“Hey, Kale… Can you see that box too?”

  “It’s a bit hard to, but yes, Saintess.”

  Huh, that’s surprising. I know the water is shifting around a bit and shimmering in a way that might cover it up, but I kind of figured Kale would be able to see it better than I could with his bird-eyes. It’s a little bit far into the water, so I can’t see it very well... Besides what color it is and how beautiful it is, I really have to guess at its size and weight. It looks like it’s on the smaller side, but if it’s heavier than I think it is and I drop and break it, we’re going to get absolutely overrun by all the dregs waiting outside. Soooo isn’t it for the best if Kale, who’s stronger than me, goes in there to get it?

  I promise I’m not just saying this because I don’t want to get wet.

  “Alright, since it’s pretty far away and your arms are longer, do you think you could do me a favor and go get it for me, Kale?”

  “Hmm, I’m sorry Saintess, but I won’t be able to do that; It’s impossible.”

  Well damn… I really thought he’d be willing to do this favor for me. I guess not all birds like to get wet, huh? Not like I should be talking, actually, since I didn’t wanna get wet either… But Kale usually listens to the requests I make, though! Why is he suddenly not listening to me now?

  I guess my little pouty face said everything, because Kale quickly spoke up to expin himself.

  “It seems to be a gss relic, yes? Only a Saintess is able to touch a previous Saintess’s relic without dying.”

  Oh! Oh, he’s totally totally right! I do remember reading about that somewhere in one of the books… Oh man, so I basically almost ordered Kale to run over there and kill himself just to pick up one special little box just now?

  “Thank Christ you stopped me then!”

  “...Christ…?”

  Oh gosh, okay, well that’s a crisis averted then, thank you Kale!

  …But this does mean that I’m gonna have to step into this water myself then, doesn’t it?

  …Damn…

  Alright then, no use crying over small inconveniences. I’m sure it’s going to be cold, but let’s just roll up the bottom of my robe so the water doesn’t make it any colder. Alright. Okay. It’s not a big deal, Arissa. Let’s make this quick!

  I took off my shoes and slowly stepped a foot into the water, giving it a moment to adjust to the temperature. Surprisingly enough though, unlike the other spring that we’d drank a little bit from a few hours ago, this one wasn’t nearly as chilly as I’d expected it to be. If anything, it was actually pretty nice. In fact, it matched to my body temperature so perfectly that I almost couldn’t feel any different.

  That’s… odd. Maybe it was getting a bit dark by the time we touched that st spring, but it’s still only the early hours of the morning right now; There really shouldn’t be this much of a temperature difference. Is the water that this spring is connected to actually a hot spring or something? Nah, it’s not really hot enough for that, though. Did they do something weird and only heat the water that the relic was in, then? Unlikely, considering this shrine looks really old… And also the fact that I haven’t seen that kind of technology existing in this world so far.

  So I guess that only leaves the possibility that the relic itself is the one doing the heating, huh?

  …Hope there isn’t any secret meaning that I’m supposed to be gleaming from that...

  I eased myself into the water fully, bundling up my robe to just under my butt so it wouldn’t be touched by the water that was currently pping at my knees, and slowly made my way forward. I didn’t have many chances to swim around in my st life, and although I was sure that I still remembered how to in the back of my mind, I didn’t want to take any chances; If the bottom of this pool suddenly got deeper for whatever reason, then I had to be ready so I wouldn't make a fool of myself and risk Kale’s life.

  Thankfully, though, my stupid untrusting expectations were unfounded, and the spring was completely ft all the way across. If anything, it was such a smooth walk to the relic that I felt a bit like an idiot for being so cautious. I can only hope that this thing isn’t booby-trapped or anything and makes me eat my words once I pick it up, though.

  “So this is the relic, huh?”

  I bent over a little to get a better view of it through the rippling water. It was quite a pretty little thing, just about the same size as a small jewelry box. Simple looking, and yet somehow truly standing out in its uniqueness and beauty. It was 100% made of gss, just like I’d thought it was from afar, but for some reason the gss on the inside was clouded just enough that I couldn’t make out whatever it was that the relic was holding.

  And for some reason, now that I could see it clearly, something deeply compelled me to touch it.

  -Come, sister. Open it.-

  I wasn’t even trying to hear it anymore, and yet the call from the relic was just so loud now.

