I stare out the window of the carriage I am riding, a perfect blue sky allows the sun to shine down almost illuminating the white store fronts.

Each one of them advertising some product or brand that I cannot identify, the principles seem universal in all the worlds I have been in so far though.

Advertising is a universal principle.

I turn away from the street and look to the person sitting opposite me, a young woman with scruffy shoulder length black hair. Her green eyes return my gaze, I give her a modest smile.

“What you think of this place?,” her relaxed works throw me off slightly, she lets out a slight smile towards me.

“It feels very controlled so far, this is the second time I’ve seen the sky so far.”

“Yes, something about it does feel mesmerising but I’m not sure why. It’s like I haven’t seen it before yet it’s just the sky, I’ve seen it all my life.”

I nod my head, “We’ll be meeting the queen and pope, those sound like important people.”

“I wonder what they’re like.”

“I bet they’re beautiful,” a voice beside us speaks up, a younger girl with short brown curly hair joins the conversation. Her youthful face speaks of her inexperience and her smile confirms it, I resist the urge to reach forward and give her a pat on the head.

“They will surely be beautiful, I heard they’re friends with Goddess Athena,” the final voice in the carriage speaks up. A young woman with long blue hair swept across her lap hiding most of her face, piercing blue eyes peer from behind the thick bushel of hair.

“Yes that’s right. The Queen, Pope and Goddess are long time friends. They fought to create this world where women who are deemed heroes can return to peace devoid of problems,” the young girl speaks out confidently.

The other two quietly clap their hands, “Impressive you remember that,” one of them says.

“I couldn’t sleep so Janeliuanium told me stories.”

“Do you think they’ll be strict? If they were fighting then they should be heroes like us, people that died while fighting,” the woman opposite to me says.

No one else speaks up, so I speak up.

“They’re the highest authority in this place so they won’t really care about us, they deal with more important matters all the time.”

The rest of the cabin is silent, “I thought this place would be without fighting?,” the younger girl speaks up.

“You can’t avoid that sort of thing so you need to prepare yourself early.”

A couple of heavy breaths come from within the carriage as I return to staring out the window staring at the people that are gathering in numbers. The procession of carriages continues through the streets that begin to fill with traffic slowing down the progression. I watch all of the women wearing beautiful clothing and accessories pass by as though each one is trying to outdo the other. It’s fascinating yet also boring, there’s no order to it as each one is objectively the same as the other.

I turn my gaze to the sky as the women in the carriage continue,

“Did anyone see Goddess Athena?”

“I didn’t, I heard her voice though it sounded lovely,” the younger girl says.

“I saw a glimpse of her, I even saw her smile as she spoke to me,” the blue haired woman says.

“Really? What did she speak about?,” the younger girl asks.

The blue haired woman stutters for a moment, “Never you mind,” she speaks out through the stutters.

“I spoke to her but I can’t remember the contents of the conversation… I can remember her smiling face though as though she could protect me through everything, I just need to trust on her and everything will be ok,” the woman opposite to me speaks.

They turn to me, “I didn’t get a chance to speak but I did see Goddess Athena… her looks… she looks determined, she looks like she has experienced a lot and knows what she wants.”

The group is silent as though they’re thinking over my words, the carriage stops where I look outside and spot the entrance to a building, a red carpet has been rolled out for our entrance it seems as people stand on either side of the side looking this way.

A young woman opens the door, “Welcome heroes, please step onto the carpet. The Pope is waiting for you.”

Two of the people gasp in the carriage, “What about the queen?” the younger giirl asks.

“She will arrive soon.”

The younger girl frowns at this response, the woman at the door ignores it and speaks to the rest of us.

“Please step out.”

The woman opposite to me steps out first, “Look it’s Neitheuth. We can count on her protecting our southernly eastern north sky space in the future,” someone in the crowd shouts.

The rest of the crowd cheers, “Neitheuth, protect our skies!”

“Neitheuth, protect it with all your might!”

“Neith-sama, protect it!”

“Nei please protect it!”

…

The crowd is almost uncontrollable from the first shout, I lean forward but am beaten by the younger girl who steps outside the carriage waving to the crowd.

