The Church of Imris

Darx eased awake. He felt warm and at peace. He stretched his limbs, they felt good, like his strength was starting to return. He looked around, the room he was in was massive, beautiful, peaceful. The sun shone through the window, illuminating the room with a soft warm light. Darx sprawled out, his bed was large and incredibly comfortable. He’d never seen the like, even Mr. Enzo’s mansion in Merton couldn’t compare to this room. Darx finished his stretch and sat up, looked around.

“Good morning, blessed one.” The voices spoke in unison. Soft, sweet, feminine voices. He looked and saw two beautiful young women standing by the wall. They wore acolytes uniforms, but it was different, noticeably different. The skirt was shorter, the top was lower cut. The look was incredibly sexy, especially on these two women with their incredible figures. They looked identical, they must be twins. They had the same long, straight, blonde hair. Had the same shade of blue in their eyes. The same soft lips, the same delicate chins. Their low-cut tops showed incredible cleavage, their short skirts showed off their pale, shapely legs. Darx couldn’t help but stare at them; couldn't help his body's reaction to them. They were perfect. Standing in that room, the morning sun shining on them, they could have been angels.

“Master, is there anything you need?” One of them asked.

Master? Darx froze at the word. Panic crept into his brain. What was going on? Who were these young women? Why were they here? And why did she just call him Master? As he paused the one that spoke started to look nervous, like she had messed up. Darx felt a need to tell her something, he really didn't want her to be sad.

"Um, I could use something to drink.” He offered.

“Yes, Master.” She replied happily, then bounced away toward another room. Her movements were intoxicating.

He looked back to the other one. She smiled at him, softly bit her lip. He felt his face flush. Darx noticed movement at the foot of his bed, it was Neku, she was lying across the foot of his bed, a blanket over her. He laughed internally, he would have to climb well under the covers for his feet to reach where she was lying. The bed he was on could easily fit 6 or more people, it was bigger than his bedroom back in Merton.

“Darx, you’re awake.” Neku looked nervous. “How do you feel?”

“I feel great, I feel at peace.” He answered.

The young lady returned from the other room, carefully balancing a bottle of pinkish liquid and a glass on a golden platter. The bottle and glass didn’t move at all as she walked, which was impressive considering how much her hips moved.

Neku watched like a hawk as the girl approached Darx's bed. The young lady set the tray on the small stand next to his bed and poured the liquid.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” She asked as she leaned over the edge of his bed, holding the drink out to him.

“No, um, no, I-I’m good. Umm, thanks.” Darx stammered. She was so close to him, leaning forward, her large breasts nearly popping out of her top, her eyes begging him to ask for more. Darx took the drink. It was all too much. It couldn’t be real. He had fantasies that would be jealous of this.

“Darx, I need you to look at me.” It was Neku.

Darx turned to Neku, the other beautiful woman in his room. . .

“Hey, eyes up here, Darx. This is serious.” She ordered.

“I’m sorry Neku,” he said, peeling his eyes away from the incredible body of the woman in his bed.

“You have a meeting with the Queen tomorrow, the Priest will be there, we need to be ready for it.”

“Why? The Priest will be there, can’t he handle that stuff?” Darx asked.

“Darx, this is your life, you need to be careful.” Neku scolded.

“It’ll be okay, Neku, the Priest will take care of it. I trust him.” Darx responded.

Neku looked at him and scowled.

“Hey girls?” She called over her shoulder.

“Yes sister?” They responded in unison.

Neku got up, on all fours, started moving towards him on his bed. “I’m going to need some time to discuss policy with our guest.” The way she said policy made it clear she wasn’t referring to politics. Her hand moving up his leg did even more to convince him. “Can you give us some privacy?”

The girls pouted. “But taking care of the blessed one is our job.” The one on the left whined.

“It’s my job too, Mary, and he’s going to the palace soon, he needs to prepare for it.”

"But. . ." one of the girls started to protest, but Neku turned away to look at them. Darx couldn't see Neku's expression, but the faces on the two young women told him enough.

“Yes, sister." The young lady said dejectedly. "We’ll come back later.” The ladies turned and left the room, looking back with disappointment as they exited.

“Darx, snap out of it.” Neku said harshly as soon as the door had closed.

