Echo and Lancaster followed Serenity to the Armory building.

Serenity walked into the Armory building before he realized that he didn’t actually know where in it he needed to be, so after he let the other two in, they started opening doors and looking around. There weren’t that many rooms, so it was only a few minutes before they found Sillon playing darts in the game room.

“Sillon? You said Kerr was looking for me?”

Sillon threw a dart right as Serenity spoke and completely missed the dartboard. “Ah! Didn’t hear you come in. Yeah. She’ll be back shortly. Until then, darts?”

Didn’t hear me come in? I’m not that quiet, am I? Serenity hadn’t been making any special effort to be quiet, at least. Lancaster certainly hadn’t been.

“You’re going to massacre me.”

“I should hope so! If I can’t win with a three-Tier advantage, what good am I?” Sillon threw another dart. This time it hit the dartboard, at least.

“So what’s special about the dartboard that makes it worthy of Tier 3s?”

“It’s not just the board, it’s the darts too -”

----------------------------------------

Sillon routed Serenity, Echo, and Lancaster at darts, as expected. They were on their third game when Kerr walked in, and Sillon was winning; only Echo was even vaguely keeping it close, and she was loudly insisting it was just luck. Sillon assured Serenity that they were doing very well for their Tier, but Serenity wasn’t very happy with his showing.

“Oh, you’re here.”

Sillon jumped again.

“No escape attempts?” Kerr asked as she walked towards one of the supply rooms.

“Wasn’t expecting one.” Sillon started picking up the darts and setting them in their case.

Kerr opened the door to the supply room. “You may as well come out here. Chairs are more comfortable, and we wouldn’t want your nobleness to be uncomfortable.” Her voice had a distinct edge.

“Well finally! Did you come to your senses and bring someone who can straighten - oh. You brought him. Why are you so hung up on appeasing backwater scum like that?” Entherys’s voice dripped vitriol.

Kerr waited while Entherys sauntered over to a comfortable chair. His hands were tied in front of himself, but it didn’t impede his motion much. “You have no idea who Ek’re’kht is, do you?”

Sillon paled and took a step back.

Entherys looked puzzled and snapped “Why would I care about someone from the back end of nowhere?”

Serenity started laughing. He couldn’t think of anything less useful than debating whether or not a Name trumped a distant but possibly powerful family.

Kerr turned to look at Serenity. “He’s - “

Serenity overrode her. “An idiot who doesn’t know what being Named means. Yeah. Doesn’t matter. What’s important - two things. Let’s start with - who else is in on this. We obviously know about the two students.”

“Why should I tell you?”

Serenity knew there was a reason he wasn’t looking forward to this. He took a deep breath. “One way or another, you will. You will like the process a lot less if I have to force it out of you. But I suppose you have no reason to believe me on that.” He took another deep breath. “The second question, then. Why?”

“Why? Why not? You’re a nothing, messing with Heaven’s Order! Destroying Order’s plans to winnow the wheat from the chaff of this insignificant world. You - you dared to place yourself above the Voice itself - “

That gave Serenity an idea. There was no way Entherys actually spoke for the Voice, and that opened options.

The ranting continued until Serenity slapped the man. “Enough. I suddenly don’t feel all that bad for what I’m probably about to do to you. One more chance. Who else?”

Entherys lifted his hands as if to touch his reddening cheek, but the ropes wouldn’t let them reach that far. “You - you - you insect! I’ll tell you nothing!”

Serenity looked at him, shook his head sadly, and sighed. His eyes started to glow. “Kerr? Do you have a gag?” His voice was soft and quiet. Not emotionless, simply calm.

While Kerr gagged Entherys, Serenity found a short, sharp dagger. It would work. He permitted his aura to spread. With no real emotion in it, it wouldn’t impact others too greatly - but even so, it seemed to startle both Sillon and Entherys. He would need it open for what he was going to do.

An appeal to the Voice was done by voice and by aura, after all. Both were needed. At least, the way Serenity planned to make the appeal. It should work; Entherys had claimed he was acting for the Voice, and the Voice did not like people saying that when it wasn’t true.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Serenity turned to Entherys. “This wasn’t the method I originally planned. I prefer this way. You may not. It leaves you alive, after all. Hold his hands up, please. I need to get at his chest.”

Sillon moved behind Entherys, puzzled, but grabbed the man’s hands and pulled them over his head.

Serenity lifted Entherys’s shirt and used the dagger to cut a shallow line diagonally across the man’s chest. It wasn’t a bad injury, just enough to draw blood all along its length. Serenity set the dagger down, placed his hand over the injury, and focused his aura on echoing his words.

“Voice, I offer this man as your Vessel. He has claimed to act for you in his actions against me. I ask that you grant me the knowledge of who else acted with him and why in exchange for ceding my right as the injured party to your right to deal with his arrogation of your authority.”

Accuracy was important for this. There were ways to handle the same request that were more forgiving of errors, but Serenity didn’t choose to take the time any of the other methods would require. This would be good enough.

