Standing in the temple district square, I looked up at the massive windowless obsidian building. I had never been inside the temple of Eluna. Even though everyone was welcome, I always felt uncomfortable with the idea of going in as a man.
Across the square from it was the opposite. A massive white marble building with grand windows. The temple of Solis.
While Eluna was the goddess of the moon, femininity, motherhood, and magic. Her brother, Solis, was the god of the sun, masculinity, fatherhood, and the physical body. Mel called him the god of Chads, whatever that means.
I had never felt comfortable in the temple of Solis the few times I had gone. I found the highly muscled men who frequented the place entertaining. With their flamboyant posing and overly dramatic manner of speech, they were fun to talk to. But I never wanted to be one of them, and they could be a bit too much at times.
Turning to me, Asra spoke. "You ready to go inside?"
"No." I answered nervously. "I kind of built this place up in my head as somewhere I wasn't supposed to go, so it was kind of intimidating." Asra squeezed my hand and gave me a warm smile before leading me inside.
Looking around the interior, I was left amazed. A massive silver crystal hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room with moonlight. The walls were covered in tapestries of different great women from history. Black pews filled the room leading up to the altar. Sitting on the altar was a large silver full moon. An enormous door with carvings of Eluna on it sat on the far side of the room, leading to the deeper parts of the temple where only women were allowed.
I recognized most of the women in the tapestries, but one of the ones I didn't caught my attention. The woman was beautiful. She had white hair and wore black plate armor with silver filigree. But what stood out to me was her eyes. Black sclera, white irises, and pupils that burned like fire.
"Edrasil the god slayer. She has quite an interesting story. Slayer of the short-lived god of calamity. She slew the god of calamity only three months after his ascension." An elderly priestess said as she approached us. She wore a black robe with a silver moon and star pattern.
"If she killed a god, why have I never heard of her?" I asked.
"Mostly because she was a Demon Blade." the elderly priestess said as if it was the simplest thing. "We were only allowed to keep teaching of her after the crusade because she was a champion of Eluna."
"The crusade?" I asked.
"It's what we call the hunt for the Demon Blades. The order faction of the council of deities made them a forbidden art, causing a crusade to start to exterminate them. Eluna, being a member of the chaos faction, did not support this decision but could not act against it since their leader had been missing. Though chaos is a bit of a misnomer, I'd say they were more so the faction of change." the elderly priestess answered.
"who's the leader of the faction?" I asked.
"Well, it's the lady of chaos, goddess of change and fire. Vellana. she hasn't been seen in over 350 years." the priestess stated.
When it looked like I wasn't going to ask any more questions, Asra spoke up. "excuse me. We came here to meet someone. Do you know where Tetra is?"
"Last I saw, Tetra was reading in the courtyard. I can let you ladies through the door to look for her, or I could fetch her myself." The elderly priestess told us.
Asra looked at me. "Which would you like."
I stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to answer. Men were just not allowed in the deeper parts of the temple; they physically could not go past the doors. The doors were enchanted with the divine protection of Eluna, making it a place only women could enter.
"I-I think we should try to go in." I said nervously.
The priestess gives me a gentle smile before leading us to the door. Taking a key from around her neck, she unlocked the door, pushing it open. The revealed corridor had its other end blocked from sight by a bright light.
Following Asra through, I felt tears falling from my eyes as I crossed the threshold. As soon as I stepped through the door, it felt like I was wrapped up in a warm hug. A mother's hug.
Feeling me stop, Asra turned around with a worried look on her face. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine. I just didn't actually expect to be let in." I said through the tears. Asra wrapped her arms around me. Hugging me until I stopped crying.
When the tears stopped, I looked up at Asra. "Thank you."
"Any time, September." she said, looking like she wanted to do something but stopped herself. After exchanging sad smiles, we continued down the corridor.
The corridor opened into an expansive courtyard filled with exotic plants and flowers. Lyra stood next to a woman sitting on a bench. She had blue hair and red eyes. She wore the same moon and star pattern robe as the elderly priestess. A book lay on the bench next to her.
As we walked up to them, Lyra turned to us. "Mom, this is Tetra." Lyra said a gentle smile on her face.
"Hello, I'm Tetra, as you just heard. I'm the head of transgender affairs for the temple. Lyra told me you need some help with something." Tetra said, standing up.
"Hi, I'm September." I said. "One question: what's transgender."
