Fae took Maven to a small waiting room near the main hall, where she would spend a short time waiting for the ceremony to come. The Church was bustling as they prepared the finishing touches for the official presentation of the Saintess. Young neophyte priestesses and corpulent old bishops alike could be seen rushing through the halls as they went about their tasks.
Maven, however, was unaware of it all; Fae had thoughtfully cut Maven off from the hustle and bustle, knowing that it would just unnerve her to be in the thick of things.
Even as she was protected by Fae's thoughtfulness, Maven could only sigh in despair. It was far too late to abandon ship, or say she didn't want to do it, but she couldn't help but dream. Maven cursed her own lack of agency.
"Kannon, Henna, do I really have to do this? Can't you just wave your magic wand or Goddess-power it all away? My stomach hurts, I just want today to be over already..."
Henna moved her amorphous body around energetically, twisting it randomly until she resembled a caricature of a mocking face. It strangely resembled an emoji sticking out its tongue playfully.
"Nope! Nothing we can do. You'll just have to grin and bear it this time. At least you'll have Kannon there to take attention off you and Fae there for comfort. I'll just be hiding behind you the whole time, all sneaky like, while you enjoy being the center of attention."
Kannon zipped around playfully at the mention of her name, shadow boxing an invisible horde of tiny enemies.
"I can do that! A punch here, a kick there - I'll knock 'em all out with my cuteness."
Fae and Shayna just stared at the spirited little fairy in mild amusement until a soft, respectful knock could be heard from the door.
"Come in." Fae said, putting on the whole 'I'm serious and capable' façade she wore in front of others.
An unfamiliar young priestess opened the door and bowed towards Maven. "Saintess, they���re ready for you. It's time to move towards the ceremony room."
Maven lightly jumped down from her chair and followed Fae and the new priestess out of the room, proceeded to the main hall.
Lightly hyperventilating as she proceeded, Maven distracted herself by examining the the building around her.
As might be expected from the Church for the Goddess of Light and Life, the Church was practically a showcase of bright lights and pure white stone. The marble halls and floor, accented here and there with shining gold, practically screamed, "Look how wealthy and successful the Church is! The Goddess clearly favors us."
"The cult from my previous life loved their luxury, but this opulence sure takes it to another level..."
Kannon gleefully zipped from one gold ornament to the next, a dreamy shine reflected in her sparkling eyes.
"It's so pretty! Man, my Church sure has good design sense."
"You have always liked gold, Kannon... Even way back when, you'd have your priests and Churches build big golden statues of you."
Maven looked at the gold-obsessed fairy with disapproval. She should really stop being surprised when the disappointing goddess did something disappointing.
"You wastrel... Aren't goddesses supposed to be above such petty mortal desires? That look in your eyes right now certainly isn't very divine."
"But Maaaaven! This sparkle, this shine, that irresistible golden glow! It's just perfect..."
Maven rolled her eyes the crazy fairy while Fae just looked on in wonder. Who could have expected to see the goddess' messenger rubbing her face on such baubles, looking utterly entranced as she did so.
As disappointing as Kannon was, her silliness at least managed to ease Maven's nerves before the big event. However, this came at the cost of confusing the poor, unfamiliar priestess who was guiding the group. She had no idea how to react to the strange sight in front her.
The whole group was in a strange mood when they finally arrived at the entrance to the main hall. Enormous wooden double doors loomed high above the group. Both were richly decorated with religious iconography depicting the the glory of Goddess Kannon. Two stone-faced guards in gleaming ceremonial armor stood on either side, prepared to open the heavy doors at a moment's notice.
It was at this point that Fae took the lead, turning towards Maven to give her a final, quiet pep talk.
"Are you ready, my Saintess (Goddess)? Once the doors open, just walk across the carpet and onto the dais. Try not to look to your left or right too much, just tune out the gazes of those nasty nobles. If only I could blind those obnoxious old farts for daring to look at my Goddess with those dirty eyes of theirs…"
Maven took one last deep breath to collect herself, then nodded at Fae.
Receiving Maven's acknowledgment, Fae indicated for the guards to open the doors. Receiving the signal, the two men smartly grabbed the heavy wooden handles and powerfully opened the way.