The woman was wearing a black dress and a black hat. Her age was difficult to decipher. While her pale, almost translucent skin was firm, her hair glistened silver, as if all the pigment had been drained from it completely.
While Miyo estimated she might be in her thirties, her mind was bewildered by the woman’s otherworldly appearance.
Nevertheless, Miyo didn’t let the slightest hint of confusion come to her face, and she looked the woman squarely in the eyes.
“Yes. May I ask who you might be?”
“I’m Diana. A witch.”
“A witch…?”
Miyo cocked her head. It was a word she wasn’t very familiar with. Between this and shaman, there were many terms being thrown around that were beyond her understanding.
“Hee-hee. That’s a confused face if I’ve ever seen one. Come on over. Let’s have chat at the table.”
Inside the gazebo, there was a white table with a tea set laid out over it. The teaware was made of white porcelain and featured an elegant, charming pink flower design.
Miyo slowly sat down, her guard still high.
Diana tilted the teapot and poured out black tea.
Perhaps because they were in a dream, she produced a perfectly colored cup of black tea, accompanied by a faint vapor, by simply tipping the teapot. The temperature of the water and brew time for the leaves was inconsequential in the dream world.
Diana picked up a saucer and placed the cup of tea in front of Miyo.
“Enjoy… Though this is your dream, too, so I’m not sure what it will taste like,” Diana said, amused.
Miyo picked up the cup with as much grace as she could muster and brought it to her lips.
The black tea tasted exactly like the green tea Miyo usually drank.
“All right, where shall we begin?”
A breeze blew, rustling the flowers. The air was thick with their fragrance. Diana rested her cheek on her hand for a short moment, closing her eyes to take in the scent.
“Do you know anything about witches?”
“No.”
“Well, witches, we’re the same as what you’d call mediums. We summon spirits with incantations, give prophecies, and divine people’s futures. I’m one myself. With a single incantation, I can make the unreal into reality.”
Diana raised her arm slightly, the limb so thin it looked like it would break apart, and traced a circle in the air with one of her long fingers.
“We put our faith in our Goddess. The Goddess possesses far greater power than our silly incantations could ever hope to match. We’re thinking of summoning her to the mortal realm.”
“…What will happen if you do so?”
“She’ll grant a wish. Whatever the heart desires.”
Grant whatever the heart desires? That sounded wonderful. Everyone in the world had a wish they wanted granted, a desire to do this or that.
“You must have one of your own, yes? A wish, I mean.”
Miyo pondered without answering.
She did have wishes. She wanted to live peacefully with Kiyoka forever. She wanted her and Kiyoka to have a long and happy life, and their friends and family to have that, too. Those types of wishes.
Nevertheless, Miyo felt like these weren’t the sort of wishes you would take to a god to make real.
Miyo had gone to shrines and prayed to the gods before. She had wished for things that she would have liked to come true. That said, she knew full well it was no simple task to make one’s wishes into a reality.
She wondered what it was like for Diana’s Goddess.
“This Goddess of yours will make any wish a reality no matter what it may be?”
“Yes, she is a Goddess, after all. She’ll grant a single wish to anyone, whatever it may be. Including you.”
“…Even if I wish to spend my days in peace with my husband, and for me and the people I’m close with to lead long and healthy lives?”
Miyo’s reply left Diana staring at her in puzzlement.
“Oh, is such a small wish really all that comes to mind? Truly?”
“Yes. Outside of that, I feel far more satisfied right now than I could ever ask for.”
Miyo felt like she had used up a lifetime’s worth of good fortune by simply meeting Kiyoka. She was currently happy, and she believed she had the ability to maintain that happiness if she put in the effort.
It would be too greedy of her to wish for anything beyond that.
“You’re quite blessed, aren’t you?”
“What is your wish, Diana?”
“Mine? Oh, I have so many things to wish for. Too many to count, really. In fact, I’m still debating which of my desires to have the Goddess grant.”
