Armen walks into the room, cloth and threads in hand, while Mariette is at the basin splashing water upon her face. She looks unto him and smiles kindly, motioning for him to trade the materials to her.

  She takes them and sit upon the bedside, ardently pursuing her task of mending the fabrics. Though the cloth he had bought were a minor shade different, ultimately it would blend well enough. Armen chooses to pass his time by looking into one of his tomes while he sits upon the floor, facing away from Mariette. This one, a listing and commentary of anecdotes from previous owners in regards to the Compendium of the Inquisition. Where any and all queries he might have of his ultimate charge should find answer.

  Flipping through pages, he finds little. Each page starts with a single description or informative line, then immediately underneath is tacked on excerpts of minor deviations in notes from subsequent owners.

  "~King James' pact: sealed demons within a ring after construction of a temple.

  ~: King Solomon and it only gave dominion over demons, particularly Asmodeus, a demon of lust.

  ~: Not a demon, actually a Nephilim, as it claimed to be birthed of a human mother..."

  More and more the corrective notes stretched down the entirety of each page, each correction getting further from the initial point of the scratched out note before it. Nearly every page was littered with notes from other owners of the book before himself, terribly frustrating to try and glean anything useful.

  His attention is brought from the book and to Mariette, who idly asks as she toils, "So, Armen. Might you tell me more of your faith? I'm still terribly curious of it..."

  Armen mulls the request over for a moment, then replies with a question of his own, "Actually... Mariette, I would be charmed to hear more of thee... I feel as though you ask so much of my own that I know nearly nothing of thee." with a resounding clap of his book snapping shut in his hand, "Please, tell me of your faith. I am curious what it is that you hold in thineself."

  Mariette looks up from her hands and at Armen, whom now had rotated to faced her, still upon the floor. She glances from him to her hands, stationary with thought, then nods affirmatively as she begins to work again at patching the fabric. "My faith is that Jesus was a manolon, like myself. Before our two kingdoms were established; when humans and manolons all wandered the earth amongst each other, was when he was in Jerusalem, and when he was crucified by the human army of Rome that intended on expanding. They were pressured by other humans, and some manolon, that he was establishing a new order and gaining an army to revolt against the Romans, so they crucified him as punishment.

  We also revere the patron saint of traveling: saint Christopher. For he is one of the first venerated manolon saints, and he helped Jesus to cross a river unwittingly. As such, much of our worship is presented by our constant missions. Even though, personally, my convent was forbidden from it, we all knew of the ritual of traveling to spread the gospel. My convent, instead, elected to station upon the road in that nowhere so that we would be a boon of solitude and rest for any travelers whosoever would need us." she pauses a moment, thinking of any notable things that was of her own faith that he might find interesting. In her pondering, she glanced at Armen, who watched her with piqued interest, his eyes barely visible through the slits of his visor. "Uhmmm... Oh! We believe that lust is the greatest, and most terrible sin of them all. That succumbing to the hedonistic whims of the body is the first step into defilement of the soul, and that lust harbors each deadly sin within itself. Greed, sloth, wrath, envy, gluttony, pride; all of them can, and often do, stem from the base of lust."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "How do you mean?"

  "Well, for example: a man may feel lust for a woman, then upon knowing that she shares not his desires, would become wrathful at his rejection. Or become greedy to win her with riches, envy the other man that does claim her, or become dejected and slothful when she ignores his advances. Or, perhaps she does reciprocate, and he becomes prideful that she is his, and gluttonous over her form and gorges himself with sex."

  "Hmm... I've not seen the sins as related in such manner, but it is a very intriguing thought."

  Nodding in affirmation of his voiced thoughts, Mariette continues, "Indeed. We believe that all sins are a product of lust in one way or another. As such, we are prone to temptations and elect to tempt ourselves and others by dressing as we do." she motions to herself, bringing Armen's eyes to devour her form, in her tight fitting habit that cupped her breasts and sleeked down her abdomen, hugging her waist and hips and the small pudgy deposit on her pelvis. In this moment, Armen truly understood the intent of it: to force the mind to wander and fantasize of them, and to bring yourself to push it away and not act upon it in any manner. Both a dangerous trial of followers, and still ingenious to do so. To truly separate the just from the vile and weak. To reinforce the strength of those able to resist. To become callous to the siren call of sex.

  "It is certainly a notable concept within your faith. I cannot say I've ever become acquainted with such different views. Of course, I know basics of Catholicism and Protestantism, Donimism. Yet, I've only heard sparsely of Manolism. It is... eye-opening, to see such differences. One query that I do yet possess: What other saints do you revere?"

  "Oh, uh.. well one that immediately comes to mind is saint Patrick."

  "Patrick? But I know he is a human, why him?"

  "Well... maybe in your historical accounts he is, but from what our sources describe he was a reptiliad."

  "A serpentman? Truly, this is what you believe?"

  Mariette nods her head affirmatively, "Indeed. We know he was a reptiliad for when he was fasting upon Cruachan Aigle, he was tormented by a woman serpent, Caorthannach. She would time and again, without rest, flaunt her haunches and breasts to him, but as he meditated, he remained strong. His will was never broken and he rebuked Caorthannach and sent her into Lough-Na-Corra below him. A testament to faith and the resistance of temptation. If he were a human, it would make less sense that it were a test of lust." she informs matter-of-factly, not looking up from her hands as she sewed.

  Armen tilts his head curiously as she speaks, his mouth parting slightly with thought. The unique views of Manolism were foreign, yet familiar to him. The same stories, histories, legends; all with a differing aspect, and yet formidably similar.

  As Mariette continues to painstakingly mend his clothing, Armen sits idly and watches her. No longer was he intent on learning of anything that might aid his quest, now his attention was spent upon her. Seeing how she would gently sew each thread, her gentle smile at the menial task, the familiar tune of the Athanasian creed hummed from her throat. Occasional moments where she would rest her hands in her lap and close her eyes, still humming with a contented smile tugging her lips.