Once my mothers were done playing around with my outfit, they finally let me outside with them. I was embarrassed and ashamed, so I kept my head low, but even then, I could tell we were in the middle of a forest as there were too many trees around. The neighboring lady soon greeted us when she saw us walking by, making me even more embarrassed.
"Good morning, Ariel! Good morning, Okina! And Good morning, pretty lady! You look so cute today!" The lady greets me last, forcing me to reply to her address to avoid looking rude, but I can hardly push myself to say "Good morning."
"Hey, good morning, Baba," Okina answers as she pushes me toward the old lady, who appears eager to hand me something. I once again forcefully move toward the old lady just to be patted on the head and then given a strange pendant.
"Here, you go! It's for good luck! You guys are heading over for the appraisal ceremony, right?" The old hag says as I put the pendant over me, immediately feeling extremely calm and relaxed, but how was that possible?
"How did this? My fear it-it's gone. How?" I innocently say as Ariel moves her head up and down toward the old hag. The hag soon pets my head again, making me curious about her, so I look up to see a senile-looking lady wearing a purple pointy hat.
I try not to react or cringe after seeing her, but my face gives away too much, so I look away so she won't notice.
"Thank you!" I change the subject of the conversation as I walk back to my mothers.
The old hag then just wishes us good luck, and we part ways as I curiously examine the pendant the lady gave me. The shape of the main piece looks like a half moon, while the other complement is a small ball next to the moon. I actually kind of liked it.
I didn't know precisely what it did to calm my nerves, but I felt much at ease with the pendant, which called my attention even further, so I asked my mothers about it.
"Oh? The charm? Baba makes some of the best stress-relieving artifacts in the entire forest. I'm sure she put some of that into your present." Mother Okina tells me as she holds my hand while we walk into "town."
The aforementioned "town" was like nothing I had ever seen either. The town square was filled with all sorts of people, yet they all had one thing in common, even if they all looked and dressed in different fashions. There were only women anywhere I turned, and I couldn't see any men.
How strange, I thought. I had read of fantasies where women lived on a far land far away from any men, but I didn't think such societies would actually exist, and never mind, I would ever be part of one. How strange, I thought as I walked alongside my mothers.
"Buy your purple snake! Come on, guys! But this purple snake I captured somewhere in the wild!" An old lady screamed as she tried to sell off a roasted purple snake in a stick; I found it strange, but then again, everything was new for me.
"We are selling soul-healing water! Come! Come! We've got magical water that restores your soul power! It will help you concentrate and improve your skills!" A strange witch said while wearing a shady-looking mask like those from a popular series in Japan.
"Want to know your destiny!? I can read your future! This young explosive lady can confirm my magical powers!" Said a younger-looking merchant while a young girl stood next to her. She looked cute as I paid attention to the business, though I couldn't help but feel attracted to look around more.
{If you caught all 3 references. I'm sorry to tell you, but you're an OTAKU like ME! AHAHA!}
"Come on, Yoimiya, stop looking at every merchant's selling post and keep up. This is important, too! We can come look at the market later!" Okina angrily yanks me forward as I try not to look at the merchants anymore, but they all look so interesting! I can't help it.
Yet, I tried my best to keep up with my mother's pace, even if it pained me to ignore such flashy announcements that caught my attention. It took all I had to stay focused until we finally arrived at the foot of an enormous tree. I'm talking gigantic!
The tree easily towered over every other tree in the entire forest, and it was so tall that I couldn't even comprehend how it could stand so tall and mighty. It made the tallest trees on Earth look like little pine cone sprouts. We waited for a while at the foot of the tree until a door magically appeared before us.
"Alright, let's go, Yoimiya, Ariel will have to wait for us." Okina pulls my arm as she waves at Ariel, who waves back at us. Naturally, I made the same gesture, still not understanding why she couldn't come. Yet I don't question it as the door closes, and we are surrounded by a white light.
I don't know how or why, but we appeared inside a room soon after the light vanished. I was so flabbergasted it made my jaw drop. What kind of witchcraft was that? We suddenly appeared in a whole different place after a bright light. I had never experienced it!
"Ohohoho! The usual reaction! I love it whenever a kid reacts to their first teleport!" An old lady sitting in a chair behind a tall desk says while she laughs in a friendly manner. However, something was different about this witch. She was dressed in an exquisite dress and wore a crown like that of an emperor from Roman times.
"Good to see you! Mother of everything!" Okina politely greets the old hag as she bows down to one knee, motioning me to do the same, so I follow her example. I get down to one knee and also greet the lady.
"You don't have to do that, child, now come here. Let me take a good look at you!" The old hag ordered me to approach her, and my mother anxiously pushed me forward when I took too long to react. The Queen graciously ignores my rudeness and extends her hand to me anyway. Yet when I grab her hand, I feel a strange sensation.
[Generating executive appraisal]
A weird voice speaks directly into my head as I look at the Queen, who changes her mood once I hear the voice in my head. The Queen looked worried and somewhat confused as she pointed her hand at my mother, Okina.
"This is impossible. You come directly from two fire users but aren't even close to being a fire type." The old hag exclaims, making my mother's jaw drop. I had a bad feeling about her words, like I was a weirdo, a strange anomaly in the system, it sounded like.
"What does that mean? What's wrong with me?" I ask while the old hag stares at a strange floating flat television.
"There's nothing wrong, to be precise. You're a magic user like any witch, but your magic is unheard of. Even I haven't heard of it before." The Queen soon pats my head like the other lady, "Baba," as she reassures me everything will be fine.
"What kind of user is she?" My mother, Okina, asks as she tries to hold off her tears of sadness. Oh man, now I felt horrible. I made her cry, but I couldn't control my "Magic," could I? I didn't choose whatever I was assigned, BUT I feel awful. Please stop crying!
"She's the only "Darkness" user in the WORLD. There have only been two others in the history of the world ever now that I remember."