Chapter Five: Silence Can Be Golden
Carl finished giving Helsing his new contraptions (A dagger that was more like a needle than anything. It was very useful for paralyzing enemies, or for taking quick samples of them for the lab. Some new potions, climbing devices, and a modified pistol that had gas as propulsion force, for not to destroy the bullets of liquid silver nitrate it was designed to carry.) Helsing was rather pleased with the new pistol; so, the man returned to his chambers to rest satisfied.
Carl, on the other hand, had to have a conversation with Praepondero before Helsing could get the chance to question her next time. To his surprise, Carl found her in the private courtyard, practicing some sort of fighting art with an Asian man who was known for his talent working with gunpowder. When did she start learning this stuff?
She smiled warmly as Carl came striding up to her. Her opponent took advantage of this distraction and managed to pin one of her arms. She in turn quickly maneuvered her position for to handle his weight and flipped him over her. If he had been much larger than her, she probably would not have managed the last move. He quickly landed back upon his feet and started to corner her offensively. Carl's jaw dropped. She began to bluff all sorts of different counters, but did the one thing least expected by either of the men. She allowed one of the blows, but used its force to spin her around faster to quicken her own returned blow. The man's head jerked back from the force, his nose bloodied. They both stopped as Carl came between them.
"When did you start this sort of stuff?" He eyed her as she wiped the sweat off her brow with her sleeve.
The Asian man, called Tseng Ti, bowed to the both of them. "She is a most quick-learned student. Given a few more years and another teacher, she could become even better than I at these arts."
"I'm sure," mumbled Carl. "Can I speak with you privately for a moment?" He looked down at her in frustration.
"Of course." She bowed in return to Tseng Ti before he left. "What is the problem, Brother Carl?"
"I wanted to speak to you about Helsing. But now that I've wind of what else you have been doing lately..."
She undid a few top buttons of her blouse enough to pull it back to inspect her shoulder. It was beginning to bruise. "It is wrong for me to learn these things?"
Carl swallowed hard as he took in the sight of her exposed shoulder. "Not really. We just normally don't have anyone train like this unless the cardinal has designs for them otherwise. Normally such people aren't women either."
She noted his discomfort and buttoned up the blouse the rest of the way. "Sorry." She rubbed her shoulder. "Women are so confined in this world of yours?"
Carl stammered as he explained. "It's not that...well...not that women aren't...appreciated or...useless. Most women of this age just don't have what it takes to do the same sort of jobs." Then he remembered Anna Valerious. She had been a very independent and capable female.
"Well, I do." She gave him a look of disappointment. "I work well in the lab, do I not?" "You do. You've shown us how capable you are."
She started redoing the knot of braids on top her head that had become disheveled. "And now you have seen how capable I can be at more physical tasks." She placed her hands on her hips. "The village where I raised was home to an elite academy dedicated to the arts of fighting and stealth. Most of those trained were women. They were the force of reconnaissance that was sent into the dark races' fortresses."
Carl was dumbfounded. Then he grinned, teasingly. "So, you're dangerous?"
"Depends, are you a servant of the Devil or not?" Her laugh warmed him. "So what is this about Van Helsing that you wish to speak to me about?"
"Oh yeah, that. From the look you had on your face earlier, I would say that you knew him. Did you?"
Her body took on a saddened composure. "He was one of the soldiers that wounded the Christ. His weapon was the spear."
Carl nodded. He was expecting her to have noticed that. After all, she had said that she had witnessed the Crucification. "Please do me a favor. Actually, do him a favor. Do not mention this to him."
She gave him a look of shock. "He does not know what he did? He has forgotten?" Carl sighed. "He has forgotten his past. Perhaps it was a gift from God, perhaps not. Anyways, it will not do him good to know the truth now. Do you understand?"
She nodded. "I will not tell him."
"Thank you."
Her black eyes twinkled mischievously. "By the way, whoever said that the cardinal did not want me to be trained like this?" She quickly turned on her heel and strode away from the courtyard.
Carl called after her. "WHAT?!"
