It had been several days since the curse was lifted, but waking up was still a huge relief. There was no confusion about where she was or who she was. No lingering memories of being in mid-peril or in the midst of a tryst. No strange phrases like “Toaster oven” or “Microwave oven” or “Intercontinental ballistic missile.” And best of all, full confidence that she would make it through her day without suddenly being whisked away to some other life and back leaving her lost and disoriented.

After cleaning and dressing, she stepped out of her quarters and, much to her surprise, found nothing. No flowers or boxes of chocolates or notes full of confusing and vaguely threatening metaphors for love. Kaylen couldn’t understand why Nightingale didn’t simply ask her out or at least try to get to know her. She wasn’t even sure if she liked her back, though she was leaning towards ‘no’ with how bizarre Nightingale’s courtship techniques were. Maybe she expected Kaylen to do the same kind of thing back? Kaylen had tried to ask Riven, the person she knew who was most knowledgeable about anything fairy-adjacent, if this was normal behavior for elves, but Riven had replied, “No, Nightingale’s just weird.”

At any rate, Kaylen left the priestesses’ quarters and entered the temple proper where she performed her morning prayers as usual. Afterwards, she made her way towards the exit, but halted as she neared the vigil room and saw a crowd gathered in front of it.

“Marissa was watching the candle last night. She wouldn’t have left it unless there was an emergency,” one of the priestesses said.

The candle? Had the temple’s vigilance candle gone out?

“If that’s the case, why didn’t she tell anyone? And where is she now? Is the emergency still happening?” another priestess replied.

“It’s an omen, I tell you,” said an older priestess. “We keep losing loyal followers to the Athorians, and now this. Terrible things are coming.”

“I don’t usually believe in omens,” said a middle-aged priestess, “but old Mrs. Bagsley joined the Athorians last week. She’s been a loyal Sanguian her whole life. Used to say that men were lower than insects. She worked at the women’s shelter, which you know is always loaded with girls escaping Athorianism and Roolianism. And then at eighty she throws it all away and joins one of the most misogynistic churches in the world? There’s something funny about that.”

Kaylen stayed away from the crowd, but from the opposite side of the hall she stood on her tiptoes to see the candle. It was indeed burned out. Not a good sign. The candle was supposed to protect all of the priestesses in dangerous areas and lines of work. Those in misogynistic countries or isolated villages. Those who cared for the injured on battlefields and those who worked as adventurers. It was supposed to protect her.

There was, of course, a difference between religion and superstition. Any Sanguian could tell you that. And any Sanguian would tell you that the act of keeping the candle lit was merely symbolic, meant to keep the priestesses it was said to protect in the thoughts of those who worked the temple. However, there was something unsettling about seeing the candle unlit, and Kaylen couldn’t help but wonder if it was indeed a bad sign.

Still, there was no time to worry about that now. Kaylen had to get down to the Guild and see if there were any new jobs waiting for Lady von Ekko’s Glorious Adventurer Brigade. She continued out of the inner temple, through the outer temple, and out the main doors.

Outside, she saw something else that made her halt. Standing before her, in her long brown coat and wide-brimmed hat, was Nightingale.

“Oh, hello, Nightingale,” Kaylen said, trying to act as if she wasn’t weirded out. “How are you doing?”

Nightingale looked away and fidgeted with one of the buttons on her coat. Was she blushing? “Oh, uh, you see… the thing is…”

Was she actually shy?

“The truth is… you’re in.... terrible danger,” Nightingale murmured.

“Look, is this about the candle?” Kaylen asked. “Because I know that’s kind of freaky, but it’s really nothing to worry about.”

“Yes,” Nightingale responded. “I mean, no. It’s related, but that’s not what the danger is.”

She suddenly looked directly at Kaylen, her eyes wide and half-crazed, her voice dripping with passion. “I saw it, and I have to show you because your safety is the most important thing to me!”

The two paused, staring at each other, until redness started to creep over Nightingale’s face and she was forced to look away. To Kaylen, it seemed that the only potential danger was Nightingale herself. She did not seem stable.

