136 – Augustine
“You know,” Saffra said. “That’s… surprisingly reasonable.”
Vivi couldn’t blame the girl for her reaction, but she also couldn’t let it slide. “Surprisingly?”
Saffra paused, and her cheeks colored as she realized what she’d implied. “W-well. It’s just hard to imagine a good reason for treating a draconic princess like that. Especially when you owe her.” She cleared her throat and hurried forward. “But it does make sense! You’ve given her an excuse to stay here longer, without confirming you’re either a dragon or the Sorceress, and you’re also making her job of filling up the amulet easier.” Her brow scrunched down. “I do kind of wonder how she planned on doing that before you gave her a reason to fly all the way to Bonegulch, though.”
“I assume the same way she’s been excusing any of it,” Vivi said dryly. “Through healthy amounts of delusion.” Maybe that was harsh phrasing, but also not really contestable. She owed Embralyne, but the woman was… odd. That couldn’t be denied.
“Even then, what kind of logic would she have used to fly across the world ‘looking for you’?” Saffra asked, a mix between bewildered and entertained. “Anyway, what about the next time you see her? She’s not gonna be happy with what happened, even if she realizes you were trying to help.”
“Dragons are prickly sorts,” Vivi agreed. Nobility were the same everywhere. “I’ll escape if I need to. With my ‘other identity’ being a dragon, I can cast almost whatever I want without confirming anything.”
“That’s true.” Saffra was quiet for a bit. “Huh. So, you’ll use the same strategy for the three other spots? Keep giving her the runaround until the amulet’s full?”
“That’s the idea.”
“It really is the best way you could go about helping her, seeing how she won’t accept it normally.” Saffra nodded. “That’s clever, Lady Vivi.”
The compliment would’ve been more meaningful, Vivi thought amusedly, if Saffra hadn’t sounded so surprised giving it.
A moment later, the girl’s contemplative expression morphed into a concerned one. “I’m still worried about what brought her here, though. She has to have a reason.”
Vivi sighed. “That’s the part I don’t know how to fix. But at least I’m helping somehow.”
“She doesn’t seem that stressed,” Saffra said hopefully. “So maybe she’s just filling the amulet up as… an errand? Since she’s here, and might as well?”
As much as Vivi would have liked a comfortable explanation, that didn’t fit. “The energy dissipates fast, so she intends to use it. And the simple risk of losing a Divine Treasure means her goal has to be important.”
Saffra tried to scrounge up another explanation, but failed.
“I might force the issue, ask her directly and reveal myself, at the end. Just to be sure,” Vivi said. “But only after everything’s done. I’ve been wondering whether I should go and speak with the Dragon King anyway. It might end in a fight, but I have to repair that relationship. The dragons are some of the oldest keepers of knowledge—magical and otherwise—in the world. No matter if their spellcasting is incompatible with ours, Cinereus is too valuable to avoid forever. It’s best I handle that while things are peaceful.”
Saffra had looked serious through the explanation, but her expression blanked at the end. “Peaceful? Lady Vivi, the world almost ended less than a few weeks ago. And now there’s a permanent portal to another dimension above a major city.”
“Both contained,” she pointed out defensively. “Relatively speaking. Things are peaceful, in the sense that I’m not actively putting out fires.” She guessed her sense of ‘peaceful’ meant ‘not undergoing active, worldwide armageddon,’ which was a low standard to set. Maybe her apprentice was right. “Regardless, I should see him beforehand, in case things get actually hectic.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Saffra had gone pale, no doubt imagining what ‘actually hectic’ meant to Vivi.
“It’s possible he’ll be more receptive to this threat than to the Cataclysms, too. As a ruler of a kingdom, he is a pragmatist, and the Cataclysms mostly left the immortal lands alone. When the Ashen Hierophant invaded, Cinereus was able to fend him off”—though the man had impressive scars to remember that event by—“so while he knew they were threats, they didn’t absolutely guarantee his people’s collapse. The void, however, would.” Assuming she didn’t stop it.
“You think he’d agree to help?”
“Probably not, even still. But I owe him an apology.” No matter how poorly it might be received. “And he’s worth talking to. I’ll deal with it all when the time arrives. It’s going to take Embralyne at least a few days to fill the amulet, even if I keep giving her excuses to go exactly where she needs.” She sighed. “For now, I have something else to handle.”
“The Archbishop?”
“Yes, the Archbishop. I’m going to go and find Rafael and see if there’s been movement on that front. I’ll leave you at the Institute?”
