Elijah stepped up to the edge of the stairs and looked down at the crowd that had gathered at the base of the terraced hill. There were more than a thousand people present, many of whom were Argos’ most influential leaders. The council was there, as were the most prominent merchants, tradespeople, and farmers. He cleared his throat, then once again glanced at the notification he’d received upon the temple’s completion:
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Temple of Virtue]
Overall Grade: Complex
Enchantment Grade: D
Temple of Virtue. A fitting name if Elijah had ever seen one. Certainly, that exemplified the life Alyssa had tried to lead. She was as moral a person as any Elijah had ever met, and she’d died because she had refused to remain quiet while others suffered. She had stood for justice and compassion, which made the monument they’d created in her honor feel appropriate.
Finally, Elijah raised his voice, using his immense attributes to augment his voice, “Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to see so many people here.” He took a deep breath. “I know none of you knew Alyssa, but I chose Argos for this temple because, in my experience, the people of this city exemplify the same traits she held dear. You treated me well even though I was a stranger, and when disaster struck, you banded together to help one another. My sister would have felt at home here, and so do I.”
He looked from one face to another. Each and every person there had lost people. Everyone on Earth had. Whether it was family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers, few had managed to pass through the crucible that was Earth’s transformation unscathed. So, they could all sympathize with his loss. As such, Elijah saw more than a few wet cheeks.
“But this temple isn’t just about Alyssa. It’s about everyone we’ve lost. A celebration of their lives that will endure long after we’re all gone,” Elijah went on. “For now, though, let it be a place of healing. From now on, I’ll do everything I can to visit every four weeks, and I’ll remain here for a day while I heal anyone who comes to this temple. I invite other Healers to do the same. There will be no charge. No donations accepted. This is a service provided so that we can honor the friends and family we’ve all lost.”
Elijah pointed to the temple, adding, “In there, we’re all equal. I don’t care about status, strength, or social standing. I won’t ask questions how you were injured. I will simply heal you, and with a smile on my face.
“But for now, I will be hosting a celebration of my sister’s life. Food. Music. A good time,” he went on. “That’s it. Let’s have a party.”
For a moment, no one responded, but thankfully, someone took pity on him and started clapping. That turned into a smattering of applause, which in turn fostered cheers. For his part, Elijah just sighed and glanced at Carmen.
“Good speech,” she said. “Up until the end, at least. How did you screw up telling people that you were paying for an enormous banquet? Usually, announcing that you’re giving away food and alcohol for free gets a better response.”
Elijah shrugged. “I don’t like public speaking,” he said, which was true. The only reason he’d agreed to speak at all was because he felt that he owed it to his sister. And because the people of Argos knew him. “Was it really that bad?”
“It wasn’t good,” she said with a smile. “But it’s fine. By the time people get into that alcohol you brought, nobody will remember your horrible speech.”
“Horrible? I thought you said it just wasn’t good.”
“Horrible isn’t good.”
“Yeah, but it’s implied that –”
“It was acceptable. Just leave it at that, Elijah.”
Elijah sighed, but he chose not to press the point. Instead, he scanned the crowd. A few people had stepped forward to be healed, so he wasted no time before tending to them. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd descended upon the town’s central square, where all the food and alcohol Elijah had furnished had been set up.
The food wasn’t difficult. All he’d had to do was spend a couple of days hunting, and he had enough meat to feed the entire town. It was amazing just how efficiently he could stalk and kill large prey animals, and in fact, it was so easy that he almost felt guilty about the act. The only solace was that he knew that nothing would go to waste.
The alcohol had been a bit more difficult to source, and it had required him to teleport to the Moon Glade and meet with the Distiller in Valosta. He’d proceeded to overpay for the man’s entire stock of beer and whiskey. It had cost Elijah far more than he wanted to think about, but he knew better than most just how essential a little booze was for a decent party.
Even with those efforts, it hadn’t been enough, so he’d also bought everything he could from Argos’ local Brewers. They were low-level, and their products weren’t great, but Elijah didn’t think anyone would care so much, considering it was free.
In addition, the locals chose to pitch in with a host of vegetables that rounded out the food offerings. A handful of people with cooking skills had offered their services as well, which held no small degree of importance. After all, without those skills, even the highest quality ingredients would be largely tasteless to anyone with a class.
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Finally, Elijah had hired some people with Entertainer archetypes to play music in the square. It wasn’t really to his taste, trending more toward twangy acoustic sets, but the upbeat music definitely gave the event a festive atmosphere.
After healing the petitioners, Elijah and Carmen led a few of Argos’ leaders through the temple, showing them the highlights. The first one they saw was the building itself, which still bore the signs of its inspiration. At the most basic level, it looked like an enlarged version of the Temple of Athena Nike, though the exterior columns had been decorated with fanciful carvings of noble warrior women. In addition, the pediment bore a relief sculpture of a winged angel fighting against a host of demons.
The exterior carvings were all the products of Iason and Penelope, and though they’d gone in a different direction than Elijah would have chosen, he couldn’t argue with the effectiveness of their work. Bringing it all together was the huge statue at the peak of the roof.
In a lot of ways, it looked like Alyssa. Or perhaps the idealized version of her that Elijah remembered. It had been based on the broken statue he’d brought back from Valoria, though every aspect had been improved. From the material – it was made of Dragonstone – to the workmanship itself, it was a far superior piece, depicting an armored woman, armed with a spear and standing vigil over everything beneath her.
“It doesn’t really look like her,” Carmen said. “But it still feels like her.”
