Part 10
They landed on the east side of Zekin, the massive port just north of the Great Camelot Bridge that connected the two halves of the continent. From there they would move east; they had to pass through Ladylake and then Elysia to get to Camlaan and then the lake formerly known as Artorius' Throne. Sorey wondered absently what the lake was called now and asked Mikleo about it.
"... it's called Shepherd Lake," his partner said, his voice wistful. Sorey moved in for a hug, knowing that his resting place brought up complicated emotions for Mikleo.
"Will you be okay traveling there?" he asked.
"Yes," Mikleo replied. "Because you'll be there with me."
Sorey nodded.
The port itself was large, filled with docks that reached out for miles to handle the ships - mostly ferries on the other side of the channel - and resplendent with inns and restaurants. Sorey hummed to get going, but unlike he and Mikleo, Rokurou needed sleep, and so he booked a room through dozens of stares at the two greatswords on his back. He asked the innkeeper if there were any good fighters or shepherds in the area where he could test his skills. Mikleo groaned at the very idea, but Sorey smiled and accepted that a yaksha daemon had to manage himself somehow. If it meant they wouldn't be sore for a while then he couldn't complain.
Sorey and Mikleo loitered in the inn, curious if anyone could see them. A few paused to give them a second glance, and Sorey happily waved, but in a port of travelers, not everyone understood that people could see seraph now, and more than a few swore off whatever they were drinking. Sorey chuckled at the idea.
"Do you think we'll ever acquire a taste for it?" he asked as the last person wandered upstairs to bed. "Alcohol I mean."
"Not if it tastes like Rokurou's sake," Mikleo said with a flat tone. "Did you like it as a human?"
"I don't really know," Sorey said. "I never really had that chance to try it - I remember it was served in Ladylake, when the court invited me to dinner and snubbed Alisha, but I didn't really have the time to taste it. I know Zaveid didn't mind drinking, and Rose had a good time, but I guess I was too busy to really explore it."
"I've tried it during my travels," Mikleo admitted. "It's an acquired taste, more than enough humans have told me that, but as a water seraph I can taste that it's poison."
"Poison?"
"No, not like assassin poison, I know what you're thinking. But it's not a healthy drink to have, not compared to gels and antidotes or even orange juice or tea or just water. It works best on wounds, not in them; it's an antiseptic. Who would willingly drink antiseptic?"
"Oh, I guess I never thought of it that way."
The next morning a shepherd entered the inn practically at the crack of dawn. Sorey had Mikleo dozing at his shoulder and therefore unable to move. The shepherd roused the innkeeper and asked after guests who had signed in the previous night, insisting that she look over the names and rosters.
"Please forgive my rudeness," she was saying, "but the Lord of the Land says that a powerful hellion has entered his domain, but he cannot find where."
"Uh-oh," Sorey muttered, nudging his partner to wake up. "Maybe we can help you?" he called, pitching his voice a little bit.
The shepherd turned, blue eyes wide. "Oh! Lord Seraph, I did not see you there. It's an honor to meet you."
The inn keeper grumbled about talking to thin air as Mikleo slowly roused, Sorey standing to greet the Shepherd. "Hello," he said brightly, bowing politely. The Shepherd did the same. "What's your name?"
"Shepherd Lily, Lord Seraph." A wind seraph appeared exited her, tall with black hair aside from the green tips. "This is Sheala." Lily paused, head tilting. "Sander is resting."
Sorey nodded. "I'm Sorey, and this is Mikleo."
"Oh! Great Lord Mikleo!" Lily bowed very deeply. "It is an honor to finally meet the partner of the Great Shepherd."
"Please, Mikleo is fine," the water seraph said. "Is there something we can do for you?"
"Yes, Great Lord Mikleo," Shepherd Lily said. "The Lord of the Land says that a hellion has entered the domain. Hellions created inside the domain are often weak and easily scouted out, but the Lord says this hellion is a different breed altogether, stronger even than those that roam outside a domain."
"I see," Mikleo said. "Do you sense any malevolence?"
Lily shook her head.
"We are perplexed," Sheala said, shifting her hips, "We all sensed the breach of the domain, but neither of us can sense malevolence to track the hellion."
"Well," Sorey said, "Maybe we can ask our travel companion. He's beaten a lot of hellions and likes a good fight."
Mikleo tensed, but Sorey was already moving upstairs. The wind seraph followed, curious. "Can your companion see you?"
"Yeah," Sorey said, winding down the hall and looking for Rokurou's room number. "He was training the two of us over the winter."
"Training seraph? Is he a shepherd?"
