Seth slowly opened his eyes to the comforting sight of his dad standing over him and Lith’s wall nearby. He didn’t feel any pain or discomfort, but that was almost disturbing after the rapid series of events he barely understood.

“Come on Seth, we need to get moving.” Levi said with gentle urgency. “The town is on high alert.”

Seth slowly sat up, blinking and muttering. “Basement?”

“No son, you’re a Priest now.” His dad said, pulling Seth to his feet. “We’re both needed on the walls, regardless of how we feel.”

Still spaced out, Seth followed Levi up the stairs and along the battlements to the area of the wall where most of the soldiers, guards, and wanderers were stationed. It was just past noon on Stilday, the blazing sun high in the sky. Levi left Seth with some basic instructions about prioritizing healing and headed to his own assigned place further along the wall.

The hours dragged on slowly as Seth’s mind began to settle. He finally stopped staring vacantly into the jungle and sat with his back against the cool, pinkish stone of the battlements. It wasn’t his job to keep watch anyway. Once more, he was forced to take off the ghostly backpack before he could sit properly.

Instead of setting it aside or hugging it again, Seth slowly unzipped one of the pockets. It felt like he had somehow stolen it from Landon, but even when he tried to leave it behind or throw it away, it reappeared on his back. Seth thought he might as well look through the backpack while he had it, as a way to remember the ghost that had helped him so much.

Opening the main pocket, Seth found the laptop, genetics textbook, and three-ring binder that Landon had used when teaching him. He set them aside, not feeling like revisiting them at the moment. Now mostly empty, the rest of the pocket had small things that had been squeezed under the books, as well as a short thin rubbery rope with a small plastic box halfway along it. At one end, it had an open metal tube, while the other end had three metal prongs.

The rope was only around five feet long, so Seth put it aside and pulled out some of the junk at the very bottom. He recognized the metal disc he found from Landon’s description of coins, but he didn’t know what kind it was. He remembered something about gold coins being popular, and thought the metal might have been gold before it took on the blue-white tint of all the ghostly items. On one side, a woman looking over her shoulder was etched, while the other had a bird in flight.

The coin felt good in Seth’s palm, and he tried to flip it with his thumb, but he didn’t catch it and it rolled away before vanishing and reappearing in the bag. The next thing he pulled out was a thin piece of waxy paper that had faded writing on it. The top said it was from a ‘grocery’ store with some sort of animal mascot in ‘Pigeon Forge, TN.’

The paper seemed to be a list with numbers next to each item: Chic Pot Pie 10.99, Lt Rasp Lmade 3.68, Combo Pz Bites [email protected] 11.98, Whole Milk Gallon 3.29. Seth couldn’t read enough of the rest to make sense of it, and put the paper back. Before he could continue his contemplation, it started to drizzle. The sky had been clear that morning, but in the jungle the weather changed fast. Seth zipped up the bag and got to his feet to avoid soaking the back of his robe as the water pooled along the wall.

He was about to sling the backpack over his shoulders when he noticed the umbrella in the mesh side pocket. Seth pulled it out and set it on the edge of the wall before putting on the backpack. Then he pulled open the 'velcro,' shook the folds of smooth fabric loose, and pushed the metal rod up. The rest of the day passed uneventfully as Seth stood listening to the rain patter on the umbrella, occasionally glancing at the large E in a shield on part of the fabric.

____________________________________________

As the sun finally dipped below the horizon, Levi was not in a good mood. He had been standing in the same place with nothing to do and nothing to eat for nearly eight hours, and the rain that had started three hours ago had soaked him to the bone.

When the alert was finally lowered, he made his way back along the wall to Seth. When he reached his son, Levi found that he was almost completely dry, holding a bizarre contraption of fabric and⁠—incredibly⁠—metal. It had the same blue-white tint of Loss essence as Seth’s odd new clothes and rucksack.

“What is that?” Levi asked, with a combination of concern and irritation.

