Redemption Arc

Aurelia and Lucian had given the excuse that they were taking a walk. For some reasons, all of the monastic sisters had acted particularly odd when that was put forth. He had too many other things on his mind to give it any thought. Generally speaking, Lucian was quite satisfied with the plan that he’d devised. There were a few problems.

Lucian and Aurelia stood beneath a large statue in a square in the monastery. The statue seemed to be the hosting ground for some sort of ritual or ceremony. It was dead quiet right now. In War of Four, this place had been a ruin. After looking around to be sure that no one was watching, Aurelia opened up a hatch leading to a basement underneath a nearby building. Lucian entered after her.

When they entered into the basement itself, it was lit up by magic lamps. Lucian looked around for anything out of the ordinary, but he couldn’t find it. Aurelia walked over to one of the lamps.

“In here,” Aurelia called out.

She twisted the lamp, and it opened up a hidden passageway that led right underneath the area that the ritual was held above ground. Lucian felt some déjà vu as he followed her. It came to him, then. This place had been destroyed in War of Four—that was why he didn’t recognize the basement in particular. Nevertheless, the ritual itself…

“Here it is,” Aurelia declared.

Lucian couldn’t read the demonic alphabet, but each of the rune of its language were harsh, strong, and vaguely resembling things that caused death. This place had been half-destroyed in in the game, and to see it perfectly preserved like this was interesting. If only he’d known this was the purpose of this ritual beforehand…

Lucian kneeled and looked at the runes. They’d been carved out of the stone. “This is complete. You made this yourself? How does it work?”

“I thought that you knew all,” Aurelia said cattily. When Lucian turned to look at her, she snickered and explained, “This formation exploits the Mentor’s Seal. That’s what the ritual grounds above allow us to create. It’s our way to prevent the young from using their divine beast forms before they’re responsible, or to punish those that break the rules of the monastery.” She looked over at him. “Provided one has a higher holy affinity than the recipient, the Mentor’s Seal seals our divine beast form. It can only be released when the Mentor wills it. My intent was to use this to render all of my brothers and sisters totally powerless. After all, I have the highest holy affinity of anyone in the monastery. They would lose their ability to defend themselves immediately.”

“Clever,” Lucian said, genuinely meaning it. “Perhaps the first thing worth praising I’ve seen from you. Can you activate it from afar?”

Aurelia shook her head. “No. I have to plant my hand upon—” she stopped, studying him warily. She was smart enough not to give away all of her secrets. “I have to be here personally.”

Could I use this? Lucian wondered. Demonic rituals generally required demonic power. He reached his hand out and touched it. He felt a resonance in the Inquisitor’s Mark in his hand. I can use it, Lucian realized. Even still, this thing was a glutton. It needed a great deal of demonic power. The only nearby source would be Metterand.

“This doesn’t need to be a total loss, you know,” Aurelia suggested. “I could seal their power now.”

Lucian’s heart beat quickly as worry flooded him. That’d be disastrous.

“…we may need them,” Lucian said. He caught Aurelia staring at him with her shrewd, suspicious eyes. To abate her suspicion, he added, “Once he’s dead, we’ll do it.”

“And then we can slaughter them all,” Aurelia said with a smile. “Not quite as beneficial as making slaves out of them, but a win is a win, no?”

God, she’s awful… Lucian thought, then steeled himself to act cold-hearted.

“I look forward to it.” He looked back to the entrance. “Now, time is of the essence. Let’s proceed to Metterand.”

***

After visiting the site of Aurelia’s ritual, they started walking toward where they knew Metterand would be: Aurelia’s chambers, which were on the fringes of the monastery right beside the mausoleum. On the way, Lucian reviewed things.

This plan carried with it one glaring flaw he needed to work around: it all needed to be carried out in a day.

That all hinged around the lie that Lucian had woven. Considering how pervasive demons were around this continent, if they had a physical presence in the world to carry out their deeds, they’d almost definitely be caught. But unless absolutely necessary, demons didn’t have a physical presence. Instead, they appeared to their conduits in the dream world. It was a nearly impossible method to trace, which was why it was so effective.

Lucian had cooked up a very elaborate lie that demonstrated he had very deep knowledge of the First Emperor’s actions. If word were to get back… if Aurelia were to sleep, and ask questions to her point of contact… Lucian would immediately become assassination target number one. It was essential that he dealt with not only his brother-in-law, but also Aurelia herself.

Killing her would be difficult. She was the prioress for a reason—her divine beast form was incredibly powerful. When she wasn’t transformed, she wasn’t much to write home about. She hadn’t trained in magic or swordsmanship to his knowledge. But when she was transformed, she could tangle with the best of the best. Even gold-ranked instructors would find themselves at a loss. All of the monastics could transform by instinct. Poison her, stab her neck—bam, she’d become a divine beast before he could blink.

Maybe Lucian could kill her before she transformed. Maybe. But it was a risk, and one he didn’t need to take. He intended to get the monastery to turn on her. As for ‘how,’ well… that was less straightforward. For now, he needed to make sure Metterand couldn’t sway Aurelia.

