"Line up and wait! Those who don't comply shall be punished!"

"It looks like he got caught by the line." I stated, gesturing towards Rokurou. He was standing at the very back of the line, behind the merchant that Sorey and Rose talked to before. I took my spot near him, standing there and glancing around the area. Sorey and Rose lined up with us, and I couldn't help but feel like we were just asking for trouble, all grouped up like this. Though the line moved bit by bit, I waited for us to be called out for being such a big group. It seemed Rokurou noticed this as he nudged me a little.

"Relax. Being all stiff is gonna get you outed by the guards pretty fast. Trust me, Velvet was singled out because of how stiff she was once." He said. "If it wasn't for Magilou's quick thinking, she would've been captured."

I heard Eizen snort in the back of my head, and couldn't help but chuckle a little myself. "Okay. I'll try and relax a little so I don't end up needing some improv done on my part." I waved a hand with a shake of my head. As people were called, the line slowly dwindled down until it was us.

"What's the need for all this security?" Sorey asked.

"Oh, they've got intel on the Shepherd and want to prevent him from something or another." Rokurou shrugged. "Didn't really pay much attention when they told me the reason earlier."

"So... they're after me?" Sorey asked.

"Pretty much."

We were finally called in, and the guard captain, Sergei, met us himself. His spiel was the same as it'd been when I'd first played the game, and so I'd zoned out for a few moments. Rose's voice brought me back as she used the Sparrowfeathers as a cover for us going in there. The liquor establishment down the road, which didn't exist... though it seemed Sergei played along and called it Boris' Canteen. But we were just going to the church to see if the Lord of the Land was there... which, I knew she wouldn't be. Margaret had been bullied for saying there was no seraph in the church, and she'd become a hellion due to it. The seraph never lived in the church, and Margaret had to have some resonance to see said seraph and say what she did. Heading to the church, I paused when I saw Aevar standing there near the entrance and holding the hand of a little girl that I recognized as Margaret.

"Hey." Aevar raised a hand when he noticed us, heading over with Margaret. "She's still a little hurt from being shoved around, but I did what I can."

I crouched down, holding out a hand as Kain armatized with me. Margaret stared up at me, a frown on her face. She seemed... scared, so I smiled a little to try to ease her worries. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

"You changed." Margaret said. "You didn't look like that a second ago."

"Wait, she can see the armatization?" Sorey asked. "Does this mean that she can see the seraphim, too?"

"I guess so. She told us a few times that there's no seraph in the church, but that's when a few kids started pushing her around for saying that," Rokurou replied, leaning against the brick wall. "Aevar and I spooked them, scaring them away, and prevented any disasters from happening."

As they talked, I released the armatization and Kain appeared beside me to crouch down too. He held out his hand to her. Margaret looked at him warily.

"I'm Kain, a seraph. May I heal your hurts?" He asked, keeping his voice gentle and level. It was different from when he'd yelled at Izayoi for putting me in danger, and different from when he'd talked. Like he was doing his best not to scare her, to show he wouldn't hurt her. Margaret stared at him, before taking his offered hand. A moment later, she withdrew it and stared at where the scrapes on her arm had been. Looking at him, she tried to smile but it didn't stay for long.

"There's no seraph in the church," she said to us, staring directly at Kain. "But no one will believe me. They call me names and push me around."

"You can see us seraphim, so I believe you when you say that." Kain responded. "Where would the seraph be, if not in the sanctuary?"

"It's Lastonbell," Aevar pointed out. "The place famous for having the only bell in Glenwood. Hence the name, Last. On. Bell. Last One Bell."

"I get it!" Mikelo spoke up, spooking me. I jolted before looking over to him and Sorey.

"In the Celestial, it says that this place used to go by the name Stonebury. Very famous for its wine, though now it's the home of the sacred Bell. They say that it was the Empyrean, Eumacia, who created the bell and gave it to the people of Stonebury!" Sorey said, looking excited.

"That's not exactly true." Kain stood up, turning to Sorey. "The people of Stonebury were the ones who created the bell. It was their only success. The reason it's said that it was Eumacia is because the villagers believed that it was her that blessed them with the ability to finally create the sacred Bell."

"Wow, you must know a lot!" Sorey said, taking out the Celestial Record. "I wouldn't have thought that was what really happened. I guess history does change over the course of many years."

It was then that Sergei's voice cut through. "Who are you talking to? The bricks of the church or the stained glass?"

We all stopped what we were doing and turned to look at him. He was standing there with one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other hand was clenched in a fist. Margaret yanked her hand from Aevar's grasp and ran up to Sergei. "They're talking to the seraphim, Uncle Sergei! I was telling them that there's no seraph in the church!"

"Margaret?" Sergei lowered his other hand and relaxed his fist. "What are you talking about?"

"You can't see them, so you wouldn't know!" Margaret said defiantly. "Uncle Sergei is a dummy! Why are you here, anyway? Isn't guarding the entrance to Lastonbell your duty right now?"

"Well, yes, but these people said they needed to get to the liquor establishment on the main road." Sergei said.

"You know there isn't one, Uncle Sergei!" Margaret huffed.

