Having arrived at Nyx"s church Alice was surprised to see that Sian was there as well talking with a short man with dark green hair and pointed ears and dressed in a camo robe and a mask covering his nose and mouth. Making eye contact with Alice he ran over to her and bowed his head, "G.o.ddess Alice I am so happy to see you here! What brings you here today? "
"G.o.ddess? " Sora said, looking at Alice curiously with the same expression as her father and the rest of their group.
"Are you crazy? Do not go saying unnecessary things… I am here today with some friends so their daughter can pray to Nyx and receive a blessing. " Alice replied now trying to think of a way to explain what he just said in front of Alan and the others.
"Splendid! ", "Why not take her for yourself though? " Sian said before whispering the question in her ear.
"I agree we should get started right away. " Alice replied ignoring his question.
"I hear that we have someone coming to receive their first blessing and offer their first prayer today, is that correct? " The man said, having been standing next to them without much notice from the rest of the group.
"Meee! I have prayed to Nyx lots but daddy says I have to pray here for Nyx to be happy and bless me! " Sora said happily.
"How cute, I am sure Nyx is very happy to receive your prayers. I am Okami Azure, Nyx"s Envoy. Would you like to come with me to begin your prayer? " Okami replied, crouching to get eye level with Sora.
"Yeah! " Sora said, offering her hand to him to hold.
Thinking for a moment Okami gave in and took her hand and led her to the altar in front of the statue of Nyx and began to teach Sora how to properly pray to Nyx as Alice and the others took a seat and watched.
"What did you mean when you called Alice a G.o.ddess? " Hara finally spoke up after not being able to contain her curiosity anymore.
Giving Sian a look Alice made it clear he should keep his mouth shut and come up with a good excuse.
"Ah… I just find Alice to be as beautiful as a G.o.ddess and so I refer to her as such. " Sian replied, giving an awkward smile.
"Oh… " Hara replied and went back to watching her sister pray.
"You like the little girl a lot don"t you? " Nyx said startling Alice who was not expecting Nyx to talk to her.
"Yeah, I am pretty fond of her. She is praying to get her first blessing today and I wanted to ask if you could do something special for her as a favor to me. " Alice replied, happy to know that her mother is okay.
"She is a very pure child, I will give her a blessing but you need to keep an eye on the child as much as you can after this. I will also be going back to sleep for a short time so if you really need to contact me just come wake me up okay. " Nyx replied.
"Thank you! " Alice replied now in a great mood.
Just as soon as Nyx finished talking with Alice her statue turned pitch black and the shadow of the statue slowly crept towards Sora who had her eyes shut praying. The shadow slowly covered Sora"s body until Sora was pitch black and was almost completely out of sight causing Alan to stand up worried.
"Alice what is going on??? " Alan asked, trying not to panic.
"Don"t worry I just asked Nyx for a favor to help Sora out, it will be over soon. " Alice replied trying to calm him down.
As the seconds pa.s.sed by Okami stood and watched Sora in amazement, this was the first time he had ever seen Nyx give such a show to someone offering their first prayer at the altar. Seeing the spectacle all of the people in the church gathered around in silence to watch and see what blessing the little girl will gain from such a grand display.
"Everyone I would ask as your envoy to please sit and be quiet until the blessing has finished being received. " Okami said loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Alice what is going on? Why is it taking so long? " Alan asked in a whisper.
"I do not know what blessing Nyx is giving her, all I know is Nyx said she would do me a favor and give her something special. " Alice replied quietly.
As the church fell completely silent the Shadow covering Sora"s body slowly faded and was absorbed by her, bringing her back into full view revealing Sora to be asleep in the praying position.
"Sora, wake up dear your blessing has been received would you mind telling me what it was you were given? " Okami said, holding one of his hands up to keep the people in the church seated as he woke her up.
Rubbing her eyes and sitting on the ground Sora yawned and looked at Okami and nodded, "I was having a dream where I met Nyx and she was showing me how to use the shadows like Alice, she said that she is really happy I picked her and that I can use the shadows as much as I want now. It was a really nice dream. "
Hearing her words some of the people in the church began whispering to the people beside them as they all looked at her as if it was a miracle.
"My daughter has two elements now?.. " Alan said quietly, thankful he was able to meet Alice who he held responsible for the good fortune his daughter was experiencing.
"You have all heard it, Sora has been looked upon with high favor by our G.o.ddess. Should she stay in the Kingdom, each of you should do your best to honor Nyx"s wishes and treat this little girl with the utmost respect! " Okami said to the people while walking Sora back to her family.
"I am like you now! " Sora said, running over to Alice and jumping onto her lap with a big smile.
"Yes you are, I will show you how to use your elements later on okay. " Alice replied, rubbing Sora"s head happy to hear she was given such a special gift.
"Miss Alice do you think you have some time to speak with me? " Okami said politely, wanting to confirm for himself the things that Sian had told him about her real ident.i.ty.
"I had planned on going and spending the rest of the day with Sora and her family. I am sorry. " Alice replied, turning him down.
"How about we just meet you at the Mages guild when you are done with your chat Alice? " Alan said, offering her a way to do both.
"That is a great idea, we will see you after you"re done Alice! " Joey said, picking Sora up and leaving with the others.
"I guess you have time now. " Okami said with a smile and began walking to the statue waiting by it for Alice to follow him.
"If we were just going to talk by the statue we could have talked where I was earlier. " Alice replied, trying not to be annoyed.
"Don"t be silly, we are not talking here, this is just the entrance. " Okami replied before sinking into the Shadow cast by the Statue of Nyx.
Seeing him disappear Alice did the same figuring she could figure out where he went once she was in the shadows. Seeing that there was a closed off room below the statue she decided she would check there first.
"I knew you would be able to find this place with ease, now we can finally talk without anyone hearing. " Okami replied, taking a seat in a comfortable looking chair.
"What is it that you wanted to talk about? " Alice replied, taking a seat as well and sinking into the cus.h.i.+on.
"Sian is not one to lie when it comes to these things so that is why I find it so strange he believes you to be a real G.o.ddess. That is what I mainly wanted to talk about, could you please shed some light to this story for me? " Okami said while looking curious.
"Since you are my mother"s envoy I guess it wouldn"t hurt to tell you. I am a demiG.o.d however I do not have enough power yet to be of much use so I am laying low as long as I can. Sian was there when I first received my power of belief, I honestly wish he didn"t have such a big mouth. " Alice replied feeling a little relieved to finally say it out loud to another person.
"Is that so? You want me to believe this? " Okami replied with a doubtful look.
"I don"t really care if you believe me. Sian know"s and has seen it as well. I am the one who asked my mother to give Sora a special blessing and look at what happened. If you need more proof than that you can try to ask Nyx when she wakes up from her nap. " Alice replied before leaving the room and walking through the streets to go and find Sora.