After a short hesitation, Saffra nodded. Vivi whisked the girl away, then set off on her next task.
***
Vivi couldn’t say she was thrilled, discovering through Rafael that their plans had progressed. The strongest healer in the human kingdoms and the de facto head of all five kingdoms’ organized religion had agreed to see her—and at her leisure no less. The man would be in Meridian for at least a week, and would be expecting her whenever. Everything had been tidily set up by her loyal steward, as events usually were. Much as sometimes she wished they weren’t.
Better to go and get it done. I don’t want to keep stressing about it.
…though, that anxiety did come from meeting a personality that might be more troublesome than a draconic princess. Calm and relatively reasonable under normal circumstances, the Archbishop might not seem like someone she should be afraid of meeting, but his history—and the game’s plot—had made one thing clear in particular: Augustine was a zealot, a true disciple of the heavens.
And Vivi herself wasn’t convinced the heavens were real, not in the sense the Archbishop clearly believed. He probably would take offense at many of Vivi’s views, not that she was so clueless she would voice them.
She wished she could pawn the task off on Rafael, but not only would she need to supervise the Codex’s use, the Archbishop had hinted at wanting—though hadn’t demanded—their meeting to be private. He wanted to speak with the Sorceress, and while Vivi could snub anyone and get away with it, the Archbishop didn’t seem like someone she should disrespect. Especially when she had a favor to ask.
After a lengthy debriefing in which Rafael doled out advice—most of which she would surely forget despite her best efforts—she [Blinked] above Vanguard. She turned westward to face Meridian’s temple. The wind rustled her white hair as she studied the structure.
The High Sanctum couldn’t be called a truly peerless construction in the capital of the human kingdoms, but only because of the sheer quality of its competition—the Thaumaturgical Institute, a gravity-unanchored sky-island capped with a tower casting a shadow across half the city, and the Royal Palace, sprawling and gaudy with all the wealth of the most populous race of mortals for the first time in a long-lasting era of peace.
But at a minimum, the white pillars and arches, the soaring multicolored stained-glass windows, and the sheer footprint of the massive building made for an impressive sight. The High Sanctum served not just as a place of worship for the citizens, but as a gathering point for an entire category of adventurers—much like the Institute was for mages. Unlike the Institute, however, nearly all priests, priestesses, and other divine-type classes were aligned to the Church. Very much not the case for the more traditional spellcasting disciplines. So in that regard, the Church held even more power than the Institute.
Her apprehension grew as she studied the building, and as she considered her upcoming task.
Not even you could start a war with the Church by accident, Vivi. Relax.
The thought was meant to be encouraging in a sarcastic way, but she winced.
Then again, don’t jinx yourself.
She shook the uncertainty off and flew forward. The building rapidly grew in size. Rafael had given her instructions, so she soared behind the magnificent face of the temple and located the small quarters in the rear of the structure, meant as a living area for the Sanctum’s residents.
There was no receptionist waiting inside, of course, and Vivi felt awkward as she strolled down the corridor, seeking out the room in question. The Archbishop had told Rafael that he would be in his quarters for the rest of the day, though something could always have pulled him away—he was an important and thus often-occupied leader. She couldn’t decide if she hoped for a delay or not.
Since the universe had a grudge against her, she didn’t even manage to find the Archbishop’s room without an intervening debacle. Halfway down the hallway, a priest miraculously chose that instant to shuffle out from his chambers. The golden stars on his shoulders meant he was a bishop—high-ranking, objectively speaking, but not someone connected enough to know the semi-open secret of the Sorceress’s return.
Indeed, the bespectacled man glanced at her as he was locking his door with an iron key, then slowly turned back in a double take. He saw the red tear trails going down her cheeks and froze.
Vivi debated the pros and cons of explaining that she was here privately. Surely it was implied; he wouldn’t spread rumors.
More importantly, she didn’t want to suffer through whatever the interaction would be.
So she nodded at him and strode past.
Finding the Archbishop’s room, she knocked on the wooden slab. She felt the other priest’s eyes boring into her, and wholeheartedly ignored the attention.
The Archbishop answered without too long of a delay, though Vivi did have to keep her gaze locked firmly forward as—thankfully—the other priest finally scurried away. Presumably deciding against confronting the small demon wearing the Sorceress’s tattoos knocking at his boss’s door.