“Well, what is it? What’s the danger?” Kaylen asked.

Nightingale shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me. And I don’t even fully understand it, and I’m afraid that they’re going to come for you next. But if you come and see it, maybe we can figure it out together. Please, it’s important. For both you and your temple.”

Kaylen watched Nightingale. Stable or not, there was a sincerity to her voice. She really was afraid for Kaylen

“Alright. Show me.”

Nightingale led her deeper into the city’s so-called religious district, glancing back occasionally to make sure she was following, or maybe just to look at her. Kaylen had always considered the title something of a misnomer. After all, while there were a few major temples in this area, there were several other major religious locations throughout the city. Still, the reputation led to this part of the city being a quiet one, full of older residents and few shops. It was a nice place to take walks.

Eventually it became clear where they were going. Nightingale was leading her directly towards the twin temples of Athor and Passia. Athor and Passia were not enemies, but it was still an odd quirk of city planning to have the two temples right next to each other.

Just as Kaylen was wondering if this was connected with Marissa’s disappearance, Nightingale veered suddenly and led her to the temple of Passia. While Passia wasn’t one the worst goddesses around, Kaylen wasn’t a fan. She was a love goddess, which to her priests meant enforcing gender roles and an expectation that women be willing to have sex, an attitude that led to some troubling behavior amongst certain sects.

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Nightingale led Kaylen around the outer wall of the temple grounds to an alleyway piled high with old furniture and other debris. Nightingale nimbly climbed to the top of the pile and up onto the wall which, in this section, separated the two temples’ grounds. She gestured for Kaylen to follow. With some struggle, Kaylen made her way to the top of the debris pile. Nightingale held out her hand and Kaylen grasped it, and the spellsword easily lifted her up to the wall. Kaylen had no idea Nightingale was so strong.

Carefully, with Nightingale leading her by the hand, the two made their way along the wall until they reached a point where the wall met the Temple of Passia proper. Here Nightingale leaned way out as far as she could, looking towards the Temple of Athor.

“Perfect timing,” she said. “They’re out there now.”

She tugged Kaylen forward and, carefully, the two switched positions. Kaylen leaned forward as Nightingale had and discovered that she could just make out the ritual yard of the Temple of Athor. Athor was a sun god, so many of his rituals had to be performed outdoors and during the day. As such, every Athorian temple had a ritual yard, usually kept in an out-of-the-way spot for privacy.

In the ritual yard, Kaylen could see several priests, a paladin in brightly polished armor who looked to be one of the higher-ups, and a tall, blonde woman. What little clothing the woman wore was in the red and yellow worn by Athorian clergy. However, Kaylen had never seen an Athorian priestess wear something so revealing.

Two more paladins in slightly less ornate armor stepped into the yard, holding a struggling woman dressed in the red and white of Sanguis. With horror, Kaylen realized that this was Marissa.

“I was there last night,” Nightingale whispered behind her. “Two priestesses, both female so as not to incur the wrath of your goddess, snuck into the inner Temple of Sanguis and found that woman. They pretended that a friend was wounded and led her outside where they used their holy power to render her to sleep. I wanted to help, but I could see that they were powerful and I didn’t have my weapons.”

As Nightingale spoke, Marissa was forced to stand in front of the woman, who took hold of her chin and forced her to stare into her eyes.

“I saw them take another woman the other day, not a priestess. I followed them here and that was how I discovered this spot. And this ritual.”

After a moment, Marissa stopped struggling. The woman and the paladins released her, and she first kneeled, then laid prostrate before the woman. Kaylen felt a terrible sensation of wrongness at the sight. Sanguians didn’t bow before anyone except Sanguis. Terror crept through her chest as she watched the priests lead the woman away. With that, the ritual seemed to end and the entire group left the yard.

Kaylen allowed Nightingale to lead her back a short distance, then help her to sit on the side of the wall.

“What was that?” Kaylen asked. “Was that woman a mage?”

