Behind Hollow Eyes

The Church in the Hamlet

When Sirius awoke, she was back in the castle infirmary. Next to her was a sleeping Charmy on top of a fluffy bed of cotton. Bubbles of food dreams floated above her head.

The warmth had returned to her fingers, Sirius was relieved that she returned to her human form. While Charmy wouldn't have noticed due to her food being her focus, Sirius's spirit form gave her long ears that shifted downwards which is the opposite of elves who had high pointed ears that were not as long. She also has a constant blue glow along with light made wings, and her pupils took the shape of a star. Even her hair changed, making it seem like she had perked dog ears.

Hence her name, Sirius, the dog star and the brightest star in the sky.

"Sirius!" The door slammed open, revealing Asta covered with bandages and a concerned Noelle behind him.

"Asta you idiot!" Noelle yelled at him. Sirius waved at her team, seeing that they were acting normal regardless of injuries. The team collected together, leaving the ward after they all received the clear for discharge. Sirius had worriedly checked over Asta as they made their way out. He blushed, saying it was nothing while Noelle looked away in an angry huff.

Sirius watched carefully as they exited, noticing from a window a familiar face. Her attention darted away as Charmy pulled on the ends of Sirius's dress.

"Ah, sorry," Sirius mumbled, quick to follow to catch up with Asta and Noelle.

It wasn't long before Asta stopped the group, yelling up at a trio. The black haired male was familiar, as Sirius felt the wind spirits mana encompass the boy. They locked eyes for a moment. His yellow orbs widened for a moment as a faint image appeared in his consciousness. The one of a luminous figure with wings. It was a short lived moment as Asta continued to yell at his childhood friend.

Sirius's eyes widened like the others when a bird made a wind came their way. She held tightly to Charmy, who was daydreaming, something about a prince. It all happened so fast before Sirius could realize the trio departed. It finally clicked he was the boy she felt the Wind Spirit had chosen.

While Asta yelled again, Sirius's eyes stayed on his friend Yuno.

The power he had with a spirit by his side was astonishing.

"You're half human half spirit," Erebus had said. She remembered it clearly after being yelled at for a few hours. 

The spirit of darkness emphasized how spirits became even more powerful when they made a bond with a human. Being of different mana, the human mana made it possible for spirits to grow stronger during their time in the human world.

"You will never reach that. Being half, a weak human half at that, you cannot gain the same strength as a spirit who has a bond with a human."

A human bound…

Even as the squad welcomed them back, Sirius couldn't help but think about this. Only having one spell that used all her human mana was definitely not the best thing to happen to her.

Finral had told her light mages were extremely rare and only a few were ever recorded in the Clover Kingdoms history. If this was true, then chance Sirius could find someone to create a bond with was nearly impossible.

But she wasn't from Clover, so maybe there was a small chance one light mage was out there. If she wanted to be strong and save other spirits and protect her friends, she needed help.

It was only a day later that Sirius was asked to check out a small village near the magic region that separated Clover and Spade.

"From the wizard king himself, lucky you," was what Yami said to her. He mentioned something about the Eye of the Midnight Sun. It was strange to have her sent on a mission while everyone else recuperated. Such a shame to not join Asta in the chores.

But the small hamlet was breathtaking. The mountains, clear streams and green, lush fields stretched outwards in all directions. So thick was the brush that the wind created waves as it rolled along the hillside.

The village was encircled by a bleached stone wall that could barely be considered a barrier anymore. The village eventually did expand past the walls, as seen with two large farms and one church that sat at the bottom of a hill outside the circle.

She could see many people spread out in the fields, using all sorts of magic from water to earth. One mage even controlled various tools to plow with. It was very interesting, but what caught Sirius's attention was the high pitched squeal of children.

The church had three children in its courtyard. Two were chasing each other while the third played in the dirt. It seemed normal, until a voice from behind her startled Sirius so much she tripped and fell down the hillside. Rolling like a runaway wheel, she crashed hard into the bottom and hit her head. Through the blurry stars that danced around her head, she could make out someone who wore mostly black with a curtain of a pinkish red in front of their face.

She had no idea how long she blacked out for but when she finally came to, she found herself in a washed out stone room. The curtains were pulled back to show the sunset just beyond the hills.

"I see your awake now," Sirius's attention snapped to the voice beside her.

There sat a woman with amaranth colored hair covered mostly by a habit. Her eyes were still looking down at a book in her hand. When she looked up, she had a beautiful seafoam green color to her irises. It stood out against her abnormally pale skin and dark bags under her eyes. The dead eye stare made Sirius a little uncomfortable. The nun's attention did snap towards the window when the sunlight suddenly vanished.

"Well miss magic knight, aren't you gonna do something?" The nun only spared Sirius a glance before getting up and walking out. Having no other choice, Sirius followed.

Deep inside, Sirius was pulled towards this woman. Her magic resonated on a wavelength Sirius could actually measure and the most startling thing was, Sirius could understand everything the nun had said.

"It's been happening often, this fog. It's concerning cause it's been cutting working hours for the farmers. Kids also can't play outside…" the nun stopped. She opened the door to let Sirius look outside. The fog was so thick that even putting a hand to it, stopped any progress of leaving.

Sirius followed the nun who showed her to where the children were on the floor drawing.

"Those three are siblings. Their father disappeared about a month back and so did a few other people. Some kids, some adults. It's insane that the capital suddenly decided to listen to us about this. I could have finally left this town…" the nun grumbled the last part before venturing back to one of the doors. Inside was a small kitchen occupied by only a hearth and a table. The sack of vegetables in the corner seemed low as the nun fished out some of the turnips. From the fire lit to cook the concoction in the pot, she also lit up a cigarette that she pulled from her inner sleeve. The nun took a puff before stirring the soup.

"You took a pretty bad fall there, magic knight, but that doesn't mean you can't do your job. What's your name?" The nun stubbed out the cigarette when she heard a creak in the floor. 

"My name is Sirius," Sirius said as she sat down at the same table the nun took to.

"Sirius? Just like the star huh? They say that star brings bad luck," there was a sudden darkness that covered the nun's visible eye. It caused Sirius to wave her arms around in an attempt to distract. She didn't know that was how people thought and it scared her to speak in the spirit tongue.

"What did you say?" The nun asked, placing her hand over Sirius's. It sent a shock up both women's arms. The nun held her head for a moment before shaking off the overwhelming feeling she experienced.

"Argh," the nun shuffled over to pour a glass of water. It was then, on her hand that gripped the jug, did Sirius see a small wisp. It floated away quickly and squeezed out the window into the fog.

"If I didn't know any better… nevermind. I have to finish supper." The nun worked about the kitchen before pausing from Sirius's question.

"What is your name?"

"You can call me sister. Everyone else does," she took a deep breath before turning to Sirius. "Or, you can call me Sothis."

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Sorry I have not proofreaded this. It's been a few years.