Redemption Arc

After finding Miriam outside of his quarters in the Collegium, they went inside his room. He sat on his bed, while she stayed standing.

“Is this about the Black Bloom?” Lucian asked, fearing the worst. After all, he’d mentioned it to Belcourt. Had Charlton been targeted? “Has something happened?”

“Charlton? No, he’s fine,” Miriam said, shaking her head. “This is about another disease. What exactly is going on with Aurelia?” Miriam demanded of Lucian. “I thought you were going to keep her completely isolated.”

Lucian nodded. “I was. The situation changed.”

“Has she lost all her memories and her personality? If it’s not that, I can’t see what justifies allowing her to both attend the Collegium and participate in the meetings with us,” Miriam said.

“This wasn’t lightly considered, Miriam,” he said. She looked at him expectantly.

Lucian explained what Aurelia had done to earn a modicum of his trust. Her persistent cooperation in the Hells and the Confederation, her choice not to even entertain Algard’s proposal, and her assault on Belcourt—he spilled all.

“And in your mind, that’s enough to forget what happened?” Miriam questioned.

Lucian raised a brow. “She had the perfect opportunity to betray us, and she didn’t take it.”

“Think of this from her point of view.” Miriam hobbled up, then held her hands out like a scale. “On one side, she has you. Someone that’s too soft to kill her, someone that’s pretty fair, even generous, to his allies. Someone with supernatural powers of foresight, who might be a ticket to all her wildest dreams. Pretty tempting. Pretty nice.”

Miriam emphasized that on the scale, then put forth the other hand.

“On the other side, she has the demons. These are cruel abominations that won’t hesitate to do anything to advance their agenda. They don’t need her. In fact, she’s already proven that she’s capable of betraying them. Why wouldn’t they simply torture the information that they need out of her and then kill her? She could be more trouble than she’s worth, in their eyes.”

Lucian frowned. “You think I didn’t think of that?”

“Then why is she here?” Miriam asked. Then, she removed her leg and sat beside him on the bed. “I’m worried, Lucian! Worried about you most of all. She’s sitting there, smiling at you, playing with her hair, joking…” She shook her head. “And you’re just going along with that? She’s a master manipulator! She fooled the monastery for her entire life. I’m not trying to make you feel bad for this choice, but… is it really wise?”

Lucian tried to think of something to justify it… but stopped himself. He was trying to justify it. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was making a big damn mistake.

“Whatever the reason, she’s still siding with us,” Lucian said weakly.

Miriam sighed in exasperation. “Heavens, Lucian… as expected of one with such pure holy affinity.”

“Hey, screw you,” Lucian said with a laugh. “You know I hate that.”

Miriam rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. “Please don’t let her attend the Collegium. If she learns there, she’ll become more capable even when she’s not a divine beast. She’ll gain friends locally. She’s very beautiful, very charming… very personable. Everyone will flock to her, I assure you. I can tell where this is leading, and it fills my stomach with dread.”

Lucian stood, then paced around the room.

Why the hell am I even considering saying ‘no?’ A few jokes, a few laughs, a few times she took my side, and now… am I that gullible?

At the end of the day, there was one thing that was bothering him.

“What if it’s not an act?” Lucian asked.

Miriam collapsed back onto his bed. She sighed.

“Listen, I’m not throwing caution to the wind. But shouldn’t there be some incentive? Shouldn’t we give her some reason to stay with us, some small reward? We can’t be all stick, no carrot. Then we’re just beating a dog for fun.” Miriam continued to lay there, looking depressed. “Look, you don’t believe me, why don’t you spend some time with her?”

Miriam’s eyes shifted. She sat up with energy. “You know what?” She stood and grabbed her prosthesis, putting it back on. “That’s not such a bad idea. Matter of fact… I will keep an eye on her.” She hobbled up to him, then vowed, “I’m gonna save your ass, Lucian. Just you wait. Your ass will stay fully intact because of me. As someone with half an ass, I assure you it’s a terrible thing. I won’t let you suffer such a fate.”

Miriam tapped his chest, then made to leave. Lucian was speechless.

***

Lucian walked into view where Dinah sat in the restaurant they’d agreed to meet. Her eyes went to him, and she visibly shook when she saw him.

“Ah.” Dinah laughed at herself. “Sorry. I saw you that day, so I should’ve…” She shook her head. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Lucian said politely. “May I sit?”

Dinah looked at him properly. “Please.” Lucian sat down, and she sent glances his way. “You wanted to talk to me about Cyril, yes?”

“Yes,” Lucian admitted. “But if it troubles you too much, forget about it. I did want to say, though, right away… thank you for what you did. Things didn’t turn out how I expected, but there’s no denying that you helped me.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Dinah studied him closer. “…you look just like he did, minus the hair,” she said quietly, staring. “Oh, sorry. Tha-that’s where the similarities end.” She put her hand over the stump on her right arm. Then, she looked at him resolutely. “What do you want to know, Lucian?”

“Let’s start with Cyril and Belcourt.”

“Like I said at the trial, I wasn’t personally aware of the details of the arrangement between Cyril and Belcourt,” Dinah explained. “In fact, I only knew that they had an arrangement at all after that—after what happened to me,” she stumbled over her words.

Lucian nodded intently. “I understand that. But I think it’s clear that they had some sort of non-intervention agreement or something,” he said. “Cyril was definitely only made Belcourt’s ally recently.” He paused, thinking of more questions. “I’m interested in one thing in particular. The Heavenly Body. Did that ever come up?”

