Chapter 25: The Second Phase
The Guardian Angel Foundation.
Establishing a charity while the entire city was in lockdown in order to find you was simply ridiculous to say the least but whether it was stupid luck or actual brilliance it allowed Amon, Arthur and Renfri to stay under the radar for some time now. Make no mistake thinking it was easy as it was actually difficult to pull off…
The underground in Catrin was sweeped thoroughly and even the larger gangs in the Coln district suffered heavy blows. The amount of arrests numbered in hundreds and it was just in the crossfire while looking for them potentially hiding there. The lines whether you wanted to enter or exit the city were extremely long as they interrogated everyone who wished to do so and to ease this task many barricades were set up so even though the city was not surrounded by any castle walls it seemed like it actually was as there were only a couple of points you could use to enter the city, the check up gates if you will. And to top it all off there were numerous police patrols going through door to door ever since the search was announced.
It was almost as if they were in the middle of the war but I guess it is a proper reaction to a sudden explosion capable of demolishing an entire cliff inside of your borders. If some people survived with knowledge to replicate such a thing and actually set it off inside the populated area the casualties could number in hundreds of thousands. It was like a terrorist organisation getting their hands on a nuke, pretty scary stuff so better be safe than sorry I suppose.
But then again who would suspect a charity? The police just skimmed over and perhaps were too lazy to do a more thorough investigation because if they did they would discover that the documents Arthur and Amon had were forged, not to mention the 'colourful' past Renfri had in her record. They would be arrested, interrogated and their identities potentially discovered to be a pair of demons and some sort of weird human experiment. In other words the idea with the charity worked like a charm in making people ignore you…
Actually pretty sad if you think about it.
Anyway the luck and relative carefreeness the gang enjoyed ended when the Church of Purity arrived. A simple sign on the door would be unable to deceive their senses and it was a simple matter of time until they were discovered and caught.
That's why it was time for the second phase in Amon's plan… the plea.
***
Two days passed since the people of the church arrived in Catrin.
An angelic like figure was walking through a certain street in the Coln district and her name was Sarah. She was accompanied by a crowd of police officers and some of the church members. The whole thing resembled some sort of parade as they walked but no one was willing to witness it since they feared her more than anything.
Why is that? Well...
Sarah stopped suddenly and with her the whole group of people as well. She pointed to a certain door and without any need to say anything the police officers acted. They did not even think of acting polite as they straight up forced the door open and barged inside.
They were quick to drag everyone who was inside outside and were put to kneel in front of her. She once again casually pointed her finger at a couple of men and a certain woman who hugged a young boy.
Both of them screamed as they were forced apart, one dragged to the left and the other to the right. The boy and the rest of the 'lucky' few were let go but none of them were willing to leave as the 'unlucky' people were pinned to the ground.
This time it was up to the 'priests' to finish the job.
Unlike Sarah they did not have any bandages wrapped around their heads as they were yet to become the 'purified ones' but wore similar to Julius armour that had metallic parts painted white whereas the cloth that they had on top of the armour was light blue. The members of the church still used old weapons like runic swords despite firearms being more popular these days and were put on full display today.
It is truly a beautiful craft if you ask me. They say that a true runic sword must be forged for a full month out in the open only when the moonlight shone on it, then blessed by a deity of one's choosing and lastly given to a master that would finalise the whole process by inscribing runes onto it. Of course simply having runes on a sword would classify it as runic but isn't it what I described so romantic?
Oh… why is the boy crying? Did I say something wrong?
Anyway, the whole process of dragging people out and then getting some of them to leave dead on a cart took less than ten minutes proving that the members of the church were honest about being efficient in their work. No one 'impure' will be left when they are done.
Sarah now could continue her 'walk' down the street but couldn't help but express her surprise when she saw a blond haired man with green eyes awkwardly approach her and give her a flyer. The people that surrounded her were similarly in disbelief and failed to stop him even though it was supposed to be their job to make sure she was 'protected'.
She looked at the flyer which had a symbol depicting a pair of angelic wings surrounded by a golden halo and a text under it which said:
"The Guardian Angel Foundation. Charity for the poor and sickly"
Followed by an address… as well as an invitation…