Preparations.

Mai's eyes were watery when her gaze fixed on the sky as if the sky owed her something. The mood around her had become thick with sadness and the tension that had started to grow made no movement of stopping. Mai wasn't the only one in a sullen mood as Lady sat by her fixing her gaze on the ground.

Lady knew that what Mai went through was hard, going against a family member you loved was no easy thing especially for a goddess who was supposed to create and give life,not take it. She could only imagine what she went through, but what she failed to understand with the little brain of hers was why Mai still felt regret whenever Aya was mentioned, it wasn't like Aya was a good person to begin with. Aya gave up on her morals and went against all her siblings just to seek the greater glory and reign above all, so killing or immobilising her was the greater good or maybe the necessary evil. Lady sighed to herself steeling her mouth with all her resolve to prevent her mouth from blurting out what was going on in her mind. She wanted to ask if Mai was okay but when she opened her mouth, the words that flowed were;

"Mai, don't beat yourself up so much. Besides Aya deserved what she got" immediately her hands went to cover her mouth as her eyes widened.

Slowly she watched in a frozen stupor as Mai turned to her with a small sad smile on her face "I know Aya deserved what came her way but I didn't deserve to be the way through which my own twin fell to her doom"

"What?" Lady removed a hand from her mouth and raised it in the air "Wait, did I just hear you right?" she cocked her head with a frown "Aya is your twin?"

"Yes, you heard right" Mai replied "Aya and I were born together, thus our duties infused together, one of us can not function well without the other"

"So does that mean you haven't been properly functional all this while?" Lady's eyes widened more -if that was even possible- as she leaped off the ground like she had just been biten by a venomous snake.

Mai laughed a dry laugh "No you silly girl" she also stood up and faced Lady "The connection between us became severed the moment she turned from the good path"

"Wow!, you never to seem to amaze me" Lady gave a smile of admiration.

And of course Mai had to switch back to her certain obnoxious behavior within a split second as she tried flipping her hair "I'm a goddess after all"

Lady groaned and rolled her eyes "I hate to say this but I really love the emotional and serious you better than the carefree Mai. It's extra cringy"

Mai scoffed and shook her head at Lady with a playful scowl. She loved how naive Lady could be sometimes, it was a blessing in a disguise. She wished she could be like Lady who never knew how harsh destiny could be. Surely she had witnessed a few but those were like needles compared to hers that felt like huge oak trees. Naive Lady was well....naive but that doesn't stop her from making the most rational decisions of all time. The girl was upright and firm and was ready to do anything for justice even if it meant going against her own mother.

At first she thought it was because Lady had developed some sort of resentment towards her mother for what she had done to her in the past so she agreed to fight her but later on she realised that the reason wasn't what she thought it was but rather Lady was making a conscious effort of protecting what she, Mai had put into place not allowing her personal relations to cloud her judgement.

"Why are you staring weirdly at me?" the voice of Lady snapped Mai from her train of thoughts.

Mai cleared her throat and averted her gaze "Nothing, I was just making some plans in my head besides there is nothing good about you to stare at with the exception of your hair" Mai huffed.

Lady feigned being offended and gasped "Well if you say so but I can say the same for you"

Mai made a playful glare at Lady "You just didn't say that"

Lady laughed "And what if I did?"

Mai also laughed "Then I guess I can't do anything"

They sat down on the ground again and both sighed simultaneously. The setting sun casted it's warm soothing rays upon them through the gasps between the forest trees' branches. Mai was not really thinking about anything but she could feel the inner turmoil of Lady as she contemplated about if she was really ready to go on a sacrificial mission to save Vesi.

"You know what I think about this sacrifice we are supposed to make in order to get the leaf?" Mai began still staring into the skies, the sun's rays accentuating her face and increasing her ethereal beauty and glow.

"Please tell" Lady chimed in.

"I think it isn't much of a sacrifice at all, it's just a way of helping you to get rid of hindrance we are afraid to let go because of certain personal attachments which may be selfish" Mai chuckled a bit.

"Putting it that way" Lady trailed off and stroked her chin with her right thumb and index finger "It does makes sense that way. Really, it does make sense but it's still scary nonetheless, as you don't know what you might be sacrificing at the end" she sighed.

"I think I understand that" Mai agreed " But on a more serious note, it's still worth it at the end even if you have to lose a little bit of yourself" she casted a

long glance at the unconscious form of Vesi.

Lady followed Mai's glance and smiled "Yes, nothing good comes without great sacrifices"

"So are you ready for this journey?" Mai asked Lady.

"I think so but I'll have to prepare myself" Lady replied.

*****

Back at the village, Lady's father sat on a long bench in front of Lady's hut, the only strong reminder of his only daughter who he believed to be innocent of all the accusations aimed at her. What even turned and churned his mind the most was why Amira failed to defend her own daughter but rather sent her away. As his sorrowful self was wallowing in his thoughts, he saw Amira come out of her hut and dust off imaginary dirt from her long flowing skirt. Amira seemed to have changed recently, the mother and the person she used be had all vanished leaving behind a different being he failed to recognise as his wife.

Amira caught the gaze of her husband as it pierced her. She shook her head at his usual antics of sitting on that bench every day in front of Lady's hut and wallowing in his sorrows as if that would make Lady magically appear. She scoffed at the name of her daughter, the daughter who was meant to bring doom to her family. She shook her head again and plastered a big smile on her face,

"Let's not ruin our mood with such ominous thoughts on such a beautiful day" she muttered to herself and to her husband she called out "Greetings, my husband"

Her husband responded with just a nod and averted his gaze as he laid back on the bench and closed his eyes under the rays of the setting sun. Amira shrugged and went out of the compound, she was going to prepare a few herbs to help her meditate with Aya in the fast approaching night. She righted her skirt which seemed to have moved on its own accord to a not so proper place.

Amira lifted her chin and proudly strolled through the town exuding an air of importance and authority. If she thoughy she knew peace and happiness before, then, they couldn't even compare to the pure bliss she felt now. Lady's absence meant the safety of her family and the safety of her family meant immense happiness.

"If it isn't Amira on this fine evening" Amira heard the voice of Takoa behind her so she turned. She came face to face with Takoa as she held her granddaughter's hand.

"Greetings, Grandma" the child greeted.

"Greetings, my dear" Amira smiled and patted the hair of the child.

Takoa made a gesture to the child to take the lead and replaced the smile on her face with a frown the moment the child was out of earshot.

"Amira" she began "So are-"

"Stop, Takoa" Amira interrupted her with a harsh tone "Don't get me started on the Lady drama again. I made a decision and there's no way I'm going back on it. That's final!"

"Amira, do you think what you're doing is really worth it?" Takoa almost pleaded.

"Yes, it is definitely worth it and I'm not allowing any one to spew nonsense on what I can and cannot do" Amira replied with a glare

"These days, I don't really know if you are the same Amira who was my sister" Takoa shook her head as a tear left her eye.

"Whatever you think doesn't really matter to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have important places to be at" Amira stated and turned leaving Takoa who just stood there dumbfounded about the character of her sister who seemed to have forgotten anything about humanity.