After Theo and the others finished eating the delicious that was prepared for them, they didn't waste ti before getting ready to leave to explore the city.
They put on extra coats to protect themselves against the cold. After spending over a week in the hot sumr weather of the Kokoro Islands, they felt more cold than usual in this Sakurean wintry weather.
A few minutes after they finished getting ready, they rode the minibus out of the property.
Their first destination?
Shee Arsurinya Shrine.
Shee Arsurinya in the Elvish language ant 'Fairy Goddess', so this was basically the Fairy Goddess Shrine.
The Sakura Abode Country was filled with legends about fairies and elves, and so of them were big enough to be put into shrines. And the Shee Arsurinya Shrine had every fairy goddess ever registered across the country.
For example, the Fire Elf Fairy from Elffire City that was told that paint the whole forest red was also shrined in the Shee Arsurinya Shrine.
That was one of the reasons that this shrine was so important for the Sakureans.
That's why this shrine was crowded no matter the ti of the year but during the start of the year the shrine beca even more overcrowded.
In such a way, they drove through the streets of Sakura City toward the shrine.
"Which fairy goddess you guys are going to pray to?" Ayia asked suddenly.
"The Fire Elf Fairy!" They all replied at the sa ti.
When they saw how they said the sa thing at the sa ti, they started laughing loudly.
"Why are you guys so attached to this fairy?" Ayia asked when they stopped laughing.
Kaori and Shizuka were equally oblivious about the reason they reacted like that.
"Oh, I forgot you three are from Sakura City and not from Elffire City." June said as she saw their confused faces.
"Yeah, only soone from Elffire City would understand." Sam nodded in agreent.
"From what I heard Sakura City doesn't have any patron fairy goddess, the citizens can pray to whichever fairy they like." Vivian comnted.
"I have so parents that live in Sakura City, and they don't understand our love for the Fire Elf Fairy either." Carolla comnted.
Everyone had a look of realization as they looked at Ayia, Shizuka, and Kaori as if they were rare specins.
The three girls beca even more confused when they heard their comnts.
Theo could only chi in to explain to them, "Girls, you have to understand that the na 'Elffire City' wasn't chosen randomly." He started explaining.
"Since the tis when the city was founded centuries ago until present tis, the Fire Elf Fairy has been a pivot symbol for the city citizens. It is said that only with Fire Elf Fairy's blessing that the fore founders were able to establish a city there. And only with its blessing that the city was able to grow into what it is today. So every person who is born in Elffire City is taught ever since they are young that they have to pray for the Fire Elf Fairy every start of the year. Family, school teachers, and other adults make sure that this concept is burned into children. That's why we all feel obligated to pray for the Fire Elf Fairy every year." Theo explained in short words about the whole ordeal.
As he didn't want to spend a whole hour explaining, he shortened the explanation.
But the girls had a look of realization as they finished listening to his explanation.
"Now that makes sense!" Ayia exclaid in wonder.
"I didn't expect such tradition existed in Elffire City." Shizuka comnted.
"Now the city's na makes even more sense." Kaori added.
The others had a look of amusent as they saw the wonder in the girls' expressions.
As they grew up in Elffire City, they were already used to its traditions. But it was fun to explain these things to people from other cities.
"Yeah, I still rember the first ti I prayed for Fire Elf Fairy at the shrine after the new year celebrations." Sam started, "I think I was only 2 years old at the ti. I don't rember much, but I still rember the bright red colors of the Fire Elf Fairy Shrine."
"My earliest mory of the shrine was when I was only 5 years old." June said with a smile, "I rember that the place was so crowded, and I rember complaining about it to my mom. But instead of comforting , she started to scold . It was then that she taught how important the Fire Elf Fairy was to every citizen of Elffire City. I rember her saying that I was only able to eat delicious candy because of the Fire Elf Fairy. After she said that, I made my first real prayer to the Fire Elf Fairy. I rember thanking for the candy I ate in the last years, and asking for more candy in the following year." June laughed out loud.
The others couldn't hold their laughter when they heard June's story.
They could imagine a young child version of June praying for more candy in the new year.
"I rember one ti when I was 7 years old and I didn't want to go to the shrine." Umaru started, "My family always has been super protective of , so they had never been mad at no matter what I did. But when I said that, I rember their angered faces as they looked at . I got scared because of it, so I just followed them quietly to the shrine." Umaru giggled.
"Yeah, every shrine in Elffire City is crowded at every start of a new year." Lauren comnted, "I rember one ti when I was already 14 years old, a teenager, I decided to go to the shrine with my friends. But the streets leading were so packed with cars and people that it was almost impossible to arrive there. So, we decided to ditch our and we walked over 3 kiloters to arrive at the shrine. I still rember the fatigue as we arrived at the shrine, but we were still happy to be there."
"That's true!" Max laughed, "I was there with her."
"Every hospital in Elffire City has a shrine for the people who can't leave the hospital due to health reasons." Vivian started, "And no hospital is an exception."
"..."
Just like that, they continued sharing their own peculiar stories about this Elffire City tradition.
Ayia, Kaori, and Shizuka listened to everything in rapture and wonder.
They never expected that the people from Elffire City was so obsessed with the Fire Elf Fairy. Only after hearing their stories that they realized why everyone said 'Fire Elf Fairy' at the sa ti.
They were also crazy for the Fire Elf Fairy!
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