Redemption Arc

“For now, I just want you to scope the place out,” Lucian said. “I want you to get a detailed sense of the layout and the defenses. I want you to figure out where everyone is, what they do, and when they do it.”

Vlad Mascare, noble of the Empire of Riverra yet nevertheless prominent thief, nodded as Lucian spoke. He was a small man with unassuming features—dark hair, blue eyes, beige skin. He still had a certain charm to him. He was a Student Ambassador, after all, and though last time Vlad had been quite skeptical they’d formed a cautious association since then.

“I get why you wanna do this—that whole Heavenly Body business, like you explained—but the question is… why do I?” Vlad asked, holding up his hands and rubbing his forefinger and thumb together. “You see what I mean? I need incentive to spy on the Church of Vantz.”

Lucian smiled. Greedy people were easy to deal with. He held up a slip of paper. “Use this account number at the House of Commerce. Say that Lucian allowed Dracula to take his funds, and they’ll pay you a more-than-fair price. I told them in advance. Use it to get what you need. Take what you don’t use for supplies as payment.”

“Dracula?” Vlad repeated for clarity. He took the paper, then narrowed his eyes. “This is Denzel’s account, isn’t it?”

Lucian blinked. “How do you know?”

“Well, uhh… we go back a ways,” Vlad laughed nervously. “How do you know?”

“I helped that man become a duke. I think I’m due some compensation,” Lucian said.

Vlad looked at the paper thoughtfully. “Does he also think that?”

“Of course!” Lucian said indignantly. “What do you think I am?”

“A guy spying on a holy church?” Vlad pointed out. Lucian’s expression fell. “Alright, alright, keep your panties on. Just making sure,” Vlad said, stepping away. “I’ll check out the cathedral for you. I was always curious about that place anyway…”

As Vlad walked away, Lucian felt assured with that last statement. It had been part of the reason why he sought out Vlad to begin with. Instead of committing crimes personally, Lucian would commit them by proxy, like real rich people. And if Vlad got caught, all evidence pointed back to Denzel, who’d cover things up for him.

Am I the baddie?

***

After his meal, Lucian returned to Charlton’s mansion, where he intended to help prepare Miriam and Charlton for the journey to New Riverra. He wasn’t much help, honestly. He was lost deeply in thought.

Committing crimes has been a cornerstone of my strategy to gain blessings, Lucian reflected. But all I have is a vague lead, and a High Priest whose name no one knows acting a bit suspicious.

Lucian didn’t want to shrug and go, ‘aw, shucks!’ after he’d learned such pivotal details about both his and Cate’s life. Lydia—or less likely, Cyril, an option he couldn’t completely rule out—had sacrificed Lucian’s body and Cate’s mind to the Heavenly Body. And all clues in War of Four pointed toward the High Priesthood of Vantz as something that might have a lead.

“Does the monastery have any connections to the High Priest?” Lucian asked Aurelia.

Aurelia shook her head with a nuh-uh, her mouth full of walnuts.

“Who is this High Priest that he can refuse you so easily?” Miriam asked as she prepped her backpack for the journey. She loaded various bottles and instruments into her pack.

“High Priest won’t see anyone generally,” Aurelia said with a mouth half-full. “Not even the king.”

Miriam looked confused.

“Vantz’ church is more powerful than the others,” Lucian explained. “Both Riverras mostly have locally-managed churches, while the confederation has more of a… I guess… tribal view?” Lucian struggled to explain. “Vantz is all but theocratic. Kings are confirmed by the church, taxes are collected by the church, et cetera…”

“High Priest deliberately isolates himself,” Aurelia added on. “In their theory, the mortal world is inherently sinful, so to engage outside the priesthood at all is tainting. The High Priest or Priestess limits interactions with everyone outside the clergy.”

“Suspicious,” Miriam said.

