Ch 42: Theocracy

Imprisoned in the dungeons of the Holy Citadel of Xandaris, Amy, Fox, and Serius can only speculate as to how they were caught so easily. Suddenly Serius is summoned before the High Priest...

            Sitting on a rickety bed in her cell within the dungeons beneath the Holy Citadel of Xandaris, a restraining collar around her neck, Amy said to herself, “I wonder what Grey’s up to right now…” Leaning against the bars of the cell across from hers, as he overheard, Fox said, “Knowing old hotshot, he and Alexander are probably cooking up a plan to break us outta this place as we speak!” Sharing a cell with Fox, Serius laid on his bed in quiet contemplation. Turning his head to look over at him, Fox said, “Yo, partner! You’ve been pretty quiet ever since we got in here! I can’t liven this place up by myself you know!” Letting out a sigh, Serius said, “Must you insist on continuing this ‘partner’ routine?” Slightly concerned about him herself, Amy called out, “You have seemed rather deep in thought lately though.” 

Sitting up, Serius said, “It didn’t make sense, it was almost like they were waiting for us. We’d barely made it a few streets from where we’d teleported into the city before they had us surrounded.” As the possibility dawned on him, Fox’s tone was serious as he said, “You think it was an inside job?” Nodding, Serius said, “Perhaps Gisette or Douglas. Whoever it was, they must have tipped off the Elite Guard to that fact that we’d be teleporting into the city around that time. Even if they had been on constant high alert, most of their forces should have been concentrated on the city entrances, not within the city itself.” Holding up his hand and staring at his signet ring, Serius added, “If we don’t escape from here soon, I will have even more problems to deal with...” Suddenly hearing the sound of a powered door sliding open, as footsteps echoed through the white hallway of the dungeon, Serius thought, “It seems it may already be too late.” 

Stepping into view, a group of three Elite Guard troopers in their black armor and cat-eared helmets stopped at Fox and Serius’ cell. Punching in the key code and swiping a key card through the slot, one of them said, “Lord Serius of Angelorum Lux. Your presence is requested by his holiness, High Priest Nicholas Adeodatus V. Both he and a Holy Emissary of Mautau await you in the Sanctum of Light.” As the powered cell door opened, the trooper added, “We are charged with escorting you there. Forgive us, but we’ll have to ask you to please come quietly.” Rising to his feet without a word, as Serius moved out the door, Fox shot him a look of concern as he said, “Serius…” Pausing, Serius said, “I’ll be fine. Both of you take care of yourselves.” Walking down the hall with the guards, as Serius’ footsteps faded away, Fox muttered, “Hang in there partner…”

            Arriving at the top floor of the Holy Citadel, as the elevator doors opened, the troopers ushered Serius into the room beyond. A circular room with white walls lined with stained glass windows and a domed ceiling with a large, shining white crystal suspended from the center of it like a chandelier, there was a pathway of marble tiles leading straight from the entrance to the other side of the room. On either side of the pathway the floor was instead coated in white carpeting and was lined with painted wooden benches for worshipers to sit on. At the end of the marble path through the room was a raised platform with a white altar upon it, accessible by stairs on either side of the platform. Behind the altar was an ornate white and gold throne, tapestries hanging on the walls on either side of it. Sitting in the throne with legs crossed was male mautauian with green eyes like those of a snake’s. Clad in white and gold armor adorned with blue gems, a white and gold helmet which had protrusions that resembled a pair of spread wings, and a white cape with golden trim, his expression was cold as Serius approached. 

Standing next to him, a halman man who looked in his late twenties with medium length blonde hair and pale white eyes called out to Serius, saying, “So good of you to come my Lord.” Dressed in a white and gold dress shirt with golden buttons and cuffs, white pants, and white and gold shoes which had small artificial wings upon the heels, he held a golden staff with a glowing yellow gem set in a half circle frame at the top of it. As Serius came to a stop before the platform, the halman man approached the altar and added, “Though it is a shame that our first meeting had to be under such circumstances. Elite Guard, you may leave us.” As the troopers left the room, Serius said, “The newest High Priest I assume?” Bowing his head, the halman man replied, “Yes my Lord. I am the current High Priest of the Church of Light, Nicholas Adeodatus V.”

