[center][b]Part 2[/b][/center] [color=#fd5e53]“Whoa!”[/color] The young priest was taken by surprise when the space in front of him started to warp. He took several steps back and watched distrustfully as the rippling air slowly molded itself into the shape of a temporal gateway. Manipulation of time and space appeared to be disturbingly common in Ersand’Enise. [color=#fd5e53][i]Just what could it be this time?[/i][/color] Yalen squinted his eyes and attempted to discern what lay on the other side of the portal, but other than an indistinct source of light he could see little of what was beyond. It was likely night over there as well. Finally the ones responsible for opening the gate revealed themselves. Two figures stepped out, one of whom was somewhat familiar to Yalen. There weren’t many priestesses walking around bearing the distinctive phenotype of a blood child. When her crimson eyes met his, she gave him a polite bow. [color=#fd5e53]“Sister Graziano?”[/color] [color=#fe2a74]“Greetings Brother Castel! How are you this evening?”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“Oh, I’m fine. Uh, thank you for asking. To what do I owe the pleasure?”[/color] Yalen felt apprehensive about this sudden encounter. Had Gloria been sent here to make him answer for Covenant’s demise? It was obvious that they had been waiting for him to leave. The timing was too perfect. Yalen’s eyes moved to her left. The person accompanying Sister Graziano was not quite as eye-catching as she was. To say they were dressed plainly was an understatement. Their sandals looked worn out and ill suited for the present storm, and the stranger’s attire consisted only of a slate colored robe tied at the waist with a length of fabric. The only thing that stood out about them was their face, which was concealed behind a metal mask cast in the shape of a snow leopard. There weren’t any openings for the wearer to see through. [color=#6c91a3]“It was I who arranged for this meeting.”[/color] The man answered back. [color=#6c91a3]“Well met Yalen Castel. May I have some of your time before you retire for the night?”[/color] Yalen stared at the pair with weary eyes. He had been on an emotional roller coaster today. His body was aching from partially healed wounds and sores, and it had been far too long since he last saw his bed. On top of that, he had no idea who this man was. His only reassurance was that neither of them had attempted to cut his head off on the spot. [color=#fd5e53]“I see I need not introduce myself. May I ask for your name sir?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]I am-”[/color] The masked man was ravaged by a spontaneous fit of coughing. [color=#6c91a3]”I am Cardinal Verus. Dami guide you, my child.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53][i]A cardinal![/i][/color] Yalen bent at the waist until his back formed a perfect angle. [color=#fd5e53]“And Oraff keep you your eminence. I am sorry for speaking so plainly to you just now.”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“It’s alright. The blame does not lie with you Yalen. I-”[/color] Another fit of coughing, now even more severe. Gloria hovered her hands over the cardinal’s chest and concentrated. Yalen could sense the flow of energy produced by her healing spell. [color=#6c91a3]“Thank you Gloria.”[/color] Verus gave his assistant a grateful nod and went back to speaking with Yalen. [color=#6c91a3]“I am dressed like this so I won’t be recognized in public. There are people who would see me dead in the street if they knew I was coming here. Every day I find it harder and harder to talk to people in person rather than through a messenger.”[/color] Cardinal Verus hobbled closer to Yalen so only a few feet’s distance separated them. The tethered stood his ground for the time being. [color=#6c91a3]“You have held my interest for a while now, Yalen. May I call you Yalen?”[/color] The man tilted his head questioningly, unable to express himself through the cold iron mask. Yalen nodded in the affirmative, ignoring that the cardinal had already called him Yalen several times now. [color=#6c91a3]“Glorious. Before I discuss my business with you, I would like to shake your hand. You don’t mind, do you?”[/color] Verus extended his hand outwards. His oversized sleeve rolled back to reveal a hand that was covered in ugly scars. The tip of his middle finger was missing, replaced by a smooth nub. The two gently shook hands. When they did, Yalen thought he felt something like static pass between their palms, but the sensation was too faint to know for certain. [color=#6c91a3]“Oh. It is as I thought.”[/color] Verus muttered under his breath. [color=#6c91a3]“Yalen, you have been touched by the darkness, haven’t you?”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“Pardon?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“The void. I can feel its energies moving through you. It has made you stronger. More resilient. More…”[/color] The cardinal was interrupted by another whooping cough. Yalen retracted his hand and rubbed it. [color=#fd5e53]“Aberrations. You’re talking about aberrations, aren’t you?”[/color] Yalen spoke bluntly. [color=#fd5e53]“Did my conversation with my teacher raise your suspicions?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“What?”[/color] Verus pulled his sleeve back over his tattered hand. [color=#6c91a3]“Your discussion with Mrs. Tomaras had nothing to do with us. I assure you that no eavesdropping took place.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“Then how did you know?