Sesolam was in the sitting room, trying to make sense of the artifacts around her. Oesala was asleep, and Ñiettaquoua was not here either.
She was holding a small glass cilinder, filled with ten small round pebbles; five white ones and five black ones. She had tried shaking it, had tried finding any sort of buttons or levers on the thing, but nothing could be found.
She was lifting the thing up and looked at the bottom of it, when Ñiettaquoua entered the room. Quickly, she put her hands down, feeling a bit embarrased that she was looking at the thing for no particular reason, but Ñiettaquoua mostly ignored it. “We’re almost there.” He spoke as the vessel, this was not Ñiettaquoua himself. “I suggest you wake Oesala up.”
“Ah, of course.”
She softly touched the egg around her pendant, which was slightly warm, and headed to their bedroom where Oesala was in her nest. She mentally nudged Oesala, who woke up. “We’re almost at the Temple, Oesala.”
“Hmm?? I see.”
She quickly woke up and flew over to Sesolam’s head. The two of them headed for the central room with the moving floor where Ñiettaquoua was already waiting.
The room started shaking lightly, but after a minute already, it stopped.
“Alright, let’s go down.”
Sesolam and Ñiettaquoua stepped onto the platform, and it started descending.
“We’re not going out?” Sesolam had expected to ascend.
“Hmm? Yes we are, there’s also an exist at the bottom.”
When arriving at the lowest floor, they kept descending. The material of the walls changed, and they arrived in a small room with walls of glass, looking out over the city.
“We’re here. Kenele’s temple.
Sesolam was surprised not to have to go outdoors first, but looking out over the city.. she was glad. They were looking out from a high cliff, and at the foot of the cliff there was a city, the houses tightly packed together. There were orange lanterns glowing, lighting up the night, and beyond that, a pitch black sea, even though it should have been day. Around here, the days were so short in winter that the sun barely broke through at all.
Suddenly, a cold wind gushed over her entire body. A high-pitched noise could be heard, followed by an icicle shattering into pieces right in front of her. Oesala flew up into the air, and Sesolam could feel the mana starting to flow through her body, warming her up as it became colder and colder around her.
Then, an spear made of ice formed in her hands. Oesala took full control over her body, threw the spear, and gave it extra power by accelerating it more with an extra gust of air. It was thrown into the darkness, further in the room.
Sesolam was worried and let Oesala, who was flying around in the air above, control her completely. Then, she felt something on her leg, then her back, her head.. Something was jumping off of her. She tried to grab whatever it was, and opened her mouth, as if to warn Oesala. “Oesala!”
The thing, a white flash, was on a trajectory towards Oesala, and just as it was about to get there.. It was slammed into the ground. Sesolam felt her body rushing to the white flash and press it against the ground with her arm. It was a fox. It was Kenele.
“You got closer than last time, I’ll give you that, fox.” Oesala talked to the fox with a grin.
“And you defended yourself more poorly than last time, bird.” A girl’s voice.
The carrier of the voice appeared from the darkness. A girl a few years younger than Oesala who was wearing a white dress with blue accents. Oesala let Kenele go, who sat up with her tail curled around her body, as the girl sat down behind her, legs crossed.
“I see that you have a new vessel too, Kenele? This is mine, she’s called Sesolam. We did our hatching this summer.”
“Yes, I’ve had her for a few years.” The fox turned to Sesolam, rather than Oesala, now. “Good to meet you, Sesolam. Try to be a good vessel for my teacher, she needs it, elderly that she is.”
“Oh please.. Don’t call me old when Ñiettaquoua is here.”
Ñiettaquoua was standing in the corner of the room, silently watching. “It’s always very enjoyable to see your mock fights, but don’t make me catch strays in your childish banter.. besides, I’m just a few centuries older than Oesala..” He was grinning.
Oesala let go of Kenele, and returned control over the body to Sesolam. “It’s great to see you, Kenele, I’ve missed you..”
“I’ve missed the two of you too.. come in, your rooms should be prepared already.”
Kenele led them to their rooms, which were a few stairs up, located in the tower of the temple. Sesolam entered their room. Or rather, rooms. There was a sitting room suitable to receive guests, a bedroom, and a bathroom with once again, a heated bath. She shruddered at the thought of having to carry water all the way up here, imagine to have it be heated as well.. but these ancient systems did it automatically. There were also large glass windows looking out over the city and the black frozen ocean.
“Ahhh, it’s nice to be back here~” Oesala said. “Sesolam, we’ll need get you some proper clothes made for the winter solstice in a few days.”
“Right, I understand. Where should I go??”
“I think we’ll ask Kenele. I don’t remember the route, it’s been two decades since I last had clothes made in this city.”
Sesolam nodded, and they sat down for bit, made theirselves at home.
Kelene had been leading them through the streets of the city below, and Sesolam’s had been screaming with every breath of freezing air she took, so she was relieved to finally enter the clothesmaker’s store and be greeted with a wall of warmth.
