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She was once more left to wander a living city alone. It was so vastly different. Where Torensten made her feel sticky, Aljana made her feel parched. She closed her eyes at this interesting sensation. Water never tasted sweeter. The sun glittered off the mudbrick buildings in almost a golden sheen. The sand beyond the city’s limits was almost blinding to look at directly.


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Despite the heat, people packed together to do their business. Mikoto could hardly believe the ingenuity and persistence of the humans here. It seemed they had found a beautiful pool of water that streamed from the dunes into the city. Some trees and vegetation seemed to thrive and humans took to it. If she had not seen it with her own eyes, Mikoto would have thought it impossible for humans to thrive in so much sand. Yet, these people went about their day without another thought of it, lost in their distractions.


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Her fascination took her mind off the soreness of riding so long. And even that sensation was new to her.


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The place was overwhelming with its towering buildings, decorated with what flora grew here in the city. But after spending some time within, it sounded like many people were visiting the temple when the light began to wane. It left Mikoto curious to know what a temple was and why so many people were eager to see such a structure.


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She was sure it was the most elaborate building in the city. Her eyes loomed all the way up to its intricately carved roofs which were smelted with precious metals. The people pushed passed her in a rush to see what was inside. She found she didn’t like being shoved about, thus the genome found her way to a wall. It at least gave her some form of safety on one side. She could have left this intolerable crowd, but instead, she made herself small to get through the intricate hallways of the temple. This section was lit by open flames housed in glass lanterns above.


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Mikoto found the crowd heading toward the middle of the temple complex and into a courtyard that opened up. In its center was a belvedere structure - a dais with long pillars holding up a golden-white roof. But most fascinating of all, it seemed to be built to contain a single large flame, that danced in a brass brazier.


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The holy people in the courtyard respectfully stopped guests at a distance, and Mikoto found herself weaving her way to the front to see what was happening. Six figures of white-gold robes with the yellow glitter of flame symbols approached the structure. Two carried a censer to purify the space, its white smoke filling the air as they walked about slowly in a circle around the flame. The smoke rose in the wind. The scent of scattered sage and palo santo drifted delicately.

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Two, a masculine and a feminine, offered their voices in sacred hymns to the flame. Their voices balanced the other and it seemed to reverberate across the courtyard. Mikoto was unused to such tones and if they murmured words, she had difficulty understanding them. Though if she closed her eyes, like she saw some in the crowd doing, she could feel it touch her soul. Or at least, it felt like it shook something inside.


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Those that sang knelt on the floor of the pavilion, in front of the flame. They pressed their hands to the floor and bowed their heads. They lifted their hands in prayer, using this gesture to touch their lips and center of their forehead. They rose and their wrists crossed above their heads, to represent the dawning of day. Other members of the temple stood outside the pavilion holding lanterns of smaller flames on long curved poles. It almost seemed like fire sprites bobbing in greeting.


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Two brought sacrifices of incense and wood to the flame, which they offered with the utmost vigilance. The keepers of the flame then gathered around with bowed heads and gazed intently into the flame. The red-orange light reflected off their white garments, and the horned masks they wore seemed particularly alive.


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“Bring forward your questions. The keepers will beseech the Master of the Flame for answers.”


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And Mikoto watched as people leaned into the acolytes at the front with their questions. It was a beautiful sight to behold. The flames against the waning setting was truly man carving away the edges of darkness with it’s light.


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But as the girl watched, it seemed the keepers did nothing more than gaze into the flame and murmur some sort of answer. Her brow creased as she watched, but she didn’t quite understand. One of acolytes, dressed in simpler robes and no mask approached her. “You look like you have a question. Please speak.”


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Mikoto stared back at the acolyte and simply stated, “What is the point of asking fire for answers?”


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The acolyte seemed a little surprised and studied Mikoto to see if perhaps she was a skeptic of their beliefs. “The Master of Flames, Ifrit, provides answers through the flames. They can only be understood by the Keepers who have tended to the first flame and studied its intricacies.”


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Mikoto stared at the acolyte. Mikoto still could not understand how a sliver of combustible energy was enough to provide an answer to anything. The acolyte felt sweat drip down her neck at the intense stare. “Who is Ifrit?” It sounded familiar. Maybe she saw it in a log on Terra.


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The acolyte seemed relieved the silence was broken. Maybe the girl was not trying to be insensitive, she was just new to their belief system. “He is the one who gifted us with the most sacred of gifts, fire.”


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Mikoto stared again and the holy person wondered if she was placed here as a test of her patience. “Fire can be created with enough oxygen, heat, and fuel. What makes it ‘sacred’?” Mikoto didn’t understand what sacred really meant in the first place. The more she asked questions, the more she seemed to have. The acolyte was starting to bristle and perhaps maybe about to gesture for someone to escort her out. But decided to try one more time. “Fire is necessary for life. It warms the cold nights. It provides nourishment in food. It’s light provides healing.”


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Mikoto seemed interested in the last part. Fire didn’t have to be destructive like at the park in Torensten? “Fire can be used to heal? Like curative magic?” But it seemed she already annoyed the acolyte enough with her questions and the acolyte seemed ready to move on to the next person.