"For the time you are with us, you will be expected to wear the vestments of an acolyte." The Lacertian's name was Bashaari, or Basha for short. "We will work hard to remove this curse from you, for as long as you stay within the Temple."

It was simple enough, last three days without them finding out about my abilities, or shame them into letting me leave. For the time being, I couldn't refuse. The Contract was one of the few things that seemed to work on me without too much issue, if I fought hard enough, I thought I could escape it, but for now, it was easier to go with the flow. The Contract didn't make me more willing to want to stay with them, it was more of the thought that doing anything else was held behind a glass wall. I could see them, but I couldn't reach them.

The trip to their Temple took two days, which didn't count toward the Contract. I had been given vestments to wear that resized to fit me. They were comfortable and were so far the only thing I would want to stay for. The Contract prevented me from taking them off except partially to relieve myself, and the cowl, masked, covered everything except my eyes and mouth area.

At every morning, noon, and night, Basha tried to remove my curse. "By the Dragon God, Bahamut, I pray he revokes this fel curse upon you, to free you from these dark shackles. May his light grant you succor and solace, may your devotion to him deepen." It didn't work, but the fact that he kept trying each time had me impressed. He did truly believe in his God, and I had respect for that.

On the third day, we arrived at the Temple, where I was greeted warmly by the Priests. "While you are here, I will attempt to remove your curse as I had tried before. Before each attempt, you and I will pray to Bahamut and I will guide you through the prayer until you know it by heart. You will be expected, but not required, to do chores for the Temple."

"Alright." I said. "And after the third day here?" I asked.

"After the third day, you may leave." He said. "But I am certain, in time, you will not want to leave."

"What makes you so certain?" I asked.

"Here in the Temple, status is irrelevant. Even the most powerful lords must be courteous to we faithful. Names are irrelevant, and many who join the Temple forsake their former names to show devotion to the Dragon God. Everything you need to live is provided."

"And if I think this sort of life is not for me?" I asked.

"Then I will be mistaken, and you will be free to go." He replied. "Now, it would be impolite to call you 'Human', would you be willing to be given a name for the time you are here?"

"Will this carry any magical or mundane connotations that would impede my leaving here in three days?" I asked.

"Not at all." He replied. "You could choose a name to refer to yourself if you wish."

I thought about using the name Rex here, but it didn't seem quite right. Rex was a character who was very much 'when all you have a hammer'. If it couldn't be solved with a sword fight, he just kept swinging until a supporting character make up for his lack. This wasn't the time to rely on a hammer.

"Give me a name then." I said.

He observed my closely before nodding. "For the time you are here, until you either leave or choose to stay, you will be known as Bahrot, which is a word that is not unlike a hatchling, but does not indicate the lack of wisdom a hatchling would have. It is most like a new beginning."

In essence, it was like a Baptist calling a new convert a spiritual child. You were considered a child spiritually because you lacked the wisdom and understanding that would come later. I decided not to be offended and we moved on.

"I know that you have only just arrived, but I would like to try to remove your curse again." He said. "It will be similar each time, but with different approaches."

"Why not just try it all out in one go?" I asked.

"I could, but such intense magic, even divine, would leave you but an unthinking husk. The temple has no need to do this to a person, the most we will do is bind a criminal in service through a Contract and nothing more. You are a special case, as you have taken on a duty normally reserved for a Noble's first-born." He looked at me. "As far as the other Acolytes are concerned, you are only here to be cleansed of fel curses, they would rage at the idea that a commoner would be allowed to act in a Noble's stead, and would demand that they be given the same treatment."

I nodded. "To ensure they behave, I must not reveal this secret." I replied.

"Deceit it may be, it is vital for the stability of the Empire. The Temple holds power as the arbiters of Bahamut, but we cannot rise above our status."

We stepped into a room with a small shrine to Bahamut. He had me kneel on my knees as he did and showed me how to make the proper gesture for prayer.

"Why do I need to do this?" I asked.

"As you are considered an Acolyte, you are expected to partake in the action that will heal you." He said. "By speaking with even the smallest bit of faith, even if you only pay lip service, your faith will empower the spell."

"Alright." I said.

"This particular prayer, which invokes higher divine magic, is one that is spoken and answered. I shall say, 'Bahamut, God of Dragons, gaze upon your humble servant and free him from this fel curse'. To which you must reply with, 'Bahamut, Cleansing Flame, burn away that which binds me'. This is but an activator, I shall channel from within the divine spark within me, as shall you channel the divine spark within you, thus allowing His will to flow through us both."

I nodded and he continued. "I will then say, 'Grant him succor and solace, deliver him from fel machinations'. To which you must reply with, 'I seek succor and solace, to be rid of fel machinations'. This shall be what loosens the Curse's hold upon you, and if you are so fortunate, or faithful enough, the curse will unravel. If by this point you are not liberated, we will speak the end of the prayer. I will say, 'May this great work never be undone, may his faith be deepened'. To which you will reply, 'May my faith burn away what binds me, may my faith blaze ever brighter.' This will ensure that the work done to loosen the Curse's hold on you will remain, and so long as you truly wish for the curse to break, it will, even if slowly, certainly loosen to the point it no longer binds you."

"And I am required to answer?" I asked.

He nodded. "Please repeat for me what you are supposed to answer."

I repeated the words. Considering the likelihood that the deity actually existed, I couldn't just treat this with the same degree of irreverence I reserved for church sermons. I took a moment to take a deep breath and center myself, and I immersed myself with the energy within me, the same that Lissana had described as weak magic.

"I am ready." I said as I clasped my hands together and bowed my head toward the ground. Basha took my face in his hands.

