Order of the Shattered Cross: Pt. 07

"I'll deal with Flauros," Timothy said.

"No, we'll deal with Flauros," Indigo said. "You can't face him alone."

"He's not alone," Eterna said.

"You know what I mean," Indigo said. "I'm here to help. Let me."

"I'm going to let you, but I need you to do something else. He has an army, we need one too," Timothy said, and Indigo didn't know what he meant. After a moment, she scoffed when she realized which army he had in mind.

"No," Indigo said.

"I need you to find Nora and bring the Confederation with her. Take them to where they're keeping the Void and try to figure out a way to stop them before they're even released."

"You know what you're asking me to do?" Indigo asked.

"I'm asking you, to help me save the world. I wish we had a better option," Timothy said, and even Indigo couldn't argue that they did.

"Fine, but before we part ways," Indigo said and closed her eyes. She placed her hand over Timothy's heart. Her palm shined purple, and that light spiraled around Timothy's body like a helix before slowly dissipating.

"Enchantment?" Timothy asked, and she nodded. "What's does it do?"

"When you find her, hold onto her tight, and don't let go," Indigo said with a small smile. "I'm sorry for when I lost control. But thank you, for keeping your control."

"See you soon?" Timothy asked. Indigo nodded and asked the Compendium for a door to Nora. The left side of the hallway shot past until coming to a stop a few seconds later.

"Remember, hold her tight," Indigo said and entered her doorway.

"Ready?" Timothy asked Eterna.

"Yup," Eterna said.

Timothy opened the door and closed it behind him.

--

Flauros watched his daughter sink into the darkness. Her hands held together, muttering a foolish prayer to protect her. He shut the door and walked back to his chair. For him it would be minutes. For her it would be a thousand years before she was pulled out of the abyss. Her mind would be broken and her devotion to God would be dissolve to nothing. She would return as melted steel, ready to be hammered into the shape of his choosing.

"How did you ever allow her to slip your grasp?" Flauros asked. Gwendoline stood at the fireplace, leaning her shoulder against the mantle.

"I taught Danielle too well. The protection enchantments she placed on Henrietta and by extension her child, were flawless. Honestly, I still don't know the conditions of her enchantment," Gwendoline admitted.

"All I hear is excuses for incompetence," Flauros replied. "You should have extracted that information from the witch who hid her away."

"You don't believe I tried? She buried that knowledge under a labyrinth of magic. Danielle was prepared to take that knowledge to her grave. I still had to publicly uphold my position as Priestess to continue the rest of our works. Did we not find her?"

"We did not do a thing. They were just stupid enough to bring you to her," Flauros retorted. "Luck. We found her because of luck. I do not buy stock in luck."

"Maybe we should start investing," Gwendoline quipped. "In a few minutes, we'll drag her out. She'll surrender her power to us, and we can finally achieve our goals. Our perfect world."

"My perfect world," Flauros replied and rose from his chair. "Do not forget your role in this. Who gave you the power over shadow? Who taught you the ritual to remove the eternal life from an Edenian? Who told you that an Edenian yet lived?"

"Who dragged you up from hell when a mere Fractured sent you back?" Gwendoline asked, and didn't flinch as he lunged, stopping with his face an inch from her own. His dark eyes, now red with anger, the faint glow of a half-burnt coal.

"You did," he replied, and slowly smiled. He kissed her softly.

"That's right. I almost killed that Fractured," Gwendoline said as she caught movement from the corner of her eye.

"Almost," Timothy said, shutting the door behind him. "Long time, no exorcism Flauros."

"How did you..." Gwendoline stammered. "...you've never been here. How did you create a door?"

"It's a secret," Timothy teased, then placed his finger to his lips. "Shhh."

"I'll rip that secret from your mind," Gwendoline said and started to walk to him, but Flauros caught her shoulder.

"I have dreamt of this moment," Flauros said and stepped in front of Gwendoline. "When I can finally kill you. Even the Morningstar cannot protect you now."

"Demon's dream?" Timothy asked.

"We dream Timothy," Flauros said. "What is a demon, if not an angel with a dream."

"Very poetic. Where is my exorcist?" Timothy asked.

"Just out the door you came in," Flauros said. Timothy turned around, and Flauros was insulted, but also astonished at the fact Timothy had the gall to turn his back on him. It was like a deer turning its back on a wolf. Timothy opened the door and whistled at the abyss.

"That explains it. Definitely not a door down there," Timothy said.

"When I pull her out, her mind will be crippled. She will desire death so profoundly, she will not be able to mutter the words to beg for it," Flauros said. "You came to save her? She is already lost."

"I wouldn't count on that," Timothy said and turned around to face him.

"No one can last a thousand years in the abyss with their mind intact," Flauros said. Timothy had a thought, which made him smirk. "Is something funny?"

"So that's where I was," Timothy said while ignoring him.

"What?" Flauros asked and was dumbfounded as Timothy allowed himself to fall backwards out the door.

"Did he just..." Gwendoline stammered again. "What does he hope to accomplish?"

Timothy felt the abyss swallow him. It was all too familiar. Like looking into the eyes of the Black Winged Angel. The memory of his death. Wasting away in the abyss. A nothing so complete, even darkness couldn't reveal itself.

"We need to find her," Timothy said, hoping Eterna was still with him.

"How?" Eterna asked. "You just dove into the mouth of the cosmos."

