ReThree: sisterhood

After that incident, Mom immediately came and kicked all three of us inside the house. She took off our clothes and wrapped us in towels. Now each of us has a hot chocolate in hand. Arina made an excuse of her wanting to sleep and went to her room, and we were left facing a Mom who demanded some answers. 

We were sitting cross-legged by the fireplace, facing her standing before us with her arms crossed. 

"We... are sorry." 

"Did you think saying sorry would resolve what happened?" 

"But Mom, Arina—" 

"I'm not talking about the recent incident. If you fall from that height had been over land instead of the river below, you wouldn't have come out alive." 

Aldous lowered his head and stared sadly at the ground. Eventually, the fear of what had happened caught up with both of us. I had experienced death once, but this was new for Aldous. So I guess his state was worse than mine, and he had been putting on a brave face until now. I placed my hand on his back in a gesture of sympathy. He gave me a sad smile and lowered his head again. 

"Do you know how worried I have been about you all this time? After you sent that signal to me and Bernard, I was even more concerned than before. But worse than me..." 

For a moment, silence reigned, with only the sound of the crackling wood in the fireplace breaking it. 

"It was Arina," she said, lowering her voice. 

As she continued, her gaze was fixed on the stairs at the end of the hall, 

"I didn't say anything to her about the stones. But when she saw you were late, she became just as worried, if not more so. She had to keep herself busy in the training stage to escape her anxiety. You all know her mental state." 

"..." 

"Until now, we managed to improve her mood together. You shouldn't do anything to undo all the progress we made." 

"We are truly sorry, Mom," I said regretfully. 

When I saw that Aldous was not responding, I firmly held his head and tilted it down. 

"Ouch ouch ouch! We are really sorry, Mom. It won't happen again." 

Mom exhaled impatiently and with crossed arms, looked at us. 

"Okay, but from now on, there will be no more of flying carriages." 

"Mom, I promise this time—" 

"From now on, Bernard will come to pick you up and bring you home. If you are too worried about the horses, I can get you a mule to ride back and forth." 

"Really?" Aldous said happily. 

"And you are not allowed to use magic for a month." 

"Why that? Wasn't the flying carriage ban enough?" 

"That was for your safety. The main punishment is this." 

"Then why don't you forbid Angela?" 

"Why do you include me in your mistakes? That was my apology regarding Arina," I said irritably. 

"Well, that also was your mistake; I told you to leave Arina alone."

I pulled his hair toward myself. 

"Do you want a beatdown?" 

"Oh, let go of me, you beast girl," he said, pulling my hair back. 

"You—" 

"Enough!"

With Mom's shout, we both stiffened in our seats. She rubbed her eyes. 

"I said everything needed to be told. Now, I don't want to hear any objections or noise from either of you. Go back to your room, and I will call you when it's time for dinner." 

And both of us, with our heads down, headed to our room. 

***

Today, unlike last night, the weather was completely sunny and moderate. A pleasant breeze coming from outside the carriage brought the lovely scent of water lilies and violets to my nose. Today and tomorrow were considered days of prayer, serving a purpose similar to the weekend. Of course, the prayer days were established for worshiping the Almighty Creator. But there's no obligation in this, and people can use it as leisure time.

"I don't get it how everyone is having fun these two days while we have to get up and go to Pantheon's shrine?"

 "Aldous!" 

"You always make us to go there and stand still in front of a statue."

 "Stop talking too much non-sense and think about what you want to say to the Absolute Creator this time..." 

"Why didn't Arina come? Is it just me you can boss around?" 

"She's... preparing for this year's exam, and you know that well," Mom said with frustration. 

"Well, I have an exam this week too, and I wanted to study at home."

 "And what kind of exam are they taking at this time of year?" 

"Weekly exam..." Aldous said uncertainly under his breath. 

"Haa! Stop acting that much childish, Aldous. Learn from your sister who always participates and cooperates in worship." 

Aldous looked at me with disgust.

 "I can deal with her personality, but I can't handle her religiousness. This paradox in her character is so annoying." 

I smiled and turned my gaze back outside the carriage. 

"Aldous, don't be so impatient. Every week, we only go to the pantheon's shrine for one of these two days. Many people spend both days entirely in shrine and even sleep there at night," Mom said. "Well, they must be homeless." 

"Aldous!"

 I didn't listen to their conversation any further and focused entirely on the outside. The truth is, in my previous life, I was an atheist and knew nothing about religion in my past world. But after this opportunity that God has given me, I'm doing my best to show my gratitude. After all, It was the one who brought Arina and me back to life again. The pantheon's shrine we went to every week wasn't in the city center; it was a forested area that rarely anyone visited. The reason we went all that way was due to two things: its seclusion and my father's friendship with the Courier there.

 *Courier is like a pope who manages the pantheon's shrine and oversees religious ceremonies*.

 As far as I understood, my father had once been injured by a monster and sought refuge in that shrine. Courier took care of him until he fully recovered, forming a friendship between them before Mom and Dad got married. The carriage gradually slowed down and finally stopped. 

"Madam, we've arrived," Bernard shouted.

We all got out of the carriage one by one. I could see the trees surrounding us from a distance... The trimmed green grass adorned with numerous flowers and decorative bushes beautified the grandeur of our shrine ahead of us. It resembled Baroque churches: a tall building with pointed roofs adorned with statues of strange creatures related to this world's religious culture...

 'I hope knowing the identity of these animals isn't too important.' The entire facade of the shrine was bright; all its stones were polished so much that they sparkled under sunlight.

 "Welcome back, Madam Bazz! Courier is waiting for you inside the place of worship. Let me take you to him." 

"Thank you, Brother Jack." 

The servants at the place are assistants to Courier; they help him with tasks like welcoming worshippers, collecting donations and charities, cleaning sanctuary and etc.

 Jack is one such servant here. a middle-aged man with a thin frame that seemed like it could break any moment. He had a bony face with dark circles under his eyes; he always wore a dark robe. His hair, eyes, and eyebrows were all black. I can say he's the only person among all those I've seen whom I'd expect magic from if I'd met him in my previous life...