"Aviola Violet, the 199th high priestess of the werewolf race, greets the chosen one!! Please lead us to victory!!" The crazy woman said as she took off a bhuddist prayer bead from her neck and offered it to me.
What's a bhuddist prayer bead doing with someone of the occultic religion?
She tried saying something, but choked on her words, spitting almost a gallon of blood instead. Then she gestured for me to come closer.
My legs felt like cooked noodles as I moved closer to this bloodied woman. The whole 'congregation' were staring at me as I walked slowly to meet her.
I stretched out my hand, to collect the beads. Maybe it was out of nervousness or shyness, as I was about to take the beads from her outstretched hands, I slipped on her blood…
I fell. But instead of hitting the cold, hard floor of the event hall, I felt myself in someone's huge, warm hands.
It was Mike who came to my rescue. He wrapped his hands around my back and waist as he lifted me up before I could hit the ground.
Our eyes met. Time seemed to have stopped for a few seconds as I stared at him in amazement.
What kind of sorcery is this?
He was standing at least 20 meters apart from where I was. Yet here he is, playing the hero.
Why is he still holding me?
My heart was beating wildly like a war drum as I saw his handsome face staring at me. His lips were inches away from mine and I could feel his hot breath on my face.
Is he trying to kiss me?
"Umm! Umm! Sorry… I saw that you were about to fall… so I came to help you up…" Mike smiled awkwardly, before rushing back to his seat.
All of this happened within a few seconds, yet to me, it felt like a thousand years had passed. This would be the first time I have received this kind of care.
Crack!
I heard something shattered. I don't know if it's my worldview; due to the supernatural speed he carried me with or the restrictions I placed on my heart.
While I was still in a daze, one of the seven custodians took the beads from Aviola's hands and offered them to me on both knees.
"The seven custodians of the moon palace greet the chosen one! Please lead us to victory!" The seven 'undertakers' went on one knee before bowing at my feet.
"Marcus Fae of the raging Wolf clan greets the chosen one! Please lead us to victory" The "Cult leader" knelt on one knee and bowed before me.
"Mike whitewolf of the silver moon clan greets the chosen one!" Mike also bowed to greet me, somehow avoiding my gaze, as if he was a child that had done something wrong.
"The werewolf race greets the chosen one!! Please lead us to victory!!!" The whole 'congregation' shouted in unison as they all knelt and bowed to me.
'wait what?! I've been initiated into a cult group without my consent!'
Mummy!!
'I'm the chosen one? Just because of a mad woman's words? Just like that?'
As I was about to go meet the bloodied woman and tell her she was mistaken (I'm even ready to confess to her about my real identity at this point.), when I saw her gasping for breath, with a large amount of blood gushing out of her mouth… then, the light in her eyes dimmed and she slumped to the ground.
I rushed to meet her. I checked her pulse and she was no longer breathing.
I tried performing CPR, but there was nowhere to press on her bloodied chest. All the ribs on her chest seemed broken and out of place. Even if I succeeded in saving her, she wouldn't survive the night. Her internal organs had been damaged by the broken ribs.
I wondered what could have happened, for her to break all her ribs like that. It was as if she fell from the mount everest, or she was hit by a fast moving truck.
"Hmmm" I cleared my throat and the whole hall became silent. It's high time I confess, before I get killed by whoever it is that killed this mad woman.
"I know this might sound like a shock to most of us, but the woman lying on the ground here is… Dead, and there's nothing we could do to resurrect her." I stated the obvious.
"I'm sorry to announce to you that I wouldn't be able to fill in the position as a chosen one or whatever it's called by you guys, as I'm an ordinary woman who happened to be here by fate… I'm just a normal human who's relying on my studies to become someone in the future." I finally confessed to the crowd of weird humans.
"This is my first time coming in contact with anything supernatural. It's my first time seeing someone being raised from the Dead, albeit it being for a short time. Please, I'm not the chosen one." I finally finished my lenghty speech.
"We believe you, chosen one. We'll always keep that in mind," Mike said, then he moved closer to one of the seven custodians before whispering something into her ears.
The woman's eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled at me and gave me a knowing look. "I understand, miss Diana. Ever since we entered, I've been having doubts about you since I didn't notice any wolf aura on you. My apologies for troubling you, miss Diana." The woman bowed.
The other custodians were about to say something before the middle-aged woman winked at them, then dragged them to one side where they began to speak in whispers. The six other guardians also gave me a knowing look before bowing.
"We understand!" they said in unison.
Am I being misunderstood again?
Mike, what the hell did you say to them?
"Miss Diana, my name is Akira Violet, and I'm the leader of the seven custodians. Though we can remove your title as the chosen one, you have to make one of two difficult choices." The middle-aged woman approached me.
"What are the choices?" I asked.
"For the first choice, you'll have to go through a ritual process to remove the mark binded to your soul by the moon goddess. The difficult part of this process is that… ever since the beginning of time, no one has survived this process." The middle-aged woman said.
"But since the mark was just binded to your soul not quite long ago, I'm very sure that you'll survive it. It'd be better if we started the ritual now " the cruel woman suggested.
"No… haha, I'll pass on that one. What's the second option?" I smiled awkwardly.
You're asking me to risk my life. For what?
"The second option is for you to accept the Mantle and be the high priestess for a period of ten years. Then you're free to pass on the title to anyone who wishes to be the high priestess, but… " One of the custodians said. She wants to explain more, but she was stopped mid-sentence by Akira.
"That's all you need to know, my lady," Akira Violet said. "Get ready, your induction will take place in the next three months."
Finally, my fate was sealed in stone. Who should I tell that I joined a group of occultic religion all because of a few plates of rice.
"Now's the time to do the farewell ritual for the 199th high priestess. Let us all be in a solemn mood as we call on the moon goddess to bless her soul," Marcus Fae announced.