unsent prayers

Scenario setting: The trio just met Neyo at a tavern after they asked for recommendations for Shanjinese cuisine. Through a short conversation and learning about Neyo's travel from their home of Marenòs, they all became friends. However, Kejian didn't have the money to pay for dinner (as usual), so the group was forced to do cleaning work to pay back for their meal.

***

As Huilin and Feng’An remain in the tavern to clean the tables, Kejian and Neyo are sent to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

“Is it like this every time?” Neyo asks as they scrub a plate.

Someone says “stop, don’t eat that!” from the main kitchen. Kejian sighs exasperatedly.

“Nah,” he says, carelessly dropping a bowl onto the drying rack. “If we’re fast enough, we just run. How about you?”

“I have a particular set of skills,” Neyo says, and then doesn’t elaborate.

“We’re sorry for roping you into this,” Feng’An sighs from out the kitchen door as he passes by while sweeping. “Cleaning a tavern isn't exactly the ideal travel experience.”

“I don’t mind,” Neyo says with a laugh. “I mean, I might as well experience everything, right?”

“Oh, joy,” Kejian says sarcastically. “Mopping the floor. Washing the dishes. My favorite travel list items.”

“Hey, it’s not the worst thing that can happen. So far, it’s been better than my trip to Diangle.”

“Actually, speaking of travel,” Kejian says. “Why’d you come here? Aren’t you broke? The sights can’t be that interesting.”

“I disagree,” Neyo says. “The sandstone pinnacles are gorgeous. It’s totally different from the ones found in deserts! I never thought I’d see a sand pinnacle with actual foliage!”

“Okay, yeah, those are pretty cool. But seriously. Why visit Shanjin?”

“Hmm.” Neyo pauses their scrubbing, pursing their lips contemplatively. “I don’t know if my news outlet was just exaggerating this, but I heard that there was a mass disappearance of gods, specifically from the Shanjin region.”

“Wait, your country’s news covers stuff happening internationally?” Kejian asks. 

“Only a select few papers,” Neyo clarifies. “Not many people read them, and there aren’t that many literate people to begin with.”

“Well, I hate to say this, but your sources are right. It’s been happening for nearly half a year now.”

“Really? I only read about it a month ago. I was trying to look for any clues as to why my patron god might’ve vanished.”

“Your patron vanished?!” Kejian whips towards Neyo, nearly dropping his plate in the process. “How did it happen? How’d you find out?”

“When I’m researching, I sometimes ask her for her insight on the common people living in that time period. She — Galeria — is the Goddess of Faceless Crowds where I am. I don’t talk to her all too much, but she always responded to my prayers when I needed her guidance. Then one day she just…” Neyo makes a vague motion with their hand. “…didn’t reply. I even went to make her an offering. A week passed, and still nothing. Then, I read the paper of what was happening in Shanjin, and I figured the same must’ve happened to Galeria.”

“Oh. Wow. I didn’t think of making an offering.”

“Did your patron also vanish?”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. He disappeared one day. Physically. He just didn’t show up at all.”

“Huh. Okay. This is probably obvious, but did you try sending a prayer to him? Gods sometimes get in their zone and forget about existing until someone sends them a message. Especially the minor gods who don’t get a lot of prayers.”

 Kejian’s first instinct is to shoot Neyo’s suggestion down. What good could a prayer do? He saw Enhu every day! They practically lived with each other! They could just talk face-to-face with none of the typical god messaging crap. But the more Kejian thinks about it, the more Neyo makes sense. Enhu might’ve been his patron for the past thirteen years, but what if someone new needed help in the middle of the night? Enhu came to him at night on that fateful third day, after all. The fact that he left just two days after Enhu’s initial disappearance could mean Enhu returned when he wasn’t home. And the fact that he never sent a message afterwards means that Enhu would have no way of knowing where he went… oops.

“I actually, uh, didn’t,” Kejian mumbles. “I didn’t think of it. We talked every day in person.”

Neyo nods in understanding. “Well, you might as well give it a try. Best case scenario, he’s actually just been waiting for your message!”

“Yeah, there’s a small issue, though,” Kejian says, clearing his throat awkwardly. “The thing is, I don’t know how to—”

“HEY!” The tavern manager shouts from the entrance, nearly causing the two to drop their dishes. “Stop talking and get back to cleaning!”

“Sorry!” they exclaim in unison, frantically scrubbing again.

Well, that’ll just have to wait. But that makes it much more inconvenient for Kejian, now that he’ll have to tell the other two about how…

***

“You don’t know how to send a prayer?” Huilin gawks. “I’m an amnesiac, and even I know!”

“Nobody taught me, okay?!” Kejian retorts in embarrassment. “I never had to learn how, anyways!”

“That’s not an excuse,” Neyo snorts. “Not when a white guy like me knows how to send prayers with Shanjin customs.”

“Why are you planning to message your patron?” Feng’An asks, for once being the one to offer the grace of relief from bullying. “I thought he vanished.”

“I mean, I thought that too, but talking with Neyo made me consider if it was just me being stupid.”

“Neyo?” Huilin asks, tilting her head. “What’d you say to him?”

“Oh, yeah, I totally forgot to tell you guys,” Neyo says nonchalantly. “I realized that I never actually told you why I decided to come here when I was talking to Kejian. But, yeah. I came to Shanjin to investigate the disappearing gods.”

“WHAT,” Feng’An says. 

“Their patron god vanished, too,” Kejian adds. “And they heard of our mass god-vanishing event, so they came to gather clues.”

“Oh, that works out great!” Huilin exclaims, clapping her hands. “Feng’An is also looking for the Goddess of Waterfalls!”

Feng’An coughs a few times before calmly saying, “Yes. That’s convenient. We might be able to work together.”

“Excellent!” Neyo gleefully pulls out a notebook from inside their vest. “I was actually planning to ask around where I’d be able to find a library or records room around here. I have so many notes in this bad boy that I need to compare with some Shanjin accounts.”

“Hey, old man, you’ve probably lived long enough to see every building in this country get built,” Kejian says to Feng’An. “Do you know any libraries near here?”

“I think you’d be happy to hear that there is one right at the center of a nearby temple. We can kill two hawks with one arrow if we go there to message your patron.”

“Then it’s settled!” Huilin chirps. “Let’s go there tomorrow! But we should totally sleep now. Cleaning that tavern was exhausting.”

“Are you sure that wasn’t from you attempting to eat a chair?”

“Hey, it looked like a fried dough stick!”

But Huilin is right. It is getting late, and they’ve got a game plan tomorrow. They head over to a nearby inn for the night, and although none of them had money, they must’ve looked so sad and miserable that the receptionist offered them to stay in the hay storage room. It’s better than sleeping on the floor, at least.

As Kejian makes himself as comfortable as he can on a pile of hay, he recites a message to Enhu in his head.

Hey, Enhu. I’m sorry for not messaging you sooner. I thought you’d know where to find me. Wait, shit, that sounds like I’m blaming him. Okay. How about, I thought you vanished. And also I didn’t know how to send a prayer until now. No, this makes me sound stupid. Wait, he probably already knows that.

Hopefully, Enhu is around to hear him at all, and he was just being an idiot who didn’t know to send a message to his patron. Maybe. He hopes. He really hopes.