Janelle Chevalier

8. The Temple of Paesa

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The Streets

The walk to the 'temple' was spent mostly in silence. Masato walking at the front, Bates and Janelle following him. Janelle tried her best not to wince throughout their little journey. Her left foot was hurting but she could keep her mind off of the tremendous pain if she pressed on her right foot and when they would stop, she would rest most of her body weight on her right foot.

Janelle knew she was bound to her uncle as she felt the invisible barrier from before pushing against her back, forcing her to go forward along with him. She was uncomfortable knowing she couldn't just run away if things went down to just that.

True to Masato's words, the temple wasn't that far away; only a fifteen-minute-walk from where they had been previously. Janelle's left foot was crying by then.

She looked at the place Masato called a temple. It was more of a huge, abandoned building that might fall any minute then. She didn't even know how the building was standing or why it was left and wasn't demolished to make way for something more practical. She just hoped that Masato wasn't planning on killing them both in that ancient building.

And she voiced her exact thoughts. "Are you planning to kill us?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Bates seemed annoyed that she spoke but didn't say anything. Though, he put his hand on her shoulder and gripped tightly, enough to send a warning.

Masato looked surprised, even dejected that she had thought he would do something like that. He shook his head vigorously and turned around to face her fully. He raised both arms up as if to surrender. "I don't have anything on me."

"You have magic," she replied, gesturing with her chin at the pouch by his side. "I saw you hold them."

Masato blinked in surprise then he laughed lowly, full of humour. "Dear, I am not a Wizard, I am a Priest. I purify souls. Have you heard of exorcism?"

Janelle shook her head, looking at her uncle. "Exo...ar-cism?" she tried the word on her tongue but it didn't sound the same. "What does it mean?"

"It means to cast out an evil spirit or demon," Bates answered in French, not amused that they were talking about this. His tone left no room for further discussion.

"I am not possessed," Janelle gritted out, glaring at her uncle.

Bates didn't answer her, just motioned for Masato to go on. Masato nodded his head and went through the huge hole in the cracked wall. It looked like a door had been there, but Janelle wasn't sure what kind of door could fit through that hole.

Bates followed him inside, pulling Janelle after him. She cried out at the sudden push by the invisible barrier.

Once they were inside, Janelle thought that place used to be a manor of some sorts. It was much larger on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside. Broken glass was everywhere and a chandelier was thrown to the side, resting against one of the less cracked walls. She guessed that the broken glass belonged to the windows and the fallen chandelier.

"Pardon me, I wasn't expecting guests," Masato told them sheepishly, bowing in apology.

"Even if you expected, how can you clean this up?" Janelle asked curiously, surveying the place with a look of disdain. "It looks horrible."

Masato blushed embarrassedly. "I learned to find the beauty from within," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "All Priests do."

Bates sighed in frustration. "Get this over done with, why did you need us to come here?" He asked impatiently.