The Three Promises

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 that the effect of the magical seal she placed on the door was 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,

'Hermes had a spouse or a consort? I think there's a big mistake here. He was often depicted as a bachelor in the greek myths, not as a married god, yet the prayer literally calls him "spouse of Maia", that's so incorrect! Maia was his mother's name! To make it worse, who is this woman, Maria? He is the son of Zeus and the nymph Maia not Maria. All that knowledge I gained about greek mythos from the internet cannot possibly go wrong, right? I know Zeus was a player.. but atleast keep the relations right.'

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. Their slow chants resonated throughout the temple. Kanito wasn't paying much attention to them, only smiling if he ever made an eye contact with any of them. This was until one person entered the temple, a person dressed in a long, 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 wild wave of emotions ran in Kanito's heart. The passage of time was never able to fade this figure from Kanito's memories. Rather it became more prominent. Seeing him again in person for the second time only made him unforgettable.

'He will definitely recognize me, I shouldn't talk to him right now.' Despite of thinking that, Kanito was not able to resist the desire of greeting him. "Good morning, gentleman." He said in a polite, courteous voice even though being nervous and afraid.

'Please Yuriel, recognize me for a second. You can then forget me forever.'

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 turned to Yuriel and greeted him with a solemn and excited voice, "Yuriel! How are you doing, child? We don't meet often nowadays, do we?"

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, "So, what ingenious alibi did you conjure up to escape the drudgery of work and indulge in some well-deserved temple time, Yuriel?"

Returning back to his seat, Yuriel replied, "I have heard Archpriest Illiad preach in one his evening lectures 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, "Oh yes I will. But the map would be so complex, not even the sailors of Poseidon would be able to decipher it."

St. Brianna's attention shifted to Kanito, seeing him stand silently and listen to their lighthearted talks, she thought inwardly, 'He must be feeling devastated inside because his own elder brother who is so close to him, didn't recognize him.'

To make Kanito feel included, she said, "Thank you for helping me to set up the altar, Judas. You can take some rest now."

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, he cleverly used "sir" in hopes of giving Yuriel a clue as he adressed him as "sir" when they first met and didn't know each other's name.

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, St. Brianna. 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. Lord Hermes is the guardian of travellers you say, so I came here to make a Prayer."

St. Brianna looked at Yuriel with concern in her eyes, "Forgive me Lord Hermes, I know you will watch over his journey but allow me to doubt you for one single time. Please don't go there, Yuriel, please don't. That is the rumoured land of the Scarlets! There is a strict 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, because he liked how Yuriel who was advocating for the governments earlier was now denouncing the governments using Kanito's own insults, while also simultaneously felt at ease, knowing that he has remembered him somehow. However the mention of the new terms like 'Red Island' and 'Scarlet' unsettled him but also made him curious.

"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 34. 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, "As I stand at the threshold of the unknown path, I seek thy guidance, Hermes, I yearn for thy presence. O swift one, O beloved sailor, 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. Carry me with your wings and grant me sight through your eyes. 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 feel the pressure the invocation brought upon us? Truly, the prayer has brought us in the presence 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 name is 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."

'They call Orpheus a saint? I wonder how he is known in this world. Why are greek myths even popular in this world in the first place?'

"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 and will commit all blasphemies until the world is swept clean from the hypocrisy of the gods. Every person was born with faith and optimism, but the gods themselves choose to stay hidden all the time and make us skeptic. If the third happens, St. Brianna, not even you will be an exception."

Yuriel exited the temple, leaving behind a speechless refugee and a devastated saintess.