"This is your initiation mission. Do you understand that much?" The man in dark robes spoke towards Ainsworth.
Ainsworth nodded in understanding. "I'll do my best."
"You understand I've been sent to guide you, yes?"
"Yes, and I'm very thankful for that much." Ainsworth smiled. "You seem very strong. I feel that all will go well in your care, Sir."
To Ainsworth, who had barely been able to entrance himself into the Red Roses, the third-tier level of the organisation, he still remained an outlier. Moreover, he had still not adapted to his powers after journeying through the trials to earn them. He was, in most regards, the hatchling of the Red Roses. However, the man standing before Ainsworth was a decorated member of Heaven's Roses- his senior by all metrics. He was someone Ainsworth knew nothing of, except for the fact that he was someone he should respect.
So, despite the horrors he had encountered on the investigation thus far, he had no worries for his own safety. Rather, he was preoccupied with worrying about the safety of the newly-initiated White Rose, Lumière; who had joined by his own recommendation. He looked over towards the magician, crouched down by the roadside as he called out to all members in the vicinity.
As the other members approached Lumière, he let out a sigh, preparing himself for the lie- a minor 'performance'. Lumière looked back towards the White Roses with a calm expression on his face.
'I wonder, will they notice this much?'
With his gloved right hand, Lumière snapped his fingers.
'Deception isn't inherently good… but it's all for a good purpose, isn't it?'
The outline of dots of liquid quickly formed on the surface of the stone road. They were bright red in hue, and had an illusory tint that only Lumière could discern. To any other person who had no knowledge of the illusion, they were purely identical to dots of crimson blood.
"I found something!" Lumière called out to the White Roses. They approached one by one, Meraline gesturing him out of the way as she knelt down to glance at the blood. She then eyed upwards, towards the end of the road where the illusory trail of blood seemed to lead.
The man in dark robes eyed Lumière suspiciously. Out of the corner of his eye, Lumière looked back up at the man. However, what he saw sent shivers down his spine. The man's eyes were nearly bulging out of his head with the crazed expression of a lunatic. It was a death stare that he shot off at Lumière. Lumière pretended not to notice, and looked back towards the illusion he had created.
'What was he looking at me for? Did he notice something?' Lumière let out an audible 'tsk', fear rising in his heart. 'I'll stick to the back of the group for now. If he says something, I can try to play it off. I am a great liar, after all.'
"Let's follow it cautiously. However, we'll keep to the side a fair distance and stick to the shadows." Meraline spoke after confirming the clue that Lumière had pointed out.
Behind the group, a slight, knowing grin crossed Lumière's expression.
'It's really too easy to lead people. As a heretic, isn't this ability too powerful? Of course, I cannot ignore the inclination to madness I will experience as my abilities grow stronger. However, for the time being, isn't this too good for a career liar?' Lumière chided humorously as he followed in stride with the group.
As always, Nicole had been staring at Lumière with a curious and hesitant expression. However, when Lumière eyed him, he noticed that the boy's white cloak was waving slightly. The strange part of the ordeal was that there was no wind blowing to allow it to happen. Noticing Lumière's curious gaze falling upon him, Nicole's face paled. He opened his cloak slightly to reveal a small white form within his interior pocket. It took all of Lumière's strength to not burst out laughing.
Having fallen behind the others a short deal, Lumière prodded Nicole slightly in jest.
"You kept that repeating rabbit? Don't you know that it's one of those 'inconsistencies' that come along with the descent of the blasphemer goddess? It could be dangerous to carry around." Lumière chuckled.
"How could such a thing be dangerous? Have you taken only a glance at it? Its eyes sparkle so brightly…" He pulled the rabbit out of his pocket carefully, holding it in his arms. "Besides, we don't really know what the 'inconsistencies' really are anyway..."
'This boy really loves animals, doesn't he?'
After a few moments of silence, and after preparing the courage necessary to confront Lumière, Nicole followed up with a question.
"If you're a demon, won't you harm the others?" Nicole asked worriedly, clutching the rabbit between his arms gently. "Don't you all seek violence in the mortal realm?"
"Does the title of 'Demon of the Garden' sound inherently violent to you? Perhaps I'm only here to watch the roses flourish." Lumière intentionally made a play on words. Seeing Lumière's casual demeanor, Nicole relaxed slightly.
"Is that your moniker, Mr. Demon? So you really are a demon. Then, can you help us?" Nicole asked another question. "If I need to make a deal… the kind that you Demons love- even if it costs me my soul, can't you keep everyone safe?"
Lumière chuckled slightly before raising several fingers. "There are quite a few contentious points to your proposition, little mage. For one, you're a black mage. You have no soul to barter, at least not all of it- isn't that your inherent drawback to gaining power? Secondly, I've already agreed to be part of the White Roses. Doesn't this inherently entail protecting my fellow teammates? There's no need for a deal- this was a promise of my own accord. Thirdly, why do you care for them to this extent? To barter your eternity for the sake of others, can you really afford this cost?"
"It's not too great a cost. I know nothing else but what life I live now. It's only been two years since I was taken away from that place, and still I dream of it every night." Nicole's gaze turned downwards with sorrow. "Still, in my waking moments, Ramses's kind heart warms me. Cornifer may be abrasive and rude, but he is helpful on so many occasions, and his knowledge is amazingly vast. Midas is a bit too confident and brash, but his talent really is amazing, and he wouldn't hesitate to protect any of us either. As for Meraline- I doubt she needs anyone to protect her, but I would rather her suffer less than I more."
"Then, you are really a kind soul. To still think of others before yourself after all you have experienced, even if they can protect themselves- isn't that the mark of a great man?"