Gabriel could not sleep well at all that night. The smell of hot metal and blood and the battle cries of long dead men rang through his head. He never could sort every dream he had. He couldn't tell what was fiction or fact at times. The Battle of Masada was just one memory that he could name. He had fought alongside the Jewish people against the Romans, but he could not remember his reasons why. It was nights as these that he wished God would finally decide to either have his mind wiped completely or to return all his memories at once.
He turned his gaze upon the skies above him, basking in their mystery instead of his own. He sighed heavily and leaned against the tower rail.
"Heavenly, aren't they?" a soft melodious voice said from above.
Helsing quickly faced the general direction of where the comment had come from, a pistol ready in hand. He never left his room without one.
Seated on the rim of the tower roof above was the young woman called Praepondero. Her hair was undone from it braids and flowed about her like a sail in the wind. Instead of a young convent's robe, she wore the tunic and trousers of a young lad.
She fixed an apologetic stare at him. "I am sorry to have startled you."
He grimaced. "How'd you..."
"Get up here?" She shrugged lightly. "I use to climb a lot of trees when I was home."
Helsing lowered his pistol and stored it away again. "And where was that?"
Her shoulders heaved a sigh. "In a village far from here. The most ...magical place there ever was." She used the word as if it were new to her.
"Home is always a wonderful place. I only wished that I had one." He continued looking out over the land.
"I'm sure you'll rediscover your home someday," she whispered.
Helsing's head quickly jerked up in her direction. "You know then? Carl told you?"
"That you have lost memories? Yes, he told me."
He crossed his arms, and his face took on a more angered look. "I don't want pity."
"I don't pity you. I understand your situation. I also understand that all things reveal themselves in due time." She laid her head into the niche of her crossed arms.
"Anyways, it is perhaps much easier for to forget memories all at once than one at a time? The longer I am away from home, the more I forget of it," she commented.
Gabriel was shocked to hear this from someone he knew so impersonally. "I am sorry."
"No need." She stood up and stretched, balanced precariously on the ledge. "I need to ask you something. If you are willing to listen and consider." She swung herself back down and over the railing.
His eyebrows rose in question. "I will listen."
"The cardinal has decided that much like you, I have unfinished business out in the world."
Helsing grinned. "And I thought I was the only one he gave that excuse to."
"Carl has not told you. But neither did anyone forbid me tell you this. I am Praepondero, meaning that my purpose is not yet served."
"You mean that your name is not a name, but a title?"
She turned her face away from him to look back up at the stars. "Like you, I do not know why or how. But my question is simple. May I accompany you on your missions?"
Compassionate understanding of her situation did not come to him. Praepondero? "What is Praepondero? Tell me, and then I will perhaps I'll consider your question."
"It is Latin for 'tipper of scales,' something on those terms. God would not let me go home for a reason. I must find this reason." She pulled her hair out from behind and draped it over her arm, revealing her ears.
Van Helsing's eyes widened. "Home?"
She grinned. "Is not from around here. So, you must understand that if I am ever to return, it will take the....supernatural to do so. You seem to have a lot of occurrences with the sort. I figure if I hang around you long enough, things will come into play."
He did not know exactly how to take in all of this new information. "And what does the cardinal think of this?"
"He thinks that with you as my trainer, I will be an asset to the Order." She pointed to the general spot on his body where he had concealed his pistol. "I am hoping that you can teach me more on how to handle that sort of weapon. I am good with range weapons."
He sighed and leaned on the railing. "If the cardinal thinks that you should come, I do not see how I can refuse. But I will not allow you to join me this year. Train a little more, and next year at this same time, I will let you come with me." He considered the convenience of backup when trouble arises, but he did not necessarily want to be burdened with another death. Anna's parting still lingered achingly in his heart. "And what about those?" He eyed her ears.
"Easy enough to hide." She began to wrap her hair around her head, concealing the oddities. "No?"
He chuckled at the joke she poked in reference to a turban of hair. "It would be more convenient to cut some of that and wear a hat, considering the different places that you will eventually be traveling."
She shook her head. "Your sun will never burn or darken my skin. So if you plan on any desert traveling, you must warn me. As for the hair, I will have Carl cut it."
Helsing laughed. "Pray he doesn't make an experiment out of it too."
