Chapter 8: The Church
Within the capital of Egypt, there is a church that has opened up to the people, this specific church is one that predates the teaching of the Bible and has recently reinstituted itself as one of the world's leading religions. This deformation is known as the Egyptian Orthodox Church. Within the center of the city, various nuns can be seen walking in and out of the temple, giving prayers to those who may seek them. Within one of the temple's many rooms, a girl can be heard emerging from her slumber. Wendy, who was severely injured after her confrontation with Set, is only now waking up from her comatose state, as she jolts upwards from the bed. This place is unrecognizable to her, yet a sense of ease fills her heart as she can recognize the interior of a bedroom, something she has not seen in almost six months. As the door to the room starts to open, her eyes are immediately met with the same silver eyes she had seen before she passed out. "Gasp! Onee-sama! You're finally awake!" Hibiki bost out in a very happy tone. "Hibiki? Where is this? What happened?" Wendy asked, completely disregarding the new title given to her by the spunky little nun.
"We're in the church, The Egyptian Orthodox Church in Cairo, Egypt!" Hibiki informs Wendy of their location. "You made me worried sick Onee-sama! After we made it out of the spirit temple, You were out cold for almost 3 days!" Wendy's eyes bulge out of their sockets "3 days!? Why didn't you wake me!" Hibiki, startled by her outburst, responds back, "Eh! I did try but you wouldn't budge! So I had John come back and carry you over here. Hehe, Not to mention your sleeping face is so adorable I couldn't bring myself to disturb you~" The silver-haired nun looks down with a blush holding her face in embarrassment swinging back and forth. Wendy, still feeling foreign to the situation, decides to inquire.
"I see then, well I guess I should be grateful that you and the church took me into your care. But even so, I had better get going now." Wendy starts to get up when she's stopped by an abrasive Hibiki. "Oh, I don't think so! You still haven't fully recovered from your injuries! As a nun, it's my duty to make sure you're brought back to tip-top shape!" Hibiki insists on taking care of Wendy when she suddenly engulfs herself in blue flames. "I told you I'm alright now, see?" Hibiki is left speechless, all of her wounds are completely healed as if they were never there, to begin with. Wendy starts to notice a certain look in the nun's eyes, the same look one would give to an exotic animal at the zoo. "It's true…" Hibiki says completely shocked. "You truly are a Phoenix…"
Wendy doesn't respond to this verbally but slowly nods her head in confirmation. "SUGOI! I knew my Onee-sama was amazing! But to actually be one of the candidates chosen by the Great Fire Spirit is truly incredible!" Hibiki is looking at Wendy as if she were the most beautiful thing in the entire world. "Well don't get too excited now, it's not like I'm all that impressive," Wendy responds back at her, pondering how to get out of this conversation. To her luck, a knock is heard at the door, "Forgive me for the intrusion." A nun wearing a black dress and glasses with platinum-turquoise hair walks in. "Hello, my name is Silvia, I'm a nun part of the Egyptian Orthodox Church. It was brought to my attention that you were the one who saved all of the missing children." Wendy looks at the new face and smiles back. "Oh yes, it was nothing really, I simply just happened to be in the right place at the right time."
Silvia bows her head at the blue-haired girl, "You have mine and the church's deepest gratitude. If it wasn't for you, who knows what might have happened to them? Please if there's anything you might need please do not hesitate to ask, we are at your aid." At viewing the sister bowing her head down, her notability large assets hang below her head, allowing Wendy to marvel at their alluring and bouncy size. Deciding that staring was a bit rude, she decides to look elsewhere to avoid sexualizing a woman of faith.
"Oh no please don't feel indebted to me, really it was no big deal." She ponders for a minute when something comes to her mind. "Actually if you can do me one favor I'd really appreciate it." The Sister responds back, "What may that be?" Wendy smiles and answers, "Can you tell me more about what happened while I was out, as well as about this church?"
The fore-eyed sister looks up at the girl and smiles. "Yes of course. As you may already know, the world is filled with a select number of demigods. Throughout this age of demigods, we sisters have been designated to uphold the spiritual faith for the various gods that come to flourish. As there are various churches under various demographics, recent groups have come to ignite the faith in the primordial age of the Egyptian deities. This sparked an increase in religious belief around the world. In order to monopolize this, our branch, now known as the Egyptian Orthodox Church, had been officially formed to safeguard the chosen candidates that would inherit the authority given to them from the gods of the primordial age. That would include you as the phoenix was made by Ra, as well as Bas and Sekhmet, who have recently reappeared in our world."
The newly introduced finishes her explanation, allowing Wendy to consume the surplus of information thrown her way. "Wow, a whole church group has formed for the arrival of the phoenix spirit, along with its chosen successors. That's quite a lot for me to take in."
