Chapter 5: Whither Faith

Day 1, 21:30

The Inquisitor stood before the body of the slaughtered woman. He wore a bright white robe with a strange pointed mantle that framed the back of his head. The decoration of the robe was minimal, and yet it was clear that he was a high-ranking member of the church. The Order clearly felt that less was more when it came to their public officials.

Lightning walked up to him. She figured if she was going to find out what was going on, she would be best talking to him first.

"We need to solve this case quickly," The Inquisitor said to his guards. "Luxerion is the city of divine light, yet it has seen the murder of three girls in three days. The people seem to be growing fearful. If any of you find out anything at all, I'd be anxious to hear it."

Lightning took this opportunity to make her presence known. The Inquisitor gave her a questioning look. Lightning realized that between her shattered sword and unusual attire, she must stand out. And yet the Inquisitor simply continued as though he understood her intentions perfectly. Lightning soon found out why he was treating her without suspicion.

"There are similarities among the victims," he continued. "They have all been young women and all of them had rose-colored hair."

Lightning subconsciously ran her hand through a soft pink strand of her own hair. The Inquisitor nodded.

"Yes, just the same shade as yours," The Inquisitor now directly addressed Lightning. "You may also become a target of the killers. I urge you to be careful."

One of the guards stepped forward. "I knew the latest victim. She was a leading member of the Order clergy. She'd been a rising star, destined to become the next high priestess. But then, she retired suddenly. For reasons of health, or so it was said. And then, this..."

Lightning rubbed her chin. Three young women, all with rose-colored hair had been murdered, and the latest victim at least had a connection with the Order. And then, there was that message:

The evil savior will die at the hands of the Shadow Hunter.

As the Inquisitor and his men got back to examining the crime scene, she decided to wander around the plaza. There had to be other clues, witnesses. Anything to give her some idea of who was responsible.

She noticed a set of scaffolding which lead up to the spot where the dummy was hanging. A few of the Order guard were now in the process of taking the dummy down, but it must have been there long before they showed up. That was most likely how they'd made it atop the station to begin with. Lightning climbed up the first ladder and saw a nervous looking man, leaning against the wall, talking to the nearby guard. Well, perhaps ranting was a more appropriate term, as the guard did not seem to have anything to contribute to the conversation, let alone a chance to contribute. The man spoke in a quiet faux-casual voice, chewing on his knuckles in between words.

"This is my favorite spot. Hang out here long enough, and you get to see all kinds of things- like those white-garbed loonies, for example," the man seemed to find his courage after this statement and stopped shaking. "The Children of Etro are heretics, and they don't believe in the Order's teachings. Those Etro fanatics used to keep a low profile, but recently I see them everywhere. The Order's authority isn't what it was. Now those people wander the streets like they own the place. Do you think they know something we don't? Maybe they have a date for the end of the world. Who knows?"

This was already becoming an enlightening affair. Before too long she figured she would know all about Luxerion, even if most of her experience so far was from overheard conversations. The guard hefted the dummy down on to the top most scaffolding and set about his work. He noticed Lightning first, before the other man had, and was the first to offer a word of warning.

"The same people who killed the girl brought that dummy here. It's important evidence- don't touch it. The victim had rose-colored hair- and the wig on that dummy was of the same color. The killers appear to believe that the 'evil savior' will take the form of a young woman, with rose-colored hair. Everything points to this being the work of those heretics. But why are they so sure what the savior will look like?"

This was all getting a little personal to Lightning. Whoever this Shadow Hunter was, he knew, or at least had a very good hunch as to what Lightning looked like. And these Children of Etro. Lightning had once served as Etro's Champion. Now there was a group claiming to be her servants. But Etro would never demand slaughter such as this.

Lightning climbed down from the scaffolding and made her way to the far side of the plaza. She leaned back against the wall of the inn. She saw several more of those papers, similar to the one that had been sticking to the victim, blowing about in the breeze.

"'The evil savior will die at the hands of the Shadow Hunter'," the innkeeper said, talking to his friend. "Certainly an interesting statement. I've heard of the Shadow Hunter once before, from a guest that was staying here at the hotel. The same guest told me he's the head of that band of fanatics, but I don't know who he really is- or was."

