For she shall show you the way

The rest of the flight didn’t take too much longer. They quickly made their way up, and up, and up, all the way to the highest floating island in the kingdom. Despite the mess going through her mind, Mina couldn’t help but be impressed by the temple, a massive sky blue and gold building with red accents. Mina was pretty sure the building was as big as the Anaktites whole island.

Their fiterolta settled down in a small grassy landing patch near the front door, in which stood a woman in sky blue priestess robes.

“*Yawn* Welcome visitors, to the infinite sky church.” The priestess said with more cheer than she probably felt.

“Its good go be here, and sorry for making you let us in so late.” Jordan said apologetically, but priestess waved him off.

“Do not worry, this is far from the first time we’ve had to deal with an unusual request to help someone. The church is here to serve those who wish to worship our goddess, and so long as your wishes allow you to do that, we shall always help. Now, come, follow me.”

The priestess then began to walk back towards the church, prompting Jordan and Mina to quickly hop off their fiterolta and follow her.

The pair followed her down a mostly straight path to the sanctuary where to central shrine to Uraina stood, though there were a few turns. The halls were wide and full of all sorts of beautiful and interesting things, almost looking like a museum, but Mina didn’t let herself get distracted. She made a mental note to come back and check it out some more later if she could, but right now all she wanted to do was get to the shrine and hopefully talk to Uraina.

Soon enough the priestess led them to a particular set of double doors, and opened them to reveal the sanctuary, which was more or less what Mina has expected. The set up was a far fancier version of the church she’d been in earlier with 2 notable exceptions. One, the swing seats were low enough that she could realistically climb into one of them without any help. And two, on the stage there was a massive statue of Uraina.

“And here we are, that statue right there is Uraina’s shrine. Just go on up and pray.” The priestess said.

“Wow. That’s big.” Mina remarked as she took it all in. “… So, um, how do I pray?”

“Simply go down to your knees, raise your arms and face up to the sky, close your eyes, and open your heart to her.” The priestess explained. “Though, if you want some help, then recite this as you begin. Great maiden of the sky, please hear my cry. I offer up my heart up high, so that I may hear your words and that you may choose to hear mine. Take me up into your sky high embrace, your most holy place and allow me to speak with you face to face.”

Mina replayed the words over a few times in her head to make sure she remembered them, and once she was confident she did, she gave the priestess a nod and ran up to the statue. Jordan and the priestess hung behind by the door, and once Mina was out of earshot, the priestess leaned in close to Jordan.

“Are you sure this is the right choice?” She whispered to him, and Jordan nodded.

“She needs to talk to Uraina. I don’t know what Uraina is going to say to her, but I know that Mina would doubt anyone else. Uraina is the only one who’s words she will trust absolutely, so we can only hope those words will set her on the right path.” Jordan explained. The priestess nodded in understanding.

“I see. Normally this is when I would pray to Uraina for a favorable outcome, but I suppose that’s pointless here when she will personally decide what a favorable outcome actually is.” The priestess said.

“Out of curiosity, what would you say is the favorable outcome in this case?” Jordan asked curiously.

The priestess paused for a moment to consider, seriously thinking about her answer before she replied.

“I believe what I consider to be a favorable outcome matches what you wish for.” She eventually said. “Though I understand why others summon people like Mina, I personally dislike that choice of how to fix the problem we’re facing. Also, while I’m sure Mina is a good person, I like the way things are currently in the church of Uraina, and I have no desire to change.”

“Hm. Glad someone has sense around here.” Jordan said.

Then, no more words were spoken between the two. Instead, they focused all their attention on Mina, and the future this conversation may create.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Walking up to the shrine, Mina suddenly began feeling extremely nervous at the idea of praying. She’d never prayed to anything before, and now she was about to pray to a goddess she had an actual tangible connection to! The very idea of doing this was freaky, never mind the insane possibility that Uraina might actually respond.

But, she had to do this. This was the only way for her to learn how and even if she could return home. So, she took a deep breath to steady herself, then moved to do as the priestess instructed.

‘Plus, as her chosen one, I was going to have to talk to her eventually.’ She reasoned to herself as she went down to her knees.

She then recited the opening prayer that the priestess instructed her in.

“Great maiden of the sky, please hear my cry. I offer up my heart up high, so that I may hear your words and that you may choose to hear mine. Take me up into your sky high embrace, your most holy place and allow me to speak with you face to face.”

As Mina prayed, she felt the air shift around her, and by the time she was done speaking the words the priestess had given her, the air felt a lot more hot and humid. Despite knowing she should probably keep her eyes shut to continue praying, Mina couldn’t help but crack her eyes open to see if she could see why it was warmer. So, she cracked her eyes open to see what was going on, then snapped them wide open in shock.

She wasn’t in the church anymore. Somehow, she was now in a place that looked like a field of hills that were somehow made of clouds under a bright starlit sky. Then turning her head to the side, she saw a grassy area atop one of the hills. This area was filled with statues of Uraina, and had multiple beds, hot springs, tables, and dressers scattered around. There was even a kitchen. But there wasn’t a roof or even a wall in sight.

Mina had no idea how to react to all this. All she could do was stare in awe and confusion at this strange place. She was only pulled away from staring at the strange area by a voice suddenly coming from behind her.

“Well, you came here far sooner than I expected.”

Mina knew exactly who was speaking. Even though she’d never heard the voice before, there was only one person who this voice could belong to. That didn’t stop her from gawking in awe as she turned around to see Uraina herself staring down at her.

“Unfortunately for you, you’re nowhere near strong enough to kill me right now.” Uraina said with a sneer.

And this completely jolted Mina out of her out of her awe.

“WHAT!?” Mina screeched.