How long had it been since she woke up? She couldn't remember but it was only a short amount of time. Her training had just begun and she was nowhere near being ready to do any healing. That was why she had been assigned with just a simple delivery. It was a task that anybody could handle. She was sitting in the driver's seat of the cart and guiding the small horse through Onnen until she made it to the temple. Leita had long brown hair, tied up in a ponytail and was wearing a simple green tunic with brown pants and a belt that held a pouch and an empty sheath.

The girl hadn't been travelling on her own. In the back of the cart was a beautiful wolf covered in a variety of runes that Leita didn't understand. Caroline had sent the wolf along to give Leita some protection, as she hadn't learned how to use weapons yet. At this moment, Leita was vulnerable and almost useless. She didn't know how to fight, how to use magic, or even how to use the medical kits. But she did understand basic directions and was able to gain trust faster than Caroline could. The cart was filled with bags and crates, each labeled so that she couldn't forget which was which. There were crates of health potions, mana potions, and bags filled with herbs. 

Apparently, Caroline knew that this was a wonderful moment to open up trade with the goddess of light. Specifically to build good relations with her. As the cart drew closer, Leita could finally see the temple in the distance. The temple was beautiful and glorious. Water from the mountain flowed through the rivers and sparkled underneath the sun's light. A giant statue of the angel goddess gleamed further ahead and displayed the beautiful power of the angel. The cart began to cross the bridge but Leita was still mesmerized by the gorgeous building. How many people put their efforts into that place? Leita's bright blue eyes were wide. Soon the cart had arrived at the stairs. The horse didn't even bother trying to go up them, instead just pausing at the first step. 

Seeing that she couldn't really take her cart up to the temple, she hopped down from the driver part of the cart and walked over to the ebony black wolf covered in runes. The wolf hopped out of the cart, his tag wagging with excitement. He was a well-trained guard wolf who knew when to attack and when not to attack. Leita assigned the wolf to guard the cart filled with herbs and healing items. He vigilantly sat down, keeping his eyes alert for any potential thieves. She began to climb up the stairs but by the end of it, she was practically dragging herself upwards. She hadn't dealt with so many stairs before. If she could fly it would have been so much easier. Although for anybody who could fly, the whole scene of Leita dragging herself to the top stair would have been hilarious.

She waited for a moment to refresh and catch her breath. It was only then, looking back at the stairs, did she notice the bell that would have made her life significantly easier. The whole time while going up the stairs she had not taken notice of it whatsoever. Leita let out an annoyed sigh and brushed any dirt or dust off before turning to the entrance of the temple. There were two massive oak doors ahead of her. It only took her a gentle push to be able to open the door. The main lobby, or the Narthex, was filled with plenty of seats and there were several clergy, running off to different areas. There was something peaceful about the temple. As though all the order and light of the world was contained in one room. She knew that she was safe here. That nothing would come to harm her and that her long journey led to a comfortable end. 

All she had to do was to find the goddess or somebody that would be willing to take the cart of healing items. 

Some time had passed since the failed Revolution and things had been quiet around the Cathedral. The wounded were starting to recover more and more each day, small services had started again, though very few from outside of the Clergy attended anymore. Some had noticed a few faces had left in the days since it ended, no longer having the Faith to stay within the Light they left the Clergy without a word. It hurt to see them go, but no one thought ill of them for that choice. The dead were being grieved for, prayers offered for their souls.

Lady Glory was in the Narthex when Leita had walked in. Sirona did stand out among her people, with her large wings being the most standout feature among the people. Even now, however, Sirona did not have her armour on, she hadn’t had it on since taking off when the Revolution had failed and she arrived back at the Cathedral. It was still laying in a heap in her quarters, needing a cleaning, though the living metal was slowly repairing itself. Sirona wore a simple shirt and pants that covered her and a pair of slippers, the fabric wasn’t see through, that much hadn’t changed. However the cuffs of her shirt were a bit loose, so when she moved her hands the black ink of the angelic tattoos that started at her wrists was visible. Matched to what she had on her face and it was anyone’s guess just how much of her body was covered in ink.

Upon hearing the doors open Sirona glanced over her shoulder, shifting a wing out of the way at the same time. She saw an unfamiliar face, a young woman, standing there. Standing up Sirona made her way over, pocketing the prayer beads she had been holding. With a small but friendly smile the Goddess addressed the newcomer. ”Welcome to the Cathedral, how can I help you?” Sirona asked, curious as to why anyone would show up here after what had happened.

