*** PoV: Colette ***
The Church finally caught me 3065 years, 8 months and 13 days After Sealing. I had no idea where I might have slipped up, but here they were, bringing me in for a reason only known to them. It wasn’t like I could refuse unless I wanted to cause problems to everyone else in the royal family too, seeing how they were hiding the fact of my seal being broken for thousands of years. Fighting back might have been an option under normal circumstances, but nothing about the church was normal thanks to the person leading it.
The church was mostly made up of the Wingless, who got their race’s name from supposedly being the descendants of angels, with their wings lost when they descended to Lursail. If one asked any passerby, they would claim the Pope was just that, another normal Wingless man. If one asked my sister or Lux, they would say it was one of their old party members, one who saved their lives more times than they dared to acknowledge, though they might be in the know. Being one of the people responsible for my sealing, he definitely had the power to pose a threat to me, but that wasn’t my greatest concern.
The Pope, Gabriel Fero, was possibly the only person who knew my true identity on Lursail. Yes, the royal family already knew that Director Hildakoa was Colette Hildakoa, also known as the Collateral Queen, but only Gabriel could see behind that name. He knew me, and I knew him. The reason for this was pretty simple, but pronouncing it loud would get me in all kinds of trouble. We had already met each other before we were born on Lursail. Before my reincarnation, I knew that man by the name Archangel Gabriel.
*** PoV: Hanna ***
Everyone present at the time Colette was summoned to the church were following closely behind her and Father Thomas, walking through the streets of Crater. Eva, Sylvie, Keith and Lux had their hands on their weapons and seemed ready to attack on the slightest breeze, Lux looking for any strange movement my sister might make, while the other three were staring daggers at the priest’s back. I trusted that my sister could take care of herself, having fought her multiple times in the past, and Maya was so carefree I wasn’t sure she didn’t only follow us out of the fear of being left out of something interesting.
I expected paladins to surround my sister as soon as we stepped onto Church lands, but nothing of the like happened. Walking into the cathedral, the millions of mana lamps have temporarily blinded us, lighting the inside of the building up so much that, had someone claimed I was transferred over to Hellesheim, I wouldn’t have doubted it for a moment. Brightness on this level felt alien on Evernight.
What I first noticed after regaining my sight was a magic circle nearly the size of the one I used to seal Colette, however it looked way more complex. I wasn’t sure whether I should have been glad or worried about the fact that they weren’t trying to put her back in a seal. The second thing was a large group of Farkas demi-humans waiting on the other side of the circle, surrounding some kind of artifact.
“I have brought the Ilehoria girl,” announced the priest. “Is everything prepared?”
Stolen story; please report.
“Yes, Father Thomas,” replied one of the oldest-looking Farkas. “The Church’s mages did an impressive job drawing the circle this quickly under my supervision.”
Colette had an amused look on her face, observing the circle. Was she able to figure its purpose out? I wasn’t able to make heads or tails about the spell engraved into it, and my sister, while having incomparably more mana than me, was never good at anything over beginner magic. She usually just overloaded simple spells with mana to make them match advanced magic in power, like she did with her fireball when she blew the crater the city was built on top of into the soil during our last fight.
The Farkas elder handed the strange artifact over to my sister, then made her stand in the middle of the magic circle. Eight Wingless priests took up positions around it and started chanting.
Eva turned to Father Thomas with some concern in her voice. “I hope you are aware that we won’t just sit idly if you hurt one of our citizens without any justification. You might be from the Church, but we have higher authority here.”
“Worry not, Lady Pesok. His Highness, Pope Gabriel, would take our heads if we caused harm to the girl. We are also not foolish enough to go against the Savior of Orphans.” Eva had quite the moniker. Was that related to Sylvie’s story?
As the priests finished their chant, both the circle and the artifact started giving off a swirling greenish aura, slowly encompassing Colette. For the next few minutes, the only noteworthy things in the cathedral were Colette’s and Maya’s puppy-like excited looks, but that changed with a loud crack.
This was the first time I saw Colette panic. Father Thomas was on his knees, shaking. The group of Farkas were trying to break the spell by showing the priests away. Lux was pulling Keith and Maya towards the cathedral’s gate by the scruffs of their necks. Eva and Sylvie were pushing themselves against the swirl, trying to reach Colette. I was staring at the rift that opened over Colette’s head.
Suddenly the swirl exploded, pushing us off our legs, then an earthquake shook the city.
Pushing myself up from the cold floor, I saw Colette collapsed in the middle of what remained of the magic circle, the artifact still held in her hands. The priests who already managed to get on their feet were running from person to person, healing any injuries they suffered.
Father Thomas walked over to where Colette laid, crouched down and touched her arm. He let out a long sigh, and seemed to calm down somewhat.
“She’s alive. Thank you, our merciful God.” He stood up, turned towards us, then made the announcement. “Lady Hanna has received our God’s love, and was successfully resurrected.” I wanted to facepalm.
“Father Thomas, there seems to be a misunderstanding here,” came Sylvie’s voice from somewhere behind me. She was most probably knocked back by the explosion. She walked closer and stood next to me. “Lady Hanna is the girl standing next to me,” she pointed at me.
“Jest not, Lady Sylvie. The one standing next to you is obviously a Fushane, just like you are. Lady Hanna is an Ilehoria.”
I undid my transformation, and looked into his eyes. “Father Thomas, I am indeed the one called Hanna. The one lying there is my sister, Colette.”
“Your sister?” He looked at Colette. “Are you claiming the Collateral Queen is freed from her s–” Colette opening her eyes shocked him into silence.
“The Hero’s Eyes,” I heard muttering from around the cathedral. And indeed, Colette’s eyes had different colors, just like they did before the sealing.