When Baraqiel opened their eyes again, everything felt bright. Bright, warm and oddly uncomfortable: their body had ended up sleeping in such a twisted position, covered with a piece of strained cloth and with their head leaning against cold, muddy ground. For a second they thought themself blind, just adding another number to the huge list of disgraces that had fallen upon them, but slowly and steadily their eyes grew used to the morning light.

Am I still outside…?

Yes. Yes they were. They could hear birds singing outside, the gentle breeze blowing through the trees. As it was usual in the Doggenbandrian regions, rain had left their skies as suddenly as it had arrived, and it was sure to return without any warning just because of the whims of unrestrained weather. Baraqiel knew little of this, for even if they had forgotten a lot, they could still vividly remember the fact that they were NOT from Doggenband, or even the Brittan Isles.

But their own lands were so far away they could barely see them in memories, lands of beautiful crystalline lakes and cold, high mountains. That’s all they could recollect, before something had taken them into a bag, then into a boat to starve for long days and nights at sea.

Until ending at the mercy of an insane man and his cult, hidden in the broken islands of Britta.

Cursed be his name.

Once their eyes were working again, Baraqiel struggled to sit up. Their body was still hurting from all these months, and last night’s adventure had only made things worse. Both of their legs had come back to their usual state of atrophy, barely moving but at least sensitive to temperatures and touch, so the kid figured they would return to function soon enough.

Ready to continue the escape! But where to go next?

Despite the lack of cooperation from their legs, Baraqiel still tried to get up. With their hands clinging to the wall beside them, and their back sending searing screams of pain down every nerve, it took them a bit before actually standing and looking around: They were, indeed, still hiding in the same broken-down shed. Looking through one of the two filthy windows, Baraqiel could see the abandoned mine surrounded by entire lakes of fresh mud.

Relief, the rain had covered their tracks perfectly.

But then, where was Gabriellle!?

The kid would only find the snuffed candle inside of the little lamp, the discarded pot/helmet, and a few crumbs of last night’s “feast”, but there were no other signs of the little girl. She had probably gone back to the Church…

This is where many others would have panicked, feared either abandonment or betrayal, and there was a little sting of that thought in the back of Baraqiel’s mind, but for some reason it was weak. Entirely too weak to overpower the certainty of their trust for that girl. After all, they had made a covenant together! And as silly as the whole deal was, Baraqiel could still feel it in their heart:

That girl would die before betraying them, so for now they just needed to wait for Gabi to come back.

Baraqiel smiled, looking at their reflection on the ugly glass: a thin child with many red marks across their dark skin, and stains of blood and mud on their ruffled hair. And yet, that smile on their face was full of energy, of confidence… The child smiling back at Baraqiel filled them with a feeling of hope.

As they forced themself back down, sighing in relief, and then tucked themself back to sleep, Baraqiel knew that things could only go up from that point up.

—

Gabrielle was many things! She was a little prone to distractions, with a tendency to overcomplicate hings without a real need for it; some even say that she was a bit slow on the uptake, and they may be right in some cases! But she was definitely not dumb. She knew for a fact that if she wasn’t back in her bed by sunrise, the girls would start talking and the nuns would take notice, which meant Father would take notice! And connecting the dots between her and Baraqiel would be too easy.

As the little girl trotted through the dark south hallway, she was still thinking of the poor kid sleeping in a shed. Would they be okay now, all by themself? Gabi had erased her footprints and made sure no one followed them before, so Baraqiel should be fine! But probably cold, and hungry! She would totally be cold and hungry in their position, right?

Would she?

Thinking about the kid was forcing her to think about herself, and it only made things much more uncomfortable than they needed to be. Huffing and puffing, the girl carefully opened the door to the sleeping quarters and looked around: all the others were deeply asleep, great! Gabrielle slid back into her bed as quickly and quietly as she could, and with a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes.

It felt like no time had passed at all when the first morning rays started bothering her, and the Nuns screamed at the top of their lungs.