Their eyes met. Despite the tranquility of the gazebo and the smell of flowers in the air, it felt as though there were sparks flying between Miyo and Diana.
Miyo had a hunch. Her intuition told her she and Diana were incompatible.
They had conversed for just a few moments, and yet Miyo felt a discomfort, like they weren’t entirely on the same page about something.
“Let me ask you, Miyo Kudou—will you come with us?”
“…To the same place Eugene spoke of earlier?”
“That’s right. We need the powers of a shaman to invoke the Goddess. So you see, we’re gathering people with shaman blood together, to help our cause. How about it? Given your powers, we’d welcome you with open arms.”
“…”
“Naturally, if you did cooperate with us, we would have the Goddess grant your wish as well. Not a bad deal, I’d say. Just lend a hand, and you’re guaranteed to have any single wish you want granted.”
Diana’s voice was mysterious. Its soothing tone made Miyo feel like she could listen to it forever, and it seemed to sink into her body and percolate inside.
Her voice suggested bliss would follow her invitation; it was almost enough to get Miyo to accompany her.
However, Miyo had been through too many hardships to readily believe Diana’s words and take her hand.
“I don’t think I need your Goddess to help make my wish come true.”
“You don’t mince words, do you? While your wish may be small, making it reality will be no easy task, you know. But if you ask it of the Goddess, it’s guaranteed to come true. You’ll be able to spend your days in peace with those precious to you for however long you desire.”
Miyo shook her head.
“I have prayed for that to happen. But it’s not because I want the gods to grant my wish at all costs. I need to work hard to figure out exactly what I want, and to make my desires a reality. That vow to put in the work is what I believe wishes and prayers are all about.”
Miyo pushed the teacup in her hands ever so slightly in Diana’s direction and stood up.
“I apologize. I cannot help you.”
Diana didn’t stop Miyo as she left the gazebo. Instead, she quietly asked a question.
“You won’t regret declining our offer, will you?”
“No. I won’t.”
Eugene came to her side after she exited the gazebo. He smiled at Miyo and pointed.
“The exit is that way… Farewell, until we meet again, milady.”
“Farewell.”
Miyo walked through the flower field without looking back.
The scenery remained the same for a while, but gradually, her surroundings began to be blanketed in light, until the entire landscape dissolved into it. As her vision went white, she shut her eyes tight against the blinding glow.
Back at the gazebo, Diana let out a small sigh, a smile still stretched across her face.
Miyo Kudou.
The quiet and vivacious beauty of this girl, who possessed the blood of Far Eastern shamans and a mighty Gift, was obvious even to another woman like Diana.
Miyo’s well-maintained long black hair was sleek and lustrous, and her large-pupiled eyes gave off a powerful, completely unwavering brilliance.
She was the complete opposite of Diana, this modest and ladylike woman who wore a kimono decorated with a tiny flower petal design.
And she was one of the last of her kind: a pure and powerful shaman.
Reflecting on their conversation, Diana couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Hee-hee.”
“She turned you down, then,” Eugene called out to her cheerfully. Her cheeky underling must have been thinking this served her right.
“She did indeed. ’Tis difficult to tempt someone who doesn’t want for anything, it seems.”
“But she is needed for the ritual. With her around, we probably won’t need any other shamans, will we?”
“That’s right. There’s no one more suited for it than her, I’m afraid.”
Diana wanted Miyo. She felt it even more strongly after having the chance to meet and converse with the woman.
No one else could match Diana’s ambitions so well. Though they were complete opposites, she had a feeling they might actually get along better than expected.
“In that case, Diana, we need to come up with another method of getting ahold of her.”
“Another method… Let’s see. We can either force her into cooperating with us, or create a situation where she would do so of her own volition.”
What would Diana need to do to get Miyo to waver?
As she grew excited, Diana closed her eyes. It was time for her to wake up from the dream.