“Where do you think the body is?” I wonder aloud.

  “Huh?” Dardania turns to me, her face contorted in confusion.

  “The Saint. The OG. Wouldn’t it be something if he was in the statue.”

  “That would be… well really weird.”

  “It would be. Especially when Madison cracked it open what if his blood went all over the place?” I shutter at the thought.

  “Morbid.”

  Dardania and I are sitting at the back of the church, watching as people come and go. I wanted to see the statue in present day. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I was curious as to how much it had changed. Surprisingly, not that much.

  “A temple of this size you will actually run the chance that one of the higher ranked Blessed or even the Touched may appear at any given moment.” Dardania whispers to me as we watch another group of people approach the statue and offer it their prayers.

  “Should we be concerned?” I ask, continuing to watch as the people cleanse themselves with the water at the altar in front of the statue. It’s interesting how similar this religion is to ones from my world. I suppose no matter where you are, religion tends to be the same.

  “We will be fine. They do show up here, but we are nothing more than faces in a crowd.”

  “What does the Order say about sins?”

  “What do you mean?” Dardania turns towards me. I think on it for a second before responding.

  “In my world, the things seen as sinful were such for a few different reasons. Some were viewed as an affront to God, whereas others were viewed as abominations. In the end, they were all just against the rules of God. Though God also granted us free will, so why create a list of things we aren’t supposed to do if you gave us the ability to do as we please.”

  Dardania leans back against the pew and stares up at the ceiling as she contemplates for a few moments.

  “I suppose you could say the same. Rather than believe that sins are against the rules of a god, they are believed to be the things that turned the gods away from us. They believe that sin is an innate part of human nature and its our job as an intelligent species to go against our nature and learn to be better. I don’t disagree with it on principle, but it doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, take homosexuality as an example. I would agree it is innate and natural, but not in every person. Not every person turns out to be gay, so I think that in and of itself makes it illogical to make it a sin. Should a sin not be something that would be innate in all humankind, say like greed. Every person alive can fall victim to greed no matter how hard they may try to fight against it. So, going against ones nature and finding a way to overcome that greed, that should be what we are trying to attain.”

  “Stands to reason.”

  “The teachings say these sins are the aspects of ourselves that caused the gods to flee from humankind and abandon us. But I can’t believe that something that only occurs in less than twenty percent of the population is something that would cause gods to turn their backs on humankind. Greed and corruption on the other hand, that I can see.”

  I mean, it all makes sense to me. There are some things that our religions say are bad, and they are objectively bad in my opinion. You know, thou shalt not murder or whatever it says. It would make sense why something like that would be listed as a sin, because it actively causes an immense amount of harm to others.

  “In the end, I think the name of the religion pretty much sums it up, The Order.” Dardania lowers her head and turns back towards the statue at the front of the church. “He was a man who could enact his own personal justice, and with that power he can create order. With that order he has control. Control over everything and everyone. To what end beyond simple corruption and megalomania, I can’t say. Perhaps he is just evil.”

  “We can hope.”

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  “What?” Dardania chuckles as she turns towards me. “Why?”

  “In all the stories so many of the villains get this backstory where you actually feel sorry for them. You’re like, ‘Okay I get it. Shit was tough and they didn’t have choice.’ Well, pfft to that. If we are lucky he will just be pure evil and it makes all this shit easier.”

  I think I’ve thought too much about this one. Honestly, with the state of the world prior to coming to this world, how could I not? I wanted to understand why people do the bad things they do. Crimes of passion make a certain amount of sense, it is something that occurs out of, well, passion. Someone feels so powerful in some way that leads them to a great act of violence. But, outside of that, why would people do it.

  Why would people choose to support a leader who sends people to die in a gas chamber? Who hunts people down and forcibly deports them from their home? Someone who casts someone as a sinner solely because of who they are? It’s not something I ever could understand, and perhaps I never will. It would definitely be easier if they were just evil.

  “If only it was that easy.” Dardania looks at the ground, tears start to form in her eyes. “It would make it so much easier. It would make everything I’ve done so much easier. I wouldn’t feel so bad.”

