Chapter 51 part 5

Beth didn't really put any stock in this religion, but that didn't mean she didn't see what this woman was doing. It was the same thing she understood her father did as part of his career. Getting a person to talk in order to help them figure out things. Either about themselves or to come to a conclusion that they may already have known, but hadn't yet worked out.

Although, at the same time, Beth doubted that this priestess would just leave it at that. She was quite confident that the priestess would push into maybe sins, confessions, or maybe even try to convert Beth if she realized that Beth wasn't a believer.

Still, she couldn't think of a better person to talk to about some of the cultural aspects she wasn't sure about. Such as being able to let those she'd bought as slaves not have to deal with that anymore. To where they didn't have to worry about being classified as 'runaway' or anything and instead be able to live their lives as they wanted to.

"There has been something on my mind," Beth admitted, not sure how to really broach the subject.

"Whatever it is, I'll do whatever I can to help unburden you of your troubles," the priestess replied, making Beth want to punch her in the face. Though, she couldn't really explain why.

Taking a deep breath, Beth decided to just lay the situation out, no matter what kind of reaction she might get. If nothing else, she'd at least have an answer. Even if it created more problems for her overall.

"The thing is, when I bought those eight people at the end of the auction, I did it because I felt that they shouldn't be slaves," Beth said. "I'm just not sure what hurdles there might be with freeing them."

The priestess blinked. "Free the slaves?" she asked, as if she wasn't sure she heard Beth correctly.

Beth nodded, bracing herself for a negative reaction. Which she was almost certain was about to occur.

"I've never heard about anyone wanting to do that," the priestess said instead, sounding almost like she didn't believe what she'd just heard Beth say. "I mean, I've read about that happening in the scriptures, but I've never heard about that happening now."

While it wasn't a negative reaction, it certainly didn't sound very promising. "So, there's no way to do it?" she asked, wondering if she should just take them to a gate and see if they could build a life for themselves there. Though, with just eight people, that might be rather difficult.

"I didn't say that," the priestess said, interrupting Beth's inner planning. "There's no law against it, but the general idea is that once someone's a slave, they're always going to be a slave, no matter what."

"Is there any way that they could tell if someone's been a slave before?" Beth felt like she was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. She just hoped that the opening would be big enough for her to lead her 'slaves' out of it and into the rest of the world.

The priestess however just shook her head. "Nothing that I've ever heard of, aside from branding their bodies, that is."

Beth nodded, feeling like she had a new incentive to find a way to remove scars with magic. She was confident that Amelia would feel the same way.

"So, would there be anything you'd be able to do to help any of the slaves I brought with me if they wanted to stay?" Beth asked. Even though she had wanted to save them, she didn't want them to feel obligated to follow her around, no matter what she did.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" the priestess asked. "There are advantages to keeping them as slaves."

Beth wasn't sure how to respond to that, and felt like this almost might be a trap in and of itself.

After a minute, though, the priestess continued, "For example. If you send one on an errand, if someone else captures them and tries to sell them as a slave, you can dispute their ownership. However, if they're not your slave, then you can't."

Beth sighed, immediately feeling rather annoyed. She felt like this might be a country that's about to fall apart from the inside out. "Isn't there a law against kidnapping someone and selling them as a slave?"

The priestess nodded. "Yes there is, but that doesn't matter if there's no one to enforce the law. When those who are supposed to enforce it are part of those breaking it, then there's really no law at that point."

What a perfect time to show up in this world, Beth lamented in her mind. Out loud, she said, "So, there's nothing that I can do about it, huh?"

The priestess sighed, sounding like she'd been having this trouble herself with the same issue. "I've asked my superiors about it, but they don't seem to understand what I'm trying to accomplish. Like they feel that no matter what else happens, the church will go on because it's the Lady's church."

Beth wanted to just stop talking and leave. Yet, at the same time, this person was the best source of information that she'd been able to get. She had a feeling that if she left now, that she might not have another chance at getting the information she was craving for.

At least, in regards to helping those who were slaves.

"I'm not concerned about that," Beth said, hoping that the priestess would get the hint and leave religion out of the conversation. "I'm just looking for a way to get them so they can live their lives as they want and not because someone else 'owns' them or anything."

"I'm not sure that there's anything you can do yourself about it. Now, if you were able to create a place they could go to and not have to worry about anyone coming to make them slaves, then you might be able to do something, but you would need to provide for them until they could provide for themselves."

