Chapter 16 – The Cathedral

Albus was worrying about his little sister - as always, but this time it was slightly more justifiable. He sat with his allies – Etta, Hayley, and the new addition of Cole – eating grapes they had picked from a vine nearby. The frosty, bitter weather didn't seem the ideal conditions for such plump, juicy grapes, but they did not question it, they were too busy stuffing their faces. By some lucky coincidence, Cole had quite literally ran into the pack that morning, and before Etta could swing her mace into his guts, Hayley ran to hug him. Albus was taken aback by such an emotional act coming from Hayley, but he did not question it, for he knew it would be the last question he would ever ask.

But Albus' curiosity did prompt him to ask one thing, which he asked after finishing his grapes. 'So,' he asked Cole, 'how did you end up alone? What happened to the pair from Nine?'

Cole shifted uncomfortably. 'They died, this morning. They were eating this dove when they just started coughing up all this blood. Then they just stopped, and the canon went off. I didn't know what to do so I just picked up my kama – well, Nanuk's kama – and the little food and equipment there was, and headed. '

'I'm sorry,' Albus said. 'It sounds a horrible way to go.'

'It happens,' Cole replied. 'It's what this is all about. I guess we better get used to it.'

'You can't get used to it,' said Etta, in a way that was composed yet appalled. 'You can tell yourself it's natural or that there's nothing you could do, but watching someone die is not something you should ever get used to. If it doesn't mess with you, you're losing yourself, and as far as I'm concerned you're becoming something less than human. I don't want to get used to it, I'd rather feel torn apart daily than stop caring. When you witness someone's future being torn away, their hopes and dreams and loves just wiped away, it's just good manners to feel bad for them.'

Cole said nothing; he could tell Etta wasn't looking for a response. She couldn't help but feel angry that Hayley's partner had so conveniently ran into her when yesterday, her district partner - and half-brother, although he never knew it – Tait, died. She did not mourn loudly – after all, she hardly knew him. Instead, all she felt was anger, at the Capitol, at her mother, at herself. She knew it was unlikely Tait would ever learn about his real mother, and yet she felt as if she had witnessed a robbery. Tait's future had been so quickly ripped away from him, and by whatever means necessary, Etta swore to avenge her tragic brother.

The awkward silence was saved by the anthem of Panem, booming out all around them, and the seal of the Capitol shining in the sky. This was the second announcement of the fallen, and all eyes were on Albus, as it was only him who was unsure of his district partner's fate. The faces of the boy from 5, the girl from 8, Nanuk from 9, and the boy from 12, all appeared and disappeared. The anthem came to an end, and the eyes shifted from Albus to Cole.

'You said Natalie was dead,' said Albus.

'She must be!' Cole protested. 'I mean, I saw her, I'm not lying! Why would I lie?'

'We believe you, Cole,' said Hayley supportively. 'Don't we?'

There was no answer. Quite simply, they did not believe Cole, and did not consider him above committing such an act as abandoning someone he saw as useless. As far as Cole was concerned -from what everyone could tell – they had all died the very moment their names were called at the Reaping, and attempts at keeping everyone else alive were futile. Funnily enough, he didn't complain about that when Nanuk took him under his wing, and certainly not when his current allies did. Even Hayley was visibly suspicious, but she did not let her words show that; as far as she was concerned, it did not matter whether or not Cole was guilty as charged, only what Albus and Etta thought, as it was them their lives depended on.

Saving each other's lives had definitely brought Lily and Natalie closer together, and despite what Natalie thought, Lily needed her as much as she needed Lily. Without her, Lily would have been left alone with the memory of Tate's corpse as she went on her seemingly futile search for Albus. Natalie's company made the walks through the icy forest almost bearable. Arm in arm, they walked over crunchy leaves and through mazes of trees, Lily navigating them to no real destination. Conversation was minimal, but that suited them fine; there wasn't much to say.

Lily and Natalie walked further until suddenly the trees around them cleared. The ground at their feet was stone once more, just as it had been at the Cornucopia. Standing in front of them was a very tall, ominous building made of grey stone with a large steeple towering over the archway entrance, decorated with a gargoyle sitting at three of the corners of the belfry roof – one appeared to be missing. The steeple clock was not really a clock at all, just a circle where it seemed a clock face may one have been. Despite the lack of symbolism in the building, it was clear what it was; it was a church. An old, eerie, cathedral-standard building, just sitting in amongst the trees like it had always been right there. The sky was purple and starless, assisting the old structure in looking as creepy as it did. Lily stopped.