Aw, crap. "N-no," Sorey said, realizing very suddenly just what 'hellion' the shepherd had likely been looking for. He'd thought of Rokurou as a daemon for so long it didn't even occur to him…! Shoot, he was in trouble now. He found himself sweating slightly as he approached his friend's door.
Rokurou opened it before anyone could knock, his two massive swords already strapped to his back. "Did you sense it?" he asked, before his eyes snapped to the wind seraph Sheala. "Oh, hi," he said. "You sense the little guy, too?"
"Sir," Sheala said, "If you are as seasoned a warrior as young Sorey here attests, then perhaps Shepherd Lily and I may ask your assistance. A hellion has breached the Lord of the Land's domain, but we cannot track the malevolence."
"Hm. That makes sense," Rokurou said. Then his feral grin appeared. "Sounds like a good fight. I'll lend you my sword."
Downstairs Mikleo was talking to Lily and an earth seraph, apparently Sander. The innkeep was watching the conversation without the resonance to understand what was going on and thinking Lily crazy. Rokurou waved, "Yo! Quite a party we've assembled: four malakhim, a shepherd, and me. Of course, with me here the rest of you can take a back seat. So can anyone here track a daemon when they aren't projecting malevolence?"
"Can you?" Sorey asked.
"Well, yeah," Rokurou said. "Pretty obvious all things considered, don't you think?"
"Oh… right…" As a daemon Rokurou probably had senses and perceptions that a shepherd or a seraph didn't. He glanced at Mikleo, who had a questioning look on his face but unable to ask it in the presence of everyone else.
"Okay," Rokurou said, "Tell me what you all can do as we move." He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "This guy has some heft to him, and I wanna see if he'll be a challenge."
Sorey and Mikleo both groaned at the dangerous levels of levity in the daemon's voice.
Sorey quickly caught Mikleo up as they moved through the massive port, the shepherd up with Rokurou and asking a litany of curious questions that the daemon mostly ignored, eyes roving this way and that.
"You do realize the potential disaster here, don't you?" Mikleo asked. "If they figure out he's a hellion they're going to try and quell him."
"I know, I know," Sorey said, rubbing his head. "I didn't think of that, but if this hellion is as powerful as they say then we might need his help in quelling it."
Mikleo took a long, slow breath that meant he was mentally changing tracks. "The hellions we've met that can hide their malevolence: Lady Maltran, the cardinal at Pendra, the evidence suggests it's a human, and it's very powerful. You may be right that we'll need him. We just have to hope he doesn't get carried away."
"Oh, no worries there!" Rokurou tossed over his shoulder. "Whatever that little guy is isn't on par with the three of us. Might give the shepherd here a nice challenge, though."
"Wh-what?" Lily sputtered. "I fear you judge me poorly, Rokurou."
"Nah," Rokurou said, slapping her back genially, "You just aren't very seasoned yet. How long have you been a shepherd?"
"Almost ten years," Lily said, indignant.
"See? Barely anything. I'm almost two thousand years old, of course I have more meat on my bones."
"Two thou-are you a seraph?"
"Nope," Rokurou said with a smile before his entire demeanor shifted. "There. Do you sense it?"
"Sense what?"
Sorey lifted his eyes up to the air, looking for the scent of lightning and he could feel Mikleo doing something similar. "... None of us can sense anything," he reported, and Rokurou nodded.
"It's not malevolence this guy is projecting right now," he said, putting a hand on one of his short swords. "It's killing intent."
"... I do not understand," Shepherd Lily said.
"You wouldn't," Rokurou said with a shrug. "You haven't been fighting as long as me." He crouched down slightly and then leapt up into the air, disappearing over a roof and making several humans startle at the superhuman feat.
"Sheala," Lily whispered. "Follow him." A green light left Lily and disappeared over the roof as the shepherd turned to Sorey and Mikleo. "Is he always like this?"
"Uh…" Sorey said with a hand behind his head. "Kinda…?"
Lily pursed her lips before her head tilted, Sander obviously saying something from inside her. Sorey smiled, remembering more than a few conversations running through his head as he tried to interact with people. "I bet it gets noisy in there," he said.
Lily blushed prettily, looking away. "Forgive me, Lord Sorey," she said. "I meant no offense."
"None taken," Sorey said brightly. "At least you live in a world where only a few people look at you funny. Imagine trying to do all of this and you were the only one on the continent!"
Then, all at once, malevolence spiked, Sorey and Mikleo stiffening, and Lily breaking into a dead run. "This way!" she called over her shoulder, and Sander left his vessel, running next to her as Sorey and Mikleo followed suit.
"Sorey," the water seraph said, "we can't afford to have a big fight in the middle of a crowd."
"I know," Sorey replied, "but that hellion might not give us much of a choice."
