Astronomy, Life, and Death

Ichibino.

A gorgeous, lavish country set between Europe and Asia.

It was protected by gods and goddesses as they provided blessings to the capacious nation.

There was a young goddess that resided there, an heiress to be the next empress of Ichibino, Ichika.

She was the goddess of life, beloved by the nation and the whole world.

Ichika was gorgeous, and she looked young enough to be a teenager, but she was somewhere around two hundred years old.

In the later hours of the morning, Ichika laid in her lavish bed, asleep.

"I can't believe she isn't awake… Isn't her coronation today?" A maid said just down the hall from her bedroom.

"Yeah… her family is in the coronation tower, too." Another maid gossiped.

Ichika was pulled out of her slumber, and couldn't help but overhear these words.

Her eyes shot open out of sheer panic. "Oh no… Oh no!"

She quickly pulled her periwinkle sheets off of her, rushing to get ready.

"Oh Gods…" Ichika sighed to herself as she tied her sapphire-coloured hair into a ponytail with a white ribbon. "Why did I have to stay up so late?!"

Ichika had beautiful golden eyes, and blue hair going down to her knees. On this particular day, it was tied into a high ponytail with a white ribbon.

She picked out a flowy lilac dress with matching flats from her closet. It was too simple for such an occasion, but Ichika forgot what dress she planned on wearing, or where it was.

She rushed out of her family's chateau, almost knocking over a few of her servants in her path.

If any regular person were to see her right now, they would not know that she is indeed a goddess about to rule over Ichibino.

Ichika dashed out into the streets, attempting to be more careful than she was in her chateau.

This was her coronation. She had finally reached the appropriate age to become the next goddess to represent life.

After what felt like an eternity, Ichika reached the coronation tower on the opposite side of the city.

It was ancient, possibly centuries older than her. There was a large gate surrounding the tower made of washed up blue bricks.

She walked past the gate, ignoring the security guards as they already knew who she was.

Ichika reached the white front door, sheepishly entering as it was already opening, expecting her.

After walking up a flight of stairs, she reached the main room, the coronation room.

The room was flooded with photographers, nobles, and judgmental family members.

Ichika smiled coyly. "Hi, everybody…"

Not a soul responded, except her mother who only sheepishly waved at her at the very front of the aisle.

Her parents were standing at the other end of the aisle, awaiting to give them their blessings and to crown her.

Ichika bowed with her dress before going any further.

She kept her smile as she walked to her parents.

"Why are you late?!" Ichika's mother whispered roughly.

Ichika's mother was the goddess of love, Hanami. Her long hair was bright red in contrast to her daughter, but Ichika definitely inherited her yellow eyes.

"I'm sorry… nobody woke me up." She apologized.

Her father rolled his eyes. "You stayed up late didn't you?"

He was the god of mischief, Shohei. He adored chaos as much as he adored his family, and he was where Ichika got her long sapphire-coloured hair.

"N-uhh… N-no." Ichika stammered. "I was… I was just tired, okay?"

"Enough with the excuses." Shohei crossed his arms. "Let's just continue with the ceremony."

Hanami nodded, taking a crown that was seated on a purple cushion.

The crown was designed for Ichika when she was a hundred years old. It was silver with amethysts and diamonds adorned onto it.

Before Ichika was given the crown, Shohei grabbed a sword from one of his servants.

"Ichika, my sweet child," He shouted loud enough for the heavens to hear. "With this sword, and with this crown, we now bless you the title, Empress Ichika of Ichibino!"

She turned to look at the people seated in the room. There were cheers along with photographers with their camera flashing.

Ichika cocked her head back, unsure of what to say to her parents.

"I will do my best, mother, father…" She said humbly. "I will do my best to make you proud as ruler of Ichibino."

In response, Shohei yelled out things in the ancient language she could not understand before being given the sword and being crowned by her beloved mother.

And like that, the ceremony came to a conclusion with applause that could be heard for possible miles.

She sheepishly walked around the tower, hesitant to talk to anybody while her parents talked to human aristocrats.

Ichika was familiar with the aristocrats of the nation, but truthfully hadn't cared for them one bit.

Elitism was a part of the things Ichika wished would die out. She was thankful for being born into a royal family, but to be so wealthy while many innocent lives suffered in her nation made her feel… dirty.

It didn't deserve a place in modern times.

Ichika also didn't particularly adore the idea of staying at this location for such an occasion that was supposed to be celebrated among family, not strangers who are only invited because they have money.

She just wanted to make people happy and please her parents, but she had already done that job for the day.

Needless to say, she was definitely a people pleaser. It was never really about what she wanted, it was about what made other people happy.

Regardless, after what felt like hours, Ichika went outside of the tower, feeling the urge to get fresh air.

She had acknowledged that she was stuck there all day until she admired the violet sky above her.

It got darker by the minute but she confidently walked about, suddenly fearless. Who could hurt her? Ichika was a goddess, no man could compare.