Louise, Dante and the mysterious woman had left the laboratory in their car, which was followed by multiple sedans of the same color which held the nuns that were spying on them. As the sun gleamed down on the Earth, Louise had grown impatient, after all, after the whole conversation about healing wounds and servitude, she wanted an answer.
The interior felt pristine, the brown leather seats had supported her back correctly, and it felt like a pillow as she sat on it, the carpet had been a nice touch as well, completely back to contrast with the brown.
The speakers were playing a low tune of a violin solo, quietly articulating the piece.
Her eyes gazed upon a more unknown road, a banked curve which she had never taken in her life in which they moved away from the Academic side of the city to a more residential area. Unlike her house, the homes which resided in this area were more average and less pristine than hers.
Her father had own a modern house which cost around half a million dollars, these seemed to be in the lower end of the market, around two hundred thousand. Average paint, with bland colors, a few windows and sometimes, only a single story, the shingles seemed to be more worn than before, but none of the homes seemed to be worn down, or decrepit. They were all well maintained with grass that seemingly all been cut by the same person. One or two cars here and there of average quality, such as Toyotas.
After taking a gander, Louise turned to the woman in her dress.
" So, mind telling me what's going on here? "
The woman, who was looking down on the passed out man, his head laying on her lap smiled and nodded. She had been stroking his hair, and Louise wanted to put a stop to it, but upon seeing his peaceful sleeping face, the noirette decided against such actions.
" Well, once we get to the church I can answer the question you had about servitude, but I can tell you about my ability. "
The silverette had collected her thoughts, trying to analyze everything she was about to say, making sure that she was clear and concise without being too open.
" My name is Lorraine Stuart Ashton, my uncle is the late adoptive father of Dante over here, I have taken him under my liege after finding him nearly dead in his own home. I posses the ability to heal wounds, almost any wound, if the body is in one piece, I cannot re-grow arms legs, or any other limbs for people. "
Louise had memorized her name and started to type it on her phone, trying to find any information about her… She scrolled down the silver screen in the images section, seeing her picture.
So she's not lying about her name…
She went back on the results, and found that the first result had been an article about her… aaaand click, the noirette's thumb had went down. She was looking for one thing, a single mention of Dante… So far, not a single mention, but the uncle was mentioned… So she clicked on her trusty small silver screen, and read… There he was, Dante's name mentioned in the man's immediate family…
So, they're part of a religion named The Three Spirits of Discovery… but what are they doing in a city like Roswell? This place is the furthest thing from religion-
Lorraine had looked away, glancing back to outside of the relatively large car they were in… however, she was observant, keeping her eyes peeled on the girl while trying to look distracted. She had a smile on her face more plastic than a mannequin.
The noirette had gone on a tapping spree, looking up the church's name and reading a few articles about it… The religion was quite popular in Europe and Africa for some odd reason. They seemed to believe in the same things as any other Christian. There also seemed to be rumors of magic affinity with the people who believe in the religion…
So what, they can get abilities with this religion? No way, I would have heard of them before this if they did… But that Lorraine lady… and Dante all have abilities.
Soon enough the sedans had come to a stop, Louise looked up from her silver screen and around… outside of the window, she saw at the edge of her vision were gates… along with a multitude of vehicles around them.
A parking lot?
She checked outside of the front window, and… they were in a rather intimidating looking cathedral, similar to the catholic churches all over Europe despite looking modern, the material which encompassed a majority of building materials had been nearly the same shade of white as every other building in Roswell. The tower next to the cathedral was the same texture. Louise seemed confused as she had slowly gotten out of the car, with Lorraine following suit, holding the passed out Dante in her arms like Louise had.
" So… where are we? "
" We're at the only church in Roswell. The 7th Cathedral of The Three Spirts of Discovery. Which also happens to be mine and Dante's home. "
Before she could even react to what was about to happen, the nuns had lined, and a red carpet was rolled past them. Louise could only flinch as a reaction, before Lorraine had gone past her, carrying Dante and walking into the church. Louise followed suit.
As they entered the church, Louise looked up and truly realized the sheer size of this cathedral, it was bigger than most buildings… yet, despite its appearance, it didn't seem to look out of touch with how Roswell was built, even the outside seemed modern and the interior seemed much more modern than she expected of a religious entity.
" We will be going to the chapel, the only reason why is because my healing is the fastest when I pray. "
Louise nodded, her eyes were peeled all over the place. It felt so spaceous and huge, the stained glass murals were beautiful, the seemingly never ending rows of chairs were spaced evenly, taking up the majority of her view and at the end was a glimpse of something bright, it had been the altar, a bright, shiny and golden table which the mass had been conducted at.
As they walked, every footstep could be heard through an echo, after all, seemingly there wasn't a single person inside of the church, in fact, it seemed even barren of priests, not a single one could be found, not a single soul. Despite there being a mob of nuns, they were nowhere to be seen.
Where could they be…?
Soon enough, the two would encounter a tall door, dark and wooden along with a symmetrical pattern of squares which have been extruded… The door handle was a golden yellow along with the lock. The silverette had glanced at the noirette, nudging her to open the door and glancing at Dante to indicate her reasoning.
" Oh-! Right. "
Louise had grabbed the doorknob, twisting and then pushing forward… the chapel seemed to be a mini church, the chairs were the same but fewer in number, there were statues of Jesus and Mary, however the altar was not golden unlike the one in the main church, it was mostly wooden, along with a single stripe of gold near the top.