They cut through and then cleared an alley, exiting out to a square that was obviously some kind of market place. Rokurou's great swords were a dead giveaway - both were still strapped to his back but the daemon had one of his shortswords out and held to the neck of a woman. Sorey couldn't make out more details save that a dozen people were watching, pointing and whispering - they were the source of the malevolence, not the girl. "Rokurou!" Sorey called out.
"Hey, Shepherd!" he said with a smile and a jaunty wave. "Found the daemon for you!"
"That's just a girl…"
"... what's a daemon… does he mean hellion…?"
"That little girl…?"
"... something's not right…"
"Oooo I see seraph…"
Lily stepped forward, hand on her sword and eyes darting everywhere. Sander was at her back, Sheala nowhere to be seen. "Are you certain?" Lily asked. "I sense no malevolence from this girl."
"Like I said, it's not malevolence, it's killing intent."
"No," Lily said, pitching her voice, "But all anyone here can see is a brigand holding a knife to a girl's throat - your very actions are creating malevolence regardless if this girl is the hellion we were sent to quell."
Rokurou shrugged his shoulders. "Malevolence doesn't really bother me, Shepherd. Did you want me to fight her and show her true form? I can do that."
"Child," Lily said, stepping forward. "Does this hunter speak truly? Have you the intention to kill someone?"
Sorey could see the girl better now; physically she looked maybe seventeen, eyes bright with unshed tears of terror, tanned skin pale and shaking. She didn't move, the shortsword pressed to her neck and preventing her from speaking. She looked so scared… Sorey tried to read past that, to see whatever it was Rokurou saw - he threw a glance at Mikleo; his partner was tense and ready, but also just as confused as Sorey. Both of them knew not to dismiss Rokurou's instincts out of hand, but neither of them saw the danger that he did.
Lily threw a glance, mouthing something Sorey didn't immediately hear, and armatized with Sander, her clothes shifting to white and gold, yellow-orange gloves reaching out to gently touch the shoulder of the girl. "I truly sense nothing from her," she said, frowning with intense gold eyes.
Rokurou's eyes were narrow, shrewdness making Sorey put a hand on his sword.
"Then let's put it to a test," he said, and quicker than Sorey and Mikleo could react he pulled out his second shortsword, putting it to the other side of her neck and dragging the blades across both arteries.
"Rokurou!" Sorey shouted in horror.
The screams curdled the blood, everyone stepping back in horror, but the girl didn't crumple to the ground. No, instead malevolence flooded out of her, and she cast a domain. Sorey's very heart shuddered as it manifested, and he grabbed his mouth to hold his guts in place. It was so strong…! Mikleo grabbed him, casting an arte and giving Sorey a bubble of pure air, leaving him gasping. "Lily!" the water seraph shouted, "Cast a domain!"
The shepherd, shaking herself, snapped out of her horror. "R-right," she answered, kneeling down and clapping her hand on the cobblestone. Her domain spread, fighting with the hellion's. Instinct made Sorey reach out, remembering the spiritual trials, learning how to cast and manipulate a domain, he pressed his hand to the ground, doing the same, and between him and Lily both of them were able to overtake the malevolence. He shuddered at the amount of energy it pulled from him, surprised it didn't come naturally, and that he had to focus to keep the domain up. And Lords of the Land did this all the time?!
He breathed, looking up and catching the gaze of Shepherd Lily, nodding to her. She nodded back and stood, taking a battle stance.
"I'll help you," Mikleo said, hand spreading across his shoulders as a second joined Sorey on the cobblestone. "Here, I think it's like this…"
A rough picture was sent across their tether, and Sorey reached out for his artes, asking for strength to hold the domain in place for this fight. The malevolence from the crowds pressed in on him, and he tried to block it out, locking his gaze on the hellion to make himself hold to his responsibilities.
"I will be the next Calamity!" the girl shrieked. "I will end everyone's pain!"
Rokurou took a battle stance, laughing, twin short swords spinning. "Kid, you've got power, I'll give you that, but you don't hold a candle to a true Lord of Calamity."
"I don't care!" the girl shouted, jumping back and tendrils of darkness extending outward. "I will end all pain!"
Rokurou adjusted his stance. "Then you'll end all happiness," he stated. "Form Zero: Sunder!"
"Sheala the Wistful!" Behind him, that Shepherd armatized with the wind malakhim, surrounded by stiletto blades akin to wings. The thin blades made for good projectiles as Rokurou slid around the shadowed arms with his shortswords. If he went all out, this would likely be over in a moment, but Rokurou was curious.
Why did a daemon like this want to be the Lord of Calamity? Did power and purpose make for a strong opponent?
And, Rokurou dodged under a blast of wind and artes meant to bind the daemon, just how strong is that shepherd?
