The village abbey, just after lunch…

Lunch was served at the dining hall, a common room with simple furnishings much like the rest of the abbey. The meal itself was, at least by the standards set by the Ancient Cathedral Sister Alyssa knew so well, simple but delicious, consisting of loaves of bread freshly made from the village baker and a hearty stew made from pork and vegetables fresh from the markets that bore a strong, almost heavenly aroma that lingered so thickly in the room long after it had been served in bowls and eaten.

Now, over cups of boiled water and coffee, everyone was talking to her. Idle conversation mostly, playful questions about life in the Holy See, and what it was like to serve under the Ecclesiarch herself. Much to her relief, the warmth of the abbey and the hearty lunch that followed had all but dispelled the quietness of her colleagues. Such that now with their bellies full of good food and their hoods pulled back, they were bantering with her like girls rather than devatas. Teasing her and each other so playfully, as they introduced themselves to her one by one.

And as they bantered, as she answered their questions and asked some of her own, her purple eyes took a moment to glance at where Father Edwards had been sitting for the meal just past. He had, after all, excused himself as soon as his bowl of stew was empty. To prepare her room and to check if everything was in order, he had told her with that charming smile and warm voice she had grown to love so quickly. In secret, of course, and a part of her wished Sister Natasha were here. Her friend was, after all, despite her faith and mastery of the holy rites of the Central Church, so well-versed in these matters normally frowned upon by her more prudish and puritan colleagues who had given up such mortal whims for greater mastery of Elicia’s gifts. That she, of all people, would know what to do with such delicate matters of one’s heart and soul.

“Tell us, Alyssa, are you…”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a scream rang out from beyond the dining hall. It was a distinctly male voice, croaking and wild like a ravening beast fresh out of hell, and it had cut Sister Belle’s question short from how loud it and the shouts that followed in its thundering wake were.

“Um… what was that?” Sister Alyssa asked, her voice filled with worry as she looked at the surprise written upon the faces of her fellow devatas. “Sounded like its coming from the prayer hall…”

This time, unlike the other questions she had asked, nobody answered her. It left a silence in the room petered with even more guttural shouts that went on for a while until Sister Clara suddenly stood up from her chair, pulling her hood over her red hair hurriedly while Sister Alyssa and her fellow devatas watched on in stunned silence.

“Only one way to find out,” Sister Clara said slowly but surely. “Come on, ladies. Father Edwards might be in trouble.”

Alongside her fellow devatas, Sister Alyssa nodded in agreement. With them, she stood up and followed Sister Clara to the prayer hall. Where near the entrance leading out into the beautiful garden, a man with long and dishevelled black hair could be seen half-knelt upon the floor with red eyes wild and unfocused. Eyes that were bloodshot and strained, deadened and fixated upon everything before him as he screamed and raged anew against the Lightsworn guardsmen who had been holding him back from Father Edwards, who stood calmly just a few steps away as his fellow devatas gathered near him.

“GET OUT!” the man yelled, jabbing a trembling finger forward at the gathered clergy. “There’s a MONSTER in the church...”

Sister Alyssa opened her mouth to say something. But as she looked into the man’s maddened eyes as he continued ranting and raving like a wild animal, and at the ragged tatters of his foul clothes that reeked of stale alcohol, her mind went blank. And much to her mounting horror as she remained silent, she spotted what appeared like a set of daggers stabbed deeply upon the man’s back, lodged into his wretched flesh with their hilts sticking out like spikes upon a lizard’s spine.

“Sister Alyssa is a respected member of our community,” Father Edwards admonished brusquely, taking a step forward towards the madman. “You will not speak of her in such a derogatory manner!”

He then adjusted his glasses, pushing them up slightly as his red-eyed gaze came to rest upon the madman. This simple act, Sister Alyssa could not help but note as she watched on in fearful silence, made him rage anew once more in impotent fury, even if the gaze of his quavering eyes remained somewhat upon hers.

“The prophecy… THE PROPHECY FULFILLED… YOU’LL DOOM US ALL…”

“Doom us all? You’re an awful wretch, to say such things about someone you don’t know.”

“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, YOU BASTARD!”

“I’m afraid I don’t. Guardsmen, please have him removed at once.”

With a deep frown, Sister Alyssa watched as the Lightsworn guardsmen removed the madman from the abbey. It hurt to watch him kick and scream every step of the way of his eviction, hurt even more to look into his bloodshot gaze still fixated so deeply forward even as he drew further and further away from the abbey. For it was, for all she could tell, a gaze so hateful and angry. So bitter and cold, that she could hear her fellow devatas around her talking about it amongst themselves. About her, about him, about her ears and about…

“Ah!”

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by what felt like a hand pushing down softly upon the top of her hood and her short yellow hair underneath. Its gentle and warm sensation made her flinch momentarily, made her look up towards Father Edwards as a burning heat flared up upon her cheeks when she felt and watched him pat her upon her head once more.

“Are you alright?” Father Edwards asked, smiling as he gazed upon the rosiness of his elven colleague’s cheeks. “You looked like you were going to faint at any moment.”

“Yeah… I’m alright! He just scared me a little, is all. It was all so sudden.”

“Well, some people are just like that. You’ll have to deal with it as part of your time here, I’m afraid.”

Sister Alyssa nodded in agreement. And yet, she remembered the madman’s words.

“But… who was he? And what was he talking about? What prophecy?”

“He’s a madman, a beggar,” Father Edwards stated matter-of-factly. “Pay his drunken ramblings no mind, for they’re just that.”

“I see…” Sister Alyssa remarked thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll do my best to reach out to him.”

“No. You will not.”

Sister Alyssa furrowed her brow.

“But the Codex Elicia says…”

“The Codex says many things, Sister. But he is a danger to you and all of us. You’d leave him well enough alone for your own sake and ours.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

“Well, you still have a lot to learn. But for now, you should really get some rest. Sister Clara will lead you to your room.”

“Thank you, Father.”

With Sister Clara leading the way to her room, Sister Alyssa made her way there, all but collapsing upon the bed prepared just for her. As she felt the fatigue of everything finally set in for a much-needed rest, the madman’s words echoed soundly within her thoughts. That in her stupor, she whispered his words out loud as she envisioned his frenzied gaze in the darkness staring unto her like the eyes of a devil unbound.

“The prophecy… fulfilled…”