            Rising from the throne, the mautauian said, “You need not show reverence to him your holiness. He has fallen from grace…” Stepping aside as the mautauian approached the altar, the High Priest said, “I’ll try to keep that in mind, Holy Emissary.” Staring down at Serius, the mautauian said, “It has been a long time, Serius Decus Matuia. At long last we have found you. Fleeing your duty as Lord of Mautau, disappearing with the all important signet ring… Can you fathom the chaos you have sown?” Meeting his cold gaze, Serius replied, “Yes Dyne. After all, it was what I had intended. The House of Black and the House of White conspire with each other to continue this madness of portraying ourselves as gods. This was the only way I could stop you.” Narrowing his eyes, Dyne said, “Still spouting such blasphemies even after all this time? Were it not for the fools who thought to use your ‘heroism’ to bring further glory to Mautau, your constant misconduct would have lost you your position a long time ago. Now because of what you’ve done, this world has begun to spiral down into faithlessness!” 

Picking up a rolled up scroll that Serius could only assume was the yearly census, Dyne waved it at him angrily as he ranted, “Recently a growing percentage of the halman populace rarely attend sermons anymore, churches in multiple cities have fallen into disrepair, offerings have decreased with every year, the people themselves engaging in all forms of sinful activities with no remorse! I will not see this theocracy fall apart because of your shortcomings as a ruler, and neither will your brother!” With a look of surprise, Serius said, “My brother?! Then it’s been decided that he will be made Lord of Mautau?!” With a vindictive smile, Dyne said, “Now that we have the signet ring, the proceedings can finally commence. Once it is returned to Mautau, we will also be able to give his holiness the sacred task of leading his people in purging the demonfolk and their blasphemous ways from the face of Gaia.” Raising his hand up high in a zealous gesture, Dyne declared, “They shall face judgment for siding with Angelorum Lux and plotting the destruction of Gatria, and once they claim victory in the name of their gods, the halman people’s faith in the TRUE gods will be one step closer to being restored!”

            Serius could only glare at Dyne in suppressed rage as he said, “You don’t care whether the demonfolk had a hand in this or not. All you desire is a so called holy war!” Dyne lowered his hand back down as he merely replied, “The gods need no reason to pass judgment on the unfaithful. Using Ferid’s ploy to our ends merely serves as incentive for the less faithful, and whatever Ferid and his allies are planning against us, we can simply direct the halmans’ holy fervor at him next.” Pointing at Serius briefly, Dyne waved his arm off to the side like he was telling him to leave as he said, “Your time, the days of Angelorum Lux have ended, and now at last we shall return to the glorious days when it was our people, the true gods, who were most revered!” Turning his gaze to the High Priest, Serius exclaimed, “Do you believe such a tyrannical mindset could belong to a being worthy of your people’s worship Nicholas? You must reject them and their madness!” Bowing his head, the High Priest replied, “The will of Mautau is the will of Origin, and the will of Origin is absolute. If this is what Mautau feels must be done to restore faith, I will not question their wisdom.” 

Walking down the stairs of the platform and approaching Serius, Dyne said, “As you can see, our will is law Serius. By that same will, I now officially strip you of your title as Lord of Mautau.” Standing before Serius, Dyne extended his hand and said, “Relinquish your signet ring, and with it your right to rule.” Removing his ring, Serius flung it aside and said, “I no longer have any desire to remain Lord of Mautau anyways. If this is the path my people intend to follow, you are all dead to me.” Slamming an armored fist into his face, as Serius was knocked sprawled out on his back on the floor, unconscious, Dyne said, “We’ll see how defiant you are on the day of your execution!” Walking over to the discarded signet ring, Dyne carefully picked it up and turned to the High Priest as he said, “We have obtained all we needed from him your holiness. Prepare him for prisoner transport back to Mautau, I’m going ahead to return the ring to its rightful place. Make certain he’s kept under maximum security, his death will finalize Barinus’ rise to power.” Bowing, the High Priest said, “It shall be as you say, Holy Emissary.”

            Lying on the bed in her cell, Amy said to Fox, “He’s been gone a long time.” Leaning against the bars of his cell still, Fox dejectedly replied, “Yeah…” Suddenly the sound of a powered door being opened came from down the hall, and Amy bolted up out of bed and moved quickly to the bars to see if it was Serius returning. The sound of someone’s footsteps echoed through the hall, drawing nearer and nearer. Listening to them carefully, Fox thought, “Something’s not right here. I can tell from the sound that they’re the footsteps of just one person, and the guards here never go anywhere without backup.” The footsteps upon them, a single person stepped into view. 

A man with short brown hair, he wore a black belt with a golden buckle and two strips of red cloth tied onto it over his eyes. He was dressed in a puffy red and black shirt with gold trim, red and black pants, black and gold leather boots tied with red leather straps held in place by gold buckles, and a red cloak with two gold stripes going down it. Around his neck were several necklaces made of small golden chain links as well as the golden string that tied his cloak on, and in his hand he held a long black staff, the top of which was shaped like a cross and had numerous red gems in it. Floating suspended in the air just above the cross shaped top of his staff was a strange red crystal in the shape of a perfect sphere that seemed to move with the staff wherever it went. Staring at him for a moment, Amy nervously said, “Who are you?” Seeming to look at her through the belt on his face, the man replied, “Archon the Shape Binder, Observer of Order.”

