The sun rose above the horizon and the night transitioned into dawn. After spending the first two hours of the dawn to prepare for the morning prayer, St. Brianna finally felt the effect of the magical seal weakening
She walked over to the wooden seats that lined the walls of the temple. With the support of the armrest, she climbed slowly onto one of them and pushed open the shutters of the clerestory windows that lay ornate with intricate stonework above the architrave. A silver of morning light entered the naos, revealing the artful murals of green lands, winged sandals, doves, envelopes and feathers. There were acanthus carvings on seats and simple, anthemions along the edges of the ceilings. The wall behind Hermes' sculpture and the floor below were both decorated with exquisite rosettes and scrollwork. The narrow aisle bore the slender mosaic of the winged staff : caduceus.
St. Brianna took out another scripture from the illusive drawers of the altar and placed it near the censer, then taking out flowers, she placed them on the base of the four candelabras.
While she continued her preparations for the morning prayer, the main door through which the devotees enter the temple, opened. Despite being called the "main door", it was small and narrow, lying on the right corners of the wall. The "back door" on the other hand which was sealed by the saintess, seemed more important. It lay on one end of the aisle, directly facing Hermes' sculpture on the other end. Apparently, it was designed so because it was considered inappropriate for devotees to look the deity directly at the face, immediately after entering the temple.
It was already six hours since sunrise and devotees in small numbers, entered the temple and exchanged pleasantries with the saintess.
"Hail Lord Hermes, The Herald!" The devotees bowed before the sculpture and then seated themselves in the first and second rows.
In the mean-time, Kanito came out from the illusive doors from the walls, with a new identity : Archpriest Judas. Wearing a yellow-trimmed, white chiton and a black chlamys secured with a yellow broach on the right shoulders. With the olive wreath and the pair of black sandals, Archpriest Judas was truly giving off a saintly aura. The harshness, cruelty and skepticism in him was nowhere found. There was nothing akin to a "mobster" in his looks.
The change in attire only served as a boost to St. Brianna's 'disguise' sermon, making him obscure to the devotees who found no traces of the infamous wanted arsonist.
"A very good morning everyone, what a morning we have in our Lord and saviour Hermes!" The modest grace in his voice attracted the attention of the devotees, Kanito bowed slightly in front of the devotees, then turned to the sculpture, "All glories of the morning be to the herald!" He bowed again with much more reverence.
A woman from the devotees questioned, "St. Brianna, who might this person be? I have never seen this priest before in the temple."
St. Brianna nodded to the question and answered, "Remember former archpriest Grollice? After his resignation, the Holy Temple of Hermes sent him as a proxy for Grollice, he will serve here as an Archpriest until we find a permanent replacement. He is Archpriest Judas."
The devotees observed him closely.
'I understand folks. This is also my first time seeing Archpriest Judas. He is just as new to me as he is to you all.'
More devotees entered the temple and seated themselves in various positions. St. Brianna walked over to the altar and opened the scripture to begin the morning prayer, but suddenly, the magic seal from the back-doors wore off and the guards entered the temple.
The devotees were dazed as they turned back to see the guards, the devotees who were at the threshold of the front door stood in their positions.
"Oh determined gentlemen, you really kept your promise." St. Brianna turned her eyes slightly to the guards.
To make his act more believable, Kanito questioned, "Guards? Have you come here to seek guidance from our lord?"
One of the guards smiled and replied, "May his blessings be upon us when we search for the mobster." He casted a deep gaze at the saintess.
The guards started their search again. They checked every corner of the temple but to find no trace of the mobster. They started to interrogate with the devotees, asking questions like whether they have seen a frail, thin boy with black hair or not, to which of course, no one gave a positive answer. At the end, they looked at St. Brianna and said with an imposing tone, "Swear on your Lord's name that you have not hidden a mobster."
St. Brianna surprisingly showed no hesitation and said with a clear voice, "I swear in the name on my Lord Hermes, I have not hid any mobster inside the temple's confines by any means whatsoever."
"Who are you?" Pointing at Kanito, a guard asked roughly.
But despite the question's harshness, Kanito replied with modesty, "I am a lowly servant of my Lord Hermes. I am Archpriest Judas." He showed an innocent smile and bowed.
St. Brianna asked graciously, "So gentlemen, if your search is over, would you mind returning back to your duties? Or do you want to be a part of the prayer?"
The guards turned back and left the temple for the second time, feeling defeated once again.
Shifting the focus from the guards, St. Brianna started her prayer. She opened the scripture to a certain page and joined her hands, "Devotees, I will be reciting the Phyllinic Hymns 18 as our morning prayer today. Please pay attention to it."
