20/8/1100
The night before we reached Laterano, I was lying in a sleeping bag with Odda, looking up at the stars. Well, the fake ones, anyway. We couldn’t see the hole at the moment, it wouldn’t appear until later on in the night as the false sky rotated above us, but the fake stars are still pretty.
“Is it weird that this doesn’t feel like going home?” I asked him, my hand reaching up and tracing the Shepherd’s Crook in the night sky.
“Do you mean, Laterano doesn’t feel like home anymore?” he asked me, and I nodded.
“I mean, I guess. It’s where I grew up, but…I don’t know. So much has changed. Is home Lungmen, with Penguin Logistics? Is it Rhodes Island? Or…or do I even have a home, anymore?” I asked whistfully, letting my arm thump back down on top of us.
“Kazdel.”
I turned to look at him, thinking maybe it was a joke or something, but he looked dead serious. “You’re Sarkaz. No matter where you are, where you’re from, or what tribe or clan you have, or even if you have one at all…Kazdel. It’s home.”
I nod slowly, but that doesn’t feel right.
“And, for you…I think Laterano,” Odda tells me, gently putting his arms around me, holding me close. “You’ll have two homes. Kazdel, because you’re Sarkaz. And Laterano, because you’re Sankta, too. All Sankta, no matter where they are, know that Laterano is their home.”
I feel tears in my eyes, and I squeeze them shut. “Yeah. I guess so.”
“So we’ll save our home,” he tells me. “Because if you’re the Tribal Chief, and I’m your consort…”
“Hehe, then you’re Sankta too,” I kiss him, then tangle my hands in his curly hair. “You’d look good with a halo, mister.”
OK, I know that makes me sound like a prophet and all, but the next day when we crossed over into the Simulated Universe, I was not ready for Sankta Odda.
Leader warned us that something weird was going to happen, and Amiya had put shards of originium in us that contained some sort of protection stuff I didn’t understand.
The trip to the border would have been super awesome if, you know, it wasn’t the end of the world and saving my sister and rescuing James. Not necessarily in that order.
But anyway, road trips with Texas are always a blast, Mon3tr is a hoot, and Odda is rapidly becoming my best friend and coconspirator. Leader is always the smart one, and Skalter…uh…well, she’s…very interesting?
Ok, she’s completely terrifying. Skadi was standoffish and had a temper. Skalter is…well, she’s just sort of not human. And I don’t mean that as an insult, I mean that she flat out is a former hivemind confining herself to one body because she loves Leader so much she decided to try to become human. And, uh, well A for effort, but she’s still creepy as hell.
Also, if Odda and I ever become as lovey dovey and obsessive as Skalter is for Leader…I am politely requesting that we be taken out behind the chapel and shot. Sheesh, not even Lucia was this bad about James, and that girl was down bad for her man.
Then again, Texas turns into a mess whenever Sora is around, so maybe we all go a bit crazy when we’re in love.
Anyway, I did teach Odda some important Returned cultural practices. Like improvised explosives, rubber bullet marksmanship, and how to aim for the ass when someone is being annoying.
Leader did confiscate my stash of firecrackers after I left a “surprise” for Skalter in the bathroom. How was I supposed to know she was going to use the bathroom next!? I thought it would be Texas, and she knows to check for cherry bombs when I’m around.
We’d been walking for half a day through the Lateran countryside. I’d forgotten how boring everything is in Laterano. I mean, as a Messenger, you see all sorts of places! I’ve been as far north as Ursus, as far West as Bolivar, and as far East as Rim Billington! Most of them have super interesting types of wildlife! By which, I mean they have manglerbeasts, cragpinchers, and bloodfowl that all want to kill you in new and interesting ways!
You know the most dangerous animals in Laterano? Slugs. Snore.
