Violet eyes that shone like a clear gemstones.
Beautiful red lips which couldn't stop chanting.
Long raven-colored hair, which was darker than the night.
A soft and thin veil of light radiated from her body as it swayed slightly.
Maya had never seen anything more suitable with the moonlight than Aisha's figure as she prayed on the altar.
There was a symbol of a crescent moon drawn on her forehead. She also used some bracelets and necklaces usually used for such ceremonies.
Maya gulped since the atmosphere in the room was extremely formal and sacred. She dared not to disturb by the sound of her breathing.
Aisha slowly stood up from her kneeling position. She parted her hands which were clasped together and pulled out something from her wide sleeve.
It was similar to a short staff with bells attached to the edge. The staff made bell noises whenever she shook them around. Something was about to start as the people standing at the stairs' bottom began to kneel and clasp their hands together.
Cutting through the solemn silence was the voice of Kazak.
"Oh God of Life and Death, please grant us mortals the permission to open the door of the next world. With the blood of the Holy Maiden as the sacrifice, we implore you to guide us to the right path."
Blood sacrifice?
Maya frowned upon hearing that. Even more so when Aisha suddenly pulled out a blade from the short staff.
The thing in her hand wasn't a staff from the beginning but a dagger disguised as one. She slashed her palm with that dagger, letting the blood gush out of the wound freely on the altar ground.
Maya was astonished by sight. Especially when she saw no ripple in Aisha's eyes as if she couldn't feel any pain or fear seeing her own blood. It wasn't what she expected from a sheltered Priestess.
What happened next was like a scene straight from a fairy tale book.
Soon after her blood touched the ground, the altar glowed in the mysterious light. A gush of wind suddenly blew inside the room, even though the door and window were tightly shut. It whirled inside the closed space with Aisha as its center.
For a second, it looked like she would fly away and return to the moon.
Maya covered her face from the wind. She heard a fleeting bell noise, and the wind finally subsided. When she eventually could raise her face again, she was mesmerized when she saw what had happened.
Basked under the moonlight, Aisha began to dance on the altar. There was no music, but the bell sounds from her staff were like accompaniment for the Priestess's lonely dance.
The veil on her head was cast away as her petite body flowed like a river current to the bell noise. Her wide sleeve fluttered, following her movement, making her look like the moon fairy.
She turned her body gracefully like a butterfly and sometimes jumped like a dragon soaring to the sky.
Maya could tell she learned these dance movements daily until she perfected them. There was absolutely no waste movement, and she had perfect control of her body until the tip of her fingers.
Her hair swayed in the wind framing her solemn face, and her bare foot glided gingerly on the surface like she was skating in the water surface.
Maya had seen her bless the villagers before, but it was her first time seeing her perform a purification ritual. It was truly a sight to behold.
She understood why only several people were allowed to see this scene. It even made Maya feel bad for sullying such a sacred ritual with her presence.
Aisha bedazzled those around her, making one unable to look away.
As enchanting as the flower in the middle of the pond. Gentle and pure like the moonlight. Silently protective as the night. Determined as the immovable mountain.
The ritual was like a ceremony conveying a story. It revealed everything, yet nothing at the same time, like the gods themselves.
In her eyes, Aisha was like the reincarnation of the moon goddess who once dwelled in the land to be with the Sun King. It didn't feel like a sight that a mere mortal like her should see.
Aisha danced from one spot to another, following the circular structure of the altar. Once she finally returned to the center, she stopped moving. The melodious bell noises were also stopped.
The ritual was finally completed.
Maya gulped, feeling nervous and excited simultaneously to see what happened next.
She didn't know what to expect, but she certainly didn't expect the Priestess to suddenly crumble to the ground.
Aisha cried out and curled her body into a ball, dropping her bell in the process. She seemed to be in a lot of pain, but none moved to check on her like they knew this would happen. Or rather, they were waiting for it to happen.
Maya's face turned pale, and her body was as rigid as a stick.
What just happened? Wasn't the ritual succeeded? The Priestess should be the most precious and treasured existence in the land, so how come they put a blind eye to her suffering?
"Agh!"
Aisha screamed in pain before she finally stopped moving altogether.
The atmosphere in the room was eerily still, and Maya almost couldn't stop herself from checking on her condition.
However, in the next moment, Aisha suddenly sat up. Unlike before, she didn't seem like she was in pain anymore. She only looked at her hands with a weird look on her face.
"Am I…alive?"
Those were the first line she uttered, but something was strange.
That voice didn't sound remotely similar to the Priestess she knew.
The previously clear violet eyes turned murky like it was veiled by a thin mist. There was no semblance of the usual warm and gentle Aisha in there. Only emptiness remained.
Maya's whole body was tense when Kazak suddenly got up from his kneeling position and spread his arms widely. A wide smile adorned his face.
"The lost soul has returned to the world of the mortal. We thank the God of Life and Death's benevolence for this opportunity."
Aisha looked at him in confusion. Her eyes were filled with wariness and alienation as though she couldn't recognize him. "Who are you? Why am I here?"
"You are standing in the Land of Oblivion. Our Priestess is currently lending her body for you to use momentarily. We summoned you here as we have questions to ask you."
Maya's eyes bulged out in surprise when she heard that.
What did her father say just now?
She found it hard to believe that her strict father would joke around in a situation like this. But if what he said was true, then this truth was far too incomprehensible!
The one currently speaking using the Priestess' mouth and the body wasn't her, but another person. The ritual just now wasn't meant to purify anything but to summon and channel a dead spirit into one's body. A seance!
Maya shuddered before the dreadful and unsettling scene before her. Most of her body was submerged in the water, but she felt like she was breaking into a cold sweat.
Channeling the dead was supposed to be taboo, yet the ones who gathered here were their village's most high-ranking people.
They were all in this together.
Suddenly, the sad look on Aisha's face when she scolded her for living a blessed life flashed in her mind. A pang of guilt hit her heart, especially when she thought about how she cried out in pain as soon as she finished her seance.
If this person in front of them wasn't Aisha, they knew, then who were they?