“No no no, this is too much brother. I’ll give you 5 args for 2 of these!”
“No sir no, it’s 5 for 1. I can’t afford that price.”
“Oh of course you can, do you think I haven’t bought any of these before? It used to be 2 silver for one.”
“Brother you can ask anywhere, never has it been 2 nor will it ever be. Unless you are talking about your father’s time.”
“Oh c'mon, how young do you think I am huh? Do you think you can just swindle me like this? Do you think I won’t dare go someplace else?”
“Go away then, go away. If you can find a better deal, then I’ll give you one for free.”
“Heh, you better not go against your word, I’ll be back in two minutes.”
That said, the haggler, me of course, walked out of the store and walked towards a place I had seen earlier. Entering the new store, I bought a very similar pastry I’d seen being sold for 4 args, paid for it (remembering to take a proper bill) walked back into the other pastry store, and under the sore owner’s eyes, took away his blueberry pastry away.
‘Mwahaha-haha.’
Doing a necessary villain victory laugh, I enjoyed my pastries as I walked carefully on the sidewalk, trying not to stumble somewhere.
Some people might call my haggling unnecessary, being all rich and whatnot now, but it’s not about the price. It’s in the spirit of haggling! The sheer fun of haggling till the other party drowns in their sweat, ah how can someone say no to such an amazing human get-together.
It’s all for knowing new people of course. “Yes of course, what else could it be? Am I, Conor Servouz, such a bad person to rob people of their money.
“What even is money? Just priceless constructs, the real wealth is human connections. I wonder why don’t they understand my views.
“If it was me… well I wouldn’t want my workers to go hungry, now would I? And being a good person as I am, it’s only right that I must charge my customers a little extra. All for my workers of course.”
Holding back a smile from emerging on my face, I quickly scooped in another bite of the pastry.
In the last 30 minutes, I’ve been here, the same scene has been played thrice and it has gone from scary, to cautious, to amusing now.
I have a feeling that whoever’s protecting me must be cursing me quite a bit right now, but all I have for them is a thumbs up, and keep up the good work.
My current destination, the cathedral.
The Guiding Hand is said to be the patron god of the Servouz family and a few more noble houses, one of which includes a Dukedom, and hence a lot has been taught to us about him, and a lot of times I have visited the cathedral.
None of them like this, of course, it was mostly us going for a mass as a ‘Family’ when our mother was still alive. But ever since she passed away a few years ago due to a rare cardiac disease, our dad had gotten much more reclusive and whatever family time we used to have is gone now.
Not that I miss much of them, it was mostly just my brothers and father talking about some important stuff or us sitting in awkward silences.
As for our mother…
‘Hahh, how far am I even?’ I looked at the cathedral which has expanded much in my vision now and estimated I was another 5 minutes of walk away.
I could’ve reached there much faster if I wanted to, but of course, I was more interested in exploring stores that interested me and buying some random stuff.
The exact reason for the new watch on my wrist, a tiny wooden statue of a cute raccoon-like creature but with a small trunk in my pocket and some consumables I’d already consumed.
Checking the time, it was 11:35 am.
‘Come to think of it, today’s Sunday too huh? So a Sunday mid-day mass might not be the worst idea I guess.’
I wondered as I imagined how different and off-putting the concept of a mid-day mass felt like. Back home masses were usually held in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings. And of course the mid-night masses on special occasions.
In ten minutes, by the time I finished my pastries, I reached the cathedral and deposited the plate and spoon in a ‘Deposit bin’, next to the trash can.
The central area was a huge circular region with the roads only taking like 20% of the total area. The rest of the central area was reserved for the Cathedral and for people to enjoy themselves.
I saw multiple benches at regular intervals and even what looked like a lawn behind the cathedral.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The cathedral in itself was a giant and awe-inspiring structure. Reaching a height of at least 100m, it was made of grey-black marble. It had a wide nave with two huge spires around it and a rose window above it.
The gates of the cathedral were open as always and I can still see many people walking inside, their heads low and hands clasped on their shoulders in a cross.
Checking the time, it read “11:48”.
’So 12 minutes early, I can take some time to roam around.’ Oh but I already had a goal for the next 10 minutes.
Walking briskly, I rounded behind the cathedral and saw the quadrant of garden before me. It wasn’t in any definition huge, but it would do.
Finding a people-less spot, which was much easier since almost everyone was already heading towards the cathedral, I stood barefoot on the grass (my boots in my hand) feeling the tickling in my feet.
The grass felt soft and warm, the wind rolling in made them feel alive. As if they’ll all fly away, eloping with the wind that caressed them so kindly.