“I’m sorry, what?” Darx questioned.

“We need to talk. You need to focus.”

Darx shook his head, tried to clear it. “Okay, Neku, what do we need to talk about?”

“The church, the Queen, everything. This meeting will be huge. The Priest will try to take control of you, separate you from Midnight Dawn, the Royal family, he'll want to isolate you inside the church.”

“Would that really be so bad?” Darx asked.

“Think Darx, is that really what you want, to live here, in this room, a puppet with no control over his own life?”

The way she said it made it sound bad. But really, this room, safety, people he could trust, those twins. . . isn’t this what he wanted? This life seemed nice, a life he could fall into and not have to worry anymore.

“What about your mother, Darx, what about your friends?” Neku asked.

His memories came to him like an overflowing stream. His mother, Amelia, Syvis, Kase, he had forgotten about them, put them out of his mind.

“What about them?” He asked, his head spinning. He closed his eyes, continued. “What have any of them brought me other than pain?” He'd rather stay here, ignore them, ignore the world, and be at peace. Darx thought of how he had felt just a few moments ago. He'd been so calm, so peaceful, wasn’t that what he wanted? But thinking about it now, it seemed hollow, empty, cheap.

“Why’d you have to remind me of them?” He asked Neku, his voice sad.

“Because this isn’t you. This is the Priest, Darx. Everything he offers you is false. He offers you comfort but he takes your life, your will.”

“No, I can trust the Priest.” Darx retorted.

“Why?” Neku took his face in her hands. “Why do you trust the Priest?”

“Because he’s not like everyone else, Neku, he’d never lie to me, never betray me.” Darx was confident in that at least.

“And you know this because?” Neku asked.

“Because he told me.”

“And you can trust his words because he’d never lie to you.” She said, her eyes squinting slightly, studying his reaction.

“Yes. . . wait. No. That, that isn’t right.” He looked to Neku, confused. “He’s the Priest, he serves Imris, he wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Think Darx, dig into your memories, you know you can’t just trust the church.”

He didn’t see why he shouldn’t trust them, sure they captured a fairy, but she. . . they must have had a reason. . . and Harold. Harold was important to him but if the church really. . . no, surely the church wouldn’t. Maybe it was lies, the royal family, the usurpers, maybe they killed him.

“Neku, I’m so confused.” Darx cried.

“I know Darx, the first time is the hardest.” He didn’t understand what she meant by that.

“Do you trust me Darx?” Neku asked.

Darx looked at her, at her beautiful face, her hair practically glowing in the morning light, like a halo framing her face.

“I don’t know if I should ever trust someone as pretty as you again.” He meant it, Amelia, Syvis, he trusted them because of how he felt for them, how much he liked them. It wasn’t until he finished saying it that he realized how it sounded.

“I’m sorry, Neku.” He said as she pulled back from him. “No really, that was unfair, you’ve been good to me, you've stood by me, I trust you.”

“It’s okay Darx, I can understand how you feel, why. . .” Her face turned pink.

“Anyway, Darx." She continued, "if you trust me, and can keep quiet, there might be something I can show you, something that will help clear everything up.”

“I trust you Neku.” Darx said, choosing it more than feeling it.

She smiled, took his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.”

Darx dressed and they left the room. As they walked down the halls guards kept turning to follow them with their eyes. He had never felt more watched in his life. His first instinct was to feel safe, so many people looking out for him, but there was something else there too, something concerning in the back of his mind. He hadn’t felt that kind of concern since his talk with the priest when he left the hospital. He didn’t like that it was back.

“Halt, you can’t bring visitors into this area.” Darx looked up, a guard was blocking them from entering a set of double doors. They were beautiful dark oak doors full of imagery. Shapes had been carved into the doors and then overlaid with gold. There was the sun, an altar, something being lifted up. It was surely some important event in history, but he didn’t recognize it.

“Do you know who this is?” Neku said, pointing to Darx. “This isn’t some 'visitor'.”

“Nevertheless, ma’am, I can’t let you enter.” The guard replied.

“This isn’t a restricted area, you idiot, if he wants to visit the library, he is permitted.” Neku had her hand on her hip. Her expression cold, demanding.

