The day was upon the Kanisa for a service, as people gathered into the pews in the Nave clergy ushers helped people find a place to sit. Not that was it was hard to find a place, with the new Goddess of Light and Strength only being in her position now for a week, while her clergy had come rather quickly, excited to have the Light aspect in place again, others had been a bit slower. Part of that was because of the location of the Kanisa, out in Onnen, it wasn’t in Canelux like most of the other Deities, so travel for those that would normally worship the Deities would a long ways off. News was spreading fast enough of the change in positions now that Lokir had stepped down, but the location of her cathedral and the travel time it took some to get there was slowing some down from coming to visit.

So that meant that today’s service wasn’t going to be as full as the pews could be, not enough bodies to fill them. But that was fine, the service would go on regardless of how many people were present, even if it was only one person besides the clergy themselves it would go on. As it was it looked like they would get about fifteen or so people today.

Sirona smiled as she watched the people come in, be greeted by the ushers and find a place to sit. She was sitting up at the Sanctuary, the raised platform in front of the pews, waiting for things to start. She had decided that she would run the service this time. Last time she had allowed her head clergy member to fun it, but Sirona wanted the practice of standing up at the front and speaking to everyone there. She was trying to form the words in her mind that she was going to say, something encouraging to people that they could go and tell their friends and family about when they got home.

The sun was shining down upon the Kanisa, coming in through all the windows, some of them stained glass. Some of it being directed down from the archangel statue on the top of the building, the beacon that attracted many to the cathedral in the first place.

The Goddess just kept a small smile on her face as she sat off to one side, armoured as always but her hood was down. She sat waiting patiently for the service start time to come.

Since her honeymoon, Nelanna has only been to Onnen once. She had missed the battle back when the land was new, for she had been kidnapped and her memories wiped. Zanar lost his eye in that battle, and Nelanna still regretted not being there for him. But Onnen has caused no problems since. The island Cecil took her to after their wedding was absolutely breathtaking, and now Ensarrian built a house for him and Sanyi to live in together here. Not to mention her own brother, Camthorn, was looking to make his home there as well. She figured she would be visiting Onnen a lot more often with her kin and familiar and friends there. And she thought that now was a good time to get to know the land. The Champion had been all over Canelux, knew it like the back of her hand. Parvpora was mostly avoided aside from a few occasions. With Oberon there and still hunting her and Cecil down, it was far too dangerous. And then there was Itjivut, another land she wanted to explore someday. But today, it was Onnen.

Luckily Nelanna was not alone on this long adventure. Ensarrian offered to lend a hand with transportation, as well as to deal with any dangers she may need help with. He used his incredible Wyvern form to fly them over the land instead of walking to her next destination. He was so much larger than the first time she had seen him as a Wyvern, with armored scales that became stronger, horns lengthening and his power in general strengthening. He was as dangerous as he was beautiful, with massive wings that beat loudly as they soared through the sky. She enjoyed the flight greatly, taking in the feeling of the cool breeze all the while watching the land below them.

Finally, something caught her eye.

It was a large building standing at towering heights near a river in the Efé Mountains. The angel statue was the real attention grabber. Nelanna had recalled hearing of a new Goddess in this area, one who went by a familiar name. Perhaps this was her temple. Curiosity and excitement drew her towards it. Ensarrian landed at the end of the bridge and transformed into a human. Roaring water rushed beneath the bridge as they walked across, and once glance over the side made her shiver at the sight of the dangerous drop. The place was absolutely beautiful with flowers, many of which she had seen during her honeymoon, adorning the pathways. But the angel statue was difficult to look away from, even as they were standing below it. It seemed to shine like the sun, bright, warm.

Nelanna finally looked away when she heard voices from the other side of large doors. For a brief moment she worried that entering might be intruding, but if this was a temple, then it was open for the public, wasn’t it? She decided to enter anyway, and immediately found herself standing in the doorway of what appeared to be a cathedral. Not many people were inside, most certainly not enough to fill all of the seats available for use. A light sigh from Ensarrian went ignored as she glanced around, until she found a familiar face at the opposite end of the room. Sirona, the angel she had met in the old mines. Perhaps that would explain Ensarrian’s annoyance, because it was he that Nelanna had protected Sirona from. He must have recognized her as well. But it seemed something important was about to start. If it was a religious ceremony as it looked, then Nelanna would wait until she was free to speak. For now, she waited by the door, leaning against the wall.