"You knew?" Sorey asked, looking at him. "Then why did you let us through?"

"I apologize for deceiving you." Sergei said. "I must ask that you tell me who you really are, and no lies this time."

We were treated to a fight between Sergei and Sorey, in which Sorey held back against him. Though Dezel had said he'd regret it, Sorey appreciated the wind seraph looking out for him. Sergei understood then, that Sorey was the Shepherd. After both of them apologized to each other, we got the information that the church had branded the Shepherd a heretic because he held power on par with the Cardinal. Which meant that I was probably considered a heretic too, given that I was a sort of Pseudo-Shepherd, in a sense. Our conversation was interrupted by a hoity-toity priest, who was all puffed up and full of himself and the Cardinal's lies.

"You're the one telling lies!" Margaret spoke up at the priest as he was trying to tell Sergei off. "You say there's a seraph in the church when there's not, and believe that Cardinal Forton is doing good! Why is there still rain in Pendrago, then? Why hasn't she stopped it?"

"Ungrateful child-!" The priest's eyes widened and there was a psychotic look to his face as he stepped forward. "Sergei has been filling your head with lies as well!"

"The malevolence!" Sorey called out as it started to surround the priest.

"Oh you're kidding me..." I said as the priest turned into a hellion. "Sergei, take Margaret and get out of here before she gets hurt!"

"No one's taking the ungrateful child anywhere! The Cardinal will want her executed for her lies!" The hellionized priest said, going for Margaret, who covered her face with her arms. Edna jumped in front of her, blocking the attack he sent with an earthen wall. As it crumbled down, the priest went for another attack.

It was like time slowed down as Edna started to cast an arte while the priest was starting to attack her again. I heard Eizen's voice in the back of my head, and raised my hand up into the air. He didn't want to reveal that he'd been saved, but with her in danger...

"Ufemew Wexub!"

...then there was no choice. I armatized with Eizen, gripping the hammer tight and slamming it into the hellionized priest's gut, sending him flying backwards and causing him to roll onto the ground before he jumped back up. I heard Sorey call out Lailah's true name, but my focus was on the priest and staying between him and Edna. I dashed in, hitting the priest again with the hammer. Sorey joined in the fight, slashing at the priest but the priest got out of the way.

"He's too fast!" Sorey said. I grit my teeth and jumped back. Sorey followed suit and the two of us stood there at the ready. "Any ideas, Rani?"

"One. I trap him in earth and you purify him." I said. "Only thing I can think of."

"Let's try it, then!" Sorey dashed in as a distraction while Eizen and I started the incantation for the arte.

"O Empryean of Earth, pass your judgement! Eumacia's Cage!" The arte was cast, and the hellionized priest was starting to be encased in stone when he moved... and a spear of stone struck him through the stomach. All of us stopped at that, and it reminded me of when I used Sylphistia to deal with the hellionized Agatha. It broke the armatization, causing Eizen to appear next to me.

"...I... I didn't..." I fell to my knees, distraught. Why did that happen? We were just supposed to encase him in earth so Sorey could purify him! The malevolence dispersed, and Sorey released his armatization to check the priest.

"...He's dead." Sorey's voice was hollow. "Rani, I thought-"

"It was her intention to just cage the hellion." Eizen said, cutting Sorey off as he folded his arms against his chest. "Not kill it. He moved to the wrong side and got speared."

"You're acting like it's not a big deal! Someone just died!" Sorey shouted. "We could've saved him!"

I stood up, staring at Sorey. "And I wanted to save him. It's the same thing that happened in Marlind. I was trying to save someone, and they died because of me. So go ahead, put his blood on my hands too. It... makes no difference, in the end."

"It was an accident." Edna spoke up, walking up to us. "Eumacia's Cage is a very volatile arte for seraphim to use. If the person tries to escape, it kills them. I've seen some seraphim on the mountain try to use it on their friends and they accidentally killed them because they decided to try to escape. It really only works if your target is immobile."

"So..." Sorey tried to wrap his head around it.

"It was an accident." Edna repeated. "Seriously, Rani didn't mean to do it and that earth seraph probably forgot how volatile the arte was before using it. We can bury him like you did the guy on the mountain."

"...Right."

I left Lastonbell in the dead of night.

Sorey wouldn't be able to deal with the death of Cardinal Forton, so I had to do it myself. It would mean I'd be up for an entire day and then some, but I didn't want a repeat of what happened when the hellionized priest had gotten accidentally killed by both Eizen and I. Edna hadn't recognized him, oddly enough, and that was enough for an explanation not to be needed at the time.

We could just stick around. Sorey'll get to Pendrago tomorrow. Zaveid said.

"I don't want to. Not after today." I said. "Not after I accidentally killed that man. Sorey didn't take it well, just like he didn't take that hellion being killed in front of him well."

"He's too pure." Aevar said. "And it'll get him hurt in the long run."

"Yeah. Think this is best." Rokurou agreed. "We'll deal with the dirty work. After all, who says we have to follow the Shepherd everywhere?"

"And it'll help me get leads on Lunarre, too." As I said that, I heard footsteps. Slowing myself to a walk, I soon came to a complete stop and looked behind me to see...

Alisha.