"…Y'know, I got hit in the face by a fish once…that's what these bloody flashbacks feel like, a slap to the face with a stinking fish…Look at me, the bloody sentimental walking down memory lane"—Edith M. Brown Diary, 850
Spring 850
Central Town Square, Stohess District
The following morning, Edith walked through the streets of Stohess, easily navigating the alleyways and backstreets, flowing in and out of the people gathered there. Unlike the others who wore their long nondescript travelling cloaks over their ODM gear, Edith had opted to wear as close to the Faery uniform as she remembered it being.
She reasoned that even if she was recognised—though unlikely considering the recent developments within the Church—then she could just say she was visiting the Stohess branch. As a result however, she'd had to make certain adjustments that she'd see more in the training habit than the daywear habit.
The red skirt she wore had slits running up either leg, allowing Edith to reach the sheaths strapped to either hip underneath it. The blouse and vest she wore had been left alone, though the tight leash straps of the ODM harness rubbed against her skin, chafing it as she moved though she refused to complain.
The only reason—or at least Edith seemed to think so—that Levi agreed for this (somewhat) vain change was because Edith had convinced him that it would be easier for her to slip into the Stohess branch if she fit in, and therefore get the information they needed.
Of course, that's to say she wasn't exactly excited with having to return to the scene of a nightmare she would undoubtedly encounter. With the rest of the Levi squad occupied with their current mission, Edith was able to easily slip away and head towards the Stohess branch.
The building in question had once been a beautiful piece of artwork sandwiched between the grey buildings around them. From the long corinthian columns that stood out front to the tall gaping archways that seemed to scrape against the sky. There had once been windows painted with shining coloured glass and menacing gargoyles that leered from atop the roof. But now all that remained of that once beautiful building, was nothing more than the skeletal ruins left behind after the Titan battle all those many months ago.
Beautiful coloured glass lay shattered on the ground in snowflake patterns that crunched underfoot as she walked through the grounds. Once proud concrete pillars stood crumbling, lining the pathway like leering demons leading the way to Hell. Walking amongst the rubble of the Stohess branch, Edith could almost feel the nightmares that seeped from the walls like mould. A whisper of cloth flapping in the breeze made her think of the ghosts of the Sisters she would never meet.
Edith felt like she almost had to hold her breath as she moved, afraid that if she made a noise—any noise—that she'd disturbed whatever remained there. And for that she was sure, that something or someone still remained within the building, if the abandoned campfire in the corner or the cupboard off to the side was seemingly ruffled though.
And all throughout, bodies of Sisters long lost were strewn amongst the rubble like afterthoughts. Tears pricked at the corners of Edith's eyes as she stepped around an upturned body a young girl, no older than sixteen. Much too young to be gone, much too young to be dead. "I'm so sorry" Edith whispered, her voice barely audible, "This is all my fault" Gently closing the eyes of another young Sister, Edith quietly made her way up to the altar.
Making her way up to the altar—or what remained of it—Edith sat down at the base of the marble plinth that remained lodged above the crawlspace. Much like the Shiganshina branch (and all other branches for that matter), the altar held much more than the usual items seen within a church. Brushing aside some of the brass ornaments that lay atop the plinth in an odd askew pattern, Edith quickly clapped her hands together and placed them on the transmutation circle engraved in the white marble.
Red light danced around her hands, up and down the marble like lightning over water. Of her one remaining flesh arm, the red glow she had come to associate with the Goddess-forsaken stone, bled up and down her veins, shining bright like a torch hiding behind a paper wall. It didn't take long for the plinth to come apart, cracking down the middle like she'd split an apple with her two hands.
Coughing and waving away the cloud of dust that spewed upwards, Edith wasted no time in jumping down in to the dark pit that had just opened up. She stumbled around in the dark for a moment or two, tripping over the items strewn about on the floor that she could not see and bumping into a few things that hung from the ceiling, before she found her way over to the candle trough. All it took was a quick snap of her metal fingers, before fire danced from her fingertips, jumping from candle to waxy candle and lit up the room in a hazy glow.
The U-shaped trough that the candles were laid in, ran the circumference of the room (sans the front wall), and easily lit the room up. There were hundreds of candles however, so that wasn't unforeseen. With the room—more of a cavern, really—lit up, Edith was able to see everything that was contained within.
The familiar training habits hung off to the side (likely what she had bumped into on her way down). There was the cache of long range weapons that lined the left-hand wall and glittered sliver in the candle-light. A stone container (likely supposed to be a Sarcophagus originally) contained more of the short range weapons, upon closer inspection.
Up against the right-hand wall lay several shelves of books, tomes and scrolls. Edith knew that they would contain everything that the Stohess branch knew about the Titans, documentation on their (failed) Herald experiments, documentation on every single Sister that passed through these walls throughout the years, and—if she was lucky—how to finish the ritual, solving her current red substance problem.
"All right, let's get to work" Edith sighed, eyes scanning the room and hands on hips. Moving over to the rack of training habits that hung from the ceiling like floppy bats; she flicked through the dark materials until she found one that was her size. Pulling the dark dress on, Edith made quick work of buttoning up the collar all the way and rolling down the sleeves to her wrists.
Twisting and turning in front of the full-length mirror wedged in the cavern wall, Edith was able to see the full effect of the training habit as it was as a whole. The black silken material of the training habit was styled in what she half-pie remembered Sister Grey calling a 'qipao' or 'cheongsam' (an Oriental-style dress that was hardly seen outside of the Capital these days). With the black silken base and even blacker embroidery depicting stylised apple trees, the training habit wouldn't seem out of place amongst the Capital dresses, at least until you moved in it.
Running up either leg of the body-hugging dress were two long slits that ended just below Edith's hips, turning the knee-length dress into somewhat of a loincloth. Or it would have, had the silken material not hugged so tight to her curves; there was absolutely nowhere to hide in this dress, it showed off everything.
Beneath the training habit, Edith wore the white pants of her usual Scout uniform (having worn them beneath her skirt), giving her at least a little bit of modesty. Readjusting her ODM harness around the habit was a mission and a half, but eventually Edith was able to get it to settle comfortably without the material bunching up or riding high.
Slipping her knee-high leather boots back on, the outfit was eventually complete with the dark Edwardian trenchcoat that sat atop the entire outfit, hiding any and all traces of the dangerous girl within. When all manner of weapons and scrolls were buried on her person, Edith added the last touch, a winged hair comb that held her braided bun in place.
"Now, I'm ready" Edith stood back and stared at the woman she had become. No longer was she the scared child that lay prone on the altar. No longer was she scared of the big bad monsters in this world. Now she was the monster in this tiny little world.
Climbing out of the pit, was more of a mission that it had ought to have been, considering how easy it has been to get in. But just as she was sealing the cavern shut once more, she was interrupted by a ghost she'd never thought she'd see again. "Well, you sure took your time" Drawled a very familiar voice, making the hairs on the back of Edith's neck stand up, "Find what you're looking for?"