A woman approached, a few years older than Oesala, and she spoke with a warm voice, while bowing.
“Welcome, Lady Kenele. What can I do for you today? Would you like me to make you a new dress for the solstice?”
“No, I have everything I need.” She, through her vessel, guestured vaguely at Sesolam, while the fox was walking around Sesolam’s legs, bumping her head against her legs. “This is Sesolam, the High Priestress of the Great Spirit Oesala.”
The woman bowed for Sesolam, and introduced herself.
“I’m Táscámómáosile, but I go by Máosile for short, and the seamstress of this establishment.”
“Since the previous seamstress stopped, she’s made most of my clothes. You’ll be in good hands.” Kenele turned to the dressmaker. “I will pay all costs, make her clothes which suit the High Priestress of the Great Spirit.”
“Of course, Lady.”
Oesala spoke to Sesolam with the inner voice. “I can’t be bothered sitting around while she makes clothes. I’ll go with Kenele, I trust you can make sure she makes suitable clothes.”
“Alright, Oesala.”
Kenele left the store, Oesala flying out as well with her, which left Sesolam and Maolite alone in the store.
“I will try my best to create the most beautiful outfit for you, Lady Priestress. It is the custom to wear warm colors at the Winter Solstice, to remind of the coming summer. But being the priestress of the Great Spirit, you’ll probably want to incorporate black and light blue as well?”
“Right, that sounds good..” Sesolam was a bit unsure, but it didn’t sound bad.
“So mostly light blue, and maybe another color to go with it. Red or orange, maybe?”
Sesolam quickly responded. “No orange.”
“May I ask why, lady?”
She could never get accustomed to getting called lady, or anything like that. She couldn’t call Oesala that, and yet, she received that title herself from others. That felt weird to her. She knew she was supposed to be the representative of Oesala herself, but it just felt off. “Well, orange is the color of the Traitor Spirit.”
“Ah, of course, that wouldn’t be the best idea,” she clapped in her hands. “Please follow me to my atelier.”
Sesolam followed, and Maolite put some fabric in front of her.
“A dress of pure light blue, and a black cape over that, and jewelry of silvers. Then, some bright red accents to remind of the summer? Red glasses, to see the world in the warm summer light?”
“Right, that sounds good. You’re the expert.”
Maolite responded with a bright smile, and Sesolam felt warm inside. She enjoyed being here.
“Are you the only dressmaker here?”
“It used to be me and my mother, but her hands became unsure, and she left the store to me.”
“It must be a lot of work to make all these clothes, isn’t it?”
“Ah, I don’t make clothes for everyone~ There’s a few more clothesmakers with their own ateliers, I just make the important religious clothes.”
“Did your mother also make just the religious clothes?” Sesolam felt her voice was a bit monotone in comparison with Maolite’s melodic voice.
“Oh yes, and I’m very happy to have learned from her~”
While talking, she had been looking through her fabrics and had noted some things down. “I’ve wanted to make people look as good as they can my entire life, and it’s an honour to work for people such as yourself, Priestress.”
It was nice to talk to her, but it.. it felt distant, she was just a client.. the High Priestress who needed a new outfit. She just wanted to be called by her name, but Oesala might disapprove of that. “Arms up please, High Priestress, so I can measure you.”
“Of course.”
“So yes, that’s how I got here.” She talked while measuring Sesolam’s proportions. “But of course, you yourself barely needs to be made prettier, Priestress.”
Once more, she was called that. If she was called by her name, what was the worst that could actually happen?? Well, Oesala might get angry, but.. Oesala never had to discover. She took a deep breath. “You can call me Sesolam..”
Maolite stopped moving her hands for a bit, in silence, and a puzzled expression, before a smile brightened her face. “Ah, of course, Sesolam.”
She continued her work. “And what brings you to our city on the edge of the world, Sesolam?”
“Hmm.. It’s tradition that Ñiettaquoua the Spirit and the High Priestress of Oesala and visit Lady Kenele for the Winter Solstice. It happens once a decade. And this year was the year, so we came here.”
She looked at her intensely. “Guessing your age, is this your first time here? I don’t assume you were the High Priestress a decade ago already.”
“No. Just since this year actually.”
“I see.”
There was a short silence while Maolite collected some fabrics.
“Could you tell me what the festival is like here?”
“Ah, of course. We’re the only city so far south to have a night that lasts a full day, so it is a big deal here. Usually, the streets are cold and abandoned in winter, but during the Solstice, the streets are heated and there are fires everywhere, and everyone goes outside and show their talents, or what they’ve done the past year. Then when after the long night the sun rises, though only briefly, everyone looks out over the sea to see the sun and look forward to the summer and we make plans for the new year, and people promise eachother things. Mostly lovers and friends, and often little children make promises. That’s mostly it. So at night, we look back to the last year, and then when the sun breaks over the horizon, we look forward to the next.”