Aurelia crossed her legs somewhat arrogantly and said with a smile, “Some say it’s a hereditary incestuous orgy, where fathers beget children upon their daughters or brothers upon their sisters, and those children carry the mantle of High Priest or Priestess downward through their progeny.”

“’Some say?’ Considering how vain you are, that sounds more like your fantasy than an anecdote,” Miriam said.

Aurelia narrowed her eyes. “I could show you a popular book that suggested as much. Oh, but… did you even learn to read in your tribal hut?”

“Rich, coming from a wolf that lives in caves,” Miriam said.

He stood, sighing. “Aurelia, let’s go practice.”

***

Lucian and Aurelia stood in the yard outside the cottage she was staying in.

“Go,” Lucian said.

Aurelia called forth the cocoon of white light that enveloped her, then moments later burst forth as her majestic black divine beast. In the Collegium, Aurelia was hesitant to take any classes that involved physical exertion. She studied magic alone. She cited her divine beast form as the reason why—she said it was awful to try and exert herself physically when this was a form she could assume. He saw where she was coming from.

Aurelia shifted back. “Well?”

Lucian put his hand to his chest. “That’s inspiring some memories, but…”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Of late, Aurelia and Lucian had been collaborating to attempt to crack the code on the divine beast transformation using his power. There was tangible progress. Lucian called upon the Formless Essence, weaving it as he remembered from that brief foray to the past with the Jeweled Eye. White light erupted from his being quite similar to Aurelia’s, but it lost form and drifted away immediately after like strands of broken silk.

“Hmm. I’ve never seen anything like that,” Aurelia mused. She had been quite serious during all these sessions. “We generally don’t need to think about things once the light appears. Everything slots into place.”

“Do you feel any sensation?” Lucian asked.

Aurelia tilted her head back. “Have you ever had your mother hold your arms to help you do something? Like writing, or…”

“So it feels like you’re guided by a parent?” Lucian asked.

“Yes,” Aurelia said. “Exactly.”

Guided… Lucian thought. He didn’t appear to have any way to influence the energy once it’d left his body. But maybe…

“Lucian, check this out,” Aurelia said. “Ûrra.”

A shower of snowflakes erupted from her hands, spreading out into the air. Lucian regarded them as they drifted daintily downward.

“Ice magic isn’t the best,” Lucian said. “Why don’t you learn holy magic? I think you have good fire affinity, too.”

Aurelia looked annoyed. She opened her mouth to say something more, but turned her head to the right. “Someone’s coming, looks like.”

Lucian turned as the covert cart that took people to and from this cottage rolled into view. It stopped, and soon enough Rowan and someone surprising followed—Ruth Goldhain. She fixed her neat brown hair with her fingers as she looked around, and her light brown eyes eventually settled on Lucian and Aurelia.

“Not another visitor…” Aurelia muttered.

“Rowan,” Lucian called out, walking up. “What’s this?”

Rowan regarded him as he approached. “I know you wanted this place to be lowkey, but Ruth’s revealed a secret. I thought it fair I reveal one in turn.”

“It’s not your secret alone,” Lucian pointed out in irritation, but sighed. “Fine. What’s this about?”

“…you two have a cottage together?” Ruth asked as Aurelia joined them. “Well, whatever. I won’t make assumptions. A complication’s come up.”

“Problems with the ship?” Lucian asked.

“If only,” Ruth said bitterly. “We might have to cancel the journey altogether.”

“What?” Lucian said in alarm.

“The senate has called an election,” Ruth said. “And it’s already quite contentious. If a bunch of Student Ambassadors march into the republic during this time, I think… I think it could be quite bad for my father. ‘Election interference,’ they’d say.”

“Why would that matter?” Aurelia asked.

“Student Ambassadors involved themselves in the last election,” Ruth said. “And it went horribly, horribly wrong. It’s a large reason for a lot of hatred toward the Concord. They’re viewed as meddlers in local affairs, and there’ve been a lot of calls for withdrawal. Our family pivoted into anti-Concord policy, but my father has still had that taint his whole presidential term. If it were to happen again…” She sighed deeply. “I’ve heard there are riots in the capital. People are calling for a purge because of perceived demonic infiltration of the administration.”

