3Though his temples cried out for his attention and blessings, he ignored them- all but one.
While a god shouldn't favor any being or thing more than the other, Black Star couldn't help it. In a temple surrounded by sea resided a person who caught the attention of the most powerful water god in the world. He watched it carefully, adoringly, and it wasn't because it was anymore devoted than his other places.
It was because of a very specific shrine maiden who won his favor.
On that island so far from shore, secluded by nature and by their own will, lived priests and shrine maidens who avoided the rest of the city that they belonged to. While they had representatives visit mainland often, most of them were happiest away from the scuffle of everyday peoples. A small shrine that rotated out staff was present in the center of the city, but a grand palace fit for a king was the base of their operation, hidden in the trees that decorated the isle.
Through the doors, to the back of the hall, turn a corridor, and then down another flight of stairs just a little deeper into the maze of the underground- that was where Black Star found his girl, knelt before spring water. He watched her in adoration as a formless spirit, nothing more than a projection of mind. Just a few seconds in, he already wanted to go to her, truly.
Maka was a strange girl, passionate and temperamental. Young and naive. Moreso, she was fearless, but because she had been taught how to fear. In addition to her attitude, she was gifted with unique features different than any other. Her sandy blond hair was auspicious; it was strange for anyone from the country to have the color, and some thought it was a sign that she was meant to be lucky. A majority of the people, though, thought it was anything but. A sign of misfortune, they called it. A figure of destruction, they called her.
From the pocket of her sleeve, she took out a small pouch barely the size of her hands, and from that pouch came two star sapphire gemstones that she fit into the palm of her hands, one in each. The cloudy blue laid in contrast to her pale skin, and though they were merely stones, an aura of power leaked from them and into the air. The dusty swirls and foggy surface appeared to dance and move like the waves they came from, but Maka kept her hands steady.
Tide jewels at the ready, ebb in the left and flow in the right, she closed her eyes and held them close to her chest.
They were sacred gifts from the Ryujin- from Black Star- and he was pleased to see her so devoted to the ritual- to him. He listened to her well practiced verses carefully, then watched as she rose from the ground, poised. How careful she was as she rose from the ground, effortless and poised despite her adornments. And once she began her performance, never taking her eyes away from the spirit flame that she carried from the temple, Black Star was filled with warmth greater than that fire.
It was so different from when she appeared before him. She was bitter and angry when she was taken into the care of the priests. Fires were a common occurrence, and while her city blamed the lack of prayers for the recent destruction, the young Maka blamed the god himself. There was no love for the water dragon who failed to save her family.
Far sooner than any other, she knew what it meant to have loss and to be broken beyond healing. She refused aid and treatment; she became malnourished and sullen. It was no look for a child to have, especially in a rich city close to the emperor's favor, and so she was sent away to the spiritual to have.
Teach her to be grateful for her life, the authorities commanded. Return her to the merciful Ryujin who she will serve. Perhaps then she will learn what mistake she'd made when she renounced their god.
Maka scorned those people, screaming and biting the hands that dragged her onto the boat for the island, cursing at the Ryujin for taking so much away. Weak and hungry, though, her body didn't last. She was easily overpowered and thrown at the steps of the shrine.
Unable to fight the soft murmur of shrine maidens, she allowed herself to be carried through the doors, listening to the promises of second chances, not believing a soul.
Months later, Maka eventually softened her barriers after seeing the efforts of the shrine's inhabitants. She was given care and a new family, something she desperately needed to be shown. But all around her was the image of the Ryujin, the water dragon who had abandoned her.
Did such a benevolent god exist? Why wasn't he there when she called to him?
Her new sisters continued to pray, never given an answer.
So she set out to understand why.
From respect to hate, and from hate to doubt, Maka had a new perspective of the so-called dragon god. She partook in the rituals that she felt obligated to join, wondering when she would see a sign that the sea was listening. Not only that, she also read the scriptures that the priests referred to as history and memorized dances as all shrine maidens did. She learned, she lived, and she breathed the rites of the Ryujin, just to prove something her small self couldn't believe in.
Still, not a single voice was heard except for her own.
It was a disappointment, she believed, but the traditions that she performed had become a routine that she couldn't simply drop. Every morning, she made her way to the grand hall with the rest of the girls she'd met. And every morning, she passed statues and banners of the same being that became her life, hoping for just a blink, a sign, and saw none.
Years later, Black Star rewarded her with the truth.
She was on the beach front, ankles deep into the water, looking out to the city that used to belong to her. Street lanterns casted a soft yellow glow on the buildings closest to the island and the docks that were lively during the day were still for the night. Maka clutched the hem of her robes closer and away from the waves. She missed that place where she'd grown up, but she declined all of the offers to allow her onto mainland, the trauma of fire still scorched her mind.
