After waiting around a bit longer for some of Atlas’s men to show up and look after Bambi, who was still sleeping, the duo decided to track down the address. Soon, they found themselves at the docks by an old warehouse. From the outside, it looked as though it had been long abandoned. They might have believed it if not for the thin rays of light leaking through the boarded up windows. The moon was high in the sky and cast a soft glow over the scene like an oil painting.

Between some dim street lights barely strong enough to illuminate the pavement at their feet and the fractured moonlight bouncing off the waves of the nearby water, it was just dark enough to provide decent cover. That section of the docks had been run down for a long time ever since the nearby port had opened up, stealing away most of the business. Afterwards, that particular area was used for the more unsavory activities that folks pretended not to know about.

The mercenaries weren’t so reckless as to rush in blindly, despite their impatience. They stood a ways down the street trying to come up with a plan from the shadows. While scoping the area from several storefronts away, Avida realized they found themselves outside of a fortune teller’s shop. Even though it was quite a late hour of the night, the place still seemed to be open. The dull neon sign outside was on, weakly flickering on occasion. The strange font read “Good Fortune”.

There was a large window lined with a gaudy gold trim, and Avida could see that velvet amethyst curtains had been hung up on the inside to prevent anyone from looking in. As she stared, she suddenly noticed a figure peeking out at them from the darkness between the curtains, but as soon as she made eye contact with them, they disappeared and the curtains quickly closed back up. Avida jumped in surprise.

“There’s someone in there,” Avida said shakily, tugging on her partner’s sleeve and pointing.

Maybe it was the time of night, maybe it was the slight chill on the breeze, or maybe it was the eerie atmosphere of the old abandoned buildings that surrounded them, but something about the place gave her the creeps. She couldn’t make out any features of the figure, and only managed to glance at a fleeting silhouette and two piercing eyes that were gone in a flash. Avida liked to think of herself as brave, so she tried to remain calm despite her unease.

“So?” Bellicosa responded.

Unlike her partner, she was not easily spooked by things like this. It was a business, and it was apparently open, so why wouldn’t someone be in there? Even if the person wanted to cause them harm, it was nothing the two of them couldn’t handle.

“Do you think they saw Rhea come by?” Avida asked, still trying to appear nonchalant.

“Maybe we should go in and ask. They might know something about the warehouse, too,” Bellicosa reasoned.

It was always good to gather as much information as possible before acting. She thought her partner had actually made a good point, and was going along with her. But when she went to move, the other stopped her.

“Wait!” Avida cried, gripping Bellicosa’s arm.

Her composure shattered when Bellicosa had moved to actually enter the creepy establishment. Bellicosa just looked at her with a raised brow. Didn’t Avida bring it up because she wanted to go inside?

“What?”

“What if… it’s a ghost?”

“...”

“Don’t look at me like that! We literally exorcise demons, why can’t ghosts be real?”

“Hmmm… I guess you have a point,” the taller mercenary said, humoring her.

Bellicosa, certainly, did not believe in ghosts. They’d been dealing with the supernatural for a long time, and had never once encountered one. Besides, Avida never even flinched in the face of demons, but now she was afraid of ghosts? Looking at the scared expression on her partner’s face, Bellicosa failed to suppress a chuckle.

“Stop laughing! If I die, I’m definitely gonna haunt you!”

Bellicosa couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that. Sometimes she worried for her partner, but at moments like that, when Avida showed such childish innocence, she couldn’t help but feel more at ease. She hoped that that part of her would remain untouched by the guilt and hate she was tainted with in her youth. Selfishly, she never wanted to lose that side of her best friend.

“Alright, I won’t make fun of you. But I really think going in is not a bad idea. We might learn something useful,” she suggested.

Seeing Avida’s nervousness had still not faded, she added, “I’ll go in first.”

With that reassurance, Avida nodded and scurried behind Bellicosa, using her as a human shield as the pair entered the odd establishment. A bell chimed above the door to announce their presence, and the two looked around the seemingly empty room as they waited.

A counter was located at the opposite end with a curtain behind it leading to, presumably, a back room. The front room they stood in was so dark that Avida could barely make anything out, just a few dull flickers of candlelight and the telltale smell of incense. A few plush velvet chairs were by the large front window, and a small round table was in the middle of the room covered by a deep purple cloth surrounded by cushioned wooden chairs..

The smell of the incense came from a long table pushed against the left wall, lined with sticks that were still burning and decorated like an altar with gold plates and fruit. It made Avida wrinkle her nose, reminding her of the unpleasant fight from a few days ago where she felt like she would suffocate from the smoke. All in all, apart from the poor lighting choices and the strange altar, the place was a bit cliche.

