Chapter 17: Silvia

Within the walls of the church, Hibiki is desperately trying to wake the two other members from their hallucinated slumber. She is seen shaking the sister and the priest as hard as she can, though with how small her stature is, she can only lightly shake them.

"Silvia… sister Silvia Please! You need to wake up… and so do you, Father Issac!" As her imminent shaking doesn't seem to show any effect, she starts to think of a different tactic for waking up the duo. Within the psyche of the forayed sister, her mind flashes back to the time of her youth, the root of where her greedy desire lay.

"Come on let me see!" A small platinum blonde-haired girl says to the equally small four-eyed girl, both girls being about three feet in stature, being no more than 10. 

"No! Go get your own!" A stubborn Silvia says to a child Gilda as they are held up within the church's old library, though library may not be the right word with how small the room actually was.

"Hmph! Silvia's a meanie, you never want to play! You always stay reading all those stupid books!" Gilda screams out before storming out of the room, leaving saliva to her solitude. "Good riddance…" she thinks to herself as she keeps reading the novel in her hands. "The Story of Osiris and Isis'' can be read on its cover, the story of the second King of Egypt, the God of the Underworld Osiris, and his devoted wife, Isis, the Goddess of Magic. Silvia loved this story, a tale of forbidden romance that ended in tragedy, a king brought to his knees by his own brother, but emerging victorious in the eyes of the people. Stories like this provided comfort to the timid, introverted little girl. 

Silvia was orphaned at a tender age, along with her younger sister Gilda, after a tragic incident claimed the lives of their parents. The two sisters found sanctuary within the walls of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, which became their new home and refuge. The church's library, filled with ancient texts and scriptures, became Silvia's haven. Her thirst for knowledge was insatiable, she at a young age craved to make sense of the world, to find answers wherever she could. After finding the church's library, she found a sort of kinship with all the old stories that were held there. She was particularly drawn to texts on theology and metaphysics, seeking to understand the nature of the divine forces that had so drastically altered the course of her life. She often wondered why she was here… Why was she orphaned, why did the Gods abandon us?

As she grew older, her dedication to her studies did not go unnoticed by the church elders, who saw in her a deep well of wisdom and a potential leader for the future generation. They nurtured her intellect and provided her with access to rare manuscripts, fueling her voracious appetite for learning. Silvia, in turn, became a mentor and guide to the younger orphans, including Gilda, who looked up to her with admiration and love, though stemming from a relationship of jealousy and envy.

Her wise and peruse nature became a symbol of her scholarly pursuits, holding a vast amount of the church's history as well as the mythology of their religion in her own head. While books were her first love, Silvia also developed a quiet strength and a resolve to protect her sister and the other children of the church from the dangers of the world. Her ability to remain calm and collected, even in the face of supernatural threats, made her a pillar of the community and a testament to the power of faith and knowledge. She is said to be the next head of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, being second only to Issac, a grand title she holds very dear to her life. However, being such a prime example of what a nun should be, came with doubts, those doubts being her faith was wavering. 

"Why had the Gods abandoned us?" Studying the old text of the scriptures, she studied up on the Gods that created our world. Ra losing his powers returned to the God plane, and Osiris ruled the Underworld, but Isis has been negligent for centuries now, considered a traitor. Nephthys and Set were also considered consorts, not to be prayed to in this day and age. There were many more Egyptian Gods, but for whatever reason their impact on the current age has been minimal…

 However, all that seems to be changing soon. The Successor to the Spirit Goddess Hathor has emerged into this world, she has even begun affiliating herself with the church, that girl was named Wendy Tategami. To Silvia, she looked like your average woman, albeit with an odd color palette, but there didn't seem to be anything different about her, she was just a woman. Yes, she carried the characteristics of a heroine, after all, she saved the group of orphans that were previously missing from the church, but in this world, various people have gained the title of demigod, so actions like that are not beyond a person of that nature. 

Silvia needed more, something more grand, a true hero of legend, a true God from mythology to satisfy her curiosity. Her curiosity for the divine has always been her achilles heel, she's been waiting her whole life for a legend as such to appear before her. But that thought left her to ponder, what even was a God?

The Sun God, Ra; the King of the Gods, being the most powerful being to ever exist, sailed across the sky during the day in his solar bark and navigated through the underworld at night, where he battled his opposite, Apophis, the serpent God of chaos, whom he defeated every sunrise. The sun god lit the entire world with his divine light, ensuring that the blight of chaos would always be vanquished upon the sunrise. Even leaving behind his left and right eyes upon humanity, they would later become his twin daughters, Bastet and Sekhmet, the Goddesses of protection.

