"Do you wish to be a great hero? Do you wish to be a good crusader? Then first smash the evil that is inside you."

- Ri'Vasar, Khajiiti seer

Sibylla stood outside the heavy cathedral doors as snow lightly fell from the sky. A small dusting had fallen last night and left a light layer on the town. Most of it on the streets had been crushed underfoot but you could see it on the rooftops where gray trails of smoke streamed from the chimneys in an attempt to keep the insides warm.

Gervald had not appeared at the appointed them.

Sibylla tried to tell herself that she wasn't worried. Gervald was a capable knight. He had shown as much when they dueled. Yes, from her discussions with him she judged him a bit naive, a little simplistic when it came time to ideals about right and wrong and handling evil but that did not have too much bearing on his abilities. Sibylla paced just outside the door, brows furrowed in thought. That wonderful fool, had he gotten himself hurt? No, he was probably detained. Here she was worrying about him when she knew better. Of course, he would come riding in on his horse with a line of captured bandits in tow and she would feel foolish for having worried so much.

Gods, she hated this.

Claudia had way too much on her mind this early in the morning. If there's one thing she needed, it was a vacation. She felt constantly bombarded with all manner of crazy things demanding her attention and requiring a decision on them. It was starting to grate on her nerves. It really didn't help that one of the many things on her mind at the moment was yet another vision from Azura she had last night in her dreams. She only saw the face of the Daedra and only one word echoed through her mind that whole night.

...Remember...

Remember what? There were plenty of things that always need to be remembered. She needed to remember that she was a priestess and always had to carry a good attitude around. She had to recollect what her team was doing because if she left them unsupervised for too long only the Divines knew how much trouble they could get into. There was also the matter of handling all the countless day to day affairs of the Cathedral, Divines forbid she forget just one piece of paperwork. The very last thing she needed was some vague command to remember something that was not specified.

Claudia realized she was not in a good mood.

However, one of the very first things she had to take care of that morning was checking on Bann-Je. The last time she checked on him he was resting and the healers were at least hopeful that he would make a recovery. She traversed the proper halls and stairwells to get the infirmary. Upon arriving, she saw Bann-Je sitting in a chair, his eyes opened while Do'Ravier seemed to be closely inspecting him. Claudia judged the fact that he was out and about as a good sign. It looked like he had made a full recovery.

"How are you, Bann-Je? You look better." Claudia greeted.

"I guess you could say that." the Argonian murmured.

"The good news is that his fever is gone and he seems to be better." Do'Ravier announced, using a lighted ball of fire in his palm to provide additional light in his inspection.

"The way you say that implies there is bad news." Claudia replied.

"Yes. Look at his eyes. They're not red anymore but they are not his normal yellow either."

Claudia could see a misty, gray film that seemed to be right under the clear of Bann-Je's eyes. It marred the black of his pupils as well as giving the orb it's now dull gray color.

"You can still see?" Claudia asked the Argonian.

"Yes. Everything remains sharp, nothing is blurry, but I can no longer see color." Bann-Je explained.

"Could it go away like the fever did?" Claudia asked Do'Ravier.

"I don't know. Diseases and their effects are an odd thing. We know so little about them as much as we try to make it sound differently."

Remember. Remember. Remember.

Claudia suddenly felt a light go on in her head. As soon as the epiphany hit her, she let out a pained gasp, so much so that Do'Ravier and Bann-Je both glanced at her, wondering what the exclamation was about.

"Is something wrong?" the battlemage asked unsurely.

"Do'Ravier, you said that Peryite is the Daedra of pestilence and disease, right?" Claudia posed.

"Yeah."

"The vampires, they were diseased and afflicted and yet vampirism is caused by a disease as well. The vampire leader said that a Dark Elf had been around them just before they got that disease. From the report you gave me, it sounds like the things that attacked you had some sort of malady as well. Even when we all started, all those dead bodies at the shrine of Boethia caused by unknown means. This could all very well be about diseases." Claudia explained.

Bann-Je and Do'Ravier remained silent for a moment before glancing at each other.

"Do'Ravier is very jealous that he did not think about that." the Khajiit admitted.

The door burst open to reveal a breathless acolyte.

