A large vehicle was slowly moving through the streets of Laterano. This vehicle was carrying several occupants inside of it. Their destination; the grand cathedral of Laterano. Currently, the driver of the vehicle, Ch'en Hui-Chieh was being careful so as to not hit any pedestrians who were going about their day or any other vehicles on the road.
Next to her, was her future daughter, Yua. The other occupants of the vehicle were Kal'tsit, Gladiia, Mostima, Fiammetta, and finally, Irene. Yesterday evening, Kal'tsit had informed all of those who needed to know that the seaborn had invaded Terra. This, as expected, caused all of those who were told to want to rush off to Iberia to stop the invasion of the seaborn menace.
The ancient feline however, reminded them that they needed to wait for Ulpianus to arrive before they could enact Mostima's plan. While this plummeted everyone's mood thinking that they wouldn't be able to do anything but wait, Kal'tsit informed them all of Irene's own plan. Hearing the plan of the liberi, all of them decided to come along to see the pope. Together, they might be able to convince the religious leader to give help to Iberia if they all explained the gravity of the situation and the part they all played.
As for Ch'en, she found out Irene's plan through her future daughter. Yesterday evening, after Yua had been dragged away by Kal'tsit and returned from whatever it was that the ancient feline wanted, the white-haired lung entered her room looking an emotional wreck. When Ch'en asked what was wrong, Yua immediately started bawling her eyes out and hugged Ch'en very tightly as if her life depended on it.
Yua, through her tears, told the blue-haired lung everything that had happened. This, of course, shocked Ch'en to her core. However, the blue-haired lung knew without question that her daughter was shaken to her very soul. Yua's own dark future was beginning to happen again, it was bringing back horrific memories for her. Seeing the state her future daughter was in, Ch'en decided to stay with her all throughout the night. The blue-haired lung didn't fall asleep until Yua had done so herself.
This morning, Ch'en and Yua met up with everyone else who was going to see the pope, including Irene. Despite not being in the best physical condition herself, the liberi felt well enough to be able to see the religious leader of Laterano. From there on, the group left the Rhodes Island landship to head towards the grand cathedral. Amiya stayed behind, not only to oversee the repairs still going on, but also to wait for Ulpianus in case he arrived at the landship under the orders of Kal'tsit.
As Ch'en carried on driving, the vehicle carrying everyone came to a stop. The group came across a traffic jam, a row of vehicles stretched along the road for several hundred metres. The group was going nowhere in a hurry. The blue-haired lung decided that now was a good time to check on her future daughter, Yua had been silent throughout the whole journey so far, "Yua, how are you holding up? I know yesterday was difficult for you to hear. But you aren't alone in this. Please Yua, talk to me. You don't have to suffer in silence." The blue-haired lung was really worried with how quiet her daughter was right now, Yua was simply looking down not saying a word.
"Yua, I know you are scared. I am too. But we will get through this. Your future is not going to happen again. Skadi isn't going to beat us, she won't destroy the world again. Yua, please. Just say something." Ch'en was trying her hardest to get her future daughter to respond. But no matter what she said, her future daughter simply wasn't saying anything.
"Ch'en, Yua's mind is all over the place right now. It's pointless trying to coax anything out of her. She is still trying to process everything. It's best to leave her alone for the time being. Yua will talk when she is ready." Kal'tsit spoke up from where she was sitting. The ancient feline could tell the white-haired lung was dealing with the possibility that her future could happen again and needed time to gather her thoughts. Ch'en trying to get Yua to speak would only be a waste of time.
"You stay out of this, Kal'tsit! I'm trying to help my daughter! I care about her! Do you think I want Yua to be feeling like this right now?! And in case you haven't forgotten Kal'tsit, you are part of the reason Yua is having to deal with this right now! I certainly haven't forgotten! If you had done something sooner, Terra wouldn't be in the situation it is now!" The blue-haired lung hadn't forgotten that Kal'tsit knew about Ishar-Mla and didn't mention it to the doctor. Ch'en also remembered that the ancient feline had also told Yua not to say anything about the seaborn god to the doctor either.
In Ch'en's mind, Kal'tsit was just as much of a reason Yua was feeling the way she was now as the future Skadi...