Lying down, I placed my handkerchief on my face for the sun and just enjoyed the soft feeling of the grass.
‘Ah isn’t this life. Soft-soft grass, a windy wind to help you relax.’
A few minutes in and I realised how annoying my clothes felt.
’I think I’m sweating.’ I wondered, too lazy to move my limbs right now.
After another minute or two, I realized it… really wasn’t that fun.
‘Oh gosh, I’m sweating! Did I use to sweat that much? Ugh, it was a bad day.’
Realising the idiocy of my plan I stood up and decided to move into the cathedral to escape the sun.
‘From what part of my boundless wisdom did I believe that to be a good plan?’ Grumbling over my stupid plan, I finally stepped in and was instantly cooled down as I felt the cold winds of arctic hit me for a second, followed by gentle but cold winds of desert in the night.
And the cause was instantly revealed as I felt the outer space vacuum in my lungs and a part of me almost gasped but I held back as the feeling was short-lived.
Despite the short-lived experience, a faint ancient repulsion surrounded the cathedral for me. It was like standing in front of the two statues guarding my father’s room, just much stronger.
‘Do gods and statues hate me?’ I mused and for a second I thought one of the priests was gonna come for me and kidnap me on the spot.
But of course, I was not that unlucky yet. So keeping a slow pace, I walked down the nave with rows of pews beside me and an arched hall above me. The nave was packed to the brim with people. The roof above me formed a huge dome with a crisscross of planks. Beside the pews were aisles separated by columns and had a shorter and more curved roof.
The transept, also called the arms of a cathedral, were slightly slanted at an angle forming a marker with the nave. The crossing of nave and transept was marked with a specially deep arched tower.
Making my way slowly through thongs of people who failed at finding a seat and were not willing to stand among the aisles separated by the columns, I stood beside one of the backside pews, beside an older fellow who was already deep in his prayers.
Checking my watch again, it read 11:54.
‘So six more minutes huh…’ I nodded to myself as I re-oriented myself, keeping the weird feeling out.
The murmurs around me came to a stop eventually as the clock eventually reached 12. A presence of holiness spreading through the space. I almost felt baptized just sitting here.
Looking beside me, I saw the older guy frown? Why is he frowning?
And it became pretty apparent as the clock reached 12 and went past with not a sight of the priest in charge of the mass.
Murmurs soon followed as people gasped and concerns were passed around. I managed to catch a few phrases such as “It’s never late”, “what could have happened?”, “It’s the first time in years”, and many variations of this.
The building feeling of holiness around me seemed to have come to a pause, not having reached a certain threshold. The guy beside me finally opened his eyes and looked straight at the symbol of the god, a condensed sweat on his forehead.
I too was concerned. What has happened? ‘Is this because of me?’ I wondered, but quickly discarded it.
Many Artists before me have entered the cathedral for mass and it has never ever happened. The old me has walked with a few back in the days.
‘So what could it be!?’ I wondered as a sense of panic grew within me. My dreams of the fish and the strange town and the darts at me overlapped in my vision and for a second I felt them coming alive.
Is someone coming? I looked around in a panic. Through the tinted windows, the open door behind me, at the people standing beside me and around me.
Is something gonna happen? I shifted in my stand, getting in a better position and space to run as I waited. I checked my watch and it read 12:06.
’12:06… 12.6, 6.12….8.12’ A strange epiphany seemed to bud within me. Is this some kind of sign? What is happening?
I checked the watch again, “12:07”. And I felt it approaching. Something in the air stirred again and in my panic, I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
I looked around me again and it was the same. People murmured, some on the floor praying. But the feeling intensified with each passing second. The old guy beside me seemed content and closed his eyes again.
And then it happened. As if a certain threshold was reached, the world exploded and was instantly covered in a haze of colors.
An aurora borealis above my head changing its colours as it swayed and danced above me like a young dancer seducing me with her forms.
A sigh of relief passed through the hall as I finally noticed an old man standing at the chancel, draped in a green robe and a necklace of a mark around his neck.
The priest finally appeared.
And I felt a massive weight drop off me, the adrenaline left my body suddenly as my knees felt weak and I almost collapsed where I stood if not for the timely hand on a pew.
‘That was close… that was so close. I feel like I’m gonna die of a heart attack.’ I sighed, but then remembering something, as I checked my watch.
It read “12:08”.
And the number instantly sent a chill down my neck as I felt my vision fading and hardly managed to keep myself balanced and awake.
A tingling across my nape sent me looking at the aurora borealis unconsciously, and in there, among the wisps of color, I, and only I, saw something written.
‘8.12’
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