Sander, the earth seraph slammed his foot into the ground, the cobblestones rippling out and pushing the crowds further back, several tumbling at the sudden motion. Rokurou kept in close with the would-be Calamity, slicing off dark appendages. Duck, slash, roll, stab.
"Back off!" the daemon screamed, a wave of power catching Rokurou while he was in the air, sending him tumbling back. He swiftly got to his feet, Sorey and Mikleo a short distance away, hands on the ground, doing something.
"Sorey, focus."
Rokurou paused. "You two going to fight?" he shouted over.
Sorey grunted, strain on his face. Mikleo was pinched, too, and spared a glance at Rokurou. "We're fighting the domain!"
Domain? Huh. That was something he hadn't considered. "What do you need?"
"To concentrate," Mikleo hissed, before wincing and leaning into Sorey's ear. Likely offering advice since he'd been a seraph far longer than the former Shepherd.
Well they were fighting, so Rokurou knew not to interfere.
Meanwhile, a current Shepherd swept across the field, forgoing distance and getting in close to the wanna-be Calamity. Her wind artes were swift and precise, sliding from one move to the next as the daemon batted the attacks away. The girl was enshrouded in dark shadows, her true form little more than silhouette, but there were claws and thick, brutish limbs. An animalistic roar resounded, and Rokurou held up an arm to block the force of it. Oh yeah, this little daemon was all raw power and no finesse.
Rokurou rushed in. He stuck to his kodachi, slashing and cutting at the multiple brutish arms that seemed to multiply. Where was the main body? Where was the actual daemon in this shadowed illusion?
Sander the earth seraph pulled cobblestones up with his artes, mini trajectories to scattershot the hellion, making Rokurou leap back for a moment, the air humming with its speed as Lily just about glided between the shots, swinging in a precision combo to disable and stun the daemon. Again the daemon roared, and cast an aura that pushed the shepherd back, breaking armatization in almost an instant. Sheala collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Rokurou re-engaged, and for a brief moment, he felt his short-swords connect to the actual daemon, slashing through the actual flesh instead of the shadows. An inhuman scream resulted, as Rokurou focused on that weak spot he'd found.
"Sander the Guardian!"
Behind him, Lily armatized with the earth seraph, a massive stone staff in her arms as she moved in. Rokurou swept to the side, twin shortswords almost too fast to see. He'd worked side by side with groups before, Velvet and that bunch being one of the best to fight with. Over the centuries he'd even worked with the occasional Shepherd when there was a particularly strong daemon to fight. This was instinct. His impacts were bone crunching, reverberating across the field and taking all the daemon's attention before the stone staff made an impact, crystal erupting from the blow and exploding in a shattering light.
For a brief moment, the daemon was stunned.
"Purification!"
Rokurou leapt back, landing near Sorey and Mikleo, observing.
The daemon screamed, silver flames starting to engulf, and he could feel the Shepherd pouring strength into it.
"It's not working," Sorey grunted. "She's not being purified!"
The Shepherd was on her knees, panting, and before her the would-be Calamity staggered. "Noo!" the daemon screamed. "You can't purify me! I will end all pain! I will end all suffering! I will end this world."
Rukurou nodded, having seen enough.
"I say again," he said, "you're nothing. To take away suffering is to take away why happiness matters. There's a balance to people." He sheathed his shortswords, reaching for his two greatswords. "All humans bear malevolence. Negativity will never go away. The question is do you succumb to it, or do you find ways to cope." He stepped calmly forward. "Some sins run too deep. Mine certainly do." He looked through his daemon eye, malevolence flaring around himself.
"What?" the exhausted Shepherd gasped.
Behind him, he could hear both seraph groan.
"If you can't be purified, then you'll die."
He made it swift.
The girl didn't even have time to scream, her head flying from her body.
Rokurou stood, malevolence once more retreating now that the fight was over. He shook his head, barely needing to clear it, and pulled out a cleaning cloth for his blades. "Finding ways to cope are better than just spite," he said softly, sheathing his blades.
"Sorey!"
Rokurou turned, surprised to hear the desperation in Mikleo's voice.
The Shepherd and her two seraph were standing defensively, eyes wide in fear. But that wasn't what drew his eye. Mikleo was shaking Sorey, who was on the ground, unconscious. Oh, that wasn't good.
Mikleo pulled Sorey's unconscious form in close, worried. "Sorey!"
The malevolence had been too much.
The hellion had been pure hatred, spite, malevolence strong enough to cast a domain that overtook the Lord of the Land, one that Lily couldn't quite combat. It had taken Sorey and Mikleo both focusing on domains, feeding into Lily's as they could, to keep the purer air around them and prevent the malevolence of the scared humans around them from turning themselves into hellions. Sorey had no idea how to maintain a domain as a seraph and Mikleo had no experience in casting domains - he had never needed to; if somewhere was bad he simply rested in his vessel. Both of them floundered, using more energy than either of them were supposed to.
