*****

The Myyrason Family: In divine grace and abundant blessing of the goddess of light.

Cordially invites you, the members of the church, to the sacred Baptism and the Naming Ceremony of our precious daughter Sælín Myrrason.

Date: 23/ 02/ 2116.

Day: Sunday.

Time: 9:00 a.m

Venue: Seralynskirkja, Blákvísl.

Your presence will honor this royal moment of faith, renewal, and celestial promise.

With profound reverence and warm anticipation,

The Myrrason Family.

*****

Raviel’s eyes quietly gazed over the invitation card held in his hand and read it once more.

With profound reverence and warm anticipation, The Myrrason Family.

’Tch. Even a Sunday can’t bring joy to me anymore.’

Raviel, slowly lowered the card, tapping the floor impatiently with his feet. He reverted to his earlier situation, which was waiting not-so-patiently for the esteemed Myrrason family.

Right now, both he and Ezio were sitting quietly on the seventh bench inside the Sanctuary hall.

The hall looked even more beautiful in the daytime, than it had, when Emil had toured all the volunteers through the church.

It was strangely peaceful for the other church members, who were waiting eagerly for the arrival of the family, as the baptism event was considered as an auspicious ceremony for the people around here.

Except for the two volunteers, Rafael and Eiður, it was a not so joyous occassion.

This was already their fifth day in the church since their mission had started, and even then, they had not seen the head-priest yet till now.

For them, this mission was starting to get tedious. Since the earring type artifact worked for only five hours a day, both of them had to stay vigilant when using it.

All of this was frustrating enough as it was.

But, the addition of the baptism event made it even more frustrating than it originally was.

Because, now both of them knew, they had to help with the ceremony till it ended.

Ezio — who was sitting patiently beside Raviel — leaned slightly closer towards him and whispered under his breath.

"We’ve been since here since nine — nine o’clock, damn it!". His voice carrying clear annoyance. "When will the Ceremony start?"

Raviel sighed quietly, but didn’t answer immediately, as even he — himself didn’t know, when would the whole event start.

The invitation card was given to them just this morning, and apparently every member and volunteer in the church had received one too.

Which meant they couldn’t skip it.

So here they were.

At 9:21 a.m in the early morning.

Sitting among the church members and volunteers like obedient worshippers they were.

Ezio shifted in his seat once again, while fixing the collar of his shirt for the ninth time since morning.

Just as he was about to lean over and ask Raviel a.k.a Rafael something, the huge clock mounted high on the sanctuary wall suddenly rang.

Ding~Dong~

The deep mettalic and antique sound of the clock ringing, echoed loudly in the kaleidoscopic hall.

The sound of the clock slowly faded away from the hall.

Swoosh—!!

Suddenly the door which was located just besides the huge potrait of ’Seralyn’, near the corner of the room opened.

It was the door placed slightly towards the altar, which was located just a few steps infront of the potrait.

A woman stepped in first.

She had black hair, a few strands sticking to her forehead, while a long coat rested over her shoulders. Behind her Emil and his father — the old man walked-in, wearing the official churchs’ robes.

After staying here for five days, Raviel and Ezio had begun to understand some of the church’s dynamics. The old man they had met on their first day was, in fact, the assistant priest, while Emil worked directly under the head priest.

But right now, neither of them were the object of main focus.

All the people seated on the benches, had their eyes fixed on one thing.

The woman.

She was holding something very... carefully in her arms.

Or rather... someone.

A white towel was wrapped gently around the small bundle she carried. At that exact moment, sunlight from the stained-glass windows shifted and poured into the hall.

Golden light fell directly onto the towel.

From where Raviel and Ezio sat — even from the seventh bench — they could see clearly what was inside.

A small baby.

It’s small figure was nestled and wrapped neatly in the towel.

The light seemed to glow around the woman’s hands as she carried the child forward.

Slowly, the three of them walked toward the center of the sanctuary where the altar stood. On top of the altar rested a medium-sized bowl, prepared for the ceremony.

The moment they reached it...

"Waaaaaaahhh!"

A shrill cry enveloped the entire hall. Its voice filling-in the quiet chamber.

The babies cries kept echoing softly in lapses as the woman stood beside the altar, kept rocking the small bundle in her arms gently.

