Chapter 54: Chapter 54 - A Warm Welcome
The trip back to Adierton took a couple days but was not so fruitful for Gren since he wasn't given much time to read. Shelley kept interrupting him by asking him questions and making comments about things that she saw. Gren tried to distract her by giving her something to read but apparently The Journey of Rumba the Sloth was too slow for her.
The knights already noticed that Shelley was in the carriage when she helped Gren open the carriage door back in Newton. Nobody thought anything was weird about her being in the carriage since Gren mentioned something about bringing survivors with them. The only problem that her presence brought for anybody that wasn't Gren was that they couldn't take her through the Church's exclusive tunnel which they used when they exited the city. It was decided that the knights would split off from the carriage and head to the Church's entrance while Georgia alone brought Gren and Shelley to the main entrance. The sun was setting so the soldiers at the gates were carrying magic lights.
"Identification." The soldier stopped the carriage from moving forward and waa Georgia.
"I am a knight of the Church of Healing Light. This armor is my identification." Georgia would have brought out her identification if she had brought it. The knights had their own entrance so there was no point in carrying it around on more local missions.
The soldier looked at Georgia and then her dragon horse before deciding that she was probably telling the truth. His commanding officer only mentioned being strict about people exiting the city and he didn't feel like fighting with her. "Alright, you can come through."
Georgia brought the carriage to the cathedral and parked it on a platform at the back. Gren was glad to be back since he was worried about how everyone back at home was doing. Once he was done with his business in the Church he would head home and take a nice long bath and sleep on an actual bed.
The carriage shook as the platform below it began to lower. Gren thought there was an earthquake at first but realized that it was just an elevator. Shelley, on the other hand, probably didn't even know that elevators existed and was holding on to Gren for dear life the entire way down.
The platform gave a big jolt as it stopped going down. Georgia brought the carriage away from the platform and parked it over by some crates. Gren could almost recognize the place that he was brought to; it was another part of the underground ruins that he was already familiar with. It wasn't the same place that he had exited the city from since it was lacking the long tunnel leading to the outside gate.
The sound of hard leather hitting the ground and metal clanking told Gren that Georgia had hopped off the carriage. "We're here. Let's get your stuff." Georgia opened the door and was reminded of Shelley being there. "As for you, we can talk to the high priestess about what to do next."
Some steps could be heard from the staircase and Gabriella made her appearance. Georgia approached Gabriella and told her to keep Gren's identity a secret since the girl with him thought that he was just an acolyte. "Welcome back. I hope the trip was a success for you. We've got a bath being prepared for you."
Georgia brought Shelley away while Gabriella was talking to Gren. Gren could hear Georgia say something about how the high priestess would talk to Shelley after the high priestess was finished with her business. It seemed like Shelley was going to be fine so Gren decided to focus on more important things like his mother.
"So, you found her? How is she?" Gabriella couldn't wait to get information from Gren. She had never seen the goddess in person and was excited.
Gren nodded. "We found my mother. Her injuries remain and she isn't showing signs of life but I've confirmed that she is still alive."
Gabriella hugged Gren and spun him around. "I knew it! There's no way that the goddess would die!" She stopped spinning him and set him down. "But how did you confirm that she is still alive, if you don't mind me asking?"
Gren shook his head. "I don't mind telling you but I would really like to get my mother to a safe place and to take a bath. Can we talk after I'm clean?" Gabriella asked some acolytes to help bring the body and his items from the carriage and place them onto a small cart. An acolyte followed them to the bath while pulling the cart along behind her.
The bath looked familiar. It was just like the bath that Gren had seen under the bakery owned by Jessica but it had some modifications. "Nice, right? It's said that there were many baths just like this one back when the underground city was still around. Unfortunately it was before the Goddess's arrival so we don't know much else about the place."
Gren didn't want to spoil Gabriella's mood by telling her that he had seen one already. "We've got some clothes prepared for you to wear after the bath. Feel free to take off your clothes and get into the water." Gabriella then whispered something in the acolyte's ear before the acolyte nodded and left the room.
Gren began undressing but noticed that Gabriella didn't leave the room so he paused his movements. "Do you need help getting undressed?" Gabriella didn't wait for an answer as she walked over to him and started pulling his clothes off. "There, much better." Gren was now laid bare for Gabriella's eyes to see. "I saw it before but you really are big down there."
