The Holy Church of Jenora stood at the city's northern edge, a structure that seemed to exist slightly outside of normal reality. White marble pillars rose toward the evening sky, carved with symbols that predated the town itself. The building wasn't ostentatious—no gold leaf or excessive decoration—but it radiated a quiet, heavy presence that made even the rowdiest citizens lower their voices when passing by.
The Argos family stood at the base of the wide stone steps, looking up at the massive wooden doors.
"It's so quiet," Styx whispered, her usual energy dampened by the atmosphere.
She was right. The street noise—the merchants, the conversations, the general bustle of Jenora—seemed to stop at an invisible line about twenty feet from the church. Beyond that boundary, only silence.
Unnatural silence.
Piers, still nestled in his mother's arms, observed this phenomenon with clinical interest. The air felt different here. Thicker. Like trying to breathe through gauze.
[NULL SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN: SACRED SPACE DETECTED]
[HIGH CONCENTRATION OF DIVINE ENERGY]
[INTERFERENCE WITH MANA DETECTION: MODERATE]
[RECOMMENDATION: PROCEED WITH CAUTION]
"Well," Rigas said, breaking the silence with forced cheer, "shall we?"
Xylia adjusted her grip on Piers and nodded. "Let's get this over with."
They climbed the steps together—Rigas leading, Styx holding his hand, Xylia following with Piers. Each footfall seemed too loud in the quiet, echoing off the marble.
Rigas pushed open the heavy doors.
The interior of the church was exactly what one might expect and yet somehow more. A vast hall stretched before them, its ceiling lost in shadows despite the hundreds of candles burning throughout the space. Stained glass windows depicted scenes from ancient scriptures—battles between light and darkness, the founding of the church, figures that might have been gods or might have been legends.
The candlelight flickered in a way that suggested no wind, no draft, just the natural movement of flame. The scent of incense hung heavy in the air—something floral mixed with something sharper, almost medicinal.
And everywhere, carved into every surface, were runes.
Piers stared at them. They weren't decorative. They pulsed with faint light, creating a network of protective magic that covered the entire building.
This wasn't just a church.
It was a fortress.
"Wow," Styx breathed, her eyes wide as she took it all in. Then, with the resilience of a five-year-old, her excitement returned. "Mama! Papa! Can I test my aptitude again?"
Xylia's expression went flat. "Styx—"
"Please please please! I've been practicing! I won't break anything this time, I promise!"
"That's what you said last time," Rigas pointed out, though he was grinning.
"But this time I really mean it!"
Xylia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Styx, the last time you tested your aptitude, you nearly destroyed the entire testing chamber."
"It was mostly intact!"
"There was a crater."
"A small crater!"
"The priests had to evacuate."
"Nobody got hurt!"
Piers listened to this exchange with interest. He hadn't known about Styx's previous aptitude test. Apparently, his sister had enough power to cause structural damage when tested.
Interesting.
"What happened?" he asked quietly, the first words he'd spoken since they'd entered the church.
Everyone stopped and looked at him. He so rarely spoke voluntarily that any utterance commanded immediate attention.
Styx, delighted to have an audience, launched into the story. "Okay so last year Mama and Papa brought me here to see what my aptitude was, right? And the priest put my hand on this big glowy ball thing—"
"The orbuculum," Xylia supplied.
"—yeah that! And it was supposed to show what kind of fighter I'd be. Like if I'd be a knight or a mage or whatever. But when I touched it, it showed I was supposed to be a knuckle fighter!" She demonstrated with enthusiastic punching motions. "Which is SO COOL because I get to punch things!"
"And then?" Piers prompted.
"And then the priest said I wasn't chosen by the knight class, which made me mad because knights have cool armor, so I punched the wall to show them I was strong enough to be a knight anyway!"
"You punched through three walls," Rigas corrected, still grinning.
"It was only two and a half!"
"The testing chamber collapsed."
"It was an old building! Not my fault it was structurally unsound!"
Xylia was trying very hard not to smile. "You created a crater fifteen feet wide."
"See? Not that big!" Styx turned to Piers with absolute confidence. "So this time I'll be more careful. Probably."
Before anyone could respond, a voice echoed through the hall.
"I see that a family graces us with their presence."
They turned to find a man descending from a side staircase. He was tall and lean, probably in his late fifties, with silver hair pulled back in a neat tail and sharp features that suggested he'd been handsome in his youth. He wore the formal robes of a bishop—deep blue trimmed with white and gold—and moved with the quiet authority of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
Bishop Caelus.