The Kliae took position in the center of the city beside the royal palace while the temple of Nerrus sat nestled in a quiet suburb. Buildings were almost exclusively cream with blue shutters, roofs, and doors though exact shades changed from one property to the next.

It was beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning. And yet… there was a certain monotony to it. Adna said it best when she’d first entered their room. “That there is a lot of blue.”

Gren had explained to them that on the sabbath everyone wore blue. Whether you were headed to church, at church, leaving church, or simply existing on the sabbath, it was to be done blue. They’d realized it was the sabbath only when Gren had shooed them back inside to change.

By the time they arrived at their destination, the sun had long since set. The address led to a modest single story building. In the dark it looked indistinguishable from the rest of the boxy silhouettes.

The carriage driver booted them, not deigning to answer their many questions with more than a “yup” and “nah”. When the questions began to move away from yes-or-no’s he simply left.

According to the driver who agreed he was very, super, entirely certain, this shack was actually the Temple of Nerrus. When asking if the building was truly a Temple they’d been assured: yup.

They approached cautiously.

“Do we knock? It’s a house.” She whispered.

“But it’s also a temple. You don’t knock at temples.” Adna countered.

Planning to check if it was locked, Timbrelle was stumped to find no knob, handle, or other means of opening the door. The surface was entirely featureless.

“Adna, am I crazy or is there no way to open this?” She whirled around to face the woman. “Wait, wait, wait. Don’t answer that. This is one of those ‘oh, you’ve never seen a magic door before? Secret keeper!’ times?”

Adna couldn’t hold back a cacophonous laugh and had to recenter herself before saying “In hindsight, I guess I might have demanded a little much of you before.”

“Next you’re gonna want my social security number, zip code and credit card information. Don’t ask me to buy gift cards. I won’t do it.”

With hands up as if Timbrelle had her at gunpoint she confessed “I don’t know what any of those-“

“That’s because you don’t have them here!” Timbrelle shouted.

Adna gasped at her. “Did you just set me up for a punchline?”

“‘Punchline’ or ‘tripwire’? Cause your ass fell head first into that one.”

The small entryway left little room when Timbrelle stumbled at a slug to the arm. She put a hand out to start herself.

“How was that for a punchline? Shoulda punched you harder but I genuinely think your bones might—hey, are you doing that on purpose?”

A white and red light illuminated the street.

Ping!

You have arrived at the Temple of Nerrus. This location will now be marked on your map.

On the door, originating from her palm, a geometric design of strong white lines and wispy red tendrils in a background of orange haze began to form.

Before Timbrelle registered herself as the cause, the door gave way beneath her hand. Swinging wide at the force of her body falling through it, the door hit the wall with a resounding bang. As she braced for impact, Adna grabbed her skirts. The indignity of being saved by her bottom was preferred to falling flat in front of what turned out to be a sizable audience.

Everything in the room stopped. Seven figures dressed in shiny black silk robes turned to the intruders. The two unannounced visitors, one hanging by her petticoats while the other, the puppeteer.

A deep voice rumbled out “…and here she is.”

Delighted murmurs rose from the hoods. The women righted themselves, Adna helping to salvage whatever dignity remained by fixing Timbrelle’s skirts.

“A memorable entry.” A sour voice prodded.

“Y’all didn’t leave instructions for how to open it. I’m not used to doors being touchscreen.” Timbrelle chided.

She caught an elbow to the rib paired with a face that said ‘I know we talked about being more subtle’. The combination was practically lethal.

“We have been informed of your existence only a scant hour ago!” A boisterous woman called. “I would have prepared something much better if I knew you were coming. This one doesn’t like to make a fuss.” She threw her thumb over her shoulder at another tall, cloaked figure.

The figure said, “‘This one’ is named Fede and Tuna is right. I don’t like a fuss. So it’s best to do your job and not create waves, child. Understand?”

Timbrelle paused a second to take in the room. “No. I don’t understand any of this. Anyway, Nerrus told me to find his medium so here I am.”

A new voice sneered. “So? How will you find it?”

Timbrelle fought the rising urge to walk out the door. It was becoming old, being the only one out of the loop. She’d snapped at Adna a few minutes prior for the same reason.

“Seeing as I don’t even know what it is, I think we’ll have to start this conversation somewhere else. Wouldn’t you agree?” Though worded like a question Timbrelle’s tone showed no curiosity, only annoyance.

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“Yeah. Eat shit and die Loren. No one knows what it is. Much less where it is.” A young man chimed in.

There was a hmph from “Loren’s” hood.