"Does 'Lumière Croft' think of others, even if they can already protect themselves?" Nicole asked of him. This was in reference to what he perceived to be a false identity crafted by the Demon of the Garden for the sake of hiding in plain sight.
Lumière's expression adopted a bit of shock. However, after a moment of silence, he replied with a smile.
"'Lumière Croft' thinks of things greater than others. He is someone who wishes to change the world for only those he considers 'precious' to him. However, those 'precious' people are only those who cannot protect themselves. Anyone else with the ability to do so is no matter to him. Isn't that too shallow?" Lumière chided. "In theory, he's no hero for all. He's too choosy to be a fairy-tale hero. After all, one can't save everyone. Shouldn't he leave those capable of fighting for themselves to fend for themselves?"
'Speaking of myself in the third-person so often is growing to be far too strange. I wonder if I myself will start to think of 'Lumière Croft' as a persona. Couldn't that be too dangerous? I need to anchor myself to my own identity before it fades away.' Lumière chuckled internally.
"I don't think that's particularly wrong. Just because Meraline can protect herself doesn't mean I shouldn't try to protect her, but it also doesn't mean I should try. It's just a matter of different people with different styles of living, isn't it? Anyways, who would ever demean someone for saving people? Whether you saved one life or a dozen, aren't you still a hero?"
Lumière chuckled while listening to Nicole's response, suddenly pointed towards Nicole's arms.
"Your pet rabbit has gone missing."
Nicole glanced downwards, and a look of horror masked his expression.
"Don't worry too much about it, little mage. The repeating rabbit appears often. You'll see it again, I'm sure. However, I still don't recommend messing around with an inconsistency born from the descension attempts of an evil deity..."
"I think I was wrong about you, Mr. Demon." Nicole smiled softly. "Perhaps you aren't so bad. At least, you're far better a person than those Phantoms…"
A shiver visibly ran through Nicole's body.
"Only when you know the worst of people do the most average seem like saints." Lumière joked.
Rejoining the group, the quiet conversation that the group was having began to be overheard.
"Why is there so much space for the Nameless to conduct these rituals anyway?" Ramses asked quietly.
"During the war, many parts of Leiden went unused and unoccupied. It's not like there were many to come back to these parts either. Their residents also died along with the war. This is why there's so many secluded areas for the Nameless to conduct their rituals." Father Benedict let out a sigh.
Lumière knew this much. He had spent each day at the monastery tending to those sent home from the war early, or the wounded that overflowed from the main monastery's hospital. Afterwards, he had dealt with the blowout of strife, crime, anxieties, horrors, and depression that Leiden has experienced. However, only recently had he come to know that Father Benedict had been dealing with that and more. On top of his daily duties at the monastery, Father Benedict had been defending Leiden at the same time.
'I wonder... is he tired?' Since Elise's death, Lumière had grown a bit estranged from his childhood friend. However, he thought he had known Father Benedict's mental state the best out of anyone. Only recently had he learnt that he knew nothing at all of him. Ainsworth was a guardian of Leiden's people that never spoke about his troubles or his worries. He was silent, and he was never beloved. 'He won't ever receive recognition from those who don't even know they're in danger...'
'I want to protect him...' Lumière sighed inwardly.
Soon, they came to a clearing within the mercantile belt. It seemed completely abandoned, with houses having been boarded up, giving the area an air of reverent silence.
The man in the dark robes with the red rose insignia they had met prior raised his hand, signalling them to halt. Within the shadows, he scanned the environment around him, gauging a sense of no danger imminent. However, the clearing was all but empty. piercing through the stone ground, dozens of similar pillars of flesh were erected. However, instead of runes decorating their surfaces, the skin was littered with countless mouths, eyes, noses, fingers, and toes. They were all writhing. They were all living.
Screams of agony echoed through the clearing. The White Roses looked at the sight in horror, while Father Benedict and Meraline began to prepare themselves for a fight. However, their preparations were interrupted by a gaudy, deep laugh. The man in dark robes slowly began to step up, turning his back to the cacaphony of horror as he took off his hat, dropping it to the ground.
"Is it your guys's first time at Leiden's North wall, Oost-Souburg?" A plotting grin began to spread up the man's face. In unison, a bright red mist began to spread across the ground, and the area around them was cloaked in a general darkness, as if the remnants of lamplight in the area had dimmed.
"What is this, Sir?" Father Benedict asked hesitantly, his hand affixed on his blade.
"The timing really wasn't right... all the other Red Roses were preoccupied with other missions. The only one I could lead here was the newbie outlier who poses no threat to us." The man chuckled. "Isn't this a waste of all the time I spent pretending? Even dealing with these fledgling doves isn't worth my time."
The shrieking of the flesh pillars intensified, shaking and writhing rapidly. The mouths chirped, and the fingers wiggled. The noses drew in the scent of the air, but all it caught was the scent of blood. Suddenly, in the shadows of the environment, dozens of individuals stepped forward, basking in the illuminscence of the crimson mist. They had crazed, maniacle expressions like the stare that the man had given Lumière prior.
"Prentending?" Father Benedict's eyes widened. "Come on now, you're joking- right?"
The man just chuckled in response. In unison, the people standing behind him brought their hands up to their faces and grasped at their flesh. Their fingers dug into the skin, causing an upheaval of flesh and blood to occur. The fatty pink flesh writhed in their grasps as they gradually tore their expressions away from their face until there was nothing left but hollowness. In that hollowness, there was the face of a creature. Several creatures, all with misshappen mouths filled with several rows of teeth. Their bodies melted away into a mixture of rot and crimson-miasma, and small black tendrils writhed on their surfaces.
Soon, the man in dark robes's face began to melt away as well, his skull exposed, with the only remaining aspect of his expression being the maniacal grin.
"Welcome to Oost-Souburg, fledglings."