When the cries finally stopped, the woman gave a final short nod to Emil.

He stepped forward calmly.

Walking up to the altar, Emil picked up a small moon-shaped pendant, that rested beside the silver coloured bowl.

He then turned toward the people sitting in the hall.

"We are sorry to keep you waiting, everyone," Emil said with a polite smile. "Our guests had a rough night... especially the little one."

A few knowing smile spread across the benches.

"So we had to give them some time to rest," he continued. "But now we will begin the ceremony."

He gave a small nod.

At once, the old man stepped forward. He walked to the table placed beside the altar and slowly opened a large book resting on it. The thick pages made a soft rustling sound as he turned to the right place.

"Megin blessunin vera með okkur." He spoke with a crisp and clear voice.

"Grein 1 Seralyns’ proxy."

.....

"Don’t you think it’s weird?" Ezio said quietly, eyeing the scenery infront of him.

Raviel, who was sitting beside him on the bench, pulled out another can of energy drink and popped it open.

Ezio continued, "Even if he’s the head priest... no one has mentioned him even once, like directly — since we got here."

Raviel took a sip and sighed. "Well with the shit he’s pulling off... you’ve could say they’re kinda right in some or the other way."

Since the past few days, both of them had noticed the same thing. The core members of church and even some hand-full volunteers deliberately chose to avoid the subject whenever the topic of the head priest — Sera Elías Magnússon — came up.

And honestly after reading the files, given to them by Jeanne once more, it wasn’t completely surprising for them by now.

Even if the people didn’t know about his smuggling of Abyssal blood, he was already a controversial figure. He was the first person in the church’s history to openly belong to a political party.

For the church members, that alone was enough to make them uncomfortable. For them religion and politics were supposed to stay separate. Politics, to them, often carried the idea of corruption and power games.

That was the reason the head priest wasn’t treated with the usual respect and reverence his position demanded.

Ezio swung his legs lazily, trying to touch the mud farther away from his feet.

Right now, the two of them were sitting near the pond, away from the ceremony. They had quietly slipped out earlier, just after the baby had been baptized and publicly given her name.

The part of the pond they were sitting in, felt calmer since most of the noise was being concentrated in the church at present.

Both of them were sitting lazily on one of the benches.

Raviel placed his can of energy drink beside him, just for a while to relax his fingers.

The next second, Ezio grabbed it and took a sip.

Raviel immediately made a disgusted face.

Ezio frowned after tasting it. "Ugh... it’s bitter. How do you even digest this crap?"

Raviel glared at him. "Motherfucker, bring your own can. What if your dirty saliva infected my drink?"

Ezio shrugged. "My lips didn’t even touch it, you freak."

Emptying the can, Raviel dusted off his pants. "Let’s head back, otherwise the old man might really throw that goddamn fish of his, on our faces."

Just as Raviel and Ezio were about to head back, they heard the soft sound of footsteps coming from the path.

Both of them turned their heads.

Walking toward them was the same woman they had seen earlier during the ceremony. The coat still rested over her shoulders, and in her arms she carried the same tiny creature.

But now the little creature had a name.

Sælín Myrrason.

Seeing her approach, both Raviel and Ezio stood up from the bench out of habit.

The woman smiled when she saw them.

"Ah!, you two were back in the hall earlier, right?"

Both of them scratched the back of their heads awkwardly.

She waved it off. "No problem. Even our little Sae here doesn’t like crowds much." She gently adjusted the towel around the baby. "The event was a bit too much for her to handle."

The baby, wrapped snugly in the soft towel, waved her tiny arms in the air like she was trying to grab something.

Before either of them could say anything, the woman suddenly spoke again.

"Could you please hold her for a moment?"

And just like that, she placed the baby straight into Raviel’s arms.

Then she walked to the bench and dropped down onto it, leaning back with her head tilted upward as she took a deep breath.

"So..damn... tired.." she muttered, clearly exhausted. "Just for a few minutes, please. Didn’t sleep at all, last night."

She dabbed the sweat on her forehead with a napkin, then placed it over her eyes and closed them, resting quietly.

Meanwhile, Raviel stood there stiffly, holding the baby like he had just been handed a bomb. Except the bomb seemed to be ticking with too much energy.

He carefully looked down into the towel.

’Ehhh...’

