Of Nephilium and Sneezes

Bless You, Damn You

Nona walked faster, wiping her nose on her coat sleeve and pulling her hat lower on her forehead. The church was right around the corner, and the preacher would be standing out front as he always did, welcoming the patrons of the church and heralding them into the cathedral for Sunday mass. She glanced behind her uneasily, shivering in the cold January air. They would catch onto her plan soon enough, but it would be too late by then. She internally smacked herself for not thinking of this ages ago. It would be so easy! Nona rounded the corner, head down, and in her hurry, ran into one of the men standing outside of the church.

"Bishop Micheals!" a male voice cried, concerned, and Nona recognized it as the priest's.

"I'm quite all right," an older voice replied, and Nona realized that the man she had run into hadn't been the priest, but a visiting Bishop. The white-haired man helped Nona up carefully.

"Are you okay, miss?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"I.. uhm..." Nona felt herself about to sneeze. She ducked her head into her elbow and sneezed quite forcefully, her whole body seeming to shake.

"Bless you." both holy men replied automatically.

Nona had to hide her smile behind her scarf as they apologized, quite unnecessarily, for her fall.

"Why don't you join us for the mass and some tea afterwards to help that nasty cough?" The Bishop asked her kindly.

Again, Nona hid her growing glee behind the flustered act of the young college student she was acting. She nodded mutely, pretending to have lost her voice, and allowed the younger priest to usher her inside. She barely hesitated on the threshold of the building, but then she took a deep breath and stepped in, and to her relief, nothing happened. Nona kept her eyes down, smiled under her scarf, and slipped into the church to take a seat in the pew in the back row, next to a mother and her two young sons, who ignored her.

Throughout the mass, her mind was racing as she mouthed the words of the holy verses and hummed the hymns amicably. She was safe among these hallowed halls and under the protection of the two priests. She'd been blessed by a priest and a Bishop! And given a personal invitation into a catholic church. It really must be her lucky day. Lyana and her brainless minions couldn't follow her here, not without exposing themselves and going through some serious pain. As long as Nona kept her hat on and didn't look anyone directly in the eye, she'd be safe, at least until the mass ended and she was forced to seek shelter elsewhere. She could always play the homeless card... No, she was dressed too nicely.

Nona's thoughts wandered aimlessly as the mass drew towards it's conclusion and the procession of acolytes brought the Host up to the front of the church for the Holy Communion. Absently, she noticed that one of the acolytes had dark silver hair and holes in her ears where multiple piercings would fit perfectly. She snickered. The church didn't generally allow its acolytes such privileges as died hair and so many piercings. Her snicker died as she noticed that the girl's hair wasn't died. Nona's eyes narrowed. Nephilium.

The train of acolytes reached the front of the church and presented the host to the priests before fanning out behind them to face the parishioners. Nona stiffened. The girl was looking right at her. Even at the distance, Nona could see her eyes: One a dark brown that seemed almost black, fitting in perfectly with her tan skin. The other was a bright, polished gold, silvery in the middle and leaning towards bronze on the outer edges of the iris. The same hue as Nona's, lacking the slit pupils and black outer rims that corrupted the edges of Nona's own irises. The girl's eye served as a brutal reminder to Nona. What she once was, and what she could never be again. The girl continued to stare until her duties pulled her away to start distributing the holy communion. Nona stared back, unafraid. No one could see her eyes in detail at such a distance, and the girl couldn't possibly know who she was.