The latest news and information from outside Deiroc barely trickles to the island despite improved communications through radio and wider paper circulation. It can be said that land-connected provinces such as Barba, Kamui, and Carga usually receives them earlier than Deiroc ever does, and perhaps this is not technology at fault. The republican government ensures that the Triskaide Archipelago receives only frequencies and reports which are exclusively catered for the province by providing franchises to media outlets that agree to obey such regulations. This gives the republican government ample time to filter data which can possibly be poured in publicly to its peripheries.

Despite these restrictions, which were laid in consideration of Triskaide’s long history of defying Dalreidan rule, the Order of Cashera has maintained itself updated through the Secret Ops. In one of their underground chambers, lighted by oil lamps and decorated with various Cashera icons on the walls, the highest members of the order convened to discuss the situation with the Great Priest at its head. All of them are hooded, and wear cloaks of red that flow all the way down to their feet.

“Hmm. A law on religious freedom,” the Great Priest said while stroking his chin, “And Kaerina says Arton’s behind this? I see that it could forward our plans earlier than initially expected.”

On his right, the Priestess of the Sun, an elderly woman who has a tattoo of the sun emanating many rays on her forehead, speaks, “It most definitely would, Great Priest. But can we ensure Cashera’s safety when the promised time comes?”

On his left, the Priestess of the Moon, an elderly woman who has a crescent moon tattoo on her forehead, adds, “In other words, can Cashera’s safety be ensured when the promised time definitely forwards our plans earlier?”

“Arton’s not a mere military man, he’s a cunning politician, too,” the old cleric responded, “As long as he’s trying to pursue Piso’s position, we can use him as a platform for us to reach greater heights. The Order of Cashera shall pave way for the rebirth of this world.”

“Maybe so,” the Priestess of the Sun warns, “but Great Priest, remember the story of when humanity used to have wings. You shouldn’t have your head too high in the clouds.”

“But Great Priest,” the Priestess of the Moon warns as well, “maybe you should remember the story of having your head too high in the clouds. Wings used to be on humanity.”

In Cashera’s sacred texts, there was the narrative of a certain man who believed that he was Cashera’s only beloved. However, he cannot see their love consummated because they are as far apart as heaven and earth in every way.

Even with wings on their backs, humanity can only fly as high as four kilometers from the ground. Thus, the said man concocted a plan to reach her. With nine other men who can fly the maximum height just as he can, they climbed Deiroc’s highest mountain. Then, one after the other, each man placed his comrade on the shoulders, the most powerful being at the bottom, and at the top was the man himself. Provided his calculations are accurate, he would have flown over 40 kilometers in height.

Seeing the island, and then the world’s landmass, become smaller, all of it while he witnesses the many clouds he has passed by as he flies, the man is fully convinced he will already reach Cashera. But when he himself reached his own limit, he still cannot see Cashera. Gravity began to pull him down harder than he can flap his wings, and his strength is being sapped by the thinning of air in the higher portions of the skies. Without the goddess in sight, the man falls with tremendous speed.

Only then did Cashera appear, condemning the man for becoming too conceited and selfish. He trusted in the power of his wings to fulfill the love he sought, not in Cashera’s power to give it. During his fall, the man’s wings withered into nothing, and the mountain which he climbed opened up to become a volcano.

The volcano devoured him, and then erupted. While it expanded Deiroc’s land in the process, it appears not only did the loss of wings affect the man, but also everyone in the earth. Those who trusted in their wings died, but those who were wise to go to the waters lived. It shows how the power of flight has created a false sense of security and ambition for humanity.

The Great Priest banged the table, “Enough! The priestesses are dismissed! As for the rest of you, make sure the plan goes smoothly! Alright?! If you’ve to ask for more from the people, then do so! Tell them anything as long as it’s in line with our doctrine! That’s all!”

All but one left the chamber: A masked man who stood behind their presider throughout the meeting. When they were sure that nobody remained, the Great Priest motioned for him to sit.

“Your orders, Great Priest,” the masked man softly said.

The old cleric, while still infuriated, speaks in a rather controlled manner, “Good work, 72. Had Aramathi fallen in Rabka’s hands, we’d have a harder time converting the province for the promised time. Also, I trust that our presence in Kamui is doing well?”

“Yes, Great Priest. Sister Cortica is currently in charge.”

“Ugh, the berserker… If we’re not so shorthanded here in Deiroc, I would’ve sent more there. We need all the money we can get from Kamui, even when they’re not the most generous.”

“I’ll see to it that Cortica sends them regularly.”

The Great Priest clasped his hands together, “So, 72… You’re really Cashera’s chosen one…”

The agent nervously answered, “I… Um, well, Great Priest… I don’t know… You know…”

“Do you love Cashera?”

