The temple doesn’t really own anything but divine garments, so I step out of the carriage doors with the same variation of dress I had been wearing for the past week. The only difference being the dark gray cloak covering said dress. Sir Ianglade holds out his hand without looking at me. I press my lips together, but resign myself as I take hold of it. He guides me down the one step of the carriage block as my soles land with a hop. I withdraw my hand immediately, returning to my side underneath the cloak. He turns and takes a few steps to talk to the coachman, allowing me time to carefully look at my surroundings. The temple takes ample care of leaving discreetly, such as the carriage being plain and without the temple’s emblem. To take even greater caution, we were even dropped off in an emptier area closer to residential housing.

My eyes quickly scan how much the capital has changed in the past thousand years. The style of houses have altered slightly for one thing. I can tell many have been rebuilt, though it seems stone and wood remain to be popular. The rooftops are much more colorful than in my memories though, as well as the roads.

Then again, I think absentmindedly. The buildings in the lower district may have remained the same for all I know.

“So,” comes the paladin’s voice. In my reminiscing, the carriage had already left. “Where does Your Holiness wish to go?”

“... A place where a lot of people gather.” There is silence in response as I look away. My main goal isn’t a destination. If I want to find Shivani, I need to be around others, or at least, a place where a lot of people congregate. Even something as simple as that would be enough to narrow the area down. The Paladin seems to stare at me quietly for a moment before the same glint of irritation flickers in his eyes. I press my lips thinly as he turns.

“If it’s a lot of people Your Holiness wishes to see, the temple would’ve been a brilliant place to start off with.”

There’s an off tone in his voice, a bit snappy. I tried to put that strange feeling off, but it seems his words have confirmed it. 

This person… doesn’t like me very much, does he?

That’s fine. I don’t plan on getting along with anyone in the temple, never mind those who appear close to the Pope. If anything, this kind of hushed animosity and contempt is what I’m used to in the temple. Though, I do not know what I’ve done to garner it. Then again, there wasn’t a reason why I was treated in such a way in childhood either. What reasons the people in the temple have matters little to me now.

“His Holiness said you’ve grown up in the capital, did he not?” I ask. He turns his head slightly over his shoulder as our eyes meet. “If so, it means his Holiness has faith in you as a guide. So simply do as you’re told.”

You can hate or despise me all you want. Just do your job and take me to where I want to go. I clench a fistful of fabric from under the cloak. The faster I find Shivani, the faster I’ll rid the temple of my presence anyway. Being there, in those halls and in those rooms, sickens me as well.

Though rocky and a bit awkward, he does eventually lead me into a more populated area. The stone tiles that make up the floor are noticeably more stable due to the amount of times the townsfolk walk upon them in their day-to-day lives. The residential buildings and homes kept nice and clean are replaced little by little with buildings more predominately made with stone bricks. As we make our way out of a back alley, the larger street is bustling with what appears to be more middle class common folk. On the sides of the walkway are varieties of stands hosted by merchants tighter knit with the community, while inside the buildings farther away are likely merchants more accustomed to serving the upper class. If you looked closely in the passing alleys, figures shrouded in shadows emitting a familiar sense of wariness and danger. Yet, even that is somewhat comforting. 

It’s an almost nostalgic sight for me that breathes into me an air of relief. This kind of environment puts me at ease, much more than the pristine and clean walls of the temple. People’s voices begin to meld together and become white noise, and if you focus hard enough, you’d just barely be able to make out conversations. The sound of commoners conversing joyfully, or even the hushed argumental bargaining overlaps one another. A line of children run past with laughter and teasing, nearly tripping over their own rushed steps.

“Maya isn’t allowed to be it anymore.”

“What? Why?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? You can always find us no matter where we go!”

“It’s not my fault you guys are shitty hiders!”

“Waah, Maya said a bad grown up word!”

“I’m gonna tell the Mister!”

“Dita, don’t you dare!”

It’s almost painful. Why did I leave this place, I wonder? We may have been poor, the skin on our small hands and knees scratched dark with dirt and only half of us with something in our stomachs, but we were happy. I was happy. 

“I’m selling you off right now.”

“...” I suck in a shaky breath, slapping my hands against my cheeks. I’m going to be happy from now on. The moment I find Shivani, we’re going to be happy. I just need to find Shivani.

Glancing in front of me, I make sure Sir Ianglade has no intention of looking back to me. It seems he’s focusing on dredging through the crowd. If that’s so, then now would be the right time. After clearing my mind, I take a slow and deep breath. Clear, and empty. Focus on the coolness within, and let it seep out.

I know finding Shivani would be difficult. Finding any reborn soul in a new body is impossible. Every living thing in this world is made up of divinity. Things like the plants and the elements, animals and beasts, as long as they are made up of living nature they are imbued with divinity. Humans as well have this quality. But the divinity within our souls is separate from the divinity of one’s body. Even so, the ability to differentiate divinity from one another is difficult. While Father could wield large amounts of divinity, being able to detect and sense divinity is a different matter. Even for me, it’s a bit difficult without a conscious mind.

But…

I softly exhale and inhale again, spreading cool ripples of my divinity throughout the space around me. It feathers, spreading through the silhouettes of the townsfolk nearby smoothly. If it were anyone else, it would be impossible. But because I am the ‘Daughter of Surya’ and Shivani is the ‘Sundrop Knight’—because I am the ‘moon’ to Shivani’s ‘sun’, it’ll definitely be possible for us. Because no matter what body, no matter what form, our blessed divinity is pulled to one another. Just as when we met, though no one wanted to believe you were my ‘sun’, with one look I still knew.

Like a languid pool of water, my divinity continuously flows without disturbance. After many seconds of holding my breath, I let out a long and shaken sigh. The feeling of cool water gradually dissipates, dissolving in on itself slowly like sea foam upon gentle waves. I already knew nothing would come out of the first day, and yet I couldn’t help but still hope regardless. 

Even with the strengthened divinity I had accumulated in my slumber, I suppose even that isn’t enough to find you...

Glancing up, it seems the paladin has no idea of what I’ve been doing despite spreading my divinity. One of the most skilled paladins, the Pope said? I suppose my divinity has always been difficult for others to perceive, especially to people unfamiliar with me, but it’s still comical how unaffected the temple’s divine knights can—

A warmth echoes back. It’s small, like a falling stray thread, but that familiar warmth responds. A warmth akin to the sun.

I inhale sharply, abruptly turning around and interrupting the flow of people. At being pushed slightly in different directions, my feet stumble over themselves. My throat is dry, and it feels like my mind is racing as my heart beats loudly in my ears. There’s no way. It couldn’t be, right? I couldn’t tell clearly, I had already cut off the flow of divinity I released. It scattered as it dissolved, so I can’t tell at all what direction it came from.

But there’s no way I could have mistaken it.

My feet stumble, and there’s an arm that suddenly wraps around my front and a hand that grasps my wrist that raises instinctively in defense. A yelp begins to escape my throat, before my mouth is covered by the hand holding my wrist. Before I knew it, I’m dragged into an empty nearby alley, flailing my feet in an attempt to knock one of the assailant’s legs.