First-One; Second-Two; Third-Three

Ahsch managed to mingle with the crowd for another hour after Darrow and Felia had left. Overall, he found sentiments hadn't much changed over the past couple hours, but he did begin evangelizing a little, mainly by pointing out the benefits that Enochiel brought to his worshipers and reminding those he spoke with that they were still free to worship other gods alongside Enochiel. The reminders worked in a couple of cases, but Ahsch wasn't pushing too hard. The main purpose of this event was to engender good-will among the population of the Capital, not rush his proselytizing.

Eventually, the Dominant Mage was approached for the third time that night, and much to his amusement, it was a trio who came up to him. First A'ura, second the two priests, and now these three, he chuckled to himself. Though I doubt they're members of any religious order, not with those clothes.

While not wearing the colored robes of a religious order, the trio wore decent enough clothing. They clearly weren't from wealthy families, likely the children of laborers or farmers, as their clothes were a little worn and had some frayed threads around the ankles and wrists, at least on the boy's shirt and pants. The two girls, one a human and the other a harpy, wore simple, sleeveless dresses with low necklines and calf-length skirts. All three wore sandals.

The harpy was the leader of the trio, and approached Ahsch with an eager, excited light to her eye. The human girl followed with a more reserved, and slightly hopeful expression, while the boy seemed rather shy, avoiding the hrafthi's gaze, almost seeming to want to avoid being seen at all. From the looks of them, they were around Ahsch's age, probably having just reached their majority.

"Prophet!" the harpy greeted, then flushed and curtsied deeply, head bowed. The human girl was quick to follow suit, and the boy hesitated for a moment before giving a halting bow. "We're so honored to meet you!" the harpy continued.

Ahsch smiled, a slight blush coming to his face as he inclined his head in greeting. "Hello, a pleasure," he replied, gesturing for them to stand up. "What can I do for you three?"

The trio straightened, and their leader glanced back at her companions - or rather, at the other girl, the boy still looking at the floor - and got a nod from the girl before turning back to Ahsch. "We were hoping... ah... well, I suppose more wondering..." Whatever had been driving the harpy onward before was quickly burning out, and a flush was creeping across her face as she lost steam. "Well, if it isn't too much of a request... I mean! We don't want to overstep..."

The Dominant Mage put up a halting hand. "Calm down," he laughed. "Whatever it is, the worst I can do is say 'no,' right? Just take a deep breath and ask."

She nodded, took a deep breath, opened her mouth... and then closed her mouth and eyes and took another three breaths before opening them again. "Wewerehopingtobeinductedintoyourpriesthoodifyouarewillingtotakeus," she blurted out fast enough that the other girl snorted and giggled. Even the boy coughed to hide his chuckle.

Ahsch smothered his own laugh. "I think I caught the first and last word there, so... again but slower?"

The harpy was blushing a brilliant red now, and nodded, breathed again, and, clearly forcing her voice to be steady and even, repeated, "We were hoping to be inducted into your priesthood... if you wouldn't object to taking us in... Prophet... er... My Lord?" She ducked her head, and Ahsch wasn't sure if it was in deference or to hide her face. Probably both.

The question itself was... not something that the Dominant Mage was expecting. Ariin, I think I'll need you over here, he sent, relaying his location.

Oh? What's going on, brother?

Some kids want to be priests.

That's amazing, and very exciting, but why me?

Wasn't there something about you being the head of my cult or something? he teased, remembering back in Sarvas when she had first given her Oath of obedience.

I... That was... Ahsch could sense her embarrassment, even without her sending any of her emotions. I'll be right there, Master.

"I'm not opposed to the idea on principal, but why?" he asked the trio, with a quick mental instruction to Mahat to keep track of the conversation and forward it to his sister.

"Well, you see, My Lord Prophet," the human girl answered, "we've always thought about it. Well, joining one of the religious orders, not necessarily yours... er... Enochiel's. We three are good readers and talk a lot about theology, and we studied a lot of the other orders' rituals and things, but..."

"We couldn't agree," the boy said quickly, speaking up for the first time.

"Agree?" Ahsch asked.

