Veronica didn't spend much time on the scene. After her quick conversation with Hu, she looked at her watch and determined it was time to leave.
She said a quick goodbye to Michael, then went on further into the Dirt District.
The streets were especially empty in the surrounding area. Veronica spotted a few people looking out their windows with terrified expressions.
Seeing them, she sighed with sadness, then marched on towards the Church of Time.
...
The church had a few people praying inside, but it was much emptier than last time.
Father Martin was nowhere to be seen, so Veronica walked to the back without a care.
She entered the small library, where the old priest was already sipping on some tea. He smiled up at Veronica, but there was no genuine joy in the smile.
They chatted for a bit. She told him about the bombing and that everyone was fine... Except the dead civilians.
After that they stayed silent and Veronica took the book that was already prepared for her... 'Saint Virginia's Secret History.'
She didn't even look at the pages she had read last time, and instead went straight to the third and last chapter... 'Chapter Three: The Story of Saint Virginia'
With excitement, she read the chapter title a few times. She had forgotten all about the previous fighting and now her sole focus was on learning!
The first page started with a brief summary of Saint Virginia's life, but Veronica skipped that and began reading from the start.
'Virginia Stone was born in the year 229. She was the second child in a middle-class family.
Quiet ordinariness marked her early years. She went to school, where she gained mediocre grades. Her older brother outshone her in every way until she reached her 12th year.
In 241 the 12 years old Virginia was taking a bath, while playing with one of the family's old artifacts. A myth claimed the heirloom possessed magical powers.
Virginia stole it often and played with it when her parents and brother were away.
She was playing with it in the bath, but it fell out of her wet hands and landed in the bathwater. Its color changed, turning yellow and with a last scream, little Virginia passed out.
Her parents found her there in the water, close to drowning. They got her to a doctor, who stabilized and help her to the best of their abilities, but the twelve-year-old girl stayed in a coma for two entire months.
In the year 242, Virginia Stone awoke in a hospital bed. Her eye color changed from its previous red to pure gold. The doctors declared this as some medical mystery, and sent her home.'
Reading all this, Veronica knew what happened. The artifact was an Ethereal Item or Relic, which somehow dissolved into the bathwater and made the 12-year-old girl an Ascended.
According to her knowledge, Items and Relics are indivisible in most cases, but that Item must have been unique. Maybe since the girl was playing with it regularly, it developed some connection, which made the ascension possible.
Veronica thought about this for a while longer, then continued reading...
'For unknown reason, her family didn't welcome her back, and tried to send her away on an arranged marriage. Virginia never talked about this part of her life, even to her daughter, so the stories are not the most reliable.
She left her hometown and travelled to the city of Vinnorra (later renamed Vindra), the capital of the 'Free World'.
Virginia had made a few discoveries by the time she became 13 years old. She was of the Oracle Path, and she used her powers to divine to regular folk in the big city.
It was enough to get her some fame, and he lived off of it. She spent her free time trying to figure out what happened to her, and in those years, she made a lot of discoveries.
By the year 246, she knew about the Bathing Ritual and the Order of Colors. She was seventeen years old, and using all her money, she purchased the required materials for her next step in ascension.
As an 18 years old, she was the first person in the 4th Era to ever successfully Ascend to the 7th Order.'
Veronica read all this in awe. This all seemed like a fairytale to her. She heard from both Suze and Father Martin how important Saint Virginia was to the ascension, but she didn't expect her to be a child when she started!
She did more in six years than most do in their lifetime!
Seeing her expressions change, Father Martin chuckled to himself, but Veronica didn't pay attention to him. She just turned back to the book...
'Her 7th Order provided her with more avenues to pry the mysteries of this world. At that point, her fame reached the ears of the leaders of the Anter Republic (later renamed Free Cities), and they provided her with resources to do her research.
She made few discoveries in the next three years and in the year 250; she goes on a journey. Virginia spends ten years going from city to city and town to town. She writes every known mysterious tale and folklore.
This is all just a ruse, though, and in reality, she spent most of her time cataloguing every known Ethereal Material.
She also tries to learn more about the Ethereal Plain, but as a 7th Order, she finds it way too dangerous.
In the year 260, she meets a man named Victor Axim. He courts her for two years, then they get married.
She spends three more years travelling with her new husband until she advances further. In the year 265, as a 36 years old, Virginia Axim-Stone advances and reaches the 6th Order.
This Order brings new realizations with it, and she spends the next four years trying to learn everything about it. She wants to do and learn more, but in the year 269, she gets pregnant.
It is said that she saw the future of her pregnancy, and her child's death. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy since the anxiety she felt caused her a miscarriage.'
Reading this, Veronica sighed with sadness. She also didn't fail to note the husband's name, which the author of the book warned against...
Losing her child caused Virginia to fall into depression. She closed herself in her home's guest room and stayed there alone for three years. As a 6th Order Ascended, her metabolism was much slower, and she didn't even need to eat during that time.
Upon her exit in the year 272, she had discovered quite a few new information. She learnt about rituals and True Names, which would later become the prayers for the specific Gods!
From there on, her mood changes and after a few more years, she gets pregnant again.
This time, for the time of her pregnancy, she stops her research and divining. During it she gets sick more than a few times, but in secret she already advanced to the 5th Order.
She gets through the pregnancy and has a healthy daughter named Isabelle Axim.
Virginia never wrote about her family, but after losing her first child, she became paranoid. Her maids made a few accounts, when Virginia would talk to herself and there were more than a few instances when she accused her husband of poisoning her.
There was one last big discovery Virginia had made before the end of her life, and that was the discovery of the famous Mysticism Book.
In the year 281, she received a divination and located the cave, which hid the book.
Throughout her last years she gets more and more said visions, but the book which she wrote them down went missing after her death.
In the year 289, as a 60-year-old, Virginia tries to advance to the 4th Order, but something goes wrong and she perishes.
Later, her husband gets accused of murder, by none other than Isabelle Axim. The police try to find him, but suspiciously Victor Axim went missing on the day of Virginia's death.
Little else is known about her husband. Their friends and maids say that he was very normal, a bit too normal for someone married to such a famous person.
Not long after her mother's death, Isabelle Axim changes her name to Isabelle Stone and disappears as well.'
Veronica read on further. There were a lot more pages full of theories about both Virginia's death and what her missing book held.
The author accuses Victor Axim as the murderer and the person who stole the book, but it didn't raise one very interesting question... If Victor was a regular human, how did he kill an Ascended of the 5th Order?
This question appeared in Veronica's mind, and a shiver went down her spine. Something wasn't right with the Axim Family, but she did not know what... It scared her.
There was a last note at the end of the book...
'Virginia was a unique person, one how dedicated her whole life not to gain more power. But to help others on their journey as Ascended.
She never in her life viewed ascension as a way for people to rule over others, but to guide society into a better future.
Throughout her years Virginia Axim-Stone has made hundreds of years worth of discoveries and with her knowledge the number of deaths and Corruptions from ascension have decreased noticeably.
For this reason, all the orthodox churches made her a Saint!'