The three walked through the tall arching gate in the church's main entrance and were greeted by a small room. There were tables to their left, and right, stacked with papers detailing the teachings of Caleyar, and cluttered piles of Zetral symbols folded out of said paper. It was clearly the handy work of some of the younger children. 

"Allen and Dalis, I'm going to clean the mess. You guys go on ahead." 

"Go for it," Allen beamed. He made sure to keep his voice down.

Dalis gave a nod, and he praised her inwardly. 

Despite what she said, they waited for her patiently.  

When she finished and saw the two boys waiting, her face flushed a noticeable red. Timidly, she scuttled to them.

Afterwards, Allen pushed at one of the three closed doors leading into the main hall. Upon doing so, the trio found themselves within a vast space devoid of people with the exception of a few individuals who could be seen sitting in prayer on rows of oak benches. Their devoutness was exuded by colourful rays of light streaming in from the stained glass panels, flanking either side of a large statue of Caleyar himself, behind the altar directly ahead of them. Several unlit candles were positioned towards the far left and the far right of the church. A solitary lit candle drew the eyes of the children, meeting a kneeling petite figure in front of it.

Inadvertently, Dalis's steps made his way towards the figure; he stopped a fair distance from her. Curious of Dalis's sudden movements, the two left behind tailed him, stopping just before him. When they arrived, Allen and Sun Hee saw Dalis close his eyes and silently pray. Solemnly, the two began to also commune with the Church. They hoped that Caleyar would pardon their behaviour.  

After a moment of time, Dalis awakened, crossing with a pair of blurring, deep-set, dark-brown eyes, and an elegant twirling physique.

"Do you perhaps need something from me?" the girl softly asked as she gently swiped the strands of locked black hair scantily flowing past her wispy eyebrows. 

"No."

The girl very faintly tilted her head; a slight curiosity could be seen within her expression. 

"You were alone again. So I thought it would be a little better if I joined you."

With an unreadable expression she asked, "why?"

"Company."

" . . . Thank you."

Treading without a sound, the girl walked away, leaving the petite figure only to be  seen in the distance.  

"Oh, that person is gone," Allen whispered, dispersing the created mood.

"You know her?"

"Well I didn't really pay attention," Allen said apologetically. "When I saw you pray I just went along with the flow you know?" he added.

"I see."

"Want me to go catch her?" Allen suggested.

"No need. On another note, how long has it been?"

"It's been about . . .  haha, good one Dalis." With a green face filled with smiles, Allen immediately started to softly yatter at Sun Hee. "Sun Hee, Sun Hee, Sunhee—"

Following a startled cry she asked, "what's wrong Allen?"

"Sun Hee how long has it been?"

"Umm let's see  . . . it's been about fifteen minutes since coming here with Dalis."

"..."

"..."

(@#$%^&*# Sister Edna is going to kill me!)

 

***

 

"Allen, Sun Hee, and  . . . Dalis. Your big sister would like an explanation."

Currently, the late trio were in front of a very, very, grumpy Sister Edna. An elderly man with a weathered face stood beside her, holding a rectangular-shaped object with a cylindrical surface sticking out in the middle. He appeared just as displeased as Sister Edna. Behind them were their roommates. Many of them had pitying and sympathetic expressions while others leaked out their displeasure. A particular blonde boy appeared to have no comment but his supercilious body expressions may suggest otherwise.

"Ah, well, me and Sun Hee were together about an hour ago. We were with a few others checking out the last spots to visit before we go on our expedition. Then later on we remembered that we haven't done our prayers. So we went downtown and headed towards the main church. But since we were on our way there, we decided to stop at a few more other places along the way. After all, we won't be here for a while right?"

"Yes that's right Allen. Continue." The demoness smiled.

"Then along the way, Dalis called out to us and we went towards the church. But since we were on our way there, we decided to stop at a few more other places along the way. Instead of two, it would be the three of us! After all, we won't be here for a while right?"

" . . . "

Everyone else: " . . . "

"And so then—"

"We are very sorry Sister Edna please forgive us. Due to the arisal of some unexpected circumstances and sequence of events, we were unable to arrive on schedule. We apologize to not only Sister Edna, but also everyone else who has been affected by our inconveniences and tardiness," Dalis proclaimed in a stern voice. He gave a slight bow.

"We are very sorry," Sun Hee apologized, hastily after watching him bow.

"We are very sorry!" Allen followed after. Fortunately, he no longer had to put more than just a foot in the grave.

"Kids these days never being punctual. Back in my day they'd bring the good ol" cane. A whack here and there and the cheeky attitude be out the window. That"d show them . . . ," the old man gravelly yapped.