“You mean, as a follower? Of course. My love and respect for her goes…”

“No. I mean, as a lover.”

“Great Priest!”, Number 72 was shocked, “That’s blasphemy! How can you say such things?”

“Ah, so you’ve the same judgment as everybody else.”

“What do you mean, Great Priest? I only say I know our texts, but I didn’t accuse…”

“Truly, the texts say that Cashera shouldn’t be treated as similar to a human lover despite her repeated incarnations. After all, what does a goddess have something to do with mortals and their work? It’s riddled in the religious stories of Barba, Bayan, and Dalreida, but not ours. Indeed, you’re correct. But did you know how I got to be the Great Priest of Cashera?”

While they were talking, the Priestesses of the Sun and of the Moon paid their visit to Cashera’s avatar. They find her being attended by Number 214, who seemed too eager in conversation.

“214,” the Priestess of the Sun called from the door, “You’re relieved as of today. You can resume your duties tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” the Priestess of the Moon called after, “you can return to your duties, 214. As of today, you’re relieved.”

The jolly Number 214 bid sweet goodbye to the three of them. Despite her urge to overhear the conversation, she knew too well that the priestesses will not spare such misdemeanor.

“Mistress,” the Priestess of the Sun opened, “are you doing well?”

“Well are you doing, mistress?”, the Priestess of the Moon followed.

“Yeah, I mean, yes I do, priestesses. I just can’t find a way to charge my phone in this place. Like e-lec-tri-ci-ty. Oh, bother. I’d just try using the solar powerbank… Anyway, do you always speak in twos? It’s quite confusing.”

The two priestesses looked at each other and nodded. It was the Priestess of the Sun who continues the conversation.

“Understood. As you wish, mistress.”

“Ah, one more thing. Why do I seldom get out of town? It’s supposed to be my island, right?”

“The Order of Cashera’s in control, mistress. There’s no need to worry. The people are satisfied with knowledge of your presence here.”

The young woman got out of bed and confronted the priestesses.

“It’s been weeks since I arrived in Deiroc. I don’t even have an idea why I’m still here!”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out ourselves, mistress. So, with your permission, we’d like to accompany you in the Forbidden Chamber, since we didn’t seem to have activated much of your past memory in having you walk on the Sacred Shores.”

“Wait… how can I be sure you’re not conning me or anything? The Great Priest almost killed…!”

“We know that, mistress! Please, we’re not acting under the Great Priest’s orders, but we’d like to help. We want to help you, Lady Cashera.”

The Priestess of the Moon entered, “Indeed, Lady Cashera’s the one we’d like to help! We know that we’re not acting under the orders of the Great Priest.”

After contemplating, the young woman answered with some fear, “I guess… I don’t have much of a choice, do I? Can I at least have a companion with me?”

“Unfortunately, no,” the Priestess of the Sun said, “Not even the Secret Ops have access to it. There are so many paths to reach the Forbidden Chamber, it’s literally a maze to get lost in.”

With a tight smile, the young woman nodded. After a change of clothes, the three women proceeded to the Forbidden Chamber. From traversing an abandoned alley, they reached a tunnel having a considerable number of doors. The priestesses lighted the tunnel by turning a stone on each side of the wall, which caused sparks to activate the oil lamps clamped on walls.

“These doors are all unlabeled,” the new avatar cautioned, “How can we know which door leads to the right path?”

“The patterns on the walls,” the Priestess of the Sun replied, “they serve as the landmarks.”

“Are they written in some Deiroc script?”

“That’d make it too easy, mistress. Actually, these are drawings that resemble Miarza’s glyphs.”

“Why go so far in keeping the Forbidden Chamber, well, forbidden?”

“You’ll know soon enough, mistress.”

As they walked, their footsteps echoed in the tunnel, which struck a nerve on the young woman, but when she saw the two priestesses being calm, she tried to imitate their behavior. Door after door they entered, and every time, there are corridors which show no signs of life.

Also, as they enter and close a door, the light before them extinguishes, as if it was the switch to turn them off. It seemed like an endless journey featuring dusty stone walls and well-maintained concrete floors. The temperature also begins to drop, but their clothing was adequate to keep their heat. After a few more hours of walking, they reached the final door.

When it was opened, it was a spacious chamber full of murals, furniture, sculptures, and so on. It was lighted not by oil lamps, but by glass cylinders which continue to emit light from internal chemicals. These glass cylinders are installed all around the chamber at measured intervals.

“I don’t get it,” the young woman remarked, “What’s so forbidden about this wonder?”

The priestesses looked at each other, and the Priestess of the Moon stepped forward.

She responded, “Mistress, this chamber is a secret meeting place.”

