Chapter Ten: Sanctuary

Her staff nestled in the crook of her elbow, Keyleth wrung her hands, squeezing and twisting until the knuckles popped. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two doors behind which Percy and his sister lay (dying) incapacitated. She couldn't just walk away; that was her friend in there. Damn it, there had to be something she could do! Surely there was some spell she could cast, some medicine she could make, some power of Nature she could invoke that would at least help somehow. She just needed a minute to think, to remember, to catalogue all of her skills and experience until she found the thing, the one thing she knew she had in her somewhere that would—

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her spiral. "Let's go, Kiki," said Vax quietly.

Keyleth rounded on him, anger flaring white-hot behind her eyes as if to leap out and burn him. "Go? And do what?" she demanded. "You want to just leave him?"

"Stay, and do what?" Vax countered. "We're not leaving him. Pike's in there, remember? Percival is in the best of hands. And in the meantime, we need to figure out our next steps."

Meeting his gaze, Keyleth could see in his face the same frustrated helplessness that twisted in her guts like gnarled vines. But he was right. The best thing they could do for Percy and Cassandra right now would be to keep digging into The Righteous—and rip them out, root and stem. Her anger at Vax subsided to a hissing, crackling ember. Save it for the bastards who did this. "Yeah, o-okay," she said dully. "So… back to the castle, then?"

"I'm not sure the castle is the best place anymore," said Vex. "The Righteous have gotten in twice now. I'm afraid those walls may have ears."

Grog frowned. "I didn't see any ears."

"Yeah, but is there any place that's safer?" Scanlan asked. "We don't know who's part of this cult and who's not. They could be anywhere. Anyone."

A troubled silence fell over the group as they all weighed his words. He had a point. They had no way of knowing who they could trust, except perhaps for—

Keyleth's eyebrows shot up as the obvious place occurred to her. "What about the Lady's Chamber?" she suggested. "I doubt we'd find too many Pelor cultists in the Temple of Erathis. And we should loop Keeper Yennen in on what's happened, anyway."

"Good thinking, Kiki," said Vax with a nod, and Keyleth felt herself blushing as the praise warmed her from the inside out. Some of the knots inside her started to loosen, just a little, at this hint of a start of a plan.

Before they could leave, however, the door to Cassandra's room creaked softly open and Sister Deora stepped out, drawing it closed behind her. She jumped a little as she caught sight of Vox Machina gathered in the corridor. "Oh!" she gasped. "I didn't know you were still here!" She glanced toward the other closed door. "How is Lord Percival?"

Keyleth swallowed hard. "It-it's hard to say, yet," she stammered. All those knots clenched ever tighter as her mind once again called up the memory of Percy passing out in front of her, pain draining the blood from his face as he'd faded away while she watched in impotent horror. "Pike and Father Tharivol are with him now, so…"

"Eh, he may look like a pansy, but Percy's a pretty tough son of a bitch," said Grog dismissively. "He's survived shit he ain't got no business survivin'. He'll be fine."

Deora gave a thin smile in return. "I'm sure he appreciates your faith in him." With a heavy sigh, she looked down at her feet. "I only wish I were so optimistic about Lady Cassandra."

"What's happened to Cassandra?" Vex demanded sharply, and the rest of the group chimed in as well.

"Is she getting worse?"

"Is there anything we can do?"

"What do you need?"

Holding up her hands against the torrent of questions, Deora shook her head sadly. "There is little to be done at this point," she admitted. "We have an alchemist working to identify the poison, and hopefully developing an antidote. In the meantime, we can only try to keep her—them—as comfortable as possible. And pray."

Keyleth seized on her words and jumped at the opportunity they presented. "Could your alchemist use some help, maybe?" she asked. "I could, I don't know what, but I know a little about alchemy and a lot about plants and maybe I—"

She didn't realize she was nervously wringing her hands again until Deora wrapped hers around them with a gentle smile. "Callan is the finest alchemist left in Whitestone, and accustomed to his methods. The best way for you to help him is to let him work." She patted Keyleth's hands and released her. "But I thank you for your kind offer. Now, I must go. I have other duties to attend to; Father Tharivol will be quite angry if I don't…" She trailed off, gesturing vaguely.

"Yeah. Okay." Watching her walk away, Keyleth narrowed her eyes. Something about that exchange just didn't sit right. Maybe it was just her insistence that nothing could be done right now, clashing with the need to do something, that was so unsettling. But that didn't feel right, either.

As soon as Deora was out of earshot, Keyleth turned to the others. "Did she seem off to any of you?"

"Off, how?" asked Vex with a frown.

Keyleth gritted her teeth. "Ugh, I don't know!" she growled. "I can't put my finger on it. But I can't help thinking something's wrong with her."

"We'll add it to the to-do list," said Scanlan, miming writing something down. "Find assassins. Put down rebellion. Investigate weird-ass priestess."

"Scanlan, I'm serious!"