The interior did nothing to dissuade Avida’s doubts as she clutched onto Belllicosa’s shirt from behind. It felt like something could pop out at her from the shadows at any moment. In her head, she thought that if a ghost were to haunt anywhere, it would be somewhere like this. Bellicosa sighed.

“It’s not haunted,” was all she said, like she knew what her friend was thinking. Avida just huffed.

Soon, the curtains behind the counter parted as someone entered from the back. It was a woman, or at least what they assumed was a woman, wearing all black from head to toe in a long lace dress that seemed to cover every inch of skin. On her head she wore a round hat with a veil that flowed down and hid her face. Her features could not be glimpsed from any angle, and in the dimly lit room she looked like a shadow.

Her movements were graceful, and she seemed to glide across the floor as she walked swiftly. Her voice was clear and pleasant, slightly enchanting as she spoke. Avida was still not convinced she wasn’t a ghost.

“Late night customers, welcome. What service do you require?”

“Hello, madam. We were wondering if you happened to see a woman pass through this way not long ago. She is about my friend’s height, with long blonde hair and wearing a purple sweater,” Bellicosa explained.

“Indeed. A customer like that came by shortly before you,” the woman replied.

“A customer? Did she ask for a reading?” Avida asked, momentarily forgetting her fear.

“I’m afraid I cannot disclose that information. However, if you would like a reading yourselves, I would be more than happy to oblige.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, before Bellicosa shrugged, turning back to the woman.

“How much is it?”

“I do not accept money as payment. Instead, all I ask is that you burn a stick of incense for each inquiry.”

As the woman spoke, she gestured to the strange altar at the side of the room. It was littered with sticks of incense, many of which had burnt out. However, there were a few that were still burning, showing that someone had been there recently. The display made Avida feel even more uneasy.

Normally, she didn’t care whether people practiced religion or not. She could separate the belief in the gods from the Church of Solomon itself, so this woman being a believer didn’t bother her. However, exchanging services and using worship as payment? That set off major alarm bells in her head.

“This isn’t a religious institution, is it?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“I have no connection to the Church of Solomon, if that’s your concern. I run this business alone, apart from my assistant, and I am merely the devotee of a single god,” the woman calmly explained.

“Which god?” Bellicosa asked out of curiosity.

“The Goddess Who Witnesses, of course. I communicate with her in order to conduct my readings as accurately as possible. In exchange for answers, what else can a god ask for in return apart from worship?”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“You’re saying you can communicate directly with a god?”

“That’s right.”

“And what do you get out of this, if not money?”

“I’m afraid I cannot disclose that information. However, if you would like a reading yourselves, I would be more than happy to oblige,” came the automatic response.

“In that case, we’d each like one!” Avida decided. Belliocsa looked at her skeptically.

“Are you sure? I thought you were afraid she was a ghost?”

The woman chuckled as Avida glared at her partner.

“She said she saw Rhea. Besides, I have an important question I’d like an answer to.”

“Alright then, customers,” the woman interrupted. “If you are willing, then please each take a stick of incense and burn it.”

The two mercenaries did as they were told. After placing it on the altar, Avida even placed her hands together and gave a slight bow. Although she wasn’t the biggest worshiper of the gods, she would not scoff in the face of one who was, and showed respect to the god they had chosen to worship. After turning back around, she saw that the woman had placed a few crystals in a bowl on the table in the middle of the room.

“What is your name?” the woman asked as Avida approached.

“Avida.”

“No, your true name. In order for the god to look into your fate, I must know your true name,” the woman gently corrected.

Avida hesitated for a moment before begrudgingly answering, “... Margaret.”

She figured there was no harm in it. The fortune teller seemed to hold no ill intentions, and it could be fun at the very least. Besides, it was no longer a secret anyway. The two mercenaries took a seat at the table.

“And yours?” the woman asked Bellicosa.

Bellicosa, on the other hand, was more reluctant. She hadn’t shared her real name with anyone since becoming a mercenary. Although it was silly, it granted her some form of comfort knowing that a part of herself was still hidden.

“I am known as Daphne, if that makes you more comfortable. It is necessary to share with me your true name, Bellicosa,” the fortune teller said.

Bellicosa froze.

“How did you know my codename?”

“I have known both your true names and your code names since you walked in the door. There is no use in hiding them from me. Still, I need you to grant your name to me willingly as a sign of faith in the goddess,” Daphne explained. “Only then will she respond to your inquiry.”

Both the mercenaries were startled. They had always had shaky faith in the gods at best, not really putting too much stock into whether they were real or not. But being confronted with something like this, they found themselves a little more willing to believe. No longer seeing the point in being hesitant, Bellicosa sighed.

