Anyu paced the plush wine rug in front of the altar, gently gnawing her fingernails, muttering prayers and curses alike. She was a priest. She was not supposed to fall in love, much less take up physical relations, let alone considering leaving the priesthood for a man.
However, in direct opposition of that rule, which was hardly a rule at all, merely a long-standing tradition, the young woman knelt to pray at the Altar of the Savior, searching for an answer she already posessed.
Her desperate sobbing and praying fell on the deaf, pointed ears of the resplendently decorated figurine. Anyu recalled a time in her life when her only wish was to give her life to the Giants, as the Savior had, ages before. When the world was young and magic abounded, a derranged imp called the moon down upon his imagined enemies with a great and terrible power. Then, the Boy Clad in Green appeared out of the North, bringing spring to the mountains, relieving the taint of decay of the Southern Salt Marshes, releasing the people of the West from the hold of the merciless and bloodthirsty Garudao, and lifted an even more ancient curse in the Eastern Wasteland.
Now, her thoughts were of her own happiness, selfish and indulgent. Surely the Savior had never felt such inward thoughts…
"Anyu, my daughter, what troubles you?"
Anyu gasped and threw her teary face in her Mother Superior's direction. "Oh, Mother, I am conflicted. I…I am in disgrace." She closed her eyes and lowered her chin, raising her hands in clasped benediction. The Mother waited silently. Drawing a deep, shuddering lungful of the incense-laden air, Anyu said, "I am no longer worthy of my habit. The Giants as my witness, I have taken the love of a man." She waited for the denouncing diatribe…
"Anyu."
The young sister started at the sound of her name, flinching as if lashed. She could only hope there was no punishment.
The Mother Superior tucked two gnarled fingers beneath Anyu's chin. Even more surprised at the contact, Anyu whipped her eyes upward. The crone wore a rare smile.
"Have you no curiosity about the origins of your name?"
"My name?" Anyu was in a whirlwind. Where was the screeching and lecture on purity? Any other member of the group would not hesitate to compound her sins.
Beckoning with the same finger removed from beneath Anyu's chin, she shambled towards an alcove set into the wall behind the Altar. Anyu could not move her feet for her confusion. The Mother leveled a realistic insistence towards the sister with the tear-stained face.
"Do you know the story of the Lovers?"
"Of course!" Anyu's brows held a meeting, uncertain of the intention of the record. She moved up beside the Mother to gaze at the smaller, inset altar. In refelction, Anyu studied the statuette and painting. What seemed to be a single figure were two bodies pressed so tightly together, a scene of celebration beneath the rainbow the Giants created on that Day of New Beginnings. Their faces were shown in profile, and so matched in expression that they looked like two halves of a mask.
"There have never been two people so entwined in heart and spirit as Kafei and Anju of Eastern Clocton," began the Mother in a much more casual tone than Anyu had heard from her. But no one had ever named the Lovers before, referring to them as the unit their souls comprised. "The imp that wronged the world tore them apart with his magic, but the perseverence of the Savior brought their lives back into holy balance." She looked into Anyu's eyes, holding back bitterness. "While the duty of a sister is to uphold her purity, there is no shame in love. Tell me, daughter, is this man good? Would his heart flee at the suggestion of adversity?"
"But I indulged-"
"Pfft." Anyu had to supress a gasp. Such a rude noise from Mother Superior had never been heard! "Had the Giants inteded you to stay pure, your lover would not have been able to sway you from your devotions. But my daughter, if you are troubled, be not. There is no greater honor than heart-love. Red-love, or the lust of the body, is strong and can be mistaken for the wishes of the heart. Have you shared red-love?"
"N-no, Mother Superior. I am chaste, but…"
"And yet, you would run from our establishment, hiding your face?" Straightlaced as Anyu was unsure of her plight, the Mother rested a veiny hand on her shoulder. "If there is no wedlock, undue children or doubt that this man of yours will stay by your side, then abandon us. Another sister will supply prayers in your place, I'm sure." Her smile was hard.
"I don't understand," Anyu whined, a freshet of tears rolling down her cheeks. "Are you getting rid of me?"
"No, no my dear," crooned the old woman, a little exasperated. "You have stumbled upon a greater blessing than a life of dedication. Go to your heart-love, with the Savior by your side and your lives will reflect the deeds and the will of the Boy Who Saved Us. There is no prayer or set of rituals holier than sharing a bond, like the Lovers themselves do. I think you would find some here who might be jealous of such intimate ties, and many more who would condone you to the Otherworld if you passed by your heart's match for a life of spinsterhood."
With a significant sigh and meaningful jump of her eyebrows, Anyu comprehended the greatest mistake of the Mother Superior's life. For the first time in many days, Anyu's heart swelled with hope that her situation could turn out in her favor! As long as she had the Boy Clad in Green in her thoughts, using his way of life as a guide, perhaps she and her lover could build a successful life of compassion and perseverance…
Barely bothering to say goodbye, Anyu waltzed dreamily down the nave, intent on seeing her newly-revealed heart love.
Tottering back to the front of the Altar of the Savior, the Mother Superior fingered the smooth stone of the banister barring contact with the statue. She clamped down on the marble, creakily getting on her knees, smothering verbal winces and the cracks in her joints filling her ears. Mouth dry, memories flooding her vision, the radiant face of Kafei swam before her eyes.
"Dear Giants, you could have given him to me…" And with a gurgling, heart broken sigh, Cremia died at last, on obedient knees before the very one who tore that hope.