Necromancer's Descent

90 - The Spring Saintess

Odelgarde's Point of View and Story

The saintess of my generation, Karin, was... special. Truly unlike any other that had come before, and has come after.

During the demon war, we had saintesses just like now, only, back then there was no gap between them, and they were weaker. For example, they did not provide the extreme fertility boost that they do now.

They, as a saintess should be, were devoted and pieous. They dedicated their lives to the war. Most never took a partner, even among the heroes.

Once the saintess began to appear from the otherworld, like Rosalin, it didn't take many tries to begin systemizing the process of finding and integrating them. Among these, was mandatory to the kingdom's academy, attended by all nobles, and anyone seeking advanced education. This was not just because the saintesses were often young, it was to help them understand our world properly, everything from our gods, our culture, etiquette, patterns, levels and so on.

...

Karin came to the body of a young Baron's daughter. I, who was a part of picking her up, and a handful of other female guards and priestesses spent quite a while soothing the body's parents, telling them that their daughter would have died if not for Karin entering it. That the soul swap can only happen if the body of their daughter was at the brink of death, and that in return, her soul went straight to Morset, instead of lingering in the world.

I don't know if the soul did, or if it was exchanged with the saintess', because the Shepherds didn't know either... but Karin consoled the parents as well, telling them of the peaceful place the daughter's soul would go, even if she did not go to Morset. She told them of cherry trees that flushed pink at the arrival of spring like clouds at sunrise, and how at any time of year, she could eat strawberries, that she could attend academy there too, and that Karin's family would surely understand, and care for their daughter as they had Karin.

She truly made it sound like a dream world.

Later, in the carriage, Karin expressed she wasn't fully sure how if she'd died or just passed out on her way home, but that she hoped her body would bring joy to the other girl, in case they actually switched bodies.

The previous saintess, and the saintesses we had records of, had never been keen on the idea that a stranger could be in their body, and preferred to have them in Morset's arms. Maybe that's why none of the gods told us what actually happened...

It was a sombre conversation to have in the early hours of the morning, before the sun even had risen properly on the horizon. Merely the dull dusty bluish grey hung in the cold morning air.

The Oakly palace, that is, the royal palace should still be the same as it was even back then. At least, the palace itself. It's built around the largest oak tree in the country, blessed by Eostra. The large branches stretch far above the castle spires, and cast a gentle shadow on the courtyard garden. The entrance boulevard too is lined with oaken trees, but also with countless magnolia. They flowered that day, on days of early spring, together with thousands and thousands of white and pink-ish violet crocus, still closed, waiting for the warmth of sun.

I remember, how the trees all had budding leaves, as if they were just about to burst. As I helped Karin out of the carriage, the spring skies grew warm, and both crocus and magnolia opened, and even the leaf buds burst open. Karin's hair matched the color of the clouds that turned a soft pink... I know this is... probably a lot of focus to put on what you might think of as meaningless detail, but it was awestriking, and took my breath away... Cornelius' too, as he'd stood to receive her.