There’s not even any bandits! Well, I mean, there might be, but I’ve never seen one. Mostly because Apostolic Knights get bored sitting around in the Monasteries all the time and they pretty much all think it would be really fun to hunt some bandits. Also, every single Sankta carries their patron with them, even weirdos like Arturia. You know how many bandits can take on a Sankta marksman? Not any that want to live a long time, I’ll tell you that much. I mean, I’m a better shot than average, but even a blind grandma can probably take out a few bandits with clubs and homemade bows.
So we were walking through literally the most boring countryside ever. Which Odda was enjoying for some weird reason.
“It’s so peaceful,” he commented. He and I were out in front of the others scouting, so we were keeping an eye out. But the most interesting thing we’d seen so far was a bunch of fowlbeasts twittering away in a tree, so we mostly talking.
“I know, right? Ugh, this is why I never come home,” I complained, gesturing to the green grass and scattered trees. We were just below a ridgeline so as not to silhouette ourselves, but peaking over it to see Laterano and that crazy big tube up to the sky, which we could see even on the other side of the ridge.
He shot me a look like I was crazy. “Exu, are you serious? This place is beautiful! A paradise! I wish Kazedl was like this.”
“What? Why!? I heard Kazdel was like, actually fun and interesting! You know, giant clawbeasts, mutated gloompinchers, and lots of crazy bandits!”
He stared at me a moment, then chuckled. “Well, it’s exciting, I’ll give you that, but wouldn’t you rather home be peaceful and quiet?”
“No! Home needs to be interesting!” I said, gesturing with Victor. “Full of color and sound, with lots of people all doing different things, and maybe even arguing sometimes, but you all get along in the end. Oh, also, lots of dessert. Have I told you about Snicker Salad?”
Odda shook his head. “No, I don’t think you-”
Then, we stepped across the threshold. I didn’t even feel anything. One moment, I was walking along, talking to Odda, with his twin curved horns, spiked tail, and big old hammer on his back. And the next, my boyfriend was just…gone.
I had Victor out and pressed against the stranger’s head in an instant. He was a Sankta with dark, curly hair, and dark eyes. Tall and lithe, like most Sankta, but with some muscle on him. He was wearing the uniform of a Lateran Messenger, trim and slick, with sigils from the Ordo Nuntiorum denoting his rank as a foreign messenger. His halo was made of a dark tinged crystal, as were his wings, and he looked confused and started.
“Who the fuck are you!? Odda! Odda, where’d you go!?” I shouted, keeping my eye on the stranger, but turning my head to look for my boyfriend. Which, in hindsight, was sorta dumb of me.
“I- Exusiai? What’s…what’s happening? I feel…I feel so…” the stranger reached a hand up, and I pressed Victor against his skin. He had an LAS-12 semi-automatic shotgun in a holster on his back, and I didn’t want him drawing it.
“Freeze!” I barked. “Who are you?!”
“What do you mean? Exusiai, what’s wrong with you! It’s me!” He said. His voice…his voice was familiar, but just a bit off.
I trembled slightly, and reached down to pick up my radio, one hand keeping Victor on the stranger who sounded suspiciously like Odda. “Covenant 3 to Covenant Actual. Come in, over.”
The radio crackled while the strange Sankta kept his hands raised. “This is Covenant Actual,” Leader said.
“Leader, I…” I swallowed. “I think something weird happened to Odda. We…I think we accidentally crossed the barrier. I need you guys here.”
“On my way,” Texas’s voice said.
“Exusiai, it’s me!” the Sankta protested. He frowned. “Did you get…shorter? I feel…kinda odd. There’s like…this echo from you. Something’s wrong, what happened? I- wait, holy shit, do I have a halo!?”
“Shut up,” I ordered, Victor now trembling in my hands. “You’re not…you can’t be…I need Leader here.”
“Uh, right, but if something weird happened…should the others really get close?” the stranger asked in Odda’s voice.
I felt sick, but turned my body slightly. Texas was there in a minute, running silently. I wouldn’t even have known she was there if I hadn’t been paying close attention.
“Texas! Be careful! I think…I think something happened to Odda!” I called.
She didn’t respond, but she did make herself visible to me. She approached slowly, Blueberry and Dark Chocolate ready. And then…and then she crossed an invisible line. And changed.