“Meeting place, huh? For what? It doesn’t seem to be used much…”

The new avatar stopped speaking, her eyes dilated, and then her pupils rolled back. She just stood there, unable to hear, see, or feel anything from her surroundings.

“What’s happening?!”, the Priestess of the Moon nervously asked.

“She seems to have entered a trance,” the Priestess of the Sun replied, “Probably prompted by that statuette she’s holding. Let’s have her be seated.”

“Right, we wouldn’t want to disturb her while in trance. The spirit is quite a sneaky entity. What’s that statuette anyway?”

When the young woman came to her senses, she immediately saw people in the chamber. She tried to catch their attention, but they seem to have not noticed. She then looked at her hands.

They were transparent enough to see through, but still maintains some opacity for her to recognize. The same astral form goes for the rest of her body. At that instant, she panicked and ran all over the place. She did not even notice she cannot touch or bump any of the things in the chamber.

“What’s this, Katheudo?”

“It’s you, Lady Cashera.”

The young woman stopped from her amok-like reaction when she heard the people with her. Another look at them reveals that they were not the two priestesses, and the female was given by the man with her a statuette. It was the same statuette which she was holding earlier. When she has breathed to soothe her nerves, she began to realize it was a scene from another time.

“Katheudo,” Cashera said as she examined the statuette, “do I look this voluptuous to you?”

Katheudo laughed while scratching his head, “Forgive me. It’s an estimate, Lady Cashera.”

She put down the statuette beside her. After doing so, they gazed at each other and went closer to each other, Cashera holding him on the shoulders, while Katheudo holding her on the waist. The young woman looked on with utmost anticipation of what they will do.

“Do you want to know my exact measurements then?”

“Lady Cashera… You know I want to know all about you.”

They closed their eyes as their heads slowly inched nearer each other. Then, they kissed each other on the lips. They kissed with much excitement and passion as Cashera stroked his hair and neck, while Katheudo moved his hands back and forth her waist and hips.

“Oh, Katheudo, call me by my name…”

“Cashera… Cashera…”

“No… my real name…”

“L-Laizidana… I love you…”

“I love you, too, Katheudo…”

Suddenly, a suspicious sound was heard. Katheudo shoved her away, but upon further investigation, it was just the sound of mice rustling on the ceiling.

“Katheudo!”, Laizidana wailed as she softly massaged her stomach, “What’s wrong with you?!”

“N-nothing, I just felt we’re being watched, Lai… I mean, Lady Cashera.”

“Tell me something… would you still love me if… well, if I’m not the real avatar?”

Katheudo was taken aback, “W-what do you mean, my lady? I love you to the earth and…”

“I know that classical line,” Laizidana growled while turning her back on her lover, “but I just don’t want this anymore… Always meeting in this secret chamber like fugitives. If I have to declare myself a fake, I’d do it for my dream to have a simple and comfortable life with you!”

“Lady Cashera! Are you saying the Order has made a mistake in choosing you?!”

“You don’t want that? Yes, I suppose you just loved me for being a goddess, not for being me…”

Katheudo pulled her and gave her a tight hug from behind.

“I understand the hardships you’re going through… But believe me when I say this… I love you.”

Laizidana held his hands, “I love you, too… And as Cashera, I have to love everybody else.”

“Lady Cashera, please, stay with our people… You’re their only hope. I’m willing to sacrifice if…”

“Are you? Then, I ask you this. You have to take my life.”

Katheudo’s eyes widened, “I simply can’t do something against you, my lady!”

She looked back at him, “Of course, you can’t… But my demise is the only way for this island to achieve peace. As long as I’m alive, Deiroc and the rest of Triskaide will fight against Dalreida.”

“I mean, you can just do another miracle, right? Send a storm against their fleet. Anything!”

She kissed Katheudo on the cheek, and then said, “You know I’m not Cashera. I’m Laizidana.”

The man burst into tears, “P-please… Is there an alternative for you to be able to…?”

Sadness can be seen in the avatar’s face as she tried to gather the right words to say to him. She then removed his hands from her, turned around, and looked at him intently.

“We’ll meet again, Katheudo,” she said as she touched his face, “You know, I’d have loved it if we did it just now… but screw it all… I guess you can only have too much happiness, can’t you? If we’re not meant to be in this world, then perhaps in another… When that time comes, I want to see us free and liberated from anything else...”

“What are you saying, Lady Cashera?! You’re our goddess! My goddess! You can free us all!”

Laizidana leaned against Katheudo, “No, I don’t think so... But what I believe… from this day on, you’ll be their Great Priest… so please. Please carry on, Katheudo...”

She closed her eyes with a tear in her right eye. Katheudo shook her while shouting, but she was not responding. He saw a pendant wrapped around her wrist, and it contained an unknown liquid. When he inspected it, he was to find out it was poison.