Osiris, the God of the Afterlife, and the Underworld, was murdered by his brother Set and brought back to life by his wife Isis, Osiris became the ruler of the underworld and a symbol of resurrection for all Egyptians. He was responsible for judging the souls of the dead, a task that underscored his significance in the cycle of life and death. He would later appoint his son, Horus as the God of Justice, taking his place as King of Egypt during his absence. Horus, the falcon-headed god, avenged his father's death by defeating Set, an act that symbolized the triumph of order over chaos. 

Isis, the Goddess of Magic, and fertility was renowned for her deep magical powers and protective instincts, opened the bridge to magic to the human realm. Along with her sister, Nepthys the Goddess of the Night, their magic brought the spirit realm to prosperity, allowing spirits to protect humanity for eons. Their union brought forth Hathor, The spirit goddess, origin of all spirits, and to an extent, even magic itself. She was created to light the darkness from the earth when the sun could not.

However as she pondered, there was one notable god who has made his efforts to support humanity. That being Thoth, the god of writing and knowledge. The one who invented hieroglyphs and magical codes, being the mediator between good and evil forces. Thoth's wisdom and knowledge were considered vital to maintaining the universe's balance and order. He often made visits to the human realm, appearing through his magical gate, he would provide knowledge to select individuals around the world, as well as actively progressing the world's mathematical and scientific development. Though all her interactions with him have been strictly professional, she couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration and appreciation whenever he would visit the church. 

Could this girl be any different, however, Saliva's mind pondered the possibility. Could she actually be special? The person she's been waiting her whole life to see, the person this church's faith is a testament to… 

"I want to know…" She says out loud in her mind…

"I want to know, I want to know, I want to know!!!" Silvia says as she clenches her chest. 

"I want to know more, I want to see more! I know all about these legends and stories, but… they're just Stories! I want to see it with my own eyes, the greatness of true divinity right before me, I need to. To prove that all my time, my hopes, my faith, wasn't for nothing!" She lies in a black void, only being surrounded by the echoes of her own silence, the dark green energy starts engulfing her even more. 

"That… is my Greed." It dawned upon her, of course, it would be. Why she always kept to herself, why she always neglected her sisters, why she neglected Gilda… Gilda, her sister. She had grown up to be a smart and beautiful woman in her own right. She had never said it out loud, never truly spoken it into words, but she was so proud of her, that she wanted to convey those feelings to her. Stuck inside her own mind, surrounded by this evil, she would not be able to see her again, to see any of her sisters again. Her desire for knowledge and answers would have to take a back seat from now on, she must break away, away from her Greed! 

She attempted, attempted to break free from the sin's grip, but atlas, she was too weak. She was not the likes of Wendy, one intune with spirits in the medium, she was just a woman, a small, weak, sinful woman. If only there was a light, a beacon of hope she could latch onto, she may be able to break free from this spell, after all, her resolve has already been made up, she had the will, and the drive, she just needed the strength… 

Back inside the church, Hibiki can be seen relentlessly shaking a Sleeping Silvia up from the confines of the spell. Try as she might, her attempts to awaken the sleeping nun have been futile. 

"Silvia, please wake up!... Dang it, I was planning on giving this as a present to Onee-Sama, but this is more imperative right now!" Hibiki says out loud before she takes out a small silver ankh, one she had imbued with holy energy, similar to her dress. 

"I hope this works!" Hibiki says under her breath before charging her latent spirit magic into the ankh, then after a moment, she wraps the ankh across the sister's neck. The magical energy that was circulating with her is now transferred to Silvia. This spiritual booth is directly linked to the older sister's psyche that deals with her Faith, as long as she holds onto a glimmer of hope in her heart, the boost of spirit magic from the ankh should give her the push she needs to overcome the demon's influence. After a few moments pass by, Hibiki is seen holding her hands out in prayer, chanting a scripture from their church's bible.

"Oh heavenly father who takes the form of the sun, with Geb as the earth, and Shu as the wind, please give this sister the strength to overcome all adversaries, Amen.'' The prayer chanted by Hibiki seemingly takes effect on the sleeping sister, who starts to slowly open her eyes from the green haze.

"Sister Silvia!"

"Is that you… Hibiki?" The nun's eyes are now fully open, taking a moment to examine her surroundings before she is embraced by the petite younger girl.

"Yes it's me, are you alright? Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes, we were dealing with Greed, and his spell started to overpower us… Wait, where's Miss Wendy?" Hibiki holds a sorrowful look for a moment before answering.

