A shudder came up through Lucian's spine, making him tremble slightly at those words. Skyler looked at him so deeply that he seemed to unravel his secrets easily. However, the prince could not react so carelessly.
For this reason he tried to tilt his head and raise his eyebrow.
"What are you talking about, priest?"
Skyler assessed him silently for a few moments and then stepped back a few steps and smiled again.
"No big deal. Come on, the prayer room is over here."
Skyler returned to guide Lucian through that vast and mysterious place. Although he knows that he has a duty to fulfill, Lucian could not get rid of the feeling he had when facing that sphere. Actually, the other time he came, he was also uncomfortable. However, now was not the time to worry about such feelings.
Pushing these unnecessary concerns into the back of his mind, Lucian focused on the here and now where Skyler opened a door showing a large room filled with water.
It was like a huge water fountain whose center was the statue of the goddess. The dark environment could only be illuminated by the sun from the vaulted ceiling, making Lucian roll his eyes in admiration for the beauty of the place.
"You will do your prayers here, and need not worry about your safety, no one is able to invade this place."
Lucian looked up at Skyler, who seemed proud of the prince's reaction.
"Well, thank you. According to the agenda that I was sent, I must be in prayer all day and only during meals someone will bring me something, right?"
"That's right, another priest will bring you a soup and warm clothes. I also put a bed in the corner so you can rest at night. As much as the intention is to stay in meditation, it's not like you need to follow the line."
"Thoughtful of you. Thank you" Lucian smiled cheerfully, especially when he saw the bed behind a screen in a secluded corner "In that case, should I start?"
"Feel free, later I will do my part. If you need just call me, I hope to be awake to hear something."
Skyler waved carelessly and closed the door as he left that room.
Now alone, Lucian looked around and took advantage of the solitude to explore. Before he entered the fountain, Lucian walked around it, noticing that nearby there were wooden benches and even some cabinets with ritual utensils.
A large space without much furniture. And as the shade seemed to become darker and more frightening.
"I'm not the religious type" Lucian muttered as he crossed his arms and stared at the statue in the center of the fountain "But I have the impression that I will be haunted anytime. Haa... should I start with that?"
Taking off his shoes, he walked barefoot into the fountain and approached the statue. The water covered his ankle, and it was a strange feeling to feel his pants getting wet when he knelt before the statue. Still, Lucian joined hands and began to say the prayer he had memorized.
"Gracious mother, shining stone that guides the lost, guide me in the vast darkness to my lighthouse and grace me with your wisdom..."
Lucian made the prayer silently, just focusing on the words and expecting a nothing. It was a goddess of a fictional story, of course Lucian would not expect any kind of miracle or vision. That was just a procedure for the people who live within the story, important to them and not to him specifically.
So, to spend hours and hours praying for a stone statue was a difficult and cumbersome task. There were times when Lucian felt sleepy, in others he was bored tired of repeating the prayers that seemed to have no end. When the moon illuminated the statue, Lucian gave up and went to rest in bed, take a nap just to scare off that boredom.
And as expected... Lucian dreamed of the death of the eighth prince again. So vivid and frightening that it seemed to take root in his soul. The feeling of being in one's own palace and running away in the endless corridors in complete despair, with hands stretched forward longing to reach the exit to see free.
Always running, always panting and tired.
Always... running away.
"Come, poor child, in the heat of death to the cold of life".
The soft and melodious voice whispered in his ears. Lucian no longer saw himself running in the dark corridors of his palace to be kneeling with the blade stuck in his chest. The pain was so real that Lucian was gasping and writhing to try to survive. The lung seemed to explode with heat, causing him to drown in his own blood as he tried to breathe.
Raising his head, he faced the statue of the goddess who looked at him as if he was sorry for the unfortunate scene. Lucian felt pathetic for dreaming of the statue, but he also felt anxious and angry to feel the real pain that the true eighth prince felt. In that crazy dream, the statue shed tears as if lamenting the death of the eighth prince, whose life slowly faded with that sword stuck in his chest.
Lucian woke up from the dream with a gasping. He sweated to the point of the pillow getting wet and his skin shivering cold when the icy wind hit his damp skin. Looking around, Lucian sighed and got up from the bed, walking a little to try to disperse the damn nightmare.
Even if he used the toilet to wash his face and to calm down, Lucian saw himself walking through that room going to the far window of that statue. The shadow of worry never leaving his countenance. Lucian could still feel the feeling of the sword against his chest, which made him gently stroke the region with his fingertips.
So real. So scary.
He had already changed history. What else would he have? Why was he having those damn nightmares?
"As I thought, it seems that I am being haunted."
"Trouble sleeping?"
The voice that sounded like a whisper scared Lucian, who turned quickly seeing Magnus leaning in the window.
"Magnus? What the hell are you doing here? Wait, how did you get here?"
The Grand Duke sat at the window and shrugged as if it were no big thing that he had left his room to invade Lucian's. However, the prince realized that there was a tree in his window, which gave opening for a certain omega to jump getting an animal to reach it.
"I saw you with that priest who was a beast. So I found a way to follow you and find out where you were."
"Wait... and the priest who is responsible for you?"
"Taking a very long nap."
Lucian drowned the surprise with his own hands, making Magnus open an arrogant and proud smile as if he liked his reaction. Magnus must have hit the poor guy to knock him unconscious, but what a bastard! Laughing low, it didn't take long for Lucian to get between his legs and hug him by the waist.
"You're impossible, you know?"
"I said I'd check on you later" Magnus casually commented, wrapping his arm around Lucian's waist "So, are you already dying of boredom?"
"Too much. I'm getting scared of having the company of a statue" Lucian laughed low, looking at the omega with an affectionate expression "But I've done a little prayer today. What about you?"
Magnus shuddered and grimaced, as if the subject was completely unpleasant to him. Lucian laughed low, tempted to continue teasing his fiancé a little more just to see more of that sour face.
"They know they shouldn't expect anything from me. But it's surprising that you're fluttering."
"I wouldn't say that I'm fluttering... it's just" Lucian looked over his shoulder and observed the statue "I had a dream just now, with my death. And I saw this statue in front of me. I think I'm going crazy."
"It is definitely. That's what it takes to be praying like those doves" Magnus let Lucian sit on his thigh and both faced the back of the statue with some discomfort "Should we break it?"
"Unless it is your will to make room for a civil war."
"Tsk."
Although he laughed, finding Magnus' response funny, Lucian was still upset. That shrine was uncomfortable and seemed to make him have more strange and surreal dreams. It's one thing to dream of a story you like, another to dream of a deity that has rarely been mentioned in this story.