Is a Gamble Worth a Gander?

Chapter 7: Armor for the Body, Medicine for the Mind

Chapter 7

Armor for the Body, Medicine for the Mind

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The light pitter patter of small feet filled the air, a welcoming noise of bustle and busyness within a small kitchen. Unaccommodated with the luxuries and amenities that would normally be expected of such a place, which is to say the dwelling of a Goddess, this kitchen was instead a drab little nook. Hidden away beneath what remained of an old ruined church, it nonetheless fit the part for what it was. A small oven that seemed as like to burn the place down as cook. A small sink that, amazingly enough considering the surroundings, actually had a hot water tap along with cold. To the right of the oven even lay a small ice-box, keeping perishable foodstuffs cool enough that they wouldn't rot too soon.

All these things were powered with the amazing advances of magic-stone technology, something the Gods in Tenkai had found amazing enough to be worth visiting the lower world for. Within the shabby little oven was a lightly glowing stone about the size of a grown man's thumbnail, shimmering with a soft incandescence as it heated a tray within. This sort of accoutrement was more than enough for the job with which it was tasked, the oven being greeted with a satisfied grin for its hard work.

Just in front of the oven, hunched over and staring through the sooty window on the face of it, stood a petite young girl. By any measure too small and young to be considered a woman, yet with all the emotional scars and hardened life-lessons to impart a sense of matured dignity. Off-blonde hair was tied into a ponytail atop the back of her head, the odd loose strand hanging whimsically around her face. Said face, pallid and very softly featured, showed clearly signs of worry and illness. Though only fourteen years upon the world, this face had beheld many events that would lead others to deep depression and it showed.

Yet even still a smile was etched across the face, strongly showing the protest of a heart unwilling to succumb to the trappings of hardship. Emerald eyes shimmered in time with the faint glow within the oven, watching carefully the tray within.

A soft smell, akin to the sweetness that one might find wafting from a patisserie, permeated the entirety of the room. As the lingering scent of baked goods drifted throughout the tiny kitchen, leaking out into the adjacent living room, two pairs of eyes peaked around the corner of the half-wall that separated the two rooms. One the deep blue of sapphires, the other a soft chestnut brown. Both watched hungrily, and somewhat curiously, as the petite girl stared into the oven. All thoughts were pulled to the same question...

"Are they done yet, Miss Lillian?" called the soft voice of a prum, nearly bursting with excitement to taste the source of the scrumptious odor.

The emerald eyes tore themselves from the oven and turned to meet those questioning, nearly begging, chestnut eyes. The small smile that had been displayed coyly to the oven now bloomed fully into a wide grin, truly showcasing the warmth of the face upon which it sat.

"Oh, I was just getting ready to take them out!" Lillian responded, beaming her grin with fervor at the prum.

The sapphire eyes disappeared back behind the wall for only a moment before the full body came back around with them. A lovely young woman, or so she would appear, waltzed into the kitchen with a happy smirk across her own childish face. She eyed the oven with a mix of curiosity and anticipation, imparting a look most unbefitting of her Godly nature.

"I really hope you'll like them, Goddess..." Lillian cooed shyly.

"If they taste half as good as they smell, that's a guarantee!" the Goddess replied eagerly.