Beth nodded. She understood that. It was a matter of logistics, in part. The other part was what to do with those like Lily, who weren't going to be able to provide for themselves anytime soon. In addition to them needing to learn something that would allow them to do just that. Even if it's merely farming or a craft or something.

"Would you be able to help with any of them that wanted to stay here?" Beth asked, wondering if this was a good idea or not as she spoke. If nothing else, she wouldn't need to either keep track of so many people or think of things to have them do to keep them from just sitting around all day. Potentially getting bored out of their minds.

The priestess nodded. "I can do that. Though, what would you expect me to tell my superiors if they found out? If I say that they were donated themselves then they could have a harder time being made free, while if I say that they sought help, other problems could arise."

Beth sighed. It felt like if it wasn't one thing, it was another. At least in regards to figuring out what to do about them. One reason Beth hoped that at least some of them, if not all, would be interested in staying here was that it would make their traveling party a little smaller. Which in turn would make it less noticeable as they went somewhere else.

"If they ask, just tell them that they needed help getting back on their feet. That they're good workers and are willing to work for whatever they're given," Beth said, feeling like she might have heard that kind of language somewhere before, but unable to place it.

"That could work," the priestess acknowledged. "However, it doesn't resolve what you might need yourself."

Beth wasn't sure how this conversation had come back around to her. It wasn't like she needed anything right then. At least aide from knowing where the griffin canyon was and how to help save Charlie from whoever had purchased her for such a large amount.

"What're you talking about?" Beth asked, wondering if she was walking into a trap.

"This a house of Goddess. My primary job is to see to the needs of all who enter in here. However, I can see that you're troubled about something as well. So, it would be part of my job to see if there's anything I can do to help with whatever that is."

Beth felt stunned. There were so many things about that statement that she wasn't sure where to start in the first place. Such as 'house of Goddess?' Since when is 'goddess' a name? Then how is it that the priestess can tell if something was bothering her? No one had ever been able to get past her poker face in the past, even on the times when she'd had to talk with the police because of some complaints made about her mother.

The door opening to the cathedral pulled the priestess' attention away from Beth. "If you'll excuse me, I need to take care of this person real quick. I'll be right back."

Beth wasn't sure what caused the sudden change in the priestess, but she couldn't think of a reason to move either. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go and those that she'd accompanied here were still busy praying or whatever.

Glancing towards the entrance of the cathedral, Beth had expected to see someone dressed in very expensive-looking clothing, but felt herself freeze when she saw a middle-aged woman who looked like she had absolutely nothing on at all. Yet at the same time, there were signs that parts of her were pressed against something.

Beth wasn't sure what that was about, but she wasn't sure that she even wanted to know. Especially since the only other nudity she'd seen around there was with the slaves, and this woman looked like she was something else entirely. Beth just wished she knew what that was. If she knew, she might be able to feel less weirded out by the situation.

Whatever the priestess and the woman talked about, it didn't take long. After a few minutes of conversation, the woman turned and left the cathedral while the priestess turned and started to walk back towards Beth.

When she got closer, Beth couldn't help but ask, "What was that about?"

The priestess shook her head gently. "It's not for me to say. Anything anyone here says to me is supposed to be strictly confidential."

Beth couldn't help but feel like there was a trap somewhere in her words. "You mean, you can't even tell your superiors if they ask?"

The priestess shook her head. "You should already know this. Why do you seem like you're not familiar with even the basic tenets of the church?"

Beth shrugged helplessly. For some reason, she felt like the priestess telling her that made it clear that she could trust this woman completely. Even though her more rational part said that things like that didn't mean squat, since it wasn't like Beth could be certain about the veracity of that assertion. She just did.

"Let's just say that I'm not from around here," Beth said, not caring how vague she made herself to be. "I don't belong to this church, and if anything, I'd be more Agnostic than anything else."

"What's 'Agnostic?'" the priestess asked after a minute of stunned silence.

Beth couldn't be sure if this was a good sign or not, but quickly dismissed it because she doubted she'd be able to figure it out quickly. "It's that I don't really believe in any deity, although I do acknowledge that there's a possibility of such a being. I just don't ascribe to any such things."

The priestess looked at Beth like she had turned into someone else right in front of her eyes. Beth wasn't sure how to take the reaction, partially because she wasn't sure how to handle it in general. Though, she hoped that it wouldn't create a problem in the first place.

"So, in other words, I should treat you like a possible convert?" the priestess asked after several minute of silence between them.