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“Because I’ve been trained, and because I know where to look for the signs. Or did you mean to ask, how did I know to check you in the first place? Well…”[/color] The cardinal shrugged. [color=#6c91a3]“It was just an educated guess. The anomalies have been popping up all over your school. It would be strange if at least one student didn’t disobey the rules and try to absorb one.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53][i]So he doesn’t know that there was an aberration in Torragon. Still, the cat is out of the bag now. There is no point in hiding anything from here on.[/i][/color] Yalen’s expression darkened. [color=#fd5e53]“Then are you here to punish me?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“...”[/color] Cardinal Verus burst out laughing until he was hunched forward in pain. Gloria silently tucked her hand underneath one of his armpits while rubbing his chest. [color=#6c91a3]“Hee… ho… heh heh… That was… an excellent jest Brother Castel.”[/color] Verus loudly exhaled through his leopard mask. [color=#6c91a3]“Me, a cardinal, being sent personally to punish a disobedient trainee for such a trivial thing. What a scandal that would be.”[/color] The cardinal massaged his throat a bit. [color=#fd5e53]“I don’t- I don’t understand.”[/color] Yalen murmured. [color=#fd5e53]“Then what...Oh. Oh, I see. Yes, I think I know what it is now.”[/color] He calmly closed his eyes. For a cardinal to come all this way, it would have to be for something truly abhorrent. [color=#fd5e53]“This is about Djamant isn’t it?”[/color] [color=#fe2a74]“I told you he was a smart boy. He even managed to deceive Brother Ash for a short time. Can you believe it?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“Indeed. The Dordians are lucky to have such a fine talent in their fold.”[/color] Yalen lowered his head and offered his hands with palms turned upwards. [color=#fd5e53]“Then by all means, please take me to the tribunal. I will not resist.”[/color] The cardinal rested his knuckles where his chin would normally be and hummed. [color=#6c91a3]“No... No, I don’t think I will.”[/color] Verus chuckled. He gripped Yalen’s hands with telekinesis and threw them down to his sides. The biro’s mouth was agape with confusion. [color=#6c91a3]“Gloria. Take us to Fieldgate Tower. Get us out of this depressing storm.”[/color] [color=#fe2a74]“As you say.”[/color] Reality flickered, and then Sister Graziano instantly popped up in front of Yalen. Before he could react she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him through another tear in spacetime. [hr] Most of the furnishing in Fieldgate Tower had been removed for cleaning after the conclusion of the melon derby. The floor that the three now occupied was almost totally swept clean, aside from some piled up storage chests, a few shelves stocked with bottles, and a handful of torches in the corners of the room. These glowed faintly, still warm from recent use. Yalen encouraged them to burn just a little bit brighter. [color=#fe2a74]“Allow me.”[/color] Gloria announced. She stretched her arms out wide and let her magic run free. The thick stone floor rumbled and shifted. Up from the dusty old brickwork sprung a limestone table, as well as an appropriate number of chairs for the trio to sit on. [color=#6c91a3]“Take a seat.”[/color] Yalen and the cardinal took the chairs facing each other while Gloria settled into the side seat. Verus clapped, and then a chest slid across the room and flung open. Wooden cups floated out of the chest and landed in front of everyone. The priestess transported a bottle into her hand with spatial manipulation and filled the cups with a clear brown liquid. Her master picked up his mug and raised it up. [color=#6c91a3]“Before we begin, let us warm our bodies with a drink.”[/color] Cardinal Verus tipped his head back and sipped his refreshment through a thin slit in his mask. Yalen nervously traced the rim of his cup with his index finger, but when he saw Gloria take a drink as well he felt obliged to do the same. The liquor tasted of either molasses or sugarcane. It was dry, with a hint of vanilla and nutmeg. It was strong! Yalen reflexively beat his chest and coughed. As soon as the rum hit home, a warm feeling blossomed in his stomach and spread to the rest of his body. [color=#6c91a3]“Now,”[/color] the cardinal began after putting his cup down, [color=#6c91a3]“Is there anything else you’d like to say to me before we begin?”[/color] Yalen shook his head. [color=#fd5e53]“...No sir.”[/color] Even though the cardinal’s eyes were hidden behind a false visage, the younger priest still couldn’t bring himself to look any higher than the man’s chest. [color=#6c91a3]“Very well, then let’s not beat around the bush.”[/color] Verus leaned back in his chair and bridged his fingers together in a relaxed position. [color=#6c91a3]“I know that you and your friends went to Djamant. I know that you met the team calling themselves Covenant, and that your meeting inevitably ended in bloodshed. However, I was not there to witness events transpire with my own eyes.”[/color] Yalen swallowed a mouthful of air. [color=#6c91a3]“I want to know why you went to that island. What did you learn in Djamant, and how did you manage to defeat a team made of the Optimate’s most powerful agents?”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“I-”[/color] Yalen began. [color=#6c91a3]“Hide NOTHING.”