“I know. I was just thinking the same thing,” Elijah said, looking up at the statue. “Do you think she would have approved?”
Carmen snorted. “God, no. She would have been embarrassed by the kind of adulation that statue implies.”
Elijah’s heart briefly jumped into his throat, but then he let out a chuckle himself. “Yeah. She would have been, wouldn’t she?” he agreed.
After that, they continued into the building, showing the Argos natives the series of rooms arranged throughout the temple. They were intended for healing, but they could be used for other purposes as well. Elijah hadn’t thought too much about what those other purposes might end up being, but thankfully, no one put him on the spot by asking that most obvious of questions.
Finally, they reached the open-air courtyard, which drew quite a few gasps.
That was definitely satisfying, especially given how much work had gone into the project. The centerpiece was the ancestral tree, which had grown to a little over ten feet tall. It was barely more than a sapling, but even then, it radiated a sense of calm and power that could not be denied. Even if that was the end of the wonders, it would have been quite effective. However, it was only the beginning.
Surrounding that juvenile tree was a carpet of clovers, broken up by periodic bushes from which blossomed aromatic flowers that gave the whole courtyard an exceedingly sweet smell.
Elijah had intended to put a fountain in, but he hadn’t really thought about it until the Builders had already finalized the structure. So, instead of forcing them to re-do their work, he’d adjusted his plans. And the results were just as stunning as he’d hoped, with the courtyard radiating unmatched serenity.
However, what made the whole thing seem truly magical were the columns lining the square space. They were around twenty feet tall, and Carmen had carved each one with subtly different coiling dragons. More, Elijah had guided a series of vines to grow along the same pattern, giving the columns depth they otherwise would have lacked. The final detail, though, was the one that pushed it to another level.
From those vines sprouted gently glowing flowers – the same kind that provided illumination in his and his sister-in-law’s treehouse – casting the whole courtyard in ethereal light that made the Dragonstone columns look alive.
“This is unlike anything I have ever witnessed, my friend,” said Atticus.
“Beautiful,” agreed Agatha, and a chorus of similar comments followed.
“Thank you. The Temple of Virtue will be open to anyone who wants to use it,” Elijah stated. “But I’ll say this – if I come back here and find that it has been vandalized in any way, I won’t spare the perpetrators my wrath. I don’t want to have to do that, so please, try to protect this place when I’m not here.”
After that, the group of leaders all agreed to do just that. Elijah wasn’t sure how they all knew just how dangerous he was, but they seemed to take his words very seriously. Either way, it wasn’t long after that that everyone descended from the temple and headed to the town’s large square to take part in the party.
For a while, Elijah walked among them. He ate a little, drank a bit, and even danced. But as much as he wanted the festival to be a celebration of his sister’s life – and it was – his heart wasn’t really in it. He wanted to be happy, to remember all the good times he’d shared with his sister, but the reality of it was that grief didn’t always cooperate with those sorts of desires.
So, he eventually found himself sitting on an isolated bench, well away from all the rowdy merrymakers, and thinking about the past, the present, and the future.
Until, via One with Nature, he felt a familiar presence nearby.
He didn’t even look up as he said, “Hey there, Delilah.”
She didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she just sat beside him, and for a while, remained silent. Out of the corner of his eye, Elijah saw that she’d foregone her normal armor. Instead, she wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a tee-shirt. He wasn’t sure which one he preferred. Perhaps the answer was that it didn’t matter what she was wearing. She made anything look good.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Elijah considered making a joke. Or going off on some tangent-laden response. But for once, he marshaled his self-control and said, “I don’t know. Maybe. Probably not.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Elijah leaned against the bench, tilting his head back with a sigh. “Not really,” he admitted. “There’s not much to say. I’m sad, and I don’t think there’s anything I can do to change that. And I don’t really want to, either. That’s normal, right? I should be upset that my sister’s dead.”
The last word was difficult to force out. It was like saying it aloud made it feel more real. Of course, he knew Alyssa wasn’t just going to magically show up and tell everyone that she’d never really been dead. But that wasn’t how the world worked. Dead was dead.
But grief and reason didn’t always play well together.
“Being sad is normal, yes,” Delilah said. “But you don’t have to go through it alone.”
“You know – I kind of hoped that building that temple would make me feel better,” he said. “Like, it would let me turn a corner and go back to normal. That’s not how it works, though. I look at that thing, and even though I still believe in its purpose, it’s just a reminder of what I’ve lost. Of what Carmen has lost. And Miggy.
“What’s even worse is that I’ve been through all this before,” he went on, finally turning to face Delilah. “Like, I lost my parents a while back. I didn’t react well to that, either. I hoped that maybe I learned my lesson. Practice is supposed to make perfect, right? I guess it just doesn’t work that way with grief.”
For her part, Delilah could read the situation well enough that she didn’t respond. Elijah didn’t want someone to rationalize his feelings. He didn’t want someone to make it better. He just needed someone to listen to it all.
And Delilah did.
For more than an hour, Elijah just let off a stream-of-consciousness style rundown of everything on his mind. It ranged from grief to depression and back to hope, with everything in between. And to her credit, Delilah listened.
Eventually, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and said, “I think I’m going to go for a long walk.”
“You don’t want to come back to my place?” she asked.
Elijah shook his head. “Not that kind of night,” he said. Then, he flashed a smile and added, “Rain check, though. If you’re lucky, I might even take you back to my magic island one day.”
Without another word, he padded away, his thoughts swirling with a myriad of emotions he didn’t know what to do with.