Dance of the Gods

With small steps Father Martin lead the girl towards the kitchen, her feet must've really hurt since after each movement she winced. He kept his face warm and kind as he tried to get her to talk.

"After you get yourself cleaned and drink some tea, maybe I can get you a new shoe. They might be a bit big for you since they are mine, but anything better than walking on this cold floor. So, what do you say?"

Her dazed expression turned towards him, then she looked down at her feet. She seemed... Surprised?

'Why is she so shocked?... Didn't she notice where the pain came from?... Just what happened to her?...'

They turned left on the corridor and went into the first door on the right.

The kitchen was small, it had a small dining table where two people could barely fit and some counters with drawers where he kept the plates and cutlery. There was also a small wood stove, which still had a few embers sparkling inside, the remnants of its dying flame.

Behind the dining table was another door that lead to a small restroom, it had a toilet and sink. Also it had a small mirror above the sink.

Father Martin sent the girl inside. She was a bit reluctant to leave, but after he went in and lit the gas lamp, that gave her a bit more comfort.

When she finally left Father Martin put some more wood in the stove, and placed an old kettle with water inside, on top of it.

'Now what kind of tea should I make?... Hmm... If she came in contact with something supernatural, then a bit of cleansing wouldn't hurt...'

He walked towards one of the drawers and took out a bunch of different ingredients, then he carefully looked at each trying to decide which ones to put in the tea.

'Lets see, she survived the encounter so the person or monster couldn't be very strong... I think a bit of Oil of Dusk and Morning Dew wouldn't hurt... Also lets put this tea mix in to hide the flavor.'

When he finished placing the ingredients inside, quickly he went into his room and took out his smallest pair of shoes. It was more of a sandal, but this was all he had to offer.

He returned to the kitchen and heard the kettle whistling, which meant it was ready to be served. Quickly he grabbed a piece of cloth and lifted the tea off the stove. He placed it in the middle of the table and took out two cups.

The girl came out of the restroom just when Father Martin sat down. He looked her up and down a few times, her feet had a lot of cuts on it and her clothing was still in a bad state, but what really surprised him was that she looked beautiful.

Even though he was a bit old for these kinds of things, and his interest in marrying or women disappeared a long time ago, that didn't change the fact... She was truly gorgeous.

Slowly and carefully she sat down in the other seat, her eyes kept darting around the room like a caged animal.

Father Martin didn't even pay attention to her state, instead he just pour two cups of the tea. It was a greenish liquid with a few white bubbles on top of it. He raised the tea and tasted it.

'Hmm... Pretty good, the spiritual ingredients gave it a bit of smoky and exotic taste... How refreshing!'

The woman seemed a bit reluctant to drink at first, but after seeing Father Martin taste it and the small satisfied smile on his face, she touched the warm, steaming cup. Heavily with trembling hands, she raised it to her lips and took a small sip.

She closed her eyes and made a sound similar to a cat purring.

"Do you like it?" His face had a bright smile, it was good seeing people enjoy what you make.

'At this moments I truly understand why the Church of Life enjoys creating so much, doing something good for others is the most satisfying feeling.'

He took another sip of the tea and nearly spat it out... The girl answered his earlier question.

"Yes... What's in it?"

It took a few seconds for the question to register, but soon the caring smile returned and he replied.

"It's a tea mix I bought the other day, its quite tasty if I do say so myself. By the way I don't think I introduced myself yet. I'm Father Martin, priest of this cathedral. Might I know the lady's name?"

The girl stayed silent for a while, then after taking another sip she seemed to gather enough strength to begin speaking.

"I'm... Veronica Navarro... Thank you... by the way."

Veronica looked away, her face blushing from shame.

"Miss Veronica Navarro... What a unique and exotic name! Where are you from Veronica, if you don't mind me knowing."

Her face fell after hearing the question. Father Martin didn't understand the reason, but he was very good at reading emotions... He saw the boundless sadness in Veronica's eyes.

After taking a big shuddering breath and wiping the tears out of her eyes, she said in a whisper, "I don't know..."

This answer startled him a bit, but his intrigue also increased. His previous judgement of her was very wrong, she wasn't just some regular girl... There was something special about her.

He took a sip as well before asking his next question.