The sound of three hands hitting faces resonated throughout the courtyard as Asra, Lyra, and Tetra facepalm. "I knew I forgot something." Asra muttered out.
After a loud sigh, Tetra spoke. "Transgender is an otherworlder term for someone whose gender of their body and soul don't match. Originally every culture had its own word for it, but when a common word for it was divided, they chose the otherworlder word for it because it led the fight for queer rights."
"That's a thing! You can just be born with a soul that's incompatible with your body!" I barely kept myself from screaming.
"Yes." Tetra said bluntly.
"Is there a way to tell if you're transgender?" I asked.
"There are a few; someone with soul sight would be able to tell. Pink, white, and blue appear somewhere in every transgender soul. How it makes you feel has a big part to play in it. Walking through the doors of Eluna would be a way to tell. Someone born of their soul would also know, but it's best to let them figure it out on their own." Tetra explained.
"Why can't someone tell them?" I asked, trying not to think about what walking through the doors meant.
"If you try to force an egg to hatch, it will kill the chick." Tetra replied cryptically.
I stared at her in confusion. "What does this have to do with chicks and eggs?"
"If they don't work it out themselves, it can make them more resistant to the idea or worse." Tetra replied flatly.
"Oh. Uh, okay, on to the actual reason we're here. Can we go somewhere more private to discuss it?" I asked, not wanting to think about this anymore. The feeling of being hugged I've had since passing through the door intensified.
"If that's what you want." Tetra said, seaming somewhat disappointed.
She leads deeper into the temple to a room that looks to be designed for private meetings. We all sat at the table in the center of the room. The three of us are on one side, Tetra on the other.
"Now, what did you want to talk about?" Tetra asked.
"We wanted to see if you could check if I'm possessed and see if we could get an item with an anti-mind control enchantment from you." I told her.
"And why do you think you might be possessed or under threat of mind control?" Tetra asked, a little confused.
Looking at Lyra, she nodded. Turning to Asra, another nod. Turning back to Tetra, I stopped the flow of mana to my tattoo. My eyes returned to their natural color.
gNatonthewall Hello everyone. The story is so close to 300 readers. I can hardly believe it. I'm so glad that all of you like the story enough to keep coming back. It means a lot to me. Thank you for reading, commenting, and favoriting. Have a nice day.
Standing in the temple district square, I looked up at the massive windowless obsidian building. I had never been inside the temple of Eluna. Even though everyone was welcome, I always felt uncomfortable with the idea of going in as a man.
Across the square from it was the opposite. A massive white marble building with grand windows. The temple of Solis.
While Eluna was the goddess of the moon, femininity, motherhood, and magic. Her brother, Solis, was the god of the sun, masculinity, fatherhood, and the physical body. Mel called him the god of Chads, whatever that means.
I had never felt comfortable in the temple of Solis the few times I had gone. I found the highly muscled men who frequented the place entertaining. With their flamboyant posing and overly dramatic manner of speech, they were fun to talk to. But I never wanted to be one of them, and they could be a bit too much at times.
Turning to me, Asra spoke. "You ready to go inside?"
"No." I answered nervously. "I kind of built this place up in my head as somewhere I wasn't supposed to go, so it was kind of intimidating." Asra squeezed my hand and gave me a warm smile before leading me inside.
Looking around the interior, I was left amazed. A massive silver crystal hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room with moonlight. The walls were covered in tapestries of different great women from history. Black pews filled the room leading up to the altar. Sitting on the altar was a large silver full moon. An enormous door with carvings of Eluna on it sat on the far side of the room, leading to the deeper parts of the temple where only women were allowed.
I recognized most of the women in the tapestries, but one of the ones I didn't caught my attention. The woman was beautiful. She had white hair and wore black plate armor with silver filigree. But what stood out to me was her eyes. Black sclera, white irises, and pupils that burned like fire.
"Edrasil the god slayer. She has quite an interesting story. Slayer of the short-lived god of calamity. She slew the god of calamity only three months after his ascension." An elderly priestess said as she approached us. She wore a black robe with a silver moon and star pattern.
"If she killed a god, why have I never heard of her?" I asked.
"Mostly because she was a Demon Blade." the elderly priestess said as if it was the simplest thing. "We were only allowed to keep teaching of her after the crusade because she was a champion of Eluna."
"The crusade?" I asked.
"It's what we call the hunt for the Demon Blades. The order faction of the council of deities made them a forbidden art, causing a crusade to start to exterminate them. Eluna, being a member of the chaos faction, did not support this decision but could not act against it since their leader had been missing. Though chaos is a bit of a misnomer, I'd say they were more so the faction of change." the elderly priestess answered.