“Do you know anything about the Inquisitors?” Lucian asked Aurelia, finally breaking the silence. She looked at him briefly before shaking her head. He acted disappointed as he said, “What did I expect… listen closely, then. The Inquisitors were renowned for turning the power of demons against them. The more demons that they kill, the more powerful they become. To say the least of things, the duke has slain many, many demons.

“You might find that Metterand employs a wide variety of demonic powers,” Lucian continued. “And when things get very desperate, he might even transform into one. You can’t treat him like your run of the mill spellcaster. You’ll need to be very cautious. He might try and fool you, pretending that he’s on your side. Unless you want him to sneak attack you, I suggest you ignore him. The Inquisitors were once our greatest enemies for a reason. They were the only ones capable of fooling us.”

Aurelia scoffed. “You must not know who I am.”

“Listen to me or don’t. Not my fault if you end up dying,” Lucian said. Aurelia talked a big talk, but the thing she was terrified most of was death. That was the reason why she wished for nine lives. He knew that she would listen to his advice. He glanced at her. “Another thing. You need to be mindful to protect the people of the monastery as best you can.”

“I know. I have to act like I’m still Prioress Aurelia, elsewise we might face complications. You’re treating me like I’m simple-minded,” she complained.

“You are.”

Aurelia stormed ahead of him, then blocked his path. “It isn’t my fault that he’s here.” She held a hand to her chest. “I didn’t make a mistake.”

“So, you’re accusing Him of making a mistake?” Lucian pressed. Her defiance withered away as he suggested she was denigrating the First Emperor. “I don’t care about responsibility. I gave you His orders. Just know your role and execute.” He walked past her.

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Aurelia followed after him. “I was the youngest ever to transform. Even after that, I was the first to master partial transformation.”

“Perhaps because you’re closer to a beast than a person,” Lucian jabbed.

“Wrong. It’s due to my exceptional holy affinity,” she said. “I’ve the highest in this place. I likely have the highest holy affinity in the whole world, they tell me. That’s all that matters for the strength of our transformation.”

Lucian wanted to gloat that his was higher than hers, but he kept his mouth shut. No need to reveal that information. She had 95%. He had 98%.

Aurelia continued to brag, saying, “And beyond that, I don’t lack in intelligence. I was the third-best in my class.”

“In a class of three?”

“In a class of twenty,” she rebutted. “You would be a poor servant if you can’t see that I can be of use to Him even once this is all over.”

Lucian realized that she might be assuming that he would pass on an evaluation of her to the First Emperor. Not exactly a bad misunderstanding to have.

“All that matters now is doing this without mistakes, and following my instructions exactly,” Lucian said. “You’re only as good as your last action.”

Aurelia went silent as they carried on. On the bright side, as the prioress, her quarters were very far removed from the rest of the monastery. There wouldn’t be many people nearby that might get caught up in the fighting. Lucian hoped that no one was making a surprise visit.

Except for a certain brother-in-law, that is.

***

Metterand looked around Aurelia’s room. Security was exceptionally tight on the outside of this monastery, but on the inside, it was lacking. Not that it mattered to him. He had learned long ago that infiltration was a specialty of his. Information gathering was how he maintained relevance. And this place…

There’s definitely something hidden here, he thought, looking around. But where?

He tested a few objects in the room to see if they shifted—a trunk, a dresser, a cabinet. Eventually he came to a wardrobe. He felt it give slightly when he pushed on it, yet it stayed firmly attached to the floor. He smiled once he realized that he had what he was looking for.

After pushing and pulling it in a few different directions, the wardrobe slid aside, revealing a hidden chamber. It was rather dim, and though his fire affinity wasn’t exceptional he cast a simple spell to illuminate the room. At once, his heart started beating faster.

“…beautiful,” he said, almost involuntarily.

What Metterand saw was one of the most elaborate demonic rituals he had ever seen in his life. The entire room was scrawled with demonic runes. The floors, the wall, even the ceiling… this place had been carved out, bit by bit, and then masterfully inscribed with this ritual. He kneeled down and started to read some of the letters.

It was too complex for him to grasp its purpose immediately, but Metterand could tell these weren’t insane scrawls. This was built with purpose. Not only that, it seemed to be one part of a larger whole. Just from its structure, he could tell there were undoubtedly other rituals like with this one stretched out across the whole of the monastery. How long had this taken her? What did it do? He almost completely forgot why he’d been sent here in the first place.

Metterand walked to the back of the room. He couldn’t linger here too long, but he could leave a message. It was all too rare that he found a kindred spirit, and he was interested in helping her achieve whatever it was she intended to. For the sake of the First Emperor—for the sake of his dream, he would do anything.

He heard the scrape of footsteps behind him and stopped in his tracks. He turned back to see a figure at the secret entrance. The flame he held in his hand barely illuminated her.

“Aurelia,” Metterand said joyously.