Fede spoke again. “Our God mentioned that you were, quote: fun. But it appears you are just rude.”

Adna took a step forward only to be stopped by Timbrelle’s hand.

“Plenty rude, mostly tired. I’ve been stuck in the murder forest for over two months and just want to go home.” Her voice was devoid of emotion, exhausted. “Nerrus fed me a diamond and sent me to you. So how about you do your job and stop making that fuss we talked about?”

“A diamond?” A new voice asked from the back. “What kind of diamond?”

The black hoods waited intently for her answer.

“I—I didn’t see it.” She stammered at the sudden change in topic. “He just put his hand over my mouth and—“

The room erupted into chaos. The black robes turned on Fede.

“Why didn’t you tell us!” Tuna shouted at the leader.

“Our God gave her that jewel? I’m going to be sick.”

Another man pulled his hood back exposing a shiny bald head. In his forehead sat an emerald. It was smaller than any of the jewels that speckled Nerrus but the first time Timbrelle had seen a human with the same feature.

“You kept this from us on purpose!” He accused.

This worked its way into a clamoring of overlapping voices and hoods being yanked back. Soon only Fede remained in shadow.

Loren took this chance to round on the young man who’d sided with Timbrelle against him.

A flash of purple light shone from within Fede’s hood. He pulled the cover back to show three perfectly crafted amethyst prisms situated into a triangle above his brows. Silence fell in an instant. He wove in between the other worshippers who appeared to be petrified.

Timbrelle took a step back from the approaching man.

“So it is true. Our God has chosen you.” His jewels and eyes shone with a purple corona making it feel like she was looking at him through dirty glasses. “Let us make our way into the temple. Tuna will take care of your companion.”

Fede closed the front door and touched the inside surface. Unlike Timbrelle, the pattern that appeared did not leak from his palm. It was a flash of purely purple webbing that blinked into and out of existence, leaving only a shadow over her eyes as proof of its reality. Instead of leading them outside, the door now opened into a chapel. At first she thought it had been decorated in mosaic tiles until the overwhelming fragrance of aurora jewels assailed her. Each ‘tile’ was a jewel in a unique shade. As they walked forward the emeralds beneath their feet transitioned from saphires to amethysts to rubies. The gradient was flawless turning the space around their ankles into a smooth aura rainbow. Fede did not speak as they entered a side passage, for which Timbrelle was grateful. Aurora jewels express an aura but they shed no discernible light, leaving her to follow his pitch black figure silhouetted by the aura mosaic.

The scent of the crystals on the floor, walls and ceiling was oddly intoxicating. She was constantly battling herself to keep her arms folded, worried that the slightest lapse in self control could become an issue. The image of her on all fours trying to suck the jewels out of the walkway was too much.

They arrived at an office, Fede’s, judging by the way he sat himself down and motioned for her to take a seat across the desk. She obliged.

“Our God told us very little about your arrival. Referring to you only as his ‘chosen’. Not knowing that this was a position, our congregation is perhaps a bit unappreciated. I was hoping to avoid this.” He leaned back in his chair and lost his fingers in the tight black curls of his hair. “That God…”

“Nerrus?” Timbrelle asked.

“The congregation doesn’t use his name.” He sighed.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It seems you don’t know a multitude of things.”

“That’s me. Highly incompetent.” She made no apology for his opinion. “Nerrus mentioned Jir being annoying and clingy so I thought maybe you meant him. They seemed close.”

He dropped his head into his hands. “You don’t even realize how problematic it is that you refer to Them so casually. You come with information on Jir, no less. I can’t understand our God’s reasoning.”

“He might tell you if you ask…” Timbrelle ventured.

“There! Exactly that! Our God doesn’t answer questions! He is mysterious, cunning, ingenious—He doesn’t use words like ‘fun’! Yet He fed you one of His eyes.”

There was a pregnant pause while Timbrelle processed his words.

“What?” Timbrelle screeched, jumping to her feet. “He fed me his what?”

“Oh dear gods.” Fede looked like he was about to collapse. “This was my entire life’s work… Is our God trying to test us? Were we lacking?”

“I understand you are going through something, I really do, but your God force-fed me an eyeball. My thing is worse.” She cried. Then whispered to herself, “I’m a cannibal. Oh no. I’m a cannibal. I have so much to deal with. I can’t be a cannibal right now.”

There was a heavy thunk and the skrrrr of scooting furniture in another room.

“Ah shit!” Adna swore. “Why is it so dark in here? I can’t see a damn thing.”

Fede looked puzzled. “An intruder in the temple?”

“I’ll go get her.”