>>6045455cute! I think I'll start next thread on 1st of July.
>>6044918I say.
>>6044134# # # # # #
“Master?” You had pleaded, gathering all of your courage. You had looked at him from the wooden seat outside the Temple of Flame. He held his eyes closed and his breath was regular, but you knew he was still awake.
“Argia.” He had replied, without opening one of his grey eyes. In the soft warm darkness of the outer shell you could make out his outline, the same comforting presence that had led you for the past three years. To think he’d be leaving you for the next twelve months was—
“I don’t want to go,” you whispered, feeling the bile of shame rising to clog at your throat and burn through your stomach. You clasped your hands against the seat’s edge, trying to hold onto something. “I don’t want to leave.”
“It is necessary. All Knights are supposed to wander and leave their home. They cannot access the Trial of Fire if they have not passed through this.” His voice lowered. “I am sure you will make friends, Argia. And you may even look back towards this year fondly.”
“I— I can’t see that happening, Master.” You muttered. Something attracted your attention and you jittered on the seat as one of the Flame-Priests opened the door and came into the room, bowing to Master as he approached, standing in the middle of a blade of summer sunlight. He wore the usual white robes of a priest, but the fabric that completely covered his face had none of the punctured decorations used to allow them to more easily see and breathe. By that and the gilded lining of his sleeves, you understood he must be of higher rank.
“The inner room has warmed up.”
You had then reached for something to cover your hair, but you were in a Temple of Flame, and you had to leave your cloak outside, so your silvery hair were clearly visible in the newfound brightness.
“Master Delebasse—” he promptly asked in a low voice, almost a whisper, though it was just for show, because you could perfectly hear. “Are you sure you want to attend together with—”
“Thank you. That will be all,” he replied, standing up. “Come, Argia.” He walked ahead, and though you followed him and did not even turn to look, you felt the Priest’s gaze bore holes through your chest and linger onto your hair.
Master tapped against the black marbles doors giving towards the inner temple. In opposition to the secluded waiting room and its darkness, the inner hall was hexagonal, marble walls and floor leading to a huge metal sphere lying in the middle, surrounded by a deep pool of hot water and another marble lip. Blades of light danced and refracted on the surface of the sphere, which was not smooth but made of the same honeycomb patterns as the room itself.
[cont.]
