“There is no culprit left, Manal Im,” replied the elder archon. “The Haad Leonil who did those terrible things is no more. Archon Haad, overseer of the Divine Restoration, is pure. The sins of his previous life were absolved the day he was deemed worthy of becoming an archon and shed his last name. For this reason, in the name of the Holy Order, I urge you all to forsake the ghost of Archon Haad’s past.”

Man was about to reply to the preposterous suggestion that we simply forget our brother’s vicious attacks just because the church said so but the king took a step forward. For a moment, nobody spoke.

I was feeling calmer already, the brunt of my anger washed away by Man’s frustration. Seika’s grip on my hand also felt less tight and this made me realize what the king’s previous look meant. He wanted to warn us and Man had acted as a decoy until we got our heads back together.

“Let us sit at the table,” said the king, breaking the silence. “We have a lot to discuss.”

The archons were seated on one side of the table, the seats of their two paragons empty, as they decided to remain standing. On the other side, Kard, Seika, Man, Krysha and I took our seats while the king sat at the head of the table.

I noticed a momentary slip of frustration in the otherwise unfazed expression of the male paragon. He was probably insulted because we were sitting in the presence of the archons while he was standing, as any Elysian should. But we were not Elysians anymore.

“I suppose,” said the elder archon, “since we were the ones who initiated this meeting, we should start with what we know has happened. Archon Haad, would you mind explaining our situation?”

We all shifted our eyes toward my brother while I made an extra effort to appear as indifferent as possible.

“It has been more than fourteen months since the day of the last liturgy,” started my brother. “On that day, in each of the liturgy sites, only one or two of our children were able to receive mana from The Divine.”

Hearing him talk with no shred of remorse for what he had done almost pulled me back into my rage. I wasn’t sure if suppressing my anger was for the best, but there was nothing I could do now. Archon Simeon stole our chance to demand explanations and forgiveness by apologizing on his behalf and declaring that the new archon had nothing to atone for.

“Many priests of the Order witnessed The Divine fall to the ground,” the fourth archon continued. “All of us were stunned to see our Lord’s angels scream and fly away. The body of The Divine disappeared shortly afterward, and we were left wondering as to what might have happened.”

“We spent the next months investigating and trying to reach out to It or Its angels,” Archon Simeon filled in. “Nobody was able to communicate with The Divine, and the angels were only listening to us without responding. Archon Haad?”

“The same stories were reaching us from all of the liturgy sites,” Haad continued, “except for Nara. It looked like a lot of the angels from other sites flew there and were killed. Furthermore, there was nobody left in the village and most of it was ransacked. We figured that after everyone left, highwaymen took advantage of the situation. But why would people leave? And where would they go? Days later, we announced to Seika what we thought had happened and that’s when I met Adel. My brother’s secrecy further raised my suspicions that something more had happened in Nara.”

“Your unprovoked attack was the reason for my secrecy,” I said, not able to hold myself back while he stated half-truths with a straight face,

“Elysia was, and still is, in a perpetual state of confusion,” my brother continued, not minding the interruption. “You were the first glimpse into what had really transpired, and that was of the utmost importance.”

“And yet you waited more than a year later for this meeting.” The king jumped into the conversation.

“Learning that there were survivors from the liturgy of Nara,” replied Archon Simeon, “gave us a pretty good idea of what had transpired. But we needed time in order to find everything we required to test our theory.”

“And what would your theory suggest?” asked the king, as he leaned toward the table, his hands crossed.

“The Divine was killed,” said the elderly archon. “But Its essence still exists.”

A sharp inhale was heard from Krysha as our fears were confirmed. Kai had killed The Divine, and Its essence took over his body. I saw my brother’s eyes race over us all in rapid succession, trying to glean whatever information he could.

“Our rituals have confirmed our theory,” Haad continued, “but there was no way to pinpoint the location of The Divine Essence. This can only mean it is inhabiting a human body.”

“And you want to know what happened in Nara,” the king concluded, “so you can locate the individual who has this essence?”

Both archons remained silent and simply nodded, as did the paragons standing behind them.

“The choice is yours to make,” the king said, and looked at us decisively.

I took a deep breath as I stood up from the table and looked at the archons. By now I had told the story so many times I could even go through my parents’ death with an almost straight face, but I knew that I would stutter in front of my brother.

For this reason, I tried to focus on Archon Simeon’s face and started from the dawn of the day of the liturgy. I recounted the events exactly as they occurred, with Kard and Seika regularly nodding their heads in agreement.

I told them about Myriam receiving her mana and Kai stabbing The Divine. I told them how The Divine fell to the ground and the angels started attacking us, and how our parents sacrificed their lives to save us in the massacre that followed. I finally told them of Kai going berserk and killing everyone outside of the protective barrier, and ultimately knocking us all out.

“How did you end up in Leka An?” asked my brother, who I had not faced for the whole narration of the events.

“There was nothing left for us in Nara,” I replied, giving him the coldest look I could. “We saluted our dead and fearing what might come, we fled the country.”

I tried to give as few details as possible regarding the means of our traveling, our resources and numbers and it seemed nobody was going to press me for further details. I didn’t want them to know anything more than necessary and I would certainly not let them know Myriam and Kai might have crossed the Endless Sea.

“So that’s what happened,” Archon Simeon said, and sighed. “Thank you for confiding in us, children. We have pressing matters to discuss with the king, but before you leave us, I would like to invite you all back home. Your offenses are forgiven in the eyes of the Holy Order and you can return with us to Elysia.”

Before any of us could even think of a response, the king spoke in a steady and authoritative voice.

“These men and women are now citizen merchants of Leka An, and they have committed no ill acts in the eyes of the people,” he said. “They are free to go wherever they want.”

The two paragons were now visibly distraught but neither of the archons let any emotion show.

“Be that as it may,” Archon Simeon said, “you, and everyone else who is with you, are always welcome to return.”

We didn’t thank him or even nod. We simply stood up and moved to leave.

“Seika?” the king said, as we walked toward the curtain. “Would you mind staying for the rest of the meeting?”

Seika, not expecting the request, looked at Man, who was still sitting at the table and smiled at her.

“Is there a reason for this request, King Mena El Os?” asked Haad.

“Seika is family,” he said, not taking his warm black eyes from my sister.

I thought I saw her bottom lip quiver, before she nodded affirmatively with a smile. She returned to her seat and nodded at us, prompting us to leave the room. One of the guards raised the curtain and we put our shoes back on. A second guard handed me the scrying device and we were soon making our way back to the tower, me holding it in my left hand.

I was feeling alive as I considered what we had learned from the archons. Kai had The Divine Essence in him and I was sure Myriam was trying to protect him. I was sure she had a plan, because that was how Myriam was.

She has a plan. And I have purpose.