It was the end of November; the temperature was dropping, and the people’s hungover was finally receding.

The entire Edgeworth Family was in the church of Wing City. They were quietly seated as they watched Filla, who was kneeling before Sister Mary.

Sister Mary wore gray clothing. It was the sign of her fate and beliefs. She believed in the teachers of the Goddess Root; thus, she wore the gray tunic.

“Filla Edgeworth, you have reached of age, and now you are given a chance to choose what fate you would want to follow.” Sister Mary picked up the three items on her clothes’ sash. It was three pendants with three different designs.

The pendants were in the form of wings. There was a white wing, a black wing, and a black and white wing pendant.

Filla knelt before her, who had both hands clasped together as if she was praying. Behind her were Colt and Mina as her guardian and overseer. The two were smiling in the wake of this event.

Colt looked at the three statues of the Goddesses and thought of something, ‘You guys better help her.’ He asked courteously.

As for Mina, she was radiating with a motherly aura as she looked at the statues with a pleasant smile, ‘No matter what Fate she picks, please guide Filla to a fruitful life else I will never appear in your realm again.’ Mina also asked with respect and hopefulness.

Sister Mary held up one of the three pendants, the biggest and most prominent of them all, the black and white wing, “This is the Phylactery of the Goddess Root, the creator of the Major Elements of the world, and giver of life of the world.

“She left one teaching that the Fate of Root, willingly follows in this life, [Follow the path of the free Wind, observe the flow of a free Water, indulge the mind in the flickering Flames, and embrace the stillness of the Earth, indulged the World and Live Free.] we live life to follow a life that is free and unrestrained, do what you will, and let the course of life take its course.”

The Fate of Root was known for their freedom; they go about their way, living without restraint and avoid conflict for they could not be bothered…it had the biggest following in the continent.

Sister Mary then raised another; it was the Black Wing, “This is the Phylactery of the Goddess Darkness, the Creator of Darkness and the giver of trials, and freer of the dammed.

“She left one teaching that the Fate of Darkness willingly follows in this life, [The world is filled with darkness, to meet them and accept them is the path to life. To accept your mistake, to see through your pain without concerning yourself with destiny, be Strong and Brave.] trials and tribulations exist in order to test our hearts and mind. We stumble in life, but as we accept them, our new self will emerge stronger than ever before.”

The Fate of Darkness was known for leading the life of an Evangelist who leads others to accept their mistakes and live through life. The ones who follow this fate are mostly soldiers who go to war and take other’s life.

With that out of the way, Sister Mary raised the final and most eye-catching pendant of them all. It was the white wing that was free from any taint.

“This is the Phylactery of the Goddess Light, the provider of Light the watcher of lives, and the one who embraces everything.

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“She left one teaching that the Fate of Light willingly follows in this life, [Light exists to accept the world, guide and protect life. The light exists to be trodden upon in order to be a guiding path to a life of happiness, salvation, and hope; the greatest path to walk on is a path where you can see the track you wish to walk.] there are thousands of paths a life can take. However, one must not trample the others in order to reach one’s goal. The light is present for us to see the others and walk on a road without trampling on someone else.”

The Fate of Light was known for its righteousness. It was the path of life where life is seen as sacred and the need to save others. Those who follow the path of a Knight, those who serve to protect someone else often go through this Fate.

With three pendants hanging before her, Filla was left with a difficult choice. Choosing a phylactery does not only mean choosing some ordinary pendant; it was her, choosing a possible future she would follow.

It is not a set-in-stone decision, but it had an effect on a person’s growth; that was why it was called the Fate Baptism. It was a ceremony where a child would choose a kind of teaching which they would follow.

Depending on their choice, they will grow up to become something that embodies their choice…or so it was believed.

Filla stared at the black and white wings of the Fate of Roo and shook her head. She felt no connection to it and the path she wanted to take was not according to its will. She then turned to the Black Wing Phylactery of the Fate of Darkness, but she shook her head once more.

She did not like the idea of living for pain…the Fate of Darkness appears to be of a masochistic oriented group when in truth, it was an Order where people try to lead others to a life of goodwill and acceptance.

Lastly, she turned to the white wing of the Fate of Light. Her light twinkled as she the wing glistening under the rays of the sun. Without much thought, Filla reached out for the white wing, and Sister Mary gladly handed it over.

“I choose the Fate of Light.” Filla said with a bright smile.

Sister Mary nodded her head and said, “I see, then hold out your finger for we shall complete the Fate Baptism…

Filla did what she was told, and Sister Mary brought out a tiny needle that she used to prick Filla’s index finger with. Blood flowed, and Filla let it drip onto the Phylactery of Light. As the Phylactery accepted the drop of blood, her eyes glistened from joy.

Filla held onto the white wing pendant and felt something within her open. She felt a surge of joy, and her mana jumped in turn. It was as if she was about to glow with incredible light. Sadly, no such thing happened. Only her eyes changed for a moment.

As Filla got her Phylactery, Mina and Colt approached her from behind. Colt knelt down on one knee and asked for the Phylactery from Filla before standing up and handing it to Mina.

Mina then slightly leaned over and placed the pendant over her daughter’s neck.

“How lovely…” Mina said with a smile.

Colt looked at the statues of the three Goddesses and remembered the words of Sister Mary and couldn’t help but think, ‘What a bunch of bull.’ The only thing he knows about the Goddesses was that they liked to cheat… mostly Darkness and Root. He was actually glad that Filla chose the best of the lot.

This concluded the Fate Baptism; however, the Goddesses up above were sweating bullets as Goddess Light held onto a ball of white radiance.

Darkness looked at Light with a scowl on her face, “I thought you took back the Light? Why the hell did it almost awaken? Goddammit Light, do you know what Colt and Mina would do if their daughter gets caught in all this? Mina would….” Darkness shivered at the thousands of thoughts she had.

Goddess Light was trying to catch her breath as she nodded her head, she too knew that she had fucked up, “I know that I took it from her before, but I think I gave her too much that tiny remnants remained. If Colt didn’t come here, she was supposed to be the one to change the world, so give me a break, okay? It was just some lingering blessing anyway.”

Root sighed after hearing Light, “That is enough; there is nothing we can do. Well, at least she didn’t awaken as the Apostle. Also, Light, you need to be punished for not cleaning up properly; no pie for you today.”

“What!?”

“Don’t question it. If Filla awakened as the Apostle, then Colt’s brilliance would have been affected. This is the best chance we have in correcting mistakes; we can’t have someone outshining him.” Root stated, and Light failed to say anything.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to everyone by blessing Colt’s wedding.” Light said as she wished for redemption.