Sesolam listened gleefully. “That sounds wonderful.”
“I think it is, I always enjoy it a lot, ever since I was a little kid.”
“Ah, I’ll be up in the temple, though. Do you know what it’s like, there?”
“Honestly, no. I don’t really.”
Sesolam blushed a bit. “Ahh, but I wouldn’t want to miss the festival in the city.. Maybe I can go down to the city for part of it. If I do... maybe you could show me around a bit?”
“ah..” She was a bit flustered by the question, since Sesolam was still the High Priestress, someone way above her in social standing. “If you wish it so..”
Sesolam was a bit upset, and Maolite looked a bit scared. “High Priestress! I’m sorry, did I do something wrong??”
Sesolam sounded a bit sad. “I’m asking you as Sesolam, not as Oesala’s High Priestress. Would you like to show me your city during the solstice?”
“Ah.. well.. I see..”
“Right, nevermind. I’m sorry for asking. That’s not your job.”
“Ah! No, I would. I’m sorry, I was just a bit taken aback. But I would really like to show you around.” She smiled at Sesolam, and Sesolam smiled back at her.
“Now, this will have to be my magnum opus, because I’ll have to show your dress around as the greatest thing I’ve accomplished this year.”
Sesolam smiled and blushed a bit. She liked talking to this woman, it felt nice and warm and safe here.
When Máosile had finished taking her measurements, and Sesolam had been sitting there just a little while longer just because she wanted to, they bid their farewells.
“The day after tomorrow, I need you to return here so we can fit jewelry, alright, Sesolam?”
“Ah, yes, of course. Oh, and... when there’s anybody else with me, call me High Priestress, please..”
She laughed. “What, does the High Priestress Sésṍlam of Oesala need to hide it when she’s friendly with someone??”
Sesolam was silent in response, and looked down at the floor a bit, fidgeting with her fingers.
Maosile looked back in response, realising she might’ve said something a bit insensitive. “Ah.. well, of course. I will remember, Sesolam.”
“Thank you. Alright, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow, then.”
And so, Sesolam left the store, and left for the temple again, to meet back with Oesala.
She left the store, and was hit into her face by a wall of freezing air again, and she began the slow ascend up to the Temple.
Two days had passed, filled with ceremonies and visits and blessings for the priests of Oesala in this temple. Now, it was the morning on which Sesolam had to return to Maolite to see how the clothes fit, and to select jewelry.
She washed herself and put her hair into a braid around her head, and she collected the jewelry she had with her in a box. Oesala was still asleep, so the plan was to go there and be back before Oesala needed her.
As she opened the door to leave her quarters, she felt excited for no particular reason. She descended down to the temple’s entrance, and then down the cliff. The sun was down, and it would only be up for a short while today. It would peek just over the horizon at midday, and then disappear again, until the day after tomorrow.
It was still cold, but there were clouds above her now, and the wind was less harsh, so it was less cold than it had been last time she went out here. Still, when she entered the clothesmaker’s store, the warmth of the air was very welcome. “Maolite, I’m here to fit my jewelry!”
She waited a minute, and then Maolite’s head popped out of the door to the atelier. When she recognized Sesolam, she walked up to her with a smile. She looked around for a bit, and then, with a bit of uncertainty in her voice, said “Hello, Sesolam, I hope walking through the city hasn’t been too cold?”
“It’s been alright.”
“Would you like something warm to eat or drink? I could make you some herbal tea?” (herbal tea might be replaced by some other hot beverage, but for now, I’ll say herbal tea)
“Ah, yes, please.” She took off her coat and put it on the hook, and sat down until Maolite came back in with two cups of tea. She took one and warmed her hands at it.
“The dress itself is done, the cape over it not quite yet. I decided to make it from penguin pelt, of the (insert name of pinguin that lives here and has some red feathers), so it’s black, white, and with red accents, as the penguin itself has.”
“Right, I see. Could I take a look?”
“Ah, of course! Please, come to my atelier!”
Sesolam followed her, and she saw pelts hanging around, and in the center of the room, two manequins, one with the dress and one without anything. The cape, composed of many pelts stitched together, was laying on a table.
“So, these are the two main pieces I’ve been working on for you. Now, we have to decide on the jewelry.”
“Right, I tend to wear silver and starsilver.”
“Well, I can’t say I have much starsilver laying around!” She giggled a bit. “But I have one piece! It’s a hairclip, maybe you could use it on the knot on the back of your head?”
“That seems alright.. I do have this pendant..” She took out the pendant of starsilver which contained Oesala’s egg.
“Oh, that’s beautiful! Could I take a look?” Maolite stared at the thing and reached out her hand.
Sesolam retracted her hand in response, unsure whether to show it. It wasn’t even just a starsilver jewel, which would have been reason enough to be careful, it contained Oesala’s egg..”
