Chapitre 2

After what seemed to be forever, Hikari could get a grip of the voices, and what they were saying, which were mostly gibberish. Finally, she could feel herself beginning to wake up as she stirred awake, still hearing the voices.

Hikari woke up in a strange room, surrounded by people wearing orange clothing, looking to be priestesses of some kind, and there were two children next to her, one was blindfolded and the other with amber eyes. 

 "She's up!" The amber-eyed one shouted to the priestesses. 

 "Valentina, we do not yell in the medical ward." One of the priestesses scolded the amber-eyed child. 

 "Sorry…" The one known as Valentina pouted. 

 "Are you alright now child? We found you unconscious in the alleyway of the slums with injuries. You've been out for a day." Another priestess asked. 

 "What happened?" Hikari asked, confused. She couldn't remember what happened before she had gone unconscious, only entering the city itself. 

"We were hoping that you would tell us that. We heard screaming and saw you unconscious, do you not remember anything?" 

Hikari shook her head. "It feels as though I'm missing something though…" 

"Perhaps you will remember with time. I've never seen you before in this city, are you a travelling merchant's daughter?" The priestess asked. 

"I was just wandering the woods after…" Hikari stopped talking, looking at the bed. She stayed silent, thinking of whether or not to explain or bring up the voices she began to hear, not that she would think anyone would believe her for it or not.

"After what?" Valentina asked impatiently, the voices noting that she is going to act on impulsive decisions if she was an enemy. 

"Valentina. Don't," The blindfolded one finally spoke out. "She's in the same boat as me and you."

"The same boat? You mean our guardians were murdered or went missing so we wandered until we found the church?" Valentina bluntly retorted, causing Hikari to look at her.

"Valentina!" The scolding priestess yelled out. 

"What?"

"Leave the medical ward and go do your chores or the training you have yet to catch up on!" 

"Fine!" Valentina pouts before stomping out of the room, Hikari breathing a sigh of relief as the voices laughed.

The priestess sighs before looking back to Hikari. 

"So, you're in the same boat as those two being orphans…what will you do now?" 

"I…" Hikari trailed off, and the priestess noticed tears streaming down her face. 

"Oh! Please don't cry!" The priestess calmly said, putting a hand on Hikari's shoulder before wiping away the tears. "Uhm… Oh right! Your name?" 

Hikari hiccuped before speaking to answer her question. "H-Hikari." 

"Hikari…Light," The priestess nods. "It fits you."

"What do you mean?" Hikari sniffed. 

"You'll learn in the future. Now, you can stay here and be a monk or you can wander around. It's up to you. But get some rest now child," The priestess says, walking out of the medical ward, leaving Hikari alone. 

Hikari was alone after a while, and for a little bit she couldn't bear it, so she got up out of bed and began wandering the church premises. With each minute she wandered the premises, the more she had gotten lost, and the more the voices started chanting and screaming. After a while, she stopped in a garden area before moving to hide as she sees a couple of monks walking towards her direction, seeming to be talking. Quickly sneaking up a tree, she sat on one of the higher branches before hearing one of the monks speaking. 

"Hey, did you hear how the village of Konoro killed a dragon?" One gossiped.

"Yes, they were sacrificing it to the Dragon of Calamity."

"Wonder why they believe in stuff like that. A dragon is a dragon. It's going to kill them once they are left unsatisfied."

"Truly sad souls they are. I heard they even tried to rope a human child into it." 

"The scoundrels! Do they not even know the number of laws they've broken?" 

"Well, do you think they care with that war going on?"

"Oh, don't even remind me of that!" The second voice said and trailed off as the two walked away, leaving Hikari alone in the tree, the voices chanting one word, 'revenge'. Hikari went to go to jump off the tree, before looking down and hearing more footsteps coming her way. Coming her way was the priestess from before with a panicked look on her face. Hikari wondered for a moment whether to show herself or not when she sees the blindfolded girl under the tree, seeming to be staring at her, appearing to creep her out to where she climbed down from the tree, as the voices noted that this blindfolded child wasn't normal.

"Why were you staring at me?" Hikari questioned, looking to at least quell the voices down by answering that question for them.

"S-sorry. I wasn't staring at you, but rather the leaves." The girl answers. All Hikari could hear from the voices was the word 'liar', over and over again.

"The leaves? Can you even see in that thing?" Hikari pestered on, trying for some answers.

"Y-yes, I can see!" The girl leaned in and whispered in her ear. "And, I know you overheard those monks, they were very loud. The dragon those villagers killed, was it your caretaker?"

"She was my mother." Hikari bluntly said. 

"Oh...I'm sorry for your loss, but are you thinking of taking revenge?" The girl asks, as if the girl could hear the voices too.

