The heavy underbelly of the cathedral of Flanoir was much worse than Kratos had originally predicted. Gravity seemed to double under the sweltering heat. Everything was black or burning, a stench of decay wafting in with the burning of coal. If he had a choice, the angel would have thrown off his heavy overcoat on a pew on the first floor. That would threaten being discovered, and he couldn't risk it. Not tonight.

Walking down the stone stairwell coiling around the furnace room like a serpent, he braced himself against the scene below. As he descended, more monstrosities unfolded. First, there was not one large furnace like a cathedral of this size would have. There were at least six large ovens that were not meant for traditional heating. Then, there were many men attending the fires, stoking it and throwing things into it. At first, it looked like wood and coal. As he continued going down, Aurion realized that wasn't the only thing they were putting in the fireplaces. He almost wretched as he watched one man carry something that looked like a dried animal and throw it into the oven. It didn't take a calculating genius to figure out what was going on. This was the disposal of the dead bodies of the churches' victims.

Aurion crouched under the stairwell, looking for anything that could be a door to where Lloyd was being held. Several burly and foul smelling guards past by him, ignoring how he was watching everything carefully. It looked like there was nothing in immediate sight. He leaned out of the stairwell, still searching for the doorway to the prisons. It had to be down here. Genis and Presea would not lie about something like this.

"Hey, you! What are you doing?"

His heart nearly leapt up into his throat. He calmed down as he realized it was a guard rebuking a prisoner for failing to keep up with his tasks. Aurion crossed himself, thankful no one had found him. It was just a matter of scouting out the entire perimeter without being caught. He could do that—he had done many more difficult tasks.

"To your right, second door," someone kindly whispered to him.

Aurion about jumped out of his skin. He dragged his accomplice under the stairwell with him, still hiding from the guards. He snapped, "Don't sneak up on me!"

His friendly adviser frowned, "I'm sorry." Soot and grime caked his clothing, sticking to his matted blue hair. He managed to keep a calm appearance, even under shackles and this unfortunate situation. To reassure this, he apologized, "Lloyd never told me that you were this unstable."

"I'm not," Aurion growled, "It's beyond the point. How did you know that I was looking for Lloyd?"

Regal Bryant smirked, one of the rare instances he did, "It's only nature for a father to come and protect his child." His demeanor then slipped back into a melancholy state, "It is fortunate that you have come. I'm sure you've heard what is going to happen to the Chosens tonight."

Aurion had his ideas, but he liked to have things spelled out for him occasionally, "I assume it has something to do with the rumors of sacrifices."

"Yes. Colette and Zelos are to be offered to an angel for sacrifice tonight, as well as two others..," Bryant murmured, "They were selected randomly, or so the priests say. It appears they have other motives for this."

Aurion tried to improve their conversation, "They will not have Miss Brunel tonight. She has escaped, as well as young Sage and Combatir. I have come solely to free Lloyd and his friends, but I should not be afraid to slay anyone that gets in my path."

Bryant looked shocked, but said nothing. He sighed, his heart sinking heavily. Aurion did not understand why he was so grave, but did not question it. Instead, he asked, "Presea did not know where you were. Why?"

"She lied to you," Bryant slowly explained, gaining some strength, "She knew I was down here. It was part of the deal I struck with the priests."

Aurion remembered that, "She did mention you tried to make a deal. For what?"

Bryant folded his legs under him, sitting down, "I made a barter for her life. As long as I was to serve the priests as manual labor, they would not harm her. If I tried to flee, they would kill her. It was all I could do to keep her safe." He added to that, "Raine did the same for Genis. She's working in the laundry on the second floor, I believe." He seemed to be avoiding Aurion's sharp gaze, although the angelic human could not understand why. Something else was getting in the way of Aurion fully comprehending the situation.

"If it is as you say, then my bargain is forfeit," Bryant mused, "I will help you get to the prisons. Would a distraction assist you?"

Aurion hadn't considered help, but he was more than grateful to get it. Resting one hand on his sheath, he began to observe the movements of the guards again. He nodded, "Do what you feel is necessary. I am going to start moving towards the prisons." He then scurried away from the hiding spot under the stairs, stealthy running towards his destination. With some regret, Bryant bowed his head, and then returned back to the mindless and soulless task of burning bodies. He was going to make this look as natural as possible.

Grabbing a metal pail and a small stirring rod for the flames, he scooped some charred debris and embers into it and sat it carefully on the floor. Bryant closed his eyes, focusing his mind, and then made one unfortunate guard his target. He carefully touched the side of the pail with his shoe, and then sharply kicked it into the side of the guard. The man's arms and torso caught fire, leaving small but numerous burns. It was enough to incur the wrath of the entire nest of guards.

Aurion watched in fear as they grabbed Bryant by his wrists, watching the human struggle to break free but ultimately failing. He quickly bolted into his door and threw the latch, heart pounding. Aurion caught his breath, listening for anything that would indicate that he was found, but there was nothing. At least, nothing that would directly harm him. Scuttling of armor, shouts, random cries, something heavy falling, a crack of leather—Aurion felt something quiver in his soul. It had to be done to get to Lloyd, though. He ran from the door, beginning his search down the pale and grim prison halls.

The prisons seemed to be a blue color, probably due to the lack of light and the damp runoff from the storm drains and sewers. Aurion ignored both the stench of the dungeon, occasionally brushing a spider web away if it displeased him. Torches lined the walls, burning softly in tune with the dripping from above. Passing an unattended corpse, Aurion shuddered. He didn't want to believe his child could be in such a dreary place as this.

