Scene: Guild Office - Early Morning
The scent of paper, ink, and old wood clung to the air.
Lavirra paced in front of her father's desk, arms crossed, brows furrowed. Her boots clicked sharply with every turn, but the Guild Manager didn't even flinch. He watched her from his chair, arms resting on the desk, face half-buried in his palm.
"Would you please stop wearing a hole in the floor?" he muttered.
Lavirra turned on her heel. "I can't help it, Father. She's been gone two days. No letter. No message. Nothing."
"If the Church convinced her to stay, that's that. If it's what she wants, then we can't stop her."
"You don't get it." She stopped, hands tightening at her sides. "She was the only officer helping me. Not some clerk. Not a half-trained intern. Someone who could actually work. And now you're calm about it?"
"What do you expect me to do? Pull an officer out of thin air? Not everyone's got a scholar's record like Jinn."
Lavirra threw her hands up. "You could've at least tried to hire someone! Or did you expect me to keep shouldering everything forever?"
"Don't be dramatic. You handled it before she came."
"Because I had to. Doesn't mean I liked it!"
The Guild Manager grunted. "Alright, alright. I'll send another request to the Guild School. Maybe some poor kid wants a death sentence."
She sighed and sat heavily on the edge of the desk.
"It's not just about work," she said. "That girl—she's strange. In a good way, but strange. Quiet, unreadable... but whenever she looks at someone, it's like she already knows what they need. Like she's watching more than we ever are."
The Guild Manager raised an eyebrow but didn't speak.
Suddenly, a shout echoed from outside.
"The new Saintess! She's real! She's here! Hope has come! We're not abandoned!"
Lavirra blinked. "Wait—isn't that the guy who always screams about the world ending?"
Her father glanced toward the window lazily. "Yeah. Been like that since the plague took his family. Trauma cracked him. Best not to stir it."
But Lavirra was already frowning.
"Look closer."
He stood, walked to the window—and paused.
"He's... clean? Dressed properly? Gods, he even combed his hair."
Lavirra stood. Her voice dropped low.
"I have a bad feeling. What if it was her? What if Jinn... really was the one in that procession?"
She turned and ran toward the stairs.
---
Scene: Guild First Floor - Minutes Later
Voices buzzed from every corner.
"Did you see the light? It touched half the district. I swear I felt it warm my chest."
"I heard someone say they saw their lost child in a dream. They said she smiled and said, 'I forgive you, Mama.'"
"There was this man—some homeless guy. Said his family spoke to him after the light. He's been helping people ever since. Said the envoy gave him peace."
"I thought he was crazy. But now? He helped me carry water to the orphanage. Didn't ask for anything. Just said he wants to 'meet them proud.'"
Lavirra stopped halfway down the stairs.
Everything around her was spinning. Not out of fear—out of awe.
Whispers and rumors filled the halls like incense. People weren't just talking about miracles. They were feeling them.
They weren't just healed.
They were changed.
---
She stepped outside.
The sun had climbed over the rooftops, but the air still carried the cool hush of morning.
That same man—once broken, now upright—was speaking softly to a group of children near the plaza.
"Live well, little ones," he said. "Because they're watching from heaven. And if you make them proud, you'll see them again. I believe that now."
Lavirra stood still.
Her heart felt tight.
Jinn… was that really you?
She didn't speak it aloud. But the question echoed in her chest.
She didn't need confirmation. The truth was already there—in the way people smiled through their tears, in the way strangers helped each other without asking why.
Lavirra closed her eyes.
"You're the only one who ever surprised me like this," she whispered.
And this time, there was no doubt in her voice.
Only wonder.