Chapter 13: Other Allies

" Quite bold, aren't we?" Teranis asked as she stepped out of the warp portal after Selene. Selene took a quick glance around Cardinal Crenarius's former room under the absence of light, before turning around and merely shrugging at her friend.

" I'm surprised you have set a warp point here," Teranis replied.

" We needed to come here. I came by in the morning quickly to set my warp point to this area so that we can come in here. Granted, the authorities didn't stop me from entering the place, so I had no trouble coming here for a quick peek in the morning," Selene answered.

" Yeah, I know of your influence on people," Teranis replied. " Explains why I'm here."

Channeling her energies to her palm, Selene set the dark room to a soft glow of white light from her hand. The Cardinal's room looked like basically like all the other Cardinals' rooms: well-done, nicely furnished with slightly more expensive furniture and multiple artifacts lined up upon shelves. These were some of the perks on being a cardinal.

The light then shone on the area of where the crime was committed, just as she had seen in the morning. As she moved her hand over an area, the light started to show dried up blood, splattered over the place in a dark red colour. Teranis came over to take a look at what Selene was looking at.

The bed was in a bloody mess, blanketed by a layer of blood. However, the blood spots did not stop there. In fact, it looked like whoever killed the cardinal took his or her time in painting the entire area red. The nearby floor, ceiling, desk and shelf was totally covered in blood, as if the cardinal's body was milked dry and his blood was thrown all over the place. The place had a stench now, but neither of them was complaining about it.

" All this blood looks like his total blood supply. Whoever did this must have had some fun and was some hell of a sadistic bastard," Teranis noted.

" I know," Selene replied calmly, despite the violent scene. " Can you check it out?"

Teranis nodded. Selene held her palm over Teranis's head as she bent down next to the bed and started doing some investigation of her own. She started looking at the blood spots carefully, observing all the spots and splatters of gore. She took careful note of the bed especially, making careful observations to the stains. Selene waited patiently for a while.

" I can tell you a few things from what I can see," Teranis said. " He's been dead for less than a week. From the marks I can see from the bed, he was stabbed to death initially. You can see two blade marks on the bed, presumably swords or very large daggers. Apparently, he bled to death, as there is a large collection of blood collected here in the middle, where the assailant stabbed him and waited for him to die."

" Next, he was ripped to shreds, presumably with the blades, and body pieces were thrown all over the place. How was the body found?" Teranis asked.

" He was found disembowelled, and cut into several pieces. The largest bit of him we could find was a piece of his chest the size of my fist. The rest were in shreds: organs, bones, his brains," Selene answered.

" I see. Well, he was then promptly ripped apart, and his body parts were thrown all over the place. See here," Teranis explained, pointing towards a splatter on the wall " This was when one of the chunks of his body was tossed in this direction. I would also like to mention he died painfully and slowly."

" Now, would you like to hear things that don't make sense?" Teranis asked slyly.

Selene almost jumped. There was a flaw? Selene was very thankful that she had brought her inquisitive friend along. Teranis had spotted a flaw in the crime which nobody else had noticed, or either that, they covered it up.

" One thing they forgot to mention in the trial: another weapon used here was a bludgeoning weapon," Teranis explained.

" What?"

Teranis pointed towards one of the splatters of blood on the wall. Selene knelt down and took a closer look. There was a splatter there, but now that Teranis had mentioned it, it was not the splatter of blood off a blade, but more like a bursting of some sort. Definitely the effect of a bludgeoning weapon.

" Three things: a bludgeoning weapon was used, our friend Azaroth had hands made of steel, or he was in fact a demon with superhuman strength. To even place more weight on my statement, if you observe carefully, there are specks of bone fragments all over the ground and on the bed. I'm sure in your time in the army, you should know these fragments come if you pound bone hard enough. This not only proves a bludgeoning weapon was used, but it was used multiple times," Teranis said.

" What does this mean?" Selene asked, sounding worried, yet somehow elated at the news.

" Well, either the people investigating this missed it miraculously, or the assailant figured nobody would think he would be using a bludgeoning weapon if he made a mess of the body. Who was the one in-charge of the investigation?" Teranis asked.

" There were no specifics. All I know is that there were people in the church," Selene answered.

" Being ambiguous, eh? This case is getting even more and more suspicious," Teranis mused.

" What else?"

" Not observed from what I see, but what you had just said earlier. There is no way they could have determined that the weapon used were the exact same swords Azaroth used," Teranis replied.

" Why?"

" Well, actually it is still possible, but I find it highly unlikely. If the largest piece of him found was the size of your fist, it would be almost impossible to trace any sword wounds directly to a type of sword. If his body was still around, and about a couple of stab wounds were visible, then it would be of no problem to trace what kind of blade was used. But since his body was ripped and smashed beyond recognition, feels fishy that they would be able to read such things so easily. Moreover, as I mentioned, he was bludgeoned multiple times, so it even decreases the chance to actually trace it to close to nil. There is still a small chance, and sure, by a technically error, it is possible to find it, but both of us have seen too many things to believe in chances now."

