Finding New Worth

Your own worth depends on your own worldview, what we find important can be different from what others find important, and sometimes our ideas can change as fast as we blink. So we should not worry about what we will do now, just keep following that river down, for surely it ends somewhere. -Alphonsi Jade, Journal of a Thousand Journeys.

-=+=-

We arrived at the church, it had tall steeples, carvings on the wall depicting the gods, and beautiful vibrant colors to top it off. Some sisters of the church were walking in and out of the front of the church. Cleo lead me to the side of the church where there was a small attachment in the back.

"This is where you will be living, with me of course," she opened the door and a small kitchen appeared along with beds in the back and a fireplace. Windows let in natural light while candles were in the corners. The whole room for two people was smaller than my room in the castle.

"Wait," I spoke to Cleo, "You never explained what the Second lady is. What exactly do I do here?" I almost forgot that I really didn't know what I was signing up for I just followed her without thinking.

"Right let me explain," She sat me down on a couch near the fireplace, "A Second Lady or commonly amount other churches in this part, The Children of Gods, is an orphan who is adopted by the God of the church. In this case, your adoptive god would be Eleusis."

"So," I began to smile, "Children of Gods must be highly respected if a refugee could become empress of another nation she wasn't born in." 'I can have a good life!' I thought to myself.

Cleo nodded, "You are right, Children of Gods are highly respected by the community, but not because of the title, it is because of the work they put in."

My smile dropped, "What do you mean?"

Cleo smiled, "They put in hours at the church, go to school, and at night they meditate with their adopted god to learn from it, they do not sleep like normal people."

I furrowed my brows, "What? What kind of child of a god has to work like that?"

Cleo sighed, "To be a Second Lady means to overcome the world that you find pitted against." She opened the door back outside, "You could go to the orphanage, it is down the street take a right and walk down the next and is at the end."

I huffed, "At least! they get to sleep!"

"Yes, they get to sleep like a normal person, live their day like an orphan, and work themselves to the bone trying to rise up in society without this chance." She gestured outside, "The world is vast and cruel, many are not given a chance to start again." She walked up to me and cupped my hands, "Take this chance dear, start again. Learn more about yourself to understand true happiness is not what you want right now, but what you will be given in the future."

I didn't respond right away, deep down I knew I had to change. My life as Sage the Princess was over and through some time I would accept that. The biggest problem right now is that I had no one to guide me down this new road. I look at Cleo and see the compassion in her eyes, she wanted to help me even though she knew I was spoiled. She didn't judge my past.

I took a deep breath, "Fine.... I will be the Second lady."

She hugged me, "Thank you, Andromeda." She let me go and went to the small kitchen, "Let me make you a proper meal."

I sighed, "Okay," I lay on the couch as I wait, but I found myself losing to the urge to sleep. Next thing I know I was unconscious. Who knew that just a couch would be enough to make me fall asleep.

I didn't know how long I was sleeping for all I knew was that when I woke up it was pitch black outside. I walked to the window stuck my head out. I loved to fresh air at night, it always comforted me even in the castle. The cold wind twirling around messing with my hair was enough to soothe my heart. Even in a place, I have never slept in before, little things like this were enough to comfort me.

"Looks like you are awake now," A voice behind me said with the sound of a door closing.

I turn around to find a young girl, but still older than me. "Who are you?" This girl was tall with long curly black hair, in contrast with my short brown hair that curled slightly. Her blue eyes of the afternoon sea shined in contrast to my green eyes of the early morning sun.

She bowed slightly to me, "I am a sister here, though I only serve late at nightly a few times a week." She gestured for me to follow her, "Call me Demeter."

I followed her into the main building, "My name is Sa-....Andromeda." I curse myself internally, its going to be a long few months.

She nodded in acknowledgment, "Cleo is done setting up, go down the hall." She pointed down and left me to my own devices.

'Well, what am I going to be doing, huh?' Confused about what Cleo has set up for me so late at night I follow the hallway to the gallery. There a few sisters hurried around as Cleo sat straight up, sitting on her legs.

I approach her only to be startled by her suddenly coming back from meditating, "Good rest?" Peeking one eye open at me.

I put my hand on my chest, "Didn't have to scare me, I was already plenty awake enough." I said sarcastically.

She laughed out, "Oh my! I love this humor reminds me of Leda." She took a breath to compose herself.

'This Empress must have been something if she decided to do this, do I have the ability to be like her? To climb mountains after falling back down?' I couldn't help but compare myself to this person, she was a refugee like me, but I didn't know who exactly she was before she came here.

"I apologize for always mentioning Leda, I just can't help it." She smiled warmly.

"Did you think of her as your own daughter?" I asked curiously.

She thought for a second, "Hmm a bit I guess, but the goddess is more of the mother, I was more of an aunt that helped bring her up and she helped me find my new worth."

"Your worth?" I never thought of her as someone who didn't know what she would do, she always seemed like she did this forever, she was after all over the age of sixty it seemed.

"Even at my age I struggled with my identity, I had doubts about anything I tried to do, but Leda gave me purpose, and even after she left what she had taught me will always be precious to me." She put her hand over a pendant like she was connecting to the past. "Enough of that, it is time for the adoption ceremony."

She walked over to the altar that stood a statue that seems to be thousands of lost souls trying to cling on to the goddess that sat atop. A bowl of water sat on a pedestal.

As we got to the water, the color changed from clear to pitch black, "What is going on?"

Cleo lightly tapped the center of the water, "It is the eyes of Eleusis." She grabbed some blue and black powder. She sprinkled some water over it and told me, "I will draw the crest on you, after that you will stick your face in the water, you must not close your eyes.

Cleo drew the crest over me while I had my eyes closed, when she was done she went back to the center without saying a word. A bit nervous about what would happen I inched toward the bowl with caution. The bowl was beautiful, with gold rims and drawings that seemed to be from an ancient civilization.

Taking deep inhales and slow exhales I finally gained the courage to stick my face in the water.

Keeping my eyes open I put my face in clutching the pedestal with my hands. Soon my dark world turned into all kinds of colors, bright streaks of light creating images of love, life, happiness, joy, sadness, and death. They appeared as fast as they appeared, I was no longer in fear, I was in a state of pure fascination.

Not sensing anything around me I hear a voice behind me chuckling, "Pretty right, Sage of Gorgonia?"

Pulled back I say in horror, "What?"

"Oh, should I call you Andromeda now?"