But, she trusted Maolite. She carefully took the chain from her neck and gave it to Maolite, still a bit unsure. She took it happily and carefully observed it.
“It’s quite beautiful..”
“Thank you~”
“You just have to wear this! I’ll try to find some gems of similar colour to the blue inside!”
“Ah, do you think so??” She took the thing back.
“Yes! It’d be a waste never to show it off, after all. Maybe don’t show it in the city just to be safe, but in the Temple it should be fine, right?”
Sesolam blushed a bit. “I always wear it, but usually not out in the open, no..”
Maolite took some silver chains and held it against her view of Sesolam.
“You know, I also make jewelry as a hobby. I’m not nearly as good at it as the actual smiths who live in the city, but I enjoy doing it. The thing I’ll have you wear aren’t mine though, don’t worry~”
“Oh, but I think it’d be nice to wear something you made..”
“Do you think so??” She smiled brightly.
“I think so~”
Maolite put some jewelry on Sesolam, and on the outfit. “Mostly silvers, right? I usually prefer to use coppers for priests.”
“Oh?? Why is that??”
“Ah, right. So you know how there are three types of metals, right?” She drew three imaginary collumns in the air in front of her, assigning each a type of metal. “The irons, or dark metals. The coppers, or chromatic metals. And the silvers, or light metals.”
Sesolam nodded.
“Just like that, there’s three parts to a person. The irons are related to the body, the coppers are related to the spirit, and the silvers are related to the emotions. So because coppers are related to spirits, I usually put coppers on priests.”
“Hmm, but Oesala, and the other spirits we can speak to, they haven’t fully passed into the second life, so wouldn’t they also be related to irons?”
“Well, yes, but everybody is. The coppers stand out, in comparison.”
“I see. But Oesala is related to silvers.”
“Well.. I suppose it makes sense in a way.. The Great Spirit has passed fully into the third life, after all, which is related to the silvers. Or.. has she just fully passed into the second life?” She looked puzzled for a bit. “High Priestress of the Great Spirit,” she bowed, half as a joke, half serious, “I suppose you know the answer to this question?”
“Ah.. right..” Obviously, nothing had fundamentally changed, since Oesala was still here, and Sesolam was her vessel. She was still on the edge between the first and second life, but that wasn’t supposed to be well-known. “She’s in her second life, since I can sometimes still vaguely contact her to receive her guidance.”
“Ah, I see.. Well, then wearing silver doesn’t make much sense from this perspective, but I suppose the Great Spirit is simply related to silver herself..”
“You don’t have to worry about it too much! If you think it would be better to have me wear coppers, that’s fine by me.”
“No, silvers would be fine. Or maybe I can mix them a bit.”
“Alright,,,”
“Maybe, you should wear something of an iron, a copper, and a silver all together, since the combination represents eternity, and completeness. It contains all parts of a life, after all.”
Sesolam nodded, listening with great interest. “I think whatever you come up will be good, you know much more about this than I do after all.”
“Thank you, Sesolam, that’s sweet.”
It was the next morning, and Sesolam had just went to Maolite for a short while, and had collected the clothes she had made. Oesala had been absent for a large parts of the last few days, mostly being around Kenele and Ñiettaquoua on her own while Sesolam did whatever needed to be done, but she didn’t find that a bad thing.
Now, with the dress on, Sesolam went to Kenele’s private quarters, where she had been requested, and where Oesala was.
When she opened the door, she was greeted by a strong but pleasant smell, which distracted her for a second. Then she looked into the room, which was similar to the sitting room of her own quarters. She saw Niettaquoua’s vessel laying on a couch, Oesala sitting on his head. Kelene’s vessel was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, moving them up and down a bit. Kelene herself was laying down on the table next to a hot steaming piece of ((some sort of poultry)), and there were three glasses on the table. There was soft music, but no musicians were present in the room.
As soon as Oesala noticed Sesolam, she flapped her wings, left off from Ñiettaquoua’s head, that is, the vessel’s, and landed onto Oesala’s. She felt the connection between them become strong again.
“Sesolam, you’re back! And you have your new clothes~”
Sesolam blushed a bit.
“Yes, Maolite did great work, I think.”
“I think so too. Come sit, darling, we have good food, good amusement, and good company!”
“Right, of course!” She walked up to the table and sat down in an armchair standing next to it.
“Well, now that we’re all here, let’s eat!” Kelene spoke, through her vessel, in the bright voice of the young girl.
Ñiettaquoua looked at Sesolam a bit. “Ah, Sesolam, have you had ((insert drug name)) before?”
Sesolam looked at him, slowly opening her mouth to deny and say she hadn’t even heard of it, but Oesala quickly took control of the mouth and responded. “No, she hasn’t. Sesolam, it’s great, it’s like alcohol, but better, and safer, and you won’t feel bad the morning after. You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure of it.”