I got to see it happen this time. A ripple passed over Texas. Her tails and ears rapidly diminished and shrunk. She got taller, and went down at least a full cup size, her features softening and smoothing, the way Sankta look. A glowing halo appeared over her head, as well as a pair of wings.
She paused, and looked down at her hands. Her swords were gone, but in their place, were two Blacksteel BSC-9s. Columbian manufacture, not Lateran, but still good, high-quality guns.
“I…can feel them,” she said, holding up the guns. “They are…awake.”
“Holy shit, Texas?! I, I can feel you!” Odda, and I was increasingly sure it was Odda. He suddenly had tears in his eyes, and brushed past Victor to hug me. “Souls of the Ancestors, Exusiai…how can you…the scar, it’s so deep. How can you even function?”
I dropped Victor. I couldn’t help it as I clung tightly to Odda. “But…but you’re not…this isn’t you!”
“It’s still me, Lemuel, I just…I never understood. Now…now I regret we can’t share empathy,” he told me.
“NO!” I said, and shoved him away, tears in my eyes. “This isn’t YOU, Odda! The fucking Law is in your head! SHE is in your head! She’s twisting you, and manipulating you, just like the Law did my ancestors! This isn’t RIGHT!”
“I, I’m still me, I just…” emotions raged across Odda’s face. “...oh fuck, you’re right. Texas, what’s wrong with us!?”
“You appear to be under emotional duress,” Texas said flatly. “I recommend a breathing exercise, or kata.”
“Texas you…” I looked at her, feeling pained. She looked…oh Law, she looked like she could have been my sister for real. But her expression…she still looked like Texas.
“It is interesting,” Texas said, nodding to Odda. “I can tell what he feels. It is…noisy.”
“I can sort of feel what you are, but you feel more…ready. Waiting,” Odda said, his forehead wrinkling. “I-”
“Hey! Is it safe?” Mon3tr asked, poking her head up over a mossy boulder.
“Not unless you want to get Sankta-fied,” I called back, turning away from Victor and dashing hot and angry tears out of my eyes.
Mont3r crept forward on all fours, tilting her head to one side. A pincher poked up from her back and tested the air. “Analyzing. Spatial distortion recognized. Simulated Universe overlay detected. Analyzing…ah! I’m fine.”
Then she hopped up onto her back legs and strode forward, grinning. Nothing happened to her. “Looks like the Law doesn’t have authority over me! I have my mother’s permissions, after all.”
“Oh,” I said, as if that gobbledygook made sense. The weird thing is, it sort of did? I mean, Kal’tsit was basically a god, like the Law is God. Or a god? Ugh, I hate theology, always fell asleep in that class. Then I looked down at myself. “So…do I have admin permissions or whatever too? Because nothing happened to me, either.”
“Hmm,” Mon3tr got right up in my face, no sense of personal space for this girl, then reached out and touched my horns, which made me gasp slightly. A girl’s horns aren’t as sensitive as her tail, but that’s still personal!
“Hmm, it looks like the Fallen have been banned from the Law. Therefore, the Simulated Universe won’t affect you,” Mon3tr said with a nod. She turned around and waved. “Hey, gramps! It’s fine, it probably can’t touch you either. And I guess…probably not grammy either? I can call you grammy, right, Skalter?”
“I find it acceptable,” Skalter agreed, coming forward with Leader. They entered into the…field, or whatever, but nothing happened to them, either.
“Hmm, this is more severe than I thought,” Leader said, examining Texas and Odda. “How does it feel?”
“Weird,” Odda admitted. “I can feel Texas. It’s…a little disconcerting. Can you feel me, Celenia?”
“Yes,” Texas said with a nod. “I said as much.”
“Huh. I guess this Empathy, then,” Odda said, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably.
“Well, there’s a way to solve it,” I huffed. I pointed at Texas. “Just shoot her. Like, in the ass, or something.”
“Er…” Odda looked uncomfortable, while Texas shook her head.