"Aye."
Carl finished giving Helsing his new contraptions (A dagger that was more like a needle than anything. It was very useful for paralyzing enemies, or for taking quick samples of them for the lab. Some new potions, climbing devices, and a modified pistol that had gas as propulsion force, for not to destroy the bullets of liquid silver nitrate it was designed to carry.) Helsing was rather pleased with the new pistol; so, the man returned to his chambers to rest satisfied.
Carl, on the other hand, had to have a conversation with Praepondero before Helsing could get the chance to question her next time. To his surprise, Carl found her in the private courtyard, practicing some sort of fighting art with an Asian man who was known for his talent working with gunpowder. When did she start learning this stuff?
She smiled warmly as Carl came striding up to her. Her opponent took advantage of this distraction and managed to pin one of her arms. She in turn quickly maneuvered her position for to handle his weight and flipped him over her. If he had been much larger than her, she probably would not have managed the last move. He quickly landed back upon his feet and started to corner her offensively. Carl's jaw dropped. She began to bluff all sorts of different counters, but did the one thing least expected by either of the men. She allowed one of the blows, but used its force to spin her around faster to quicken her own returned blow. The man's head jerked back from the force, his nose bloodied. They both stopped as Carl came between them.
"When did you start this sort of stuff?" He eyed her as she wiped the sweat off her brow with her sleeve.
The Asian man, called Tseng Ti, bowed to the both of them. "She is a most quick-learned student. Given a few more years and another teacher, she could become even better than I at these arts."
"I'm sure," mumbled Carl. "Can I speak with you privately for a moment?" He looked down at her in frustration.
"Of course." She bowed in return to Tseng Ti before he left. "What is the problem, Brother Carl?"
"I wanted to speak to you about Helsing. But now that I've wind of what else you have been doing lately..."
She undid a few top buttons of her blouse enough to pull it back to inspect her shoulder. It was beginning to bruise. "It is wrong for me to learn these things?"
Carl swallowed hard as he took in the sight of her exposed shoulder. "Not really. We just normally don't have anyone train like this unless the cardinal has designs for them otherwise. Normally such people aren't women either."
She noted his discomfort and buttoned up the blouse the rest of the way. "Sorry." She rubbed her shoulder. "Women are so confined in this world of yours?"
Carl stammered as he explained. "It's not that...well...not that women aren't...appreciated or...useless. Most women of this age just don't have what it takes to do the same sort of jobs." Then he remembered Anna Valerious. She had been a very independent and capable female.
"Well, I do." She gave him a look of disappointment. "I work well in the lab, do I not?" "You do. You've shown us how capable you are."
She started redoing the knot of braids on top her head that had become disheveled. "And now you have seen how capable I can be at more physical tasks." She placed her hands on her hips. "The village where I raised was home to an elite academy dedicated to the arts of fighting and stealth. Most of those trained were women. They were the force of reconnaissance that was sent into the dark races' fortresses."
Carl was dumbfounded. Then he grinned, teasingly. "So, you're dangerous?"
"Depends, are you a servant of the Devil or not?" Her laugh warmed him. "So what is this about Van Helsing that you wish to speak to me about?"
"Oh yeah, that. From the look you had on your face earlier, I would say that you knew him. Did you?"
Her body took on a saddened composure. "He was one of the soldiers that wounded the Christ. His weapon was the spear."
Carl nodded. He was expecting her to have noticed that. After all, she had said that she had witnessed the Crucification. "Please do me a favor. Actually, do him a favor. Do not mention this to him."
She gave him a look of shock. "He does not know what he did? He has forgotten?" Carl sighed. "He has forgotten his past. Perhaps it was a gift from God, perhaps not. Anyways, it will not do him good to know the truth now. Do you understand?"
She nodded. "I will not tell him."
"Thank you."
Her black eyes twinkled mischievously. "By the way, whoever said that the cardinal did not want me to be trained like this?" She quickly turned on her heel and strode away from the courtyard.
Carl called after her. "WHAT?!"