“Right, I see.”
She was sitting quite formally, while Ñiettaquoua was laying long out and Kelene’s vessel was sitting relaxed and happy on the ground. Oesala noticed, was slightly annoyed, took control and forced her to lay down a bit. With her inner voice, she spoke to Sesolam. “Lay down a bit and relax, don’t sit so tense.. these are my friends, we’re here to relax and enjoy the solstice.”
Sesolam smiled a bit and tried to relax. She was passed some meat, prefering it over the fish which I decided is also present, and took a bite from it. It tasted great. Ñiettaquoua took some meat too, while Kelene took fish, both eating through her vessel, and with her form. She jumped over the table, smoothly across the dishes with her large bright tail swinging around, and landed in Sesolam’s lap.
“Give me pats”
Sesolam followed the order, and Oesala landed on top of Kelene. Ñiettaquoua passed Sesolam the glass with ((insert drug name)). “I wouldn’t want you to get up with that pretty little creature on your lap.” He laughed deeply.
Sesolam looked at him for a short moment and smiled, then looked at her glass. “Just drink it all in one go, it should taste pretty good, and in a minute, you’ll be feeling great. It’s from my personal storage, I’ve been keeping this since the fall, and-” This was Kenele. She was cut off by Ñiettaquoua hitting the table. “Sorry, let’s not talk about that now. Cheers, all ((((or whatever the cultural custom was in Ancient Ngimonia when using this drug))))”
The three of them drank the glasses empty. Sesolam enjoyed the taste. It tasted sweet, it tasted like berries. After not even a minute, she was suddenly able to relax a lot better. Oesala sang a little bird song of approval. “See, Sesolam? These are my old friends, and all you have to do here is relax. Relax, enjoy the music, enjoy the food, and enjoy the company.” “And enjoy whatever depraved things Oesala wants to do with the vessels’ bodies, of course” This was Kenele. Ñiettaquoua laughed and Sesolam blushed, and Oesala took control of the face and smirked. “Can you believe it? This poor thing hasn’t experienced any of the good things of the world yet. First time ((insert drug name)), never had sex yet..”
Ñiettaquoua interrupted. “Impressive you’ve been able to hold yourself back from that, Oesala~”
Oesala ignored him. “As I was saying, hasn’t had sex yet, she’s barely had any good food in her life.. Can you belief it?? Sesolam, tell them what vegetable you enjoyed so much back in Çuopān.”
“Ah.. That was..” A light wave of embarrasment overcame her, being put into public display like this, but then the drugs made that feeling ebb away. “Courgette, and Oesala absolutely hates it, bad taste as she has.” Sesolam giggled a little, and Kelene looked at her worried a bit, the tail of her form stopping to swing for a bit, as did her vessel’s knees. Oesala was about to become angry at Sesolam, but Ñiettaquoua laughed with a deep voice, then Kelene joined with her bright voice, and Oesala joined in as well. “Ah, what does it matter~ Now, Sesolam, just show this kind of backbone with the people who you deserve respect from~”
Kelene’s vessel stood up, and the fox jumped off of Sesolam’s lap. The fox jumped on the girl’s shoulders, and then the girl walked towards Sesolam. “So pretty, I would almost be jealous if mine wasn’t even prettier, Oesala~” She pressed her hand against Oesala’s crotch. “And this part hasn’t been touched yet~? Please let me do it thennnnn~”
Oesala responded. “Absolutely not, Kelene. We don’t want Sesolam to develop a taste for young girls like you did.”
“Awwwwww”
“And what about a taste for older men??” Ñiettaquoua gave his two cents.
“Ohh, you’re disgusting, both of you~” Oesala answered laughing, fully taking control of Sesolam’s body now, and pressing her hand against her own crotch. “But so am I~ but no, I don’t want to make poor little Sesolam sad~ Sesolam.” Oesala pulled away and allowed Sesolam to take control back. She had noticed what just happened, but hadn’t registered most of it because of the ((insert drug name)). “Ah, yes, Oesala?” “I’ll give you a year, alright? A year to choose your first partner in bed, and if you haven’t chosen by then.. I’ll choose for you~”
“Oh..” She blushed, and.. somehow, her thoughts rushed towards a certain someone. “Of course, if I think they’re disgusting, I won’t approve of it~ but besides that, the choice is yours. If you take till the next winter’s solstice, you will be spending the longest night with someone of my choosing~”
“I.. understand, Lady.”
“There she goes with the ‘Lady’ again, ahaha”
“I understand, Oesala!”
“good girl, there you go”
Kelene sat down in Ñiettaquoua’s lap. She looked up at him with a smirk, and the fox jumped onto his shoulders and wrapped around his neck. “I’m not opposed against older men, you know~”
“I am opposed to little girls, thank you very much.”