An angelic woman with a simple shirt, pants, and tattoos covering her wrists and face stepped out into the open and addressed her. Leita, relieved to have found somebody, approached her. 

"I have a delivery from Miss Einsecc. I couldn't bring it up the stairs. Its all in a cart with wheels." Leita explained, "Miss Einsecc has sent a variety of healing items, for your sick and injured. If you can give this to the goddess of light, that would be great. Its got explanations and things." 

She held up a neatly written letter addressed to Goddess Sirona. The letter was written in a neat cursive and smelled like fresh lavender. The words of the letter were eloquent and were clearly written by somebody who was not hurting for money. The letter read,

-To the Goddess Sirona, 

The delivery sent to you is a gift. I understand that you might have injured people and that since your home is a place of light, it would need healing items. You will find herbal remedies, salves, bandages, ointments, herbs, and health potions. Each of them is labeled and has the materials listed, in case of allergies. This cart of medicines is free but I would like you to consider setting up a trade system. A trade system where I send you carts of healing items and any new discoveries that I have made. In exchange, I would like not money but spare angel feathers. I have been trying to find a cure for a wing disease that occurs among angel wings and I have been trying to discover a way to help regrow feathers after they have permanently fallen out. If you are interested, please inform my assistant Leita. 

Sincerely, 
Miss Einsecc-

"Oh and she mentioned that she was sorry for not getting here sooner with the supplies." Leita said, "We were dealing with a monster problem…..So I guess I'd better get the cart up here then. Is there a shortcut or a ramp or something?"

Sirona listened as the young lady spoke about a woman named Einsecc, who Sirona didn’t know, but that there was a letter. But the way the young lady spoke meant that she didn’t realize that the angel in front of her was Sirona. Sirona accepted the letter and opened it, smelling the lavender and noting the neatness of the handwriting. Interesting indeed, Sirona thought a moment after she read the letter. ”A wing disease among angels, interesting that I have not heard of it before now.” Sirona noted, still, Goddess and angel or not, Sirona still had feathered wings and she did shed feathers now and then. Normally though she would burn them.

Pocketing the letter Sirona looked back to Leita, now that she had a name for the young woman, who asked about a way to get her cart up the stairs. Curious to see what was in the cart before saying more on the deal Sirona smiled to Leita. ”Uh, no, but, please allow me.” Sirona waved a hand and the cart disappeared from below and poofed into appearance at the top of the stairs with them, with nothing moving out of place. ”Now then, what do we have here.” Sirona said as she rummaged into the cart, she wasn’t a trained healer, but she called over one of her trained healers and had them look through the cart for a bit.

”Everything looks in order, Lady Glory, well labeled to, some fine work indeed.” She informed.

”Thank you.” The clergy woman nodded and left and Sirona turned back to Leita again. ”Now then, Leita was it? Allow me to properly introduce myself, I am Sirona, Goddess of Light and Strength.” There, with that bit of formality out of the way Sirona moved on. ”Thank you, for making the journey here, and thank you for the healing supplies, we’ll put them to good use. I would like to ask you, however, why? Why has Miss Einsecc sent us these supplies now? After what has happened I had assumed no one would want anything to do with us for a long time. I’m curious as well to know more about this wing disease the letter spoke of, while I am immortal and immune to it, hopefully, I have family who is not and it would be good to be able to inform them.” In the back of her mind she had the image of Uriel losing all of her feathers and looking like a plucked chick and it was all Sirona could do to keep the wicked little grin from her face at that idea.

Leita let out a small sigh of relief when Sirona was able to make the cart appear at the top of the stairs. The idea of pushing the cart all the way to the top was unappealing. Some of Sirona's trained healers looked through the cart with supplies. While watching the cart, Leita noticed the pitter patter of paws climbing up the stairs. She turned and was surprised to see her wolf running up the stairs as fast as he could. It didn't take long for the wolf to get to the top despite the amount of stairs. As her wolf approached, she held her arms out towards him. The wolf ran into her arms and began licking her face. 

"Who's a good boy?! You're the good boy! Yes you are!" She baby babbled. 