Gabriel could not sleep well at all that night. The smell of hot metal and blood and the battle cries of long dead men rang through his head. He never could sort every dream he had. He couldn't tell what was fiction or fact at times. The Battle of Masada was just one memory that he could name. He had fought alongside the Jewish people against the Romans, but he could not remember his reasons why. It was nights as these that he wished God would finally decide to either have his mind wiped completely or to return all his memories at once.
He turned his gaze upon the skies above him, basking in their mystery instead of his own. He sighed heavily and leaned against the tower rail.
"Heavenly, aren't they?" a soft melodious voice said from above.
Helsing quickly faced the general direction of where the comment had come from, a pistol ready in hand. He never left his room without one.
Seated on the rim of the tower roof above was the young woman called Praepondero. Her hair was undone from it braids and flowed about her like a sail in the wind. Instead of a young convent's robe, she wore the tunic and trousers of a young lad.
She fixed an apologetic stare at him. "I am sorry to have startled you."
He grimaced. "How'd you..."
"Get up here?" She shrugged lightly. "I use to climb a lot of trees when I was home."
Helsing lowered his pistol and stored it away again. "And where was that?"
Her shoulders heaved a sigh. "In a village far from here. The most ...magical place there ever was." She used the word as if it were new to her.
"Home is always a wonderful place. I only wished that I had one." He continued looking out over the land.
"I'm sure you'll rediscover your home someday," she whispered.
Helsing's head quickly jerked up in her direction. "You know then? Carl told you?"
"That you have lost memories? Yes, he told me."
He crossed his arms, and his face took on a more angered look. "I don't want pity."
"I don't pity you. I understand your situation. I also understand that all things reveal themselves in due time." She laid her head into the niche of her crossed arms.
"Anyways, it is perhaps much easier for to forget memories all at once than one at a time? The longer I am away from home, the more I forget of it," she commented.
Gabriel was shocked to hear this from someone he knew so impersonally. "I am sorry."
"No need." She stood up and stretched, balanced precariously on the ledge. "I need to ask you something. If you are willing to listen and consider." She swung herself back down and over the railing.
His eyebrows rose in question. "I will listen."
"The cardinal has decided that much like you, I have unfinished business out in the world."
Helsing grinned. "And I thought I was the only one he gave that excuse to."
"Carl has not told you. But neither did anyone forbid me tell you this. I am Praepondero, meaning that my purpose is not yet served."
"You mean that your name is not a name, but a title?"
She turned her face away from him to look back up at the stars. "Like you, I do not know why or how. But my question is simple. May I accompany you on your missions?"
Compassionate understanding of her situation did not come to him. Praepondero? "What is Praepondero? Tell me, and then I will perhaps I'll consider your question."
"It is Latin for 'tipper of scales,' something on those terms. God would not let me go home for a reason. I must find this reason." She pulled her hair out from behind and draped it over her arm, revealing her ears.
Van Helsing's eyes widened. "Home?"
She grinned. "Is not from around here. So, you must understand that if I am ever to return, it will take the....supernatural to do so. You seem to have a lot of occurrences with the sort. I figure if I hang around you long enough, things will come into play."
He did not know exactly how to take in all of this new information. "And what does the cardinal think of this?"
"He thinks that with you as my trainer, I will be an asset to the Order." She pointed to the general spot on his body where he had concealed his pistol. "I am hoping that you can teach me more on how to handle that sort of weapon. I am good with range weapons."
He sighed and leaned on the railing. "If the cardinal thinks that you should come, I do not see how I can refuse. But I will not allow you to join me this year. Train a little more, and next year at this same time, I will let you come with me." He considered the convenience of backup when trouble arises, but he did not necessarily want to be burdened with another death. Anna's parting still lingered achingly in his heart. "And what about those?" He eyed her ears.
"Easy enough to hide." She began to wrap her hair around her head, concealing the oddities. "No?"
He chuckled at the joke she poked in reference to a turban of hair. "It would be more convenient to cut some of that and wear a hat, considering the different places that you will eventually be traveling."
She shook her head. "Your sun will never burn or darken my skin. So if you plan on any desert traveling, you must warn me. As for the hair, I will have Carl cut it."
Helsing laughed. "Pray he doesn't make an experiment out of it too."
"Aye."