The atmosphere in the vehicle quickly became tense, and Irene suddenly got curious as to what the blue-haired lung meant by what she just said to Kal'tsit, "Doctor Kal'tsit! What does Madam Ch'en mean by that?! Explain at once!" The liberi demanded answers from the ancient feline, she didn't sound happy at what the blue-haired lung was implying...
Kal'tsit didn't feel comfortable being put on the spot like this, this had caught her off guard. The ancient feline was trying to think of an answer that would please Irene, but nothing was coming to mind. Ch'en was more than happy to explain to the liberi what she had meant, "You want to know the reason why the seaborn are attacking Iberia right now, Irene? It's because of Kal'tsit! She knew about Ishar-Mla, and didn't tell the doctor! When Yua discovered about Ishar-Mla, Kal'tsit ordered my daughter not to tell him! He could have planned for this if he knew! All of this could have been prevented if Kal'tsit had said something! Because of her, my daughter almost died! Amiya almost died too! Kal'tsit is the reason that Skadi has taken the doctor! She is the reason that not just Iberia, but the whole of Terra is in danger!"
"Ch'en! I've already explained why I didn't tell the doctor! It was for Yua's own protection! If the doctor found out about Ishar-Mla, then Yua would have as well! You and I both know that Yua would have tried to kill Skadi if she knew the truth! Skadi would have killed her! Is that what you would have wanted?! You would have wanted Skadi to kill Yua?!" Kal'tsit again, tried explaining to the blue-haired lung why she didn't tell the doctor.
Irene was enraged with this discovery, "Doctor Kal'tsit! I can't believe that you knew about this! You could have stopped all of this from happening! How could you?! Do you realise what you have done?! Your actions have put the lives of countless people at risk! Many in my country have already died at the hands of the seaborn!"
Gladiia could see that a massive argument was unfolding between Irene and Kal'tsit. The ancient feline, just like with Ch'en, tried to justify her actions. But, Irene didn't want to hear the ancient felines explanation. Despite not being in the best physical state, the liberi stood up from her seat and looked like she was about to draw her sword. The aegir leader could see this and tried her best to calm the situation down. Mostima and Fiammetta also stood up and were ready in case Irene tried to attack Kal'tsit.
Yua could hear all of this going on. The white-haired lung didn't want to hear any of it, Yua could feel her anger slowly building up. Eventually, the white-haired lung had enough, "Everyone! Just shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Yua screamed at the top of her lungs. This outburst caught everyone in the large vehicle by surprise, nobody expected it. Her daughters scream even caused Ch'en next to her to flinch. Yua had been quiet all day so far.
"Yua, I..." Ch'en tried to speak to her future daughter, but the younger lung cut her off, "I don't care what you have to say, Mother! I don't want to hear it! I just want to get this over and done with!" The white-haired lung didn't want to speak to Ch'en, or anyone else for that matter. She just wanted this ordeal over and done with.
Yua's outburst put a halt to the whole argument in the vehicle. Irene sat back in her seat, but not before giving Kal'tsit a dirty look beforehand. The rest of the journey carried on in an uncomfortable silence. Once the traffic jam cleared up, the blue-haired lung carried on driving the group towards their destination. Not a word was said throughout the rest of the journey.
When they arrived at the grand cathedral everyone got out of the vehicle. Everyone then looked at the building, they were all mesmerised by the magnificent architecture of the building except Mostima and Fiammetta. The grand cathedral truly lived up to its title of grand. After a few seconds of admiring the building, the group then began walking towards the entrance except Ch'en and Gladiia.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder the blue-haired lung turned around and could see the aegir leader looking at her with a very displeased look on her face, "Madam Ch'en, we need to talk." Gladiia said to the lung. Ch'en could tell what this was about, the blue-haired lung pointed towards a location at the side of the grand cathedral that they could talk. The two then began to walk over to where Ch'en had pointed to.
Gladiia then began to speak to the blue-haired lung, "Madam Ch'en, what on Terra were you thinking? Don't you realise what you have done?" The aegir questioned Ch'en on her actions during the journey. "Irene deserved to know the truth, Gladiia. She needed to know why we are in this position right now." Ch'en answered Gladiia's question.