Lorraine had placed the passed-out man down on the ground, near the altar, she had put her hands together with a rosary in hand as she knelt down and prayed… As she prayed, Louise noticed that the room slowly changed colors, the room had glowed brighter before a blue hue was added. The source of the light were the hands of Lorraine as she held them tightly while praying. Louise could see that her mouth was moving, but there had not been a single sound made.
Within 30 seconds of praying… Dante had opened his eyes. He looked around, and analyzed his surroundings, before looking back up at the white haired girl.
" Oh, what's going on, Lorrie? "
He was suddenly slapped by her, the shock hit his face as his eyes widen. He slowly recoiled back, staring at her eyes. They looked visibly upset and angry, no she was not crying, despite clenching on his tattered clothes.
" How dare you lose. "
Dante realized what this is about, and his smile returned. His right hand had gone on her left cheek and he finally had gotten up.
" I know, I know. "
Once he got up however… he noticed the extra person there, of course, his expression suddenly changed, with his eyes being squinted comedically before pointing at the woman.
" Now what are you doing here? "
Louise blinked a bit, before realizing what he said. She extended her arms upward and flailed them around for a few seconds.
" What the!? That's how you treat me?! I'll have you know I was about to take care of you if this girl didn't show up! What are you two anyway?! "
She took a deep breath after that sentence… though there were some thoughts that were plaguing her head… Why did she feel a little upset when she saw their little moment… Was she jealous?
No, there's no way. It's been years since I've seen him! I don't hold any feelings for him at all.
Dante had walked closer to her, and he put his hand on his head, being so distracted by her thoughts, Louise didn't react until his hand reached her, she looked up at him with Lorraine recoiling in response.
" You're thinking about it too much, Try to stick to instincts, little Louise. "
She could feel it… for some reason, she felt short of breath, a little dizzy and lightheaded just from the touch. Of course, this was met with a rebellious look from Louise who tried to get out of the boy's grasp, since right after she reacted, he pulled her into a noogie.
Lorraine watched, a little shock, she was confused at to… what their relationship really was, in fact… unlike what Louise was thinking, Lorraine could feel her blood boil… her Dante? Close to another girl? Impossible!
" So… before we get into something more serious, I want to know what your relationship is to that agnostic girl over there, Dante. "
The silverette tried to compose herself, clearing her throat along with her mind, even adding a fake cough to make it seem more believable. A stare of pure rivalry emanated from Lorraine and despite not fully realizing her own feelings, Louise stared back with eyes that accepted the challenge of the rival, it was more instinctive rather than logical, actually, Louise had no idea why they were staring at each other so intently. Dante noticed this and gave a light sigh.
" She's a little princess I have to protect, that's all. "
A look of shock came upon Lorraine, her hands on her head, she had even took a few steps back, of course, without disrespecting the altar that was behind them.
" P-P-Princess!? Excuse me!? "
She clenched her fists and threw them down on the ground, raising her voice, and holding her head up high while intently staring at Dante!
" Explain yourself! Now! "
Dante scratched the back of his head, and decided to sit down on one of the chairs explaining the entire situation, of course, he mentioned Mr. Summers, to the adoption, and all their fun times they had in the orphanage. At the end, Louise ended up being embarrassed, since she failed to stop the man from spilling every single childish thing she's done, with Lorraine's jealousy exploding!
" You're still my servant! You shouldn't get too chummy with another girl you know!? "
" You can't just tell all of that to the world, DANTEEEE! "
The two girls had crossed their arms and turned around, pouting ever-so slightly. Once they cooled down, Lorraine had put her left hand on her forehead, before sighing.
" There's something else you have to say, right, 'mistress'? "
Dante was teasing at this point, but there was an ulterior motive for letting Louise come with them to this cathedral. He crossed his arms, prompting his master to finally speak up on their original goal. Which was supposed to happen when he beat her… but he didn't, despite using most of his power.
I wasn't expecting a loss… but mission accomplished nonetheless…
Lorraine had stood next to her servant, confidently this time, a sudden switch of emotions as things were finally getting serious.
" Right, Louise… you're Azide, right? "
It took… approximately 10 seconds for Louise to realize what they meant and said, giving a delayed look of shock along with the sounds of said shock to come out, similar to lightning with thunder.
" E-Eh? What did you just say?
Louise immediately turned to Dante, angrily. She expected him to keep her identity a secret! Well… she never exactly told him, so that was a mistake on her part.
" Right right, I didn't mean to spread your name around. It's alright, It's with this church and this church alone. "
The small-town superhero sighed in relief, despite the situation… not finishing yet.
" Of course, secrecy comes with a cost. "
Louise had registered that last sentence immediately, almost snapping her eyes towards the girl who said it.
" What do you- "
" I mean I want you to work with us. In exchange for the secrecy of your name. If you want, we can also pay you, in fact… we have your first paycheck here. It's of something very important… "
In her mind, Louise was ready to say no, decline, even if she had to face the consequences of her real name being known, however, they weren't finished yet.
" It's about those people that attacked your school yesterday. We know who they are. "
That was the game changer, Louise couldn't resist, the air around her felt heavy, enough to suffocate her.
"… Fine then, where do we start? "
Dante and Lorraine looked at each other proudly, it seemed that everything was falling into place and the silverette had took out her hand for a shake.
" Right across the hall. We'll be addressing. . .
The Silver Rebellion. "