"Abel, is something wrong? You seem so distant now." The Duchess of Milan gazed up at her companion with motherly concern. She leaned further against the obelisk.
The priest rubbed his temples. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess you could say I'm questioning my sanity at this point." He weakly smiled, but that made him seem even more detached from the present.
Caterina furrowed her brows deeply. This was so unlike Abel. "That doesn't sound like the Abel I know. Something must be really bothering you. Would you care to share your grieves with me?" She hardened her gaze towards her friend. If something this serious was going to get in the way of Father Nightroad's sacred duty, it had to be addressed right away.
Abel heaved an awkward sigh and sat down next to his superior. "This is going to sound incredibly strange, but…" he paused. Would Caterina believe him?
"But what? I wish I had more time to wait, but I promised His Holiness I'd be back for closing prayers."
"Well… There was this girl. After the incident in the restaurant, this girl was talking to me. She seemed to understand how I was feeling and if was really nice, but…" Abel shook his head, "but when I turned around to thank her, she had disappeared!"
The Woman of Steel raised an eyebrow. This information was hard for her to process. "But that's not possible."
"I know…" The priest bowed his head. "I sound like a babbling madman, but it's true."
Caterina smiled softly and patted Abel's shoulder. "I believe you. It's difficult, but I know you wouldn't like to me about this." She blinked as a thought came to her mind. "What did this girl look like?" She had a miniscule suspicion, but it was worth a try.
Abel closed his eyes and tried to remember. "Well, let's see. She was finely dressed, I figured her to be the daughter of some artist or musician. She had long, black hair–" As the image flickered in his mind, Abel's face paled.
"What's wrong, Abel?" The Woman of Steel quivered at her subordinate's sudden change in demeanor. She had the gnawing feeling that her suspicion was correct.
The priest's face went blank. "That man. In Barcelona. The one that killed Noelle and destroyed the city. There's a strong resemblance. A very strong resemblance." His expression changed to a mix of terror and anger.
"Oh how lovely, a child of the Orden." Caterina rubbed her temples. Her lack of sleep made it even harder to process such difficult information. That terrorist from the Venice incident, he has a daughter?
The Duchess of Milan's thoughts scattered again as the nine o' clock bell rang. "Ah, well, it's time. A promise is a promise. Poor Alec's probably terrified by now."
Abel watched as his superior strode gracefully across the plaza. Once she was out of sight, the priest slouched and sighed, trying to piece everything together. His mind was spinning from so many thoughts and feelings. Such kindness, from an Orden member? Is it a trap?
"Hello, Father."
"Huh?" Abel looked up. He saw the slim silhouette of a young woman sitting on the top of the obelisk. "Impossible…"
"Abel. That's such a pretty name." The figure shifted, allowing her face to be highlighted. She gave a sly smile and brushed a strand of black hair from her softly flickering eyes. "My name is Isabella. A bit old fashioned, but I like it just fine."
"You!" Abel jumped from where he was sitting. He quickly rested his hand on the percussion revolver at his hip, but didn't raise it from its holster. He knew that if a gunshot was heard, the plaza would be overrun with Carabinieri and the Ministry of Inquisition.
Isabella raised her hands and laughed. "Why so hostile now, Father?" She slid from the obelisk, her heels making a sharp click when she landed. "I only came to make sure my toy arrived here undamaged. I don't like loaning my things out to clients, but that's not my decision."
"Your toy?" Abel was puzzled, but didn't allow it to show.
Isabella took a couple strides and twirled a strand of hair in her fingers. "Ah, well, my father gave it some fancy, poetic name. 'Silent Noise', I think he calls it. It's just a small thing I made in my spare time; I don't see why it needs a special name."
The priest stared in stark disbelief. "YOU created the Silent Noise?" There's no way this girl could have created such an advanced device, unless she's some kind of super genius! Abel took a step back.
The girl turned to Abel and gave a wicked smile. "The principle's been around for ages; it was even studied before Armageddon. All I did was test if those studies could yield results. I was bored, and the concept intrigued me."
Abel didn't respond. Instead, he fell to his knees staring blankly. He felt no feeling or control of his body. The state of shock he had fallen into had temporarily shut down his entire nervous system. It had only taken a calm explanation from a mere girl to blind, deafen, mute, and completely debilitate the priest. Abel fell flat on his face without a feeling, without a sound, without a breath. His nonfunctioning nervous system had also triggered respiratory arrest.
"Hm… Doesn't take much to scare this one." Isabella furrowed her brows. Her eyes glimmered with a rare concern. She took a quick glance around before laying the priest on his back. She gently pressed her first two fingers against the priest's temples as the pentagrams illuminated on her gloves. Isabella didn't move while Abel's body convulsed as his nervous system was jump-started.
After a few seconds the priest was breathing again. Isabella watched as Abel turned his head and moaned. Another second passed and the priest's winter blue eyes opened in confusion.
"Wha…" Abel weakly looked up at Isabella and tried to focus his eyes.
"Farewell, Father," Isabella brushed Abel's silver hair from his face as her body melted into her shadow, "I'm certain we'll meet again."
In a slight delirium the priest reached for Isabella. "No, wait…" But it was too late. The girl was gone. Abel remained lying on the ground as his thoughts recollected. "Kampfer… Silent Noise… Isabella… bells…"
Isabella paced in her room with uncertainty. She knew it was highly unlikely her father would find out what had happened, since he had been busy with his client. Still, something was etching away her confidence. There was a hard ball of doubt in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't explain.
A worried mew interrupted Isabella's contemplation. A black kitten looked up at the wizard's daughter with confusion and concern. She let out another mew and stood against Isabella's slender leg.
"Oh, Rose," Isabella picked up the kitten and sat on her bed, "I'm sorry I'm getting you worried." She softly stroked the kitten. "It's just… That priest, there's something about him. I don't know what, but there's something about him that makes me question my purpose. He makes me feel like I'm on the wrong side…" She bowed her head, letting her hair cover her face. That's impossible, isn't it? Isn't this my destiny, to succeed my father and carry on his magic?
The girl stood up and brushed back her hair. She proceeded to walk to her dresser. She picked up a small wooden keepsake box from the top of the dresser before sitting back down on her bed. Isabella smiled a bit as Rose curiously sniffed at the box and batted her paw at it. It was nice to have a friend around, even if it was only a kitten.
"Okay, you can stop now," Isabella laughed a little and gently pushed Rose away. The kitten tilted her head to the side as Isabella opened the box.
Inside the box was only one thing. Isabella picked up the small obsidian cross and dangled it by its gold chain. "Dear Mother," she sighed, "I never did know you."