Under the blanket of darkness, a group of seven was standing outside a short building.
A silver hue of moonlight lit the area, although faintly.
The strong odor of antiseptic chemicals—an ink-like smell—permeated the surroundings, along with a distinguished tinge of crisp fresh paper.
After an entire day of dealing with "Banes" and shutting down various newspaper production sites, a team of seven finally arrived at the headquarters of Storm Daily.
Apparently, this was where the first copies of Storm Daily were printed to be distributed to other production sites throughout Stormwatch. The technology wasn't advanced enough to fill the needs of the entire population, as such, each region in the vast capital of Treon had a separate printing site.
Part of the reason why it took the authorities almost a whole day to reach here was that they had too much on their plates.
The entire day, small teams were dispatched to take control of the situation in various affected areas.
At the same time, they had to announce to not read the newspapers, in every block of Stormwatch or they might turn into a Bane-like mindless horror that would bring mental storms on instincts.
They also had to seize all the newspapers with signs of corruption!
Despite such a hectic day, the protectors of light managed to maintain their sanity and drive themselves forward to put an end to this long-winded struggle!
At the head of the group, stood a stoic man who appeared to be in his middle age.
He had a robust buffed physique. His long beard and walrus mustache gave off an intimidating aura.
However, the clean blue robes and a silver compass hanging around his neck emanated a soothing air completely in contradiction to his physical appearance.
"Miss Akerse," His throaty voice echoed, startling Caroline who was scrutinizing the dark building, "Are you sure, you don't want to rest? I heard some unfortunate accident happened in your family, yet you have been working hard for Tempest…"
Caroline's expression stiffened, though she quickly composed herself, "Bishop Julian, thank you for your concern. But the situation is already dealt with and I'm in perfect condition, as such, I won't be a burden in the operation." She forced a smile.
"That's good…" Bishop Julian said gently—or at least tried to, but his croaky voice made it hard for others to feel he wasn't spouting profanities.
Suddenly his deep brown eyes narrowed dangerously, as he muttered to himself, almost inaudible to the people around him, "…because, in the long river of history, unnecessary weights have always been the first to be sacrificed."
Along with Caroline, Elmer, and Lewis were also nearby. Apart from this trio, there was another team of three. The two teams were put under Bishop Julian to lead and crack down on various regions within Stormwatch after the whole debacle.
This was not the only team; others went to different areas.
The team of seven proceeded forward and entered the lightless building.
They were all extremely cautious while weaving their way through the building under the leadership of Bishop Julian.
The two group leaders Elmer and Henry carried oil lamps to light the surroundings.
"It's empty." Noted Henry as his eyes shined with a mysterious luster.
"Could it be the doing of some cult?" Said a member of Henry's team.
"Possibly." Elmer nodded, "From the reports we received, no arrests have been made. The people who printed the papers have vanished into thin air."
Their journey was smooth and they didn't encounter anything abnormal.
All the machinery and office rooms were in no way rundown as if all the staff and workers have taken a holiday and could resume their work from tomorrow.
And this was very strange.
Bishop Julian nodded, and said, "We are not here to fight more "Banes" but to find clues. From the information I received, the families of the workers that were interrogated by civil bodies said they didn't notice any abnormalities. However, their family members have not returned to their homes since last night!"
The rest of them slowly became more relaxed and searched around the building however, their investigation didn't yield any fruitful leads.
Suddenly, Caroline who was a little distance apart but in the same room saw a crumbled newspaper at a desk.
She approached it and unfurled it.
Caroline wasn't scared.
With her own powers, she could resist the mental storm brought by the paper that could transform one into a Bane-like existence.
She flipped through the sheets and reached the page before the one where the source of infection lay.
As she was about to flip it and see the same abnormal column, the gaze of Bishop Julian fell upon her.
Caroline successfully turned the page.
Instead of a column with ramblings about "paper" written she saw a sketch.
It was an outline of a coin.
The coin had a single eyeball with a vertical pupil drawn in the center of it.
As Caroline gazed upon the eye, the eye "peered" down at her.
Immediately, Caroline felt a "gaze" scrutinizing her.
Goosebumps crawled all her body as her back was drenched in a cold sweat.
It was at that moment, Bishop Julian arrived by her side and took the paper away, as he analyzed it with intensity, unbothered by the "gaze".
Caroline took deep breaths to calm her accelerated breathing.
Elmer and Lewis silently came behind her while the latter used his mental powers to soothe her emotions.
Bishop Julian seemingly in deep thought muttered, "The Coin of Gradoz… But didn't 'they' die in the Epileptic Blizzard 20 years ago?"
…
Gentle sun rays graced the small manor of Akerse's.
Birds chirped in the distance as a cool breeze flowed in Kole's room while wafting up the curtains in its wake.
Kole gazed outside the window as he stretched his limbs while leaning in his bed.
"Mhm, I wish to see what awaits me today."