"who's the leader of the faction?" I asked.
"Well, it's the lady of chaos, goddess of change and fire. Vellana. she hasn't been seen in over 350 years." the priestess stated.
When it looked like I wasn't going to ask any more questions, Asra spoke up. "excuse me. We came here to meet someone. Do you know where Tetra is?"
"Last I saw, Tetra was reading in the courtyard. I can let you ladies through the door to look for her, or I could fetch her myself." The elderly priestess told us.
Asra looked at me. "Which would you like."
I stared at her for a moment, not knowing how to answer. Men were just not allowed in the deeper parts of the temple; they physically could not go past the doors. The doors were enchanted with the divine protection of Eluna, making it a place only women could enter.
"I-I think we should try to go in." I said nervously.
The priestess gives me a gentle smile before leading us to the door. Taking a key from around her neck, she unlocked the door, pushing it open. The revealed corridor had its other end blocked from sight by a bright light.
Following Asra through, I felt tears falling from my eyes as I crossed the threshold. As soon as I stepped through the door, it felt like I was wrapped up in a warm hug. A mother's hug.
Feeling me stop, Asra turned around with a worried look on her face. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine. I just didn't actually expect to be let in." I said through the tears. Asra wrapped her arms around me. Hugging me until I stopped crying.
When the tears stopped, I looked up at Asra. "Thank you."
"Any time, September." she said, looking like she wanted to do something but stopped herself. After exchanging sad smiles, we continued down the corridor.
The corridor opened into an expansive courtyard filled with exotic plants and flowers. Lyra stood next to a woman sitting on a bench. She had blue hair and red eyes. She wore the same moon and star pattern robe as the elderly priestess. A book lay on the bench next to her.
As we walked up to them, Lyra turned to us. "Mom, this is Tetra." Lyra said a gentle smile on her face.
"Hello, I'm Tetra, as you just heard. I'm the head of transgender affairs for the temple. Lyra told me you need some help with something." Tetra said, standing up.
"Hi, I'm September." I said. "One question: what's transgender."
The sound of three hands hitting faces resonated throughout the courtyard as Asra, Lyra, and Tetra facepalm. "I knew I forgot something." Asra muttered out.
After a loud sigh, Tetra spoke. "Transgender is an otherworlder term for someone whose gender of their body and soul don't match. Originally every culture had its own word for it, but when a common word for it was divided, they chose the otherworlder word for it because it led the fight for queer rights."
"That's a thing! You can just be born with a soul that's incompatible with your body!" I barely kept myself from screaming.
"Yes." Tetra said bluntly.
"Is there a way to tell if you're transgender?" I asked.
"There are a few; someone with soul sight would be able to tell. Pink, white, and blue appear somewhere in every transgender soul. How it makes you feel has a big part to play in it. Walking through the doors of Eluna would be a way to tell. Someone born of their soul would also know, but it's best to let them figure it out on their own." Tetra explained.
"Why can't someone tell them?" I asked, trying not to think about what walking through the doors meant.
"If you try to force an egg to hatch, it will kill the chick." Tetra replied cryptically.
I stared at her in confusion. "What does this have to do with chicks and eggs?"
"If they don't work it out themselves, it can make them more resistant to the idea or worse." Tetra replied flatly.
"Oh. Uh, okay, on to the actual reason we're here. Can we go somewhere more private to discuss it?" I asked, not wanting to think about this anymore. The feeling of being hugged I've had since passing through the door intensified.
"If that's what you want." Tetra said, seaming somewhat disappointed.
She leads deeper into the temple to a room that looks to be designed for private meetings. We all sat at the table in the center of the room. The three of us are on one side, Tetra on the other.
"Now, what did you want to talk about?" Tetra asked.
"We wanted to see if you could check if I'm possessed and see if we could get an item with an anti-mind control enchantment from you." I told her.
"And why do you think you might be possessed or under threat of mind control?" Tetra asked, a little confused.
Looking at Lyra, she nodded. Turning to Asra, another nod. Turning back to Tetra, I stopped the flow of mana to my tattoo. My eyes returned to their natural color.
gNatonthewall Hello everyone. The story is so close to 300 readers. I can hardly believe it. I'm so glad that all of you like the story enough to keep coming back. It means a lot to me. Thank you for reading, commenting, and favoriting. Have a nice day.
