February 5, Sea Circle Calendar 1521, nine in the morning.
Inside the Grand Church on Birka Island, numerous clergy streamed into the Dome Cathedral at the top of the church.
Sunlight shone through the stained-glass windows, spreading a kaleidoscope of light and shadow across the marble floor.
Beneath the towering dome, seven bishops in red robes stood around the perimeter, hands clasped and heads bowed. Their lips moved slightly, producing a low, sustained harmony.
Seventy black-robed clerics stood farther out, praying solemnly.
A long table stood at the center of the cathedral, covered with white linen. On it, various fruits were arranged neatly-apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, pineapples, lemons... almost every variety Babylon could gather.
Each fruit sat separately, spaced evenly from the others in a carefully arranged display.
Sephiroth stood before the long table, his gaze sweeping over the fruit.
He wore white pontifical vestments with gold patterns beneath a red ceremonial mantle embroidered with golden designs. His wings spread slightly behind him, casting a gentle halo in the light from the stained glass.
Sephiroth closed his eyes and activated his "Mythical Zoan: great angel form."
A true "angel's halo" appeared above his head, and his wings radiated pure white holy light.
When he opened his eyes again, they had turned a shimmering molten gold.
His overall appearance had not changed significantly, but every member of the clergy participating in the ceremony sensed a distinct "sanctification" of the High God's presence.
Previously, the participants could hear only the collective prayers within the cathedral. Now, however, the "holy hymns" of seven hundred choir members on the Grand Church's other floors directly below reached the cathedral through some supernatural means.
Lilith stood beneath a stained-glass window, patches of light falling across her white Saintess Vestments. Her black wings were folded beneath a