The long, monotonous mass, running from 6am to 9am, was nearing its end. Amber eyes in the semi-darkness of the tiny church are fixed on the open bound Holy Scripture, while lips preach about original sin, about the Virgin Mary, about the great sacrifice of Jesus.

The heat consumed the blessed place with the enthusiasm of a starving devil. Sweat trickled down his shoulder blades beneath the new black cassock. His measured footsteps echoed across the wooden floor of the small church, moving the man away from the pulpit toward the back of the church. All Kento's parched lips desired was a sip of chilled water.

Jesus died for the sins of mankind, but he couldn't save us from global warming, shamelessly thought priest Kento, dousing his flushed face with holy water from a tiny font. Quite an audacious thought for someone who has kept his vows to God for ten years now. Even without any vices and remaining untouched in his almost thirty years, he couldn’t protect himself from blasphemy.

A squelchy stomping on the wet floor was heard from behind, momentarily disrupting the man’s of God brief idyll. A short nod served as a greeting, his amber eyes didn’t even bother to look at the silhouette of a young woman who had caught him in a moment of rare vulnerability. But she didn’t approach the font, only silently burning him with her gaze, and after that, Kento realised that the quiet churchgoer was eager to discuss some troubling issues.

The priest reluctantly, with a barely audible clucking of the tip of his tongue, looked up at her with a frown and froze. An angel, angel in the flesh. Cheeks, flushed from the heat, light white dress, thin hands clasped awkwardly on her stomach. She was so beautiful and smiled so innocently that he was ready to fall at her feet and make her his only religion. Ten years of service to God, ten years of giving up everything. Were you an angel or a devil in the body of a young beauty? Lilith?

"What can I do for you?" the man asked surreptitiously and laconically.