THE SACRED JEWEL OF FOUR SOULS

A year has passed. Hana woke up to the sudden voice of her mother, waking her up.

"Hana, my love, my beautiful flower," she said in a very gentle voice.

"Mother? What is it?," Hana asked.

"Happy birthday," she said lovingly. Reaching her arms to her daughter, she embraced her tightly and caressed her hair, showering her with love as she repeatedly said, "I love you."

"You are thirteen now, my love," she told her.

"You know what that means, right?," Hana heard her say.

Yes, thirteen. Ever since childhood, her mother has been teaching her the ways of the 'kami'. Her every steps were prepared for the day she would become a priestess. She has been told that she is special and that one day, she would be the bridge between the humans and the 'kami'.

And at age thirteen, she was told her fate is sealed. She could never be the ordinary woman she wanted to be, because she would be someone else who must not subject to the human ways. This year, her path towards being a priestess, which she was told about ever since childhood would start. Thirteen to her is the age where her wings are cut and her destiny is sealed.

Hana can still remember her father gifting her with her first bow and arrow at just seven years old. Ever since then, it was her weapon. Her parents told her that her sacred bow and arrow would be the one to purify spirits and save souls and that she was meant for greater things. But Hana knew deep inside that this is not what she wanted. She wishes to grow up and build a family of her own. She wanted to be a wife and a mother, an ordinary woman freed from all greatness and responsibility. However, all those desires that she had, she knew she must silence them deep inside her heart.

"Can I not be a priestess, mother?," she asked in a sad voice.

"Hana, you are the only one who can do this task. Do you remember what I told you when you were young? That you are my daughter and my flower who shall bloom to greatness. And greatness, my dear, is kindness and sympathy for others. You shall be someone who would heal souls and save them towards peace. You are meant for greater things, my love and that is what you must do," her mother told her.

Hana couldn't say anything. Her silence was her way to say "No", to say she wanted to build a home of her own and love someone who would also love her truly. But her silence was also her way to say "Yes". She wanted to help others, to make an impact to someone's life and to save someone out there who needed a helping hand. Her silence was both answers and she didn't know what to say.

"Hana," her mother said.

"Many years ago before any of us were born, your great grandmother used to say that during our ancestor's days, a silver haired woman graced this land. She was someone humans have never seen before and her kind is thought to be only myths and legends written in scrolls. But when she appeared, she is said to be descended from the angels of the skies, with others claiming, that she is a king's second wife from a foreign, distant land. She is very beautiful and her hair was like the silver white snow during winter, glistening brightly against the sunlight. Her eyes were like that of the skies and the seas, colored bright blue and filled with so many mysteries.

It is said that when she first came to our land, the men readied their spears and their swords for a foreigner such as herself.

"Why would they do that, mother?," Hana interrupted with a question.

"Silver haired and blue eyed people are written only in our legends, or so we thought. They are said to be our enemies, a different race bestowed with great power who killed most of the human race to extinction thousands of years ago in the battle of Pangaea. It is also a story I heard when I was your age," her mother told her.

Hana remembered the silver haired man she saved a year ago in the forest. "So that man is an enemy?" she thought. But it couldn't be. He was not a bad person to her. Kyrian is someone who is broken and suffering but also someone with a kind and a generous heart, who is also good despite all the pain he was carrying. If there is anything Hana knew, it is that Kyrian is not an enemy.

"But Hana, not all of them are bad people," her mother said, interrupting her thoughts as if she could see what she was thinking.

"Anyways, that woman is said to go by the name 'Aoife'. When the people in the village pointed their spears towards her, it is said that she calmed all their weapons down with her power, with just a word from her lips. The people were all scared that day, thinking that the enemy of the humans who were only written in legends finally made it's appearance to them. But Aoife proved them all wrong. Instead of retaliating back in exchange for their unwelcoming presence, she instead showed the people with kindness and love.

She visited the village day after day, healing the people's wounds and purifying their souls. She helped raise the children, watered the drying wells and made the gardens bloom. It was said that in her presence, the land was showered with so many good things. That is why, the silver haired woman named 'Aoife' was loved by the people. Her fame grew and soon, words of her presence spread far and wide.

But Aoife was said to be looking for only one person in the land of the humans. One who is descended from both her race and from humans. It is said that this person is destined to be the bridge between the race of the angels and ours, one who shall restore Pangaea back to it's former glory and the one who shall end the long separation of the angel race and the humans, the only one who shall rule it all."

"Did she find that person, mother?," Hana asked.

"No one knows, my dear. Some say she did but some say, she didn't. Still, what most people believe is that that person is yet to be born. That person is said to bloom one day like a flower and shall reach the stars. No one knows who that person is or who might it be. Some said this is all myth and that Aoife is also nothing but a story. But I believe all of this is real, Hana.

Now, one day, Aoife also left this land and was never seen again. But she left something in the hands of the humans. This is the reason why I believe all this is real, Hana."

"What is it mother?"

"The Sacred jewel of four souls."

"The Sacred jewel of four souls?" Hana asked in amazement.

"Legend has it that there are four souls. They are Courage, Friendship, Wisdom and Love. Only an angel race who possesses these can unite the four souls into one, forming one essence in the flesh that crystalizes inside the heart. Aoife was able to possess these four qualities strongly and as a result, a Sacred jewel of four souls was born out of her heart. However, this jewel is said to grant immense power which is neither good nor evil to the one who possesses it. That is why, before Aoife left, she gave the jewel's care in the hands of the priests and priestesses who are called to protect the Sacred jewel so it does not fall in evil hands."

"Where is the jewel now, mother?," Hana asked.

"It sits at the shrine temple in the Yama mountains where it awaits the next priestess to protect it."

"To protect it?,"

"Yes, Hana. The jewel will always need a protector. It's immense and uncontrollable power must only be used for good. It is said that once the jewel falls into evil, it shall bring about great catastrophic destruction and upheaval in this land. That is why your father and I knew on the day that you were born that you shall bloom to soon hold the jewel and be it's protector. Hana, you must be the one to prevent the jewel from falling into evil hands, lest our race fall into destruction."

Hana's mother reached out her hands again towards her and hugging her child, she said, "You were always meant for greater things, my flower."

As she burrows her head in the arms of her mother, Hana now realizes the reason she was trained for this path ever since she could remember. She now knew why her mother taught her what she knew, why her father gifted her a bow and arrows. All of this was to prepare her for something greater than herself.

With a glint of sadness in her heart, she realized there is no escaping this path, this destiny. Her parents set the path for her already. She was molded for this, trained and raised for this. No matter what she wants, the jewel would always be greater, it's need for a protector, it's safety from the hands of evil and that being a priestess is what was preordained and fated for her to become, to prevent such a tragedy.

As she lifted her eyes in the window of their home, she saw from afar the purple blue bellflowers blooming near the forest. Her eyes fixated on them as if from the far distance, they whisper to her, "You are meant to bloom for great things" and hearing that, she wept on the inside.

Tears fell down from her eyes as she closed them, knowing that she may never grow to be an ordinary woman anymore.