"What do you mean by I don't know? Maybe I can help you somehow..."

Father Martin couldn't even finish the sentence before Veronica burst out laughing, her eyes got more teary and the laughter turned a bit mad. Gradually it died down and soon the sad expression returned, it took more than one sip for her to talk.

"You can't... No one can... I – I don't... I saw something, but that wasn't real... I'm just simply insane... That's why I don't know who I'm or where I come from... I'm crazy..."

She began talking in whispers, like her thoughts manifested a crazed state of mind. Very gently and with a lot of care, Father Martin reached for her hand. Veronica became silent and her eyes snapped at his, but the trembling of the hand lessened and she didn't pull it away.

While looking at him suspiciously she took another sip.

"What did you say... Before you answer let me tell you, you are not mad! You just seen something you couldn't explain. Now tell me."

His voice changed from the usual charming old man and became firm, he wasn't just some old man, but a priest of the Church of Time! He needed to know if there is a threat to the citizens in the city or not!

Veronica was left speechless, but her face soon became resolute and with a large sigh she told Father Martin everything... Except the transmigration and the possible criminal activity inside the Miles Inn.

She began with her amnesia, which made Father Martin very interested.

'It's similar to what the 8th order lost experience, but those memories should have came back already, especially in this temple... Also she doesn't have any knowledge of the supernatural world as far as I can tell... So it must be something else... Curious...'

When she spoke about the Miles family he smiled a bit, as it turns out he was the priest at their wedding and he baptised all three of their children. Since he was the only priest of the Church of Time in Hammon, he does at least one wedding, baptism or some other religious activity once every week.

Next she spoke about her work life and the beauty of this world. Father Martin also noticed that sometimes she made a slip of tongue, or at least that's what he thought... She seemed to talk about this world like it wasn't her own.

He just thought Veronica was in a confused state after some trauma, even he didn't believe that someone could come her from outside of this world.

She became very energetic and happy as she talked about the amazing buildings, colorful dresses and strangely enough her biggest interest was in the modern weaponry.

'Her hobby is very unusual that's for sure...'

Steadily though her mood worsened and Father Martin quickly found out why.

'So she accidentally killed a rapist?... I do think the world won't miss him, but she doesn't seem to have that mentality...'

Soon his interest got piqued again, as she spoke of an older woman living on the Copper Street... Madam Stout.

He knew exactly who Madam Stout was, an 8th order oracle. Her powers were related to divination about the future, past or present.

Veronica didn't stop and her voice slowly became distressed, she spoke about trying to divine her past, to see who she was... But that didn't happen.

Whatever Madam Stout saw, she wasn't supposed to and she became corrupted.

When she tried to describe her the changes on Madam Stout's body the trembling returned in earnest and her eyes started darting around the room again. While Father Martin tried to calm her down inside his brain was working overtime.

'So that's what happened, she saw a corruption process and nearly got killed, to make the situation even worse she saw someone from the oracle path... Speaking of which how did she survive seeing something like that, a regular person should either go fully mad or simply die from terror... There really is something unique about her...'

Since he found out the problem, he had to report it to the Unbroken Headquarters within Hammon, but before that he needed to brew another tea. Now that he knew exactly what's wrong with Veronica, he could use the right ingredients and make her better.

Quickly he put them into the pot and sat it on the still burning stove. Then he turned towards Veronica, she looked quite bad, her head watching every corner waiting for something to attack her.

Father Martin sat back down in front of her and said, "I have to send a telegram about Madam Stout, but now I can comfortably say you are a hundred percent not insane. You just lack in knowledge about this world, but don't worry I will explain everything you want to know."

This seemed to calm her down a bit and soon she was drinking the new the he made.

"Hmm... This tastes even better!"

She sounded cheerful and a small smile appeared on her face. Father Martin got stunned again how delightful she looked, the happy aura only increased her charm.

"Yes I made a new batch with a spiritual ingredients. What you encountered left your mind broken, this tea is specially made to elevate that feeling. Now if you feel better I will lead you to the library, you can wait for me there."

Veronica nodded and they went out of the kitchen. Then Father Martin lead her to the library and he walked into the basement where the telegram was located. He quickly wrote down the report and sent it to the Unbroken.