  “Don’t. Don’t ever feel bad for protecting those you love.” I reach my arm around Dardania and pull her into a sideways hug. “But, I do understand.”

  Dardania looks up towards me with a warm smile.

  “Well, this statue has worn out it’s welcome. We should get back, see how the whole healing is going.”

  Dardania wipes her tears before taking a deep breath and putting on a brave face.

  As a completely naked man and woman walk past me, I try to keep my eyes forward. My desire is to whip around and look out of curiosity, but I know it’s rude to do so. But, like, nakedness in public! What a concept!

  “It’s weird right?”

  “In a not used to seeing it kind of way, yes.”

  “Right!? I’m totally down for it, just not used to seeing it. Is it really that free here?”

  Dardania turns to look back at the couple that walked past us and then turns to the street in front of us and shakes her head.

  “I wish I could say yes, but I can’t. But they don’t let that stop them.” Dardania stops walking just outside the courtyard that sits outside the apartment building.

  “I’m scared.”

  “Of what?”

  “What if it doesn’t work. What if—”

  “Just stop right there. I know it’s ironic coming from me, but don’t sit and wonder on the what if. Let’s just be all hopeful and stuff.” I gently push Dardania into the courtyard and smile. “It doesn’t do any good to linger on the negative.”

  “Where have I heard of that one?”

  “Someone wise said it to me.” I smile and wink at her, she stumbles forward and into the apartment building.

  It didn’t take long for us to find Madison and Prisha both being impatient outside the room.

  Prisha was rapidly flipping through a book, clearly not reading a single word on any page. Madison was holding her staff, levitating it above her hands as lighting ripples up and down the staff.

  “How am I dealing with this better than them?” Dardania asks with a chuckle. As soon as she laughs both of them look up from their distractions.

  Madison’s staff falls to the floor with a loud thud. Prisha slams her book shut and whips her head up.

  “Oh, it’s only you.” She mutters softly.

  “Hey to you too.” Dardania responds sarcastically. Literal seconds later the door opens and Tate steps out.

  “Sup. We are all done here, now we wait.” Tate takes a step back and lets the rest of us in the room.

  Avis and Nabu were resting on the floor in the circle. Dardania slowly approaches before turning towards Tate.

  “Can I?” Dardania bends down, motioning towards the card. Tate nods. Dardania’s hand lingers over the card for several seconds, shaking. She slowly pulls her hand back and Prisha kneels down next to her.

  “We’re right here.”

  Dardania nods and once again reaches towards the card, grabs it, and slowly takes it out of Avis’s hands.

  We all watch on waiting for something to happen but nothing visibly occurs. I can’t help but hold my breath as I wait for… whatever it is to happen.

  After what feels like a lifetime, he starts to breath again. Slowly Nabu’s eyes flicker open and he sits up gently. He turns towards Avis, and then back to the rest of us and decides to not say anything.

  “How long?” Dardania asks, turning towards Tate. They just shrug.

  “No way to know.”

  Dardania exhales silently, and inhales again, holding her breath. She leans back into Prisha, tears starting to form in her eyes.

  As each second ticks by, I fear that he won’t wake up. I try not to let my mind wander into that territory, but I can’t help it. I don’t exactly have a lot of luck in the death department. Everyone around me that I truly cared for has died, and adding another one to the list wouldn’t be surprising. Except, it’s not just me this time. There are other people who would suffer too.

  I look down at Dardania who I can’t even imagine what she is going through. I am an only child and never had anyone close enough to think of as a sibling. Besides, they are all that they have left of their family. We need him to wake back up. He has to. He just has to.

  Avis let’s out a scream as she shoots straight up. Dardania immediately falls into him in a heaping mess. Avis leans down and rest his head on the top of Dardania’s.

  “You’re back. You’re back.” Dardania cries into her brother.

  “I’m okay.” Avis mutters, his voice horse. He turns and looks to me and gives me a weak smile.

  “Glad to have you back you ole brute.” I smile through the tears.

  “Glad to be back. There was someone’s ass I needed to kick.”

  Dardania starts to laugh through her crying as she continues to hold her brother tightly.

  “Let’s go kick some ass.” Dardania says.