“Ah, you are both so boring..” She grabbed a fish and started eating from it roughly, still in Ñiettaquoua’s lap, leaning back lazily.
So, the hours passed on, until the effects of (insert drug name) worked out. The noon of the solstice came and go, and then Oesala and Kenele fell asleep. Sesolam stayed awake, and decided to make her leave and visit Maolite. When she stood up and started to leave, Ñiettaquoua called for her.
“Are you leaving??”
“Hmm.. yes, I am, I had Oesala’s permission to leave once she went to sleep.”
“Where are you going, dear?”
“I’m going to see the festival in the city.”
“Ah, enjoy it, then.”
He closed his eyes and leaned backwards.
Sesolam nodded, looked around the room one more time, feeling a bit guitly to leave even though she had permission, and quietly left the room. She descended down the castle, down the cliff, and finally reached the town. It was surpisingly warm here, and the streets were full, in a stark contrast to how she had seen the city before.
This was the busiest she had ever seen a place be. In Çuopān, there weren’t even this many people, and the port cities she had been before.. There were a lot of people, but they were all working and staying in one place. Here, there were tens of thousands of people walking walking over the streets, all mixing up, and there were fires, there was laughter..
She walked towards Maolite’s store, between the people. When she reached the store, she saw Maolite standing there, giving out long ribbons to children to put in their hair.
Maolite was wearing a thick and warm-looking coat. It was very colourful, mostly green, yellow, and red.
Sesolam stood on a distance for a bit, looking at Maolite putting ribbons in children’s hair. After a bit, Maolite noticed her, and guestured to her to come.
“Hello Sesolam!”
She bowed over to the children, gave the last ones a ribbon. “Look at her clothes! I made those..”
The children, about five of them right now, looked up at Sesolam and tried to touch the clothes a bit, all seeming really impressed. “It’s a really pretty cape, miss, I want one as well!”
Sesolam was a bit unsure what to do with them. “Ah, thank you~”
Maolite told the children to go play somewhere else, and they walked away, happy with their ribbons. Maolite put the remaining ribbons, most of which were white, into Sesolam’s hair. Sesolam smiled back.
“See?? You look gorgeous with those clothes, and the children agree, and it’s all thanks to me~”
A light giggle. “Right, thank you, Maosile. Do you always give away ribbons?”
“These?? They are meteor tails!”
Usually, there was a meteor storm during the winter solstice.
“Since it’s snowing, we sadly can’t see the meteors today.. So I’m making sure the children can replace them, and making you as pretty as a meteor as well, so the people can still enjoy the show~”
Sesolam blushed a bit. “Thank you.. Can you show me around town, what’s happening tonight?”
They strolled around the city together, got some heated wine to drink, and looked at the people displaying their artisaniry. The fires were lighting the city, and the two talked with eachother.
They came across people playing music, and people dancing in front of it, and Maolite taught Sesolam a classical dance of this city, which Sesolam enjoyed a lot.
Then, they came across the other clothing store, the one which produced clothes for the commoners of the city. “Look, Illãpa, this is the High Priestress of the Great Spirit, I made her clothes for tonight!”
Illãpa was another seamstress of the city, and she was displaying her best pieces of the year. “Ohh, you have your displaying mannequin with y- wait..”
Illãpa quickly bowed for Sesolam. “I’m sorry Priestress, that was disrespectful.”
“Ah, it’s alright, today I’m just here as myself and not as High Priestress..”
“I see. Thank you, Priestress.”
“Sesolam, aren’t you from the north?? Do you have any of the new fashion of the large cities with you?”
“Ah, I’m actually just from Çuopān, I haven’t been in the large cities yet..”
Maolite laughed a bit. “Well, anything on the mainland is considered ‘north’ for us..”
Illãpa seemed a bit uncomfortable having someone of Sesolam’s status around her, so Maolite pulled her away and they went walking again.
“Well, I haven’t been there yet. I’m traveling to the Imperial Capital though, for Migration Day, which is exciting to me, since in my hometown we didn’t really celebrate that.”
“Huh? Isn’t it a celebration focused around the Great Spirit?? I would have expected it to be the largest one..”
“Right. I don’t know, it isn’t..”
“Weird.. I would love to visit the Imperial Capital, though, I’ve wanted to travel north my whole life..”
“Well, maybe.. I could take you with me?? If you would like that.”
Maolite looked up in shock. “Really?? Are you sure??”
“I mean, I’m travelling with Ñiettaquoua, and he shouldnt have any trouble taking another passenger with him, I think.”
She smiled broadly. “I would love that, Sesolam.” She hugged her. “Thank you so much.. I love you..”
Sesolam warmed up on the inside with those words and hugged her back.
“Yes, we’ll have to plan out the details though..”
“Ah, let’s do that later, for now, let’s enjoy the festival!”
She took Sesolam with her to see more of the festival, skipping a few steps as she did so.
