The Former Priestess

Chapter 1: Where is Lilia?

The head priest could barely keep his eyes on the painting of his former wife, Lilia. The young woman was the main priestess for Kilia, the goddess of magic, and was considered one of the most beautiful girls in Siliand. She had skin that was even pinker than the flower that grew on the top of her head and her eyes resembled a leaf.  I can't let my thoughts of her distract me again. the priest thought. He almost didn't notice that the speed of his body was almost at a run. Stop. What if they think I'm always anxious. No one else was in the hallway with him, but he was always scared there might be a curious onlooker.

Someone who didn't know the priest would've thought  he was sixteen or seventeen because of his smooth skin and large purple eyes. His skin had the same delicacy and color as a lavender petal.  His beet-like hair was mostly red but had a purplish hue. The decorations on the wall flashed by each other in a blur as he ran. He placed his hands on the door while avoiding all of the swirling decorations of leaves and flowers. The door swung open. The head priest took a left turn and glared at the familiar decoration of the houses. They were decorated with long swirls, and small floral designs on a light background usually beige or pink. 

 He stopped in front of a tall green building. Colorful paintings each the size of oranges covered the green wall in a grid-like way. The roof of the building included a large scale painting of Lima, the goddess of life and sun. She had light purple skin, not much unlike the priest, and long flowing green hair. Her dress was sculpted in fabric to mirror the miniature flowers that were placed on her head. Her eyes were light purple but not in a striking way. 

He dragged his fingers along the door's rough wood. A glowing blue streak lingered behind his fingers. Then, he paused. Will she let me see her again? At least I said a spell to stop aging, he thought. The door crept open. He saw a head that was masked by shadow. The door crept open. She let out a slight smile when she could get a glimpse of Temii's head.

"Hi Temii" Milamore, the priestess said to the head priest. Her smile had already faded.

" Hi, Milamore. I think it is time for us to do a meditation session to find Lilia" he said. His voice was soft.

"Why do you need me to help you do? You've been the head priestess, for I don't know how long. If you don't know, ask the gods. Well, I'm only the priestess of Lima. You're the head priest, " said Miliamore. The woman had the same bitter tone that increased in tone and pitch ever since Temii was chosen to become the head priest over her.

"I already told you. I don't know how to do that type of magic yet. A few weeks ago I asked Kilia about her. All she told me was that she lived in another region and that seeing her again may not lead to a good result." he said.

Almost a year after her death, Lima told him that she has reincarnated into a baby. When he asked he could sometimes feel the calming energy of Lima or the energy of Kilia which no one could quite describe but without a response. He even called Tri, the god of death and night once. As he appeared he made Temii's body fill with cold dark energy but only leaving him in a state of fear just to hear the simple phrase "I'm not involved in that process. Ask someone else" in a low muffled tone.

"Fine. I'll try my best to help you. I have done this before." she said with pride audible in her voice. Her eyebrows scrunched together over her squinted eyes, her eyes looked far into the distance, and her mouth was stuck into an internal frown. 

"One bent penciple leaf. Two yeau berries," she said. It was always her signature way to start a spell. She flipped through her book and landed on the page. " Oh, it says you don't need any ingredients. You were right it is literally just a meditation session. Just start meditating and I'll read to you"

Temii tried his best to keep calm for a few moments. He had meditated many times before so soon his mind was blank and he drifted out of the room.

"Keep walking until you reach a door. Open the door that feels most like Lilia to you." Milamore said. She sounded a lot calmer than before.

Everything went blank for a moment. He could see faint blotches of values and color and then  saw sharper images form out of the blurry shapes. Thousands of skinny tall trees enclosed the town. The structures in front of him stuck to a color palette of reds, browns, and greens. Temii adjusted his head to see the crack that ran straight through the neck of a sculpture. However, the wood underneath the crack looked almost much duller than the wood above it. The sculpture had both the same soft face and hairstyle as Lima.

Across from the temple, there was a huge Siliandian building with so many red brushstrokes that the surface seemed pink. In black paint, Senton's emblem included a long line with a short line forming an x at the left corner as if it was making a sword. "Why did our military leader waste our resources to do this" thought Temmi.

Some girls with green skin and hair walked by. They were wearing a long dull green shirt with loose brown or red pants cuffed at the knee. This is Niotan? Using the pictures I saw and the stories I heard Niotan is supposed to be a desolate place, he thought. He felt a pull to the left. He walked over there. 

Expanses of farmland filled the area. Half of the plants were dead and the other plants were filled with life. There were rows of plants with leaves that were a contrasting dull dark green shade which enhanced the bright glowing fruit. The less healthy ones had a duller color and a wrinkled texture. 

He saw a young woman that looked to be around eighteen or nineteen with long flowy dark green hair and lime green skin. Her clothing was similar to the other girls that he saw but it was a muted purple shade rather than a greenish tone. Her eyes were stuck on the plants in front of her. 

She lifted her hand above one of the wrinkled purple bulbs that were about the size of half of an adult hand. As familiar energy creeped out of her hands, the bulb wiggled in the air and became brighter and shone like the most brilliant star in the sky. The brightness as long as she could think the word bulb and the plant returned to its initial state.

The young woman gave a disappointing look that reminded him of one that Lilia gave him when he came to her to rant about his failures. Her energy felt so much like Lilia's which was strange to him because he thought that she had none of the signature features such as the soft petals that made up of the flower that grew on her head and her matching pink skin. Could this be Lilia? I don't want to be this distant from her but if I encourage her to come to me everyone will talk about how indecent I am.  He looked at the girl again and she looked to her left. "What if she can't remember me!?" he thought.

"Nii! Come over here" someone yelled in a high pitched tone that filled Temii with joy. She was wearing a stiff yellow dress, had a friendly smile and inviting eyes. Her yellow hair stopped right above her elbows and her skin was a lime green shade.

Everything became blurry and darker until the only thing that he could see was a solid dark mass. Then the familiar surroundings of the temple Milamore worked at began to appear. Milamore had her eyes locked on Temmi's head.

" I saw Lilia's new form!" Temii said in a high pitched squeal.

"What did she look like?" Milamore asked.

"She had long green hair and lime green skin. She was a farmworker in Niotan."

" You are not going to go there right," Milamore said. She let out a slight smile and held back a chuckle.

"If I can, I will. Niotan looked much better than they say it does,"Temmi said.

"You know she won't be able to remember you, right?" Milmore asked. Temmi looked a little upset.

"Even if she can remember me.  I may not be able to recognize her."Temmi said in a soft tone.