"First things first." I said. I want you to heal me."

Basha nodded and he clasped his holy sigil and held his hand out. He opened his mouth, but I interrupted him. "You're distancing yourself." I said. He looked at me. "Every instance of healing I've seen you do, you've never held your holy sigil, and you've never stood apart from the one you tried to heal. Your faith is shaken, isn't it?"

His eyes widened as he averted his eyes.

"Sit down, you won't be able to heal a paper cut like this." I sat down and crossed my legs, he hesitated before he did so as well. "Cier, that candle over there, the unlit one, I need it brought over to us, and I need it lit and secured in a candleholder."

Cier nodded and brought the candle over. He snapped his fingers and the candle was lit.

"Basha, I want you to do the breathing exercises as I showed you, I want you to stare directly at the flame, and I want you to calm your breathing so that the flame does not go out."

He looked at me. "That is impossible, I will blow the flame out." He said.

"Is it?" I asked.

He stared at me for several seconds before he looked at the candle. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out through his mouth. The flame flickered, but did not go out. He took another breath, and another, and each time, the flame did not go out. He continued, until the flame barely moved.

"Why did the flame not go out?" I asked.

"A miracle, perhaps?" He asked, his voice sounding hopeful.

"No, because you had the will to calm your breath and not let the flame go out." I replied. "You were calm enough to not force your breath out, and with it your fear. What is fear?"

"Fear?" He asked. "It's when you're afraid." He replied.

"That is a circular answer." I replied. "What is fear?"

He stared at the flame and was silent for several minutes. Finally, he said, "Fear is not knowing."

"No." I said. "What is fear?"

I saw his hands clench on his knees briefly before he relaxed them. "Fear is knowing." He replied.

"No." I said. "What is fear?"

"Then what is it?!" He snapped, looking at me. The flame went out.

"Fear is when you second guess yourself, it's when you only allow one answer, it's when you refuse to see any other path." I picked up the candle and held it up. "Fear is when you lash out because your every option is slowly being taken from you. When you are overwhelmed with fear, you either collapse under its weight, or you become angry."

His eyes widened. "What is anger?" I asked.

"It is when you lash out in fear." He replied.

"No." I said. "When you lash out in fear, that is fear feeding into anger. Anger is fire, in the hands of the righteous, it can be anger at evil, it can be anger at suffering. In this, it can be the catalyst for greater things, like a fire cleansing a forest choked by fallen leaves and branches." I held it out to Cier, who lit it again. "It can be a guiding light in darkness, and that darkness is fear." I set the candle down.

"But anger in the hands of the fearful is a tool of survival, it is that decisive moment when there is nothing else you can do, to lay down and die, or to lash out and fight to live. It is wild, uncontrollable, and it consumes everything in its path." I held my hand over the flame and pushed energy into it. The flame grew hotter and hotter, but slowly. "Fear, anger, these things can be used for good. To understand you fear, but to press on in spite of it, that is courage, when you control your fear and use it to keep going."

The flame rose, feeding from the energy I gave it. I pulled away, the wax melting faster, the wick lengthened, further allowing the flame to grow.

"What are you afraid of, Basha? Are you afraid that your faith was false, supplemented only by the machinations of a controlling beast? Are you afraid that perhaps your God has turned his back on you, that you are alone?" I looked at him. "Are these your only reasons for giving up?"

"I have not given up." He said.

"Then why do you act like you have?" I asked.

He swatted the candle aside with the back of his hand and approached me. He grabbed my hands and he spoke. "Bahamut, Cleansing Flame, heal this man."

His eyes glowed as my every ache and pain faded. He let go, the glow faded, and tears fell from his eyes.

"He hasn't left you." I said.

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He wiped his eyes. "Are you certain you would make a poor priest?" He asked.

"I'm too questioning." I replied. "How long would I really last before someone tried to kill me for spouting heresy?"

He nodded.

"You wanted me to press on in spite of my fear." He said. "That was the reason for the candle?"

"No." I said. "The candle was a distraction, the more you focused on it, the less you could focus on what was important. The flame was your fear eroding your will, and you pressed on in spite of it to prove that you are not going to let it rule your life."

"I am frightened." He admitted.

"Only idiots aren't afraid." I replied. "Fear is what tells you to be cautious, it is what tells you to think before you act. Do not forget that fear is a tool to wield, that it should never control you."

I stood up and helped him stand.

"Shall we take care of those still bound by the Vampire's curses?" He asked.

I nodded...

It took three hours. First the Priests, all of whom only realized what had happened after the fact, then the Initiates, who felt betrayed by the Temple for what had happened, and then the remaining Acolytes, who were no longer bound by the Contracts that kept them.

I stood in front of the doors leading out, I saw Richt stride toward me. "Out of the way." He said. "I am quite finished with this place, and I will not have a commoner such as you bar my passage."

"Not until you hear what I have to say." I said. "I was the one who killed the Faith Vampire, the least you can do is wait long enough for me to say what I need to say."

He hesitated, then nodded.

"All of you are justified in your anger, but remember that this was the cause of one monster who preyed on the faith of those within this building. Do not seek vengeance on those who are as much the victims of this monster as you are. Whether by sheer luck or divine intervention, you are free, don't make a mistake you may regret later, at least wait until your minds are clear. I'd say, give it a week at least, I am certain, if you desire recompense after this amount of time as passed, nobody will think of you as being opportunistic, or otherwise greedy. After all, the last thing you need is a Temple full of the best healers around going completely bankrupt and thus unable to help those in need."

"You realize you are addressing nobility." Richt stated.