Augustine wore his full regalia: white and gold robes, with his tall hat bearing a golden star. Technically, because he was an archbishop, three cardinals stood higher in the Church’s hierarchy, regardless of the fact that Augustine dwarfed them by levels, was a centuries-old war hero, and was the man responsible for reforming the Church into its current state.
But ‘technicalities’ mattered not at all; Augustine led the Church. The only reason his peers hadn’t invented a new rank of Archcardinal and elevated him was his own insistence on ‘serving penance for past failings.’ Vivi wouldn’t be surprised if he were as revered as some of the gods, blasphemous as that comparison might be.
For all her mixed thoughts, it was hard to look on the older man and not feel a swell of admiration. He radiated, above all else, conviction—and that conviction had always been applied in a noble manner. His face was serious and his eyes were, if intense, also kind; he smiled, reserved but genuine, as his gaze shifted downward to land on her.
“Lady Sorceress. Earlier than I expected. Please forgive the reception. There is a time for ceremony, and a time to do without, and while I would have offered due formalities, your steward suggested you would prefer a private meeting instead.”
“He’s correct,” Vivi said. “As he usually is.”
He laughed politely and ushered her in.
Archbishop Augustine lived in a room that bordered on spartan. Not stripped to necessities, but without anything that could be called luxurious. Clean, well-made furniture, yet no flourish in sight, no sign of his wealth—and a prominent, connected Titled was most certainly wealthy.
Though of course he wasn’t the type of man to surround himself with decadence. The Church was grand and opulent, but Vivi imagined that was to inspire the populace and show respect to the gods—not self-indulgence on the Church’s part. Not the current Church, whose shape was formed by the man in front of her.
At any rate, the Archbishop’s private domicile proved he didn’t value grandeur. She almost felt embarrassed about the luxury of her own manor.
“I should apologize for the assumptions I made earlier,” the Archbishop said as he closed the door behind them. “I should have given one sooner, during our first meeting. It was… difficult… seeing a miracle delivered by what I was convinced were the heavens, snatched away. At the time, I felt both foolish and, even less forgivably, cheated.” He met her eyes seriously. “So indeed. I apologize for that behavior, Lady Sorceress.”
Though her face didn’t twitch, Vivi was taken aback. To be honest, she’d all but forgotten about the Archbishop’s initial claims. She had found the excuse convenient more than anything. Augustine had obviously not been malicious in his enthusiastic declarations of divine intervention, and neither had he caused trouble when the truth revealed itself.
“No apology is necessary,” she said eventually. “But thank you.”
The gravity in the elderly man’s tone softened, and he chuckled. “It’s a given, from what we know of you and your venerable allies, that you aren’t one to demand accolades for your actions. But that doesn’t remove the need for an apology. I acted rashly. And a person would not be arrogant to wish acknowledgement for his deeds, though indeed, it is a source of admiration that you seem so indifferent to such. To do good without praise is a sign of a pure spirit.”
Vivi wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She certainly felt like she’d been given too much credit. “I did what I could. What anyone would’ve, in my situation.”
Her response, for some reason, made the Archbishop’s smile falter. He sighed. “I would like to believe in the decency of all men and women,” he said, “but in doing so I caused great harm, once. I’m afraid our views diverge there. It is a rarity for power to lead to benevolence, and strength in spirit must be proven, not assumed.”
The man stood up straighter.
“You are not here for moral and theological debate.” He gestured at a wooden chair. “Presuming the reception is not too casual, I am drowning in work, as much of the city is. Menial, but no less important for the quality.” A wry smile turned the edges of his lips. “Simplicity is virtue. We preach that daily.”
Vivi sat. She once again didn’t respond; she was trying to choose her words carefully. Regular conversation could leave her at a loss for what to say, but a misstep with the Archbishop could be damaging in a manner that almost no other discussion in the world could be.
Augustine didn’t seem put off. The Sorceress’s reserved, near-anti-social reputation probably helped. He slid into his own seat and picked up his pen.
“So,” he said. “Guildmaster Rafael alluded to a mission, and a personal request as well, which I admit curiosity toward. But before those, let us speak on another topic. A topic I believe I surprised him by answering. That of an old monster before even my time.”
Vivi knew where the Archbishop was leading; Rafael had of course warned her beforehand.
“Yes, that man was given such a title for a reason, and that you investigate him surprises me not at all,” Augustine said, frowning down at his desk. “Deep blasphemies, he offered to the Church. If one could ever be named such, it was he. A Fell Apostate.”