"What the name of the gods?!" Clarence yelled in confusion. He stood up from his seat and Leo got up as well. Hearing the yelling, the rest of Doe squad entered the room.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Andrew yelled at Bishop as he entered the room and saw the knife.
"Bishop, calm down." Leo began walking forward slowly to Bishop.
Bishop turned towards Leo with the knife, "Don't come any closer! You could be with them for all I know!"
The Bennett couple, during this whole disaster, remained silent as they observed the chaos. They held onto each other ever so slightly as Bishop began waving the knife around, trying to block anyone from Doe squad from getting closer.
Leo however, pressed onward. He walked closer, and closer. It was a slow walk with his arms raised; he was being as noncombative as possible.
As Leo neared Bishop, Bishop looked at him with a fierce gaze, hatred seeded deep within his eyes. He lunged forward with the knife!
Leo dodged to the side and grabbed Bishop's wrist. He wasn't quick enough however, as Bishop's knife managed to graze Leo's arm.
After grabbing Bishop's wrist, Leo pushed it away and brought his body close to Bishop's. Leo took a risk and whispered quietly to Bishop, "Stop it, I can smell them too."
After that, Bishop paused. He leaned his head back and stared at Leo, trying to determine if he was lying. A moment later, a knife clattered to the floor and Leo let go of Bishop's hand. Bishop took a step back and observed the room.
Without saying a word, he turned and left. Everyone except Leo was left baffled upon seeing this. They looked to Leo, and he didn't give an answer.
A moment later, the Bennett couple spoke, "Thank you." They gave Leo a smile.
Leo nodded back to them, and the Bennett's spoke up again, "We've found a place in town to stay so we'll be leaving. It seems we weren't wanted anyway."
The others talked a bit with the Bennett's to make sure they were okay, all while Leo watched them in silence. The Bennett's went into the room with the cots and grabbed their luggage. Not that long after, they left the building with warm smiles.
Leo frowned slightly. They were too unfazed by the previous events. Its not everyday someone threatens to stab you, so they definitely shouldn't be mentally stable. He rubbed his eyebrows in frustration.
He wanted to yell into a pillow. He took a moment and collected himself. With a deep breath, his mind returned to its natural state and Leo went to go find Bishop.
He walked throughout the lighthouse and eventually came upon a closed door in the upper floors. Leo leaned against the wall with a sigh and knocked gently while holding his cut arm.
"It's me."
Behind the door, Leo heard a weak, "Leave me alone."
Leo waited for a moment but when it was clear that Bishop wasn't going to leave, he left to treat his wound. He began walking down the steps and heading to the nearest bathroom.
"That was a brave thing you did." Vera said to Leo as she stumbled randomly upon him.
"I guess." Leo replied, his mind still wandering a sea of complicated thoughts. He didn't care about the Bennett whatsoever, nor did he care if Bishop killed them. All he wanted were answers from Bishop and somebody in his squad most likely would've used force to do so.
Whether or not they would use deadly force didn't matter, Leo needed to get on Bishop's good side to get the answers he wanted. If Leo let anybody else stop Bishop, he'd never get told what he was looking for.
Whereas someone else might've done it out of the goodness of their heart, it was all a calculation for Leo.
She gasped as she saw Leo's arm, "Oh my! You haven't patched up your arm yet! Come on, let me help you." She turned and started making her way to the nearest bathroom. Leo followed shortly behind her, there was no reason not to.
As he sat on the toilet's lid and rolled up his sleeve, a large cut was revealed. Blood trickled slowly down his forearm. Vera took a medical kit out from a cabinet and quickly started inspecting the wound.
"Luckily it's not a deep cut, it just happens to be shallow enough to draw blood." She said with certainty as she opened the medical supplies.
"Oh yeah, how do you know?" Leo asked.
"I was studying to be a trauma surgeon, but the ER is a place of nightmares." She said with a grim smile, "I got far enough along to learn a lot of the tricks, but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it forever. Every day, my psyche collapsed further and further. I got nightmares; I would see some of the patients who died without anybody able to help them." She bit her lip.
"Hey, its alright." Leo comforted, "That's a tough job for anyone."
She sighed, "I know, it's just… I get upset thinking about it. It's a shame that things like that even happen."