“My real name… is Edith.”

It had been a long time since Bellicosa had heard her true name spill from her own lips. It felt almost unnatural on her tongue, and it left her feeling weirdly vulnerable. She and Avida had been partners for four years, and only disclosed their real names to each other for the first time during the past few days. Bellicosa wondered how so much had changed in such a short time, that even this felt inevitable. Avida gave her a reassuring smile.

“Lovely. Nice to meet the both of you,” Daphne nodded, her veil bobbing as she did so. “Now, what is your first inquiry?”

“Will we find Rhea in that warehouse down the street?” Avida asked.

She thought it was best to get this question out of the way first. There was no point in them going in if Rhea wasn’t even there. Finding that annoying girl was their top priority. Atlas hadn’t been too pleased to hear she slipped away when they had called to inform him.

Daphne hummed before sticking her hand into the bowl of crystals. She continued the melody as she stirred them in a rhythmic twist of her wrist, almost like she was in a trance. The sight was nearly hypnotizing. As the tune came to a stop, so did the twirling of the bowl. The fortune teller pulled out her hand before answering.

“If you enter the warehouse, you will encounter Rhea shortly after,” she stated, her voice coming out an octave deeper than before and with a slightly strange lilt. Avida shivered as goosebumps broke out along her skin.

“So she did go there after all,” Bellicosa sighed. “Can’t that girl just stay put?”

“What is your second inquiry?” Daphne asked politely, voice seemingly back to normal.

“Is there a way to take down the Church of Solomon and save the children they have harmed?” Avida asked, desperately wanting to know.

Since encountering Bambi and being confronted with her past, she no longer wished to sit idly by. The fact that she knew what was going on for so long and did nothing weighed heavily on her soul. If there was a way to put a stop to it for good and prevent any more children from getting hurt, she wanted to do it. She didn’t want there to be any more Sophias or Bambis.

The Church couldn’t keep getting away with their crimes. They were always pointing fingers, calling people sinners, holding them accountable for their actions whether it was justified or not. But who was there to hold the Church accountable? Atlas and the resistance were trying, but it still wasn’t enough.

“That is a complicated question. The goddess will do her best to answer, but it may not be straightforward,” Daphne warned.

“That’s okay. Anything will help,” the mercenary urged.

She knew it was a loaded question when she asked it, but it was also a momentous task that they had before them. Once she had saved Bambi from that laboratory, once she had seen the charred remains of the orphanage, she had made it up in her mind that this was the route she wanted to take. But some guidance from the gods would still be appreciated, even if it was a shot in the dark. Anything that could give them an edge.

Daphne once again began the divination. She seemed to hum a little bit longer this time, dragging out the tune, taking her time feeling the crystals in the bowl. When the bowl finally did come to a stop, Avida could have sworn she saw a faint glow from behind the dark veil. The fortune teller’s voice was even more distorted than the first time she spoke.

“The visage of a god still casts a shadow, and in that shadow lies the truth.”

“...”

“Is that it?” Avida asked, bewildered.

“Hold on… there’s more…” Daphne said, sounding strained. “You’re in luck. It seems the goddess has deemed you worthy of a prophecy…”

Before either of them could comment on that, she spoke again, the words seeming to echo off of every surface, rattling in their skulls.

“The moon sings a song of loneliness, ignorant to the stars around her. She descends in search of one like her, but her absence darkens the sky. She drifts into a deep slumber, and the stars begin to fall like her tears. The world, doomed to be blanketed in darkness. Only the dawn can wake her, and only by returning to the sky from which she came can the endless night finally cease.”

The room was silent as the words sunk in.

“What the hell does that even mean!?” Avida asked in complete confusion.

Daphne sighed. “I told you it would not be straightforward. It is harder to get direct answers for such complex inquiries. However, I’m sure that these words will still help you. Keep them in mind as you go forward, and you may be able to achieve your goal,” she said.

Daphne then wrote the words down on a slip of paper and handed it to them. Avida was going to protest further before Bellicosa stood up and bowed.

“Thank your goddess for her wisdom,” she said, pulling Avida up after her.

“Of course. She is always willing to lend a hand to those who worship. Please, come again,” Daphne softly responded as the duo made their exit.

“At least we know Rhea’s in the warehouse,” Bellicosa said once they were back outside. “We can’t waste any more time here.”

“That is, if you believe that woman,” Avida huffed.

“What, suddenly you don’t?” her partner asked with a raised brow.

“What she said at the end made no sense! It sounded more like a poem than a prophecy…” the shorter complained.

