Still Doll

A Compassionate Priest

Instead of boarding a ferry to Akharin's mainland to get on an airship back home, Kurapika detoured and went to another island thirty minutes away from Linos-san's hometown.

He had to ride a small boat then transfer to a bus to reach the church where a priest named Razel served. Father Razel, according to his source, was secretly keeping a pair of Kuruta eyes. It wasn't said if the eyes were being used as a worshipping item there nor what kind of person the priest was, but Kurapika already had a forbidding feeling that he wouldn't easily get the eyes from this person through monetary means.

Kurapika heaved a sigh. He remembered agreeing to meet Kuroro at the mainland today. In hindsight, upon seeing the tropical ambiance of the place and realizing the implication that he had invited the bastard on a vacation trip, maybe he shouldn't have scheduled their session this time. Kuroro was likely at the mainland by now, too, so it was too late to cancel it.

He wasn't even sure if he would be able to get the eyes within the day. Kurapika supposed he still should go and check the church to see what he could do then see Kuroro anyway.

Locating the church was easy, for most of the people he had asked for direction knew who Father Razel was. The priest was seemingly popular and loved because they had talked about him and the church with pleasant smiles on their faces.

"Go straight ahead on the pathwalk," the third person he had asked, an elderly woman, had instructed. "You'll find the church on the left side of the road. Ah, if you hurry up, maybe you'll be able to catch the morning Mass. I'm sure you'll meet Father Razel there."

"Thank you," Kurapika had said with a curt bow.

He trudged on the pathwalk and shortly found the church, and there indeed was a Mass going on. He hesitated at first, but upon seeing a man (who seemed to be a farmer who just finished his work) casually entering and taking a seat, Kurapika followed and sat on the farthest seat from the altar.

Not all of the seats were occupied, but there were a handful of attendees. On the altar stood an elderly man donning a white, long robe, preaching with a solemn look on his face. He was around in his late fifties or early sixties with brown, shoulder-long hair and dark eyes. His gaze was roving around his audience, as if trying to see each and everyone eye to eye. He wasn't bothered with the late comers, and there was something about his body's built, despite being hidden underneath the loose robe, that suggested that he was muscular.

Kurapika looked around in hope to see the Kuruta eyes. There was a stone statue of a praying woman next to the high table on the center and a tall stained glass depicting a religious figure with flowers overflowing on its feet, but other than those there was no other item on the altar.

Kurapika thought of using gyou so he did, again in hope to see anything that would indicate that the eyes were just in the vicinity. He found a source of aura, but it wasn't coming from any object inside the church. It was coming from the priest. Kurapika wasn't surprised.

Father Razel asked for everyone to stand for the closing prayer. Everyone lowered their heads in silence and clasped their hands together except Kurapika, who just stood up and looked down, now wondering even more about just who the hell this man was.

Kurapika had waited for all the attendees to leave before approaching one of the priest's young assistants to request an audience with Father Razel. Kurapika had expected the assistant to confirm first what his agenda was, but he was caught off-guard and had become suspicious when the assistant had said that Father Razel had expected his approach. The cleric had politely asked if he didn't mind waiting as the head priest was busy with some confessions so Kurapika had no choice but to return to his seat to wait, bothered with the odd response yet mentally prepared for what was to come.