The baby looked right back at him.

And then...

"Pbbbt!"

The baby made a weird sound and spat a tiny bit of saliva right onto Raviel’s face, as if it was trying to make a meaningfull human conversation — but failed, before letting out a happy little laugh.

"Boo boo!.."

Ezio burst out laughing immediately.

"You should learn from the professional old Daoist," he said, grinning as he carefully took the baby from Raviel’s arms.

Holding the baby carefully, Ezio lifted his hands slightly and began moving them up and down like an airplane.

The baby giggled happily, her tiny hands waving around.

"Baba... boo!"

Seeing her smiling, Ezio moved her gently like a fighter jet this time, before he suddenly froze.

"Shit!" Ezio looked at the baby, then at Raviel.

He slowly turned his head.

Raviel raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Without saying much, Ezio calmly handed the baby back to him like a package. "Maybe she likes you more than me."

Raviel didn’t understand at first. But then his eyes drifted down and he noticed a large dark patch spreading across Ezio’s shirt.

Realization hit him instantly.

"...Wow," Raviel said, flatly. "She really has some top-tier aim."

Ezio sniffed the wet spot on his shirt and frowned slightly. "It doesn’t even smell though."

Raviel’s face contorted in disgust. "Eww, fucker! What are you doing?"

Ezio sighed and shook his head. "I don’t want to wear that new crooked collar of a shirt again, but yeah!... I should probably leave before someone sees me like this."

’What a weirdo.’ Raviel thought simply.

With that, he turned and quickly walked off to change his shirt.

Now Raviel was left alone with a tired woman and something which felt like an 11-kilogram living dumbbell in his arms.

He looked down at the baby.

Sunlight from the morning sky fell softly over them, and the light made her small eyes sparkle a bright, clear shade of blue.

Raviel tried to adjust the towel around her eyes a little.

But suddenly he felt something grab his thumb.

He looked down.

The baby had wrapped her tiny hand tightly around his thumb, smiling up at him.

"Aawah... awwh..."

Before he could react, a gentle voice spoke nearby.

"Isn’t she beautiful?"

Raviel looked up and saw Emil walking toward him, his hands resting behind his back. Emil leaned slightly closer and playfully hovered his fingers above the baby’s head.

The baby squealed happily.

"Awoo! Boo!"

’How come people always find me, when I am socially isolating myself.’

Emil chuckled softly. Then he noticed the woman in the coat sleeping quietly on the bench nearby.

He smiled faintly. "Miss Myrrason must be really tired. Even I must agree, the ceremony took quite the amount of time."

After a moment, he looked back at Raviel.

"Where’s Eiður?"

Raviel answered happily, "He was also baptized just now by her."

For a second Emil didn’t get it.

Then it clicked.

He burst out laughing, even going as far as wiping a non existent tear from the corner of his eye.

When he finally calmed down, he said, "Rafael, could you do some work for me?"

Raviel looked at him curiously.

"Oh, it’s nothing serious," Emil said quickly. "I only asked because you two are the only volunteers here who actually have vehicles."

He continued, "I wanted you two to go to the city and bring some ingredients for the feast."

Raviel questioned. "A feast?"

"Yes, a feast" Emil replied with a nod. "The church is planning to hold a grand feast tonight. You might not know it, but, the Myrrason family is quite close to us."

Then Emil smiled a little.

"You can also take the chance to look around the city. I know you two mostly work all day and stay locked in your rooms. A bit of sightseeing might freshen up your minds."

Raviel nodded slowly.

"Thank you,for accepting my request Rafael." Emil said kindly. "And tell Eiður that the head chef will need him soon."

After saying that, Emil walked over to the sleeping woman and gently woke her up.

"Miss, please take the baby and get some rest in the guest room."

As he spoke, Raviel suddenly noticed something.

The baby had quietly started sucking on his thumb, her eyes half-closed and a little bit drowsy.

The woman stood up slowly and carefully, and tried taking the baby back from Raviel’s arms.

"Thank you," she said softly.

But the baby refused to let go of Raviel’s thumb.

The woman chuckled a little. "Looks like she got quite attached to you in such a short span of time."

She gently pried the tiny fingers loose.

Then Emil guided both her and the baby toward the guest rooms.

’Cheer! up Raviel, gotta work now.’