"Come quickly, the Thalmor have come and demanded a meeting with the whole Cathedral!"

Delamar strode up to the center of the large pulpit in the Cathedral as a compliment of his guard made sure the priests, priestesses and other staff of the Divine cult were formed up before it. All would be able to hear him and he had important words to bring them. He could not help but smirk. These poor fools.

The plan was simple. He had not gathered all his troops yet, he was going to need more. But why not give these sheep of the Cyrodillic Empire a glimpse of what was to come? The Imperial Cult was an important part to any city. If they could throw some confusion in that, then it would not take a great leap for the nobility to follow as they would try to clean up the mess. Throw the nobility and government into chaos, and that only worked to further the agenda of the Aldmeri Dominion.

Delamar could feel himself smiling as much as he tried to hide it. It contrasted with Archon Tacitus who stood off to the side from him. He could feel the older man glaring at him resentfully in elderly disapproval. He wanted to tell that old man he had no clue what he had gotten himself into. He would soon find out.

He continued smiling when he saw the Vigilant of Stendarr group arrive on Claudia's heels. He would savor seeing their reactions.

"Good servants of the Divines, I bring terrible news to you today," Delamar started. "Last night one of my justiciar teams was attacked by a knight known to be a frequent associate of this cathedral."

He noticed a few hoods make futile attempts at trying to pass quick glances at a certain Nord in the crowd.

"One of my justiciars is dead, another wounded. The knight was subdued and killed in the process. This goes on top of increasing reports of suspected Talos worshippers in the area. It seems that every week we have to drag in more and more people."

He loved watching these people grow paler and confused.

"We cannot allow this to go on any further. Tomorrow morning, I will return with some select officials. We will have to bring this whole cathedral under investigation. This is your only warning and you are forbidden to leave the city. I would suggest taking the day to see that any affairs you might have that would force you to go beyond the city are seen to. Good day."

He honestly did not care whether or not they tried to make any attempts to leave or resist, not that he judged it likely they would. They were Imperial cultists, they were trained in ceremony and study. These were the least likely people to offer resistance. As he left amidst the turmoil and stupefied looks, there was only one expression that he found discomforting.

It was the Khajiit. He seemed to watch him leave, no fear, anger or any other emotion clear on his face. Instead, the battlemage only pulled his hood further over his head. Delamar decided he would ignore that. He would have to prepare for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, back in the sanctuary, Sibylla stood stock still, eyes on the floor as if deep in thought. Her brows frowned. She was trying to ignore Claudia's insistent tapping at her arm.

"Sibylla, are you alright?"
She was glad Claudia wasn't try to grasp at any comforting lies. There was only one knight associating with this cathedral and it was only for one purpose. She was not inclined to believe that the Thalmor was lying about his death either. It simply...had not registered.

"Leave me." Sibylla murmured, stalking off to go out to the courtyard.

She left Claudia, Bann-Je and Do'Ravier equally stunned in her wake. For Claudia, the sound of the heartbeats ringing in her head told her that everyone in the cathedral was upset. No one knew what was going on. Delamar did not even give them to courtesy to ask questions. Were they seriously doing this? How could they hold a whole cathedral hostage for this?

Oddly enough, Do'Ravier's heartbeat was not that elevated as everyone else.

"Do'Ravier, you know a thing or two about how this works since you lived under them. What do you suggest?" Claudia demanded.

"It is not a good idea to anger the elves. Do not resist, stay cooperative. However, I would see that those in the infirmary and nursery are taken to different lodgings. It may be difficult to take care of them under an investigation." the Khajiit offered.

"The work never ends. You're right. I need to get them out of here now. Bann-Je, you have a head for organization. Come with me, we need this sorted out." Claudia ordered with a shake of her head.

For his part, Do'Ravier sauntered off on some unknown errand.

It took the better part of the day between her and Bann-Je trying to organize and mobile the necessary people. There were other charity organizations to contact, lesser outlets for the Imperial Cult that were not directly affiliated with the Cathedral staff and at the last minute, a bunch of healers throughout the city agreed to take their sick and provide some shelter for the orphans they had.

