crestoflamineâ ( mercedes von martritz ! )
With days having gone by, she finds herself wandering in the Church of Onoma whenever she could spare the time. Every time she had, she entered with a hopeful twinkle in her eyes, yet today, alike all other days, would have that gaze of hers shift into a distant sadness. Here and there, people would turn to her to inquire about her expression, and in return she would remark that she had missed someone dear to her that was no longer present in her life ( more or less ). Of course, she had missed more than one personâher mother, her uncle, her father to name a fewâand she had put the same effort in searching for them as she had for everyone else. Her journey here however, would be in search of someone entirely different. âItâs a good thing that I canât find youâŚâ Those are words she repeats to herself at a constant pace; after all, Mercedes not being here had meant she wasnât trapped here, and that was something to be happy about.
Despite telling herself that though, she still canât dissuade that sadness she feels. After spending what seems to be an hour or so quietly listening to the musical ambience around her, Annette finally rises from one of the pews and heads for the entrance. The voice of the choir grows distant as she continues to take steps forward. As she contemplates her next stop, she realizes just how late it had gotten. With the sun now setting, the temperature had dropped, thus she begins to tug her mantle upward to safeguard herself from the cold. In the midst of doing just that, her actions suddenly come to a stop, and for a few seconds, sheâs fearful to confirm her sightings to not be true. It was rather dark, others had also been aboutâshe shouldnât raise her hopes, and yet she still finds herself looking. Sheâs overcome with shock upon immediately doing so, unable to even call out the name she has in mind.
Rushing forward, she instead reaches out for her forearm to prevent her from walking further into the crowd. By now, there was really no way to conceal the fact that she was crying.
despite the amount of time sheâd spent on the island, mercedes has only just started looking into the faith. the church of onoma and the practices held within are possessed of qualities both strange and familiar; the architecture evokes the same imagery as any stone monastery or cathedral, but it sticks out like a sore thumb against the more modern amenities of the ward. there is an altar at the fore of the assembly, and pews for prayer. when she speaks to a member of the clergy, they inform her of a schedule for organized sermons â otherwise, the church is open to any and all for individual worship.
mercedes decides rather quickly that she wants to come back the next time a service is being held.
this conviction does not deter a sudden, homesick feeling. her thoughts turn briefly to her friends; though several members of all houses have before and since appeared in the city, thereâs one whose presence she misses most. having already spent a couple hours inside, she decides that the sun setting through the rose window is cue enough for her to start heading back to her housing.
just as she gathers her things and begins to leave, though, she feels someone grab her arm.
once mercedesâs initial shock is resolved, annette is met with a comforting smile, and is pulled into a hug. seeing her in tears is enough to make mercedes cry a bit, too.
â if iâd known you were here, i would have come to see you right away! iâm so sorry. are you alright? â
