[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231116/0c68353d2e76e6d896220cfaa8d1a4af.png[/img]

[sub]Collabing with [@Obscene Symphony] as Irina[/sub][/center][hr]
	The cells below the castle were a relic of ages past, back when the castle was the only significant structure in Juniperus capable of housing prisoners. It was a hint at the true age of the castle, which was much older than the outward decor would suggest. 

	But, like the rest of the castle, the dungeons had been periodically updated with the times, even as their use became less and less practical. In fact, the castle cells would probably be considered luxury accommodations compared to most prisons. Their paneled walls and wooden beds, chairs and desks contrasted strangely with the steel bars securing their entrances - a nod to the dungeons’ oft-overlooked history of housing troublesome nobles rather than common criminals. But they saw little use; many cells nowadays had been relegated to storage, housing spare furniture and seasonal decor securely behind bars instead of prisoners. 

	It was to one of the still-operational cells that Scion Theobald was taken, placed politely inside and bolted in, with the same knights who had escorted him down standing watch either side of the barred door. Some time passed while he was down there - with no windows or clocks, it was hard to guess how long - before steps echoed down the hallway in his direction. 

	In the orange gaslight of the hallway, Irina stepped into view on the other side of the bars, hands clasped behind her back, her saber still glinting on her hip. She wore an utterly unreadable expression, although an astute observer would notice the subtle signs of fatigue starting to show. The slight squint of dry, tired eyes, the way her head lolled ever so slightly to the side atop her rigid spine; it was miniscule, but it was also about as much outward weakness as Irina had ever shown. It had been a long night indeed. 

	But her gaze was no less sharp as she eyed Theobald through the bars, looking him up and down like a new recruit before she nodded to the guards, one of whom unlocked the doors before they both departed. 

	Pulling the door open herself, Irina stepped inside the cell, sealing it behind her. She approached Theobald, somehow still looking tall despite the excess of a foot’s height difference between them. 

	[color=lightskyblue]“Scion Theobald, Your Holiness,”[/color] she greeted stiffly, the proper reverence hardly impacting her severe demeanor. [color=lightskyblue]“Forgive me, but I must speak freely.” [/color]

	Then, without warning and almost faster than was perceptible, she slapped him across the face. 

	The force behind the blow was surprising, but aside from one quick shake of her wrist, Irina betrayed no pain. [color=lightskyblue][i]“What was that shameful display on Stern Hill?”[/i][/color] she demanded loudly in Rodion, suddenly seeming like she’d fit right in among Rodion’s finest drill sergeants. Her voice reverberated down the hallway. 

	Though the soldier had been complacent during his arrest, the smack across his face not long after he had stood to greet the Templars’ second-in-command garnered a brief flash of anger across his usually stoic expression. So quickly had he returned to a dormant temperament that it seemed like almost a trick of the light, his rumbling timbre as calm as ever.

	[color=firebrick]”A rebuke that, in retrospect, I should have kept away from the public eye. The same mistake shall not happen twice.”[/color] It was clear in his words that he did not regret the action itself even a little bit, but his head lowered slightly deeper than required to display his shame to keep his emotions in check. His mouth parted, as if to say more, but held his tongue as the strength in the woman’s voice brought back memories that felt like a lifetime ago.

	A time when things were simpler.

	This time, a quick glint in the light heralded another blow, an unexpectedly harder one to the side of Theobald’s head. Afterward, Irina held her scabbard aloft like a pageant rifle, speckled now with a taste of the Scion of Fire’s blood. 

	[color=lightskyblue]“Wrong answer,”[/color] she growled, her regimented tone coloured with a touch of foreboding anger, like something large and dangerous huddled beneath the surface of a pool. She returned her scabbard ceremoniously to its place on her belt. [color=lightskyblue]“What makes you think you have any right to strike a Templar?”[/color]

	A muffled grunt released from the former soldier’s closed lips as his head turned to the side from the strike, Theobald facing the woman with a bead of blood dripping down his forehead, the skin above his brow opened by the scabbard. Even then, he showed no remorse, his gaze only a bit sharper than before while he stood at attention without attempting to wipe at his wound.

	[color=firebrick]”It was an act of discipline.”[/color] Not even attempting to cover for himself, the man stood tall and proud, the idea that his actions were in any way dissatisfactory aside from the circumstances around them barely a passing thought. [color=firebrick]”On the warfront, such things were necessary at times to keep unruly soldiers in line.”[/color]

	[color=lightskyblue]“You are not on the warfront anymore,”[/color] Irina spat, meeting Theobald’s glare fearlessly. [color=lightskyblue]“You are not Dame Sara’s commanding officer, and she is not your [i]subordinate.[/i] She is a Blessed Templar, an experienced knight and a member of our highest knightly order. She took a holy vow to protect you, yes - but she swore that oath to the Goddess, not to you.”[/color]

	[color=firebrick]“Is what happened tonight not the first signs of war?”[/color] The former soldier furrowed his brow. [color=firebrick]“It is clear that the events that happened tonight were premeditated and by a force stronger than a mere rogue element. The infiltration of the biggest event at the end of the millenia is not a small ripple. It is the beginning of a wave I am most familiar with.”[/color]