It was tiring work and Claudia always found it stressful. She still could not believe they had the impending danger of the Thalmor justiciars hanging over their heads. There were enough questions plaguing her mind. Was Sibylla all right? Had Do'Ravier given them the right advice? What was Delamar thinking? Surely this was all being blown out of proportion, right? Dalamar would not allow it to get too severe, would he?

She took some solace in the thought that at least they had one victory for the day, the last of the orphans in their nursery were being sent a local apothecary run by a group of healers. They had sufficient supplies to take care of them for awhile and plenty of staff to make sure the children would be supervised. It was all very last minute but Claudia was confident it would all work out should the worse come...

Bann-Je helped her throughout the whole day and finished the exchange by handing a sleeping Skib to one of the healers. The Argonian had a feeling it was the only way they would be able to hand the babe over to them quietly. Many of the children were not fond of the idea of being turned over to new caretakers. The whole thing had to be a frightening experience for them.

"Do you think they were telling the truth about Sir Gervald?" Bann-Je asked as the two walked back to the Cathedral, huddled in their cloaks to keep out the snow and chill.

"I don't want to know. There's nothing I can do about it, honestly. I should check on Sibylla when we get back." Claudia replied.

Claudia was not sure what to do as they made their way back to the cathedral. There was something else bothering her. During all of this turmoil it was easy to forget the epiphany about diseases, Peryite and all that had happened earlier. If you did not focus, it was easy to just fight one symptom after another without ever asking what was causing all the problems. She would have to write a report to Matthias, explaining what they had just found out. She would have to write that letter after the investigation, though. She didn't want the Thalmor asking too many questions about it should they start putting her in the spotlight. That also sparked another chilling thought. She remembered Do'Ravier and Bann-Je having a discussion with some of the other healers several months prior. They had talked about how diseases sometimes changed and manifested themselves differently. Everyone knew vampirism was caused by a disease. Was she experiencing a new form of it? What was going on?

There were too many questions.

For Sibylla's part, she had locked herself in her room and did not bother lighting the candles. She heard Claudia knocking and asking for her at some point but she easily ignored it. Everything was easy to shut off. The Thalmor were a bunch of ruthless cretins but she had no reason to doubt Delamar. It would explain why he did not return that morning when he was so usually punctual. She was not sure how she felt about the whole thing, it just did not seem real. She had cared about the man, learned to enjoy his company and yet they had just met. She was not sure if she was shocked or heartbroken and yet she could not summon a single emotion. She was not sure if she could feel any.

And what of the morrow? The Thalmor would return as promised and they intended to carry out an inquisition of their own. It was no secret that she had been in association with a certain knight and the naive staff members here would probably willingly give that information up, not thinking they were doing a single thing wrong. Her nordic descent certainly wouldn't help either. This had all hit too suddenly.

When she fell asleep in the dark or how long she had slept was impossible to tell. She only remembered hearing a knock at her door and seeing the first rays of morning coming through the window. She said a quick prayer to Talos. There was no point in hiding from it anymore. Claudia may have tried to talk to her as they lined up and prepared themselves to meet in the sanctuary to face the Thalmor Justiciars but Sibylla said nothing. She knew what she would have to do, judgement would come for her soon. She felt like she was walking in a dream.

Delamar stood at the pulpit again, his robes cleanly pressed while his armor shined as if freshly polished. There also seemed to be an abundance of armed and armored justiciars as well. No one in the sanctuary looked comfortable save for the officials of the Aldemeri who seemed ready to dish out swift justice.

Delamar spoke first.

"This is a situation none care for so I will get straight to business. This Cathedral stands in accusation of harboring, training or otherwise aiding Talos worshippers. Are there any in here who wish to do the right thing and willingly admit it now before I am forced to use more severe measures?" Delamar asked.

Sibylla took a deep breath steeling herself. She would rather get this done now than forcing some of her fellow priests of trying to speculate about her, her bad attitude and Nordic ascentry. She just needed one more second to work up the courage.

"This one. This one admits to the charge."

Sibylla's eyes opened in shock. That was not her voice.

Breaking from the ranks priestly robes, a certain Khajiit strode boldly forward.

Sibylla could have sworn she heard Claudia swear under her breath.