"Oliver, had any of these selection things as well in the cathedral at the kingdom?" Marcus asked, Oliver was walking at the very front with Calliope and Clarissa, descending down the flight of stairs. Being the last of the people to head down for what was going on.
"Nope, none at all." Oliver quickly replied.
The twins walked down with their new weapons neatly tucked beneath their robes, Oliver felt happy. Now armed with a weapon to protect himself.
Their descent took far longer than the rest, and as they moved deeper down, the sounds of people chanting became louder.
"This place and these people are giving me the creeps." Marcus commented.
"They were always like this, pretty tame compared to what else i've seen." Myo replied unexpectedly.
"Wait, what else did you see?" Now heavily curious, Marcus' question was left with a cold reply as Myo returned to silence.
The team soon reached the very ground after minutes of walking. The muffled chanting voices were now far louder than earlier.
In front of them was a thick wooden gate, blocking their way forward. A few guards stood outside of it, already looking at the disguised group.
"You are rather late. Practice your punctuality, especially on momentous occasions such as this." One of the guards spoke in an old and rough tone.
Without another word, they pushed the gate open. And what lay on the other side only left the team in deep shock.
A massive statue of Foren lay in the middle of a massive room, clad in heavy armor while raising a sword high, holding his shield in the other. Hundreds of hooded worshippers surrounded it, kneeling on the ground while chanting something.
The room was circular, with a few large balconies built into the sides, giving more space for higher ranked officials.
Behind them were small corridors that went deeper into the place. Out of Colton's sight.
The statue glowed bright blue, with what appeared to be flames coming off of it, giving light to the place.
Once everyone went inside, the gate shut behind them.
An odd feeling of calm and belonging flew through Colton, Calliope, and the twins. As if the statue had a connection with them.
The feeling only grew as they looked, urging them to step closer and join the others in kneeling. Oddly though, the others didn't experience the same thing.
The walls of the place were etched with the faces of people, scriptures, battle scenes, and other mysterious symbols. From the bottom to the very top.
The feeling kept growing, now giving them the compulsion to start repeating the chants like the others.
Suddenly, the words of the chants came into Colton's mind, as if he had already known them from before.
The others behind them looked with faces of confusion, still unaffected.
But with the order given, they only followed, joining them in kneeling. Mumbling what the other worshippers were saying.
Above them, more hooded figures stood on the balconies with more decorated robes. Calliope looked at them for a brief moment, identifying them before looking back to the statue.
After a few minutes, the chants slowly died down, and a man in a decorated robe walked to the front of the statue. He was the same man from earlier in the other praying room.
Once he cleared his throat, he began to speak.
"Brothers and sisters, we have come forth today to not only continue our duties as servants of Foren. We have gathered as he bore gifts. Gifts that shall be wielded by those who hold the deepest devotion to the security and safety of the people around them. And utmost loyalty to him. Nothing less, nothing more."
"Nothing less, nothing more." The crowd responded after he spoke.
As they went on, Oliver and Clarissa looked more erratic than earlier, their eyes were wide open, staring oddly at the statue, as if in a trance.
The man started to talk again. "As such, as mere mortal apostles, we shall receive these gifts with joy. And use them well." After speaking, the man's eyes began to glow dark blue, looking downwards as everyone waited in anticipation.
"What's going on with em?" Marcus whispered.
"Just keep quiet for now, or we will get reprimanded by our leader." Quill hastily replied, wishing for Marcus to shut up.
After a while, the fires on the statue seemed to grow brighter than before. And the chants of the people became louder and more excited.
After a minute, the voices suddenly stopped as a wave of wind blew through the room with great force, pushing off the hoods of a few worshippers.
While Colton looked around, confused. He noticed that the man in front raised a hand up high, and pointed towards the twins kneeling in front of Colton.
The eyes of a hundred or more worshippers looked to them in an instant, in shock at the decision.
"From the very words of Foren. You two have been chosen by him to receive his blessings. Please step forward, devotees." The crowd soon erupted into applause.
Unsure of what to do, the twins followed what the man said and began walking towards him. The feeling from earlier lingered with them. Still strong.
Once they had reached the front, the man instructed them to kneel again.
As they began to kneel again in front of the statue, a large white ring started forming above them, slowly turning.
On it were unknown text, and in the center, a large knight shield symbol.
"Let the gifts be given. Let the ritual commence." After the man spoke, the twins' eyes were filled with a light blue color, a mix of mental pain and calm rushed through their minds as the "gift" was being brought to them.
The two grabbed at their heads throughout the process grunting and screaming as the pain became stronger.
Colton and the others couldn't bear to see it, silently hoping that they could survive and could finish the mission and leave this place.
As the process continued, Colton noticed that the ring above them started moving faster.
The man in the front hovered his hand above the two, as if trying to soothe their pain. As his hands neared them, they began to glow faintly green, the same hue as the glow that came from their staffs.
The two continued to groan in pain for a short while before stopping instantly. Above them, the ring started to disappear, and the man pulled back his hand.
"Rise." He ordered. The two stood up, staring straight at the man.
"You now bear the gift of Foren. For your devotion and loyalty to him, he has granted you both a sigil of protection, a gift of protection. A shield." The crowd immediately began clapping.
Just then, the man started to speak again.
"Utilize your new found skills in the crucible of combat later on. May Foren guide you well." With that, the man finished talking. The two began making their way back to the group.
"What occurred there?" Calliope asked, interested and curious upon seeing their wide eyed faces.
"Visions…Knowledge…Protection…" Oliver replied, in a daze and state of confusion after enduring the process. They both held their staffs next to their heads in a bid to try and get rid of the pain they felt.
"From what I may recollect Ms Calliope. It began with a bizarre sense of peace, followed by intense pain and visions. Though I seemed to have forgotten most of it. Once it was all finished, I felt as if I gained new knowledge. A spell more specifically similar to yours." Clarissa replied.
"Guess we'll see it in action later on then." Marcus spoke.
The chants continued on, and the man at the front spoke a few more verses. Until.
The room went fully silent as the man moved back, grabbing a part of his head with his hand, as if in pain.
Suddenly, his eyes immediately darted at the team. Staring straight at their faces.
Everyone was shook at the sight before he began to speak.
"Foren beckons to me…Tarnished souls who have no place in his presence!" The man yelled. He pointed his finger straight at Marcus and Myo, with a face of rage.
"Heralds of sin and disorder walk among us. Veiled beneath robes!" The man shouted again.
At that moment, everyone in the room stared at them. They slowly stood up, starting to unsheath their weapons.
"This was not part of the plan…" Calliope spoke. The group stood up and started to move back.
But as they neared the gate, it opened to a line of soldiers standing behind it.
"Hey leader, any plans?" Marcus spoke, with a hint of fear in his voice.
Calliope couldn't speak, only looking at the slow approaching crowd of armed worshippers. From daggers to longswords, they moved closer and closer, slowly starting to surround the team.
With dread and horror on everyone's faces, seeing this as their end, Myo looked to one of the balconies.
"You lot can climb well, right?" Myo asked the team, a few of them looked at him in confusion.
"What does that have to do with this!?" Marcus responded, gripping onto his sword.
"Just follow behind me."
As the crowd continued to move closer, Myo suddenly started to run to the side, away from the crowd. The team quickly joined with him, unsure of his plan but hoped they could survive.
Upon running below one of the balconies, Myo grabbed onto the wall and began to climb. The rest quickly joined in, the crowd behind them rapidly approaching.
Colton couldn't believe anything that's happening. He only hoped he could survive and get out of this place. The sense of belonging he had felt from earlier was now long gone.