The Head Pope faltered. "W-what?! What blasphemous words are you sprouting?"
"Blasphemy? Why, I never dare!" She smiled eerily. Pulling something out from her clothes she held it up in front of their faces to see.
A gold bell with a long hanging talisman was on her hand. Graying letters were written on the yellowing paper.
"T-that's-!"
Claudina smirked. "I will say it again. Paladins arrest the Head Pope for the following crimes; defamation of a Saint, impersonating high officials, embezzling temple funds and last of all denying entrance to family members of the Saint." The bell jingled and golden beams of light surrounded Claudina. "On my word as the representative of Chronosits, I command you to take the Head Pope as a criminal against the kingdom of time."
Within a few seconds after the initial shock wore off the paladins put the handcuffs on the Head Pope's hands. The Pope kept on mumbling words of disbelief.
As soon as the door closed, Claudina collapsed onto the floor. But something grabbed her before she could fall down. She lifted her head up to see Sylvia grinning at her. With one strong pull she lifted Claudina in her arms.
With relative ease she carried her back to the bed.
"Thank you. For helping me and Sylvester."
Claudina smiled. "I only returned a favor. There's no need to thank me."
"Even so," Sylvia bowed her head. "I would still thank you."
Flustered Claudina twirled a lock of her hair. "Mhm."
"Sister, can we talk outside? Claudina needs to rest. She's still recovering from injuries."
"Injuries?" Sylvia looked worried. "Oh dear, are you alright?"
"If I rest properly I will be."
"I see, rest up then. I will come visit you later."
Sylvester watched her leave before turning to Claudina. "That bell, is that the True king's representee's seal?"
Claudina giggled. "Maybe~"
Sylvester nervously looked around. "It isn't real now is it?"
She only lifted a finger to her lips. "That is a secret~"
"So I heard you imprisoned the Head Pope." Chronos stopped petting Esme's hair.
Tea spurted out of her mouth. "...I am not sure what you are talking about Chronos, hahaha…" she replied with unease while wiping her face.
"Good. I was meaning to drive him out." He resumed again.
'Then don't scare me like that!!' she seethed inwards. Chronos ignored her heated gaze.
"Huh? Ah…w-where…?" Esme rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Did you have a good rest?" Chronos asked.
"Er…um…yes, sir.."
"Esme, do you want to eat this?" Claudina asked, lifting a forkful of cake. Esme's eyes shone and she immediately opened her mouth to let in the sweet treat.
As she chewed she kept glancing up at Chronos.
Chronos, not taking his eyes off his book, asked, "Something you wish to say, lass?"
Esme, flustered, stammered out a reply. "A-ah…I wa-was just wondering when we will go h-home again?..."
"Isn't this home? I mean both Claudina and I are here, after all."
Flinching she lowered her head with a small smile. "I forgot…"
Chronos chuckled, the sound reverberating in his chest. "I was teasing. Claudina has some work left before we leave."
Esme gazed at the other chair. "W-what work?"
"Hm? Just some grown up stuff…"
"Oh…"
"That doesn't mean I won't play with you in my free time. Don't worry."
Flushing she nodded her head and nuzzled on to Chronos.
"...How far have the preparations come?" Chronos asked when he confirmed Esme had fallen asleep again.
"Considering how I was immediately sent to a trial before the gods, as soon as I woke up, everything is going swell," she grumbled.
"The circumstances were such that we had to…"
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever…the dwarves are already working on the weapons so we will get the results in a month or two. The Magic tower has already sent my Forbidden grimoire back and I have placed those shackles on Baron. Most of my work is done."
"Most? So there are still some left."
"No. Just one." She sipped the now cold tea.
"What is it?"
"Attending Sullivan's funeral."
"...Now what did Sylvester's letter say again…take a left on the second crossroad, then walk fifty steps straight before turning right and I should be somewhere around the temple…" With a suitcase in one hand, she weaved her way through the labyrinth-like streets of Nyxrif.
Soon Claudina arrived at Sullivan's home, alone, cold and drenched to the bones. She hadn't taken into account the terrible weather here so her clothes were like a second skin on her body.
The house had a large fenced off garden at the front with various dead flowers. Overgrown weeds choked the ground. The roof of the house was heavily covered with moss and lichen. A weeping birch was leaning on the house , half bent.
When she stepped on the wooden porch it creaked nosily with age. It seemed the owner of the house was usually not home. She banged on the skull knocker. A few moments later a young woman opened the door. She had long curly hair and wore plain clothes with gold bangles. The most impressive thing that made Claudina stare was her blue eyes, the color of the deep sea ocean. Reflected on it were specks of white stars like the stars of the sky had come to rest in the blue of her eyes.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"Ah, Hello, I am Claudina, a friend of Sullivan."
The woman smiled. It was a refreshing smile that could rival the sun. "Come in, come in! Yes, we had been expecting you." She stepped inside bringing puddles of water inside.
Also he didn't seem to get that many visitors judging by how bare the interior was.
"You must be tired after that long journey. How about you rest up a bit first before meeting Sullivan?" With her sparkling eyes and warm smile, Claudina sheepishly nodded.
As she walked behind her in puzzlement she couldn't help but wonder why she easily agreed since she didn't want to stay that long.
Sylvester knocked on her door a few hours later.