Then Rokurou had released his own malevolence.
The balance tipped, and Sorey had collapsed.
Mikleo himself was also exhausted. He held his partner carefully, deathly afraid the lightning seraph had absorbed any of the malevolence.
Rokurou knelt down. "Mikleo," he asked, dead serious.
Mikleo took a breath, trying to beat down his anxiety and worry. "Sorey spent too much of himself. He needs purity. Someplace free of malevolence. The shrine, or wherever the Lord of the Land is. Or out away from the city." Mikleo's face cracked. "We haven't found a vessel for him."
"Damn," Rokurou hissed. "Can I carry him or am I too tainted?"
Mikleo reached out putting a hand on Rokurou's arm and took a moment. "Your malevolence is contained. I think you can." He stood, then immediately collapsed to his knees. "Dammit."
"Mikleo, retreat to your vessel," Rokurou said, hefting up Sorey to his back. "You need rest as well."
Mikleo stood again, utterly determined. "Not until I know Sorey will be okay."
"You will not carry that seraph, hellion!"
Lily was still armatized, sweaty and haggard, but she held her stone staff with gritty determination at Rokurou.
"No, wait, you don't understand," Mikleo said, swaying on his feet.
"Be at peace, Great Lord Mikleo," Lily said, determined, "We will quell this hellion and free your friend."
"Okay, first," Rokurou said, "Don't insult me by calling me a hellion. Second, with all due respect, you're no match for me."
"Hold your tongue, hellion; you will be purified."
Mikleo sensed the change in Rokurou almost as soon as it happened, the daemon's blood starting to pump as an obvious obstacle lay before him. He stepped forward, putting his back to Rokurou and Sorey and glaring at Shepherd Lily. "Do not fight him," he said, insistent, "Not unless you want things to get even worse."
"You interrupting a fight?" Rokurou asked, normally light voice deathly serious.
"No," Mikleo said, turning to his friend. "I'm preventing you from wasting your energy with a weak opponent and telling you to help my partner."
Rokurou shook his head, blinking, and his aura changed again. "Right," he said, "Where's the abbey? That's where you malakhim rest, right?"
"This way," Mikleo said, starting to walk before his legs gave out again. Damn it, he'd used way too much energy, he felt like he'd summoned a rainstorm. Sander and Sheala grabbed his arms, helping him up. Both of them held wary eyes to Rokurou, but Lily silently led the way and they moved to the sanctuary. The clean air flooded Mikleo's lungs and he breathed a sigh of relief. He managed to stay on his feet, following Rokurou who moved up to the dais and laid Sorey out on it. A priest was watching in utter confusion, but the Lord of the Land appeared, a fire seraph.
"What is this?" he demanded.
"Scion," Mikleo said, "It's good to see you again. The hellion has been quelled, but it was strong enough to cast a powerful domain. Sorey and I tried to boost the Shepherd's, but neither of us have experience and Sorey's passed out from the malevolence. He was only born about a year ago, and we haven't found him a vessel yet and-"
"Yes, of course," the fire seraph said, raising a hand to Sorey's chest. "Imbuement," he murmured, casting his arte.
"Oh holy water," Mikleo added, reaching into himself. "Resilient Aid."
His vision darkened after casting the arte, and he had the sensation of tipping before something halted his fall. He hummed, wanting to make sure Sorey was okay, but instead he was lifted and carried away. He drifted, reaching across the tether of his contract to feel for his partner. Sorey was muted on the other end, but he was there, and that at last made him rest.
He woke in his bow, confused that he was there - it had been a very long time since he had needed to recover in his vessel. The purity of the divine artifact soothed him, and he pulled its strength before he exited. He was in a room of some kind, his bow artfully cushioned among some pillows. Next to the bow was Sorey, snoring softly.
A child, wheat blond hair and green eyes, was pulling a damp cloth off of Sorey's head and replacing it with a clean one. The boy looked up and smiled. "Hello," he said, "It's very nice to finally meet you."
Mikleo frowned, still a little fuzzy around the edges. "... how is he?" he asked, voice soft.
"He overworked himself," the child said. "He does that a lot, right?"
Mikleo couldn't help but smile. "More than you could imagine," he said, reaching over and tracing his partner's cheek. "You had me worried," he whispered. Sorey snorted, humming and curling automatically toward Mikleo. The child smiled, and Mikleo felt his face heat to have company for this. "Thank you," he said to the boy, "For looking after us."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all," the boy said. He was dressed in white robes with blue accents, and an absurdly large black necklace hanging off his neck looking almost like a collar. He folded up linens - Sorey's white scarf and the shepherd's glove he wore - into a neat pile. "It's nice to be out and about after so long. I assume you're Mikleo?"