The injury under Serenity’s hand glowed and healed, while the bonds holding Entherys’s hands and mouth fell away. Sillon looked at Serenity before releasing Entherys’s hands at Serenity’s nod.

“Accepted. Two words is all I can give you: Margrethe and Fear. And now … this young man shall best serve me by returning to his home. We shall see what happens there.”

The voice both was and was not Entherys. Serenity knew it was the Voice speaking through his Vessel.

Serenity found it interesting that the Voice thought the best punishment for Entherys would be to return him home in disgrace - with no action taken against him beyond that. It would be up to Entherys to learn or fail on his own, but it implied that Entherys was not as secure as his actions indicated. Serenity thought it was likely that Entherys was about to learn that his place in his family was less secure than he'd thought.

Serenity didn’t really care. Entherys wasn’t a threat anymore and wouldn’t be for a long time, if ever. That was what mattered.

Well, that and what the Voice had said. “Margrethe.”

“Yeah.” Sillon sounded sad.

“Let’s go. No point in waiting.” Serenity knew he couldn’t face Margrethe alone. He simply wouldn’t be able to take her on in a fight. So Sillon and Kerr would have to go. He should at least be able to survive until Sillon and Kerr could handle her if she attacked … but his other friends wouldn’t be able to. So it was best to leave them out of it.

“Echo, Lancaster … it won’t be safe, you should -”

“No. We’re going. And you can explain what you did on the way.” Echo was adamant.

“But - “

“If they can keep you safe, they can keep us safe. We deserve to know.”

“I can heal - “

Lancaster couldn’t keep quiet about that one. “If you’re expecting to need to heal your way out of another attack, why don’t we just send them in to capture her and talk to her the same way? Then it would be safe for you too.”

Serenity didn’t have a good answer to that.

There was one big question on his mind. “What cause have I given her to fear me…?”

----------------------------------------

Serenity knocked on Margrethe’s door, then opened it when there was no response. “Margrethe? It’s Serenity.” He didn’t enter.

A moment later, a voice came out the door. “I’m in the back. Come on in.”

The five entered. Sillon locked the door behind them while Serenity led the way into the back.

Margrethe was sitting on the same couch she used the last time Serenity visited. It looked like she’d been crying. “Oh … five of you. I … I guess you know, then.”

“Margrethe … Why? You’re - just - WHY?” Sillon started out soft, but was shouting at the end of his question.

Margrethe seemed to huddle into a ball. “I had to.”

Sillon took an angry step towards Margrethe but stopped at Serenity’s outstretched arm.

“Let’s … all sit down. It - it sounds like you want to talk, Margrethe? Would you care to explain?”

There were enough chairs in the room for all of them to face the couch. Serenity sat in the same one he’d used on his previous visit.

Margrethe just sat there silently with her hands over her eyes for a while as they waited. “Serenity. You. You’re - you're a good man. It’s - it’s obvious. You care. You’ve done your best to not only let people survive but prepare for what’s to come. That’s what makes this so terrible. So tragic.”

She stopped and looked at Serenity. She seemed to be begging him to understand, but so far he didn’t.

“You’re - I’m - you know I’m the Cleanser for this Tutorial. My duty is to rid people of corruption from monster cores. We’re necessary. We - we have a second duty we don’t talk about much. We kill abominations. Mostly that’s people who have gone too far, people driven insane during Core formation. But … if … if it’s clear it’s going to happen ... sometimes … it’s our duty to -” Margrethe’s voice got tighter and tighter until she stopped.

Serenity gave her time.

“There’s - there’s several kinds of abomination. Where we can, we recover them. Heal them. Teach, even. Most of us - most of us stepped a foot on one of those paths at some point.” Margrethe watched her hands, which tightly gripped each other in her lap. “It’s - it’s always insanity. Stepping onto the Paths is safer than stepping off, but - it’s not safe. Most die or - or go mad. And - and when the good ones go - that’s the worst. That’s - “ she broke off again.

“Monsters who walk as human - or - or humans who become monsters - “

“What about monsters who become human? Is that the only possible recovery?” Serenity wasn’t afraid to use Margrethe’s history against her.

He was getting the sinking feeling that he was exactly what she was worried about.

“Yes - well - no. No. There are - “ Margrethe stopped herself. “We’re - you know I’m talking about you. You - “ She took a deep breath, then another. When she spoke again, her voice was clearer.

“You - you like monster essence. And you absorb it easily. And -” She sighed. “And I can’t see the corruption it causes. Which means I can’t cleanse it. Which - which means you’re going to fall. It’s not - I know it’s not your choice, that you would choose otherwise. But when someone who cares goes the first thing that happens is they destroy what they care for. So it’s better to kill them first. It’s my duty. It’s - it’s for the best. I … I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you, or just … just submit to being killed. I … I should have tried but … but then it’s harder to catch someone unaware … and then I failed you. I - I couldn’t shoot you.”

Margrethe trailed off. She didn’t seem to know where to go from there.

“Why not?”

Everyone turned to look at Echo for a moment.

“What? There has to be a reason. Either she decided not to shoot him, or something stopped her.”