"You are speaking to the Cursebreaker employed by my Lady Wyrashe, who came at her behest as she noticed an odd trend." Cier stated. "By tradition, you would owe him, and by extension, my Lady, much." They all looked fearful at Cier's words. "My Lady has invested in him the power to decide what the reasonable recompense is."

I looked at Cier, who in turn looked at me. "What do they owe our Lady?" He asked.

"A week." I said. "To reflect on their fortune, to reflect on their time here, and to understand how fortunate they are that the new Archdrake was more concerned with freeing them rather than allowing them to continue as they had been. The Temple is filled with remorseful Priests, allow them to grieve their foolishness."

"You ask for little." Richt stated.

"I am asking for a lot." I said. With that, I stepped aside, and every Initiate and Acolyte left. After waiting a few moments, I looked at Cier. "She's going to be mad at you for taking things out of her hands, you know."

"She and Nash are away for business at the moment, she is not in a position to mitigate the damage of several disgruntled youths." He replied. "It was a decisive gamble, and I dare say it is much better than what my Lady would have chosen."

"Giving them a time out will help them put things into perspective." I said. "The ones who hold a grudge will be the ones that won't amount to much and are thus worth watching out for, the others who are willing to let bygones be bygones are the ones who will actually amount to something worthwhile, and the ones who decide to return and become Priests will be the ones who might be able to change the world for the better."

"And here I was told you had faith only in the love a mother has for her child." He remarked. "Yet you show faith that they will not seek blood."

I smirked.

We continued looking around for other things the Vampire left behind. Among the items cursed were every set of Initiate vestments, a few items designed for repelling Vampires, a sacred text that was supposed to hold the secrets of the Temple, and a holy sigil belonging to Paedon.

"You understand the necessity of confiscating these items." Cier said to Basha.

"I do." He said. "And the only reason why I am allowing you to take them is because- ah..." He glanced at me.

"Rex." I said.

"Because Rex is trustable enough that I know he will not allow their abuse." He stated.

"All it will take is me wearing or using them for Cier or someone of sufficient skill with magic to determine how the curses work." I replied. "Once the curses are removed, I will make certain they are returned, I'll even fight Liss- I mean, Lady Wyrashe if I absolutely must."

Basha smiled at this. "Tomorrow is Artandur, and it is the day I will need to relight the Dragonblaze to prove I am capable of being the next Archdrake." He bowed his head toward me. "I would be honored if you were to stay long enough to see this."

"I would be honored." I replied.

We stayed the night, ate with the Priests, and on the next day, Basha walked through the city to a large sconce displayed prominently above the city. He knelt and prayed before he held a torch to the sconce. It immediately caught and blazed brightly. Cier visibly relaxed at the sight, and as Basha started back to the Temple, he paused in front of me.

"Here." He said. "I gave this to you, it would be improper for me to keep it." It was the pendant with the holy sigil of Bahamut he had given to me the other day.

"I'll treasure it." I replied. He smiled and walked the long road back to the Temple. As Cier and I walked through the city to the inn he stayed at, I asked him, "Why were you tense during the lighting of the Dragonblaze?"

He looked at me. "I was a child when the previous Archdrake rose to his position. The flame refused to light for the longest time, it was only at the last possible moment that it caught, and that man was accepted." He looked forward. "In the light of the fire, I had seen him for what he truly was, and in time I had considered it to only be my imagination. I know now that it was not my imagination, that I did truly see a monster on that day." He crossed his arms. "He came and offered my family great wealth in exchange for my joining the Temple. He tried to take me, because he knew that I knew. He was refused, it would have been a waste of my talents. I am grateful to my Lady for many reasons, I am where I belong."

"You really love her, don't you?" I asked.

"With all of my heart." He replied. "She would never let him take me, she would never accept his bribes. It is, ironically, your arrival that distracted him from me, and led to his demise."

"That's why the concession was given?" I asked.

He nodded. "To tempt her into giving me up. To coerce her into sacrificing me for overcome her... inability to..."

"She can't have kids?" I asked.

"She lost her only son, her birth was a painful one, one that was cursed for reasons unknown. I think, perhaps, she may have peace in that regard."

We stopped in front of the inn and he faced me fully. "Tell me, Rex, before we return to my Lady's home, what is it that you want in this world? Do you expect you will find ease under her care, doing the bare minimum needed to stay within her good graces?"

"I-" I had intended to say. 'I want to go home.' But how realistic was that dream? How long would it take for me to understand this world enough to find my way back? "I have never just done the bare minimum here." I said. "I could have taken advantage of her kindness, found some way to indebt her to me, and then make my terms of repayment to always be a guest in her home. I'm smart enough to figure out a way."

I looked at my right hand. "I always feel like I need to do something, that if I'm not doing something, then all I am doing is wasting everyone's time. When Nash offered me the opportunity to learn to defend myself, I did not complain, I proceeded with an understanding of my limits. When I was shown a way to help out around the household, I did not hesitate and I did everything that I could to do a good job." I looked at him. "And while I was at the Temple, I could have sat on my ass and done nothing and received no punishment for it. I worked every day."

"And?" He asked.

"That's just it." I said. "I have no plan, I don't know what I want except to go home, that is my only real motivation and it won't work out for long. I don't want to become someone's servant for the rest of my foreseeable life, I don't want to become a sheltered priest who only comes out long enough to help another person, and I don't want to become someone else's problem. So I don't know. I don't know what I want."

He nodded, smiling, as if this satisfied him. "Then let us rest tonight and leave tomorrow." He said.

We entered the inn and after securing a room for myself, we went to bed...