“It’s Veluy, she will protect the soul of the northern quadrant of eastern latitude 38 degrees”

“Woo Velly.”

“Vel-chan, over here!”

The younger girl giives a pose for the crowd who cheers as she raises her fist into the air, “I am Veluly, you shall see much of me in the future,” the young girl announces to a clapping crowd.

I slide out of the carriage soon after, “Pseupheus! It’s Pseupheus!”

The crowd murmurs quietly for a moment as I begin to walk towards the entrance, “Pseupheus, the Pseupheus? Protector of the golden sea horn?”

The crowd breathes in together as though they’re amazed by this name, I have no idea what’s going on as I walk forward but I choose to raise my hand. The crowd cheers in response to my raised fist.

“Psu-chan!”

“Pseupheus, protect that sea horn!”

“Ppheus, protect us!”

…

The people in the crowd continue to talk about me, yet it’s all made up and nothing about me. I walk forward and reach the younger girl that left before me who has slowed her step.

I pat her back causing her to turn, she reaches her hand out for my hand. I let her take my hand which she squeezes tightly, pressing it into her bosom causing her to stick to me.

The two of us proceed towards the building as the crowd reacts to the people following us, “Lady Bufzul and Lady Xannemminnun!”

I tune out their reaction as they loudly react to the information that they probably don’t actually know and walk towards the large open door away from the crowd, the young girl continues to cling to me as we arrive inside the doors and away from the crowd noise.

I place my hand on the younger girl’s head, she opens her eyes and looks towards me with a deep red colour, “Are we safe?”

I nod my head not quite knowing what she’s talking about, she relaxes her grip and looks around the entrance space, ahead of us is the woman that was opposite us, she has the attention of two strangely dressed people adorned with colourful feathers.

“Where’s the banquet?” a voice comes from behind me, the others have caught up where I finally notice a new comer to the group, a tall slender woman with long black hair.

“Through those doors?,” I point towards a closed double set of doors not too far away when the group notices someone walking towards them.

A person wearing beige walks up to the group, “A few guests would like to meet the heroes before starting.”

“Ok send them over,” the woman with blue hair answers before I can deny this. I glare at them causing their presence to shrink where they stand, a small group of women wearing large flowing dresses shows up flanked by several people holding their long trailing dresses off the ground so they don’t get damaged.

“OHH, so you’re the heroes!” one of the women wearing a blue and white dress speaks up, “so how do you find our world so far? Is it good enough for the heroes? It must be if Goddess Athena would summon you here but we haven’t seen the Goddess in quite some time. Did you see the Goddess? If I recall correctly, the last group of heroes were able to see the Goddess…

The brown haired girl clenches my hand as she disappears into my clothes while the other two are listening to this woman continue to speak without any particular purpose, I follow along with the conversation for a moment then ignore it opting to look around the room that has begun to fill with more people wearing incredibly fancy looking clothing adorned with jewels and feathers but only the women standing before us have the incredibly long trailing dresses.

I absorb the atmosphere of the room as people talk all around the room, not able to hear full conversations but snippets of how people live in this city and their happenings.

“Do any of you find Athenium different to how you used to live?”

Most of the group shake their head but the tall black-haired woman speaks up, “Well I cannot speak exactly but I have a faint picture of my life being similar to the life you live here, one where stone and wood are used and where people are fighting all the time.”

“My fighting? I take it there were men on that world?”

The black-haired woman nods, the women wearing fancy dresses and lots of make up reach forward and pat the tall woman on the back.

“You poor thing, I do not want to even try to imagine the horrors that sort of place would bring. Luckily the Goddess brought you here and you’re safe from all that.”

“This place is already magical, I cannot believe that I have arrived on Atheniun” the black haired woman mutters, tear develop in the corners of her eyes that she wipes away.

“Your time here should be most enjoyable, I sure hope you get posted in a territory near mine.”

I clear my throat to speak up but the giant doors on the far side open up to music playing drawing everyone’s attention.

The gentle melody of harps accompanied by the soft wailing of violins creating a beautiful harmony that quietly drowns out people’s conversations, two figures step out of the doors together shoulder to shoulder.

