Dancing in the Legendary Sea - Chapter 5 Part 1

Who on earth was that man? A pirate? Or, someone angry with a God’s curse? Lokira, who got up the next day, looked in the mirror and was startled. Her eyes were tired and puffy because she was restless and sleep deprived. The sound of the man shouting in the cave was still vividly heard. And she beat herself up regretting her decision while splashing water on her face.

“Fool. Fool! Why did I go all the way down there?!”

She regretted the brutality of last night’s events. Who knew that an outsider whom she first came into contact with would be a terrible criminal? He was a murderer no less. However, Lokira couldn’t blame God for sending the felon her way. It was she, who had the temptation to go down the stone steps to check on him. Perhaps, even if it was a woman, or a dolphin, or a sea dragon, she would have gone down there eventually. Despite the high priest’s many years of discipline, she was still curious about the unknown outside world. The guilt of not giving up her animal habit spread to her heart.

‘Let’s pray’, she concluded. The high priest told her to pray at times like these. He said that if she put the goddess in her heart, the curse of the beast might be lifted someday. Once upon a time, there used to be a king who devotedly prayed to Aphrodite. Thanks to that, he got his beloved statue as his wife. “Artemis was considered three times more powerful compared to Aphrodite, but she couldn’t do that.”

Lokira got down on her knees and prayed hard.

“I was wrong. Artemis, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please let the man leave quietly .…”

While she was praying hard not to get caught and punished, the side window opened. The priest popped in her meal tray.

“Lokira, the great god must have good reasons to pray that hard in the morning.”

It was said in a belittling tone. Lokira was embarrassed and received the tray. Before she could say anything, the window was shut and locked tight. She was left alone again in her small room. It was the same routine every day. After looking at the window for a while, she sat down in front of the table. The narrow room was quiet and still. The sunlight was dimly shining through the gaps in the iron lattice. She was used to eating alone. The solitude was expected but somehow it was heavy today. The priest’s words stabbed her in the chest with unusual ferocity, ‘The great god.’

Lokira was a nominal god enshrined by priests. However, her status was not considered very noble, a form that was less than the perfect human. It was not even an auspicious beast. There were only a pair of bizarre horns sprouting from her head as if the two were grafted in awkwardly. Even her power was clumsy, so she was always compared to Roxias. In the eyes of the priests who voluntarily devoted themselves under the feet of the goddess, what a ridiculous authority she must be. They looked at her strangely and disgustingly when she was sometimes clumsy. Whenever that happened, Lokira would question her own existence – her non-human existence. She was a monster with horns. A beast that was locked up in a kennel and fed regularly to be thrown away in due time.

She tore the barley bread with her hands and put it in her mouth, but the bread got stuck in her throat. Even after she drank water, it didn’t help, so she thumped her chest violently. Apparently, because of the outside air yesterday, the thick air inside the room became unfamiliar. Her nose was stuffy and she sniffed a little. She didn’t want to eat anymore because her appetite had left. However, if she didn’t eat everything up, she would be beaten again. At that moment, Lokira suddenly thought of the man down in the cave.

“Is it okay if he doesn’t eat anything?”

Over the sharp echoes, the man’s bloody face became clear. His wound was quite serious. Thanks to that, he did not notice her horns. He only thought she was a young priest. Looking back at that fact, a wave suddenly rose in her heart. The earlier prayer was subsumed, and the nature of the beast began to make an appearance. People would ignore her anyway be it here, in the temple, or in the cave. So wouldn’t it be more comfortable to be mistaken for a human being? The man was weak so she thought it was safe to be at a close distance, however, she almost got strangled to death. She was frightened last night and didn’t have time to think.

Now looking at it closely, the man probably didn’t have any bad intentions. He said she would die if she approached him, but he didn’t say he would kill her. However, what kind of talk was that anyway? She was his lifesaver after all. It was rude of him to disregard her hardship of moving him all the way to the safety of the cave. But in the end, Lokira decided that it would be unfair to judge the man while he was injured. He was probably in too much pain to act kindly. And this meal that was difficult for her to eat would come into good use.

Determined, Lokira pulled out a clean pillowcase and wrapped the food neatly in it. Then she put it in a jar and hid it. As soon as a priest came to collect the tray, she asked,

“Can I have some medicine and some wrappers? The wounds on my hands are still hurting.”

And she showed her hands where they were red and swollen from being whipped yesterday. Fortunately, it was convincing enough for the priest to believe her. He glanced at her coldly. And Lokira lowered her face to induce his sympathy as much as possible. After a moment of calculation, he said,

“You have to sort out the newly sprouted herbs. You can do that, right?”

“Yes, yes, I can. I’ll sort it out during the day.”

“Good. I’ll bring you a basket later.”

When he finished speaking, the priest pulled hard on Lokira’s hair just before leaving. For a moment, she felt like her scalp was being torn off. The window was locked before Lokira could say anything. Nevertheless, in fear of being found out, she was forced to harden her lips.

****

The task entrusted by the priest was worse than Lokira was prepared for. Not only was the basket very large, but the medicinal herbs were mixed with soil randomly. At first glance, it looked like all the weeds were picked off the ground. Thanks to this, she had to wash and dry the herbs one by one. Since she was forbidden to hold knives, she had to sort them one by one with her bare hands. It was a cheap trick. However, her confined life was boring anyway. It wasn’t too bad to have something to do to pass the time. Since she has lived in a temple since she was a baby, she had good experience with these kinds of work. The priest, who saw the result, was sulky. There wasn’t any flaw to catch. And since Lokira had fulfilled her end of the deal, pain medicine and wrappers were given to her. She packed a water jug in advance and half of her dinner. After all the preparations, Lokira waited for the night to come.

She was thrilled with excitement. It was very rare for her to plan and do something. Even though it was a visit to a self-proclaimed killer, it was a new stimulus to her boring daily life in her small room. It was not long before she heard a crackling sound indicating the lights were out. Lokira held the package in her arms and went down the stone steps.