She proceeded to recite in a calm voice, "O Hermes, the bringer of dreams, spouse of Maia, son of Zeus and Maria, I pray to you. O Hermes, I call thy name as the king of the roads and the patron of merchants, guide my way through life's riddles and Athen's alleys, fetch me the greatest of deals and the wisest of decisions. O Hermes, I call thy name as the problem solver, the divine inventor and the luck bringer, rip apart the obstacles in my way and bless me with fortune. O Hermes, I call thy name as my saviour, my Lord and my protector. Be my escort today, lead me out of the night's darkness and into the morning's light! I offer this prayer in the name of the Bringer of Dreams : The Messenger, The Divine Merchant and The Playful Side of Elysium, My Lord and Saviour, Hermes!"
The devotees who were sitting straight, opened their eyes and leaned back on the chair. Sitting on the first row, Kanito listened to the prayer with closed eyes but with the concluding lines of the prayer, he felt an extremely uneasy feeling settle all over his body, the feeling was crushing yet comforting, heavy yet light. Ignoring it, Kanito noticed some cultural misattributions in the prayer,
'I think there's a big mistake here. Hermes was often depicted as a bachelor in the greek myths, not as a married god, yet the prayer says that he had a spouse? Even worse, the spouse's name is Maia! Isn't that his mother's name? Hermes was born of the nymph Maia and Zeus on Mt. Cyllene. The name "Maria" doesn't even appear in any greek myth. At this point, Hera should just divorce her cross-cultural philanderer of a husband.'
The devotees rose from their seats and offered flowers at the altar, lighting their own candles. Kanito stood and bowed before the sculpture again. The morning prayer was over, and the temple was now open to devotees, who could come in anytime to seek guidance, offer prayers, or study scriptures. However, the temple would remain closed to outsiders for a few hours in the evening, during which time the archpriests would conduct their regular homilies for temple members as part of their duties.
More devotees entered the temple and seated themselves randomly. They prayed, chanted, or looked at the sculpture with painful eyes. Kanito was least interested in seeing what devotees were doing. He just sat on a sat with a phlegmatic face, smiling only if he ever made an eye contact with anyone.
This was until one person entered the temple, a person dressed in an ankle-length, short-sleeved, black tunic having silver starry design all over it, holding the attire at the waist was a silver belt. He had short white hair and blue eyes.
'Y-Yuriel!?' A cudgel of bittersweet emotions flogged Kanito's heart. Time was never able to grey this figure from his memories. Rather it grew prominent with each passing day. Seeing this person again, only made him unforgettable.
'He will definitely recognize me, I shouldn't talk to him right now.' He thought, but ultimately couldn't stop himself from greeting him. "Good morning, sir." He said in a polite, courteous voice controlling the nervousness.
'Please Yuriel, recognize me for a second.'
Yuriel looked at his face blankly, as if he was staring at darkness. He did utter a "Good morning," but the tone was distant, formal and forced. He avoided any other talks and moved away as quickly as he could.
St. Brianna smiled generously when she saw him. She greeted him with a solemn and excited voice, "Yuriel! How are you doing, child? We don't meet often nowadays."
Yuriel slipped an embarrassing smile, "Work! St. Brianna. Work is a necessary evil. Glad to see you again." He lit up a small candle and offered it at the altar.
St. Brianna asked with a sly smile, "Then, what ingenious alibi did you conjure up to escape the drudgery of work and indulge in some well-deserved temple time?"
Returning back to his seat, Yuriel replied, "I have heard Archpriest Illiad preach in one his homilies that Lord Hermes is also skilled in cartography, can you ask him to draw a map of my love life?"
St. Brianna chuckled and replied, "Sure, but are you confident that you will be able to decipher the map?"
The mood became somber when St. Brianna's noticed Kanito. Seeing him stand silently with a fake smile and listen to their lighthearted talks, she realized how he was feeling.
To include Kanito in their talks, she said, "Thank you for helping me, Judas. If it wasn't for you, I would've never finished setting up the altar. You can take some rest now if you want."
Yuriel furrowed his brows and asked, "Well.. St. Brianna, who is this person? And where are Rhesus and Illiad?"
St. Brianna knew that Kanito won't be able to control his emotions and would leak his secret, she said, "This is Archpriest Judas, Yuriel. He will be temporarily replacing Grollice. And for Rhesus, I don't know about him but Illiad is probably on his way."
St. Brianna smiled and introduced Yuriel to Kanito, with the hopes of providing him a conversation with his indifferent 'elder brother', "Meet him Judas, he is our short-tempered yet sensitive young friend with a tongue laced with clever excuses and a heart full of heroic pride, the great senior officer, Yuriel."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Archpriest Judas," Yuriel said with a smile.
'You have met me before, idiot!'
"I feel the same, sir." Kanito bowed.
St. Brianna cleared her voice, she kept her humour aside and asked Yuriel solemnly, "So what are you actually here for, Yuriel? I know you don't go to temples these days so don't tell me that you just felt like it."