The sister looks over at Wendy, taking note that her recent injuries are gone. "Yes, I know it may be a lot to take in, but I should also inform you, that our church is also currently dealing with the blight of an evil organization…"
Wendy leans forward in her seat. "SHOCKER!"
"No," Silvia responds blankly.
"Crisis!?"
"No." Not understanding who she was referencing, the sister continues on. "This organization is the root of the powerful demon that invaded the desert, as well as who we've been fighting against for centuries. but we are in no rush, we may inform you of the details at a later date. Now before anything else, are you hungry? We can bring you something to eat, it would be our honor to preserve the Spirit Goddess with sufficient strength."
Wendy takes a moment to register her words and as well as her current situation. "Spirit goddess huh…." She says under her breath but to no reply. "Yes, actually I could eat!" The sister smiles before bowing her head once more. "Right away then. Come now Hibiki, help me prepare the young lady an appropriate meal for her recovery.," Hibiki jolts up and follows the older woman out the door. "Right on it Sister Silvia!" The two sisters leave the room, leaving Wendy alone with her thoughts.
"Gah, I really got myself into some convoluted trouble." She ponders over everything that happened to her over the last six months. The plane crash, her arrival at the temple, her goddess spirit training, and her meeting with Set. A feeling of regret and anguish washes over her after going over his sudden betrayal. "That jerk, I really thought we became friends somewhat." She says to herself once again not enticing any form of an answer. She then thinks of everything he had taught her, refining her sword arts, and mastering her spirit magic, even allowing her to garner the spirits and alleviate her consciousness to the spirit world to reconnect with Ronny. The sudden recollection of her name strikes her with an idea, she should be able to reach out to her childhood friend once again through her spirit realm connection. "Last time when I connected to him, he was in the middle of fighting a powerful demon. He was able to defeat it thank heavens, but I have no idea what happened to him afterward, even though it's only been a few days since then." She then summons a slur of spirits around her as they hover above her head. "Now that I'm back in the real world, I should try to reach out to him and make sure he knows I'm okay!" Immediately as she thinks this, she connects with the surrounding spirits, linking her mind to the spirit world, leaving her physical body, she makes her way over to their linked soul through the phoenix spirit, reaching out to her precious childhood friend once more.
In the outskirts of an isolated village, located within one of the many parts of Africa, a brown-haired boy is seen as he walks down a clouded forest. He is out in the woods searching for demons that have been spotted in the area and tasked by the higher-ups of a confidential organization that gives out missions to chosen demigods. From outside of their view, they are then ambushed by a horned demon. The Brown-haired boy conjures up a sword from his arms, those forearms being in the form of bird-like talons. He then proceeds to swing the newly formed sword at the demon. The demon had anticipated this attack, as it had a harder-than-average exterior, breaking the sword on impact. Another man, with short black hair and sharp teeth, wearing a black trench coat, conjures up purple flames and shoots it at the demon, holding it by.
"You really need to get better at that already..." The man says to the brown-haired boy still recovering. "Gah, you don't need to rub it in, I know! I'm working on it, I swear!" The boy wearing a white button-down with a black tie with black pants barks back at his best friend. "Not everyone can be as skilled and gifted as you Scar…" he says as he conjures up a fireball from his hands and shoots it at the chained-up demon, setting him ablaze.
The 18-year-old Teenager was named Scyron Tategami, he was one of the demigods chosen and reborn by the Phoenix, sporting a golden flame. His friend by his side was called Scar. They met shortly after Tategami had reincarnated, taking a liking to each other. Since they both were reincarnated by the phoenix, they kindled a form of partnership, going on missions together to purge demons. The two young men head back to the village they had volunteered in. A bunch of kids with green hair and dark skin complexions come to greet them. "Onii-sans! Your back!" Scyron and Scar greet the kids, "Yep, we took care of all those demons for you guys, it's all safe now!"
From within the trees, a woman with green hair and glowing a light aura walks up to the young boys. "Thank you both once again for your excellent work. It if wasn't for you two I'm not sure what we would've done." Scyron smiles at the great spirit of the forest. Her name was Lilia, and she protected the children of this village for generations. "It's not a problem, really it was the least we could do to honor Orion."
Orion, the late god of the Hunt had died not too long ago in an effort to protect Scyron and his friends from a group of powerful demons. Before their affiliation, he had been the sole protector of this region of Africa for over a decade, and until a new God of the Hunt is born, the village is susceptible to more demon attacks.