	It was the respect for the Commander that stayed his hand, kept him standing at attention rather than treat the second-in-command with direct scorn. There was a reason she was at his childhood hero’s side, and it was only that implied trust in the woman that allowed Theobald to subdue his emotions. [color=firebrick]“I do not need a babysitter. I need a soldier I can trust to do what is needed.”[/color]

	[color=lightskyblue][i]“You are no longer a soldier.”[/i] Irina reiterated darkly. [/color][color=lightskyblue]“What tonight's events will lead to is none of your concern. You are not entitled to play army and treat the Church’s chosen guardians as buck privates at your beck and call. If your actions tonight are any indication, you [i]do[/i] need a babysitter. Maybe she can teach you to keep your hands to yourself.”[/color]

	Irina [i]tsked.[/i] [color=lightskyblue]“The guards who brought you down here are under instructions from the Veradis Police Department to bring you in on charges of assault. Whatever you may think you were doing out there, I will remind you that it is not acceptable to attack people, and [i]especially[/i] not to do so as a representative of the Church.”[/color]

	[color=firebrick]“Scions are being targeted.”[/color] Theobald sighed, having expected that a few hits weren’t the full extent of his punishment and willing to accept it, but clearly unwilling to accept the woman’s previous statement as his gaze hardened. [color=firebrick]“Whether you like it or not, Dame Irina, this situation very much concerns me. As well as the civilian members placed in a similar position as I.”[/color]

The former soldier closed his eyes, eyelids flickering as if seeing something behind them. [color=firebrick]“I noticed missing figures during our regrouping in the castle. Have there already been victims? Though you ask me to leave my past behind, it is those years on the warfront that allowed me to protect myself and those fellows the church call my peers.”[/color]

His eyes opened once more, his determination set. [color=firebrick]“A representative I may be, but it is not a position I desired. It was you and your people who had seated me on a pedestal crafted to shackle me. If the enemy appears at my doorstep once again, I will not hesitate to do what is needed.”[/color]

[color=lightskyblue]“It was the [i]Goddess[/i] who chose you,”[/color] Irina snapped, looking upon Theobald with cold contempt. [color=lightskyblue]“You would do well to remember that.”[/color]

[color=lightskyblue]“And spare me your platitudes,”[/color] she scoffed, [color=lightskyblue]“you know as well as I it was not duty that moved your hand tonight. It was the thrill of battle, the chance to test your mettle yet again and stretch your sword arm. I know it well.”[/color] She spoke as one with experience, but not with approval. 

[color=lightskyblue]“You want to relive your glory days - or add to them. But you are not Maxwell Alderman, and the days of Scion warriors are behind us, Mother be praised.”[/color] Her reverence was sincere, but her eyes were sharp with warning. [color=lightskyblue]“Continue down this path, Scion Theobald, and you are more likely to tread the footsteps of Scion Yusef instead.”[/color]

[color=firebrick]”A ‘Scion warrior’.”[/color] It was Theobald who scoffed this time, his hand ghosting over where his gunblade would’ve been strapped to his side. [color=firebrick]”I have done as the church requested and never wielded the Goddess’ gift for my own desires. Not even to protect myself, though my ‘peers’ think differently than I.”[/color]

It was an unwanted blessing, but though he had learned just enough to use it should the church ever require it, the former soldier was born to a pious family. Even ignoring his own misgivings, the current him would never use those powers haphazardly.[color=firebrick] “Perhaps you are right, but only just. If I am to do battle with any enemy, it is under my own power.”[/color]

[color=lightskyblue]“You have done nothing but scorn the Mother’s gift and assault her faithful. Your excuses do not cloud the Goddess’ eyes,”[/color] Irina corrected coldly, ignoring Theobald’s continued attempts to justify himself. 

Stepping back, she leaned to peer down the hallway before placing her fingers in her lips to release a long, shrill whistle. At her signal, the two guards from before reappeared from a doorway, opening the gate and receiving the keys back from Irina. 

[color=lightskyblue]“Perhaps a night down here will help you contemplate how the Goddess has called you to service [i]off[/i] the battlefield,”[/color] she commented cooly as she stepped out, allowing the guards to close the barred door behind her. As she turned to leave, she levied a final warning look at Theobald. [color=lightskyblue]“Lay a hand on one of my order again, and I will see that you live to regret it.” [/color]

She departed without elaborating, leaving Theobald alone with his guards and his wounds. 

With his jailer gone, the former soldier returned to his cot, his gaze unchanged despite Irina’s words as he stared coldly at the ceiling. The events that transpired during the celebration would not disappear quietly into the night, and he was certain that the Scions were going to be in the eye of the oncoming storm. 

And in that moment of strife, he was certain that Theobald the soldier would be wanted, no, [i]needed[/i] more than the decorative symbol that is the Scion of Fire.

With that thought, he slept, dreamless and prepared to fight an invisible enemy even in the confinement of his jail cell.