It then came to him that prior to their meeting, Laizidana took the poison, which she concealed in her pendant to avoid checking by the Order or the Secret Ops, hoping that her loss would compel Deiroc’s surrender. Laizidana was no more, but with a smile in her face, she seems satisfied to have gone in her lover’s arms.

“I thought the war against Dalreida ended because of Lady Cashera’s command?!”, Number 72 exclaimed upon learning the truth behind Dalreidan occupation from the melancholic cleric.

The Great Priest shook his head, “Officially yes, but in reality, no. She’s gone before we entered a deal with Dalreida, 72. Only later on did I see reason in Laizidana’s words. We can use Dalreida as the stepping stone for the promised time without as much struggle. But no avatar of the goddess must be witnessed of her mortality, so I placed her remains on a volcano, and had its powerful magma burn them. Every now and then, I still visit that volcano to remember her.”

“I see. Is that why you doubted the new avatar of Lady Cashera?”

“Quite frankly… Yes. We used to walk the Sacred Shores together… It’s her favorite beach. So I was surprised, upset even, when you brought the new avatar with no memories of it at all!”

“She said it might have had something to do with some space-time continuum travel?”

“Ah… the mysteries of Cashera are as deep as they are vast. But keep this between us, alright?”

“A question, our Father… How do you even know it was Lady Cashera? If avatars of her have come and gone, is not our goddess supposed to be immortal and invincible?”

“You should see reincarnation like a transfer. I only realized it with the new avatar. As much as you want to transfer everything, a vessel can only hold so much. Look at us, 72. We get reincarnated, too, but can we remember every past life we had? Unless you access the realm of spirits like I did, you’ll probably have at least some vague idea. But like visions and dreams, only Cashera knows how much of them can you remember in this temporal world.”

“You lost me, Great Priest. Aren’t all vessels the same, especially if Cashera chose the vessel?”

“I believe you can answer that yourself, 72. How did you know she was Cashera’s avatar?”

“Well, basically, the Order told me she’d come forth in Dalreida…”

“Yes, we did say that, but you’re on the field. Not us. I’m sure a great power led you to her.”

“A great power?”

“Indeed, it may sound unreal… Didn’t you experience it… or has my doubts loomed into yours as well?”

“Probably so, Great Priest… As you said, she’s not what you or everybody else has expected.”

“Has time and distance blunted what she has imparted to you firsthand?”

“What do you mean?”

The Great Priest snickered, “You attacked me because you said she taught you hope and love.”

“That?! Oh, Great Priest! Please forgive me for my disrespect at that time! I don’t know…”

“It’s all well and good, 72. However, while she may be a goddess, she’s also human. The last thing I’d want is to see her become like Laizidana. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”

“I do, Great Priest…”

“Cashera chose you, but don’t let it get to you. She chose me, too, but look at what happened. Love and respect her as a goddess, as a human, as a symbol, but take heed, 72. Don’t love her as a woman. That’s why I’m sending you to all these missions. I’m doing you, and everyone else, a favor. Undoubtedly, Cashera is devoted to all her people, not just to any one in particular.”

Number 72 silently looked down, touching his mask as he recalled his rare memories with Cashera’s new avatar. The Great Priest frowned upon seeing his agent fall into silence.

“Acknowledge my recommendation, 72!”, the Great Priest thundered, “Remember where you came from! I brought you out of that mess, and I can surely bring you back there if you insist!”

The masked man flinched, “I hear and obey, Great Priest!”

The old cleric nodded, and then walked towards Number 72.

Placing his hand on the masked man’s shoulder, the Great Priest ordered, “Here’s your next assignment. The Island of Telo seems to give us headache in our propagation. Reports say that an oracle has recently emerged, and its Teloi followers are growing as we speak. Go there and resolve the issue through whatever means necessary, as long as it doesn’t trace back to us.”

Number 72 looked at him, “As you wish, Great Priest.”

Staring at each other’s eyes, the two men recognized their oneness in belief and determination. The Great Priest was satisfied to see the masked man finally comprehending his good intentions. Number 72 went on ahead of the Great Priest in leaving the chamber, and embarked on his journey to Telo.

Meanwhile, out of nostalgia, the old cleric decided to visit the Forbidden Chamber. As he walked leisurely through the corridors, he sensed something has been violated. His mind raced of thoughts of horrible things happening in the Forbidden Chamber while he tried to walk even faster. As much as he wanted to run, his aging frame has limited his physical abilities. Somehow, a sense of urgency filled him.

Who built the Forbidden Chamber within the chambers of the secret order? How was Laizidana chosen as Cashera’s avatar, and does it apply to the new one? Why do the Priestess of the Sun and of the Moon speak the way they do?