"Your efforts have not gone unrecognized, after your battle in Italy, as well as your efforts here, I'd say you more than enough lived up to Orion's legacy, he would be proud." The Forest spirit smiles at the pair, commending them for their hard work. "Hehe, you're going to make me blush. That truly does mean a lot, thank you." Scyron says as Scar nods to the spirit, expressing his agreement with the boy's statement. Well please, why don't you help yourselves to some of the peaches the kids had picked out for you, there are plenty to go around" Lilia says as the group gazes over to the group of kids frolicking around. "I just might take you up on that offer! Come on Scar, we have some time to kill don't we!" As the pair start to make their way to the group, Scyron is suddenly overflown by what seems to be blue-tinted butterflies. These blue shimmers of light proceed to engulf his sight, as he is taken over spiritually up into the spirit realm. Now hearing the voice of a woman he holds dear to his heart..
"Ronny!"
"Wendy! It's you right? I'm glad to hear from you again!'' The girl smiles, feeling so happy to hear the voice of her dear childhood friend. "Yes, it's me! I'm so glad to hear your voice again!" Scyron, still shocked, decides to question the young woman.
"I missed your voice too, where are you? I searched all over for you, but I couldn't find you anywhere!"
"Ehehe well, actually it seems like I was somewhere that was in between different worlds. It's pretty complicated actually. I'd love to go into detail but that can all wait till later. Where are you right now?"
"Me? I'm in Africa, after the whole Paris fiasco, I got sent by the U.O.C.B to this village that was getting terrorized by some demons along with Scar. Anyways, you said you got isekei'd" Wendy starts to giggle before she responds, "Oh Basically… So they got you doing solo missions already, my dear Ronny really is a big boy already.~" Scyron immediately flirts back "Never too big to not be pampered by you I'm afraid." They both exchange a brief laugh before continuing.
"So, where are you resigning right now, I can't imagine what you must have been going through this whole time so I would really like to make sure you're safe," Scyron asks, enticing an answer. "Yeah about that, it seems like I'm currently in Egypt, specifically in a cathedral within the capital. I just woke up here, this church seems to be dedicated to worshiping, well… us."
"Oh, you mean the Egyptian Orthodox Church? Yeah, I actually was informed about that already, I was planning on making my way there sometime soon anyways, what a better time than the present I suppose!" Wendy smiles knowing they would now finally link up in the real world.
"Well hurry up won't you, I've got a killer headache and the only thing that can remedy it is a nice big warm cuddle from my precious Ronny, also maybe going back home wouldn't hurt."The boy smiles back,
"Hehe~ On my way then!"
After Wendy ends her spiritual connection with Scyron, his consciousness returns to his body, gazing back at the village he currently inhabits. "What happened Boss?" Scar asks his friend who just got cleared up by the blue floating spirits. A smile is plastered on the golden-eyed boy before he speaks up, "Hehe! Looks like I'm going to Egypt!" The scene changes back to the church as Wendy is getting thanked by the children and a bunch of church officials. Some kids are clinging to Wendy's legs as they start crying.
"I'm sorry everyone, but I really can't stay any longer, I promise to come by sometime soon!" Wendy tries to consolidate the kids to no avail. They all start to cry out loud that they love the blue-haired goddess and want their big sister to stay here. Hibiki watching this unfold walks up to Wendy. "Why don't you stay at least the night, your friend can't possibly be arriving today, might as well stay and eat the feast we prepared, then you can leave in the morning.
Wendy ponders for a minute before giving her answer. "Oh why not, I've never been to Cairo before so it can't be that bad." Hibiki is enthralled that she gets to spend more time with her jumps up in happiness. "Alright, get ready for the most delicious feast you can imagine!" The scene cuts to a long table of people from the church's orphanage eating together as Hibiki tries to get Wendy to feed her some of her food, which goes about as awkwardly as anyone might expect. Some of the kids start asking her questions, where are you from, how old are you, and why is your hair so blue gets thrown around. Wendy starts answering all these questions seemingly enjoying her time with the colorful group of kids when suddenly, a big explosion is heard right outside the church's gates. The group urgently headed outside to see who had caused such a disturbance in a populated area, only to be met with the figure of a tall, busty woman. This Woman wore a scandalous priestess outfit, in both black and white aesthetic, with a veil covering the top half of her face. She is also shown to be holding what seems to be a magical staff of some kind, giving off an intimidating presence.
"Hello, people of the Egyptian Orthodox Church. I am the Pointefix, and I'm here to collect the woman known as Wendy Tategami from your possession. If you would like to come out here for me please." The woman says with a smile plastered on her face. Wendy faces the vile woman, "I'm Wendy! But tell me, who are you supposed to be, and what the hell do you want!" The woman looks ecstatic as she starts to giggle, seemingly already entertained by her current predicament. "My my my, you sure look like a strong young woman, exactly my type as well.~ Like I had said before, I am the Pontifex Bishop of the Roman Orthodox Church. And to answer your question, I'm here to arrest you, False Profit."