“Maybe you just asked a difficult question.”

“At least I asked something!”

“You seemed eager. I let you take the lead.”

The pair continued to bicker as they made their way to the roof of the building beside the warehouse to get a good vantage point.

“You’re supposed to be the skeptical one!”

“She knew our names, I’m inclined to believe her. Also, the way the prophecy came out… I don’t think it could have been faked. It sounded like she was talking inside my head.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. That whole place gave me the creeps!”

“Are you sure you weren’t just scared?”

“Shut up! The energy felt more demonic than divine.”

“As if you can tell the difference?”

Finally reaching the roof, their argument came to a standstill. They gazed at the warehouse from above, looking down and scoping it out. There seemed to be several guards patrolling the building in a fixed routine around the perimeter.

From the skylights on the roof, they could see into the building. Several people were moving wooden crates around while others seemed to be taking inventory. It looked like a shipment of something had just come in. Towards the back of the warehouse was an office that overlooked the floor. The glass was tinted, however, so they couldn’t see inside the office. They continued to watch for a while in relative silence.

“... So you were serious about what you said at the inn back then?” Bellicosa suddenly asked, breaking the stillness of the night.

Avida looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Taking down the Church…” Bellicosa elaborated.

“Oh, that… yeah, I am,” Avida said softly. “The things they did… the things that happened…” she sighed, “it hurt when I was a child, and I thought that it would stop hurting when I got older but… after meeting Sister Katherine… I don’t know why I never realized that hurt children just grow into hurt adults. And I don’t want any more children to grow up hurt because of the Church.”

Bellicosa pondered this for a moment. What her partner was saying was right. But still, it was a lot of responsibility, and a lot of burden to place on oneself. She didn’t want Avida to take on too much and hurt herself all over again in the process. The girl had suffered enough already.

“That’s good, but… you probably can’t save everyone,” Bellicosa told her.

She would never stop Avida from doing what she wanted, and she was willing to help her with anything. But she wanted the other to be prepared to face reality. The mental toll it might take on her otherwise would be too great.

“I know,” Avida replied. “But everyone isn’t right in front of me, and I can at least try to protect the few that are.”

That made Bellicosa smile. “Well said, partner.”

The two fell back into a comfortable quiet, only listening to the distant sounds coming from the warehouse, and making note of as much as possible as they watched. Despite what they were doing, the night seemed eerily calm again, and they were content. A while longer passed before anyone spoke.

“I don’t see Rhea. She might be being held in that office,” Avida surmised.

“Did she manage to get caught so easily?” Bellicosa wondered.

“We need to get closer.”

“Why?”

“It’s a crusty old warehouse in the middle of nowhere. I bet usually nothing happens around here. The patrol guards are probably bored to death. If something happened, like say, an intruder getting captured, they would definitely be gossiping about it,” Avida reasoned.

“That…. actually makes a lot of sense,” Bellicosa admitted.

Stealthily, the pair made their way to the ground level and hid behind some bins within earshot of the patrol guards. There was little light in the alleyway, so they blended into the darkness easily. After observing them for a while, Avida had noticed that the route they took was timed. The guards were patrolling in pairs, and there was a slight gap between the pairs where there would be a blind spot as they rounded the corner of the building.

They slipped into position during this time. Right on cue, the next pair rounded the corner, oblivious to the mercenaries now hiding in the shadows. As predicted, they were not very vigilant, instead more focused on chatting as they walked.

“I can’t believe someone tried to break in today! It’s the first action I’ve seen in months!” one of the guards excitedly told his patrol partner.

“Still, there really wasn’t much action. The girl went down without a fight, and then the boss whisked her away to the main office for interrogation,” the other stated.

“Righttttt I wish we could’ve seen some real fighting. I’m sooooo boredddd~” the first guard complained, waving his gun around lazily.

“Just do your job. You whine too much,” the other sighed before they were out of earshot.

They had about twenty seconds until the next pair came around the corner.

“... That has to be Rhea they’re talking about, right?” Avida whispered.

“How does she manage to get into so much trouble?” Bellicosa quietly groaned.

“Well, looks like we have no choice but to go and get her.”

“How are we gonna do that?”

“I have a plan,” Avida grinned.

“....What is it?” Bellicosa asked reluctantly, having a bad feeling about it.

“The guards are evenly spaced, but they never actually see each other as they’re patrolling. There’s a big gap from one to the next,” Avida explained.

“Yeah, so?”

“So…” she whispered as the next group rounded the corner.

Just as they passed by, Avida leapt out behind them and tackled one of the guards to the ground.

“...we can do this!”