Avalyne Empire Stories

7th Story - Sophia

"May Aluvsha's blessings be upon you."

As the last stragglers of the day exited the cathedral at last, I slumped against one of the many pews and released a long sigh of exhaustion. My fatigue didn't go away with the air I set free, but the act gave me a twinge of catharsis at the very least. People think being a member of the clergy is easy. Preach, pray, collect tithes, maybe sit in a confessional and hear people out from time to time, and then go to bed.

Heeeeell no.

Ever since the sudden appearance of a witch at Avalyne Academy, the capital's cathedral has been utterly swamped with visitors asking for blessings and rosaries. It wasn't exactly a bad thing seeing as the people were becoming more devout and we were raking in tithes left and right, but by Aluvsha was it utterly exhausting. When I became the youngest cardinal in the history of the empire, I thought I was going to be respected and powerful. I mean, I am, but I didn't think I'd have to continue giving out blessings and collecting tithes!

Like seriously! What even gives!? Shouldn't I be sitting in my office and relaxing instead of needing to interact with each and every visitor? Hell, even the regular nuns were having an easier time of it than I was, sitting in the back room praying and blessing rosaries. Why do I, the literal cardinal, have to be the one who gets saddled with all the hard work!?

Whatever. It is what it is, and I suppose this is penance in a way. I was never really the devout kind, and I never wanted to be part of the clergy either. It was only after my eighth birthday when I awakened my Crest that the church came to collect me. At the time, I had no idea why they did so or why my parents were so eager to give me away, but as it turns out, there were really only two paths for me to walk: become a member of the clergy... or die.

Why? Well, it's simple really. My Crest decided to grant the ability of not only foresight, but the ability to change outcomes before they even happened. Yeah. Crazy, right? I thought so too until I actually saw it in action. The person who had been assigned as my knight was equally surprised, and obviously, I wasn't allowed to use my Crest except in times of dire need. What qualifies as "dire need"? Well, I wasn't allowed to use it even after the witch attack, so that should be as good an answer to the question as any.

Anyway, Crests like that were seen as "against the natural order" or straight-up blasphemy by the church since they trespassed on Aluvsha's domain. Things like manipulating the flow of time to a certain degree or even space was largely taboo since they were not only the stuff of legends, but also abilities capable of creation, much like Aluvsha's own as described in the Eldymia, the Aluvshan faith's holy text.

"Can you believe it!? It's utterly preposterous, Your Holiness! We cannot let this farce continue, especially in such trying times!"

I frowned as I heard the sudden outburst rage through the now-empty cathedral. The building's acoustics were really quite impressive when things fell relatively silent, and I was fairly certain that everyone still inside was now more than privy to whatever that idiot was complaining about.

But... "Your Holiness"? Who the hell would dare shout at the pope himself? I pushed myself off the pew and made my way toward the source of the voice. Although the man had hushed himself immediately after realizing the idiocy of raising his voice inside the church, I could still hear his hushed arguments clearly.

"His Imperial Majesty must outlaw this for the sake of our safety! We cannot allow—"

"Now, now, Cardinal Edmund. Please calm yourself. We appear to have a guest."

Urk! I laughed nervously as I stepped into the room with a sheepish grin on my face. I'd tried to make my approach as quiet as possible, but it seemed the pope had sharper ears than I'd expected despite his advanced age. He gestured toward the door, and I hastily shut it as silently as I could.