“No,” Texas said. “Good disguise. Let us move more freely.”
“She’s right,” Leader agreed. They pointed over the ridge to where we could see the space escalator.
Look, I know it’s an elevator, but the idea of a space escalator is a lot funnier, so that’s what I’m calling it.
“If this is happening to everyone, and I think our experiment proves that true,” Leader continued. “Then Priestess is fully mind controlling everyone through the use of the Law. I’m now quite worried about Mostima, and any other Fallen near the city. There aren’t that many Fallen, and most of them leave Laterano quickly, but anyone still there will be swept up. We need to move fast.”
I nodded. “Alright, I know the way. It’s been a while, but I still remember the way back home. Come on.”
I led them all to an old aqueduct, and we followed it to one of the man Via’s into the city. I put on a hood and tucked my tail in, while Skalter did something to herself and Leader. They looked a bit like Sankta, though if you looked too closely, you’d notice their “wings” were really jellyfish things, and their “halos” were some sort of fish swimming in a circle over their heads.
Which, don’t get me wrong, that’s really cool and all, but, uh, it wouldn’t pass muster.
“Can you fake Empathy?” I asked her.
“Better,” she said, and showed me a mouth with too many teeth that were far too sharp. “I shall be…liberating…those who attempt to listen to the sound of the Song of the Deep. They shall be joining the Many That Is One.”
I shuddered. I knew about the Church of the Deep from my time in Iberia, and I had seen what the Seaborn could do by exploiting Empathy when they puppeted Arturia. Fighting mind control with brain worms.
“Not until we’re in position,” Leader said firmly. “Until I give the signal, just fuzz the connection and make them think we do have Empathy.”
“Yes, Beloved, of course! We shall all follow your brilliant scheme!” Skalter agreed happily.
She did something to the aqueduct. It’s old, but the water still flows into the city. I try not to think about it too hard. Odda comes over and puts his arms around me. “It’ll be OK. We’re trying to free our people, not destroy them.”
I look up at him, but all I feel is pain. I touch his face, and feel the too-smooth skin. “We’ll get you back to normal, too. I promise.”
He bows his head, and I see tears in his eyes. “Don’t you…prefer me like this? I’ve glanced in my phone’s camera. I’m…I’m a real angel. ”
I’m hurt he’d even suggest it, but I shake my head. “No, Odda. I love you. Not…not whatever this is. I won’t let the Law take you from me, too.”
That leaves Mon3tr and I, and to my surprise, she comes over and jumps onto my back. “I have an idea!”
“Uh, does it involve me giving you a piggyback ride? Because no offense, but you’re kinda big for that,” I laugh.
“Sort of, watch!” a moment later, her weight vanishes, and I look up to see a green crystal enveloping the blackened and cracked halo over my head, and then my wings are mended by similar green crystals.
See? Mon3tr’s voice says from my head. I can disguise myself as your halo and wings! I can’t fake empathy, but maybe it will be enough to fool passersby.
“Heh, and I can cosplay as Kal’tsit! If someone attacks, I’ll just shout, ‘Mon3tr!’ like she does, and you can get ‘em,” I laugh. She giggles too, then goes quiet.
Do you think my mom is alive, too? Mon3tr doesn’t sound like a demon now. Just like a scared little girl who wants her mom back.
“I hope so,” I whisper, and glance over at Leader.
“We’ll do everything we can to get both of them back. I’m not leaving my daughter behind. Not after I just discovered her,” Leader says, and Skalter nods, that crazy grin back.
“Yes! She is but the first of our children!”
Not real sure how that particular family would work, since Kal’tsit is like, older than dirt, and Skadi was maybe a few years older than I am. However, an ancient Seaborn might be as old as the tides?
Man, makes my issues with my sister seem easy! But, it is a relief to have a disguise, even if Mon3tr won’t fool anyone who reaches out to me with Empathy.
We can see the shining walls in the distance. The Walls of Theodosiel. They’re some of the thickest and highest on Terra, and one of the big reasons that Laterano has never fallen. Well, that and all the heavy artillery, but you know, walls don’t hurt.
