As soon as Silen felt stable ground beneath his feet, one of his issues seemed to have been resolved. But his mind was still traumatized by the burst of information he had realized.
'To think that one day I would see the fruit of "fissure" being worshipped in the heavenly spirit's "created world".'
With his eyes still closed, a soothing sound and the caress of the wind seemed to calm his nerves a bit. However, serenity vanished almost as quickly as the wind.
'Yet somehow it does make sense, since she no longer differentiates this world from the endless. It seems that "he" has taken sovereignty over the world... Or at least someone has, else why would there be seven different churches when "he" alone is present? Something is definitely amiss.'
Having cleared his thoughts, he opened his eyes. He was looking down, staring at the strange geometrical symbol below him. It was entirely made of crescents and circles, drawn with a golden line, etched into a floor of dark stones. It took him a moment of greater comprehension to realize that the symbol was merely a part of the entire floor.
'Looks like the Garden worked correctly.'
As he looked up, a sense of beauty overtook him. He was standing at the edge of a balcony. The perpetually dark sky was covered with stars connected to each other by thin, vague lines, forming an irrational pattern.
From the left edge of the sky to the right, multiple veils draped down, hiding an enormous mountain peak on the other side. The translucent veils were enormous beyond measure. There was no way to gauge how high above they were or how long they extended.
Below all this was an endless abyss, with one monument standing above the darkness: the peak of a pale white tower. Looking down, Silen could see that he was standing on a mountain as well.
"So this is the infamous 'Infra Tractatus Aureus'."
Moving away from the divine symbol of the church, he looked behind him. There was the entrance to the church: three gateless pathways leading in. From outside, he could observe the interior of the church. It was not a hall, to be precise. There were only thin, translucent golden pillars holding up the night sky.
From the outside, the cathedral was large, stretching upward with more and more supporting flying buttresses as it ascended. From his position, he could see that the mountain on which the cathedral stood seemed to devour it or rather, the cathedral was built into it, as the mountain merged into half of the structure on both sides.Its architecture was strikingly different from that of the Caergwyn Palace.
The reason was obvious: each church was detached from the palace, or even from the world, as some might put it. Having observed enough, he walked toward the middle door of the cathedral. As he approached, he noticed something written on the arches of the door. It seemed to be in the language of the depths, something he didn't need the previous Silen's memories to read. This language was known to him from his own past.
"The stars of thine own fate lie in thy breast."
Reading it, he couldn't help but snort inwardly.
'Anyways, that does confirm that "he" is now in the created world after all.'
Soon, he was right at the entrance of the cathedral. He stepped into the hall without concern, acting entirely in tune with how Silen would behave.
'As long as I don't act out of character, there's no way anyone would notice any abnormalities in me.'
When his first step touched the floor, made of black viscous liquid, a deep emotion emerged within him something that had lain dormant for the longest time.
Nostalgia.
'Lives up to "his" name. No wonder she used to call him "the collective nostalgia".'
Step after step, he walked deeper into the darkness.
'By now, Sersa should be entering from the door for remnants.'
It didn't take long for the world to shift and reveal the elusive and ethereal altar. The space changed drastically from its previous endless corridor of pillars. The pillars ceased to exist in the middle, and instead, a gorgeously well-lit nave opened up.
Using jet-black darkness as walls, the windows shone blinding golden light onto the floor. The murky water still remained on the ground, untouched by human presence or the wooden furniture. On both sides were individual chairs, each engraved with unique designs on the back, belonging to a different person from their birth to their death.
There were about three hundred seats in place. Only two of them were occupied. Even from the back of their heads, Silen knew who they were. One was the youngest prince, Kaer Ver Wilhelm. His deep blue hairs floated aloaf, as if having a life of their own.
The other was the daughter of the current king's brother, a man lost to history, though his bloodline seemed to have survived. She was named Eisler Ver Goethe. She held a special presence in the palace, which often earned her the title "Sublunary Oracle." She always woke a translucent veil over her head and face, so it was obvious who she was.
Currently, Silen was more or less thinking about the potential purposes of his invitation.
'Strange seeing them here tho…'
Pondering this, he went to his seat, which was next to the young prince, as they were of the same age. Eisler sat a bit further above them.
None of them seemed affected by each other's presence, nor did they acknowledge anyone.
'Considering that Silen only held power through words and hierarchy, I don't think they would even acknowledge my existence to begin with.'
'Happy to be unseen, anyways.'
Sitting silently, Silen decided to reflect on the entire situation he was involved in. Only a few moments passed before he noticed a change in the still world.
An extremely tall figure walked into existence from the front of the altar.
It wore a priestly white robe adorned with golden ornaments, covering its entire chasuble. Its alb hung down to the ground from the sleeves, and the chasuble's sweep similarly touched the floor. As for its face, there was nothing Silen could discern. It was unrecognizable and incomprehensible. Yet somehow, it felt perfectly right for this strange being to be here. There was nothing out of place about it.
Then it spoke.
"From this day onwards, Tacita Peregrinatio will commence."
Silen stared at it silently.
'Oh, it's for them.'
From his memories, he knew that Tacita Peregrinatio was a ritual for children of the direct bloodline. It was a silent pilgrimage where each would be sent out of the palace in secrecy and required to travel on foot to the temple of their fate.