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It would have been foolhardy to think I could avoid Relias altogether, but I had hoped for enough time to devise a few plausible excuses for deviating from the plan. We were supposed to reason with the assembly, let Relias stroke their egos, make them feel important, and bow our heads while humbly asking for their help—securing their support and trust in the most humiliating way possible.
“This is a strange place to take refuge,” Relias noted quietly, sitting beside me in the storage closet. “Though it seems to have been overlooked by the others, so I would say it is… serviceable.”
“I needed a bucket,” I mumbled, pushing it carefully to the side so it didn’t spill.
“Will you allow me to alleviate your symptoms?”
“I’m not sure I deserve—”
“Dear One, I recall you telling me not to suffer needlessly. Should not such advice apply to you?” He motioned for me to remove my gauntlets.
I sighed as he held my hand, infusing me with a pale white light. “I know I messed things up again…”
“Oh, now I see. You believe I am troubled by your actions. To tell the truth…” He let go and picked up one of my discarded gauntlets, turning it over thoughtfully in his hands. “I was startled, yes, but… there was something rather cathartic about watching you put them in their place.” He chuckled softly and swung it back and forth as if challenging someone to a duel. “The fact that you threatened them with the idea that they would have to do their duty was the best part.”
“They’re not going to trust me, though. Not after that.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Trust is earned, but perhaps not all is lost. The Holy Knights in attendance were duly impressed, and tales of your dressing-down of the assembly are spreading like wildfire.” He cleared his throat nervously. “You didn’t actually mean they’d join us on the frontlines, though, did you?”
“There’s no plan for any frontlines, but they don’t know that.” We were hunkering down behind the walls, not rushing head-on to meet them. Maybe that could have been a solution—if we knew where they were coming from.
Relias nodded. “I’d like to keep some distance between you and the assembly members. There is something persistently strange about their behavior…”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said they were acting like children,” I agreed. “None of them even tried to hide their anger. I thought some would’ve resorted to subterfuge, but instead, they just…”
“Acted on emotional impulse,” Relias murmured. “Like Pravum and Procul did at the trial. I’ve been thinking that—”
“There you are!” Nora exclaimed, abruptly appearing in the doorway. “What are you two—”
“We’re just talking!” I shouted as Relias scooted away from me.
“I know that. I mean, what are you two going to do about Father Derrick?”
Relias and I glanced at each other. “Let him stew for a bit?” I asked, not having any long-term punishment plans.
Relias shrugged. “I’m in no rush to set him free…”
Nora pursed her lips and held out her hand to help me up. “You two better come with me and see for yourselves.”
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Two holy knights met us in the stone hallway leading to Father Derrick’s makeshift prison cell.
“He appears to be in the early stages of Animus Overload,” one of them informed us. “But we noticed something strange about his symptoms.”
Relias straightened, twirling his fingers to summon his staff from thin air. “Show us what you mean, Sir Knight.”
Could I someday summon my sword like that from a pocket dimension? Think of the stuff I could bring if I had that ability!
The knight pulled off his helmet and ran his fingers through his short, sweaty brown hair. “At once, Your Holiness, but mayhap the Chosen One would be more comfortable waiting here with my Brother.”
“He seems nice,” I remarked. “But I want to see what’s going on too.”
The knight’s face turned crimson. “It’s a delicate situation, Captain. He’s in a moderate state of undress, and I wouldn’t want to put you in a position of discomfort.”
Nora rolled her eyes, signaling me with a 3 out of 10 rating.
I shook my head, trying not to react to Nora’s harsh judgment. “I’ve taken anatomy and physiology. I’m pretty sure he’s not in possession of anything that would surprise me.”
I was a bit wrong on that one.
Father Derrick was stripped down to his lower skivvies, his bony arms chained to the wall. But instead of facing forward, he was turned away, howling as he scraped his bloody fingers over and over on the rough stone in front of him. Between his sweaty shoulder blades was a strange black mark about the size of a fist: a Y-shaped wound with each branch ending in a poorly defined circle. The surrounding tissue was raw and red, encapsulated by a ring of tiny white blisters.
Nora poked me. “Any thoughts on why he’s bedazzled with a flux capacitor?”
“He’s… what with a what?”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
She clucked her tongue and pulled out her journal. “More to add to the list… As I see it, you’ve got about 40 years of pop culture to catch up on.”
Why am I responsible for knowing the fads of my forefathers?
Relias motioned for the knight to open the cell. “It is a bizarre affliction indeed. The fact that he’s taken no measures to treat it suggests a demonic wound—one he’s unaware of.”
How could he not know? It looked painful, to say the least.
As Relias entered the cell, Father Derrick screamed at the top of his lungs, yanking against the chains and tearing open the skin on his wrists. Thin wisps of inky black smoke rose from the three circles, slowly forming a dark halo around him.
“Captain,” Relias called, “I’ll need your help to purge this.”
Was I finally going to learn how to heal someone?
I stepped inside with a bounce ill-aligned with the seriousness of the situation. To my dismay, however, Relias only needed my right hand and Euphridia’s blessing within it. He held it tight, drawing a deep breath before summoning a pulsating white orb at the tip of his staff. “Malum purga!”
With a forceful shove, he pushed the orb of light directly into the mark. At first, nothing happened, but then gold and black swirled underneath the skin, spiraling faster and faster until the gold light swallowed the darkness. It flashed so brightly that I had to shut my eyes. When I opened them again, Father Derrick’s back was completely healed.