"On which order to join," the harpy said. "Well, we _did _agree not the Irztonites, Krutunites, or the Orrorists, but past that," she shrugged. "I wanted to join the Paragons of Bikulla, Wen the Children of Kakais," the boy ducking his head even further than before indicated who Wen was, "and Maera liked the Priesthood of Utsus."

"But you agree on Enochiel?"

"There's something... different," Maera, the human girl, said. "We all felt it. We'd heard your evangels speaking on the streets, and even got to see your sister a few days ago. We talked about it, but after your service..."

"It feels right," Wen said.

The harpy nodded. "It... it _resonates _with us."

"Oh?"

"It's hard to explain," said Maera. "It's not like... I mean, being honest is something most people should feel good about, right? And, um... liking sex..." she hesitated, and the shared glance with Wen suggested who she liked sex with most, "I guess that just makes sense, regardless of what the Orrorists say."

"The other stuff was good too," Wen added.

"Yeah!" the harpy nodded eagerly. "I mean, we're not... well, as outgoing as your sister or angels - at least, not yet? - but feeling good and being proud of our bodies? Though..." this time it was her head that ducked a little, as she watched Ahsch through her bangs. "We did see... well, you're kind of the only... dominant one among the Enochiists, and all the others are submissive women... and that's fine for me, but..." she glanced back at her companions.

"I don't... really like being in charge. At all," Wen said.

"And I do like being in charge," Maera said, looking at the boy. "At least, some of the time."

Ahsch smiled reassuringly. "I suppose it would make me a better Prophet," and Enochiel a better god, he added silently, "if I was both submissive and dominant, and possibly even androgynous, if not fully able to be a man and a woman. But remember Enochiel's Eighth Commandment does say that someone - anyone - can be both, either, or neither when it comes to being dominant or submissive. I just happen to be a man who is more dominant, and who prefers women to join me in bed, and enjoys submissive women specifically. But I - and Enochiel - don't forbid a woman from being dominant over a man... nor over other women, nor men to submit to women or other men."

An expression of relief settled over the trio, and was matched by a slight increase in... something. It took Ahsch a moment to realize what it was - the three, but especially the harpy, gave off that same gnosis he had sensed from A'uro and Felia, but it was slightly different, because he could sense it looping from them back to him. There was also a powerful bond linking the harpy to him, or rather to Enochiel, and with a moment of concentration, Ahsch could sense similar, but weaker bonds from Wen and Maera. Perhaps their worship? he wondered as Ariin finally arrived beside him, instilling an expression of surprise and awe in the trio.

"I hear you three wish to become Priests of Enochiel?" the Divine Submissive asked with a gentle smile.

"Y-yes!" the harpy said. "I...! Well, um..." Somehow, she seemed even more flustered than when she was first trying to ask Ahsch about the subject.

Maera giggled. "Nae, just tell her you want to be her protege," she teased. "Like My Lord Prophet said, the worst she can do is say 'no.'"

Ariin grinned. "Your name is 'Nae?'" she asked the furiously-blushing harpy.

"N-Naemui, m-miss...? Or, uh... Divine..."

The hrafthi girl's laugh interrupted. "Just call me 'Ariin,'" she said. "And my brother can just be 'Ahsch,' at least when we're outside of formal events." She smirked then, glancing sidelong at the Dominant Mage. "Though, 'My Lord Prophet' has a certain ring to it..."

"If you _ever _tell Avery about it, I _will _lock a gag between your lips," he threatened.

His wife's laughter in his mind - and distantly across the courtyard - filled him with dismay. _Mahat just told me the most _interesting thing, she cackled to him. Ahsch glared at his sister, who shrugged innocently as if to say, 'it wasn't me.'

"The various women in my life tormenting me hourly aside," he said with a sigh, "I, personally, have no objection to taking you three on as priests of Enochiel - at least, as prospective priests. However, while I pass on the teachings of Enochiel, I am not, strictly speaking, the leader of his Priesthood." He gave his sister a significant look, which the trio followed with widening eyes. "While we don't have much of a Priesthood at all, Ariin is, in truth, the first believer of Enochiel, and, while it may change, is effectively the only Archpriestess we have." He huffed a short laugh. "Really, the only priestess we have, period."

