Legend Reborn

Chapter 4: Preparations

I probably shouldn't have been so quick to volunteer for this. When they said "cleansing ritual" they really just meant "vigorous washing". I'm pushed and pulled in a deep tub as several women fuss over me. Usually I would love a day at the spa, but not when they scrub me top to bottom with rough brushes. My skin is all red by the time they're done scrubbing me down.

I run my fingers through my soft brown hair as I wait in a bathrobe for my outfit to arrive. The one good thing out of this madness is that my hair is as smooth as silk, and it smells pretty good too. Actually, I smell pretty good in general. I stop sniffing my hair just as a young girl walks in with the clothes I'm supposed to change into. I ruffle my wings slightly in embarrassment, and I'm glad she didn't see me.

The little girl leads me to a smaller room down the hall. I admire her chestnut colored wings as I follow her. I wonder what clan she's from. The air is cooler in this room and I shiver. She closes the door behind her without saying a word. I feel like a freak or something because the women washing me didn't say anything to me either, but I did notice them staring at my wings a few times. I look at myself in the full length mirror on the wall opposite the door. I let my wings slowly extend out from my back, and look at them carefully. They're the same size and everything as before, but, instead of the cream feathers they used to have, they're a shimmering gold. 

I stroke a soft wing before pulling them both back. An angel's wings actually fold very close to their body, and it's hard to even see them unless they're standing sideways. I turn sideways to see how they look from that angle. Still gold, and still not normal. I sigh and begin to untie my bathrobe to change. I pause to look at my tattoo in the mirror too. Instead of the eagle that's been there all my life, I see what elder Marlene called a phoenix. Quickly, I turn away from the mirror and sit on the floor with my head down. I haven't gotten used to the idea of being like the Great Mother yet. 

"Isn't there anything left of me?" I whisper to myself. 

"Of course, child."

I snap my head up, but there's no one in the room. "W-who's there?" I say, even though I can see there's no one else in the room.

"A friend," the voice answers. I'm getting a little wary of strange voices since the last one turned out to be the enemy of Elarium.

"Show yourself!" I demand. I feel exposed in just a bathrobe, but maybe if I sound confident, I'll be confident.

An odd smoke like substance begins to swirl up from the floor to form a spectral figure in front of me. I stand up to look at it face to face. The figure is female, and an angel like me. I start to feel a little better knowing she's not a shadow.

"Who are you?" I ask the figure.

"I have many names, but most call me the Great Mother," the figure replies.

I look at the ghostly figure in shock. This is the Great Mother Matrisus? She has long flowing hair that almost reaches the floor, and wears a shimmering dress. Her face is soft and kind, but also appears worried. She's not the way I imagined.

"Why are you...um...well..." I don't know how to phrase the question, so I gesture to her smoky looking body with my hands instead. 

"Like a ghost?" she finishes for me.

"Um, yeah."

"After my battle with Kirkland I had to use my power to revive my companions," she explains. "In order to do so I had to give up my physical form, and only my conscious remains in Elarium. Sometimes I can manifest myself like this, but never for too long."

"That's right," I say as I remember the legend. "Wait, who's Kirkland?"

The Great Mother looks down. "Arthur Kirkland. The shadow that tried to consume Elarium all those years ago, and the same one that is threatening the land today."