They weren't given that long to think, since their mayor walked into the church. Behind her were the twins, who looked panicked. They were pleading with Elisabeth to not go in, but she wasn't listening. The older woman paused upon seeing Samira.
"What the fuck?" She said, first in a mumble. But then she nearly shouted it. "What the actual fuck?!"
"Shhh," Elsie was quick to cover her mouth. "I literally said you shouldn't panic."
"Elisabeth, w-we tried to explain it." Ana pleaded with the mayor. She was trying to pull away from Elsie to speak.
"What the fuck did you two do?" Jasmine rushed over.
"We tried to get her away from the church, but she got suspicious," Elsie explained while wrestling with the older woman. "We couldn't stop her from marching over here."
"What did you tell her?" Claire rushed over to help calm the woman.
"That we found the woman in the painting." Elsie lost control of Elisabeth. She panicked and tried to cover her mouth once more, but Elisabeth blocked it.
"I'm calm now." Elisabeth took a deep breath. "I think."
"Sorry for not telling you." Claire bowed her head. "I know we talked about her painting and everything…"
"We did." Elisabeth nodded slowly. "This is so much worse, though… No offense, dear."
"None taken." Samira had a conflicted look on her face as she slithered over. "I understand the implications of my presence. Was easier in my remote village."
"I truly do not mean to offend you." Elisabeth gave her a soft smile. "I-I just hesitate since we have officials pass through here… And we already had one incident with them…"
"Understandable." Samira bowed her head down. There was a small silence that fell on the group in remembrance of the last incident.
Elisabeth ran a hand through her hair. "But I also understand the situation with Claire's Goddess. You're important to this church and all. I tried multiple times to take that picture down, yet it kept reappearing the moment I turned my back."
"Sorry again." Claire held back a laugh.
"I know it's not your fault. It's your Goddess." Elisabeth sighed and sat down at the closest pew. "I just need a minute to process the fact that you're half snake…"
"Ahhh," Lily chimed in. "Lamia, actually."
"Not helping." Elisabeth shook her head. She took a few steadying breaths as she examined Samira. "Okay. I think I can handle this." She stood up to meet Samira, and she extended her hand to the Lamia. "I am Elisabeth. Mayor of Restol. Once again, I'll apologize for my behavior. I was not expecting a guest like you."
"My name is Samira. I come from Amora." Samira took it and giggled softly. "I don't think anyone is expecting a guest like me."
"Wasn't expecting a noblewoman and her entire entourage either, but here they were two months ago." Elisabeth joked back. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Samira."
"Noblewoman?" Samira tilted her head for a moment. "Oh, Lady Efreit. Toni's grandmother."
"Mhmm." Elisabeth nodded and let go of her hand. "And, not to be forgotten, the forty or so boys you left in our care before leaving."
"So-" Claire tried to say, but Jasmine cut her off.
"We get it." Jasmine sighed. "We apologize for offloading all these things on you, but what else could we do?"
"Nothing." Elisabeth sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I just want to complain sometimes too."
"Yeah, that's fair." Jasmine smiled at her.
"Now, how the fuck are we supposed to keep Samira a secret?" Elisabeth sat back in the pew. She rubbed her chin for a moment. "Cause I doubt we will be able to keep people out of this church."
"Well, we cou-" Lily spoke up, but the book she was holding flew out of her hands. It landed in the same way as before, face down with the pages pressed into the floor. She blinked before picking it up again. Elsie and Ana moved over to look at the book. They recognized it from their time translating the ancient language. Lily recognized the page as the same one from before.
"A spell circle?" Elsie asked.
"It is," Lily said, nodding. "Guess that presence or Goddess is trying to tell us something." She flipped it over for the others to see. "It's the same one."
"Is it an answer to Elisabeth's question?" Samira asked. She glanced between the book and the older woman. "A way to hide me? Or hide my full form?"
"N-not sure." Ana grabbed the book from Lily's hand. "Lily probably explained the enemy symbol, but Elsie and I t-theorized this meant a trick." She pointed to a symbol that looked like an extended "Y" with an extra line between the two others. Like an upside-down bird's foot.
"We have her journal, and she uses similar wording to that 'reveal' passage we found back at the fort. It's complicated." Elsie relaxed her shoulders, seeing she had already lost Claire. "Well, it's our closest theory."
"That would make sense." Lily furrowed her brow. "This was the symbol for shroud, right? So it could be a spell to shroud her? Maybe?"
Claire felt the tingling sensation on the back of her neck. A sign that they were on the right track. However, the Goddess just used her to speak. She concentrated on the feeling as she sent her thoughts to the Goddess. 'Can't you use my voice to confirm their theory?'
'I cannot.' Her voice echoed in her mind. 'Us newer Gods meddling in the magic of old will alert the others.'
"Can never be too easy, can it?" She sighed aloud. All eyes turned towards Claire. "The Goddess is strongly suggesting you are right. However, She cannot confirm definitively what it does."
"Fantastic." Elisabeth shook her head. "The Gods are just as easy to work with as the nobles… Fuck me."
"She didn't like hearing that." Claire felt a pain shoot through her mind. She thought she heard the Goddess swear too. "But it's not on Her. She's trying to help us without causing too much attention. Some other Gods wouldn't be happy to know what She's attempting to do. And She can't meddle in old magic."
"Apologies." Elisabeth glanced towards the depiction of the Goddess in the central altar. "I'm just an old woman venting her frustrations. I mean no offense."
"I will get over it."
Elisabeth's eyes widened in surprise. She blinked rapidly, then asked. "Wh-what? Was that Her?"
"It was." Jasmine nodded. She studied Claire. "Are we sure this is safe for her?"
"It is"
"She kind of sounds like Toni." Elsie tilted her head. "Like the feminine version of him."
"Not important." Jasmine shot her an annoyed look. "How sure are you? She was just unconscious for almost 2 weeks."
"Very."
This time Her voice came from Jasmine's own mouth. The assassin was stunned into silence as they all looked at her. She blinked rapidly as she tried to process what just happened.
"I'm guessing that's new." Elisabeth was the first to speak.
"I-it is," Ana mumbled. Her blue eyes were wide with shock. "Claire has been the only one who could communicate with or channel H-her."
"You are within my church." This time it was Ana's mouth used for the Goddess's voice.
"Any of Claire's Bestowed can become my mouthpiece." Next was Elsie's.
"Except for one." Now it was Lily's turn.
There was only one of the Bestowed left within the church. Claire and her companions turned towards Samira, who was deep in thought. "Is it because of my corrupted mana?"
"Indeed." Back to Claire now.
"And you can't tell us." Samira zeroed in on Claire. "Is it because it's old magic?"
There was no response.
"Well, logically, that means you're right." Elsie was rubbing her chin. "She cannot speak on old magic, right, Claire?"
"Right." Claire nodded.
"Then her not giving an answer is our answer." Ana completed the thought for Elsie.
"Oh! That explains why Silkie can purify Samira's magic completely!" Lily pushed her glasses up. "This is her old journal. She would know about the magic since she's from that time."
"Hold on, Silkie?" Elisabeth was trying to wrap her head around the words of the Goddess, and now they were bringing up more hybrid monster humans. "Is there going to be more hybrids here?"
"There's a strong possibility." Jasmine pursed her lips. She couldn't imagine the reaction to a man like Firewater would be.
"At least warn me beforehand." Elisabeth sighed and shook her head. "No more springing guests on me."
"Fair," Claire nodded. She had another thought, though. She thought back to the fort where they got this book from. "So is Samira's magic cursed? Or did it deteriorate like the magic of the fort?"
"Good question."