At first, Sirius was sceptical, but polishing metal turned out to be rather pleasant. Not a thought entered his head during that day, just the calm glint of iron and brass, illuminated by dancing flames, soothing his mind. These flames were so different from... those. Never could Sirius believe that fire was that scary. He knew that it could scald your skin if you are not careful, but now he truly understood the danger... Sometimes, when he carelessly touched hot wax of a candle, a choking memory stirred up in his mind, but the calm atmosphere quickly dispelled his worry.

  Eventually, all chandeliers were clean. Sirius looked around in confusion, trying to find more stuff to clean, but noticed that people were already gathering on the pews. Some were solemnly whispering under the breath, reading a prayer, others were admiring the interior or reading a book, relaxing after a long day. Kids were busy whispering to each other, clearly bored out of their minds, but they wouldn't dare to run away. Everyone had their own way to respect Twin Gods in their residence. In the end, Sirius decided to follow Father Gregor's advice. Moreover, he deserved a bit of rest, so he picked a spot for contemplation on the last pew, closer to the exit. It wasn't really necessary, but something about this atmosphere weighed down on his mind, unnerving and grating his senses.

  Sirius began looking to the sides to find the source of this uneasiness, but his gaze stopped at the status around the altar. Statues of Gods towered over people, easily thrice their height, their black and white stone contrasting with grey walls. Sirius began closely inspecting the towering figures, trying to understand what was opposite between them. Mythos, the black statue to the right of the altar, had a sword on his hip and carried a staff with a snake coiled around it. Mythra stood to the other side, sword replaced by herbalist's pouch, and her staff was coiled with vines. Surprisingly, other details didn't match their characters. Mythra was said to be the goddess of all positive, while Mythos was her counterpart. Yet, Mythos was gently smiling, his robes softly flowing like in water, and Mythra's gaze was strict, her clothes creased and jagged along the edges. If not for the blinding white and void-like black, one would mistake their domains.

  "Let us start," male and female voices sounded in unison, making Sirius shudder.

  It was Father Gregor and some other woman in white robes, their outfits mirroring that of Gods. Both priests wore high-collared shirts and flowing, almost weightless robes on top. They were holding hands, sooty-black garments of Father Gregor contrasting with snowy-white ones of a priestess. Together they began reading the prayer. First they thanked the Gods for their gifts, thanked Mythra for the era of peace she upheld, and asked Mythos to postpone his reign. Sirius noticed that they praised both Twins equally, so as not to bring their wrath upon their homes. He quietly listened to the prayers, looking at the rhythmical pulsing of flames on the altar. Edges of the fire sometimes flashed purple, unlike what a simple campfire would do. Sirius shook his head and turned away from the unnerving light source.

  He continued to listed to priests. The words said were filled with calm and bliss, and these intense emotions of all the people in the church unwillingly mixed into mana around them, seeping into the environment. Sirius began observing and feeling the surroundings with great interest. No wonder he felt so calm in here, over the years the whole building was overflowing with calmness and cured the minds of the people inside. This was the actual source of his uneasiness, he just mistook the warm atmosphere for the danger. Sirius smiled and tried to relax, taking in the pleasant feeling.

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  Suddenly, he felt a pull at his soul. His thoughts shattered in disarray. In panic, he looked around. He was scared. Everyone chanted. What were they chanting? What was happening? His soul was in agony. What is tugging it? He needed to get away. He HAD to run. Now!

  Sirius fell from the pew to the floor, drawing the worried gazed of people around. The shake gave him enough lucidity to stand up and stumble out of the church. He slowly went outside and sat on the bench. He tried catching a breath, but his body refused, as if he was running. The cold evening breeze gave him shivers. Sirius looked down and saw his clothing soaked in cold sweat, as if he was dunked in a river.

  "You alright?" a female voice asked.

  "Huh?"

  "Are you fine? You look pale," it was a girl, a couple of years older than Sirius, who walked out of the church after Sirius.

  "I'm better..."

  "You are shivering, do you need a coat?"

  "No-no, I'm fine, really..."

  "Nah, I don't believe you," she said and pulled her coat over Sirius' shoulders.

  "Thank you..."

  "Can I sit?"

  "Sure..."

  She sat beside him. Her long red hair swayed on the wind, giving off a smell of mint and lavender. She looked to the east, where the evening sun refracted in the facets of green crystal of a windy rope-like tree, its purple leaves soaking in the last sunlight of the day. She said, "Breathtaking, isn't it?"

  "Maybe..." whispered Sirius without looking at the accursed tree.

  "I didn't know a Cardinal was travelling in these places," she mused.

  "Why do you think so?"

  "Only the best mages of His Majesty the King could pull such a feat? Whoever created this tree overnight must be a Cardinal, not less!"

  "Why would he go such places just to put down a tree?"

  "I don't know. But how can someone be this powerful without being a Cardinal?"

  "The border of the Kingdom is that way. Maybe it was outsiders?"

  "Pfft! Don't be silly! There are only barbarians to the east! Such a beautiful creation MUST've been made by the Kingdom's mage, for sure!" she merrily giggled, drawing the smile out of tired Sirius.

  "Sirius, how are you? What happened?" Gregor was rushing towards the boy from the church.

  "I'm fine. It's just... nothing to worry about."

  "Melissa, thank you for checking out on him, what would I do without you."

  "Yeah, he seemed sickly when he left the church. So you are Sirius, huh? Anyway, I should go. Nice to meet you!" Melissa waved to Sirius and went away.

  Sirius weakly smiled and waved back, still a bit uncomfortable from the interaction. At least he has finally calmed down from the earlier.

  "She is a nice girl, helps here when she is not occupied in a bakery. Now that we are alone, what really happened, Sirius?"

  "The flow of mana scared me and I panicked."

  "The flow of mana? The one from all the people?"

  "Yes..."

  "Understood. I guess, something traumatised you that night." They sat in silence for a minute. Eventually, Gregor made a decision. "Let's go get you new clothes, fetch Seth, and go to a tree. I hope it will help you."