“Breakfast time!!”

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Was it really breakfast time!? Already!? Gabrielle was not used to complaining, but she really wanted to sleep and properly rest some more. She grumbled and stirred in her bed, while the other girls pretty much did the same.

So this is why they take so long to wake up…

Epiphanies arrived at the strangest of times, for Gabrielle had never given a single thought to the girls who groaned and wrapped themselves even more when called to eat. She was usually the first one to go to the kitchen!

…Wait, I am the first to go to the kitchen!!

Another epiphany forced her to sit up. If she changed her ways that hard, people would definitely notice! With a loud and defeated groan Gabi rolled off the bed, rushing to the Kitchen while she still could. Oh, but the bed had never felt so comfortable, warm and soft! It was simply painful to leave it, venturing back out to the cold and harsh world.

Have mornings always been this disgusting…?

Back in the kitchen, now that she was sitting at her spot on the very end of the table, Gabrielle noticed something immediately: Breakfast was being made by Sister Corintia, and this was never the case before. They always put Sister Alejandra to it, for she was the one who actually knew how to cook! But there was no sign of her around. In fact, now there were many empty chairs at the Adult Table.

Sister Alejandra, Sister Arianna and Sister Marina were nowhere to be seen, and more frighteningly, the Father himself was not there either. Gabi was not the only one to notice the strange air in the kitchen, and as some of the girls finally joined, one of them asked:

“Where’s Father?”

“He’s busy and won't be eating with us today.” Sister Corintia barked while serving big, full bowls of soup to each and every person at the table. “Now eat.”

There were groans and moans all around, breakfast was one of the few times when they usually had chewy, hard food to eat. But Gabrielle couldn’t be more excited as she looked in her bowl: Poached eggs! And croutons too?? Her eyes were practically sparkling as they were served soup for breakfast.

“I don’t want any complaints! Anything you don’t eat will go straight to the pigs, so stop whining!!” Sister Corintia had no patience for the kids, at all. Maybe that’s why she never cooked too.

“Well we better eat it all! I don’t want Gabrielle to get fat now!” A child answered, and of course everyone laughed at that… but honestly, Gabrielle couldn’t even feel the sting of those words. She was way too busy being transfixed by her food, taking her sweet time with each tasting. Who cares about what they had to say, there’s soup for breakfast!

And besides, if they really were going to throw out all the food that they didn’t eat, Gabrielle’s mind had started to slowly machinate a new, interesting idea…

—

“Baraqiel is gone. An Angel has escaped our grasp, and now it is our responsibility to bring it back.”

Our grasp? Good one, yeah. For sure.

Arianna stood firmly and calmly, one of three people allowed to see the broken-down workshop. Arianna, Marina and Alejandra were summoned early that morning, right before the preparations for breakfast started, to assess the situation and make a little proper list of the lost materials and notes. Arianna was quick to note every object Alejandra managed to pull out of the rubble, and after all was done, they would compare that list with Marina’s full inventory.

As Enrico had feared, the Coordinating Spire had been heavily damaged, several books had burnt to a crisp and many others were too damaged so they needed quick copying and restoration. Some implements and chirurgical tools were destroyed, not to mention the huge hole in the wall.

All and all, the investigation had been brought to a very sudden halt, and now they would need to spend several weeks repairing everything back into proper shape instead of experimenting on the remaining Angels. And the last moments had been spent in a long-winded, despair-fueled rant about how all of this was not the Demiurge’s fault. At least, not fully.

Three nuns stood at attention, Sister Marina firm and stern as she accepted her “very deserved drilling”, while Sisters Arianna and Alejandra simply exchanged a few confused looks from time to time.

“Better locks must be purchased, finer materials must be used when we rebuild, nothing of this can ever happen again, you hear me!?”

Alejandra huffed but didn’t dare to speak her mind. What do you mean “finer materials”? You’re the one providing us with barely any coin to work with…!!