'What is it?' asked Natalie.

'I don't believe this,' Lily replied. 'This makes no sense, why would they put this here?'

'Is something wrong? What do you see?'

'It's a church; a really big, old church, just in the middle of the woods.'

'Is anyone inside?'

'Not that I can see.'

'Let's check it out. Some divine intervention would be nice about now.'

The fact that the building was made entirely of stone meant that inside it was very cold. There were no religious artefacts or symbols anywhere inside the so-called church; there weren't even pews to sit on. It was completely bare, which added to the sinister factor of the place. Along the nave, columns formed arches which held up the triforium – the gallery above the pews, or where the pews would normally be – and at the apse (that is, the semicircular section at the opposite end from the entrance), instead of an altar or candles, were two tall, silver, sleek statues of what seemed to be angels. They had no facial features – they resembled a cross between a tailor's dummy and a chess piece, standing facing towards the entrance with their hands touching as if in prayer. They were identical in every way, including their tall wings, arched at the top and pointed at the bottom, reaching from the floor to above the figures' heads. They were strangely beautiful, but menacing, their empty faces always watching. Lily couldn't get over the austerity of the place. Not a painting or stained-glass window decorated the place. All the walls were plain and grey and all the windows were empty of glass – even those up in the clerestory.

'Cool.'

'Is it safe?'

'Yeah, just a bit boring. You sit here, I'm going to go get some firewood, won't be long.'

Lily walked back out the archway, wand at the ready, and headed over to the trees. Collecting firewood was much easier with magic at one's disposal, as Lily did not need to learn. She pointed her wand at a branch, ready to sever it, when her attention was pulled away by a loud scream. Her first reaction was to run back to the church, shouting for Natalie. She stumbled in the doorway, wand outstretched. Natalie was standing, her hands over her mouth.

'What's happened?!'

'Lily, is that you?'

'Yes, it's me, are you alright? Why did you scream?'

'What? I didn't scream, I thought it was you. I thought you'd been killed.'

Only then did Lily realise how rapidly she was breathing, and it slowly returned to normal. She walked back outside, peering around to find the source of the scream. A silhouette passed over the trees briefly. Lily stepped out, her curiosity pulling her closer to likely danger. The silhouette appeared again, this time closer. It was bat-like, but seemed massive. It burst through the trees, and let out a horrific screech. It was not like the other muttations she had encountered, because they had all been an animal with something a bit different, but this was unlike any living thing Lily knew of, at least in the Muggle world. It was huge and grey, with wings like a dragon and claws like a lion. Its face was a grotesque cross of a bat's and a human's, but Lily did not take her time admiring the beast. She fell to the floor, putting her hands over her head, as the creature swooped right over her. It flew straight upwards, and landed on the cathedral roof. It was a gargoyle, and once it had resumed its rightful place on the corner of the bell tower, it turned back into stone, joining its three friends as they watched over the arena from their vantage point. Lily wondered what had drawn it out on its adventure, perhaps whoever had been screaming. She considered that the gargoyle may have been the one making the noise, but went against that theory; the scream was definitely human. She returned inside to update Natalie, who listened intently as she described the creature.

'So you think whoever was screaming was screaming at it?' asked Natalie.

'I would guess so. If not then-'

Lily stopped. There was someone outside.

'Don't move,' she whispered. She drew her wand, and cautiously moved towards the entrance. A silver flash flew past her, clattering on the stone floor beside Natalie. Lily's heart sank; her good luck had clearly run out. Natalie reached out and felt for the source of the noise, and once her fingers reached the cold metal, she picked it up, exploring it.

'Where did you find this?' she asked, a tone of sensitivity and sadness in her voice.

'I didn't. Someone just threw it in.' Lily felt like she had failed her, that her attempts to keep her safe had been in vain all along.

'Oh. Did you see who?'

'Well, no, but I could take a good guess.'

'What do you think he's trying to do, kill us?'