Over the hours, the streets slowly emptied out, and fires died. By the time they sat down together, the only remains of the fires were burning piles of ashes, and just young people were left on the streets; both children and older people had mostly returned inside.
“So, Sesolam, I’ve been meaning to ask. What is the High Priestress of the Great Spirit doing here? Below, in the city? Don’t you have to attend the festival up in the temple??”
“Ah.. Well, I wanted to experience the festival in the city, and we were done in the temple.” She stopped talking a bit, unsure of whether to say the next words. “And, I wanted to see it with you..”
Maolite hugged Oesala again. “I enjoyed it a lot~”
Oesala was making movements to leave now, to return to the temple, to Oesala, but Maolite stopped her.
“Ah, Sesolam.. one more thing.. You should meet me at my house tomorrow a bit before noon.. I have something to give you, and something to ask you..”
“Alright. I’ll see you then, Maolite!!”
It was evening. Sesolam had returned to the temple, and had taken Oesala, who had still been with the other two spirits, to their quarters to sleep. When she fell asleep, she quickly entered a shared dream with Oesala. They were standing with a larger group of spirits, on top of Ñiettaquoua, at the little shrine on top of him. Kenele was here, Killani, as well as Eqquā. Most other spirits weren’t as clear in Oesala’s memory, being vaguely coloured blobs. One of them was especially bright, the small orange one. It seemed to be Erundur the Traitor Spirit, who had led the fallen spirits to another land before the Great Migration.
They were standing between the spirits, and Oesala flew around a bit, taking a look at them. “Once, it wasn’t so uncommon to meet, and there were more of us..”
Sesolam nodded, but she couldn’t keep her mind at the memory of Oesala. Suddenly, she felt herself being hugged from the back. Maolite had appeared in the dream, smiling sweetly at Sesolam. The spirits disappeared from the dream, and Oesala commented.
“Who’s this, then?” She laughed. “Oh, I see.. You’ve already found yourself someone, just as we talked about it tonight~?”
“I.. No...”
“Who is this, then?”
“It’s.. it’s the dressmaker..”
“Oh, I see now.. So that’s why you took so long at her every time.”
Sesolam looked down a bit, ashamed. “I’m sorry, Oesala..”
“It’s alright.. So, do you want to visit her tonight and finish what we talked about tonight~?”
“I.. she probably doesn’t..”
“I’m sure she does. Do you??”
“Ah.. If she wanted to, I guess I would..”
Oesala hopped around a bit, excited. “Alright, let’s wake up and go now.”
Oesala disappeared from the dream, and Sesolam woke up as well. They left their quarters and went to Kenele’s, where she and Ñiettaquoua were still sleeping. Oesala shook Kenele awake.
“What, Oesalaa... I wanna sleep..”
“Help me put some body paint on~”
Sesolam started blushing intensely, and Kenele’s vessel suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Sesolam, and her fox quickly turned her eyes in their direction.
“Haha, did the naughty girl already chose someone?? Did she choose me~”
Oesala performatively sighed with a grin. “No, she chose your dressmaker.”
Kenele laughed.
“Yes yes, keep laughing. Now get me some brown and light blue body paint~”
“Of course, Oesala..”
Kenele retrieved some body paint from somewhere, and Sesolam undressed. She had Kenele put body paint on her. “We can also just go there..”
“What, don’t you think it’d be so much more proper to go there wearing some body paint~?”
Oesala insisted, and Sesolam let it go. Kenele masterfully applied the paint on Sesolam’s body, and when she was done, and it had dried, she put some loose clothes over it, and Sesolam and Oesala flew down from the temple to Maolite’s shop, above which her house was located, carrying some body paint to put on Maolite as well.
Sesolam knocked on the door, almost frozen from being nervous, but Oesala took over control of most of the body. Maolite’s head popped out of a window above, then disappeared, and after a minute, she opened the door. “Sesolam?? Do you need something again??”
With her inner mouth voice, Oesala talked to Sesolam. “Oh, she calls you by your name, huh?? How forward of her already~”
Sesolam felt a bit ashamed, but Oesala pushed the body forwards, and kissed Maolite in the neck.
“Ahh.. ohh..” Maolite stood there still, unsure how to respond for a moment. Then, Oesala had Sesolam take off her coat, revealing her body paint, not speaking a word.
Maolite blushed. “Ahh.. alright.. give me a minute to prepare..”
She left upstairs, and Sesolam and Oesala followed her.......
The next day, when Sesolam was back up in the temple, she felt warm and next morning. She still had the body paint on, hidden beneath her clothes.
Oesala was talking to Ñiettaquoua.
“Now that the festival is over, where are you going, Ñiettaquoua??”
“Well, I was planning to visit (((western end of large river city, southern for the old cities insert name here))). I want to make sure their neutrality in the trade war lasts, and I want to make sure none of their ships have been destoryed. If any have, I have a next place to visit.. Should I take you with me there? Do you have anywhere you need to go?”
