Chapter 4: Welcome to Prontera's Church, Spira

The Wilshires braced themselves, and then charged wildly into the black hole, landing like a belly-flop on a carpet floor. A strange, up-beat music was playing happily in the background, and the air smelled fresh. They stumbled off the ground, pushing each other up, and were shocked by the appearance of an old man in front of them.

"How nice of you to join us!" The old man exclaimed, delighted when they acknowledged his presence. "I was afraid you would not have come for a minute," He said, and with a flick of a switch, the black hole decreased to a small, invisible dot.

"What have you done with Katie!" Albert said, shaking with fury now that his escape route was closed, and the thieves were no where in sight.

"I believe," The old man shifted his glasses a bit, "that the assassins put her to sleep for now. You see, the portal is very uncomfortable the first time through: warp holes are a new form of magic." The old man smiled at the couple in quite a friendly way, and they gawked amazingly at him and his funny attire.

He was very tall, slim, and wearing a long, trailing purple cloak with golden odd symbols knitted into it. His purple hat exaggerated his tall legs, and the spectacles he wore at the end of his nose made his face look long. He had kind and genuine blue eyes that twinkled at the Wilshires.

"I am Lord High Priest Francis Yaktat, personal advisor to the King." The old man fell into a deep and humble bow, and Albert thought he was delirious. "I welcome you to Prontera's Church, Spira," He bowed again as if he was grateful for their appearance.

The couple glanced around them and saw they were standing in a white hallway, furnished with red carpet and portraits of old priests. The ceiling was abnormally high, and there were moving sculptures etched into it: Mrs. Wilshire dared not look again when she thought she saw one sculpture of an angel fly across the roof.

Albert reddened with fury. "What is this!" He demanded. "Where is my daughter!"

"She is safe in the guest's sleeping quarters with the others."

"Others?" The Wilshires exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yes, others." Lord Francis glanced back and forth from Susie to Albert as they began whispering to each other, and then Albert spoke, straightening himself.

"You cannot kidnap or…even confine my daughter against her will. It is unlawful!"

"Law? What law?" Francis blinked at him, genuinely confused.

"The er…"

"Oh, good heavens!" The old man exclaimed suddenly. "Yes, your law! I almost forgot! I am afraid to admit that from now on, no law you submit to applies here." He watched them again anxiously as they began whispering to each other. "Will you join me for dinner?"

Albert grumbled. How dare this weird old fool talk about dinner when his daughter was taken god-knows-where? He sneered irritably at the old man in the tall hat and the man stared happily at him, waiting a reply to his request. How could he think about food when his daughter was just kidnapped by boys in bandages!

"Albert!" Susie shook him from his thoughts. The old man was walking slowly down the hall and Susie figured it was best to follow him.

It was certainly not a bad idea. Albert did not want to be seen (he shuddered at the thought of a neighbor watching them interact with such people) talking to a boy wearing a hat with bat wings sticking out. Again, these people throughout the hallway, were all dressed oddly, and were all surprisingly young. Lord Francis appeared to be the only person over the age of Albert, and this led the Wilshires to respect him more.

While Mr. Wilshire was gawking at the cat ears, spiked hair, and young faces, Mrs. Wilshire was appalled at the attire of the young ladies. They seemed to wear the least amount of clothing possible. Belly-buttons were shown, cleavage emphasized, and legs exaggerated. She held her chest as if she was about to have a heart-attack, and finally understood the reason why the youth were taking birth control pills. She had to get Katie out of this environment immediately. She was just about to ask the question of her daughter's whereabouts when she realized the background music was becoming louder.

The music was played from a violin on a ragged-dressed young man sitting in the chair. His blonde hair was in a pony-tail, but his eyes were kind and Susie was reminded of a Southern boy. The music was alluring, almost tempting, and Susie found herself reaching in her pocket for money. She would have given him all she had but Albert beat her to it. Susie looked at her husband, and then followed his gaze to a young female dancing.

This female was naked (not really, but close enough). She was wearing a bikini top, a see through skirt where her small panties were showing. Mrs. Wilshire almost had a stroke to see that the girl was not in the least ashamed of herself: she was dancing in broad daylight in the lobby of the church! There was a whip in her hand, and her body danced almost fluidly to the music of the young man played on his piano. Susie suddenly had the urge to snatch the young girl off stage and demand that she call her parents at once.

"No, no," Francis was telling Albert. "Your money is useless to them. Our currency is different. Take it back." He told him, but Albert refused, dreamily.

"This is outrageous!" Susie whispered to the old man. "What kind of influence on our young girls is she sending!" She thought with horror that the girl could be Katie dancing in a church!

He smiled apologetically. "Atheists," He said, and Mrs. Wilshire almost fell out. "They protest the Church everyday in this way. They believe it is corrupt; and I would be lying if I were to say it was without flaws," He sighed heavily. "But I have no time-"

"It is not like she is the only one! Almost all these fass-tail girls-"

"Oh!" Francis exclaimed suddenly, his eyes anxious again. "You see in Spira, the countrymen revel in the woman's body. We do not shun her proportions as it is thought proper to do on Earth. Even some of our lady priests show a little leg," He laughed when Mrs. Wilshire feigned death. "We do not hide what is beauty. Sometimes, it is the only beautiful thing to look upon."

Mrs. Wilshire was glad when they finally passed the lobby, and she sneered at her husband who regained consciousness. Only a little dancer and he had forgotten about his daughter. Men! She scorned, forgetting she was about to give the musician all her money as well.

"Where to?" Albert said, a little disheartened about being pulled away.

"To dinner," Francis smiled at him.