Rain rolled his neck and shoulders, relieving them from the stiffness that had plagued them. Everything had been set in place, now it was time for the final act.
He looked around the chapel, where he was the only one seated, and sighed. If possible, he didn’t want this whole thing to escalate into something destructive.
Rain had come to realize that the person amongst his group the Archbishop and nun sought out was Sean after carefully analyzing various reasons as to why people with an aura so frightening it shook Alice would offer them a place to pass the night. Without asking for anything in return to boot. He only came upon one answer: Archbishop Jude Bale was building a faction with the children as its foothold.
Although he could not figure out the reason why, one thing became certain from that realization of his, and it was that the man was gathering children together whenever he could under the pretense of saving them and then plunging them through rigorous training regimes to become battle oriented.
After all, why were there only two adults and nine children? There was no way other adults hadn’t passed through here and tried to join them. There was no way.
That also explained why there was no animosity message from the Plexus regarding the Archbishop and Nun Cathleen towards them. It was because attacking them before Sean would destroy that pretense of ‘saving the children’ he was upholding.
Kids tended to be stubborn and possessed high desires for revenge if someone they loved was harmed; if he and Alice were killed before Sean, it would only make the boy more inclined not to bend to their will.
But what if… What if he was abandoned? Now that would make the whole providing them shelter make sense.
It was a simple tactic. When Sean woke up he would not see Alice, Rain, and J, and then the Archbishop would claim that he was abandoned because he was a burden—because he was weak. In that instance, Sean would be filled with either anger and betrayal, or helplessness. Regardless of which emotions would plague him, he would want to become stronger, and he would lean on the Archbishop to help him. That was a simple way to achieve victory.
The only problem with this tactic was how to get Alice and Rain away from the boy. One option was to separate them and convince them to leave him behind, but from Alice’s interactions Rain was sure the Archbishop knew better than to believe that would work. Which brought about the second option. Separate them from the boy and kill them.
All in all, those psychopaths were going to try whatever they could to take Sean away from them.
Rain had sent a note detailing this realization of his through J to Alice at the break of dawn, after which he had sent her away with Ella and Sean.
Surprisingly she had heeded quicker than when they had been at the mall. She seemed to realize that this was a dire situation.
Using the ability of her Skill, Shadowmancer, Ella had turned her shadow into a cloak of invisibility for her and Sean, and during Nun Cathleen’s morning prayer time, escaped out of the Cathedral through a spot known to only her and the rest of the children. Apparently, the Skill could only handle hiding one other person besides its user, so J had to rely on her keen senses to keep up.
It was almost thirty minutes since then, which meant Nun Cathleen’s 5:30 a.m. praying time would be over soon, and the children’s would start. Ella and Sean being missing would be figured out then.
In all honesty, Rain wished he could get the rest of the children out of here too, but he knew he didn’t have either the abilities or luxury for that, which was why he had chosen Ella, who was apparently the most vulnerable of the kids.
One look at her back at Cumbernauld had told him all he’d needed to know. Even if she didn’t answer when he asked her about what was happening at the Cathedral out of fear that she was being watched, he had been able to read her eyes to get an idea.
That little girl knew that they were being manipulated; and, Rain wasn’t sure how he knew, but her eyes were those of someone who had watched a person dear to her die right before their eyes.
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She had said she did not want to leave, but decided to help Sean escape instead.
Rain was not satisfied with that, so when he got to the meeting spot, he would try to convince her again. As for now, he had to make sure Nun Cathleen didn’t come after them—this was also part of the reason he had not yet left.
“Good morning.”
Rain turned sharply to his side to see Nun Cathleen standing there with a smile on her face.
It’s that bad, huh? I didn’t even notice her coming.
He reciprocated. “Good morning.”
“I hope you slept well?” He nodded. “That’s good. Well, I came here to wake the children up, but it seems we have a situation. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?”
The children? Isn’t it only Ella who should be woken up for the prayer, or are you already lumping Sean in with the kids under you?
Rain kept his thoughts to himself and said, “They went to ease themselves. I sent my Companion to escort them, so they’ll be fine. If that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Oh. No. I’m not worried about them. They can take care of themselves well enough. It’s just funny that they all went to ease themselves at the same time. It’s even funnier that Mei Mei went as well.”
Rain frowned, a look of confusion painted on his face.
All? Mei Mei? Surely, it can’t be…
“What are you talking about?” He decided to confirm as he rose to his feet.
Nun Cathleen gestured outside of the chapel they were in and at the wide space of the crypt. “There’s no one here besides you.”
###
“What do you think you’re doing, El?!” Ella turned around to see Ray with a tightness in his eyes. He was not the only one. The rest of the children were present; they had all followed her secretly. “Have you lost your mind? Has Mei Mei infected you?”
“I-I had no hand in this, Ray. Even I wouldn’t dare—”
“Shut it, klutz!” Ray voiced and Mei Mei squealed herself into silence. He turned back to Ella and the boy, Sean. The Jaguar was there as well, simply watching in silence. “Explain yourself. Where are you going with them?”
Ella bit down on her lower lip before saying, “I’m… I…”
“Why are you out here during prayer time?” It was Geraldine who’d opened her mouth.
She rarely talked, so whenever she did the rest of the children placed importance on the situation that had caused it. And as such, Meera, Timothy, Tit, and Jan began to question Ella. Only one of them was silent. It was Klein. He just stood to the back like a quiet sentinel—like he didn’t exist—observing. Ella caught his lucid azure eyes and her lips tightened even further than it had already been.
“Say something, dammit!” Ray roared. “What in the world do you think you’re doing?”
She hesitated. After all, what could she say? That she was helping Sean escape from Archbishop Jude and Nun Cathleen? They would ask her ‘why’, because to them they weren’t bad people. They didn’t know what had happened, and she couldn’t tell them. She didn’t want to be the devil who ruined the peace of others, that was why she hesitated.
“I…” Ella lowered her head and tried to speak, but her words weren’t coming. Her vision was slowly becoming blurry. “I…”
“Do you want to leave?”
Her eyes shot up at those words—at that voice. It was Klein’s. His arms were still folded and he was still behind the rest of the kids.
That was right, besides her, he was the only one who knew what had happened. If she explained the situation to him he would understand.
“Huh?!” Ray’s face squeezed. “Why are you asking her such a foolish question? We can’t let her leave. No. That’s wrong. Why would she even be trying to leave? Where would she go? She’s gonna die out in the world all by herself.”
Klein ignored him. “So, do you?” Ella pursed her lips, and after a few seconds of deliberation decided to take Klein to the side and explain it all to him separately. But before she could say anything, he added, “Don’t. The boy too. Both of you can’t go anywhere…”
At that moment, the Jaguar who had been silent all this time suddenly bared its fangs and pounced in front of Ella and Sean, startling the rest of the children—all besides Klein, whose lucid eyes now had a glint of ferocity to them.
“Wh-What did you say?” Ella asked in a shaken manner as her expression collapsed. She quickly grabbed Sean’s hand and held it tightly.
“Exactly what you heard,” Klein replied in a petulant tone. “It’s simple, really. I’m asking you not to leave. There’s no place out there better than here. But, of course, if you’re adamant on trying to, then you leave me no choice. I’ll have to kill you both myself.”