The aegir leader wasn't convinced by Ch'en's answer, "Is that it, Ch'en? You really expect me to believe that? I know there is more to it than that. You seemed more than happy to tell Irene what Kal'tsit had done." Gladiia wasn't buying the blue-haired lungs answer for a second. She knew that there was more behind why Ch'en had told Irene everything.
"Fine, you want the truth? It's because I'm sick and tired of Kal'tsit hiding everything from me. Because of her the doctor was taken, he could have put a stop to this. Yua almost died as well because she didn't say or do anything. She even told Yua not to say anything as well. If Kal'tsit had just said something, then none of this would have happened. I can't forgive her for that, she should have told people about Skadi and Ishar-Mla. I don't care what her reasons were." Ch'en still clearly held a grudge towards Kal'tsit as she told Gladiia her reason for telling Irene.
"So, that's it? You wanted some payback? Ch'en, what you have done is stupid and reckless. You may very well have caused problems between Rhodes Island and the Iberian Inquisition. We need them if we want to defeat the Skadi from your daughter's timeline. They are a dangerous organisation, one that we cannot afford to make an enemy of." Gladiia wasn't happy with what the blue-haired lung had done, making an enemy of such a dangerous organisation was a big mistake on her part. Gladiia had done dealings with the Inquisition before and knew what the group was capable of.
Ch'en was now realising her mistake, for her desire to get back at the ancient feline, she had potentially put Rhodes Island in the line of fire of the Iberian Inquisition. "I will go and speak to Irene and try to sort this mess out. Hopefully, I can smooth things over and she won't tell the rest of her comrades when we get to Iberia. And for the record Ch'en, I knew about Ishar-Mla as well. It's not just Kal'tsit who you should be angry with." Gladiia reminded the blue-haired lung who else knew about the seaborn god as well. The aegir leader then walked off towards the entrance of the grand cathedral.
The blue-haired lung pondered her actions for a few minutes before heading inside herself. Once inside the grand cathedral, Ch'en could see many people around, both members of the church and civilians. The lung began searching for her companions, thankfully it didn't take long for her to find them. The group was waiting by a large set of doors, no doubt it they were the doors to the pope's audience chambers. Gladiia was talking to Irene who looked frustrated and Kal'tsit was sitting on a bench on her own.
Ch'en could see Yua standing on her own with her head down and arms folded leaning up against a wall, the white-haired lung clearly didn't want to be here right now. The blue-haired lung tried walking over to her but was stopped by Mostima and Fiammetta, the blue-haired sankta had her hood up. Ch'en wondered why Mostima was wearing her hood but the sankta began speaking before she could say anything, "Ch'en, I know what you are going to do. It's best to leave Yua alone for the time being. We just tried talking to her and she nearly bit our heads off." Mostima didn't want Ch'en to get chewed out by her future daughter and gave her a warning that it was best to not disturb her for now.
The blue-haired lung felt down at not being able to help her daughter right now, but knew that Yua's mental state wasn't the best at the moment. Ch'en decided instead to ask if they had an idea when the pope would see them. "He's just debating with his council, we will be called in when he is ready. But enough about that. Ch'en, I need to talk to you about what happened in the vehicle." The sankta informed the lung about the pope then asked about what had happened during the journey here.
"Don't bother, Mostima. I've already received a chewing out from Gladiia. I know I've screwed up, no need to tell me twice. Let's just wait for the pope, okay?" The blue-haired lung knew she had made a huge mistake in telling Irene everything. Ch'en didn't want to speak anymore on the matter.
Mostima wasn't satisfied by this answer but chose not to push things any further. Today had already been stressful enough for everyone, the last thing anyone needed was to get more stressed out before seeing the religious leader...
The group waited for what seemed like hours. During this time, Irene had finished speaking to Gladiia. The liberi seemed to have calmed down and was now sitting on a bench opposite Kal'tsit. Irene did throw the ancient feline a few dirty looks while she was waiting but chose not to speak to her. Everyone else simply kept to themselves and patiently waited for the doors to open. Eventually, they did and out stepped a sankta man in very lavish robes. His appearance drew the attention of everyone.
"His grace will see you now." The sankta man said to the group. This was it, whatever grievances the people in the group had with each other, they had to put them to the side for now. They had to be united in this, for Terra was at stake. They needed to work together to get the help that Iberia desperately needed.
They all looked towards one-another, then walked into the chamber of the pope...