“It’s an umbrella.” Seth replied. “It keeps the rain off. You can use it while we walk back if you like, the ghost clothing doesn’t seem to get wet. I went to the outhouse a couple hours ago and took off the robe underneath, so I’m a lot more comfortable now.”

“What?” Levi said incredulously. “You intentionally put the Loss essence against your skin?! Where are your robes now?”

“It hasn’t affected me before.” Seth said defensively. “My robes are in the backpack, the second largest pocket turned out to be empty. I had to squeeze the robe to get it closed, but it fit.”

Levi took a slow breath and headed toward the staircase. He couldn’t sense Seth’s emotions anymore thanks to the Sin essence, and he was starting to realize how much he had relied upon that insight when dealing with people. He assumed that Seth wasn’t thinking straight and needed to process what had happened in the jungle, but he couldn’t actually tell. It was frustrating.

As they headed back towards the temple grounds, Seth asked, “Where is Priest Joe?”

“The north side of the wall and the rest of the town had the alert lowered over an hour ago.” Levi said. “How did you miss the crier shouting about it? This one’s actually decent at enunciating.”

Seth just shrugged, and Levi made a mental note to watch him for periods of trauma-induced inattention. Virtue essence healed the body, but the mind was complicated. They could restore the physical structure, which alleviated some mental issues, but others weren’t caused by physical damage or were rooted in something more fundamental than the brain.

Priests of Still essence, also known as Counselors, could help balance the mind. Levi thought he remembered a Still Priest being attached to the Temple of Virtue in Estroma, which would let them take care of yet another problem while they were there.

When Levi and Seth reached the temple, they headed toward Levi’s rooms, but paused when they saw Lola and Meranda leaving the Head Priest’s office. Meranda was frowning and stiff, while Lola was staring at her hand.

Levi approached them with Seth trailing close behind. Once they were within his Virtue projection, Levi sensed that Meranda was a hot mix of anger and fear, while his wife was confused and happy. He thought about how in all Seth’s questions about Virtue techniques, he hadn’t yet asked how to sense emotions, and Levi wasn’t going to remind him.

Knowing how everyone you met was really feeling, and sometimes even sensing their intentions directly, caused a significant change in how you interacted with people. Many Priests chose not to learn how, especially since there was no way to disable the awareness once you had it.

Levi then realized he had been idly staring into the space between the two women without saying anything. Lola didn’t mind, and he sensed her love for him, one of his favorite feelings in the world. Meranda on the other hand was now also annoyed, and Levi noticed that some of her anger was directed at him to begin with.

He cleared his throat. “Is something wrong, Meranda?”

“No, not at all.” She said with the disdainful sarcasm that belonged only to proud kings and prouder teenagers.

“Apparently the watch on the walls is being doubled, and the scouting parties are being pulled back to closer patrol routes.” He said, taking a stab at mollifying her fear. “Also, the temple’s Priests will start joining watches during the day, for the safety of the noncombatants.”

Levi saw Lola wince, and sensed secondhand embarrassment from her. He’d said something wrong, but wasn’t sure what. Meranda’s shoulders slumped, her anger draining into more fear and resentment.

“Good to know.” She said, stepping around them. “Enjoy your trip.”

She left the sanctuary, and Levi raised an eyebrow at Lola. Before they could say anything, Seth unhelpfully asked, “Trip?”

“Let’s talk in our room.” Levi and Lola said almost simultaneously.

Seth looked between the two of them, shrugged, and led the way back into the narthex and up to their front room. Levi told Seth about their trip to Estroma in a few days, and Lola told both of them that Meranda was being made a Priest. That explained the girl's reaction, and Levi planned to find her the following day to smooth things over.

Before Levi could make it far in his thinking, Lola gave them another even more unexpected piece of news.

“Joe didn’t just have me there for Meranda’s emotional support.” She said, “He had news for me as well. He sensed that I developed a new essence. I can use Virtue now.”

Levi and Seth stared at her in openmouthed shock.