Lucian crossed his arms and walked away, thinking. Going to New Riverra was non-negotiable. Unlocking Belcourt’s arm would be a large boon, but if they were ever going to go on the offensive versus the Hells, they needed to reach this spot.

“What if…” he paused. “What if it was just ambassadors from the republic plus myself, Rowan, Aurelia, and some monastics?”

“Hmm.” Ruth considered that. “I don’t think it’s suicide, but it could be rough. Our elections can be brutal.”

“Lucian’s been called a murderer, and everything else under the sun,” Rowan said. “I think he can handle a little election. Question is, do we still go?”

“Absolutely,” Lucian said with a nod.

He wouldn’t say it out loud in order not to alarm Ruth, but if there was an election… all the more reason to go. He’d have a smaller team to dive into the Hells, but the people from the republic were reliable.

***

Ruth had said her ship was going to take four days, but as it turned out, one came for the Student Ambassadors of the Republic of New Riverra early. That exemplified the urgency of the election.

Lucian stepped onto the gangway of the boat, testing it while Aurelia dithered. He’d been aboard several ships that travelled the Lurund River, but never a seafaring one. Apparently some of the people of the Republic had the knowledge to build iron boats. They were capable of being moved with magic instead of something like steam. This wasn’t one of those, but it seemed nice.

When Aurelia stopped whatever she was doing, Lucian walked up the gangway alongside her.

“You think I could win the election?” Aurelia asked. Lucian shook his head. “I think I could win.”

“You’re not even eligible,” Lucian said. “And—"

“Do you know what ‘could’ means?”

“And even if you were, they only elect old people, generally,” Lucian finished. “Every candidate has wrinkles—wrinkles they’ve earned through years of work as a senator or governor or other such civil servant. And barring one named Enoch, they all come from rich families with history in the republic.”

There had been an election in the game, originally, too—but far later, and under more depressed circumstances. The presidential election was the sole focus of the quest, but there were also local elections for senators. Lucian didn’t suspect they would come up. The role of president had a great deal more power than most republics that he knew from Earth. The electorate was also smaller.

“Need you to be mindful of yourself,” Lucian said to her before they came to the end of the gangway and thus the ship itself. “Even among the Student Ambassadors. I know that you might feel comfortable around them, but things have changed now. Ruth’s not the only one with family up for election. They’re rivals, now, and the wrong thing said…”

Aurelia raised a brow. “The only one I’m not already mindful around is Miriam. She’s much more vicious than you are, I have to say. Perhaps because she’s a woman, she knows what to say to get under my skin.” She crossed her arms. “It doesn’t help that you take her side.”

Lucian cocked his head back. “What are you talking about?”

“She’s said some horrible things, and you just sit there like a neglectful parent, sighing and grimacing as we tear each other’s hair out,” Aurelia said. “Like we’re just an annoyance to you.”

“You’re both adults.”

“See?” She gestured. “She started this crusade against me, and you’re just going to act like it’s no problem. Do you honestly think she has a valid reason to be doing this to me?”

Lucian narrowed his eyes. “She came to me and asked to forbid you from attending the Collegium, to keep you cooped in that cottage forevermore. I refused. If anything, that was taking your side… but I’ll maintain I have no side.”

Aurelia didn’t look happy with his answer in the slightest, but he resumed walking and soon stepped aboard the ship that would take them to the republic. They were the last to arrive, but only Rowan was on the decks.

“Hey,” Rowan called out. “The laborers brought your stuff on board. Won’t be long before we set off.”

Lucian nodded. “How are things?”

“Everyone’s quite… tense,” Rowan said. “I can only imagine how it’ll be at the republic itself.”

Lucian nodded, then stepped out to the edge of the boat. It was time to leave Verne once more.