"Onee-Sama went to go fight against Greed." The sister upon hearing this stands up and grabs hold of her gospel.

"No, if she went to fight that thing on her own then she must be in great danger right now!" Hibiki is left stunned for a moment, before holding a look of determination before replying. 

"I understand, you head towards Onee-sama, I'll follow suit once I help Father Issac!" Silvia nods upon hearing this, with both sisters in agreement she turns around and heads out through the church's exit.

"Be careful!" Hibiki yells out to the sister, who has already stormed out of the church. She then leans over to the sleeping priest, grabs hold of the ankh, and begins to wrap it around his neck.

"Please… work!"

 The scene now changes back to Wendy, in the middle of her confrontation with Greed. The demon's dark green aura has all but covered the outskirts of this section of the city, leaving Wendy in a state of paralysis. This time, the sin's spell had not just closed her mind, but it had overtaken the majority of her senses, bringing her face to face with a surplus of people's greedy tendencies.

"You see, no matter how much you strive, no human can escape their greed!" This mockery from the demon is clouded out of Wendy's line of hearing, as she is continuing to hear the vast amounts of people being tormented by the effects of pursuing their indulgence.

"Miss Wendy!" Silvia is seen running towards the scene, with the sin's gospel in hand. The demon takes a look over at the girl before smiling.

"Hahaha! It's too late! Your friend has already been consumed by my greed, it's only a matter of time before she completely loses her mind and starts attacking her fellow humans in pursuit of her own desires!"

"No… this can't be!" Silvia thinks to herself, that she had understood from reading the gospel that taking on these demons alone was suicide, for its influence in sin being so strong it could subjugate the likes of even a demigod. Now breaking free from her own greed of pursuing knowledge, the pieces have all but been put into place to seal this demon into the book and destroy it once and for all. However none of that can be done if their most powerful ally was under the sin's spell. The demon who had been enjoying the display before him suddenly pointed its claw in the sister's direction, "Now little Miss Goddess, this woman here is preventing you from obtaining what you desire, you're not just going to let her get away with that are you!? Upon hearing this, the girl in question turns her head over to Silvia's direction. Then, with a bit of hesitation, she is seen walking over to the sister menacingly.

"No, Miss Wendy… You need to snap out of it!" Wendy is seemingly completely under the demon's influence, as she starts edging closer to the sister, her hands taking on a blue hue as they start to emit an aura of blue flames. Silvia is left speechless, unable to defend herself against Wendy, the prophesied demigoddess of her entire religion. Silvia had come to the realization that it was her sacred duty to uphold the faith of the world's oldest pantheon, to create a haven for the spirit goddess to prosper and flourish. But now, that same spirit goddess was on her way to slay her.

Wendy's flaming blue hands rise to the sister's chest, her hand coming right up in front of her breast. Wendy is still presumably surrounded by echoes and whales of the people's greedious cries. Silvia closes her eyes in fear, feeling the ensuing heat on her chest, awaiting her imminent demise. Though once the flames had made contact, the pain from the heat in fact, never did. As Silvia slowly opens her eyes, below her blue-tinted lenses she gazes at the divine flames scorching right in front of her. Those flames magically did not affect her whatsoever, for only the book she had been holding against her chest was being lit by the fire.

"GAAAAAAH!" A scratch of pain can be heard from the distance, as the sister gazes past the goddess before her to see the green-colored demon kneeling on the floor.

"W-what… what did you just do!?"

"Hehe~ I told you, given enough time, anyone can overcome their greed." Wendy can be heard saying this proudly, her back still turned from the demon as she levitates the Gospel with her flames. After discarding her flames from the book, it then lands sheepishly onto her palms. She shoots her head back up, her face previously held a hollowed out and dark reflection, now shinned with vibrance and determination. 

"Sorry if I scared you there for a minute, I had to get close enough without him noticing," Wendy says smiling at the sister.

"But you came just in time to give me exactly what I needed… Thank you, Silvia!" She says, finishing off with a little wink. Silvia is taken aback by this, but before she has a moment to react, the girl in question turns around to look at the injured demon straight in its crimson eyes.

"What's the matter, you were so confident before? Aren't you going to ask how we beat your spell?" The demon is seen panting, as it had not expected such an effective blow. 

"No… this shouldn't be possible, no one should be able to overcome my GREED!" The demon says with a tone of unimaginable anger in his tone.

"Tehee~ Maybe that's so, but I'd reckon you don't underestimate me, or any of the sisters for that matter! I hope you're ready because the real fight starts now!"