Beth merely shrugged. The priestess looked like she had managed to wrap her head around what Beth said, which made Beth feel like the priestess was rather good at rolling with unexpected things. Though, she couldn't help but wonder how the priestess would react if she really knew the whole story of where Beth had come from.

"Sadly, this is becoming too common lately," the priestess sighed, making Beth wonder if they church here was having other troubles that weren't so apparent. Though, Beth wasn't sure if she'd have been able to notice otherwise, as she certainly wouldn't know what to look for.

Beth didn't say anything, though the priestess didn't seem to be bothered by that. In fact, after a minute of quiet, she nodded to herself and continued, "I guess I should start at the beginning then."

"The beginning's always good," Beth said, feeling like she'd missed her chance to escape, even though she was confident she could get the priestess to stop whenever and leave then.

The priestess began the story of the creation and Beth was able to pick out distinct parallels to the book of Genesis. Not that she was really surprised. The main point that she hadn't really expected was the fact that it wasn't 'God' who was the one who created everything, but rather 'Goddess.' Not that Beth had any intention of saying anything about that. For one thing, she knew it would only prolong this conversation.

Another piece that she thought was interesting was the fact that the woman was created first, and man came out of her rib. Then, he was named man because he was part of a woman and not, essentially, a whole woman. Beth wasn't exactly sure what to make of that.

Then as the story went to the flood, Beth was surprised when there was a deviation from what she remembered in the book of Genesis. In fact, it was clearly something that this world had that Earth didn't, assuming that this part also would apply to Christianity.

"…the rainbow that was given as Goddess' promise was made of seven colors, each representing the days of creation. Red symbolizes the light that was created on the first day, which can sometimes be seen when the light is coming up at the start of a new day. Orange symbolizes the heavens, or firmament, that were created on the second day, which can be seen during sunsets some days. Yellow symbolizes the land that was created on the third day, which can be seen in many areas how the land has a yellowish color such as the sands along the sea shore, if you've ever been there in addition to all the plant life that grows; much of which will turn yellow at certain seasons.

"Green symbolizes the lights in the sky from the fourth day, both the sun and moon as well as the stars and other things you can see sometimes in the sky that are set to tell us when something is going to happen, even if we don't know what that was supposed to be. Blue symbolizes the life in the waters that was created on the fifth day, the life that flows through the waters is shown in this color. Indigo symbolizes all life on land that was created on the sixth day, including humans, as while similar to the life in the waters, they are fundamentally different, so they can't be shown as the same color. And violet symbolizes rest, such as the Lady did on the seventh day."

Beth nodded at that explanation, although she felt some of it was stretched to fit, but she at least saw the way that the logic had been worked to encompass all of it. Though, it did remind her about how she often wondered if the number seven was an important number, given how it could be seen in important points in the bible, like the days of creation, the colors of the rainbow, the seven seals in the Book of Revelation just to name a few.

Yet, at this point the priestess jumped to what she could only assume was the equivalent of Jesus Christ in this world: Yae-mith. The story was almost the same as from the bible, except while it was still a virgin birth, a woman carried the 'savior' while a man is the one who nursed and took care of the girl. While Beth understood some of the reasons why things were like that, she still felt like it was a little too much for her.

When the story ended with Yae-mith being executed, Beth decided she'd heard enough. Though, she did have a few questions that came to mind as she couldn't help but think about certain points of the bible that she wanted to see if it was still viewed the same here. Then there was the woman who'd entered earlier who was doing her own impression of the Emperor's New Clothes, or so Beth took it as.

"I have a few questions," Beth said as the priestess was about to enter into another story, though Beth wasn't sure if she'd be able to maintain her interest long enough to listen to the entire story.

"Alright, what are they?" the priestess asked, showing not signs of being annoyed about Beth's interruption.

"One, is what's the stands of men pairing with men and women with women?" she asked, wondering if she should even be asking about that.

"As the scriptures say: Men shouldn't lie with other men because there can be no children born through such a union. Where if a woman lies with another woman, who would take care of the children? Therefore, it is wisdom in Goddess that a woman should only lie with a man. As that was the way it had been ordained in heaven."

Beth couldn't say that she was surprised at that. Though, what did catch her interest was the fact that it had different reasons why men shouldn't get it on with other men as opposed to women getting it on with other women. Like there might be a way for two women to have a kid in this world. Though, she wasn't exactly sure, but that's at least how it sounded like to her.