The Suspicious Priests

The next day, the team started their long hike towards the capital city, Kavolia. But the second they arrived, they heard a scream. A young boy, probably about thirteen, was being harassed by a Sea Slug. Rutee rushed at the creature and shot an Ice Needle off to squish it. The creature let off a cry of anguish as the sharp spears penetrated its skin, killing it.

"I didn't need your help!" exclaimed the boy, "I could have killed it." Then, he ran off.

"Even their kids are brats. Why do you even bother, sister?" inquired Leon.

Rutee told him, "It's the right thing to do. I could never live with myself if something happened to a child and I could prevent it. Now, let's just go to the temple; I never expected or asked for thanks from that kid for what I did."

She walked off and Stahn began thinking. He saw Rutee in a different light after this scene. There was a kindness in her heart as opposed to the brash young woman she usually showed herself to be. This was more like the Rutee that had shown herself at the mansion in front of her father. The duality of her nature both baffled and enticed him.

But there was no time to think of these things. Right now, what mattered was to get to the temple and find out about Lydon. So they walked on over to the center of town and entered the grand temple. Though lacking the splendor of the one in Seinegald, it still was a breathtaking sight.

Two priests were there to greet them. The one in red walked forward. "Welcome to our temple. How may I assist you today?"

"My name is Philia Felice," Philia greeted, "I'm a priestess visiting from Seinegald."

"Oh, you must be on important business to have come all the way here. It is an honor to have a visitor from our base temple," the blue priest stated.

Philia inquired, "Has Lydon visited this temple? We heard he was coming along with the Eye of Atamoni." She bowed politely to her hosts.

The red priest shook his head. "I'm sorry, the High Priest hasn't come here."

"Thank you anyway," Philia replied, "I guess we had the wrong statue then. We'll just have to go look somewhere else. Thank you for your time."

Everyone went outside to think up a new plan. But Philia was troubled. She wondered how the priests had known Lydon's rank from just his name. She put her finger to her left cheek and began thinking of the reasons why.

"It's obvious. They're in cahoots with Lydon. We'll have to sneak in and catch them," Leon said.

Rutee added, "Philia, you should go inside and make up some excuse as to why you have to stay the night. Then, we'll meet you around the side door at around ten so we can sneak in."

She smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll see you then."

Philia went back inside as the others headed to the inn. As Leon got reservations and Mary looked for something to eat, Rutee and Stahn found a quiet place to sit and rest. They quickly shot glances at one another, only to look away and blush.

"So, I've noticed you can be both brash and kind," Stahn began, "It's almost like there are two Rutees when I watch you." He mentally scolded his incredibly stupid statement.

"It's ok, that's how I am," Rutee replied.

Stahn inquired, "Why? Why do you have to be two different people?"

Rutee looked at the ceiling, a softness showing in her eyes. "I told you that I lost my mother when I was about three, right? Well, my father was really broken up about it; they really loved one another. What's worse is that my mom died protecting me and Emilio from monsters. I felt like I owed it to her to help my father through this difficult time. So I began trying to act like the graceful lady she was. However, I'm not my mother; I'm me. I just have to be myself when I'm not in a place to upset Father."

"I don't think your father cares about that," Stahn told her, "He loves you for Rutee, not for your mother's substitute. I'm sure if you only talked to him, he'd understand."

"I just don't know how. And that's enough of this topic; I really don't want to discuss it," she said.

The girl got up and went over to the other side of the room. Dymlos muttered, -She really should be talking about it; this is a troubling situation. It's not healthy to hide your true self.-

Stahn took one glance over at the girl, and smiled a sad smile. "She just needs some time. I'm sure with a little encouragement she will eventually talk to Hugo about her problem. One day, I know they can solve their family issues."

S...S

That night, the team snuck out of the inn and towards the temple. Once they had gone around to the side, Stahn lightly tapped on the door. Taking her cue, Philia let them inside. She explained that the priests had gone into the cathedral for a ritual.

"I know the layout of the temple," she said, "So I'll lead you there."

"Let's get going then," Stahn replied.

They all walked through the grounds until they came to a room much like the one in Seinegald where Ayles had opened the hidden path. As he opened the doorway, Leon muttered, "This is even the same setup. Do they take us for idiots? Maybe Stahn is dumb and Philia is naïve, but the rest of us can at least figure out this much."

Rutee stuck her nose up at her brother's attitude as they walked through the doorway. There, they found a room much like the one where the Eye of Atamoni was originally stored. However, it was just as empty as its Seinegaldian counterpart but without the destruction.

Mary looked around. "Well, if the Eye of Atamoni was here, it's not now."

"Who's there!?" exclaimed a voice as the lights went on, "Why are you trespassing?"

They turned to see a group of priests entering with a high priest in the lead. However, it was not Lydon. Stahn and Leon both drew their swords and instinctively stood in front of the girls; Rutee would later mutter about how men always had to look cool in situations like these.

"So these are the fools who dare go against Master Lydon. And an imposter priestess is among them; very impressive," one man muttered.

Leon stated, "Before you go accusing others of being fakes, then you should reveal your true identities. Because you really aren't acting like priests to me." He had his well trained eye focused on the enemy and Chaltier pointed straight ahead.

The leader exclaimed, "We're perfectly respectable priests! We have sworn our allegiance to Master Lydon's dream. He is creating monsters using Lens to help take over the world and place it under his rule so there will no longer be any war."

Rutee was shocked; Atwight told her that technology should no longer exist. "But how are you getting all the Lens to accomplish such a mad scheme?"

"Simple, dear girl," he stated, "We pirate Oberon's ships. Fitzgald is especially rich in Lens at this time and their cargos are quite loaded. All we need to do is sink them and steal the shipments, and we have enough to do the job. Not to mention the fact that the loss of Lens shipments hurts Seinegald's economy and weakens Fitzgald's exports."

"I won't forgive you! What you're doing to my father…" Rutee yelled as she charged. Before Stahn could stop her, she'd rushed right into the fray. The enemy priests pulled out their short swords to defend themselves, but were no match for her furious strikes. Within the short span of two minutes, they all were dead.

Leon looked up at his sister, seeing the anger in her eyes. He saw how it reflected the love she held for their father. He wondered, could he too feel that way about him someday? Right now he didn't think he could give that much in battle for any one individual. Well…maybe for Marian.

The boy regained his composure and stated, "We know where we're supposed to go next, though. If they're the ones behind the Fitzgald pirate ships, then we might be able to find a clue there. Everyone, let's go to sleep and then we'll head on out for Cherik in the morning to get a ship."

Rutee gave him a mock salute. "Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Shut up," Leon muttered, "I'm not in the mood for this now."

'You never are. But maybe we can get you to laugh on this journey, somehow,' thought Rutee.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words...

Ah, more fluff inserts. It's always the most fun to have some sweet scenes inserted into moments of lull. And Rutee and Leon fighting as usual. But soon, we'll see their actions and how they differ from being angry.