"Hey." Vax's voice was gentle. "Scanlan's right, Kiki. Right now, we need to regroup, get some rest, and make a plan. I trust your instincts, and we will look into Sister Deora, I promise. But we need to go about this logically. Prioritize."

Keyleth snorted. "Prioritize. Right. And if we get our priorities wrong, Percy and Cassandra could die."

"Look, standing here arguing about it isn't going to help anyone," said Scanlan. "Let's get out of here."

Vex nodded. "We need to get ahead of this, stop reacting and find our advantage." She laid a hand on Keyleth's shoulder. "I know you're frightened, darling. I am, too—Gods, we all are. But what Percy needs right now, what Whitestone needs, is for us to be the badasses we know we are."

"But…" Keyleth trailed off at Vex's raised eyebrow. She didn't really have a coherent argument left, anyway. "Badasses. Yeah, okay." She took a deep breath. "Let's go."

"—poultice should draw out the corruption. Keep it on overnight, and return to me in the morning."

"Thank you, Keeper Yennen." As he turned to leave the temple, Captain Garron nearly ran straight into Vax, pulling up short just in time. "Oh! Pardon me, sir."

"It's all right," Vax replied, waving off his deference. He frowned. "How's your face?"

Garron's cheek where the Righteous assassin's blade had cut him was now covered with a bulky bandage that emitted a stringent herbal odor, which lingered even as he stepped back out of Vax's personal space. He reached up to touch it with a grimace that spoke of more anger than pain. "I got lucky," he said. "Yennen tells me it was too shallow for the poison to really take hold. It'll heal eventually." He shook his head. "I'm just glad I kept that one away from Lord de Rolo, to be honest. That was too close."

Behind Vax, Keyleth sucked in a breath. "Um… about that…"

"Yeah, the other guy had a poisoned dagger, too," said Scanlan bluntly.

Garron's face went white. "Merciful Gods," he whispered. "Is Lord de Rolo—?"

"He's alive," Vax bit out. It took a conscious effort of will not to add For now out loud. It might put the fear of the Gods into Garron, but it wasn't what the rest of the team needed to hear. Instead, he added, "But it might behoove you to figure out what the hell is going on in that castle. Immediately."

"Yes, of course, sir," Garron replied with a sharp nod. "At once."

Keeper Yennen approached them as Garron left, her face drawn and serious. "Am I to understand that Percival has fallen victim to a Righteous assassination attempt as well?"

"Yes," said Vax tightly. "Pike and Tharivol are taking care of him at the Zenith. It's… it's pretty bad."

"In the meantime, we're still trying to stop this cult before they try again," said Vex. "We were hoping to set up a base camp of sorts here, since the castle seems to be compromised."

Yennen frowned. "Here in the temple? We may not have the security you seek. There are no guards to speak of, and little in the way of accommodations. This is a place of worship."

"Worship of the Lawbearer, not the Dawnfather," Vax pointed out. "The Righteous are a cult of Pelor; they would have little reason to come here. All we need is a place where we can make our plans with some assurance that The Righteous won't be listening in."

"Hmm. That may be possible," said Yennen, "but our resources are as yet scarce. If there is anything you can give in return, it would help."

"Whatever you need, Keeper," Vax promised. "We wouldn't ask if it weren't important."

"Here." There was a clinking of coin from Vax's left, and Vex reached past him to hand a pouch to Yennen. "There's two hundred gold in there. Will that do?"

Scanlan stared up at her, wide-eyed. "Who are you, and what have you done with Vex?" he gasped in exaggerated shock.

"Shut up,Scanlan," Keyleth muttered, nudging him with her staff.

But Vax could certainly understand where Scanlan was coming from. For Vex, normally so stingy with the party's funds, to offer gold so freely spoke volumes about her state of mind. "Sister, are you sure?" he asked quietly.

"Percy doesn't have time for us to fuck around," she hissed. "Yes, I'm sure." She looked at Yennen again. "Well?"

"Such an offering would be of great service to the Lady's Chamber. On behalf of the temple, I thank you." Yennen nodded solemnly as she took the pouch from Vex. "Come, let us find you a space to work." She turned and led them through the amphitheater to the small brick building at the back.

Only large enough to seat perhaps ten people, the single-room structure was a much more intimate setting than the amphitheater outside. A squat wood-burning stove sat in one corner, beside a table with a neatly arranged tea set. Shelves lined the walls, filled with small statues, holy symbol, prayer books, and scrolls. Vax suspected this space was probably used for smaller services, counseling, confessions, and the like—the less visible but arguably most impactful functions of religion. It was generous indeed for Yennen to offer it.

"Use this space as long as you need," said Yennen. "No one else will be allowed entry. You will have as much privacy as possible."

"Thank you, Keeper," Vax replied.

"May the blessings of Erathis—and Pelor—be upon you." Yennen shut the door behind her as she left, leaving Vox Machina to their plans. Such as they were.

What the fuck do we do now?