Once her wolf calmed down, she looked to Sirona who was introducing herself. Leita's eyes widened when she realized that she had been talking to the goddess herself. They really needed to start wearing name identifiers or something. But it seemed Sirona didn't want to linger on that fact as she moved to the question of why they were bringing these items now. Leita herself didn't know Caroline's reasons, as the woman mostly kept her thoughts to herself. Then Sirona began to ask about the specific disease, something Leita knew more about. 

"Miss Einsecc didn't mention much about her reasons but she has talked a lot about the Beak and Feather Disease. That's what she's been calling it anyways. She said that it originated in birds like cockatoos and macaws but she thinks that virus had adapted to any creatures with wings. The BFD kills feather cells and beak cells but in angels, it only affects their wings. Since they don't have beaks." Leita tried to explain as best as she could, "If you want more details, you'll have to talk to her directly."

That was as much as Leita knew. Caroline was very careful to self quarantine and keeping Leita away from the patients, even though it only seemed to be affecting angels and creatures with feathers. It was the main reason that she was sent instead of Caroline herself. Then there was Sirona's original question, about why they were sending supplies now, after all the chaos. 

"Miss Einsecc didn't say why she was sending it." Leita said, "But I think it's because we both believe in you guys. I'm sure the rest of the world will come around….you're organization was made to help people, right? So as long as you help people in need, then it'll be alright." 

There was an optimism to the way Leita spoke. She understood the gravity of the situation but that didn't mean she was going to be mournful or depressed about it. In her heart, she truly believed that things would get better for both the angels and for Sirona. If things didn't, then she would do her best to help. She squatted next to her wolf, gave him a few pets, then stood up and looked around at the temple. 

"Mind if I have a look around? I've never been in a building so big!" She exclaimed. 

Sirona smiled as she saw the wolf come up the stairs to be with Leita and began licking her face. Leita explained what she knew of Miss Einsecc’s reasons, which wasn’t much, but she did explain the disease that the healer was working on. Interesting that it would jump to an angelic race from birds, but, Sirona guessed that with enough magic in the air that anything was possible. ”I would indeed like to talk with her more about it one day, I’m curious. As I said, while I may be immune to it I have my siblings and parents who aren’t… Speaking of wings.” Her arm snapped out and over top of the wolf as a white and light brown ball of fur and feathers landed.

Lume, Sirona’s pet owl griffin, had been trying to pounce, from the air, onto the unfamiliar wolf, but Sirona had caught him and pulled him close. ”What have I said about trying to pounce on things, Lume?” Sirona chided as the maine coon sized creature squirmed in her arms before Sirona allowed him down on the ground. Lume wasn’t nearly the size of the wolf, but he wasn’t small either, with an owl face and kitty ears and tail, the soft white fur and light brown feathers on his wings, Lume was a unique sight. He also wasn’t scared to step up to the wolf and look up at it either and hoot, declaring this as Lume’s territory. Sirona rolled her bright blues eyes. ”Please forgive him, since his growth spurt he’s been a bit more territorial.”

As Leita continued Sirona smiled, they still believed in what Sirona and her Clergy were doing? That was heartening to hear indeed. ”Yes, helping is what we are trying to do, and we’ll get back to that again once we have our own taken care of. We’ll start over and try and build the trust of the people again.” Sirona explained in short. ”Yes, please, by all means, come inside.” Sirona stepped back into the door again and made it was open for Leita. The same Clergy from before was close and Sirona waved them over. ”Can you please sort through cart and put things away? We’ll get it empty so that Leita can take it back with her later on.” Sirona asked and the Clergy nodded and got started. Sirona looked to Leita again. ”Please, explore, I can give you a tour if you like. I promise, to, that you’ll have some feathers to take home with him before you leave.”

Leita had a surprised look when she saw Lume, an owl griffin, but her face lit up when she realized how cute he was. Her own wolf ignored Lume and tried to soak up more of his owner's attention. He didn't really care about territory but he did see Leita as his attention giver so he was a bit jealous when she started awing over the griffon.

"Its fine. He's a cutie pie!" She said, almost going back to the baby babbling. 

Then Sirona invited them in so she walked into the building. Her eyes widened when she go ta proper look at the inside. Everything seemed so big and fancy, at least in comparison to the simple manor she was from. In the manor, everything was clean and simple. The temple amazed her not only by its grandeur but by its artwork as well. Whoever built this an an eye for art. 

"I would love a tour!" Leita said, "And if you don't mind, could you explain the purpose of each room? It would help me understand what is done around here." 