One wearing pristine white robes lined with gold and silver sequence straight dress, her face covered with glasses has a gentle yet stiff smile on it. Her hair covered by a tall hat adorned with fanciful gemstones and symbols including a picture of Goddess Athena. Each step she walks is joined with the tap of a large staff hitting the ground.

The other is wearing a long flowing blue robe with a delicately layered white dress underneath lined with golden lining revealing a slender waist and large chest, I look towards her face where I notice her staring directly at me.

Her piercing azure-eyes meet with mine, I feel the world disappear as we hold each others gaze.

Her eyes shimmer causing us to return back to normal, the two of them walk a short distance and stop just before our group.

Hundreds upon hundreds of people have gathered around us in a circle, there isn’t even any wriggle room as people pile in to watch the scene unfold.

The woman with the staff speaks up first, “Welcome heroes! You answered the call of the Goddess Athena and were rewarded. You will help usher in the future for our world, I, Pope Nalfiette, hope you will find peace here and prosper with all of us under Goddess Athena’s blessings.”

The crowd loudly claps when she is done speaking, she raises her staff off the ground to louder claps before slamming her staff on the ground. The loud tap causes the crowd to go silent, all eyes go onto the woman standing beside Pope Nalfiette.

The woman in the blue robe is standing there playing with her hair between her fingers staring at the ground, “Queen Alferia, the heroes are waiting,” Pope Nalfiette speaks.

“Oh sorry Nalfie,” the blonde haired woman looks away from the ground, “so heroes huh. Welcome to Anthenium, there’s not much fighting here and you don’t ever need to worry about food. I’m pretty hungry now so let’s go eat.”

The blonde haired woman raises her robe and turns around walking back through the door leaving Pope Nalfiette standing there.

“If any of you ever need guidance in the future you can seek me out at the central cathedral but we will be spending lots of time together in the future, excuse me.”

Pope Nalfiette leaves the scene following after the Queen who briefly spoke yet that connection we had leaves linger doubts in my mind and those eyes, could they be something special?

The crowd begins to get noisy again but before they can get too carried on some people yell, “Please go through the door and be seated,” the crowd flows dragging our group along with it. They don’t care that we’re the guests of honour, we’re being dragged through the doors and into the giant hall that has a single big U shaped table, the most decorated and largest seats sit in the middle raised above everyone else where the queen and pope sit siide by side.

The table before them spread out with all sorts of meats and vegetables, pasta noodles and other dishes on one section while all sorts of cheese are next to it. Rice dishes on another part of the table even seafood, everything smells delicious while the room itself is incredibly gorgeous with a crystals casting colour light on the roof along with a single giant carved crystal hovering in the middle emitting a dull light.

A beige-robed person comes forward, this time they’re wearing an apron, “This way.”

“What’s that crystal?” the brown haired girl asks.

“That’s what the planet looks like, the Goddess carved that herself.”

“Wow,” the young girl says while being seated between two older women who immediately fawn over her.

“This way,” the attendant says while leading me away, the brown haired girl turns toward me with a pleading face.

“We’re being separated?,”

“Yes,”

“Can we choose to be seated together?”

“No.”

“Why?”

The attendant pushes me into a chair, “This will allow you to better adjust,” she says while walking away.

A quiet rage builds inside me being forced to endure what’s going on right now, the people beside me begin to talk, “Hero, how are you? I have a niece that was birthed during the last session who would love to meet you. She’s only 8 years old and…”

She speaks until everyone has found a seat, she speaks about things that I have no response for as I can’t explain how little I care about how her daughter’s school’s principle’s wife has it out for her but she speaks up until the Pope slams her staff down on the ground.

“Attention, we will say the prayer then begin.”

Everyone places a hand over their heart and closes their eyes, “O Athena Goddess of this land, bless us with bountiful harvests and eternal springtime. O gracious eternal Goddess Athena, we thank you for your gifts.”

“Eternal And Ever-lasting.”

“Eternal and Ever-lasting.”

…

A quiet chant comes over the crowd as they each finish their own prayer in the same way, “Enjoy, welcome to Athenium heroes,” the pope says.

