Our Curse Breaker (GirlxGirlxGirl)

0: Dust

The goddesses, Yelia, Emera, Yisn and Avonis, knew the fate of the world would change, and they knew it would start with a death.

The death of the short-lived Empress Damara of Ophion and Zeleon, sister-in-law to King Declan of Zeleon, mother to the great Empress Ensi of Ophion, wife of the bloodthirsty Emperor Inor of Ophion. Married off to a dangerous Emperor, and killed just a few weeks after the birth of her first and only child.

A death which brought upon a war that lasted 24 long years.

A death which end brought a curse down upon her child, the great Empress, and the poor servant of the goddess Yelia. A curse when broken, would change the fate of the world as they knew it.

"Great noble families of Ophion. Ophion, sitting on the throne. Etos, related to the throne, house of the grasslands. Lyrio, of the southwest. Sanmer of the north. Hosling of the west. Brin to the northwest, and Wate of the east, born out of water."

A wagon moves slowly up and down the harsh, sandy roads of the northernmost parts of the Glorious Ophion empire. A girl sits huddled up next to twelve others, her bare feet sticking out of the edge of the wooden wagon, her mumbled words echoing in the silence, drowned out by the dunes of the desert. "Ophion, Etos, Lyrio, Hosling, Sanmer, Brin, Wate..." The sand and dust from the road stains her feet with patches of brown, grey and yellow. It feels dry. So does the sun, as it shines mercilessly upon them from above. The young girl stares out over the sandy fields that pass by.

The girl's lips are chapped. Her black hair is cut in an awkward way right above her shoulders. The deep black colour is also stained by the dust, turning more greyish than it should be. It falls over her face, but she doesn't have the energy to whisk it off.

Her beige linen clothes feel scratchy and don't cover enough of her skin. Because of it, she is sunburnt over her arms and face. The sun is gliding down the sky, but it's still hot, and for that reason the girl is happy that they haven't forced her or the others into more clothing.

The wagon rolls upward, one of the wheels jumping up over a rock. All twelve girls inside jump up along with it, but all of them are a bit too out of it to react. It's only she who looks up, curiously at the guards riding by their side. The guards are wearing beige linen clothes, with armour over them painted in black and heavy black boots. They carry long swords in their belts, sharp and wide. They've tied linen over their heads, to hide from the sun.

She's never really seen guards before. It's why she's been staring at them in awe ever since they left Kilstor.

Kilstor is a large city. Large enough to have a very large orphanage. But in the midst of the war, not even a very large orphanage had enough money for the children. They are all without parents, often because of the war, and as far as she knows, almost none of them have names. Names are given by parents, not by the orphanage. She doesn't have a name either. Her nicknames vary. But she is seven, so she doesn't remember any of them anymore.

It's because she's seven that she is in this wagon. Too young to handle chores, and too old for the few parents who come to adopt these days. She's what the empire calls: 'at a useless age', and because of that, she is in this wagon.

The temple comes every year, sometimes twice a year with their large carriage and heap of guards and strange ladies. They pick out a dozen girls around her age and usher them in. She has seen it happen before. She didn't think it would happen to her. She doesn't know where they are going either.

The ladies sitting in the very front of the wagon truly are strange. They are covered in white silk from head to toe, with only their eyes visible. The silk is littered with different shapes and symbols. The guards treat them with respect, almost fear. They bow to them at any chance they get. They refuse to look into their eyes. She is scared of the ladies, too. They sit quietly without speaking. When a girl cries or complains, only then do they somewhat gently shush her. She doesn't understand them. She doesn't understand anything.

They've travelled for two days now, and travelling isn't easy under the northern sun of Ophion. They have to stop when the sun stands highest on the sky, and the strange ladies have to pull large white sheets over them to shade them from the sky. It can get very hot under the sheet, but travelling under the sun in the middle of the day is definitely worse. She finds it strange. Being awake at night, seeing the stars glimmer above them... it's beautiful. Almost a little scary.

"No men past this point."

The girl looks over curiously when one of the women finally speaks, her words directed at the guards. As if scared half to death, the men pull at the saddle strings of their horses to stop immediately. The women continue, the wagon driven by one of them, four horses up front. The girl stares as the guards become smaller and smaller in the distance. She looks over at the strange women. They don't say anything.

The wagon moves up toward a small hill. They enter a small forest, shading them from the sun. The large, thick leaves hang over the road, casting long shadows over the ground. The girls start to look around, a bit confused by the sudden change of atmosphere. They drive all the way up the hill, through a warm forest that only thickens. Suddenly, the wagon screeches to a stop. Now all girls are looking around, incredibly curious, mildly fearful.

She sees large white walls rising up from the ground. The walls reach far to the left and far to the right. The road leads up to a very large wooden gate in the middle of the wall. In front of them, a large gate rises up toward the sky and places them in awe.

The gate slides open after a while of them just standing there in utter silence. It's very loud and slow, moving to the sides to let them through. As soon as it opens, the wagon moves inside, passing past the walls that appear to be incredibly thick.

It smells of foreign spices and flowers in the temple. It's not a bad smell, but it's very thick and hard to get used to. The girl scrunches her nose. She feels gnawing worry when the gate closes behind them, leaving them locked up in some strange place with large white walls.

The wagon stops right there in front of the gates. The women get off as quickly as they can, joining a heap of other similarly dressed women standing on the wide entrance pathway to the large place. The girl looks around. She sees several large white buildings surrounded by pathways. There are trees here and there. There are no doors, only doorways as entrances into the houses, and the windows are covered by fabric that moves softly with the wind.

"Get them down."

The powerful, terrifying voice of an older priestess cuts through the air. The girls look around, confused, and quite scared. Several women walk up to the wagon and help the girls down. She is grabbed by one of the women and placed on the stone pathway, only then noticing that the woman lifting her was not heavily veiled and covered like the other women.

She notices a difference.

Some wear simpler, white linen clothes. Others wear heavy covering and stand rather silently by the side. She doesn't understand it. She doesn't understand any of it, and it's quite terrifying.

"Gather around."

Although confused, the young girls standing around on the temple grounds are used to following orders. At the orphanage, it seems it is all they do. They walk like metal to magnets up to the head priestess, who stands in front of them with a stern, unforgiving look on her face. "This is the Glomera temple. Here you will dutifully serve our great Goddess Yelia."

The girl looks around to see the reactions of the others. They seem completely out of it. So confused and so tired they don't even care anymore. Wide-eyed with wonder, unable to comprehend a single thing. She doesn't comprehend anything either. What a temple is, what a Goddess is... she has heard of it. But a girl her age could never understand the true implications of entering a temple.

"You will learn from the other temple girls to serve like them. With the right path in your mind, you could even become a priestess."

When you enter, you enter for life. You serve for life.

And that, of course, is not something the priestesses would ever say out loud.