“I’ll need to confirm that with. . .”

“Paul, what the hell are you doing?” A voice cut him off, a lady in a nun's habit was walking fast toward them.

“She is trying to take this man into the library.” The guard answered.

“Okay, and?”

“And it’s off-limits to guests.” He continued.

“Look at his eyes, Paul." The nun demanded. "Look at who he’s with. Do you really want to be guarding the chicken pens for the next 6 months?”

“But. . .”

The nun stepped in front of the man, opened one of the doors. “You two can go in. Please, excuse this one, he meant no offense. He’s very dedicated, he’s just not very bright.”

Neku crossed her arms and glared. “I’ll overlook it.” Then, as the other guard opened the second door, Neku led Darx inside.

“I swear Paul," the nun continued," if you get me demoted to the slums I’ll make sure you. . .” her voice cut off as the doors closed behind Darx and Neku.

Neku looked at Darx and smiled, she was clearly pleased with herself. “Welcome to the library, Darx.”

Darx looked around, it was incredible. The massive room was at least three stories high. There were ladders on the walls to climb to the higher shelves, spiral staircases leading up to higher levels, wide open balconies overlooking the statue of Imris in the middle. Darx looked at the giant golden statue, it was a familiar image of the goddess, holding up what looked like the sun made of rubies. He was familiar with the form of the statue, it was a popular one in many places, “The Goddess gives her wisdom.” It was a copy of a statue found in the ruins of Zrephia. It made sense being here.

“This is incredible Neku.” Darx said, looking around him in awe. Neku just smiled.

“Welcome back, Neku. Anything you are looking for?” An older woman asked as she approached them.

“No, I just need to use the reference section.” Neku responded in a low voice.

“Again?” The lady came closer, her voice dropping to almost a whisper. “You need to be careful Neku.”

“It is necessary.” She said, and looked pointedly toward Darx.

“Is that?” She asked, her voice raised in wonder.

“Georgiana, meet Darx.”

Darx extended his hand, she took it and shook it eagerly.

“Goddess, I never thought I’d see eyes like yours.” The old woman stared at him with amazement.

Darx didn’t know what to say.

"Oh." The old lady said. Then as she looked closer at Darx's eyes, her voice picking up a hint of concern. "I see." The old lady looked back to Neku. “The Priest?” Neku nodded. Darx didn't know what they were talking about.

“Okay, come with me, we can discuss your needs.” The old lady and Neku walked towards the main desk.

“Darx, you can explore the library, I’ll be back shortly.” Neku said to him, almost like he was a child she was taking care of. But Darx didn't mind, this library was amazing and he was excited to explore it.

Darx looked around, looked at the different sections, histories, religious texts, studies on magic. . . Darx picked up a book on how mana transferred from the natural world to adventurers and sat down to start reading it.

As he read Darx became aware of a figure looking through some shelves on the other side of the room. He looked over to see a woman in black. Her costume was easily recognizable; it was one of the modified habits worn by the Battle Nuns. Darx had only seen them a few times in his life, but he'd read the stories. For a few years he had been obsessed with them, reading everything he could about the beautiful women and their adventures.

The Battle Nuns would travel the lands, fighting dangerous beasts and helping the poor and downtrodden. He’d never seen them fight, but he had been to a festival where they were helping rebuild houses that had been destroyed by a storm. They were well known for bringing food or medicine to towns struck by famine or sickness. Darx was pretty sure a lot of the stories had been exaggerated, but it was still cool to see one of them in the flesh. He remembered the Battle Nuns all being very pretty, and this one was no exception.

The habit the Battle Nuns wore didn’t hide their figure at all. This lady’s slender waist and full hips were hugged snugly by the fabric, while one pale and well-muscled leg escaped through the slit on her skirt. Her head was covered and Darx found himself watching to see if he could get a glimpse of her face.

After a short while she turned and walked away, carrying an old-looking book. Darx was barely able to catch a glimpse of a pale, serious looking face with black lipstick and eye liner. He hadn’t expected that kind of a look from a Battle Nun, but then he hadn’t seen many. He hoped she wouldn’t be the last one he saw while he was here at the church.

Darx sighed, then dove back into his reading. Losing track of the time as he waited for Neku to return.