" It is to my idea that this place has been modified slightly. Now, while I sweep the place of any more evidence, why don't you go around the room and look at things a bit, notify me if you spot anything out of the ordinary," Teranis said.

" How the hell are you supposed to see in the dark?" Selene asked.

Teranis flipped out a small device in her hands. She flicked the lighter a few times before a small flame appeared, illuminating a small patch of area in a warm, orange glow. Selene nodded her head, moving off to another area to look around as Teranis continued to look around the blood stains.

-

Serene watched the investigation going on under her with interest. She did not need to be told who the priestess was, although the companion she had brought with her was unfamiliar. However, from what she had explained, it looks like both were intent in finding out why the Holy Order had placed false charges on Azaroth.

She heard a soft creak right next to her. She then realised she was straining the wooden beams harder than she had intended. Her arms were slow becoming numb, and it would not be long before she would have to let go.

She contemplated whether she should just acknowledge her presence to both of them.

-

Selene browsed through whatever inventory was left in Cardinal Crenarius's room. Only a few things were taken out, but most of his collection of items and books were still sitting in their respective shelves or bookcases. Everything was just as it was.

She opened a few drawers, not too sure what she would expect to find inside. A few papers, notes on things to do, letters and the sorts. It also looked like his ink bottle was empty. Nothing much of interest in the drawers.

However, a book caught her attention. It looked quite familiar. She slowly picked it up and took a look. It was a green leather bound book, bent at the edges. At first, Selene wondered what was her diary doing inside the Cardinal's desk, but then she realised that she brought her diary from a small stationary shop somewhere in the market. There was bound to be other copies, and the Cardinal had decided to buy one similar to her.

Feeling bold, she opened the diary up and started to read its contents. Maybe there was some clue in his diary about the events that had happened.

It was pretty much a normal diary in all aspects, and a very short one. Entries were made once every few weeks, mainly detailing whatever he had done over the time span, usually cumulating up to events and what he did. Nothing fantastically interesting altogether.

Then she noticed there was something strange with the diary. She started to flip through all the pages, trying to figure out what it was she felt so wrong with the diary. It took her a minute to figure out it was the smell of the book that caught her attention.

She placed it close to her nose ad smelt the smell. It was the familiar smell of new, freshly pressed paper from the factory. There was no mistaking it: it was the scent of a newly made book, barely used.

She flipped back a few pages to look at the last entries. Somewhere near the beginning of the diary, one of the entries was dated almost a year ago, which did not make sense since the book would have had enough time for the smell to leave. Unless, of course, this was not Cardinal Crenarius's diary at all, but one which was forged with a new book. The creases around the pages looked overly done, and very newly made. Another piece of important information.

" Teranis, I found something interesting here," Selene said.

However, at that exact moment, there was a loud creak coming from somewhere above them, like the sound of stress being applied on wood. Both of them looked up immediately, raising their light sources high, wary of an intruder.

All they saw on the ceiling were wooden beams.

-

Serene hung under the open window frame, her body dangling over the chilling height while her hands were both tightly clamped upon the window still. Figuring that she would be unable to hold on to the beams on the ceiling, she jumped down stealthily, and with one lithe leap, jumped out of the window and hug on to the window still. She was surprise that she had made no other audible sound other than making the beams creak slightly.

" Did you just hear that, or was it just our imagination?" the other female Serene was unfamiliar with asked.

" Too much of a coincidence for both of us to be imagining sounds at the same time," Selene replied.

" …What did you think that was?" the other female asked.

There was silence, then very quickly, Serene's ears picked up footsteps, possibly Selene's, approaching the window fast. The thought of acknowledging herself to Selene popped up again, and Serene could not see why she could not meet Selene. As far as she was concerned, it looked like she was on their side, but she felt prudent to follow Tryzen's words: No outsiders, not yet.

She immediately released her grip on the window and dropped to the ground, feeling the wind against her face. She had performed such a feat back in her home where tall trees were available, but she decided she had enough skill to pull this off in a human environment.

With perfect timing, she grabbed upon the edge of Vermillion's window when she had dropped to that level, and with a burst of strength, yanked herself inside. Tryzen and Vermillion jumped when they saw Serene burst through Vermillion's window.

" Serene!" Both of them exclaimed, rushing towards her. That stunt seemed to have dislocated both of Serene's joints, or so she felt.

" That was one crazy stunt! Can you teach me how to do that?" Vermillion asked. Tryzen was making noises under his throat.

Serene merely grinned. " A habit picked up from living under trees for too long," she replied. " But we can talk about that later. First of all, you need to listen to what I have to say about what I saw and heard."

-

Selene looked out the window, glancing down towards the empty floor below. All she saw was the flat grassy plain, with a few trees in the distance. She was more than convinced that there was someone there. Either there wasn't, or that was person was very acrobatic. She looked up, just in case whoever it was decided to scale the walls of the place. There was nobody on the roof.

She suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her and powerfully yanked her back into the darkness of the room. Selene was about to protest, but Teranis cut her short by saying " You know, it's best you keep away from the window. People might wonder why someone is doing here in a dead cardinal's room."

" I needed to check..."

" I know what you needed to check, but I think you checked long enough. Whatever it was, other people might have been alerted already. We need to cut short our time here, just in case," Teranis warned. Selene had to grudgingly agree.

" What's that?" Teranis asked.

" The cardinal's diary, which I think it's a fake," Selene replied.

" Perfect, take it along," Teranis answered.

" You want to take it along? What if whoever placed it here was to come back and check on it? After all, whoever placed it here would know that a diary is missing, if they come back to check," Selene replied.

" Well, we will have to place it back somehow..." Teranis replied, smiling.

-

" So, we have information that there has been faulty proof being used in the court, and moreover, it looks like Azaroth might not be the culprit. Furthermore, it seems that evidence has been altered within the last week," Tryzen mused, pacing up and down Vermillion's room. Both of them stared at him, allowing him to think after Serene had finished explaining her adventure at the Cardinal's room.

" Obviously, powerful people are involved here, looking at the ability at how they were able to change evidence in such a matter. Also, now that I think of it, they probably had a lot of time to alter any evidence found in the room. Azaroth was arrested five days after he was killed, and not many people were informed about the incident. There was plenty of time to achieve what they wanted. Not only powerful people were involved, but it's now most likely that people in the Holy Order are in this," Tryzen explained, before turning to look at Vermillion, adding " Not including you, obviously..."

" Wait a second! Aren't we jumping into conclusions too fast here?!" Serene exclaimed, jumping up from the bed she was sitting on.

" I wouldn't doubt it, if it came from Tryzen, you know. I don't fancy him, but he always gets his facts quite correct, no matter how far-fetched or dumb as it may sound," Vermillion cut in.

" I didn't say I'm correct, although I'm quite convinced," Tryzen replied.

" In your terms, it means: I'm right," Vermillion snorted.

" What now?" Serene asked.

" Now comes the dangerous part: if we are to assume that whoever has done this is part of the Holy Order, then we must play cautiously. We are not sure how far this reaches into their ranks. As far as we can see, Vermillion is not aware of this, so we can assume that people of the lower levels are not as well, although we can't be sure. This shows that possibly anyone from the rank of High Priest and above are in this. I wouldn't be surprise if the Cardinals were involved, given the power they weld and the way the trial was swayed in their direction," Tryzen said.

" So, what should we do?" Serene asked.

" Investigating would be difficult, but since you said that Selene is on our side, it would be wise to leave her to do the investigating work. She knows the levels and systems of the Holy Order better than us, so we leave most of the investigating work to her. First of all, we need to establish where Azaroth is. Second, we can then focus on what has been going on around here. If possible, some of us will stay with him, just in case something happens, if we do find him," Tryzen explained.

" Tryzen, what if Selene did send him off? Why don't we ask her?" Serene asked.

" Good point, but I'd like to keep ourselves separate from Selene. It would be best if we could work in separate teams, just in case whoever is behind this comes up and starts cracking down on us. It would be harder to hit two teams than one, although you have a valid point. If she indeed sent him away, we can focus on other things," Tryzen replied.

" You remind me of my father," Serene replied.

" What? He looks as good as me?" Tryzen asked, slightly taken aback.

" No, the way you think. You sound like one of the officers in the army in charge of espionage," Serene explained. Tryzen merely shrugged, although Vermillion and Serene caught him smirking even with his face turned away.

-

" So, what about the book?" Teranis asked.

" It's totally new. It's so obvious. This is not Cardinal Crenarius's diary, from the looks of the date. I'm not sure about whether he had a diary or not, but this was definitely placed there," Serene answered.

They had warped back to Selene's room, and were talking through all the things they had found over their investigation of the place. Teranis flipped through the book, squinting her eyes over the words as the light in her room was slightly poor. She scanned through the book quickly.

" Well, I'd say that he had one, and it was replaced. People possibly knew he had a diary, so if they found one when he didn't have, wouldn't that cause problems? I'm saying he had one, and it had information about Azaroth's trial, and someone swapped it," Teranis said.

" You think so?" Selene asked.

" I'm sure, if not why take the trouble to replace the diary?" Teranis asked.

" So, what do we do?" Selene asked.

Teranis was about to say something when she heard a soft, scuffling sound. Both of them looked at the door immediately. A small piece of parchment slid under her door.

Both of them tore towards the door and swung it open, but as Selene and Teranis stepped outside, the only thing that greeted them was the darkness of the night. No one was about, and there was not even a soul in sight. Yet, someone had obviously slid a parchment under her door.

" What the hell?" Teranis spat. Selene had not bothered about it. She had already bent down and ripped the letter open, eager to see what inside. It was a small note, which said:

Go to the church and give a confession. God will give you the answers.

Writer's note: I'm updating early since I'll be off on a camping trip for about 5 days, and this is just to keep to my promise of updating each week.