With a tentative smile he shepherded Claudina down the twisty halls. They met the woman with the pretty eyes again coming out of a room, a vase full of fresh blossoms in her hands. She smiled and bowed her head in greeting.
As she went away, Claudina sneaked up. "Who's that woman?"
"Right, you don't know…her name's Blair, Altair's betrothed and Sullivan's future sister in law."
"Sullivan has a brother?" she asked in surprise. Sylvester turned in confusion. "He mentioned his brother multiple times in front of you, Claudina. Which is weird since as soon as he says he has a brother he doesn't say much about him anymore."
Claudina chuckled nervously. "Must have slipped my mind…"
They fell into a comfortable silence again.
Claudina glanced at the bare walls. '...His brother and he must not be on good terms. Not even a single picture.'
"Sullivan thought you weren't coming."
"Don't be silly. I missed one funeral. I am not going to miss the other."
Sylvester smiled sadly. "...That's good to hear."
Sylvester led Claudina down the narrow halls. "This is it…" he said, stopping in front of a door.
Claudina wordlessly reached for the door when a hand stopped her. She gazed up at Sylvester. "Is there something you wish to say?"
"...I would like to have a word with you regarding Esme before you go back home."
"...As you wish but I can't say you would like to hear it."
"I know." He smiled. "Now, go in. He's waiting for you."
Sullivan was sitting on his bed pillows propped up behind him. His hair had been tousled and the eye patch he wore did little to cover the signs of the curse. Deep lightning shaped lines spread all over his body. Half of his face was covered in those lines. He was looking out the open window in boredom but brightened up seeing Claudina.
"Miss Fairy~ You came to visit me! And Anatole says you don't care!"
She smiled as she took the chair in front of his bed. "Oh, but I truly didn't want to come. Sylvester pushed me."
"Is that so?" he asked, smiling sagely. "Speaking of Sylvester, his oldest sister came and forcibly made him retire on the spot, did you hear?"
"Hm? Yes, Miss Sofia did do that…" she chuckled behind her hand. "It was quite comical to see the new Head Pope's face turning shades of purple and green when she stormed in to hand in his plea for early retirement."
Sullivan slumped into his bed. "So lucky~ I wish I had a beautiful older sister taking care of me like that too~ All I have is one weirdo little brother."
"I heard your brother is going to get married. Congratulations."
"While I was away, he finally wooed his lady love. Can you believe the nerve of him? All those dates I could have crashed!"
Claudina only smiled knowing no one would trust Sullivan being near a happy couple.
"Now that I am going to die in a few days I can't even attend the wedding in June!"
She saw a bowl of fruits on the bedside table. She took an apple and started to peel it as Sullivan ranted and raved, occasionally gushing about the woman his brother chose was as good as a diamond.
In all his words, Claudina could deduce that one, Sullivan deeply cared and loved his brother and two he was happy somebody could take care of him when he was gone.
She sliced the crudely peeled apples in uneven halves. Blinking at the unevenness she handed one half for Sullivan to eat.
"Wow you can't even peel an apple right," he said when he took the apple.
"I am not good at cooking either."
"..."
"..."
"...Are you sad that I am going to die?"
"Not really, no."
Sullivan smiled. "Good. That's what I have been telling everyone. Don't be sad. Celebrate my death. I know how much of a bad person I am. I actually told Lord Nyx not to go over all rites and rituals at my funeral. Just throw me in a ditch and move on with your day." He signed, the apple in his hands. He had a content smile on his face as he settled into the pillows.
Claudina and Sullivan sat in comfortable silence for a long time.
"I told Lord Nyx about your plans. She agrees with it. Says you are quite the bright one to think of something Like that."
"I am sure anybody could have come up with someone like that."
"Oooh being humble?! Is this the Claudina I know?"
The way he said it made her snort. Then they both laughed for no reason at all.
Claudina's eyes crinkled as she leaned back. She put an arm over her face.
"What's on your mind?"
"Thinking whether I should tell you the truth."
"Ah, dead men tell no tales eh? But I am not dead yet."
"Oh blast it! What's the worst that can happen? I will be back before they can catch me," she spoke more to herself than Sullivan. She gazed at him with a mischievous smile.
"What are you up to?"
"I lied. I lied about there being a war. I lied about the 21st generation of Saints being alive and well. And most importantly I lied about the Vessels of Ri'sh coming in power so quickly in the future."
While his eyes widened, his smile never left his face. It made him downright eerie to look at.
She continued on with that sweet, innocent smile. "There is no war. The only thing that plagues the world is the greatest Evil the land has ever seen. Fortunately that can be taken care of by me when I get back home."
"But you see, I am a very greedy girl and don't want anything going haywire in my plans. That's why when I met that bat, Calliope, I didn't hesitate in bringing up mass producing Holy Weapons. By the time I get back, it will be good few decades but the final product will be without fail the most powerful."
"So even if I fail in brining the great Evil down, the Saints of the 22nd generation can. With how tenacious I am, I will hold their secrets over their head until they give me the rights to take the Evil."
"As for the Vessels of Ri'sh," she had cruel smirk on her face now. "Where they once held the land in fear after the previous saints passing they became an obscure group when the 22nd generation of Saints came into the light. But this time around, they will go extinct!"