"Who are you?" Heka asked a man behind bars, scrunching her nose due to the putrid smell, "This isn't what I expected to lie the end of the Bridge of Erdric, a decrepit prison and a disheveled old man."
The man did not answer. Heka had not expected him to, especially when he had remained equally quiet after Airo and Akira had first burst in. One would think two strange kids breaking into a prison would elicit some sort of reaction but no, he remained as silent as a mute. They had pestered him incessantly for a few minutes before deciding he was clearly not sane.
Heka disagreed, she had seen street rats go mad growing up, orphans who could find nothing but old scraps and burnt paper to eat. They usually cracked under the pressure if they were not saved soon, and either turned to The Bluffs or slowly awaited death's kiss. They all had had nothing behind their eyes, absolutely nothing, like even their soul had abandoned them.
The prisoner in front of her was different. True, he did look horrible, but there was still some fight left in those eyes, a vigor that relayed he had not yet given up. Still, it was an odd sight to behold, who could guess that the Church of Light had a secret prison.
'The Church of Lies is more like it,' Heka thought resentfully.
The siblings were busy scrambling around, looking for god-knows-what. There were a few loose pieces of parchment lying around that contained ancient ritual vows, as well as a shelf with scrolls that Airo was currently going through. There were cells lining the walls, a skeleton or two in each of them.
Akira was deep in thought, a serious look on her face that Heka had not though possible. The girl had been so lighthearted and demure, it was startling to see her without her usual trace of mischief.
"Did you have any luck with him, guide?" Airo said, walking back over to Heka, "I doubt there is anything left in that filthy head of his, probably rotted away ages ago. I have seen men like him in the gallows of my father's duchy, they waste away drinking essence of mirth, slowly losing their minds as they awaited life's final slope."
Heka turned back to look at the man, he really didn't seem like he used any drugs, "Who knows, I still don't think this is a good idea, but seeing as how there's basically nothing back here, it does make me somewhat curious. I always imagined a grand cathedral, where the high priests and deacons do whatever it is the church does behind closed doors. This," she gestured around them to the grey, circular room, "is no better than the cells in the military ward. There has to be something more going on here, they wouldn't just light the Bridge for no reason."
At her words, the old man shook slightly, "D-did you say the Bridge of Erdric has been lit?"
His voice was like an old toad, the old man croaked out his words as if they struggled to leave his mouth.
"Oh, now you want to talk?" Heka scoffed, "Yes, it has been lit, which is why these two came racing in here. They heard screams, though come to think of it, I haven't heard any at all since."
"I definitely heard them outside," Airo said, clenching his fists before slamming them against the prisoner's cell, "And you! You need to start talking! What in the devil is going on here? If there are people here that need saving then it is my duty to help them, tell us what we want to know!"
The old man grinned, revealing his missing teeth, "You are an impetuous one, are you not, boy?"
"I am no boy-" Airo hotly began, before being cut off.
"Yes, yes you are. There is no shame in it. You may have the brawn of a man, but you have the wit of a babe. Maturity comes from experience, not from how much strength one wields. You would do well to heed my words, boy. Leave this place, there is nothing here for you and your friends. I thank you for telling me about the Bridge, however that is where my generosity ends. If I am found with unwelcome visitors I may get branded with conspiracy; I cannot risk it when I am so close to freedom, so close to once again being embraced by God's light."
"Your riddles are fooling no one old man!" Airo said, and then took out his twin morning-stars, "Maybe a good beating from Vengeance will get you to speak."
Heka had to keep herself from laughing at Airo's naming sense before she could speak, "Please Airo, have some patience, the fact that he is telling us to leave means that there 'is' something going on here, as much as I hate to admit it. Let's just focus on finding out exactly what that is, that way we can get out of here as quickly as possible."
"You are wasting your time," the old man grumbled after Airo as he turned away to go and help Akira, "There is nothing here, as I have already said, and if there was it would never be found by the likes of you."
"Who are you anyway old man?" Heka said, "Now that we know you still have your tongue, you might as well tell us something interesting."
"You can call me Izaak," the man said, sitting up straight like he was trying to find some comfort in the cold cell, "I am nothing but an old deacon who lost his way a long time ago. Now I am confined to this cage, solitude my penance."
"How exactly did you 'lose' your way?" Heka said, "From what I know the church forgives you lot for a great deal of things, many as deprave as they come. I once knew this boy who- never mind actually."
Izaak eyed Heka's face, her disgust clearly reflected in his azure eyes, "You dislike us I see."
"What gave it away?" Heka scoffed, "The church of Light answers to no one but their god, they have been sinking into turpitude for as long as I can remember. You treat Patala like a child's toy, yet you know nothing of the true terrors of the mouth. Instead you prefer to hire divers to do your louche bidding."
Izaak started laughing, a low bray that echoed around the prison, "What would a rat know of the work of our God, the Lord of Light, the divine Louren? What we do should not be judged by those who battle through every night just to see the sun once again. God knows what we do, and God alone can brandish punishment. You are right to wonder about my predicament, for what I did was deemed too harsh. We used to have a secret facility in the old smithing ward, where we would experiment on rats like you, experiment with a vast array of artifacts to uncover the true nature of the mouth, its capabilities, its weaknesses."