"Bahamut, God of Dragons, gaze upon your humble servant and free him from this fell curse." He spoke with an almost authoritative voice, it boomed loudly through the room, even though it shouldn't have echoed nearly as much.

"Bahamut, Cleansing Flame, burn away that which binds me." I spoke solemnly. The air seemed to grow thicker, I felt warmer.

"'Grant him succor and solace, deliver him from fel machinations." Basha spoke with an intensity that was almost overwhelming.

"'I seek succor and solace, to be rid of fel machinations." I echoed.

"May this great work never be undone, may his faith be deepened." I saw, briefly, in my mind's eye, scales like silver and eyes like a clear blue sky.

"May my faith burn away what binds me, may my faith blaze ever brighter." I said. I spoke this solemnly, I hadn't expected myself to actually fully mean it, but I realized just how desperate I was to have the ability to speak my own name. It felt like a windstorm blew right through me and I fell onto my hands, gasping for breath.

"Can you speak your name?" He asked.

I tried to say it, but I still couldn't. I was disappointed, but Basha rested his hand on my shoulder. "You did excellently." He said. "You certainly have a talent for calling upon the divine, I was hoping that would be enough, but it seems we will need to try again. Do not lose heart, I will not give up on you."

"Thank you." I said. I meant it, he'd done enough to show that he, at the very least, had my best interests in mind, even if those interests happened to coincide with the Temple. I had no doubts that he wanted me to stay and devote myself to the Dragon God, and maybe under different circumstances, I would have, but I still had a home to return to. I couldn't remain forever.

"For a moment." I admitted. "I thought I saw a glimpse of the Dragon God."

"Then He has surely given all He could." Basha said. "Our faith acts as a gateway, the stronger it burns, the more He can channel his will through us. While there is ultimately a limit, which even in twenty years of service I have not reached yet, when many faithful converge and work toward the same goal, He can unleash some great, and at times terrible, power upon the world if it is so necessary."

"I see..." I said. "Could Indomitable Resolve, even passively, cause such a working to fail?"

"I do not see why it would." Basha replied. "I have never seen it occur before."

"I see." I said.

"Come, there is much of the Temple that you need to see, and I will show you the chores you are able to do while here."

He left the room and showed me, in order, the room where I and other Acolytes would sleep, the dining hall, the library, and the Archdrake's Room.

"Few may see the Archdrake." He said. "I am one of those few. Indeed, should the current Archdrake die, I would be next in line. May he live for many years to come."

The chores I'd been expected, but not required, to do was washing the floors with brushes, using a broom to clear out cobwebs, tend to the Focus Crystal, and organize the books in the library.

"I've only just started learning how to read." I said.

"Is that so?" He asked. "Then when you are not devoting your time to cleaning or prayer, and I am not devoting my time to running the day to day affairs of the Temple, I will teach you." He glanced away. "Speaking of which, I do have duties to attend to. You may rest in your room until lunch, or you may clean, whichever you feel compelled to do."

"I think I will tend to the Focus Crystal." I said. "Indomitable Resolve will allow me to resist mana sickness and have it be clean."

He made the gesture I'd seen and done before and returned it without hesitation. I went to the Focus Crystal room and started polishing it clean.

I was alone, so I said, "Bahamut, Dragon God... If you really do exist, can you really get rid of this curse?" I was met with silence. "Will you be the kind of god that does nothing, knowing you may not gain a faithful follower, or will you be the kind that does what is right for the sake of doing right?"

I sighed. "I knew a deity who would do nothing because I did not believe. His followers only cared that they were his chosen, even though that distinction was irrelevant. To be saved from a fate that deity created, to be loved by something that would otherwise destroy them."

"It truly sounds as though this deity was not deserving of worship." I dropped my cloth and turned around to see an old man at the door. I hadn't even heard him enter.

"How much of that did you hear?" I asked.

"Enough to know you must have had a troubled past, young man." He approached and handed me the cloth. "And I can tell that you, like me, have no qualms with being in here for a long period of time."

"You're a Magebreaker, then?" I asked.

"I will keep it a secret." He said with a smirk. "I too avoided revealing such until my guilt at not doing so overrode my caution. I had no fear, fighting evil magi and Fiends. Indeed, it was my resistance to magic that allowed me to live this long."

He helped me clean the crystal. "The Dragon God is caring to his followers, and is kind to those who are not. He is a bitter enemy to those who decry him, but he is merciful. Even you of so little faith are in his warm regards."

"What of my intention to leave after my third day here?" I asked.

"Even then." He said. "Service to the Temple is not required to be faithful, which is why I will keep your secret. It is no secret the Temple will take a Fiend Slayer if one shows up, especially one that already serves as an Acolyte." He smirked. "I would welcome you to take the time you are here to meditate on the Dragon God's power, to learn what faith will reward you with. I already see within you, the seed has been planted, and if you nurture it, it will grow, and you will know what it is that you need to do for the Dragon God, even if it is something as simple as becoming a farmer."

The Crystal shone brilliantly. "And yet." He said. "I saw you enter a prayer room without much care, and I saw you leave it looking like you had uncovered something you had lost." He looked at me again. "I am certain that, before the third day, you will have decided to stay."

"May I have your name?" I asked.

"Bamati." He said. "And you?"

"Bahrot." I said without hesitation. That had shocked me, using the name had felt a little more real than using Rex.

"Flame and sky." He said before leaving the room.

"Bahrot..." I said again before leaving the room. I went to my assigned room, where the other Acolytes were. They all looked like they were bored kids, likely much younger than I was. I went to my bed, checked it quickly for any surprises left by the other Acolytes, and laid down. I closed my eyes and rested. And as I rested, I found myself half-talking half-praying in my mind...