Leo remained silent and Vera started patching up his arm with efficiency. She began cleaning up the supplies and Leo found his arm hurt more than it usually would at this point. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
He forced himself to stand up and then he thanked Vera. She smiled and nodded.
Leo exited the room and quickly made his way to his cot. He sat in it before anyone else sat in theirs, the room was exceptionally quiet.
Leo began getting a headache from the thinking, so he stopped. He stared once more at the ceiling while waiting for himself to get tired. Eventually, he found his eyelids getting heavier, so he let them do their job.
He closed his eyes and the night passed.
He woke up and quickly raised himself up from his bed. Sweat fell from his body as he sighed. His hand swept back his hair and rubbed his eyes. His arm was sore still, which confused him, his healing regeneration should've healed him.
With a click of his tongue, he looked around. He looked outside and it was another beautiful day.
If the weather reports were accurate, that would end today.
Leo clenched his fist and got out of bed. As he stood, a tired Faust ever so slightly opened his eyes.
Once he saw Leo's drenched figure, he asked in a groggy voice, "Another nightmare?"
Leo looked at him and nodded. At this point, all of Doe squad were used to them since they bunked together for a month.
"You should really get that checked out." Faust muttered with a yawn as he lifted the bed sheet over his head and went back to sleep.
Leo went into the other room and saw Bishop sitting in his seat. Leo purposefully walked over to the man with loud steps. Bishop turned to see Leo and once he did, he grabbed a cup of coffee and handed it to Leo.
Leo accepted it and Bishop spoke softly, "I'm uh, sorry about yesterday."
Leo took a sip of the drink before his face scrunched up from the bitterness. He put the coffee down and said, "Never have been a fan of coffee."
Bishop chuckled as he took a sip of his own coffee. After which he said with a grin, "Neither have I."
The two were silent, besides Bishop's sips of coffee every now and then. The two were looking forward, one out the window, the other at it.
"So… what exactly is it that I'm smelling?" Leo finally asked.
Bishop downed the rest of his coffee and spoke, "I don't know."
Leo looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I mean I don't know damn it!" He gritted his teeth, "I don't know… but I can tell ye what I've been through. Perhaps a mind younger than mine can decipher it all."
Bishop continued, "What do you know about sorcerers?"
Leo frowned and said, "All I know is that they use their faith in the gods to use powers. Oh, and that only humans are bestowed the gift of sorcery."
"You're not wrong, but you don't know all the facts." Bishop spoke, "Humans are selected by the six gods: Watsoph, Anzieth, Zerum, Mapure, Lune, and Reediom. The so-called angel gods. I've heard that Token and Blight occasionally bestow the gifts as well, but I don't know for certain. These humans have high faith in those gods above, but, depending on the person, it might be more akin to a curse.
"To receive the gift, the gods themselves give sorcerers a very small part of themselves. A negligible amount from a god, but unimaginable for us humans, born without magic. But if a human's faith wavers, the gift can be taken away, and very rarely is it given back." His voice got hoarse from speaking for so long, so he refilled his coffee cup and took a sip.
He continued, "I was bestowed one of these gifts. It was a long time ago now, when I was about your age. Back then, I was a stout believer in the gods and all they stood for. After all, why wouldn't I be? But I took the gift they gave me for granted.
"It twisted my mind, I thought of things I shouldn't've. I got selfish and greedy and eventually, the holy Watsoph took my gift away. I was told my sin was 'irrevocable,' that I was straddled with it for life. I panicked and at first, I didn't believe it. I carried on as I did before, but my hubris only made me fall even farther from his grace.
"Eventually I exiled myself here, to this damnable island! It was beautiful at first, I changed, became a new man. For so many years, I bettered myself. I was renewed in Watsoph's holy eyes, he said that my 'immutable' sin had been washed away by sheer hard work. That he had never seen anything like it. That maybe he thought too lowly of humans.
"I was so joyous; I broke down in tears before his benevolence. Despite his gift, I found myself quite liking this town. So, I stayed…" Bishop hesitated, his throat closing by itself. His words caught.
Eventually though, he managed to speak, "But then the stench appeared, and everything changed. I knew my gift. It was to protect those from the hell that was invading the island!"