He felt himself resting in a torrential darkness. It was as if the sea of shadow that rested underneath the Lord Sinner's labyrinth had made its way into his very dreams. Lumière watched as the thrashing black tentacles whipped about within the air, and as the eyes in the distances burgeoned and widened fiercely with malice. The darkness slowly began to envelope him. However, as much as he tried to cry out, he could not scream. However, a light suddenly emerged from the darkness. It resembled the bright-white star in the labyrinth's abyss that he had seen once before. Lumière tried to trudge through the darkness, but he could not move a single step. Still, with each failed movement, the ball of light grew ever-closer towards him. Soon, it grew close enough for Lumière to touch it, and so he did. The warmth enveloped him, immediately eliminating the chill that came with the abyss. In the presence of that light, he felt a familiar feeling that he had grown distant from.
There was a woman present in the light. She had bright-blonde hair that glimmered like morning sunlight, and sapphire eyes like the sky. Lumière wanted to call out to her, but he could not speak, and he wished to keep her close, but he could not move. She was ever-near, but ever-distant. She was what his heart desired, but no matter how much he tried to picture her, she was gone. There was nothing more to desire with intent to achieve, just desire with the intent of longing for what was lost.
The light gradually faded away, and Lumière was left in the darkness of the abyss, with the writhing tendrils slowly wrapping their way around him in the way they embraced Lord Sinner's labyrinth. He was slowly dragged into the darkness, and as he was, he began to give up the feelings of warmth he had been holding onto. Then, he awoke from the nightmare.
As soon as Lumière opened his eyes, he was greeted by the face of the Priest, Ainsworth Benedict. Lumière's shadow quivered a bit, not to Ainsworth's notice. Lumière inhaled deeply, suppressing the torrent of emotions within him quickly.
"They've arrived. Please come out as soon as you've dressed. Your clothes are a mess." Father Benedict sighed.
"Who's here?" Lumière's eyebrow raised inquisitively.
"The White Roses are here. They're the outlier team you'll be joining, as well as the team led by the nun who will be living with us from now on- a Blue Rose."
As Lumière stood up and dressed himself in a casual attire, his parsed through his emotions and thoughts.
'These nightmares are getting worse… I wonder if the persona of 'Lain' would have such dreams.' He thought humorously as he quelled his anxieties. Every morning, due to the nightmares, the monster in his shadow grew inclined to attack him, and so he had grown accustomed to calming himself during his basic morning routine. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and in a moment of silence, confirmed the stability of his emotions before stepping out of his room. He pulled a flat cap over his messy head of hair that had been tied back behind his head. Then, he stepped down the stairs that led to the main hall of the monastery. There were four people in the main hall- two boys darting about, a woman sitting in the pews, and Father Benedict standing beside her.
Lumière immediately recognised the woman sitting in the pews in the main prayer hall. She had vibrant red hair and violet eyes, and her expression was a mix of seriousness and calm demeanor. She had her arms folded over one another, although Lumière could see that she had a crown of thorns pendant similar to Father Benedict. She wore a long black cloak with a silver-white lining. The hood of the cloak rested on her shoulders, along with ornate silver decorations that stretched down the sleeves towards the cuff. Her red hair was tied back behind her head, apart from a single strand that rested against her ear. She was the woman that Lumière had seen appear beside Father Benedict when the Nameless creature had attacked.
There were two boys in church uniforms moving quickly about the monastery. They carried pots and pans, swept the floor, and polished the pews within the prayer hall. Lumière looked curiously over towards Father Benedict, but he deferred his gaze to the woman sitting in the pews. She had an air of arrogance about her, with a leg crossed over the other. In the monastery, it seemed as if she reigned as the strongest in the room.
"The monastery was filthy. If I'm going to operate out of this location, it should be spotless. These boys are the best at what they do. Just don't interfere with their work and they'll make sure that this filthy place is pristine." She nodded. "Well, that's not what I'm here to talk about. You're the newest test-dummy I've been given, yeah?"
Lumière's expression sank as if he had become disappointed. Seeing this, Father Benedict hurriedly introduced the woman.
"This is Meraline Avelis. She's a member of the Blue Roses, and has been tasked with coordinating the White Rose team you'll be a part of. Please ignore how haughty she can get. I promise she'll be good to you."
Meraline seemed unmoved by Father Benedict's comments.
"Our primary focus is defeating the Nameless and halting the spread of the cult that follows the Blasphemer Goddess. Whether you're good enough to face this task is something I'll decide."
"The Blasphemer Goddess?" Lumière spoke nervously. The mention of 'blasphemy' had become a contentious point for him, who had once defied the will of a Goddess.