Glancing at the elder, Sister Edna let out a deep sigh. 

"I will punish you naughty children later: we need to get this photoshoot done," she said in a stern voice before changing her displeased countenance to a bright smile. "Come on, get in with the rest!" she added.

The three were momentarily surprised, and they excitedly went to their respective spots. Even Dalis could not help but show the eagerness from his legs in spite of ambling along. 

"Dalis you're finally here. Jeez, I didn't think you would be late for something like this. You are never late for special occasions," Stilla remarked. 

Melvin seemed to not react to his arrival and remained his gaze to the front. But it only took a few seconds before he "accidently" turned his head to "coincidentally" catch sight of Dalis. 

"Oh, you were here? I lost track of time, as I began to meaninglessly ponder about the life habits of insects. It seems that is no longer necessary."

Dalis turned away in a brush manner. He was late and had no excuses; he had no desire to cause trouble.

Melvin let out a pompous snort and turned to the front. 

"Ready ungrateful brats?"

"Ready! ^0^" chirped Stilla. Nobody had expected someone to happily reply to his scoffed question. If there was a reply, it would only be a response filled with indignance, that is, if it wasn't Stilla. 

*Shutter sound*

 

***

 

"Melvin you don't need to try so hard. Just be normal. Smile and you will naturally be in position. See, watch me!" A sunny smile passed by Melvin's face. 

"Like this?" 

"Eh . . . I don't really like it . . . Now it looks like the smile teacher Halio would give sometimes. It's kind of . . . Let's try again."

"Damn all you kids are the same. All tryna look perfect with your model physiques,  muscles, hooters, poses, makeup . . ." the old man mumbled and continued to ramble on.

On Dalis's end, although he appeared unconcerned on the surface, he was also at work trying to appear perfectly presentable. It turned out that they were only having one photo taken for each group: one photo as fifteen and the other in their small groups. Thus, he was deeply contemplating. 

"Dalis please help meee. I keep telling him to be normal, but he keeps being like this." 

Dalis cut from his mind turned to face Melvin. It appeared that Melvin did not even notice Stilla requesting aid from his nemesis as he was too preoccupied with adjusting his suave looks in his pocket mirror. Wait, did he just take out a hand brush? Hold on, it seemed that he wasn't satisfied with his hair brush. Using a practiced hand gesture, he conjured a controlled wind breeze from the palm of his hand and began to use his hand like a blow dryer.

Dalis's mouth was agape; Stilla had no words.

(Th—This guy . . . he simply . . . never fails to impress me. Unfathomable, truly unfathomable. Since when did he have those beauty essentials? Three years . . . , three whole years in the same ROOM, and all I had was an instinctive suspicion. I have been enlightened), Dalis ruminated with his mouth still agape. 

The elderly man appeared to age ten more years; the wrinkles on his face multiplied.

"Brats, this busy man is giving you four seconds and whether you are ready or not, ya going to get what you get." 

4  

"Melvin!" 

"Ah, ah, ah, hurry, hurry, hurry guys!"

3

"MELVIN YOU POMPOUS AND PRETENTIOUS IDIOT!!" 

The startled Melvin dropped his essentials onto the ground and bewilderedly looked at Dalis. In fact, everyone nearby turned to look at the ruckus.

"Did I just hear Dalis scream . . . ?!" an Orphan shouted out.

"Seriously? It wasn't just my ears?" another Orphan questioned.

"Dalis and Stilla sure have it rough," Sienna commented. 

"D-Dalis?!" Sister Edna cried as she jumped a little in the air turning away from a group towards Dalis's group.

2

Melvin flinched. He began to reboot, and recollect, and conceive many things to assemble a functioning result. However, his disarrayed thoughts were sent elsewhere as one of his arms was suddenly locked.

"S-Stilla?" 

Unfortunately, his response went unheard, as Stilla hurriedly tried to pose at the Camera. Dalis was already quick on the uptake and had already faced the front. Yet, that did not prevent him from having the same treatment as Melvin. 

1

 

 

Author note: Book 1 finished. The Odyssey's Beginning.  

I would love to have this picture illustrated and added here! Perhaps that day will come one day! It would mean so much to me. Although we haven't known them for long, this will become a very precious memory. Lots of action coming up soon, I promise! Like a lot!! I hope those eager to see could wait patiently. There's going to be some deadly serious battles coming up after the tournament.

It is unfortunate we were unable to complete the challenge (We got pretty close though, Thank you). Thus, our release schedule will be released 3 times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the bright side, it gives me a breather and chapters won't lose quality under pressure.