It seemed that there were no living people in this corridor. Anyone that could have been alive looked embraced in death's slumber. Aurion tried ignoring the corpses and unconscious, knowing there was nothing he could do about them. He turned another corner, only meeting a rat along the way. If only he could be as comfortable around rats as he was with the dead.

Finally, someone relieved the tension in this soul, "Dad? Dad, is that you?"

"Lloyd!" the words escaped Aurion like soda from a disturbed bottle. He jolted to the cell that Lloyd had called from, assuring his son, "I'm here. I've come to set you free. Are you all right?"

Lloyd looked arguably well, considering he had spent the past three days in an underground dungeon. There were a few bruises and cuts on his face, probably from some kind of beatings. He was unarmed, but he still had his sword sheaths. He was more than happy about seeing his dad, above everything else.

Lloyd cheerfully answered his father, "Kratos, how did you find out? Are you all right? How's your wound from Heimdall?"

Kratos smiled, finally feeling somewhat joyful, "It's all right, Lloyd. Anyway, it doesn't matter how I found you. We need to leave, as soon as possible." He took out his sword, jamming it into the lock of the cell. It shattered as he broke it open, pushing it to the side. He offered his hand to Lloyd, helping him get up. He had completed half of his trial. Now, just to get out alive.

"Wait. We need to find the others," Lloyd corrected his dad, hurrying behind them as they went back to the entrance, "They're going to be killed, otherwise!"

Aurion hesitated, telling what had happened so far, "I've heard. Zelos and Colette are to be sacrificed tonight. I have evacuated Colette, Genis, and Presea already." Lloyd stopped, like if lightening had struck him. Kratos didn't understand, "Lloyd, what's wrong?"

"...we still need to save Raine, Zelos, and Regal. I haven't heard about Sheena yet, so I hope she's still okay," Lloyd withdrew some information, but then offered some ideas, "We could go up to the second floor. My weapons and our exspheres are there. Then, we just need to locate Raine and Regal, and then we sneak upstairs and get Zelos out of the bell tower. That's where they sacrifice people. Maybe after that, we could go and destroy their materials so no one else can get killed!"

"Lloyd, you're rambling," Kratos lightly corrected his son. The angelic human thought through the flurry of words, and then decided that Lloyd had a pretty good plan staked out. He agreed, "All right. It seems that Raine is on the second floor, and I just talked with Regal some time ago. We can probably make it all the way up quickly if we do not take detours in our course of action."

Lloyd smiled, agreeing, "All right, Dad. I know we can do it!"

Aurion was happy that his son was eager to help him, "But no fighting for you until we get you armed again. I can't risk your health in this matter. Now, we need to be silent for a little bit."

He found the door he had come through and unlocked it. Gently, he pushed it open and stepped back into the hive of heat and destruction. Lloyd followed him, both creeping along the sides and behind the furnaces. He slithered back into his original hiding spot under the stairs, looking for both his time to escape and his associate. Aurion's face paled and froze into marble stone, noticing how it deathly quiet it seemed.

Lloyd broke his rule, whispering, "Dad, is this where you talked with Regal?"

Lloyd hadn't seen all that Aurion had. He noticed a faint trail of embers where the incident had taken place, and nobody approached it. The guards were solemn once again, continuing their task. He slunk up the stairs, glancing up and around for new evidence of what had happened. He accidentally placed his hand on a bloody spot on the wall, still fresh. It led all the way up the stairs in faint spots. Placing his shoulder against the wall, he assumed that someone had braced himself or herself against the wall as they had gone up. Eyes tracing back down the stairs, he saw a puddle on the floor that looked like blood had run off something. He was afraid he understood what had happened to Bryant.

"Dad? Did you hear me?"

Aurion responded shortly, "It doesn't matter now, Lloyd. Come with me. We shall have to go to the second floor."

His son was apprehensive, "Dad, what happened here?"

Kratos only asked of his son, "What do they do to people who fight against the guards?"

"Usually, they're taken to be judged whether or not they can be sacrificed or if they have to be killed outright," Lloyd was now scared and confused, "Dad, what's going on?"

Aurion shivered, even in the hellish warmth of the furnace room, "It's nothing. Let's go."

Kratos was thankful for Bryant's generosity and Lloyd's naivety, but he wondered what it was going to cost them.


Author's Note/ Answers to the Reviewers:

Bballstar42 & blah: If I've got my plotline right, this should take place after releasing Origin's seal in Heimdall but before finally defeating Mithos. Most likely, it's after the party has picked up the Derris Emblem. From the way this is written, I hope it's obvious this event wouldn't occur in the realm of the Kratos ending.

And in most cases, blah is right—Lloyd & co. should be able to overpower anyone at this point. That is, if they have their exspheres equipped. Right now, they don't, but the problem will be later addressed and fixed in Chapter 3. Good catch! (I don't think anyone in their right mind would keep any of them captive and not remove their exspheres, but the game's villains do it all the time!)

Vocalsama & Miss Raine Sage: Glad you're enjoying! I'm happy to hear from ya:D

Satanic Mechanic and Ark Navy: The random Japanese probably is a little distracting. (That's why I removed it in 2014.)

And Satanic Mechanic is right on about the last name thing! I want Kratos to look cold towards others—well, except for Lloyd. He likes his son. :D Kratos always came off very distant to me, so that's my way of showing it. He's a nice guy, but he's just not very cuddly.

I'm glad you're both enjoying the cold and dark setting of the story. Well, maybe it wasn't so cold this chapter, but it was dark. I never thought of it being like the DaVinci Code, but that's cool too. I go through these little religious spats at least once a year. This year, I decided I was happy I wasn't being hunted for my religion. But, I digress.

Anyway, I'm hoping everyone's enjoying this story. I'm having a hell of a lot of fun writing it!