He was beginning to grin now, as if recalling a fun memory; Heka's body began to shiver violently, realizing the weight of the words he carried.
"My downfall was letting my vetting process go awry. Somehow, the child of a Venetian noble was mistaken for a rat, and well, by the time we were done with him, there was not much left unfortunately. The church had to reprimand me for reputation's sake, they had no choice."
Heka's blood had begun to boil, not only because of the chilling things Izaak was saying, but with the nonchalance he delivered it. He spoke like a blacksmith who lamented the way his latest sword had turned out, as if torturing young children was a normal, everyday thing. He clearly did not view them as human, as deserving of the basic decency that should be afforded to every living being. And for what? Because God had deemed them unlucky enough to be born in the slums?
"Are you sure it's ok to be confessing all this to me? What's to stop me from leaking it to the outside, so that people can see the true face of the church?"
It was an empty threat, and Izaak treated it as such, "You jest. No one would believe the word of a rat over the likes of the church, it is a fool's errand."
She sorely regretted talking to this crazy old man, he was looking at her with a sneer; his recounting must have triggered some old, sick memories, because his face was full of energy now. Gone was the old man who seemed like he was battling for his life, it was replaced by this monster.
How many like her had he tortured, even killed? Heka fought the urge to beat him unconscious and stalked away; she could not let her prim facade be uncovered by the siblings, or else they might be wary of helping her later.
"Come on, where are you going off to girl?" Izaak called after her with a mad laugh, "I was just getting to the best bit, why can we not reminisce a little while longer?"
Heka ignored him before sitting down on a wooden chair near the entrance; one of its legs was almost gone so she had to balance a little. Airo had started pacing, how cute. It must have been what he did when he was annoyed, or nervous, or both.
Suddenly, Akira's head snapped up. She quickly moved to the bookshelf and started taking out each scroll one by one. Heka was too exhausted to question anything, so she simply watched.
"Airo come here," Akira gestured with her hand, "Take each scroll and group them up by length, after that tear each into halves."
Airo started working without so much as a peep; it seemed he valued his sister's words above all else.
"What nonsense is that girl spouting," Izaak hollered, "You dare tarnish sacred texts?!"
"Shut him up please, "Akira said, still rummaging through the shelf.
Heka grinned and sidled back over to the cell, before showing Izaak part of her she usually kept concealed, and for good reason.
He gasped, "You! By Louren, you're that demon! Begone from this place, your powers do not work here! Oh great Louren bless me with your holy strength."
Izaak had started to pray vehemently, his hands clasped together, eyes closed, muttering some unintelligible gibberish under his breath.
'How ironic,' Heka thought, 'He can talk of killing children without a shred of regret yet he cowers once he sees me for what I truly am.'
Before he could continue, Heka had stuck what looked like a wooden sword through the cell bars; it elongated until it almost touched the man's throat, "Careful old man, I have had an extremely long and shitty day, and I do not need you shouting out my secrets for the world to hear. Your little story from earlier was already enough to make me want to wound you, badly. But, if I hear so much as another whisper out of you, and trust me I will hear if you whisper, your tongue will be cut out before you can finish a sentence, and I will kill you, make no question about it."
Izaak gulped, before backing up against the wall of the cell, nodding vigorously. There was the fear that Heka had come to expect from people no matter when she went; they thought her a monster. Thankfully the siblings hadn't paid too much attention to how she dealt with the man.
"Ok that's all of them," Akira said, "Airo once you're done tearing them up, position them in a circular cross, the rune of Olyimeni, it symbolizes division. Runes can be conjured in a variety of ways, all you need is to harmonize with the krsyma in the air, and you could construct it out of anything really, even scrolls. I noticed the way that they were arranged initially was similar to the rune of Treinali, completeness."
Akira sighed in a self-congratulatory way, "They are two halves of the same whole, but rune transformations are not dictated by just shape or form, they need something more. Dividing the scrolls into two halves is enough to trigger the change, and I suspect something in the vicinity will be unveiled from whatever magic was cast. It's quite clever actually, eventually the scrolls will be exhausted; there is a limit to how much this place can be used."
"My sister is as brilliant as ever," Airo said, a look of pride on his face. He began arranging the scrolls.
"If you look a bit harder than that, I might just blush," Akira said with a sly smile to Heka, who's face immediately heated up and looked away. She had simply been fascinated by Akira's display of runic knowledge, and had found herself staring at the girl in awe.
'She really is quite cocky,' Heka thought, rubbing her cheeks with embarrassment.
She glanced at Izaak and noted he looked very pale, like he badly wanted to say something. Heka granted his request, "Speak up old man, you look like you might choke if you don't spit it out."
"Tell that green-haired bitch that she must not meddle with church secrets! You have no idea the forces you are playing with here!"
"Yeah I think you should just shut up again," Heka said. She flicked her wrist and her blade elongated once more, quick as a flash. Before Izaak had even realized what had happened, he was knocked unconscious in one fluid move.
A high-pitched ringing noise erupted out of nowhere, seemingly coming from every inch of the prison; Airo had completed the rune.
"This is where the fun begins," Akira said.