[/color] The cardinal’s voice pierced Yalen’s brain like a lance. It felt like he was confronting Brother Wolf all over again. His mouth formed words without his consent, possessed by the preternatural authority of Verus and his cryptic magic. Everything that was discovered on Djamant was laid bare. He could not stop himself from incriminating himself and his friends as Covenant’s demise was described in gruesome detail. Yalen was unable to resist revealing the true extent of Jocasta’s power, and the existence of the one called Benedetto. How were Wolf and Verus able to control a man’s will so easily? [color=#6c91a3]“Hmm.”[/color] [color=#fe2a74]“There is no hard evidence, but…”[/color] Gloria whispered. [color=#6c91a3]“Yes, the boy’s story confirms much of what we already know. I believe we have finally found her.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53][i]Her? Do they mean Jocasta?[/i][/color] Yalen thought to himself as he massaged his throat. Were these people after her too? [color=#6c91a3]“Yalen.”[/color] Verus abruptly addressed him, snapping him out of his idle thoughts. [color=#fd5e53]“Y-yes your eminence?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“Do you regret your actions today?”[/color] Yalen almost immediately answered yes, but he stopped. Even without the compulsion of the cardinal’s magic, he felt that he had nothing left to hide from these people. [color=#fd5e53]“N-no.”[/color] He lowered his head in shame. [color=#6c91a3]“No? You mean to say that if I asked Gloria to turn back time, you would help your companions murder Wolf a second time?”[/color] Yalen’s reply stuck in his throat like a thorn. He couldn’t get the words out, but only nodded in reply. [color=#6c91a3]“Is that why you feel guilty right now?”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“A… a servant of Oraff should not willingly choose one person’s life over another. I-I…”[/color] Yalen hiccuped. [color=#fd5e53]“I have sinned beyond redemption your eminence. I deserve to be punished to the full extent of Quentic law.”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“Do you?”[/color] Cardinal Verus leaned forward and rested his chin on his knuckles. [color=#6c91a3]“I wonder about that.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“W-what?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“I know how you feel, Yalen. As a Brother of Sunset your mission is to save lives at all costs. In Torragon, you even spared a man holding a child at knifepoint.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53][i]So he was watching…![/i][/color] [color=#6c91a3]”Yet, time and time again you have found yourself courting the angels of death. No doubt some of those tethered you trained used their gifts to take revenge on their former jailors… And now you have the blood of over a dozen clergy on your hands. I’m certain that In your mind your actions went against everything you stand for.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“I have no excuse.”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“And I ask for none.”[/color] Verus quietly finished his drink and stood up. He began to pace back and forth behind Yalen while continuing to speak. [color=#6c91a3]“Frankly Yalen, I don’t think you belong in a Dordian brotherhood.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“Excuse me?”[/color] Yalen was so taken aback by the cardinal’s statement that he forgot to watch his tone of voice. He self consciously looked towards Gloria, who continued to observe without comment. [color=#6c91a3]“You’re no idealist Mr. Castel, even if you pretend to be one. The confrontation between Jocasta Re and Brother Wolf would have ended in bloodshed with or without your intervention, and I think you understood that with your level of power you couldn’t have saved everyone. Faced with the inevitable, you made a decision no servant of Oraff wishes to make in their lifetime. You chose one life over another.”[/color] [color=#fe2a74]“Love before duty.”[/color] Gloria crooned. [color=#fd5e53][i]Love.[/i][/color] Yalen’s eyes were squeezed shut. He couldn’t hide from a woman’s intuition, and he couldn’t hide from the secret that he had tried to bury deep inside his heart. He had grown to love someone, and it was enough to sacrifice his entire future for her. [color=#6c91a3]“It was a crime of passion, but while you were a traitor to your kin you still chose to show mercy. I heard one of the assassins was taken alive thanks to your efforts.”[/color] Cardinal Verus stood behind Yalen and rested a crippled hand on his shoulder. [color=#6c91a3]“You still believed in justice to the very end, which is why…”[/color] [color=#fe2a74]”We’d like you to renounce your service to Oraff, and join us.”[/color] [color=#fd5e53]“Renounce my-”[/color] Yalen stuttered. [color=#fd5e53]“How can you of all people suggest that to me?”[/color] [color=#6c91a3]“Because she is no sister of the Unconquered Sun, my dear Yalen.”[/color] Verus interjected. [color=#6c91a3]“She is beholden to a much higher purpose, as am I.”[/color] His eminence paced back to the other side of the table with his back turned. [color=#6c91a3]“There is a holy order so feared within the church that the Holy See would seek to ruin our reputation with vile propaganda. In their hatred of us they call us murderers, rebels, and vigilantes. They slander us because we refuse to bow before any mortal authority. Because we would even turn our blades against the optimates themselves if Dami judged them wanting.”[/color] The cardinal slowly turned around. [color=#6c91a3]“We are the Dark Somnians.”[/color]