“Congratulations?” Levi said, taken aback. “I had no idea that you’d been studying…”

“I haven’t.” Lola cut in. “I’ve learned plenty about Virtue essence over the years, but I’ve never tried to look deeper into it.”

“But you can’t just develop an essence use ability.” Seth protested. “The only way to get one you aren’t born with is to gain insight and…understanding…”

Seth trailed off for some reason, but Levi wasn’t paying attention. His focus was on the cancer still in his wife’s body. Would circulating Virtue at the acolyte level make things better or worse? Or maybe even the Priest level, if they could afford the cost of trying to speed things along that much.

“Seth,” Lola said, regaining their attention. “You should start getting ready for your trip. You have a couple days, but you will be gone for over a month.”

Levi wanted to talk about the ramifications of this new development now, and Seth had plenty of time to prepare anyway. As he opened his mouth however, his wife caught his eye and shook her head. He followed her lead.

“Good idea,” Levi said. “You could talk to Amber about what you might need from the quartermaster, she’s the one who usually picks things up.”

Seth’s ears reddened slightly, and he replied, “Ok, I’ll go talk to her.”

Levi didn’t need Virtue essence to know what his son was feeling; Seth had had a crush on Amber for a couple years now. When Levi had mentioned it to Lola, she’d talked to Amber to make sure the young lady didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Once Seth had left, Lola turned to Levi with a concerned look.

“Lee, you need to talk to Meranda,” she stressed.

“I was planning to, dear.” He replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “I obviously said the wrong thing earlier.”

“More than that.” She persisted. “You don’t work with Meranda as much as Joe and I, but you’ve seen how much she enjoys choir practice.”

“Sure.” Levi nodded. “I don’t see the point since we only hold services twice a year, but she’s good.”

“She practices because it’s what she loves.” Lola said, and Levi sensed some exasperation. “She has Virtue essence, but never had any interest in being a Priest. I suspect that’s why her previous temple ‘suggested’ that she take a post here. Most of our acolytes are a bit…odd.”

“Lith is where the difficult ones go, soldier and acolyte alike.” He agreed. “It’s almost cruel for someone like her though. The guards and soldiers only stay for a year or two, if that, but she’s here for good.”

“It is cruel, no ‘almost’ about it.” Lola replied hotly. “Whoever convinced her to take the post didn’t tell her that her favorite part of the church was all but absent here. But now she’s going to become a Priest, which is even worse.”

“Hey, I’m a Priest!” He said in mock indignation.

She rolled her eyes and stiffly got out of her chair. Before he could get up from the unhelpfully low sitting couch, she came over to him and sat in his lap, putting an arm around his neck. Levi was reminded of their youth when the pair would sit tangled up in a temple closet having whispered conversations. At least she wasn’t sitting on his kidney now.

“It isn’t what she wants, but becoming a Priest is also a potential opportunity for her.” Lola said quietly. “In fact, it can offer plenty of options she might not realize.”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “You mean I should tell her what I told Seth?”

“It’s her only chance to go where she wants.” Lola replied.

“She’s being made a Priest because of the guard captain’s emergency declaration.” Levi said thoughtfully. “That might not give her the same options that becoming a Priest on her own merit would.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it.” Lola said, leaning against his chest. “Captain Samira is pushing her callously now, but once you two return, I think Meranda should take the chance to leave.”

“I’ll tell her what I can.” Levi agreed, as Lola kissed him on the forehead.

She came away with water dripping down her nose, and he had a bad feeling.

“Dear, did you happen to change when you got back to the temple?” She asked sweetly.

“Well, no…” He said, looking from his soaked robes to the couch to her now damp robes.

“And how’s the weather?” She asked, not looking out the window at the storm clouds.

“A bit drizzly.” He lied.

“And how is the couch?” She asked

“A bit damp.” He replied meekly.

“And how are my robes?” She pressed.

“Soaking wet, you should probably take them off.” He said wryly. “Before you get sick, of course.”

Lola snorted.

“You’re drying out the couch before it mildews.” She said, leaning in.

Levi nodded, and went for a kiss.