Chapter Eight
"The monastery should be just around the corner," Luise said, "Past that hill." They had been walking easily on the ground that was far less icy than before, a few hours having already raised the temperature in the air of a couple of degrees. Apparently, the closer one was to the border, the better the weather turned out to be.
"It was built with quite the beautiful windows, and it's a place of worship for many Germanian. Try to be on your best behavior-" Luise continued talking, even as excitement filled her words. She skipped a few steps, and reached the end of the hill with her breathing hard. Saito was close by, and as he finally reached the summit of the hill himself, he stared ahead.
The monastery was there, and it was an imposing structure of stone with a large tower and a bell on it.
Luise, however, frowned slightly. "There's no one around," she said squinting her eyes. "Maybe they're holding a special mass? Did somebody die?" her face paled, "I hope it's not miss Christine! She's this very sweet old lady that takes care of the orphans-Saito, we have to hurry, come on!" and as she yelled that, she rushed down the hill lifting a small cloud of dust behind her.
"Wait a moment!" Saito yelled back, starting to run to catch up to the bullet that was Luise whenever she fixated herself on rushing ahead. He had learned a nifty trick with his 'familiar powers' which could have helped him to catch up, but he didn't feel like using it. There were no hungry wolves after all -so why did he need to rush?
He stopped running a short while later, and as Luise reached the door of the church and stepped inside with a fretful expression, he simply hung back and took a far calmer pace. When he did reach the church's main entrance, he pushed the large wooden door aside to reveal a normal looking church -complete with an altar of stone. It was a simple thing, and the windows were indeed very pretty.
The wooden benches had been apparently moved to the sides, and a couple had been knocked over to boot.
The church was otherwise silent.
"Miss Christine?" Luise was querying at the back of the altar. "Head Priest? Mister Ralof? Glinda? Beatrice? Thomas? Is there anyone in here!?" as her voice began to grow louder, Saito finally reached her.
"Maybe they've gone to the city?" he hazarded.
"What? Why would they?" Luise turned to look at him sharply. "Someone should have stayed behind anyway! Even if they hide the golden implements to hold a proper service, it's still dangerous to leave the church completely unattended!"
She bristled, and then scratched the side of her head as she began to think. "They might have gone to the city for the market, or maybe to participate in the Zerbst' annual harassing event. I can't believe it, but-but they can't have just disappeared like it was nothing!"
"Then let's go look for them at the Zerbst estate," Saito said. "Did you check the kitchens?" he added offhandedly. "Maybe if they took food with them-"
"That's right!" Luise exclaimed, "Nice idea!" and with that said, she rushed off through a side door. Saito followed her closely, half expecting a random priest to jump at them with a broom. Nothing happened though, and Saito's worries soon began to materialize. He didn't think an entire church filled with people could just disappear, but there were no corpses and there was no blood.
Maybe they had taken a vacation day?
Maybe aliens from another world had kidnapped them? This world had two moons, so it might have had aliens too! The more Saito thought about it, the more it made sense. Aliens could have kidnapped them all with their bright green rays and then experimented on them -he hoped not, but if there was magic, why not aliens?!
"The larder's half-empty," Luise said as she stepped back into view from a small room within a large kitchen. "They must have taken provisions for a trip. Maybe they really all went to the Zerbst estate or to the city. The Harass the Valliere festival might be the reason-well, let's go then."
Saito frowned. "Aren't we supposed to get something from the larder?"
"If we can't get permission, then it would be stealing," Luise replied primly. "And I won't steal from a church!" she said briskly. "I'll just get some stuff from my room. Why don't you wait for me by the altar? Maybe pray for the Founder's attention or the Gods' blessings. We'll need it."
Saito blinked owlishly, but walked back into the main hall of the church, the altar standing alone and without anything on it -not even a piece of fabric. It had a very Christian vibe, but at the same time Luise had spoken of 'Gods'. As his gaze lifted up to the pretty colored windows, he saw scenes that could only be visible on religious motifs.
A man with blond hair guiding people across a lush land, a confrontation with other people that had little black ticks near their ears -kind of like elves and their pointy ears- the lush land turning into a desert, the desert being renounced, and then the man's vow to return to the land and defeat the elves. The last scene saw the man being killed by an elf.
"So elves exist," Saito mumbled. "I must get an elf harem," he said suddenly, raising a fist in the air as fire burned in his eyes. "I'd be the envy of my classmates-elf babes, all for me."
He nodded firmly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Uh-uh, Hiraga Saito's so lucky, he's got an elven bride. They'll say that, and I'll laugh and cheer! Yes-"
"What are you doing?" Luise asked, stepping closer to him from behind and making him jump slightly.
"Gah!" Saito exclaimed, "Nothing! Nothing in particular!"
Luise chuckled softly. "Lost in thoughts on Brimir's martyrdom?"
"Oh," Saito said, his eyes wide as he stared back at the windows. "I see. So that's Brimir, uh."
"Well, of course that's Brimir!" Luise said bristling, "Just because this church is near the border doesn't mean you can't recognize the main characters on the windows!" she brought both hands to her flanks and puffed her chest up in pride. "That's Brimir guiding our people to the promised land, then the elves fighting our people away, turning the land into desert, and Brimir's return with the holy power of the Void to defeat the Elves. Then, his defeat at the hands of a traitorous and vile elf who ripped his heart out and devoured it." Luise nodded. "But the Gods will one day bestow upon us the power of the Void yet again, and on that day we will rise as one to reconquer the land and smite the elves back in oblivion."
She made a small spin on herself. "That's the story anyway. Come on then, hop-hop, we've got to go or we might miss them once more!"
Saito shuddered slightly, and soon found himself engulfed in a heavy wool parka of sorts. "There," Luise said. "I took some of the spare clothes from the dressers. Put those on. I'll be waiting outside-try to be quick about it!"
And with that said, she stepped outside with a chuckle.
Opening the wool parka, Saito watched as clothes fell from within it. Clothes that, even as he stared at them for long, did not seem to become comfortable at all.
He had a really bad feeling about them.
A really, really bad feeling.
...Meh, seems legit.