It took a few days for Emeri and me to finally find the church we had been looking for. Agratos had many places of worship, foremost among which was a large cathedral that was only accessible to respected citizens of the city. Rich folk, in other words. A shame, really, because it was quite an impressive building.

When we had arrived at its location near the city’s largest square, Emeri hadn’t even passed it a second glance before dragging me deeper into the winding streets and alleys of Agratos. We passed by dozens of churches, yet each one was dismissed within instances. The further we walked, the more confused I became with what Emeri actually had in mind. Was she just very picky? I had tried asking a few times, every time we returned to the inn to sleep for the night, in fact, but she had just blown me off by saying ‘You’ll see when we get there…’

For ordinary pilgrims, any odd church would have done just fine, but Emeri had set out looking for one in particular, determined to find it. Now, three days later, Emeri and I stood before a small, yet ornate church. It was so small I would have called it a chapel if it weren’t for the sign outside. The building was almost entirely made from marble, with depictions of holy scriptures carved exquisitely into the walls.

“Fucking finally…” I grumbled under my breath.

Happy to, at last, satisfy Emeri’s grueling specifications, I marched up to the small gate of the stone fence that encircled the building, but was held back by two white halberds that leaned down and crossed one another, blocking my path.

I looked to the left and right, inspecting the two guards that held the weapons. I hadn’t paid much attention to their presence for some reason, thinking them to be statues. Their armor had the same color as the marble used to build the church, with no accents or details beyond the rough carving. The halberds themselves shared this strange trait. It was as if the guards were meant to be overlooked.

“Access denied to ordinary citizens. Move along.” One said neutrally, though he spoke strangely, as if his words had been stitched together to form a single sentence. Emeri walked up, having none of it.

“Excuse me? We would like to pray inside. I’m with the church. Here, my identification.” She said, handing over a small gold and white badge. One of the guards accepted it and tentatively inspected it, before handing it back.

“Access denied.”

I noticed Emeri’s teeth clench in reaction to the denial but, uncharacteristically for her, she refused to budge.

“Why am I being denied? Doesn’t it make sense for members of the church to pray near their holy places?”

“Access denied.” The guard repeated with the exact same tone of voice.

“So, who does have access, then?” Emeri asked, fed up.

“Access denied. Direct any inquiries to the bishop.”

“Which bishop?”

“Direct any inquiries to Bishop Taliber.”

Emeri snorted, but finally gave up and marched off in the other direction. After giving the abandoned church a final look over, I ran after her. Once we were outside of the guard’s hearing distance, I voiced what was on my mind.

“What was that back there? Can’t we just pray at any church to continue the pilgrimage? Why are you so hellbent on praying at this church in particular?”

She sighed. “It’s not that it has to be this church if we want to complete the pilgrimage… The issue is that Helios’s statue is kept in that church, and I want to see if the key will react to this one as well.”

I shook my head, bewildered. She hadn’t mentioned that key for a while, so I had hoped she had given up on using it anymore. It seemed that her motivation had been renewed instead.

“And you only thought to mention this now? Are you trying to get us both killed?! What we did back in the previous temple will have raised suspicion already and now you want to escalate even further?!” I ranted. “Besides, doesn’t every church here have a statue of Helios?”

“They’re all copies of the real thing, which is kept in that one…” Emeri mumbled under her breath, unable to meet my eyes.

She had been keeping this from me, despite knowing that I had no interest in this fool’s errand. She had even been about to take this risk without consulting me, unknowingly involving me in another crime. Honestly, I shouldn’t have let that damn dagger slip my mind. With all of the fighting and running lately, I hadn’t thought about it since our initial argument a few weeks ago. ‘Helios’ mission my ass… I sighed, not knowing what to think.

“So what is your plan, exactly? Let’s say that statue does react to your key. What then? You get another vision, the statue morphs, and the whole city tries to find the perpetrators. Meanwhile, we’re already on our way to the next city, where you hope to find easy access to the next statue?! We’ll be caught and crucified before the day is done, Emeri!” It seemed like I had touched a nerve, because Emeri became heated as well.

“So what do you want me to do?! Give up?! Ignore Helios’s request out of selfishness?! Out of fear?!”

“So that’s what you think, then?! That I’m scared?!”

“I do, yeah.” She shot back, eyes wide and face red from anger.

“Need I remind you that you were the one to warn me away from that ruin exploration just a few days ago?! When it’s something I want to do it’s dangerous and stupid, but when you want to do something five times worse It’s some kind of ‘holy mission’? Horseshit!”

“Don’t try to compare the two, Arthur! Comparing your gallivant into a deathtrap compared to a request from the god the entire continent worships is ridiculous! You know what I think?”

I snorted. “What do you think, Emeri? Tell me what blessed thought has struck your mind this time…”

“You’re jealous!”

“Jealous?” I asked, momentarily caught off guard.

“You’re jealous you don’t have any guidance, as I do! That your affinity had condemned you to a life without meaning, one without anything to direct you!”

I admit, that struck a nerve. I had been fighting against the influence my affinity had had on me for my entire life, all to take control of my life, to make my own decisions. For that to be used as an insult… I didn’t take it well.

“I direct my life! No bishop, no king and no invisible, intangible, no-show-ass god can tell me how to walk talk, and shit, unlike you! All I see when I look at you is a willing slave! You know what, go do whatever you want! Break into that fucking church, break a thousand statues for all I care! I’m going to do what I want to do! Don’t come complaining to me when your own church puts your head on a pike!”

When I saw Emeri’s eyes water, I knew I shouldn’t have gone that far. But it was too late, and I was too prideful to take my words back now, even if I hadn’t meant all of them.

As she stormed off down an alley without a word, I slumped down and leaned against a wall, putting my head in my hands. Great. Another fuck up.