            Hearing this, Fox shouted, “Archon?! Just a minute here pal, aren’t you the Observer who’s enforcing the code and stripping the powers of anyone who tries to do something about Altera Veritas and the Nameless One?!” Archon simply replied, “That’s correct.” With a slight laugh, Fox said, “Pretty straight answer, now let’s see if I get the same result with this question. What the hell are you doing here? Just taking a leisurely stroll?” Withdrawing one of the guard’s keycards from his clothes and holding it up, Archon replied, “Just a bit of research. According to my sources, the code is 46370.” 

Blinking in surprise, Amy said, “You’re breaking us out?!” Chuckling, Archon replied, “I would like something in return…” Not liking where things seemed to be going from his point of view, Fox shouted, “Hey creeper, don’t get any funny ideas!” Shrugging his shoulders, Archon turned to go, but quickly Amy said, “Wait! What do you want in return exactly?” Turning back to her, leaning towards her so that his face was close to the bars, Archon said, “I need to examine a memory shard. If my sources are correct, you have two.” Wondering what he wanted with them in the first place, Amy said, “Are you just going to look at it or are you planning to keep it?” Waving a hand in the air nonchalantly, Archon replied, “I just want to examine it for a moment, I have no need to take it with me.” Looking over at Fox for his opinion, as he simply shrugged his shoulders, Amy said, “Well, I guess that’s ok…” Entering the code, Archon swiped the card and the door of Amy’s cell slid open.

            As she stepped out, Amy said, “Thanks, but before I can show it to you, we have to get this collar off.” Nodding, Archon said, “I know.” He raised his staff at Amy as he added, “If you would, please stay still a moment…” Quickly Fox exclaimed in concern, “H-hey! You know what you’re doing here right?!” As the strange red crystal floating at the end of Archon’s staff glowed, he replied, “More or less.” As power crackled around the crystal, the clasp of the restraining collar around Amy’s neck shattered and its fragmented pieces shot away from her, the collar itself clattering to the floor. Lowering his staff, Archon held his hand out and made a hurrying gesture as he said, “There. Now about that memory shard…” 

Holding a hand up before her, Amy formed Reaper’s memory shard. Leaning over her hand to look at it, Archons started muttering, “Hmm, yes, yes… This one in particular must have been difficult to obtain, a very rare find! Just as I suspected, anomalies are created using a piece of aeternium to restore the heart’s strength, allowing it to reconnect the soul to the body by consuming large amounts of EDE to use as a tether. Sadly, the mind rarely manages to survive this abnormal process, and usually the anomaly falls into insanity.” Amy was feeling rather uncomfortable with how close his face was getting to her hand, but waited patiently, listening as Archon rambled on, “The aeternium also becomes a part of the body, becoming unstable and causing mutations from the magical energies released during the revival. In a natural environment, it’s not hard to imagine this could occur, since microscopic pieces of aeternium can be found in many places. If the anomaly is powerful enough or the aeternium large enough, the piece of aeternium absorbs some of its essence, transforming it into energy that is left behind after the anomaly is defeated just as it would do with a normal monster.” 

Looking up at Amy suddenly, Archon added, “Upon being approached by the Sage of Memories, that energy becomes a memory shard and is absorbed into them upon contact, allowing them to use it for what is essentially a substitute Anima Weapon that can be used in conjunction with weapons such as Insigne Memoriae.” Unable to help but be amazed, Amy said, “You can really tell all of that just by looking at it?!” Fox chimed in, “While wearing a blindfold too.” Standing upright once more, Archon said, “Never underestimate the power of the mind’s eye.” Offering Amy the keycard, as she took it, Archon turned to go and said, “A deal is a deal. I’ll be on my way now…” Getting an idea, with an innocent smile, Amy said, “Would you like to see my other memory shard? It’s from a golem!” Pausing in his stride, Archon looked back at her and said, “A golem you say?” Nodding, Amy said, “Yep!” Turning to face her, Archon chuckled to himself and said, “You’re a clever girl. We’ve only just met, and you know exactly how to get the best of me. So, what price must I pay to view this second shard of yours?”