“Oh, I was planning on atending the Settlement Day celebrations in the Imperial Capital. Sesolam hasn’t really celebrated the day yet, despite being my High Priestress, so I thought it would be a good destination. I suppose I could get a ship from (((that city))) and go there like that. There should be more than enough time, possibly I could even visit some of the other cities. I don’t have that specific of a plan yet for my time in between.”
“I see. Well, you’re welcome to travel with me as long as you want to, of course.”
“Thank you, Ñiettaquoua.”
Sesolam remembered having tell she would like to take Maolite with them. With her inner voice, she requested permission to speak, which she got.
“I.. promised Maolite, the dressmaker, that I would take her with us to the Capital..”
“Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem, I can easily carry someone extra.”
As Ñiettaquoua responded, a weird feeling eminated from Oesala. “Excuse me, Sesolam?? Why would we take her with us??”
“I.. She wanted to see the capital, and I thought..”
“Absolutely not.”
“Please, Oesala, Ñiettaquoua just said he can easily carry her..”
“Yes. And then we have to carry your little girlfriend everywhere and I’ll always have to pretend to be your little bird pet because she’s always there. I’m not putting my life on hold so you can live out your silly love fantasies.”
“Then.. Then I’ll stay here, with her. And you can always be around Kenele, I’m sure you’d like that more, right??”
“Sesolam, we have work to do. You’re my vessel, you obey me. We’re leaving tonight.”
“But.. she had something to give me.. I have to meet her at noon.. And I promised to take her with us..”
“Then we’ll meet her to tell her you changed your mind.”
“Oesala, please..”
“Obey me, vessel.” She scoffed and looked at Ñiettaquoua. “See how stupid I’ve been by allowing my vessels more and more freedom?? This is the price I pay for it, all this banter with my own body..”
Ñiettaquoua smirked a bit, though feeling a bit for Sesolam, and Oesala laughed using Sesolam’s face, but Sesolam’s emotions caused tears to form.
“Well, let’s go and meet your girlfriend, then.”
Sesolam and Oesala flew down the cliff, once again, and for the last time, to Maolite’s store. The air wasn’t completely black now, but had taken on a dark blue. They entered the store, and Maolite was impatiently waiting for Sesolam.
“There you finally are!” She grabbed her hand and pulled her with her. “Quickly, we have to go to the shore to see the sunrise!”
Sesolam let herself be led by Maolite, not speaking a word. When they reached the shore, the sun wasn’t quite up yet. Sesolam was looking sad and nervous, not looking back at the smile Maolite gave her. Maolite turned a bit unsure, and with a sweet voice, she asked: “Is there something wrong, Sesolam??”
“Well.. I’m leaving.. tonight... to go to the north...”
Maolite responded shocked. “Tonight?? But I have to pack so much, say goodbyes to my family and friends.. Couldn’t you wait a few more days so I have time to prepare??”
Tears formed in Sesolam’s eyes. “Well.. I don’t think.. Maybe you shouldn’t come anymore..”
Maolite shook her head in confusion. “Do you mean.. Why shouldn’t I come??”
“Well..”
Her voice went cold. “Oh, I know what it is. I didn’t perform well enough for you last night, so I’m not worth keeping around, is that it??”
“No!! No, that’s not it at all!!”
Sesolam panicked, her breath going rough.
“Well. Alright then, Sesolam.. Or should I say, High Priestress..” She mockingly bowed. “At least speak the truth to me. Why are you leaving me behind? Do I mean nothing to you??”
Oesala was fed up with how long this took and how much trouble it was. She took control of Sesolam’s mouth, who tried to retain control for a bit but quickly gave up. With an unemotional voice, Oesala spoke through Sesolam: “I’ve done everything I came here for.”
Maolite stared back at her in disbelief. “Ah..”
The sun came up over the horizon, and Maolite stared at it.
“Ah look, it’s the sun.” Her eyes started filling with tears and she sounded a bit snottery. She grabbed a chain of metal, made of iron, copper, and silver.
“I had been making this for you. I wanted.. I wanted to give it to you as the sun broke through and ask you.. Well, nevermind. Here you go.”
She threw the chain on the ground, and noticed the pink body paint on her arm, looking at it with disgust.
“Farewell, High Priestress. And thank you for everything.”
She turned around and walked away. Sesolam wanted to shout her name and run after her, but Oesala stopped her. “No, let her go, Sesolam, we’re leaving tonight.”
Sesolam cried, fell on the ground, and grabbed onto the chain. She was laying there, crying, until the sun went down again a few mintues later.
“Are you finally done, Sesolam?? You’ve known her for a few days, so don’t make such a big deal out of it. Let’s go back to Ñiettaquoua and prepare to leave tonight.”
And they did exactly that.