What is Just

Ariana and company woke in the morning to the sound of a bell. After readying for the day, Ariana was curious about the bell. She figured it came from the church. 

At breakfast, she addressed Koichi. 

“Koichi, that is a church, right? What faith is there here?”

Koichi stopped in the middle of attempting to bite a slice of bread and set it down. “Well, you know how there’s two ways to come to this world? They both have to do with the church… kind of.”

Ariana and Ellie focused on Koichi’s words. 

“It’s called the Church of the Third Saint. I don’t know all the specifics on it yet, but they are the ones that summon heroes, and the god they worship is the one that reincarnates people.” 

Ellie’s head tilted. “Third Saint? Why the third?”

Koichi rubbed the back of his neck. “Like I said, still not clear on everything… but I think it has to do with being faithful.”

Ariana looked at her bread. “I think… I’d like to know more about the voice… the god that reincarnates. Do you think visiting the church is a good idea?”

Koichi seemed mildly uncomfortable. “I… wouldn’t recommend it. They aren’t really keen on people that aren’t humans. They might make an exception for outworlders, but… that’s iffy.”

Ariana looked at her bread again. She spread some butter over it. “What if we were to… cover ourselves?”

Koichi looked up. “What, like with a hood? Well, maybe… are you sure you wanna do this?”

Ariana thought for a moment longer. She looked to Ellie. Ellie glanced down for a second or two, then nodded. Ariana’s attention returned to Koichi. “It would be nice to know more about this god, and what goes  into how we get reincarnated, if we can.”

Koichi sighed. “Alright… but we can’t really afford to make a scene.”

Ariana and Ellie nodded once more. 

Ariana wanted to test the new extent of her magic. She retrieved a pumpkin seed and focused on it. Without need of soil, it began to sprout. She was thrilled by this, and especially thrilled by how effortless it felt compared to her previous castings. Maybe there was something to these skills and levels after all, she thought. 

With this newfound knowledge, she quickly summoned a leafy hooded cloak out of the seed, fastened about the neck with vines, and an incredibly small pumpkin almost as a clasp. She was amazed by how easily she could perform a complex spell like this, and it didn’t fatigue her in the slightest. Come to think of it, she didn’t feel any measure of fatigue when she summoned the vine from the ground yesterday.

Ariana and company woke in the morning to the sound of a bell. After readying for the day, Ariana was curious about the bell. She figured it came from the church.

At breakfast, she addressed Koichi.

“Koichi, that is a church, right? What faith is there here?”

Koichi stopped in the middle of attempting to bite a slice of bread and set it down. “Well, you know how there’s two ways to come to this world? They both have to do with the church… kind of.”

Ariana and Ellie focused on Koichi’s words.

“It’s called the Church of the Third Saint. I don’t know all the specifics on it yet, but they are the ones that summon heroes, and the god they worship is the one that reincarnates people.”

Ellie’s head tilted. “Third Saint? Why the third?”

Koichi rubbed the back of his neck. “Like I said, still not clear on everything… but I think it has to do with being faithful.”

Ariana looked at her bread. “I think… I’d like to know more about the voice… the god that reincarnates. Do you think visiting the church is a good idea?”

Koichi seemed mildly uncomfortable. “I… wouldn’t recommend it. They aren’t really keen on people that aren’t humans. They might make an exception for outworlders, but… that’s iffy.”

Ariana looked at her bread again. She spread some butter over it. “What if we were to… cover ourselves?”

Koichi looked up. “What, like with a hood? Well, maybe… are you sure you wanna do this?”

Ariana thought for a moment longer. She looked to Ellie. Ellie glanced down for a second or two, then nodded. Ariana’s attention returned to Koichi. “It would be nice to know more about this god, and what goes into how we get reincarnated, if we can.”

Koichi sighed. “Alright… but we can’t really afford to make a scene.”

Ariana and Ellie nodded once more.

Ariana wanted to test the new extent of her magic. She retrieved a pumpkin seed and focused on it. Without need of soil, it began to sprout. She was thrilled by this, and especially thrilled by how effortless it felt compared to her previous castings. Maybe there was something to these skills and levels after all, she thought.

With this newfound knowledge, she quickly summoned a leafy hooded cloak out of the seed, fastened about the neck with vines, and an incredibly small pumpkin almost as a clasp. She was amazed by how easily she could perform a complex spell like this, and it didn’t fatigue her in the slightest. Come to think of it, she didn’t feel any measure of fatigue when she summoned the vine from the ground yesterday.

She donned the new hood. Ellie pulled up an existing hood. Koichi looked at them both skeptically. “Alright… I guess we’re doing this. Man, side quests are the worst…”

The group finished their breakfast and left the inn, then took a walk to join the communion.

It had been some time since Ariana had thought about church and faith.

The last time she had was, like many things, in her previous life. It was her wedding day. She and her husband had finally agreed to marry, three years after Alex’s birth.

The ceremony was pleasant enough, but her mind raced with thoughts of what was to come. In the middle of the ceremony, Alex had run up to her and hugged her leg.

The memory of that moment filled her with an unforgettable warmth and joy. Her hand rested over her heart for a moment.

Stepping into the church, they stayed to the back. It was small, smaller than any church she had seen before. There were perhaps a dozen pews, all packed. People stood against the walls and in the walkway between pews. There was a priest presenting a sermon with his hands in the air.

“…With great sadness in his heart, the first saint was exiled, and so the third’s final trial had been fulfilled. So to must we exile those from our lives that would see us fall. We must honor the virtues of sanctity, sacrifice, and duty.” The priest concluded by clapping twice overhead. Others joined them.

Ariana looked around at the congregation. Koichi was right, she didn’t see anyone here that wasn’t human other than herself and Ellie. In her scan, she spotted the armored man from yesterday that healed her cheek. He also seemed less focused on the sermon.

Their eyes met. He nodded to her, she waved with a smile, then he did a double take. The look on his face shifted to that of someone anticipating a headache.

As they exchanged glances, Ariana noticed a red sharpness slowly fading into the corners of her vision. Her eyes scanned around again, it seemed more people had noticed her. Of more concern were armored folk near the walls that were looking poised to leap at her.

She looked to Ellie and Koichi. The three moved to leave.

They were followed out by several of the guards. 

One of them pulled down Ariana’s hood. “Demon! How dare you defile out sanctum!?”

Koichi leapt into action. “Stop, wait! She’s an outworlder, they both are! They don’t know about all the rules!”

The man back-handed Koichi. “Foolish boy, Demons are the progeny of the first, and elves are of fae blood, they breathe lies, you’ve been tricked! It seems you need to be taught a lesson!” 

Two more grabbed Koichi and restrained him. He struggled against them. “Please, stop! They’re not monsters! They’re people!” Another of them clubbed Koichi across the face. “Shut up!”

Ariana had had enough. She pulled a pumpkin seed free and poured magic into it. From her hand sprouted a spring-loaded pumpkin that smashed open on the head of the guard that struck Koichi, knocking the guard out cold against the dirt. 

The other guards drew swords. Ellie panicked and hid behind Ariana. 

Ariana rolled her arms and hands up over to the left and down under to the right: a ring of vines sprouted around her. “Let go of him, now!” She demanded. The remaining people in the church looked on at the display in horror. It was clear from their faces. 

In more ways than one, this would be an uphill battle.