Offerings to God

Zale took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar sight, then he exhaled the memories of his youth spent in places like this. "It never gets old, does it?" Meru asked, hands white-knuckled in her grip on the box's handles.

"It's not like you can really escape it. No matter what, this place always keeps hold of you," he replied quietly with a sigh.

Meru straightened her back and looked ahead. She motioned with her head for them to get their business done. Rather than getting into one of the offering lines for the minor altars, Meru guides them through the center of the room along the maroon carpet framed by rows of filled pews. The heads of those filled seats pivoted at their approach. The room-chatter dwindled to hushed prayers

The podium for the priest's preaching and sermons had been moved, as always, to make way for the Saturday mass offerings done at the main altar. This is where those with wealth and power made their offerings, the minor altars either unable or unfit to offer what those people brought forth. As far as Zale knew, it was the largest altar in the city, maybe in the whole of the southern bastion, and an object of both his admiration and disgust.

He had spent countless hours watching others more fortunate than himself, like those in the room now. He'd wish and prayed for his own miracle. Now, he hoped for a different miracle, one completely unrelated to Meru's offerings as she approached the cardinal priest, a blessed man of The Church of The God of Blessings. "I come to make my offerings to our god," she said, bowing her head slightly and pushing her box forward slightly to indicate the offering.

"Just you today?" he inquired, noting Zale just behind her.

Meru nodded.

"Right this way, miss."

The priest motioned for her to ascend the few steps and approach the altar. She walked to the elaborate setup, an arena with six outer pillars in a hexagon. Inside this was a raised, slate disk, and in the center of the disk was the altar table, locked in by four pillars on each corner that rose to the ceiling.

Meru unlocked the box and transferred the contents. The cores and crystals piled on the table, and Zale's eyes widened. "How long have you been saving those?" he asked from the bottom of the stairs, minding his distance but not the silence.

"Since you were hospitalized," she replied sheepishly, "I didn't know how much money I might need to get you treated if you didn't wake up."

The priest gave them both a sharp look but said nothing, respecting the amount she was offering to God. Though both the priest and people in the room had seen plenty of offerings of higher quality or quantity, it was still considered a generous and respectable offering, especially from someone of Meru's tier.

Eyes watched, and Meru bent her head and offered her prayer in hushed words. The pile or myriad colors piled on the altar began to glow. The offerings slowly broke down into particles of light and energy that amassed into a large sphere that rose up above the altar, framed by the pillars.

Other hushed prayers and awe accompanied the spectacle until, suddenly, the lights all winked out of existence. Moments later, Meru was rewarded in a radiant light. She smiled as the light faded, and the prayer was finished. Meru stepped away from the altar, closed the box, and descended the stairs to rejoin Zale. The room's silence was quickly filled with the reinvigorated bustle of attempts to become blessed.

"Thank you for your offerings. God is pleased," the cardinal-priest said with a warm smile.

On the way out, Meru pulled a few crystals from her pocket and slipped them into the begging hats and bags of unfortunate men and women. "I hope this helps," she whispered to them before exiting with Zale.

"You know we could just use the altar on base. They don't take so much 'tax' on offerings," Zale offered pointlessly.

"And miss the look of joy on those faces? Never. I hate that I can't help them all, but better them than the church. I just wish I could help more."

"You do more than most, Meru. For everyone around you," he added, popping the trunk of the car for her, "I can never state enough how much I love and respect you for that."

Meru blushed. "Just shut up and get in the car."

He did.

Meru sighed while locking in her seatbelt. "Looks like I'll have to update my documents at work again."

"Why's that?"

"My Spirit Cleaver blessing classed up to tier three. I can invoke Sundering now," she griped.

"RIP. Smells like extra paperwork that I don't have to do," Zale poked, "Sorry to hear."

She gave him a mean look but a lovely smile. "That's just how it goes. Maybe I'll reach tier four before long. That's my first tier four blessing."

"Always a step ahead of me, huh."

"Always have been."