"Oh, yes," he said quickly, pulling his hand away from his partner. "Please forgive my rudeness."
"Oh, it's fine," the boy said. "You were worried about your partner, it's obvious you two are very close." The child washed his hands in a pail of water. "I want to talk more," he said brightly, "but I can't really be out for all that long yet. I hope you don't mind waiting for a while."
…? "No," he said, "I don't mind. May I ask your name?"
"You already know it," the boy said with a bright smile before disappearing, drifting away to whatever vessel he had.
That was… weird… Mikleo pondered what that was all about, but Sorey shivered and his thoughts quickly derailed as he banished his bow, curling around his partner to offer him warmth. The rest could be handled later.
Rokurou considered himself on guard duty for Sorey and Mikleo. He sat on the ground, outside their room where the Lord of the Land and laid out Sorey and Mikleo, who had depleted himself so much he'd retreated, unwillingly, to his bow. Over the centuries, Rokurou had seen many good Shepherds, people who desired to help, people who willingly gave their time. But Rokurou remembered the Abbey. He remembered Shepherd Artorius, he remembered Shigure, he remembered Melchior. The Church had politics, it had political power, it wasn't something to be trusted. Being here was like being in an enemy's lair. Best to be on guard, watchful, and attentive.
He made sure he was the last out of the room, ensuring that Mikleo and Sorey were both alone and therefore safe, and planted himself outside, both swords by his shoulder, and watched the clergy flutter and balk at what he was doing, especially since that Shepherd hadn't dropped the armatus and similarly wouldn't let him out of her sight. In a way, she reminded him of Eleanor. Obstinate in knowing that she was right, refusing to see other sides of things.
"You will not harm those seraphim," she said coldly.
"No intention to," he replied. "Not after spending all winter training them."
Her brow twitched.
What Rokurou wouldn't give for some sake. But he'd been around for a long, long time. He could do patience.
The Shepherd glared at him and he just let her. He turned to one of the priests. "Hey," he said, "do you have the resonance to see malakhim?"
"Malakhim?"
"Right, what's the new word… Seraphim?"
The man puffed his chest out, taking offense, but Rokurou watched as the eyes never went to either the Shepherd, or the wind seraph at her side.
"I'll have you know-"
"Right, you can't see what's going on," Rokurou shook his head. "If you have any good sake, this would be the time for it."
"I beg your pardon-"
Rokurou shrugged. "I'm not asking you to beg. I just want something to drink because the stiffness around here is enough to break someone's back. At least those two," he thumbed behind him, "have flexibility as well as strength. Rigidity is its own path to malevolence, after all."
"And you'd know all about malevolence," the Shepherd hissed. "You will not bully anyone at this shrine."
Rokurou rolled his eyes. "I wasn't aware that asking questions was bullying. It's good to see the church hasn't changed much. Consistency over the centuries is a good thing, I suppose."
The Shepherd glowered at him.
Rokurou looked at her from under his hooded eye. "We met, we talked as we went after that pathetic little hellion. I helped you defeat it. I didn't even have to break a sweat. But I suppose as long as the church gets what it wants, that's a win, right Shepherd? I thought you Shepherds were above politics now. I could be wrong. It's been a few centuries."
The woman stiffened. "A Shepherd bears too much power to get involved in politics!"
"Seems to me like you need to remember that."
"Not letting you bully someone-"
"Again, asking questions isn't bullying someone. And if you don't let go of that armatus soon, you'll exhaust both yourself and your malak." Rokurou studied her again. "You've seen that I'm not doing anything right now. I don't intend to. Let your slave rest."
"They are not my slaves, you-"
"Rokurou."
He turned, the door behind him opening to show Mikleo standing, still looking pale, but far better than after that fight.
"Hey, Mikleo."
Mikleo paused to look at the situation. Then he let out a tired breath. "The Church isn't the same as the Abbey back then. And you know Shepherds aren't the same either."
"True," Rokurou said, standing and replacing his swords to his back. "But I can see patterns from back then far more easily."
"Fair." Mikleo ran a hand through his hair, a glimpse of a circlet peaking through. "I suppose Sorey and I need to learn how to see them now to avoid that particular historical repetition."
Rokurou offered a flat look. "You aren't about to go all ruin-geek on me without your partner, are you?"
"Lord Mikleo!"