Nightingale, whose nervousness seemed to have vanished, shook her head. “Not likely. Human enchantments work best on inanimate objects, especially works of art. But on living things, it requires a sustained effort to keep an enchantment up. With the way the Athorians have been growing suddenly, I think they’ve been doing this ritual a lot. No mage in the world would be able to keep up a charm spell on so many people.”

“Then maybe she’s a fairy?”

Nightingale thought about that for a moment. “It’s true that in a lot of ways, fairy spells are the opposite of human spells. They work well on ephemeral materials like living things, but not as well on stubborn stuff like stone or metal. But don’t forget that I’m an elf. I might not be able to use fairy magic, but I know how to recognize it. I’d know in an instant if she was using fairy magic. And anyway, I thought she was just a priestess.”

Now it was Kaylen’s turn to shake her head. “While there’s some small variation between the followers of different gods and goddesses, holy power largely follows the same rules. You can’t control someone’s mind with it. That’s just not how it works.”

“Then maybe she’s using demonic or vampiric power?”

Kaylen laughed bitterly. “An Athorian? There’s nothing they hate more than demons and the undead.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, puzzling over this.

“You know, we should ask your friend, Riven. Isn’t she an expert in mind-control stuff?”

“No,” Kaylen said firmly. “If there’s one person who can never know about this, it’s Riven. If she finds out, she’ll be pounding on the doors to the Temple of Athor, demanding to be converted. Especially with a woman like that doing the converting.”

There was another moment of silence. Then Kaylen stood suddenly.

“We should rescue her,” she said, drawing her mace. Nightingale stared at her in confusion.

“Wait, where are your weapons?” Kaylen asked.

“I told you, I don’t have them with me. I’ve been running around, climbing up walls and stuff. They’d get in the way,” Nightingale replied. She eyed Kaylen’s mace. “Do you carry that with you everywhere?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Kaylen. “I thought that was what adventurers did.”

Nightingale stared at Kaylen, eyes wide. “You’re so amazing.”

“What?”

“You’re so strong and powerful and you put all of your effort into everything you do and you act like it’s just natural to do things like that. It’s… amazing.” Kaylen felt herself starting to blush. Was she really that impressive? “But we can’t rescue her.”

“Why not? Go and get your weapons and⁠—”

“The two of us wouldn’t stand a chance against a temple full of priests and paladins and whatever that woman is. Besides, the priestess we’re trying to save wouldn’t cooperate with us. Whatever that woman did to her made her loyal to Athor.”

Kaylen sighed. Nightingale was right; as much as she burned to burst in and rescue Marissa, there was no way that would actually work out.

“Why do you think they’re doing this?” she asked.

“It could be that her powers are completely unique. Some new thing, and they’re testing it out. First seeing if it works on followers of another god and then seeing if it works on her priestesses. My guess would be that they’re planning to start using it on people in massive numbers in preparation for the war.”

“Uh… what war?” Kaylen asked.

“The war with the demons. There’s rumors going around that the Demon King is planning to invade. And now our king is making all these speeches about how evil demons are and how they all need to be destroyed. War is starting to look inevitable.”

Nightingale paused, but didn’t quite seem to be done talking. She stared at Kaylen for a moment.

“But don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’m going to protect you.”

Kaylen sighed again. There was a certain charm to how passionate Nightingale was, but the girl was all over the place. If the two did date, would Nightingale start to make sense to her? Or would she be as confusing as ever? She considered trying to let Nightingale down gently now, but she just didn’t have the energy for it.

“We should get out of here. I need to inform the temple of what’s happening. They’ll probably want to contact the Guard, not that that’ll do any good. Plus my party’s expecting me at the Guild.”

Nightingale led her back across the wall to the pile of debris.

“Did you need help back down?” Nightingale asked.

Kaylen hopped from the wall to the top of the pile, rocking unsteadily as she landed.

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

Nightingale grinned and the two climbed down the pile.

“Holy fuck!” Nightingale shouted suddenly.

“What? What is it?” Kaylen replied, looking around and expecting to see Athorian paladins bearing down on them.

“I… I touched your hand earlier.”

Nightingale grew bright red.