The gates, however, look different. Normally, the gates of Laterano are thrown open and traffic passes in and out of the city freely. Oh, there’s still guards and watch posts, but they’re mostly there to resolve traffic disputes. Uh, and keep out Sarkaz, but it’s been a while since a Sarkaz was stupid enough to try to sneak into the city.
Um, hi.
Anyway, I see a full platoon of the Pontifica Cohores Lateran monitoring incoming traffic and checking vehicles, supervised by an apostolic knight with her helmet off. She’s got a copper red halo that looks like a laurel crown, and red wings that almost look like flames. I level my binoculars at her, then gasp. “That’s Fia!”
I can’t hardly believe it, but it’s true. She looks…well, I hate to say it, but she looks natural. Like this was who Fia was always meant to be: a knight in shining armor, held back by the fact that she was born a liberi instead of a Sankta. I mean, even her grandpa is Patrizion Pozzo, the legendary apastolic knight who has served longer than any other, and many whisper will be made a saint the second he’s buried.
“Good, she’s in position then,” Leader says, using a monocular to study the gates. He nods to himself. “Now all we have to do is secure a vehicle and make contact with her.”
The vehicle is “secured” when we go to a roadside cafe, and Skalter picks out a truck driver who just stopped. She walks over to him, and he pauses, frowning at her. He’s a Sankta, of course, but I wonder if he was always that way. Most truck drivers are liberi in laterano, but not all of them, of course.
“Hey, can I help you? Is something wrong, Miss? I can’t feel your Empathy,” the man says, frowning at her.
In response, she started to croon softly. Her song sounded sort of garbled, like it was coming from underwater. As she sang, she moved closer to the truck driver, who backed away at first, reaching for his patron, a pistol at his side. He drew it, then, it fell from nerveless fingers. Skalter shot out a tentacle and grabbed it before it hit the ground. I looked around worriedly, but she’d chosen well: No one else could see us, we were at the back of the cafe, and the large trucks parked around us blocked the view.
The tentacle snakes up, and inserts itself into his ear canal. I shudder and feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as his eyes cloud and go black. Seaborn cells. Wordlessly, he reaches into his jacket pocket, eyes unfocused. He drops the keys into Skalter’s outstretched hands.
“There’s fuel enough, to finish the run,
It carries ore, for the tower to be done,” He says in a song-song voice.
“Good, good. Do not spread the song yet. But put a little in the water here, that we may be ready when the time comes,” Skalter tells him.
“Of the Many, One,” he tells her, then shuffles off, his gait wrong. Like a puppet controlling a new body.
It’s enough to make me wonder if we’re the baddies. I mean, forget the Sarkaz. The Seaborn are probably the biggest threat all of Terra has ever faced. And yet, Leader is married to, well, their leader. Or something. At least she’s on our side? I guess?
“Wait,” Texas says, and steps up to the truck driver and points to the cap on his head. “Your hat. I need it. Disguise won’t work otherwise.”
The driver passed over his hat, and also his jacket after some prompting from Texas. Then, she messed up her hair, even going over to the truck and wiping her hands on the wheel well to get some grease end dirt and run it through her hair, before pulling it back into a loose ponytail she pulled out through the back of the cap. She turned around, and…well, I mean, she really did look like a trucker now. She was even slouching a little, which she never does otherwise.
“Wait,” Leader said, and paused us before we got inside. “I have an idea. But Exusiai…it’s going to require a lot of trust, and depend entirely on you. Do you think you can handle it?”
I nodded. “I don’t even need to hear the whole plan. I trust you, Leader. Just tell me what to do.”
“Good. Because this will work better the less you know,” they tell me.
I’m given my instructions, and my heart nearly falls out of my chest, but I nod. There’s no time, so I give Odda a quick hug, and then I’m off to complete the plan, Mon3tr still hitching a ride.