  -Open it, sister. Please.-

  My hands reached out before I even knew what I was doing.

  -Yes, open it. Open it and free me from this torment.-

  The bottom of my robe was already floating on the water, getting absolutely soaked through, completely forgotten.

  -Ah yes, it’s finally time…-

  ***

  Inaiah was a simple girl. She was naive and sweet, making her very easy to prey on. As it was in her first life, so it was in her second. But at least in this one she was pretty. At least in this one she was important. At least in this one, she had found love.

  But only the one who loved her didn’t try to take advantage of her.

  As soon as she was discovered to be the Saintess, everything was decided for her. She was quickly whisked away to the main church’s cathedral, and along the way she fell in love with Rolic, one of the knights escorting her. It was a simple love, a pure love, one befitting of Inaiah’s shy and naive ways. Inaiah was content with such things, even as she knew that she was being used by the church for their own purposes. So long as she pyed along, she and Rolic would be safe and happy. So long as she sat still and did as she was told by the cardinals and the mysterious blue messages, she would be able to keep the second life she’d been miraculously given. People would hail her as a Saintess and a savior, and for the first time ever, she would be given someone else’s respect and admiration.

  But as time went on, the demands upon her only grew more and more intense. She did her best, but it never seemed to be enough. And the ever ticking timer seemed to become more and more omnipresent.

  The war against the demons was the straw that broke the camel’s back. A great wave of monsters had appeared, as had been foretold, and the church had sent her and a retinue of its padins to fight them. And of course, her dear Rolic had been amongst them, pledging to stay by her side and keep her safe. Inaiah was no leader, however, having been naturally too skittish and compcent to ever have tried taking the reins of anything, and so a different commander had been pced, one who didn’t think too kindly of the doormat of a Saintess, or the silly knight who’d risen through the ranks just because of the feeble woman’s love.

  And it was this commander who ordered Rolic onto the most dangerous part of the front lines.

  Inaiah, who had always been too skittish for combat, had been entrusted to the center of the battlefield by the commander, kept in a safe little garrison to provide support and healing to the troops as needed. And it was there that she sat, mechanically performing the task that she was given, blurring her eyes to the truth of the fighting that was going on around her, and doing only as she was told.

  It wasn’t until the fighting was halfway over, and she was brought the cold body of Rolic, that she realized how stupid she’d been. Her lover had been gravely injured in the fight, killed by one of the many monsters on the front lines, and instead of being there to save him, instead of acting like the savior that people had hailed her to be, she'd just sat there quietly and ignored all the inconvenient fighting.

  She knew it was the fault of her own weakness that he had died.

  As she sat there holding Rolic's body, rocking the two of them and crying like she was broken, the fight still continued on. The monsters might have been reduced by half, but that only meant that the easily killed ones had been weeded away, and that it was finally time for the stronger monsters to step forward and wreak havoc. Now, more than ever, they needed their Saintess’s assistance. The commander yelled constantly, both at her and at the soldiers who had brought over Rolic's body to her, but nothing he said would get a response from Inaiah. He tried to separate her from Rolic's body, but no matter what he did she wouldn’t let go of him.

  It wasn’t until he smacked her that she finally came back to her senses and actually looked around the pce.

  There was war, pin and simple, being fought all around her. Blood, pain, and death rang out from every direction, in a nauseating dispy. And there, still csped in her arms, was her beloved Rolic, who’d been forced to participate in it all, until his death.

  She hated it. She absolutely, unequivocally, irrevocably hated it. She wanted nothing at all to do with it!

  She wanted nothing to do with anything, anymore.

  And so, Inaiah used her favorite skill, the one skill she was best at. And soon all the dirty pesky things that had been causing so much carnage and pain were gone, pushed far away. With her [Consecration] she could finally make things safe for her and Rolic. Finally, they would have some time now, and she could tell him everything that she’d been meaning to.

  And it was there that Inaiah stayed, keeping up her [Consecration] until she succumbed to energy exhaustion and quietly passed away, just as quietly as she’d lived in both of her lives.

  _____

  AN: Woo, we made it to 69 ;P

  A special shoutout to Afewconcepts65 for the ko-fi donation! I'll get those chapters out to you within the day, I promise lol <3