"Shepherd Lily," Mikleo gave a small bow, still looking stiff. "It seems Sorey and I need to learn about casting domains. I had no idea what I was doing and Sorey doesn't know how to do it as a seraph. Can you ask Scion if he'd meet us to discuss this? I don't want to leave Sorey alone."
Sander split from Lily, scowling, before disappearing, and Lily kept glaring.
"Sorry, Mikleo," Rokurou offered with a chuckle. "It seems that people here don't like me much."
Mikleo gave a half-hearted glare. "And whose fault is that?"
Rokurou lifted his hands defensively. "Mine, mine, I know. I deserved that."
"Good. Because you're coming in here, and you're going to apologize to Sorey for knocking him out when you decided to get serious in that fight."
"Ah, that's probably true…."
Sorey woke up aching, uncertain what terrible decision he had made in his training with Rokurou to make him this sore. Mikleo was at his side, though, and that made it all fine. His arms snaked around the warmth, curling around a waist and humming at the feel of lithe muscles. Mikleo was aesthetic even on a tactile level, and the water seraph felt as good as he looked. Long fingers feathered through his hair, and mmm that felt nice. He was almost back asleep but he felt Mikleo slide out of his grasp and heard footsteps, a door opening, a conversation he was too out of it to parse.
It was enough, however, to wake him up even more, and he groaned, curling into the bed for several seconds before sitting up. It felt like his nerves were on fire. He reached for light, shakily casting a healing arte on himself. It helped with the pain, but not with the bone-deep ache. Ugh.
Rokurou was walking up, Mikleo at his side before sitting on the edge of the bed. Rokurou leaned forward, eyes narrow before bowing. "Sorry," he said, usual levity gone. "Looks like I took the fight a little too seriously and ended up hurting you."
"... you did?" Sorey asked, knuckling his eyes before the memory hit. "Right… you started to project malevolence…" He dug his fingers through his hair, trying to wake up more. "It's fine," he said. "Did we quell the hellion?"
"... she didn't want to be quelled," Mikleo said softly, hand reaching to his shoulder. "She rejected purification."
Sorey stiffened, green eyes doubling in size. "Oh," he said, sadness sweeping over him. "I assume Shepherd Lily…?"
"Nah," Rokurou said. "I spared her that and handled it myself."
Sorey glanced to the doorway, saw Lily and Sheala there, watching. He could see the truth of the statement. His eyes snapped back to Rokurou. "You laid her weary bones to rest," he said, and he bowed his head. "Thank you for that. And… I'm sorry, that it came to that."
Silence stretched out, Sorey silently honoring the departed. "Do we know who she even was?" he asked. "Why she wanted to be the next Calamity?"
"It is an unfortunate trend in this day and age," Lily said, stepping further into the room. "As Lord Maotelus continues to be purified by the Great Shepherd, his power spreads and creates fewer and fewer opportunities for malevolence to spread. The malevolence needs to go somewhere, and the hellions that are created are more and more powerful for it. In the last few years many hellions have claimed to be the next Calamity. Several shepherds have faced similar battles. This was my first."
"I see…" Sorey said, looking down. "Do we know why she succumbed to the malevolence?"
"... no," Lily said, looking down. "As yet we know not her very name. Father Sean is looking into it."
"It's just… so sad," Sorey said, staring at his hands. "Sad that someone could succumb to malevolence, yes… but also that their pain was so great that they thought their only option was to be the next Calamity…"
"It's a shame," Mikleo said, next to him, a solid presence, "that she didn't have anyone to go to."
"I wonder if she was cursed," Sorey wondered, thinking about Heldalf.
"No curses that I saw," Rokurou said, arms crossed.
"You can sense curses, too?"
"Daemons, curses, malevolence of any kind," Rokurou said. "She had some heft to her, but no finesse. She was just a small fish trying to swim in a bigger pond. Nothing would have come of her."
"You say that…" Lily muttered under her breath, and Sorey looked up, realizing there was a tension in the room.
"In any case," Mikleo said, heading off the conversation. "There's a lot Sorey and I need to do. The first of which is finding a vessel for Sorey. He needs some kind of divine artifact or holy relic to reside in when he's sick from malevolence. It will make recovery faster and give him safety when another hellion tries to cast a domain like that."
"Well," said a new voice, and Sorey glanced at the door to see a fire seraph coming in. The room was getting a little full, and the lightning seraph was too achy to track all the different people and reactions and conversations. He started to tense, wanting a quiet place. The fire seraph continued, "I don't see why you don't use the divine artifact you already have."
… what?
"What do you mean, Scion?" Mikleo asked.
The fire seraph, Scion, moved around Rokurou and the bed to a pile of linens. Sorey reached up to realize he didn't have his scarf - or his glove apparently, as the Lord of the Land pulled out the shepherd's glove and unfolded it. Sorey noticed it almost immediately, the holiness of the cloth called to him strongly.