The crowd noisily sets into the food as they forget manners reaching for the best pieces of meat first, they don’t wait as people stand on their spot and reach as they as they can without moving too far. I think about moving chairs atleast when the women beside me each shove a plate near my face filled with food.

Two sorts of juicy and plump looking meat lay on the plate alongside a creamy pasta dish, a fork is shoved into my mouth followed by another not allowing me to taste, but they are delicious and melt in my mouth regardless.

I enjoy the two women feeding me before moving onto some food myself trying out all the delicacies available before me.

Some time passes as I enjoy the food, dessert has appeared on the exterior of the room sending whispers through the crowd of excitement yet a noise draws many eyes towards it including my own.

“What do you mean you don’t want to be my liittle sister?”

“Sorry, umm,” the brown-haired girl cowers in her chair away from the orange-blonde hair haired young woman standing behind her holding a piece of cake. Her hair made up in elaborate drills giving her an incredibly presence in the room but blocking her vision.

“You look just right to be my little sister and you’ll get countless benefits.”

“Miss umm,” the brown haired girl speaks up yet she is unable to.

“Come on, I have always wanted a hero little sister. Call me Big Sister Wesz”

The brown-haired girl looks towards me, I stand up and walk the few short steps and snatch the plate before the young woman can react, her hair flies through the air as she turns it quickly to see what happened.

She reaches for the plate to snatch it back but I’m too quick, taking the chocolate cake piece up to my mouth, “Give it back,” she says while reaching for the plate still.

“It’s already gone so I can give it back if you want,” I say while showing her the empty plate, I take the last piece up to my mouth where the young woman reaches for it in my hand. I shove it into my mouth as her gloved fingers pry my hand away from my mouth.

Everyone is watching the exchange not intervening but all attention is now on me instead of the young girl, I smile as my fingers leave my face in the hands of the other young woman.

“You ate it?!”

An almost high-pitched scream comes from the young woman as I nod my head, “Thank you, this hero will always remember your tribute,” I say before winking at the brown-haired girl.

“You’re not a hero! Just look at your face, just look at your manners.”

“Weszel Stein, sit down.”

“She ate my thousand hearts chocolate cake, I promised myself to only give it to my little sister and now she ruined that chance. I demand she be punished.”

“It was just some sort of cake, it wasn’t even that good.”

The young woman’s face turns red as she glares at me, “How dare you say that.”

“I bet all the cakes over there are all much more delicious,” I say while pointing to the walls where truly delicious looking cakes are lined up.

“The taste was very delicious but that’s not the point, the important part is sharing it at this banquet which you ruined!”

The young woman screams while lunging at me brandishing a fork, I wasn’t expecting her to use a weapon or attack so suddenly

I twist my body to avoid her blow her a loud tap comes across the entire hall.

I feel my body stiffen as I notice everyone in the room freeze where they stand, Pope Nalfiette’s staff is glowing while hovering in the air above the table emitting some sort of grey light over the entire room.

“Lady Weszel Stein will be excused from the banquet and given 1 penalty unit.”

The young woman that was about the strike me disappears from where she was standing, the crowd returns to normal but many eyes are on me.

“Thank you,” the brown haired girl mouths to me as she hands me a wine glass.

I nod my head and take the glass, turning around when another tap comes over the room. “Elder Kleisch has made a point, Lady Pseupheus will get half a demerit and be retired to her room early,” the pope says loudly.

I feel a strange energy comes over my body as it lifts up, no one says anything in the crowd but many eyes are confused.

No explanation is forth coming though as I disappear from the spot and reappear in a dark room, a familiar dark room.

The room I stayed in previous which has been cleaned up, I walk over to the door and try it.

Locked.

I bang on it a few times to no avail, I try to break it but nothing happens. I am trapped in this room for some reason, I have no one to talk to and no easy way to get out.

“Huh? Is that wall blurry?” I say while setting down the wine glass.

A wave of tiredness comes over my body suddenly, I walk over to the bed and pass out still confused about what’s going on exactly, unable to fight the feels that swamp over my body and mind.