There’s a line to get into the city. I have to time it right, but I think I do. The guards are efficient, and Fia is scanning everything constantly. I keep my hood up, but people are watching me. Looking at me funny. Nothing too crazy yet. This is a big crowd, and it’s hard to pinpoint Empathy from just one person. Still, the man in front of me and the woman and her two kids behind me in the queue definitely notice something is wrong with me. The man even points to me and talks to the Cohores manning the checkpoint. Fia sees, and steps forward, her armor clanking.
“Citizen. I need you to step out of the line for an examination,” she tells me. I look up at her and meet her eyes. She doesn’t start, but I see the recognition there. She nods to me.
I shake my head and grin. She frowns at me and opens her mouth.
And I throw off my cloak and hood. This is the tricky part. I pop a flash bang into the air, causing the crowd to scream. Mon3tr scurries away from my halo and wings and to the small of my back, and I draw Victor.
Someone screams, “SARKAZ!”
Which, you know, that’s stupid. Most sarkaz are probably brainwashed little angels if they were near the city. Not that there would be very many, but probably a few refugees and such.
However, someone has better eyes and gasps, “FALLEN!”
Same difference, but the horror on people’s faces is almost comical. A few had their guns out, but they hesitated. It’s one thing to shoot a Sarkaz. But how would the Law feel about you shooting a Fallen?
Fia, however, does not hesitate. She hits me with a punch that sends me flying. I can take a hit, but man, does it hurt. I go crashing into a barricade and have to gasp for breath. I let out a burst from Victor, but I am for where I know her armor is the thickest. It pings off harmlessly, the ricochets going mostly where I planned, which is into the thick stone walls or pavement.
Then she’s on me, ripping Victor from my hands and pinning me to the ground. From the corner of my eye as she handcuffs me, none too gently, I see Texas get waved through, the borrowed truck trundling through the checkpoint as the guards hastily wave her through to clear the area. Perfect timing.
“What the fuck, Exu,” Fia whispers to me. “How are you not, you know…”
“I Fell, it’s different, tell you later,” I whisper back.
She grunts, then hauls me roughly to my feet. “I’m taking this one to the detention facility. The Ministry of Truth will know how to handle a Fallen.”
“Please, it’s me, Lemuel Exusiai! You know me!” I beg.
“Silence, Fallen,” Fiametta growls, and shoves a gag in my mouth. Perfect. The guards are obviously more than willing to let a Gun Knight handle a Fallen, and they try to restore order.
Then, I hear a quiet voice. “Wait. Someone stop that truck. I recognized the driver. That was Texas. A friend of the Fallen’s. There’s some Rhodes Islander scheme at work here.”
Fia is instantly at attention, saluting, and I feel my mouth go dry as my sister calmly walks forward. She’s dressed in the red robes of a Cardinal, and has two more Gun Knights accompanying her. One goes to stop the truck. A moment later, Texas and Odda both jump out and attack. It’s a melee now, and Fia is holding me tight.
“Cardinal Lemuen! I, what should I-”
“Go help your fellow Knights. I can handle the Fallen,” Lemuen says. She nods to two Cohores, and they hustle me into the guard post with Lemuen. Meanwhile, Skalter has knocked aside the three Gunknights, and she, Texas, and Leader are fleeing, but not inside the city. Outside. Oh fuck.
“Hello, sister mine,” Lemuen says, and smiles at me.
I swallow, and manage to smile back. “Um, Apple Pie with char-sui?”
It’s our old code phrase. I hope it will tell her to trust me, that we can work as a team.
Then, purple crystals flicker in her eyes.
“I’m afraid that won’t work now.” She nods to the cohors. “Take her. And arrest Sir Fiametta. On my authority.”
Fia is caught completely off guard by her two fellow knights and is pummeled into submission. I watch in horror, even as more knights and cohores arrive to pursue my friends. I feel my mouth as dry as sand.
“Good. Bring them both. The Holy Mother will wish to see them,” Lemuen says.
And then, I’m hauled back through the gates of home, an unconscious and bleeding Fiametta right behind me.
Well. That didn’t go according to plan.