Chapter 257 - The Temples - I
For Adeline it felt like her cheeks were burning the entire night. The kiss with Xavier had left her lions roaring for more. However by the morning she had calmed her heart down. Sleep barely come by but she still managed to rest well. Who knew what it was going to be like tomorrow?
Xavier had once again shifted in his beast form and Adaline just like always carried his clothes in a separate bag. Now if she thought about it he should have told her that it was going to take them at least three days to travel since she was human. Adaline would have loved to bring extra clothes with her because now for her she stank.
The climb was not as long as yesterday. By the end of the afternoon they had reached the peak where the temples begin and found that their companions were waiting for them at the entrance.
Adelene would have loved to hug her girlfriends but now she was not sure. For all she knew they were going at it just before meeting her. By the smiles on their faces and with what had been Adeline knew because they had reached here before them they must have gone at it like rabbits!
"How was it?" Augustus asked Adaline as Xavier went to a corner to change. "We were leaving words for you. Were they enough?"
Adeline was mildly shocked. "You were the ones cutting wood for us?"
Dylan nodded and spoke up, " yes. Originally there were only one log or two kept but we knew you would need more."
That made her feel nice. "Thank you." She whispered with a huge smile on her face. They had kept many logs for them. They lasted them the entire night and Adaline was truly thankful to them for the effort they made.
"Let's go," his hand rested on Adeline's shoulder as if it was meant to be there. It felt so natural and she wondered if she was ever supposed to question him being on her side. How could it feel like, when she had never met him before, that he was the one made for her?
How could one person just be right?
She licked her lip as she looked around her. Masses of people yet not heavily crowded. Everyone seemed to be peaceful and focused while they were here. They were small buildings and a huge one in the middle of it. Not many people came out of that one. It seems to be some kind of ancient building which was built up with rocks or stones as it appeared to be from far. Maybe it was from very long ago because it did not look like it was constructed in the previous century or this one.
They started moving forward and she huffed. A little.
"What do we do now?" Adeline asked as she leaned into Xavier slightly. She had no idea where to begin with this religious pilgrimage.
Xavier leaned in to whisper in her ear, "First of all we will be going to go through the cleansing. You are going to bathe in the waters of the temple. They come directly from a waterfall but it is sacred so you cannot touch the landmark. For you they will heat up the water, it is commonly done for humans. After that you will get dressed in clothes similar to everyone and then we will meet again."
She nodded but then frowned. "If I wear the same clothes everyone would not get cold?" There was no shame in admitting that the temperature here was too cold for her to take. She understood why he made her wear so many jackets and it was obvious that the beasts did not have to wear sweaters and jackets like her to operate.
He chuckled. "I know that. You don't have to worry about that because you will be wearing your jacket over it. It is indoors so you will not feel as cold but if you do not hesitate to use your cardigan again."
"Let's go!" Elizabeth looped her arm with Adeline's. "Do you know we will get special chambers to bathe in if we come in pairs? We three are going to one."
Before Adelene knew it, Elizabeth had started to drag her across. She turned around to glands Xavier who went at her before going to the boys.
She turned around. They would meet again so there was nothing for her to worry about. She huffed slightly. After spending so many days with him it had been a little difficult for her to be separated from him.
As Elizabeth dragged her and she realised that she should be thankful. At least she had two people with her who would help her deal with this otherwise Adelene wondered what she would have done on her own.
They all went into a temple that had beautiful craftings on. Beautiful ones she could tell. The inside was even more beautiful. Huge pillars supported the ceilings and Adeline could tell that this place was much bigger than it seemed from the outside.
It did not just stop there. They were carvings on the pillars which she could not understand as it was in some other language.
Elisabeth took her to the floor above by stairs and Patricia followed them behind. Even on the handles there were engravings of the Adeline found to be very beautiful and she admired until she ended up tripping. After that she just focused on where she was going.
"I think," Patricia mumbled from behind and just as she said that Elizabeth stopped and looked at her. Patricia looked at the doors before pointing to one. "That one is ours."
"How do you know that?" Adeline found that to be slightly suspicious.
Patricia giggled. "I can actually hear the water bubbling. That is for you."
Embarrassed, Adaline looked down for a second before Elizabeth once again started to drag her to the room. When she opened the door it was like a sauna. The only difference was there were 3 stalls inside the entire room that were made of wood.
"That is yours," Patricia pointed to the one in the extreme corner. "If you want you can change inside the stall. Humans are not familiar with the concept of nudity as much as we are."
When Adeline heard her and looked back she noticed that the stall was slightly bigger than the others. Maybe it was used by humans that came here.
Adelaide heard some rustling and turned around to see Elizabeth and Patricia already taking their clothes off. She immediately turned around and walked into the stall before work taking off her shoes and jacket. She changed inside the store and hung her clothes.
She felt nervous when she turned on the knob but just as she did hot water poured on her making Adeline relaxed. This felt good.
It was just water here as she looked around to find some kind of soap or liquid to wash our shelf with. So without continuing the futile search she focused on washing herself off with just water which also felt great.
"Adeline," Patricia knocked on her door. "Elizabeth and I am waiting outside. Once you are done you can wear your clothes out and not on the wet floor."
"Thank you!" Adeline appreciated immediately. When she heard the door closed and then turned off the shower and opens the door to find the tall and the dress. She rubbed herself dry before putting on the dress, wearing the shoes given along with it and then pulling her cardigan and then jacket over it.
It was cold and she felt that when she came out of the bathroom stall. She was not receiving anything.
"Hey," she closed the door behind her and greeted her friends. "What now?" She was growing tired of asking that question that was the only thing she could do.
"Well," Patricia tutted her breath, "it's really your choice. For the first two days, the couple just tries to commit themselves by being in the temple. If you want you can recite the prayer. . . Oh you could just go on walk." She shrugged at end.
Patricia looked down with a griamce, "I am really sorry but I am not good at telling people or just like explaining them. I'm just used to giving the orders. If you want we can go out to the Courtyard we can find the boys there.
Adaline nodded immediately. Perhaps asking Xavier would be better because he explained things just right.
They went through the same staircase before taking the opposite route to where they had come from. Behind the temple was a Courtyard and Adiline noticed how she did not feel cold at all. The temperature appeared to be moderate.
"There they are," Elizabeth pointed and Adeline looked over to find all three of them standing together dressed in the same clothes as her but wearing pants instead of dresses.