him.
They said he was made from the universe itself.
That he was dangerous...
That he was a different...
They never mention how pretty he looked.
It was the very first time she saw him, even if it was for a glimpse. Although her guardian wasn't happy about it.
"Aelin!"
*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*
"Aelin? Aelin!" a voice called out, which made Aelin, snap from her memories. "Huh?" She looked up and it was the high elf. Slightly pale skin, long black hair that had small braids here and there, and a similar outfit to hers and Aisling's. But he had his hood down, as yellow bright marks adorn the exposed part of his body. A piece of white clothing with elven golden marks covered his eyes. In his file, it said he had greyish-blue eyes, Aelin was curious to see his eyes, since it sounded intriguing.
"Heads in the cloud again, Mara?" He chuckled. For a blind person, he was gifted in sensing people's auras and magic.
She also noticed that she calls her 'Mara,' which means Priest in Elvish. Albeit, she wasn't very fond of elves since she always, always got in trouble with them for no apparent reason, especially high and wood elves. She remembers all the time she would mind her own business and they would just approach her and are just begging for trouble and to get their ass handed to them...
"I told you to call me by my name," Aelin replied back. She didn't have to fake her smiles or do any expressions since he couldn't see her. She was very much able to alter her voice and how she sounded, it worked on everyone. Yes, everyone.
"I'm just teasing you, Aelin. C'mon, let's get going before we're late." Athtar said eagerly as he walked up the steps, he memorized the temple like the back of his hand. Well, the places he was allowed in and usually goes to. First, he had to go in the cleansing room, where the high priestess Aisling, would cleanse him, then pray for him, and then they all go pray their respect for Selena and do the usual lessons he gets from Aisling since he wanted to learn the way of the light, and become a high priest himself. What a waste...
Of course, during all that time, they weren't allowed to utter a word, in respect of Selena and the high priestess. Unless of course, he was given the permission to speak.
Even if Aelin would whisper to him when Aisling is away, he wouldn't respond to her, and he wouldn't tell on Aelin, either. He felt it goes against his oath, as a knight.
Hours passed and the sun was setting, which meant their lesson for today had finished since they have a rule that when the sun starts to set, they're not allowed to practice, and it is time to rest.
Aisling, was back to her post in front of the shrine, pretending to pray. She could sense the two behind her.
Athtar, nervously switched from foot to the other, as his hands were formed in a fist. He was nervous to ask...but he needed to know...
Gently nudging em to step forward, his breath hitched as he slowly approached her.
He couldn't sense her, which made it hard for him, so Aelin had to help him, forming invisible energy that he could sense so he knew where he could step, but not giving Aisling's location away. However, he can sense that scaly companion of hers, it made it's presence known, as if a warning to not come any closer. Trying to ignore the threatening aura.
He leaned forward and bowed. "High priestess..." he said, voice slightly shaking.
Aisling didn't answer for a few seconds which made Athtar nervous, he gripped his robe and continued.
"I wanted to ask...Did her Lightness, answer my prayers for forgiveness?" he asked as he clutched at his robe tightly. Why did he feel nervous? Why did he feel fear crawling down his spine?
"No, Lyth (child). She hasn't forgiven you yet. Patience, salen lyth (my child). Your prayers will soon be answered." Aisling replied monotonly.
Not realizing that he was holding his breath, he sighed in relief. He wanted now to talk to his human friend, and tell her that she doesn't need to worry about it. For Selena will answer his prayers. His human friend was doubting Selena, said she would never answer his prayers and that she will find a way to cure his blindness, even if it meant sacrificing her soul. Which made him worry about his friend's wellbeing.
"Thank you, High priestess." He didn't move until he sensed a soft tug from Aelin, which meant it was time to go.
"Aer Suoress" (Order blessed) He bowed once again, and walked outside.
He chuckled nervously as he turned his head to Aelin.
"Hahaha...your sister sure is scary, especially that snake...never really liked scaly lizard things..."
Aelin chuckled as well, "Careful, she might just feed you to her babies if she heard you bad mouth her snakes."
Faking a gasp, "She wouldn't!" but since Aelin didn't reply, it made him nervous. "No, seriously...she wouldn't, right?"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Aelin laughed, as she walked faster towards the village, making Athtar chase after her.
"Wha, hey wait! Don't leave me behind!" he called out after her as she sped up a little just barely out of his reach.
"Last one's a rotten egg!"
"Hey! You've got an advantage!"
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Meanwhile in the tavern.
Scarlet refused to wear a dress, so she wore shorts and a high-low skirt. instead, of course, she was stuck with a corset, but hey, she didn't have any ribcages or organs to be squeezed out so she was doing just fine with it. Plus, she kinda likes her look.
She was tending the inn, and some of the regulars were around, the sun already has settled down, which meant the inn would get busy.
The only unusual yet, regular, was a rouge looking like an assassin that sat all the way in the dark corner, hood up with a mask hiding his features. He comes by asking about bounties and for the latest rumors.
Speaking of rumors, tonight's entertainment was a bard, and his friend Jester who danced on the wooden stage while the bard sang about a maiden that they met in their travels, as the jester acted the song out as the maiden.
The Inn's door creaked open which grabbed a few of the patron's attention, as they mumbled among themselves. Scarlet was so zoned out that she didn't notice the large furry figure approach her until he blocked her sight.
Her eyes trailed the large figure as she blinked a couple of times, her brain trying to process what she was looking at...It was a giant white furry cat? A lion? A panther? A tiger? She couldn't tell...He greeted her with an accent, which seemed familiar.
"Howdy, darlin',"
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The priestess outfit.