Lucian was expecting a no, but there was no harm in asking.

“Yes,” Dinah said.

“Really?” Lucian leaned in eagerly.

“Truly,” Dinah confirmed. “There were several members of that cult within the Inquisition at the time. Some of them were senior members. As a matter of fact, I was the one that introduced Lydia to some of the people that I think converted her.” She shook her head. “They’re all dead now.”

Lucian bit his lip. Another dead end, maybe. “Do you remember anything about them? Anything that I might use to learn more information?”

Dinah’s eyes went distant, and she leaned her head back to think. “I remember that they were a very high-minded bunch. Dreamers, I’d call them. No one bothered them very much because they weren’t causing any harm. Despite the name, the Inquisition was host to a wide variety of differing interpretations of what the Heavens are,” she explained. “They were merely one of many regional sects, in our view.”

“But they did believe in the conventional Heavens,” Lucian said. “It wasn’t an entirely different faith?”

“Definitely not,” Dinah confirmed.

Lucian nodded. “Were they from any one region in particular?”

“No, they were from all over,” Dinah said.

Lucian leaned back. It seemed like she didn’t have a great deal of new information, besides confirmation of the fact that Lydia was the one responsible for the sacrifice she’d detailed in the trial.

What if Lydia made it up? Lucian questioned. It’s oddly specific, I guess, but… she was quite good at lying.

“I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help to you,” Dinah said apologetically.

“Please, you’ve already been a great help to me. Like I said, you have nothing to apologize for,” Lucian dismissed.

“Your friends, Helen and Rowan… they spoke of you,” Dinah said. “I won’t deny that I believed much of the news about you. But when they appeared, the two of them, insisted on you... I was moved. I thought I should help, regardless of how I felt about the situation. The sins of the father, and all that.” She smiled. “I’m getting the sense I was right to do so.”

Lucian smiled in turn. “Now, Theobald said that you wanted to talk to me about the Inquisition.”

“I did,” Dinah confirmed. “May I see your mark?”

Lucian didn’t hesitate to remove his Votive Glove to expose it. She studied it intently.

“…you’ve been very busy fighting demons, it seems,” she noted in surprise.

“I’m saving it up for emergencies, and for the greater powers,” Lucian explained.

“That’s very wise.” Dinah inhaled, then exhaled. “As Belcourt’s apprentice, I was privy to some details. I feel I should pass them on.”

Lucian was intrigued and he leaned in to listen after she started revealing things. It took Lucian only a little bit of time to realize that he already knew exactly what she was talking about. Still, he was a little too polite to interrupt. He let her say her piece.

“…and that’s it, I think,” she said with a sigh of relief. “I hope that it’s of some help to you. To be frank, the news about what Cyril did is beyond alarming. When Cyril was in his prime, he was a monstrously skilled fighter. To think that devils will be empowering him now?” She shuddered. “He no longer has anything holding him back. Not public opinion, not practicality, not an economy, not politics. Without those constraints, he’ll be a monstrous figure,” Dinah swore. “Be careful, Lucian.”

***

Cyril followed along after Belcourt, the exhaustion creeping into his bones. They had been traveling for a very long way without an end, and that journey didn’t end once they made it to the Hells. His diseased body bled, but he pushed on, blind to the pain. Belcourt held a light, and it illuminated the endless blackness of the Hells. They walked on plateaus of basalt toward some distant structure.

“I do apologize about the long trip,” Belcourt said. “That rascal Aurelia stole my arm. It had my keys inside. We had to take a long way into the Hells… which meant a long way to get to where we needed to go.”

Cyril didn’t say anything. He still felt numb.

“Would you like to know what we have planned for you?” Belcourt asked, pausing and looking back.

Cyril nodded.

“I would’ve cured you earlier…” Belcourt said, walking up to Cyril. He eyed his diseased flesh. “…but we have need of your Black Bloom. New Riverra made good use of this plague to pacify the elves. We can do something similar with the strain infecting you.” Belcourt smiled. “Even our own demons never discovered how to make the Black Bloom infect those outside of elves. And yours seems incurable, even. It’s wondrous. We simply have to study it.”

Cyril felt a wave of trepidation, but it quickly faded. He didn’t have to pretend anymore. This was to be his home now, and these were to be his people. He needed to be as brutal, as cunning, as resourceful as he could be. Infecting the continent was simply another card he could play.

Strangely, it felt like so much weight had been removed.

“But that’s only half of your value,” Belcourt said, eyeing him. “Cyril… I’m really quite jealous of you. Perhaps I should be mad, because you’re replacing me in some ways… but truth be told, it feels quite cathartic.” He giggled. “You’re the greatest prize I’ve ever given Him.”

Cyril narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You are the only person who has the qualifications necessary to serve as a vessel for our Master,” Belcourt said. “You will know power unimaginable. More than that, you’ll come to truly know Him in a way that no one before has. He has such regard for you… it’s unfathomable. He thinks that you alone will be the key to reversing this war.”

Cyril shifted on his feet uneasily. Vessel?

“And in return… you can have it all,” Belcourt said. “Revenge on your enemies. Your name, shrouding the world.” He stepped closer, then whispered, “Dinah…”

Cyril felt a twistedness writing within him. He straightened his weary back. “Let’s proceed.”

Belcourt smiled. “Of course. Not much longer to meet the First Emperor… and change the world.”

Cyril walked forward into the yawning maw of darkness looming large ahead.