"What the…?" Instinct made him reach out, Scion offering it gently. "Since when was this…?"
"I don't understand," Mikleo said, leaning over. "This isn't a divine artifact. Or, at least, it wasn't until just now. Do you sense it?"
"I do," Sorey said with a nod. He pulled the glove on, felt its power trickling up his arm and rejuvenating him in a way he'd never felt before. "Is this what your bow feels like?" he asked. "I feel as if…" Something clicked in his head and suddenly he was inside the glove and oh, that felt so much better. His very soul relaxed and he hummed, surprised at how quickly the aches disappeared. He reveled in the sensation for several minutes, exploring the space as the conversation went on outside.
"Well that solves one problem," Rokurou said.
"I still don't understand," Mikleo responded. "He's had this glove since the beginning, and there was nothing divine about it. Why does it now…?"
"Eh, we'll leave that to people smarter than us," Rokurou replied. "You and the Lord have stuff to talk about right? I'll be outside keeping watch; make sure none of these church types try to subjugate you into bondage."
"Again you speak of chains…!" Lily said, following Rokurou outside.
Sorey exited his glove, feeling worlds better. "That was amazing," he said, turning to his partner. "No wonder you stayed in your vessel so much in the beginning."
"So it's true then," Scion said, "You were Great Shepherd Sorey who became the vessel for Lord Maotelus."
He nodded. "Yes. I've been awake for just over a year now. Phi - he's is strong enough that he doesn't need me anymore, and he's asked me to do something for him. Mikleo and I have been traveling in pursuit of that. Rokurou out there," he added, jutting his chin to the door, "is known and trusted by him."
"Yes, I know the sword daemon," Scion said. "I don't know if he remembers it but we've met before - he felled dozens of hellions but never attacked civilians. Shepherds would try and test their skills to no avail. I've not heard of him for many hundreds of years. If an Empyrean vouches for him I will not cause him harm. Though," he added with a knowing smirk, "I cannot say the same for shepherds of this day and age."
"Why?" Sorey asked.
"Hm, being young as you are, Lord Sorey, I'm certain there are nuances to this day and age you are unaware of. Hellions, as beings of malevolence, are to be quelled at all opportunities. Legends of the Lord of Calamity mixed with peaceful times and tougher hellions have created an environment where many shepherds attack first when it comes to hellions."
"... but why?" Sorey said. "Hellions are living things: lost to malevolence, yes, but still living things."
"Have you ever known humans to abstain from othering something they do not understand?" Scion asked. "Humans have many qualities about them I appreciate, and being Lord of the Land always gives me new surprises for what a human can pray for and offer as honors. But there are, too, things about them that I struggle with, and that is one of them."
Sorey looked down. "You're… you're not wrong," he admitted. He had seen those divides many times in his travels as a shepherd: othering Alisha for being half commoner - a made up label with unnecessary weight to it. Othering orphans forced to pickpocket to live and blaming them for thieving, othering other countries because of the war, othering Sorey himself for not aligning with world powers. Humans were always quick to create divisions and neat little boxes, and just as quick to use those little boxes to label people as enemies. "I'm sorry."
"I see why so many called you the Gentle Shepherd," Scion said, not unkindly. "But to your request."
Sorey fumbled, struggling to change topics for a moment. He was getting tired, but fortunately Mikleo covered for him.
"Sorey knows how to cast a domain as a human, but not as a seraph," his partner said. "Moreover, I've never needed to cast a domain. I was either in someone else's, or with a shepherd, or simply rested in my vessel. Neither of us have the skills and where we're going, we're going to need every skill we can muster."
"I understand," Scion said, nodding his blond head. "Rest for now, neither of you are at full strength. I'll show you the artes after that."
"We understand. Thank you, Scion."
"Thank you, young Mikleo, for looking after this gentle seraph."
Author's Notes: Cameo! Did you see the cameo! There was a cameo! More on that in a later chapter, but still, we snuck it in ealry!
Also, can deamons sense other deamons? Haven't played Berseria in a while and we weren't sure. We gave Rokurou the ability regardless to give him skills unique to him that malakhim and shepherds can't do. Also, he's such a fish out of water. For the purposes of this fic he hasn't been on Glenwood in centuries, and he doesn't care about social decorum regardless. He's too busy being him, he's just great.
We also give the boys a new problem to train for: how to cast a domain. More on that later. A new shepherd arrives as well, as formal as Alisha but perhaps with a little too much pride. She'll get a small mini-arc in the coming chapter. Speaking of:
Next chapter: more sniping between Rokurou and Shepherd Lily, and the cameo finally gets inroduced.