Sirona felt the two presences outside as they came within her territory, one familiar and one somewhat so. She didn’t move from her place as Nelanna and her companion entered the cathedral, instead allowed them the time to get settled before things began. She noted that Nelanna didn’t take a seat but stayed by the door, that was fine, as long as they were comfortable. The time had come for the service to begin and a clergy member used a small hammer to tap a crystal clear sounding bell to indicate that it was time to begin.

Silence filled the room as Sirona rose and stepped over to the edge of the raised Sanctuary platform a warm smile on her face. As she spoke her voice was normal in pitch and volume, yet it carried clearly to every corner of the Cathedral all the same. ”Welcome, one and all, to Kanisa Kuu la Malaika, for those that do not know my name is Sirona.” Sirona introduced herself, just in case some only knew her by title instead of by first name. ”I wish to thank you all for making the journey here today for this service. It is my hope that, when finished, you leave with a sense of fulfillment and perhaps something to think about.” She smiled and paused for a moment. ”As this is my first time leading the service I would like to some time to perhaps explain what it is we, that is the Clergy here and myself, have set as goals for the coming times. So this service will be a bit different than what you may hear in the future, and not as long either, so please keep that in mind.” A pause to let that sink in.

”Mind, body and spiritual Strength and the Path of Light, these are our foundations for what we believe. To have harmony without one must have harmony within one’s self, through training and meditation one is able to get to know their themselves better, and connect with their spiritual side in a deeper fashion. To that end we offer training in magic and martial combat, however, unlike my predecessor we train on a much smaller scale, allowing for more one-on-one training. We are not of War here, so we do not train for it, we train for self defence and to assist in one of our other missions.” She paused for just a moment. ”That mission is the fight against Sin and Evil, in any of their forms. If any of you visit Mafunzo, she gestured towards the left door leading from the arms of the cross of the building, ”you will see above the door the words ‘No Mercy for the Wicked’. Rest assured we take that seriously. We meet Sin and Evil with punishment that is appropriate for the sin and action that has taken place. Not all sin should be met with corporal punishment, this we understand, but sin needs to be punished nonetheless.” Her tone was serious but not threatening, more matter of fact than anything.

”We strive to help those that cannot help themselves. At the moment we are assisting some orphanages rebuild and repair whatever is needed, should any of you wish to assist that would be most appreciated.” She paused a moment as if to think. ”On that topic. I have not been in this position long, as you may know, yet, I have already been asked by someone what they would get out of helping.” She looked at those gathered and gave a small sigh. ”I asked if he was able to help one day at an orphanage, but, in reply, he asked what he would get in return. How sad that he expected to get something out of helping others. I told him ‘nothing but the sense of happiness you’ll feel in helping others that need the help from a kind stranger, is that not enough for you?’. He said no, he said ‘no, I would like to be paid for my time there, I don’t work for free’. I explained that that was not something that was going to happen, no one who was helping was getting paid, they were helping because these people needed our help. We have plenty, so we must give unto those that have little and lift them up so that they may stand on their own two feet. This man has since left Kanisa of his own free will, and I do hope he does well in life.” She left the story there.

After that Sirona went on to explain a bit more of what the cathedral offered in way of services, like counselling for personal issues. She spoke of the missionaries that would soon be heading out in the world to spread the Light and carry Strength with them. But that they were also out there to keep a look out for Sin and Evil and cleanse it if needed. ”Their Faith in the Light and the Strength in their hearts will carry them through. However, should the evil they face be beyond what they can handle, they can call upon me and I will be there in an instant. Sin and Evil will be met with equal force against in return. The Strength of our Mind, Bodies and Spirits will see them triumph and spread the Light across the lands.” Sirona finished.

She paused for a bit longer this time than she had before. ”This is normally when the Clergy member who is leading the service would say a prayer. However, seeing as it is I who is standing here that may feel a bit self serving.” She gave a small chuckle and a warm smile. ”So I will simply say; Bless you all, may you have the Strength to carry on the Path of Light.”

The little bell was chimed again brining the service to a close. One of Sirona’s senior clergy members came up her to as people started to trickle out of the pews and back to wherever they wished. ”That was well done, Goddess.” There was some hesitation in his voice.

Sirona grinned. ”Come now, that was dreadful at best. I need more practice at these things, hopefully in time I will get better at speaking in such a manner. You don’t need to coat it in sugar next time, please tell me if I sound good or not, it is the only way I will learn.” He bowed to her and Sirona returned it and he left to go back to his duties.

Sirona looked back to thinning crowd, picked out Nelanna and went straight to her with a sunny smile. ”Nelanna it is a great to see you again, I hope things are well?” She eyed the male for a moment. ”And is this…?” She trailed off leaving the question unsaid but probably understood.