As if Lightning requited clarification of her suspicion; she'd already suspected that the Shadow Hunter and the Children of Etro were linked. That had all but confirmed it. Lightning began to pace the plaza. She was trying to fit the pieces together in her head.

So far, everything made perfect sense. The Children of Etro, and the Shadow Hunter were killing these women in an attempt to kill her. That much was obvious. The two lingering questions of course were "how?" and "why?"

"It can't be... dammit, it's not like him to be late. But what if- no, no, no couldn't be that..."

Lightning turned to see the conductor from earlier standing at the bottom of the stairs to the station, loudly venting what sounded more like fear than frustration.

"Something wrong?" She asked. "Not about those murders, is it?"

"God, no! At least, I hope not. You see, it's the end of my shift and I'm waiting for my replacement, but h-he hasn't shown," the conductor was shaking, almost panic stricken. "He's been late before, but never as bad as this."

"You're starting to worry, right?" She asked.

The conductor let out a strange sound somewhere between a groan and a grunt. "He likes to make out he's a tough guy, but he isn't at all frankly. His name's Holmes. If you run into him, do me a favor, will you? Tell him Thorton's worried- and needs to go home."

Lightning nodded. "All right. If I see anyone in uniform wandering around where they're not supposed to be, I'll talk to 'em."

Lightning knew with the plaza shut off, Holmes couldn't be too far. She made her way through the center of the plaza and towards a small Outfitters shack. It was here, she saw a man wearing a uniform chatting with the owner.

"Good heavens, this has become quite the predicament," the owner was saying. "Those messages say that the Shadow Hunter will kill the savior. Sounds pretty, I don't know, prophetic right? If you believe what you hear around town, it seems that the Children of Etro have an Oracle Drive. That's a rare thing."

An Oracle Drive, Lightning thought. Of course.

Oracle Drives were the mechanical creations of the seeress Yeul. They were devices that recorded her visions of the futures. With an Oracle Drive and the proper mind to interpret your findings, you could accurately predict the future. That was it. That was how they knew what the Savior looked like. There was just one last piece of the puzzle she needed.

Lightning patted the man in uniform's shoulder. He jumped slightly at her touch.

"You work at the station, don't you? Your fellow attendant is worried about you."

The man groaned. This was Holmes all right. " My...? Oh, no! Is it time for my shift already? I completely lost track of time! Look, can I trust you?" Lightning nodded. Holmes took a look at her hair and, like the Inquisitor, decided that was enough. "I saw who did it. You know, the people who threw the dummy off the clock tower? I got scared, so I've been laying low. I can't go to the station, that's where they'll look for me."

"You were there? What did you see, exactly? You have to tell me."

Holmes suddenly became rather stubborn, but Lightning could tell it was just out of fear. "I don't have to do anything. But i-if you can protect me from those people and get me to the station, I'll tell you all about it."

In her former lives, Lightning might have considered this a burden, but she was charged with saving souls, and as a result, saving lives was her responsibility as well. She led Holmes back to the train station, being sure to make sure they were not being tracked. When they finally reached Thorton, both he and Holmes breathed deep sighs of relief.

"Holmes, you're safe! I was so worried about you, I could barely concentrate on my duties!"

"Sorry, boss. I saw what happened over where they found the girl. I guess I just panicked," Holmes replied.

The two exchanged words for a moment as Holmes began his shift and Thorton ended his. As it turned out one of Thorton's previous colleagues was killed by a monster, and part of Thorton's fear had stemmed from this previous experience in his life.

A true friend that cares. Maybe that's enough to save a soul, Lightning thought.

Lightning's heart swelled as faint white auras unseen by these men traveled into her body. Two more souls that she had saved, simply by helping them find one another.

"Well, a deal's a deal. You got me here safe and sound, and so I'm going to tell you exactly what I saw. It was the Children of Etro. They tossed the dummy off the tower. I really wanted to tell the Inquisitor what I saw. Honestly, I did. But I was afraid those heretics might find out and make me their next victim."

You don't have rose-colored hair, Lightning thought.

"So the culprits are the Children of Etro," Hope said, speaking again for the first time in a while. "But what is their objective. What are they after?

Lightning excused herself from the two men and headed back into the Plaza.

"Let's find out," she replied. "Once the gates are open, I'll try tailing them. Discreetly. It'll be the easiest way to find their hideout. I'll talk to the Inquisitor, and hopefully get these gates open."