It was certainly a frustrating situation, and yet Arianna had to try her very best not to smile. The spite, the joy, the sheer “Schadenfreude” as some people call it Deutch Duchies, it was all coalescing in a way that she had never experienced before: was this the true satisfaction of a job about to start? Whatever it was, at least it kept her well awake in what would be an otherwise boring affair.

The best part was about to start, too! The Demiurge took a deep breath before continuing:

“Now that Baraqiel is missing, we need to do our best and keep an eye on them!! If they reveal the results of our experiments before time is due, who knows what could happen!”

Oh right, when it goes wrong, then it is our experiment. Arianna and Alejandra rolled their eyes, sharing a thought without even knowing.

“I shall station a Sister in Town, and keep her there just in case the angel is seen. They must be captured before they have time to open their mouth, after all!” Enrico stopped, assaulted by the sudden anxiety of a man who can feel the sword of Damocles, hanging right above their neck.

“How do you know they haven’t arrived at town yet, sir?” Arianna spoke, trying as hard as she could to not let a giggle out.

“I choose to believe in the Will of the Gods, who want me to succeed.” Enrico spoke a bit louder than it was needed, clearly to convince himself. “I shall send you, Alejandra! Next time you go buy groceries, simply send the child back and you stay behind!

Alejandra frowned, her hands a bit restless. “And with that excuse? The townspeople will get all suspicious! Besides, can you really trust those children not to steal the groceries or lose them on the way back?”

Arianna snorted a bit. Oh Ale, please! No need to be so mean to him!!

“We will have to put our trust in them!! This matter is much more important than any other, you hear me!? We will also keep looking, I will look through the woods myself! No one in this chapel will be allowed any rest until we find this angel!”

“I shall go this instant, Demiurge!” Sister Marina took her turn to speak as soon as possible, her eyes ablaze. “Please let me be your eyes in Gwynedd!”

Arianna and Alejandra exchanged another gaze, trying hard not to mock the fervor of the Sister, while Enrico simply nodded and disregarded the woman without a second thought.

“Then you may go, now! And as for you two, sisters: Begin the search in the forest at once. I do not want to see either of you until lunchtime… in the meantime, I shall do my best to salvage my notes. Dismissed, now!!”

Marina had practically disappeared as soon as she got permission, while the remaining sisters simply nodded and waited for their senior to be as far away as possible to finally make their exit– right through the huge hole in the wall, to Enrico’s great dismay. As they walked away, they could hear the man grumble as he had to physically stop himself from ordering the sisters to walk back. There was no time to be prideful, after all!

“I have never seen Father this distressed before.” Commented Alejandra, starting to relax now that they were walking into the forest. “So I guess this does mean what you said is true, Comrade…”

“Did you really doubt me?” Arianna gasped, playing offended and lifting her nose in disdain. “I had the kindness to tell you the Truth of our Church, and even made you my deputy, and this is how you repay me? I should have erased you when I had the chance!”

“As if you could even touch me with your small, thin noodle arms. Your bones are brittle like eggshells!” The bigger sister mocked, letting out a thunderous laugh before suddenly shushing herself up. “Ah, I am sorry Comrade, I am supposed to take this seriously, yes?”

“Yes and no. Don’t worry too much about it.” Ari smiled at her partner, just feeling the relief of finally having someone to officially rely on. “We should find them before that maniac does, but honestly… I am not in a huge rush.”

“What if Baraqiel is freezing, alone in the woods or something!”

“I want to think they’re a bit smarter than that.”

Did she, really? A part of Arianna’s mind was seriously concerned with the child’s well being but, at this point, the woman had come to a sad conclusion: considering all that had happened, the trials they had been put through and the interrogations that Genesis would start if they grabbed a hold of them, maybe Baraqiel would be much better off dead.

Saints above that’s terrible… Ari immediately chastised herself, shaking her head and picking up the pace.

As soon as this is all done with, I will need a long vacation. I’m starting to think like that bastard…