            As Archon, Amy, and Fox made their way through the halls of the dungeon, someone sudden called out from one of the cells, saying, “Amy?! Hey, it’s Amy!” Coming to a halt, Amy looked in the direction of the voice to see Pyro, the half dog sprite student from Lorem Academy, staring at her through the bars of a cell. Shocked, Amy exclaimed, “You!” Equally surprised, Fox said, “What’re you doin here squirt?!” Getting up from where he sat against the back wall of the cell, Pyro’s fellow student, Johnny Spark, stepped into their view and said, “We got back to find a bunch of soldiers from the Elite Guard at the Academy. They were real unorganized and jumpy. Apparently they had some kinda disagreement with their captain.” Nodding affirmingly, Pyro said, “They’d been interrogating everyone about what Angelorum Lux had been doing there, and when we showed up, they were real suspicious about how we just appeared outta thin air. We wouldn’t tell em anything, so they just decided to get rough with us! Professor Cortez stood up to them, and we all got arrested.” 

Tapping Amy on the shoulder, Archon said, “Excuse me, but can we hurry along and rescue your friend?” Noticing Archon, Johnny exclaimed, “Another one with a belt on his head?! Is this a new trend or something?!” Moving to open the cell, Amy said, “Well, it’s not that much trouble for you if we help them along the way, right?” Sighing rather deeply, as though he were dramatizing it, Archon replied, “I suppose, but please try to limit the detours to a minimum. I still have so much work to do…” Laughing, Fox said, “Hate to break it to you buddy, but if you wanna see that shard, you’re just gonna have to come along for the ride!” As the door of their cell slid open, Pyro and Johnny stepped out. Looking around, Johnny said, “Have you guys seen any guards recently? Seems like they just disappeared.” Casually, Archon said, “I put them all to sleep for awhile.” Looking impressed, Johnny said, “Damn, guess my fated rival ain’t the only one I need to keep an eye on!” Leading the way down the hall, Pyro said, “Let’s hurry then, they took Professor Cortez this way!”

            As Amy opened the door to his cell, Professor Cortez stepped out. Bowing his head, Cortez said, “I am indebted to you for rescuing me and my students.” Grinning smugly, Fox said, “All in a days work for Angelorum Lux!” At this statement, a voice from the next cell said, “Angelorum Lux? Can it really be?” Rushing over to the cell, Pyro said, “Gwen?! Hold on, we’ll get you outta there!” Walking over to where Pyro stood, as Amy laid eyes on a halman woman with medium length red hair and green eyes who wore red and white armor sitting on the bed inside the cell, she asked, “Who’s this, a friend of yours?” Nodding, Pyro hurriedly explained as she said, “She was arrested too, and we got to know each other on the way here. She’s Gwen, Gwendolen Bloodrayne, a Captain in the Elite Guard.” Approaching the bars of her cell, Gwen said, “Well, I suppose you could say I’m a former captain.” 

Peeking over Amy’s shoulder, Fox teased, “You must have really been a bad girl to go from captain to convict!” Turning to him and kicking him in the shin, as Fox let out a cry of pain and began hopping around on one foot cursing, Pyro crossed her arms with a heated look and said, “She didn’t do anything!” Continuing to hop while clutching his injured leg, Fox exclaimed, “She must’ve done SOMETHING!” Her halman ears drooping sadly, Gwen said, “I only tried to warn everyone! Count Ferid has deceived us! He’s sided with the Dark Crusade, and pitted us and the demonfolk against each other! If only I could have spoken with my father…” In sudden realization, Fox quickly came to a halt and said, “Father? Hold on, you said her name was Bloodrayne? You mean you’re the daughter of Count Hubert Bloodrayne?!” 

Glancing back at Fox, Amy said, “Count Bloodrayne? Isn’t that the person we were going to try and meet with?” With a nod, Fox limped back over to them as he replied, “Yeah, Alexander said that the nobles of the Bloodrayne family were probably the only ones we could count on to back us up. Knowing Ferid, he might have had agents keeping an eye on them, and when she found all this out, they got her thrown in here before she could spill the beans!” Her ears perking back up, Gwen said, “If you are truly of Angelorum Lux, please help me warn my father!” Suddenly letting out a long, drawn out sigh to gain their attention, as Amy and Fox turned to look at him, Archon pointed to his wrist as though he wore a watch, signaling them that this was taking too long. Making an exasperated face, Amy quickly entered the code and opened the cell door. As Gwen stepped out, Amy smiled at her and said, “We’ll try to help you out, but first we have to save Serius.” Her eyes going wide, Gwen exclaimed, “S-Serius the Unbound is here as well?! I-I’m just not prepared, I…” With a sly grin, Fox said, “What, you got a crush on him or something?” As Gwen’s face went red, Fox snickered, but then Pyro quickly walked up to him and kicked him in the shin again. Watching Fox hop around on one foot once again as he howled in pain, Cortez muttered, “These are truly members of Angelorum Lux?”