Gabriella walked up to the bath before lifting up the bottom of her robe and sitting down on the edge, soaking her feet in the water. "Get in while the water is still warm." She was kicking at the water with her feet, waiting for Gren to start taking his bath. Gren first put one toe in the water to check the temperature. It wasn't as hot as the bath that Jasmine prepared for him but it was still a comfortable temperature. He slowly lowered himself into the water and felt the stress from his trip start to fade away. "I know you said that we would talk after you had a bath but this place is secure. I asked the acolyte to get some knights to guard the door so that nobody bothers us and the door is really thick so you don't have to worry about them overhearing anything."
Gren summoned a bar of soap from his pocket dimension and started telling Gabriella about the trip and what he found out about his mother. "She's still alive. When I tried to store her away like I do with objects I realized that her body couldn't be stored. I was able to store a dead body without a problem so that tells me that she's still alive." Gren thought about how her wounds looked the same at a glance and decided to add one more thing. "I don't know if she's healing on her own though. I'm worried that she might be stuck in her current condition until someone can heal her."
There was the sound of some clothes rustling behind Gren. "Don't turn around." Gabriella stopped him before he even had the chance to start turning his neck. "Move forward a bit and make some room behind you." After Gren did so he could hear the sound of Gabriella getting into the tub. "Much better. So, the only problem is finding out if she's healing?" The feeling of skin touching his back made Gren try to turn around but a hand blocked his vision. "I said not to turn around. Pass me the soap."
Gren looked straight again but passed the soap behind him over his shoulder. "What are you doing back there?" Gren was curious about what Gabriella was trying to accomplish.
The soap was then placed on his back. "I'm helping you wash your back while we talk. I've also got a favor to ask of you. Take a moment to think about it before giving me your answer, okay?" The feeling of the soapy washcloth on his back was relaxing. He didn't like the idea of the weird favor but it didn't seem like Gabriella would harm him so he decided to listen to her. "As you may know, the goddess has been missing for years and now she's in no condition to be seen in public. I know that I might be asking for too much but I want you to make an official appearance as the child of the Goddess. With your real appearance hidden, of course."
Gren realized that it would be risky but still thought about the positives... actually, he couldn't think of any positives to him doing something like that. "I don't mean to be rude but I can't see any good reason to do something like that. I'm not strong enough to defend myself yet so I think it'd be best to have this discussion again in the future. Can you at least tell me why you think I should do it?"
Gabriella sighed behind him before handing Gren his soap and washcloth. "Your back is clean now." Gabriella stood up, the water on her body falling off of her and landing in the bath. "If the goddess stays missing then the public will begin to forget that she is real." The sound of clothes being put on by Gabriella behind him could be heard. "There are already rumors in the west about the king of Grandolla claiming to have killed the Goddess and taking her powers as his own; unfounded of course. In the Merchant Republic of Doga to the East there was a young woman that claimed to be the daughter of the Goddess and used that to launch her own line of magic devices. People are already trying to take advantage of the void that your mother's disappearance caused."
"What's the problem with letting them lie about it for now? Once my mother is better then she can make a public appearance and quell the rumors." It didn't seem like a big deal for Gren as someone that was raised in a secular society in one world and lived a mostly isolated life in this one. His mother obviously wouldn't be religious since she was the object of their worship and the only other person Gren really talked to as a kid was an elderly lady that just told stories about her past while helping Gren learn.
Someone knocked on the door. "One moment, we're still in the middle of a discussion here!" Gabriella had to yell for her voice to be heard through the thick door; switching to a lower voice when talking to Gren. "You don't understand, Gren. The people using your mother's disappearance to profit aren't the only problem. The only reason why they're succeeding right now is because there are people that believe them. We've already had to evacuate the cathedral in Grandolla's capital city just to be safe and some people in Doga have been trying to get us to hand over our entire library to the merchant lady since they claim that it's her rightful property."
Gren finished with his bath and turned around to see Gabriella peeking under his mother's wraps. "We wouldn't be facing these problems if we could just have her speak out. That's why I was hoping that you would agree to my request." Gabriella brushed his mother's hair with her hand as she stared at her. "I think it'd be best to keep her here in the cathedral; keeping her a secret from both the citizens and the headquarters. We can have people monitor her all day long and apply healing spells to her. What do you say?" Gabriella looked back to Gren to see his response; he had already put on his new robes--a short black robe with a white full-sized robe that covered his body--and was listening to what she said.
"I've already lost my mother once. There's no way that I can risk losing her again. I'm going to take her with me." Gren wasn't going to leave the cathedral without his mother.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Darth_Gizmo
Darth_Gizmo It's almost the end of the volume. I'd like to give thanks to everybody that has given me feedback on the story so far. I'm taking consideration of your advice even if it might not seem like it at times.
There was a problem with this chapter when I tried editing it on mobile so I rewrote it. I think it turned out better than the first version.
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