Without hesitation she walked forward and shifted into her divine beast form. It was a terrifyingly intimidating thing, with beautiful, sleek black fur, a long, foxlike snout with a jaw of sharp teeth, predatory golden eyes, and nine dancing black tails. Even this form befitted her true nature.

Metterand held his hand out. “You have me mistaken. I’m a kindred spirit. I, too, serve the First Emperor.” He smiled.

In the next moment, Aurelia became a black blur of power surging toward him. Metterand’s defensive wind magic activated as her teeth clamped around his arm, and with a flick of her head, he was tossed backward. He landed at the threshold to the exit. His magic had protected his arm.

“Stay your anger!” Metterand shouted. “I’m an ally!”

Aurelia charged once more, and Metterand again cast defensive wind magic. It protected him from damage again, but it seemed that her intention had never been to fight him in the room. He was blown backward, and collided with the wooden walls of her quarters. He burst out into the open air, stabilizing himself with wind magic and landing gracefully.

Why would she bring me out here? Metterand thought, feeling some aching pain in his back. Did I have her wrong? Why would she want attention drawn to her quarters?

She emerged from the wreckage that she just created in her own home. It was relatively secluded, so no one had come to them yet. Metterand looked around to be sure none were watching.

I can do it here, he accepted.

Metterand held his arms out. He allowed the demonic energy carefully hidden within to rise to the surface. At once, the aspect of a devil surged around him, enveloping his form.

“Do you see?” he asked her. “I’m not your foe.”

Aurelia braced, then lunged once more. Metterand shouted in rage, beyond confused. He could tell that something was different about this attack. Her claws became aflame with golden fire, and when she slashed, he could feel the raw power behind the attack. Even still, he met it stalwartly, lashing out with both magic and the pure strength his devil aspect brought.

The clash of holy power and demonic energy created a violent resonance that sent both of them reeling backward. She recovered first, opening her jaw to spew golden flames at him. Metterand lunged to the right. She charged to meet him, jaws open and teeth covered with flames. He caught her jaw, holding it open with two arms. He was still pushed back the sheer ferocity of her form. He pulled one hand free, muttering an incantation and imbuing his magic with demonic energy. Then, he thrust it into her open maw.

A sheer blast of dark power met her holy flames, which she spewed out recklessly to block him. She continued pushing him backward all the while. Her golden fire clashed with his dark magic. Even strengthened by his devil’s aspect, his magic couldn’t overcome it. Eventually, his back slammed against a wall, hard. He glanced back briefly.

That mausoleum, he realized.

Aurelia had been waiting for this moment, because she darted backward before jumping into the air. Her nine tails surrounded themselves with holy power, taking the shape of nine weapons. They slashed downward with such ferocity Metterand didn’t dare try and meet it head on. He dodged as fast as he could.

The attack tore into the walls of the mausoleum, crumbling it away to reveal an opening. Metterand got a fair distance away and stopped, waiting and watching. Aurelia stood in front of the opening in the mausoleum, as if guarding it. Then… Metterand couldn’t believe his eyes.

Lucian walked into his view. Metterand watched him closely, wondering what it meant. Instead of being enemy to Aurelia, he walked right up to her.

“Good dog,” he said.

She growled, baring teeth… but did nothing more than that as Lucian entered into the mausoleum. Metterand’s brain momentarily stopped working when he saw that. When it started up again, it ran full speed toward an unimaginable conclusion. The events of the day, his actions, his behavior…

Lucian was working with her.

Metterand started laughing. He couldn’t believe it. He simply couldn’t believe it. Lucian? Lucian Villamar, the talentless hack? He had set him up? The chancellor of the empire, spymaster over most of the continent, had been taken unawares by that imbecile? That room—was it bait? Was it a trap, to prompt a confession? How long had that been orchestrated? Who else was in on this?

He had no answers. He could only laugh.

Aurelia sat down, her nine tails billowing majestically. She didn’t seem rushed. Metterand was in the middle of Heavenwatch Monastery, home to the divine beasts. If he was exposed, there was no getting out of this alive. This woman alone was a formidable contestant, but if others came? The chances of his survival were nonexistent.

Metterand’s laughter finally slowed. He stared at Aurelia, then hunched over like a beast. “I will not… let Lucian Villamar best me.”

Metterand ceased to restrain the devil’s power within. It felt as though the blood in his body started boiling, burning him from the inside. The pain only lasted a moment—seconds later, dark energy drifted off his body like mist. Aurelia watched without moving, but in response her holy power flared. Golden aura drifted off her. When next Metterand moved, it was with strength and power incomparable to moments before.

Aurelia, too, hadn’t yet been exercising her full power. She came at him with redoubled intensity. Yet when her fangs closed around his body, he burst into darkness. The darkness swirled around with purpose before coalescing in the direction of the mausoleum. That was a trick of his patron—moving in an incorporeal form.

If I’m to die, Lucian will too, Metterand thought, entering inside the mausoleum. I’ll hunt him down if it’s the last thing I do.