On the island where her forced home became a willing one, she felt the sea and sand try to pull her away. Maka closed her eyes, clasping her hands together and dropping her robes. She thought to herself: Oh, Ryujin. If you are true, then prove yourself now before I accept silence as reality.
"I don't need to prove myself to anyone," he said before her. "But for you, I'll make an exception."
Maka yelped and fell backwards. Her legs gave out and she landed in the wet ground with a splash, eyes wide and hands trembling.
The man stood above the surface of the water, looking down at her with his arms crossed, curious. While he looked human, Maka could tell that he was anything but. His sharp jaw and inhuman sea green eyes were features unknown to any land person, and when combined with his ocean blue hair, he appeared celestial.
She averted her eyes and scrambled to her knees, but the sea god, who she later found to be named Black Star, reached out his hand to help her up.
He said, "Normally, if I'm like, you know, like actually see-able, then I've deemed you worthy enough to also not need to do that kneeling stuff. So you can stand, if you'd like."
She looked at it skeptically. "Is this a test? Of my faith or what ever?"
"No," Black Star tsked. "But you're also sitting in water, if you haven't noticed, and what kind of god would I be if I made you keep staying there?"
Rather than take his hand, Maka stood up by herself. She asked, "Then, you really are the Ryujin, the water dragon?"
"Look at me, I'm the water dragon, indeed."
There wasn't any need for proof beyond that interaction, yet he continued to appear, summoned or otherwise.
Back underground, Maka continued to dance, led by muscle memory. Despite her movements, the bright red spirit fire didn't flicker, never faltering as she worked around it. And while there was no bell nor drum to guide her, Maka kept on beat.
Black Star was enchanted. The warmth that started as a mere feeling spread to a physical sensation and he could sense the prayer calling him to her plane of existence. That pull grew stronger, louder as she danced; whether it was caused by her power or by his lack of restraint was a mystery, but it was indubitable.
He just couldn't resist when she beckoned him to her.
Breaking through the mold of his spirit form, he materialized as a dragon first, and then begun the change to his human face that Maka knew so well. At the sudden presence of his aura, the red fire fluttered, turning blue and becoming still again, causing the girl to stop in her tracks.
The smell of brine became present; the sea breeze suddenly appeared where no wind was supposed to reach. In mid transformation, claws still unsheathed and fangs still bared, Maka turned behind her and lept forward, bringing the sea dragon into her embrace. Her dark hood fluttered away from her head when she looked upwards to Black Star's near-human face and she touched his cheek with two fingers.
He chuckled, removing her hand and clasping it in his.
His winds brushed her bangs back, tucking her baby hairs behind her ear.
"I heard you," he reassured her.
She couldn't help her reply as she pulled away, smiling. "I know."
The gems in her hands faintly glowed, and he knew they were warm to the touch.
Gesturing to them, he said, "You couldn't wait to see me?"
Maka carefully put away her tide jewels and slipped them back into safe keeping, an ounce of embarrassment visible on her face.
"I was merely performing my duties."
Black Star grinned and lead her closer to the spirit flame so that he could see her more clearly. Though the shadows it casted were sharp, her eyes were soft. He took her chin in his hand and urged her to face him, only to be met with resistance.
"If that were true, then why won't you look at me?" he teased, hoping to see a bit of red against the blue light.
She puffed, doing what he desired, and said, "There. Challenge completed."
He let out a laugh sounding like distant thunder and the rumble of waves.
Maka continued to pout, pulling Black Star down to a sitting position but rejecting his nudge to have her on his lap. At his raised eyebrow, which was a human trait that she'd taught him, she explained, "It's so I can see you clearly today."
"As you wish," he relented.
But not long after they began to converse, Maka inched closer until she was on top on his legs, nuzzling into his chest and claiming that it was as soft as seafoam. It made him pleased, he believed, adjusting her into a more comfortable position.
When those human feelings emerged again- he scorned them. A god and a human's relationship simply had no place, he reminded himself; there were rules that protected her mortality. Although she wanted otherwise, Black Star had to let her go eventually once nature took its course.
But at least she, a shrine maiden, would never be wed to another man. Maka belonged to him, he assured himself. Only him. Through more ways than one, she was his to keep, even if it wasn't forever.
By the end of the night and the beginning of dawn, he heard the crash of the ocean waves call him back. He rose from the ground, bringing Maka's deep blue hood with him and brushing it off. Beckoning her close and teasing her for her unpleasant expression, he draped her hood back over her head. However, instead of stopping there, he used it to pull her in for a deep kiss. She stumbled, surprised, and made a small yelp before her mouth was covered by her lover.
He tasted like the sea, and once she opened her eyes, he was gone again.
TBC. Maybe.
Written for MaStar Week 2018
Day 3: Holier Than Thou
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