Well, shit. The one person I didn’t want to meet has walked in. Why don’t I want to meet the Holy Maiden? Maybe it’s because I really don’t like her fashion sense. I mean white silk with gold robes. That’s totally last season. Or maybe it’s because she’s the only one with a direct connection with the Gods. The same Gods who chose The Chosen One. Which, funnily enough, just so happens to be exactly who I’m impersonating. Oh joy.

  The Holy Maiden walks towards me with features hidden behind the veil of silk. I give a small bow. Mateo looks over at me and follows suit. Smart kid.

  David walks over and gives a small bow. “Holy Maiden, what do we owe this pleasure to?” he asks.

  The Holy Maiden looks down at him. “Paladin David, I had finished with my prayers when I had heard a commotion amongst the nuns. I came to see what all the hubbub was about,” she says with a soft and silky voice.

  “My apologies, Holy Maiden. It had to do with the child of Sands that we recently took in. You need not bother yourself with it,” he says, trying to get rid of her.

  Peeking from my bow, I see a faint goldish white glow around her. It’s different from Penelope's light magic. Instead of bright, it feels warm. A feeling that I haven’t felt in a long time.

  “Who’s the shining lady?” Mateo whispers.

  “That’s the Holy Maiden. Now shut up until she leaves,” I whisper back.

  The Holy Maiden turns towards us. “The children of the church are a matter that I should involve myself in. Given how busy I am, I don’t get to spend as much time as I would like with them. This seems like a perfect opportunity to find time,” she says as she walks closer to Mateo and me.

  “Horned one, she’s getting closer. What do we do?” Mateo whispers to me.

  “Act casual. Pretend to be cute,” I whisper back.

  “Hello, child of the Sands. Can you speak the imperial tongue?” she asks Mateo.

  Mateo looks confused. “No, but how can I understand you?” he asks in the language of the Sands.

  Oh, that’s not good. The Holy Maiden was definitely speaking the imperial tongue, but how did Mateo understand her? This definitely has the stink of a [Blessing] written all over it.

  “It is one of the privileges afforded to me by the Gods. Every creature understands me and I them. It is meant to help me pass on the teaching of the Gods to as many people as possible,” she explains.

  Mateo gives me an odd look. “What… an odd and very useful power to have,” he says with a hint of nervousness.

  “That it is. Tell me, child of the Sands, what is your name?” she asks.

  “I’m Mateo. What is yours?” he says with a nervous smile.

  Oh no. Mateo, bud, you weren’t like this when I started talking to you. You were collected and calmish. Come on, you can get through this. Keep your cool, kid.

  “You can call me the Holy Maiden. How did you find yourself here?” she asks with a warm, disarming tone.

  “My brother brought me here,” he says, gesturing over to me.

  Way to throw me under the carriage. It’s okay, this was supposed to be the story. I never thought we would be telling this cover story to the Holy Maiden, but you gotta improvise in my line of work.

  The Holy Maiden turns to me. “Chosen One, I was not aware that you had a brother.”

  Mateo shoots me an odd look at the mention of me being The Chosen One. I'm going to have to deal with that later.

  “Holy Maiden, it is a pleasure to meet you finally. Yes, I do have a brother. I was afraid that forces of evil would target him. So, I brought him to the safest place I know,” I [Lie] straight through my teeth.

  The Holy Maiden nods. “Indeed, there is no safer place for a child than the cathedral. He will be treated with respect, and we will give him a proper education. Since I have you here, would you like to have a private conversation with me?” she asks.

  As I hesitate, David walks over. “Holy Maiden, it is dangerous to leave you alone,” David says.

  “There is no worry. This is The Chosen One after all. The mortal that was chosen by the Gods. He would do nothing untoured, or do you have a reason to doubt the Gods?”

  David takes a small step back. “No. I was overzealous. Of course, The Chosen One would pose no threat to you. I apologize,” he says.

  “Well, then. Follow me, Chosen One,” she orders.

  Following close behind her, we enter a small room with a small bed and a simple bookcase. There’s also a desk with a pile of papers on it.

  “What can I help you with, Holy Maiden?” I ask, hoping she isn’t about to out me.

  “This is indeed a conversation I wanted to have with you since you were announced as The Chosen One,” she says as she takes a seat on her desk.

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  “And what conversation would that be?” I ask.

  She’s on to me. Any minute now, the Gods will strike me down and cast me into the Hells, or worse, a contingent of paladins will rush in and hang me. I need to remain calm and make sure I don’t panic my way into one of those situations. Calm and collected.

  “I’ve heard of your exploits since you’ve reached the capital. You scored at the top of your class in Sylvian University. You killed an imp. You scared off The Blitz Demon and kept him from harming anyone. You’ve even brokered a treaty between the Empire and the Dark Elves. You are indeed The Chosen One that the Gods told me of,” she says.

  An invisible sense of relief washes through me as I thank the Gods. She hasn’t the faintest idea that I’m not The Chosen One. Then what did she want to talk about?

  “Which is why I want to warn you. What I’m about to tell you is meant for your ears only. No one else knows of this. Not even the Pope,” she says with an air of seriousness that I didn’t expect.

  “Of course, Holy Maiden. Whatever you tell me will stay between you and me,” I say.

  “Thank you for your understanding. The Gods gave me three messages. The Prophecy of The Great Evil, The Prophecy of The Chosen One, and one final prophecy,” she pauses dramatically.