With a smile, Ariin beckoned the three to follow. "Come, let's go to the priests quarters," she said. "We have a lot to talk about." They followed the Divine Submissive back inside the Temple, though Naemui - and the other two after her - paused to look back when Ahsch didn't join them. He waved them on, then went back to the crowd, and kept tabs on their conversation once Mahat joined the group, still in her fox form.

His assumptions had been correct, that their parents were laborers - Naemui's mom, for example, worked as a hauler alongside other airborne monsters, working in groups to carry loads above the buildings of the Capital to hasten delivery, or to lift things to higher levels if needed - and some quick quizzes showed that they were indeed good readers and had respectable knowledge of the other various religions' teachings. When asked their general views on Enochiel's domains, their replies fell largely within the same vein as what Ahsch and his girls' believed, though Naemui seemed particularly interested in the topic of domination and submission. Enough to the extent that Ahsch was worried he had another super-submissive like his sister on his hands.

Regardless, the only issue wasn't anything to do with the trio at all, but rather that Ahsch had next-to-nothing prepared for his Priesthood. No rituals, no extra instructions, nothing. He though he'd have more time before anyone who was genuinely interesting in joining the Priesthood would show up, though that was clearly a mistake. With a sigh, he instructed his sister to tell the prospective priests the truth, with the slight lie that Enochiel had yet to reveal what was expected of his Priesthood.

It was then that Ariin asked for the two humans to leave for a moment, as she wanted to talk to Naemui alone, which caught Ahsch off-guard enough that he excused himself from his current conversation and found a quiet corner to focus on Mahat's constant background 'live footage' via Daydreamweave.

"A-Am I..." the harpy started, but Ariin quickly reassured her.

"You're not in trouble," the hrafthi laughed. "Actually, I wanted to ask, without your friends being around to tease or judge you: why do you want to 'be my protege?'"

Naemui blushed. "W-well... when I first saw you the other day, I couldn't help but think you were... uh... really pretty... and I... er... I liked... I like your..." she gestured vaguely at Ariin's outfit. "But what really caught my attention was when you talked about the Gift of Submission. That you had a Master who you adored and wanted to serve forever, who you loved beyond anything else and trusted with everything - your body, you mind, your soul... It's... it almost sounds romantic, but so much... so much more. Like it's... holy. Sacred.

"And then, tonight, when the Prophet talked about you being the Divine Submissive... it gave me this... this goal. An ideal to work towards. To dedicate myself, my life... my existence to something else, something greater. To love and trust and... and worship so deeply and fully that you just... become an extension of it."

Ariin's gentle smile turned slightly teasing. "There's more though, isn't there?"

Somehow, Naemui's blush deepened. "I... I've been jealous of Wen and Maera for years. Ever since they got together and started... having sex... they talk about it sometimes - well, Maera does, really. And I... I wish I was Wen. Not like, be him, but to be in his place. But nobody... Maera doesn't see me that way, and I don't... there's nobody else I... but... but the Prophet is..." She almost seemed to double-take at Ariin. "Fuck, I'm talking about your brother," she exclaimed.

Ariin's grin became almost predatory. "My brother who I fuck."

The harpy's eyes widened as she stared at Ariin. "You..." Her breathing hitched, and she bit her lip, shifting in her seat.

Ariin nodded, but sat back, thinking for a moment. "Let's be realistic for a moment," she said, and Naemui refocused her attention on the hrafthi. "You don't know Ahsch. Not really, anyways. At the moment, what you feel is lust, certainly, but not love. But if you do join Enochiel's Priesthood, you would be able to interact with him more. Come to know him, and learn if your lust has the capacity to become... more." She thought for a moment. "You said there was 'nobody else,' does that mean...?"

Naemui's blush, which had been fading somewhat, returned. "I'm a virgin," she said.

"Here's my advice," Ariin said. "Keep that, at least until you figure out if what you feel for my brother is just lust, or if it's more. If the former, I will suggest you find someone else to love, though if you want, you can still fuck my brother," she grinned at the blushing harpy. "But... if you think it's more... then we should talk again."

"Wh-What about?"