Leita didn't know much about towns or people or new locations. She knew about what she read but this was the first time she truly got to experience any of this herself. Her wolf followed dutifully behind Leita, still pining for more attention and ignoring Lume as much as possible. 

"And what does a goddess do exactly?" She asked, "Miss Einsecc explained the revolution and recent events but she forgot to mention what goddesses were. I know they are powerful beings but that's about it." 

Sirona smiled as Leita complimented how cute Lume was, but Sirona did notice how Lume was acting with the wolf. ”Lume, if the thing that is larger than you is ignoring you, it’s probably a hint to leave them alone before they do pay attention to you.” Sirona warned and the owl griffin looked between her and the wolf for a moment before opening his wings and hopping back up into Sirona’s arms again.

Sirona offered the tour, which Leita was quick to accept and request an explanation of each area, which was easy enough. But Leita asked a more pointed question and Sirona decided to address that before moving on with the tour. ”As a Goddess, and all of the other Deities to, it is our responsibility to look out for the world and the people that live here. Angela, as the Goddess of Life and Love keeps the world itself alive and, together with Serafina, Goddess of Death and Debauchery, There was a hint of venom in Sirona’s voice when she spoke the latter’s name, but she was using Serafina as an example in this case. they maintain the balance between Life and Death. Angela makes sure souls are moved on properly if they are a good soul, while Serafina escorts those that are more wicked into Infernos. We each have our part to play in maintaining the world, even if we don’t always get along.” But that was mostly Sirona’s fault as of late. ”We do things in our own way, however, as we were all mortal before we rose to Divinity, the Voice, the being that grants us our powers, picked our Aspects to match our personalities.” She thought a moment. ”The work were do from the Cathedral here is aimed at helping those in need, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, the sick, anyone who may need help or ask for help. We are a sanctuary for travellers if needed and a place to find spiritual advice and guidance. If you need me to clarify something please ask.”

Once that conversation was over Sirona would move on with the tour in full.

She listened as Sirona began explaining the purpose of the gods and goddesses. Leita did notice the slight venom in the goddess' voice when she spoke of this Serefina. But Leita chalked it up to the fact that death and debauchery was in a way opposite of what Sirona did, so it made sense they wouldn't get along. The Voice wasn't a term she had heard before, since Caroline only taught her about things that were important in the moment.

But the gods and goddesses still did things in their own way since they were mortals first and became gods second. Then the goddess moved on to describing the Cathedral's purpose, which explained a lot about the way the temple was set up. Leita nodded at the appropriate times and fully understood what Sirona was talking about. There were just a few questions in her mind….

"So the Cathedral is like an open door." She said then thought of something, "What spiritual advice do you give? Do you guys praise The Voice or something? Or do you just teach people about doing good things?"

Once they began the tour, Leita would follow behind and observe the beautiful structures of the temple. 

Sirona nodded. ”The doors are never locked, even now that we have made more enemies than intended with the failed Revolution. No one is turned away unless they start violence within the grounds, then I will personally force them out if needed.” Sirona explained. ”The advice given depends upon the question posed or the topic spoken about. But, in general we try and give advice to help ease fears, or help make them important choices. We don’t so much teach people do to do good things, we try and lead by example. Once we have recovered ourselves we will work out way back out to the world again and continue our work. We won’t preach like we did before, but just try and do all the good that we can and set the example.” She explained.

Now the tour began and Sirona started easily with the main building they were already in. ”This is the Narthex, the main lobby of the Cathedral, as you can see we can seat a good number of people in the pews during services in that section called the Nave.” Sirona walked further in ushering Leita to follow to a spot with chairs that faced into the pews. ”This is where the Choir sits during services and that raised platform is the Sanctuary, it’s where the clergy who perform the services stand.” She gestured to each side of the crossed shaped building. ”Those areas, the ‘arms’ of the Cathedral, are the Transept, they lead to the outer grounds and the other two buildings.” She gestured to the right one. ”The leads to the Maobi, it’s a reflective area and meant for quiet meditation, conferences, and confessionals.” She then gestured to the left. ”That leads to Mafunzo, it is our training area, for both magical and martial fighting, we don’t see many come to use for direct training, so most of the time it is just the Clergy who train together. I will join them at times myself, though I am highly trained to use a sword and shield, or a hammer, I am training to use a better variety of weapons should the need arise. Which way would you like to go first?” Sirona smiled, petting Lume as she did and he nuzzled into her hand.