Meraline nodded her head. "The Lace of Blood- she's the prime distributor of the powers of Heresy, a domain of magic that primarily focuses on the blaspheming of deities, blood magic, and illusion. Such an inherently evil domain is something we can't stand by and let flourish, lest it become a majour problem for the general populous. Her creatures- the Nameless that take over the bodies of others are the ones trying to spread her faith and biblical canon, as well as enacting complex rituals in order to further her descent."
"The descent of a deity? Does that have majour implications?"
"It's said that Deities- Gods, or those close to that level of power, walk among us. It's not particularly dangerous for us when they do so. Any seeming person could be one of them. However, the descent of a Deity can cause extremely strange occurences- inconsistencies, we call them. They are strange happenings, the uncommon factors encountered. They could be strange coincidences, or even a sense of déjà vu. These likely aren't as they seem- rather the warping of our very reality. While in theory, this doesn't seem like much, it could in turn create a domino effect we don't want to see take place."
"Moreover, the descent of an evil deity isn't inherently a positive thing" Father Benedict continued. "If they were allowed to descend and enact their will on our mortal realm so easily, could that be considered a good thing to most people? We've been working with the Peacekeepers to identify those who could potentially be Nameless, although to a very difficult end."
There were many strange terms and concepts being thrown around, but Lumière was able to gain a general sense of the situation despite that.
"So these 'Heaven's Roses' are a team that is focused on stopping the descent of this Blasphemer Goddess? Moreover, you want me to join their outlier team, who focus on their training to receive these magical powers to help combat the spread of the corrupted and evil faith?"
'If I were to join this team, it would mean constantly having to hide my position in order to not be discovered as a servant of Lord Sinner. There really wouldn't be any blowback from denying this offer. From anyone's standpoint, willingly choosing to fight against those horrors would be something anyone would shy away from. However, if I choose to join them, I could gain further knowledge into this strange and mysterious world of magic. Something is surely going to lead me to finding the Phantom Syndicate and the people behind Elise's death. It's best to have channels like this- in the way that Alain and Juno have their connections in the mercantile industry.'
"That's correct." Meraline nodded. "So, will you join us in this fight against the Blasphemer Goddess and her perverse faith?"
"I will." Lumière spoke succinctly, making up his mind. "Praise the grace of the thorns." He spoke out a praise relating to the Crown of Thorns. Most often, any line that related to her most common mantra of praise could be used to praise her, although this line was the most used among them, especially among members of the orthodoxy.
"Praise the grace of the thorns." Father Benedict and Meraline responded in unison.
"It'll be a pleasure to have you, then." Meraline's serious expression abated slightly, and a genial grin spread up her face. "Shall I introduce you to your fellow members- the White Roses?"
Soon after, they exited the monastery, the bright morning sky having given way to slight rainfall.
"Where are these 'members' you spoke of?" Lumière asked with a hint of suspicion in his tone.
"Above you." Meraline spoke casually.
Perched atop the two belltowers of the monastery were four figures bathed in the emerging sunlight of the morning. None of them looked particularly out of the ordinary. However, the gaze of one of the figures on the right tower shook Lumière's nerves fiercely. He had curly raven-black hair parted on each side of his head, and silver eyes that seemed lost and vacant, yet pierced his being despite that. He reminded Lumière of Adonis Trinder, the underling of the Blackfeather Group's Boss who was always fidgeting with the monocle on his eye.
They all descended from the belltowers one by one, landing in the grass below. Their shadows overtook the walls of the monastery, seeming massive in comparison to their forms. Meraline walked over to them, and one by one, began to introduce them.
The first was a man with golden hair and bright yellow eyes. Meraline introduced him as 'Midas'. He had runes etched all over his arms in black and red ink, reminiscent of the runes that Juno and Cartwell Heffen from the House of Cards would use for the sake of contracts. The second man introduced was Ramses Haire, who had red eyes and sandy-brown hair. His appearance made it clear that he was from the neighbouring Eastern continent that the Forger Empire had fought a war against only two years prior. However, that was not something Lumière cared much about, neither did his presence seem to affect the other members of the White Roses. The third introduced was a man named 'Cornifer Lohr', a lower-noble scribe who had been forced to join Heaven's Roses to avoid a succession dispute. He had black hair and dark eyes, and had been constantly flipping an ornate golden pocketwatch open and shut, as if to avoid boredom.
However, the person that Lumière was most interested in learning the name of was the last introduced. The one with curly raven-black hair and silver eyes was named Nicole Auirore, although it seemed that Meraline had nothing special to say about Nicole. Still, Lumière had already gathered several assumptions about him.
'Is this boy a Phantom?'