"Revenge? The thought crossed my mind." Hikari lied, looking at the tree she just climbed out of.  

"Don't." That statement set the voices off, with them screeching and screaming, and a look of pain appeared on Hikari's face as she placed a hand on her forehead. Worried, the girl placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?", before the hand was swiped away by Hikari's arm.

"I'm fine." Hikari hissed out, "I don't need someone to worry about me, nor of what I do."

"I-I, I was just warning you that revenge will take you down the wrong path!" 

"What if it's the right path for me then?" Hikari agreed with the voices, seeming to be saying the same thing they were saying. "I don't like others telling me what to do."

"Oh, don't mind our Cassie here new girl," Valentina says, walking up. "She's just worrying over nothing. Despite saying she had visions." 

"But I do have visions!" The blindfolded girl now known as Cassie shouted out. "And my name is Cassideyiana! Not Cassie!" 

"But that's too long of a name to remember!" Valentina groaned. "Anyways, new girl, if you are thinking of taking revenge, we are too young. But. If you do go, take me and my brother Vincent with you. We, like you were most likely, were trained by dragons."

"What?" Hikari asked. "So do you know Coelestis?!" 

 "I've heard that name once before from Umbra, but I never met them. Umbra and Tempest left me and my brother behind for some weird reason. So, like us, you are only human as well as a kid at that rate!" 

"So, I really am a human, huh? I hate this." Hikari bluntly said. 

 "Well, I'm half spirit! And, I think if you use your magic enough you could become a dragon!" Cassideyiana said, the voices curious of what she was talking about.

"Shush! We don't talk about that because of the repercussions child! Others might hear and think you are committing heresy!" The priestess from before came up behind them. "Ignore her, Hikari, I do wish to ask, how do you feel?"

 "Better than before," Hikari answers. "Why don't we talk of the repercussions of using magic?" 

 "Certain kinds of magic have the chance to leave you cursed. Magic to kill creatures turns you into the Vai that attacks innocents with no reason," The priestess growls out. "Hence why it's heresy to speak of that magic at least. We call it Slayer magic. Some people here can use it with the permission of the High Priestess and the Pope, but other than that it's known only as Heresy by the Church of Virtuo."

 "Then why does it exist?" Hikari asks. 

 "Because it does. Like all magic. Anyways, children, it is getting late. Cassideyiana and Valentina, please show Hikari to the rooms. I'm assuming since she didn't leave the church she is staying." The priestess orders before walking away.

 "Aw, it seems that it's time to sleep. Come on Hikari, we'll show you your bed." Valentina says as Cassideyiana walks away, and Valentina joins her. 

Hikari hesitates, and thinks to herself. "Can I really trust these two and this place? What if they try the exact same thing those people did to Coelestis?" The voices chanted 'no', as Hikari wondered.

"New girl, you coming? We don't have all night you know." Valentina stops to ask. 

"Ah! I'm coming!" Hikari answers, and runs to catch up with the two. 

"We start our training to becoming monks in the morning. It's just doing simple chores, such as cleaning and such. It teaches us patience. Something that Valentina lacks, but I feel you don't, Hikari." Cassideyiana begins to speak. 

"Hey!" 

"Anyways, we'll show you how to do the tasks the church gives us. Nothing else we can do after all, if we leave we have nowhere else to go." Cassideyiana continues. "So, until we can at least fend for ourselves more, when we turn twelve, we stay here and train. You on the other hand, you have knowledge of fighting and such, but nothing on human and creature matters."

"Why should I learn human matters and such? They killed my parent." Hikari mutters, using the same words of the voices to ask that very question.

"Then let me ask you this. Why not learn it to later get your revenge on those humans?" Valentina interrupts. 

"Valentina..." 

"When we turn twelve, we can do as we please. I figure nowhere else will take in dragon-trained children, and have a strong distaste for things that aren't normal for humans. So why not make them learn?" 

"Valentina! Don't tell her that! You know that the church has eyes and ears everywhere in here!" Cassideyiana hisses. 

"Then we can continue this at a later date. For now, here are the rooms. I'm sleeping. See you later." Valentina yawns out as she walks away. 

"By the Aspects, she's so frustrating to deal with. Sorry, Hikari, but your room is here in the middle. I'm next door, and we have to get up early for the chores anyways." 

"..Alright. Goodnight then." Hikari mutters as Cassideyiana walks away. 

Walking into the room, Hikari glanced around before sitting down on the bed. "Revenge, huh. I guess it is a nice way to put what I want to do to the ones who did this."

Looking around the room upon laying in the bed, she breathed a sigh before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep, the voices continuing their chatter throughout the night.