'What?' Lily turned around, confused as to what Natalie was thinking, and saw that was she was holding was not a throwing star, as expected, but a small sickle-like object. She could hear a voice naming it; kama, it said. They're like sickles, used for farming, but pretty lethal. The voice was Cole's. Lily ran outside, and there she saw Etta, limping towards the church with her flail pulling her down.

'Etta!' Lily shouted.

'Lily? Hey, nice place you got here, mind if we come in?' She sounded exhausted, and looked it too. She rested her head on Lily's shoulder, and let out a loud sigh. 'Oh, I've got something for you.' She stepped to the side, and stretched her hand out as if to reveal a long-awaited masterpiece.

In the twilight, Lily could just make out a familiar figure. A sword at his side and a forest green scarf around his neck, stood proof that the universe had a little bit of kindness left in it.

The sword fell. They ran to each other, and collided in an embrace of happy tears and awkward limbs. They laughed, and let go of each other, heading into their new home.

'Hey Natalie, we have guests.' Lily could not believe the words she was saying. 'Albus, who I'm presuming you know about by now, Etta, from Six, Hayley, from Three and…'

Lily stopped. Her happy mood dissolved on the spot.

'...you.'

She saw Cole, and ran up to him, not quite as happily as she ran up to Albus.

'You disgusting little rat!' She smacked him around the ear. 'You make me sick, you ungrateful, selfish, heartless bastard! How the hell could you justify leaving her to die? I found her in a goddamn river, about to be eaten alive by carnivorous fish, all because you abandoned her. If she died, as far as anyone would be concerned, you would have killed her.'

Cole smiled. 'You say that as if that's not the thing we're all here to do. Besides,' he lent in, and whispered to Lily, 'she's already dead. The Capitol killed her long ago.'

Lily turned away, and walked defiantly back over to Natalie, not allowing her human decency to be treated as a weakness.

'Was it you the screams came from?' Natalie asked the group.

'That would have been Hayley,' replied Etta. 'But yes, that was us. We were attacked, by this…thing. Like a great big grey-'

'Gargoyle?' said Lily.

Etta was stunned. 'You saw it?'

'Yeah, it swooped right over me. It landed on the roof and turned to stone.' Such ideas were not completely alien to Lily or Albus, but in this situation they were as shocked as any of their Muggle companions. 'Why do you think it attacked you?'

Hayley let ought a laugh. 'I don't think it had a grudge, if that's what you're asking. These damned mutts don't need a reason to go crazy at you; hell, it's what they're made for.'

Albus turned to look at Lily, and nodded to his right. Lily understood.

'Well, make yourself at home,' she said to them all, as if the church was hers to give out. 'I was just about to go and get some firewood anyway. Al, can you give me a hand?'

Lily picked up her bow and quiver, and walked out the church, closely followed by Albus. He picked his sword up off the ground as they walked towards the trees.

'You alright?' he asked her.

'Yeah, yeah, fine. Still alive, and I guess that's what matters. You?'

'Not bad. All the better for seeing you.' He smiled at her.

Lily smiled back. 'Shut up.'

He laughed. 'That was quite an impressive slap.'

'I've been waiting a while for that. Can you believe what he did?'

'Sadly, yes, I can. This whole thing makes monsters of people, and he was monstrous to begin with. If only everyone was as big-hearted as you. Maybe everyone would still be alive.'

Albus had just assumed - all though he didn't say it in as many words – that Lily had no blood on her hands. Lily did not care to correct him.

'So, the gargoyle. You think it attacked you for a reason?'

'Without question. See, when it attacked, I was in the middle of lighting a fire – that is, with my wand. When that thing came for it, it chased us around a lot but only ever landed on me. I thought it was trying to kill me, but when I went to attack it with my want, it pulled it out my hand and flew away. Lily, I think they know about us, about how our tokens aren't just fancy wooden sticks. You've still got yours, yeah?'

'Yeah, in fact I was going to use it for chopping wood.'

'Don't. Hide it, protect it all you can. We're going to have to play Muggle, no more using it at any opportunity.'

Lily remembered what McGonagall had advised them. Use them wisely and discreetly in only the most desperate situations. Considering how frequently Lily had used her wand and how automatic her reaction of pulling it out to defend herself was, it was a wonder the gargoyles hadn't came for her already.