  “What was this final prophecy?” I ask, hoping that she’ll get to the point.

  “The Prophecy of The Betrayer.”

  “The Betrayer? I’ve heard of The Great Evil and The Chosen One, but I’ve never heard of The Betrayer. What is it?” I ask, genuinely curious.

  “You wouldn’t. Since the first Chosen One, there hasn’t been a Betrayer.”

  “You speak of Barinog, The First Vashrin?” I say, remembering that play Penelope and I watched.

  “Yes. The Prophecy states that you’ll meet an individual whom you will come to rely on and cherish. This individual will betray you. Their betrayal will be so great that it could break you. The prophecy does not state who this may be, but I thought it wise to warn you. Be careful who you trust, Chosen One,” she explains.

  Well, that sucks for the actual Chosen One. I wonder what they’re doing right now. They’re not… dead, right? I should really ask Abrigon about that. Did Abrigon kill The Chosen One? No, of course not. Oh, Gods what if he did? What if that’s the reason he’s having me impersonate The Chosen One? Calm down!! If The Chosen One were dead, I’m pretty sure the Gods or at least the Holy Maiden would know. Yeah, let's go with that. The Chosen isn’t dead.

  “Chosen One? I know this is a lot to take in. Are you okay?” the Holy Maiden asks.

  “Yes, I am. I understand what you said, but it’s just a prophecy. A possible future that I plan to change. After all, why would the Gods warn me of this if I couldn't avoid it? I’m going to choose to believe in the kindness of man and that people aren’t defined by what they haven’t done yet. So, thank you, Holy Maiden. You’ve given everything I need to avoid this terrible future,” I say.

  Yeah, that sounded like something The Chosen One would say. Maybe I should’ve thrown in something more heroic. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.

  “Indeed, you are The Chosen One the Gods spoke of. I yearn to see the future that you will forge. Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time,” she says with a soft tone.

  “Thank you, Holy Maiden. May we see each other again,” I say as I leave the room.

  All things considered, I think that conversation went well. Yeah, I’m going to take this as a win. I see no possible way this could ever backfire. Not even the slightest.

  Walking back to Mateo, I cross paths with multiple nuns who give me odd looks. Gods, staring much. Eventually, I find Mateo and David.

  “Well, I have an early day tomorrow. I’ll leave you to care for my darling brother,” I say to David.

  “As it is the Holy Maidens' desire. It will be done.”

  “Hey, kid. Don’t get into any trouble and try to take advantage of the education they’re going to give you. You might actually learn something.”

  With a devious smile that could be mistaken for a cute one, he answers, “You’re The Chosen One? You could’ve told me that earlier. I’m going to expect a big payout later. You understand what I’m putting down, ‘brother’,” he says, emphasizing the word ‘brother’.

  “Yeah, yeah, kid. Do a good job, and we’ll see,” I say as I walk out.

  Back in my room, I find myself baking some cookies as Hopper lies face down in his bed from exhaustion. Just need to get the right temperature going, and the cookies will have the perfect mixture of gooiness and structural integrity. It’ll literally melt in your mouth without leaving half the cookie on your hands.

  Hopper lets out a long sigh as he rolls over. Just ignore him and focus on keeping the temp- He lets out an even longer sigh that’s hard to ignore, but I can certainly try. Keeping feeding the magic oven my MP at a consistent rate, and- Hopper lets out the most audible sigh that breaks my concentration. I watch as the cookies melt past the perfect point.

  “What’s up, Hopper?” I ask in frustration.

  “Oh, it’s nothing.”

  I’m going to kill him. Wait, relax. Bottle up that anger for later. It’ll be helpful.

  “No, really, I want to know. What’s up, Hopper?”

  “Well, it has to do with Luna,” he says.

  “Who’s Luna?” I ask as I eat the failure cookies.

  “She’s Lupin's sister. You know, my friend,” he says.

  “Ah, yes, you’re ‘friend’. What about her?”

  “Well, I haven’t been able to see her recently because of training, and I’m worried she thinks I’m avoiding her,” he says earnestly.

  Is he bragging? Did he interrupt my baking to brag about his love life? Maybe this is the great betrayal the Holy Maiden was talking about. This is certainly going to break me, or more like Hopper, after he pisses me off enough.

  “How long have you been ‘friends’?”

  “We’ve been friends since we were babies. All three of us were actually. Our families are friends,” he says.

  My pointy ears perk up. “You, Lupin, and Luna were friends? Well, I guess it would make sense considering that Luna and Lupin are twins. What happened?”

  “I’m not entirely sure. Well, actually, I guess it all changed when Lupin got hurt out on a hunt. When he came back, he was obsessed with getting stronger and stopped hanging out with Luna and me. From there, our friendship devolved to what it is now,” he says with a hint of sorrow.

  “Well, to wrap back to your previous stuff with Luna. I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s your ‘friend,’ and she understands that people get busy. Hells, in a couple of weeks you’ll have beaten Lupin during the Class War, and you’ll get to spend an annoying amount of time with her,” I say, trying to cheer him up.

  “Thanks, CJ. Gods how time flies. To think we’re coming up on two weeks at Sylvian University. It’s almost time for our exams,” he says.

  “Yeah… Wait, what?”

  “We have exams at the end of the month, right before the Class War. You knew that, right?” he says.

  “Yup. Of course,” I [Lie].

  Fuck.