“Holy Sage Relias?” Father Derrick’s voice quivered. “You’ve returned? I must speak to you at once about Councilman Procul’s strange behavior! Except… I seem to be in some rite of penance. Have I… done something untoward?”
Oh shit…
“What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked, my stomach threatening a repeat performance.
“Chosen One?!” he gasped, trying to fall to his knees, only to be stopped short by the chains. “No... I remember... But then I couldn't believe it... Forgive me! I have been most rude to you... As soon as I am freed, I shall genuflect properly—”
“That won’t be necessary,” I sighed as Relias motioned for the knights to free him. “We’ll all be much too busy healing your Brothers.”
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Not all the members of the General Assembly had the mark, but those who did had varying sizes. The smallest was no bigger than the tip of my pinky, but they all caused the same symptoms, including strange, episodic memory lapses and extreme personality changes. The corpse of Councilman Procul had the mark as well, but it was incredibly faded, yet it was the largest of them all—about the size of a small dinner plate. All the wounds were in hard-to-see places, hidden beneath areas normally clothed.
“We should probably issue an apology,” Father Irijah mumbled. “Even though I understand the need, I feel shame for forcing them all to strip.”
Father Thomas scratched his neck vigorously. “Check me as well. I believe I’m not afflicted, but I cannot help but worry.”
“I’ll step outside,” I said, heading for the door. “No need to complicate things further.”
Nora was waiting outside, arms wrapped around herself tightly.
“You wouldn’t mind… would you?” she asked, staring at the ground.
“Nope,” I agreed. “As long as you check me, too. With intermittent memory loss being a symptom…”
Nora shook her head. “No way! I’d have noticed if you’d started acting like a baby.”
“Pretty sure I was earlier when we first arrived,” I admitted ruefully.
“No… This might surprise you, but you weren’t just acting out. You were rightfully afraid. I was the one missing the forest for the trees. You were probably even thinking about trees you couldn’t see.”
“Potential trees? Seedlings?”
“Subconscious knowledge of Speranza,” she clarified. “Along with what’s generally expected of you here. Can’t blame you for that.”
“Maybe. But I think you’re giving me too much credit. I’m naturally averse to responsibility.”
“Unrealistic responsibility,” she sniffed.
Well, by her scale, sure.
Nora cleared her throat. “And... we now have even more proof that memory manipulation is something under the purview of demons. Maybe… You know who... can do it, too.”
Is he the reason I can’t remember things right?
It would make sense if he did it as insurance against me coming back.
It was a cheap, dirty trick, though.
Good thing it didn’t work the way it should have.
“I know what you’re alluding to,” I replied. “I’ll be sure to address it in a crucial conversation with him.”
“Crucial conversation? I think it’s going to be more than that!”
I shrugged and turned away to avoid her inevitable face. “Don’t worry. I’ll be properly prepared.”
Just as soon as I… stop a demonic siege?
Find my enchanted equipment?
Git good?
…
“Tsk.” I rubbed the back of my right hand to tame the prickly itch shooting into my fingertips.
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We returned to my room after Father Irijah confirmed Father Thomas wasn’t afflicted. Neither of us had any marks, but we couldn’t shake the feeling of phantom itching skittering across our skin.
“What if we took a bath?” I finally suggested. “I was thinking about it before all of this happened. Who knows when we’ll get another chance?”
“Great idea!”
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“Heated baths at night are the best,” Nora exhaled, sinking into the pool. “I’m not a fan of the smoke from the torches—it ends up in my hair—but they do give off a nice glow.”
I nodded, watching the light ripple over the water. “Yeah. The ripples look like expanding halos that—” I stopped, noting a small shadow breaking the rings at the far end.
“Something up?”
“Maybe.” I waded over for a better look, just in time to see something dark slip down deeper into the water. “A snake?”
How'd it get in here?
Couldn't blame it for wanting a warm, moist environment.
With a loud splash, Nora jumped out. “It’s over there! Quick, get out of the—what are you doing?!” she shrieked.
"It'll probably cause all sorts of trouble if I just leave it."
I called on my aura, obliterating the other shadows from the water and exposing the black creature. “Wait... It’s not a snake,” I said, moving closer as it inched along the bath floor. “It moves weird, sort of like a worm or—”
The headless-appearing creature turned, shot forward like a loosed arrow, and latched onto the base of my neck. “Leech!” I screamed. “It’s a leech!” Instinctively, I reached for it, but it let go with a tiny, muffled shriek before my fingers closed around it. Animus burned from its crumpled body as it floated limply on the water’s surface.
Is it... dead?
But... it should disappear then.
I made several attempts to grab it but was hampered by a general sense of disgust. When I finally overcame it, the leech flickered and swiftly darted into the overflow drain, propelled by its squeezing and stretching body.
Trembling uncontrollably, I turned to Nora and pointed to the bite. “F… flux capacitor?”
“Flux capacitor…” she replied, swallowing hard.
Flux this.
Flux the sewers I would soon be entering once again.
Flux everything!
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Post-Chapter Links:
Flux capacitor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_time_machine#Flux_capacitor
Flux Capacitor tattoo icon (for comparison): https://thenounproject.com/icon/flux-capacitor-1288459/
Bedazzler: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedazzler
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Post-Chapter Omake:
Nora: You didn’t include a picture of a leech bite for comparison.
Rae: No, no I did not. If people want to look that up on their own, let them. Otherwise, they’ll have to trust me about their possible appearance.
Nora: Still too soon, huh?
Rae: It never won’t be.
Nora: You know, some still have specific medicinal benefits to this day, right?
Rae: Not the demonic ones!
Nora: I suppose you have me there.
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