Yuriel didn't make an excuse, he replied with honesty, "I will be travelling to the Red Island tomorrow. The Human-Beast Branch of IDRF has set the island into heavy military reconnaissance saying that they have detected, 'odd geographical patterns' around the island. I will probably have to stay in there for... who knows? Three or four months? Lord Hermes is the guardian of travellers you say, so I came here to make a Prayer. Praying is atleast better than doing nothing."
St. Brianna looked at Yuriel with concern in her eyes, "Forgive me Lord Hermes, I know you will keep him safe but still, please don't go there, Yuriel, please don't. That is the rumoured land of the Scarlets! There is a reason why our Constitution has strictly prohibited us from ever voyaging there."
Yuriel stared down at the floor and laughed, he said poignantly, "Did the IDRF ever care about our safety? According to their charter, the individual laws of every country of every member world will be repealed if they hinder their missions. The world powers signed that charter only because they were all made desperate due to the growing threats of the demon invasions."
Yuriel gnashed his teeth and angrily kicked the ground, "Those goverments, they all have silk threads in place of spines."
'Silk threads in place of spines? That sounds familiar.' That was an insult Kanito used once. He laughed on the inside but also was at relative ease, knowing that he has remembered him somehow.
"Can you suggest an Invoking Hymn for my prayer, St. Brianna?" Yuriel requested politely.
St. Brianna didn't say anything, she only turned the scripture to a certain page and handed it over to Yuriel, "Recite this hymn, it is Phyllinic Hymn 20. The context of the hymn is St. Phylline invoking Lord Hermes' blessings before she ventures into The Underworld to meet Hades. The Holy Temple of Hermes has recognized this as the best Invoking Hymn for travellers even though St. Phylline didn't mean to make it into one."
Yuriel took the scripture in his hands and recited the prayer quickly, "I stand at the threshold of an unknown path and hence I seek thy guidance, Hermes, I yearn for thy presence. O swift one, O beloved sailor from heaven, be my map, be my cane in the dark. O god of adventures, may your fingers hold my compass and may your wisdom fuel my lamp. May your wings be my transport and may your eyes provide me sight. I offer this prayer in the name of the God of Adventures : The Messenger, The Divine Merchant and The Playful Side of Elysium, my Lord and Saviour, Hermes!"
A strong, crushing presence filled the temple, weighing heavy specifically on Yuriel. St. Brianna smiled and looked at Yuriel and Kanito, "Did you two feel the pressure the invoking hymn brought upon us? Truly, the prayer has brought under the eyes of Hermes!"
'The deity is really watching us right now?' Kanito felt an uneasy peace creeping all over his body.
"But St. Brianna, as you mentioned earlier, this prayer has clearly not followed the general structure of an Invoking Hymn, only the concluding lines which involve the side honorary name and the divine names are correctly done." Yuriel went through the prayer silently again, "Yet, it still drew the deity's attention? Why? Lord Hermes is clearly not a strict deity then."
St. Brianna smiled graciously with devotion, "Obviously he is not. Lord Hermes is a messenger, Yuriel, he has humility. Toesh era saints always state that Lord Hermes is the most human deity of all. St. Orpheus from Human World called him 'ruler of mankind' for a reason. There's nothing to worry about, the divine names were recited correctly and hence Hermes has undoubtedly noted your plee."
'How do they know about Orpheus? Did he transmigrate in this world after his death? Or was he summoned here to fight the demon lord? Earning him the title of a saint.'
"Anyways, St. Brianna, it's time for me to leave now." Yuriel got up from his seats and extended a hand, the saintess gave him a handshake and bid him farewell, "I know the Holy Temple of Ares is based on the Red Island, bring me some souvenirs from there without fail!" She smiled.
"Of course." Yuriel smiled back. He didn't care to greet Archpriest Judas at all.
Before leaving the temple through the back-door, he turned back, "Before leaving, I want to make three promises to you, St. Brianna."
He then declared in a profound voice, "First, if our world becomes a target of the demon invasions and we emerge victorious, I will wholeheartedly interpret it as a sign from the gods, I will renounce my atheism entirely. Second, If our world never becomes their target, I will interpret it as the doing of luck, in this case, I will stay unchanged in nature and faith. But if the third happens, when we not only become their target but also get defeated, I will sterilize every seed of faith inside me that could've germinated into a tree. I will demolish every single temple from the face of existence and torment every believer until they deny the very gods they once worshipped. I will declare worship as an evil and deviating practice and will burn all scriptures and holy sites. I will commit all blasphemies until the world is swept clean from the hypocrisy of the gods. Every person was born with hope, the gods make us hopeless. If the third condition is met, St. Brianna, you will be its only exception."
Yuriel exited the temple, leaving behind a speechless refugee and a devastated saintess.