"I've been here before," Timothy said and tried to move. The sensation felt like trying to swim in tar. He focused on the task, and gradually it became softer, and easier to glide his body. Soon it felt like flying.

"When?" Eterna asked. "I think I'd remember us being in the abyss."

"I came here alone. The Black Winged Angel brought me here when I looked into her eyes. I think she wanted me to be ready," Timothy said and took in his pitch surroundings for any speck of life.

"Ready for what?" Eterna asked.

"For when I had to come back," Timothy replied.

"I know she doesn't believe in prophecy, but I am prophecy," a voice echoed. It sounded like two voices speaking in unison.

"Who the hell was that?" Eterna asked.

"I have no name. I cannot be described. You call me the Black Winged Angel," the voice replied.

"Prophecy isn't real. Prophecy is impossible if we're free to choose," Eterna refuted.

"Is a choice between a red apple, or a green apple, a real choice? In the end, you're still eating an apple," echoed the reply.

"I can choose to not eat the apple or eat an orange instead. Prophets are people who predict the leaves will fall off the trees in Autumn. It's self-fulfilling psychobabble."

"Would you only eat the orange to prove you had the choice to eat it?" echoed the voice. "There is nothing more predictable than a contrarian."

"Sorry to interrupt the Sophomore philosophy debate," Timothy began, "But I'm looking for your vessel."

"Follow her voice. She prays, with all her might. You need only join her," the echo said, and slowly dissipated into the ether.

"I'm getting really tired with the vagueness of divine beings," Eterna said, her annoyance evidence in her tone.

"I don't think she was being vague," Timothy said. Timothy overlapped his fingers, twice missing his own hands as he couldn't see them and closed his eyes. In this place, closing his eyes felt bright by comparison. He knew in his heart which prayer would be her salvation. He prayed for the first time in decades.

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Forever and ever."

It felt like he recited the prayer for years. The very concept of time vanished. The abyss nearly broke him last time. The purpose of this visit kept his mind firm. Sister Frost was out there, and he would hear her. He only needed to listen.

"Our father, who art in heaven..." Timothy could hear her. A whisper at first. "...hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done..." her voice grew louder. Or was it closer? It was hard to tell. "...on Earth as it is in heaven..." It was deniable. He couldn't see her, but she was there. Right next to him, praying at his side, their voices in unison. "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Forever and ever.

"Amen," they both said, now aware of each other.

"Timothy?" Sister Frost asked. "Are you really there?"

"It's me," Timothy replied.

"I knew God wouldn't abandon me," Sister Frost said. Timothy heard her hiccup in tears, and he smiled. "I don't know how long I've been here."

"It doesn't matter. What did I tell you about faith when we first met?" Timothy asked.

"It was my true weapon," she replied.

"It can also be a shield. It can also be a light in the darkness," Timothy said.

Sister Frost began to glow. A heavenly aura illuminated from her, revealing Timothy who was floating in the abyss beside her. He smiled at her, and she returned the smile with the tears in her eyes sparkling like light through glass.

"Ready to go?" Timothy asked, and she nodded.

Timothy wrapped her in his arms and held her tight.

A spiral of purple light coiled around them. It wrapped around them like a blanket and grew in brightness until it snapped away, the light taking them with it.

--

Indigo entered what she immediately recognized as one of the many ritual chambers of the Confederation. She followed the sloped path to the bottom and entered a darkened chamber. All the braziers were extinguished, cloaking the chamber in an eerie and still darkness. As she walked, she nearly tripped, but managed to right herself before falling.

Indigo focused, asking the chamber to light the braziers, but it didn't answer her. The chamber drew its life from a witch who acted as its guardian. Being the guardian of a chamber was one of the highest honors any witch could be granted. This Chamber didn't respond, and Indigo knew what that meant. The guardian of this chamber was dead.

Indigo cupped her hands together and created an orb of light. She released it and the orb floated to the opposite side of the chamber. She cupped her hands again and released another. She repeated this ten times, before she closed her eyes, focusing her energy to magnify the intensity of each orb. The chamber was instantly bright, and she gasped at the carnage now visible, including the body she had nearly tripped over.

Three witches laid dead on the floor. The first with her throat ripped open, as if someone had grabbed her neck and ripped half of it from her body. The second was decapitated, her head resting in the blood of the first, the body on the other side of the room. It wasn't a clean cut, indicating her head was stretched off painfully by someone, or something, inhumanly strong. The last witch was torn in half. Her legs were near the beginning of the path, her torso was against the far side. There were trails of blood leading to the halves, and a violent splash of blood on the walls.

In the center of the room was the High Priestess of the Eastern Covens. Nora Abernathy.

Nora was still sitting on the floor in a state of utter shame and defeat. She didn't even respond to the room suddenly being illuminated.

"Nora Abernathy," Indigo started as she walked in a wide turn to stand in front of her. "What happened here?"

Nora ignored her, and Indigo kept walking until she hit an invisible barrier. The last command the chamber received was still active. It was commanded to protect her, and it sensed that Indigo meant harm.

"All your witches die, but you live, hidden away in your barrier. What kind of leader are you?" Indigo asked and stomped her foot against the barrier.

"I didn't ask her to save me," Nora replied. "I was ready to fight her to the death."

"Angelica Moore? Or, Gwendoline, whatever her name is now?" Indigo asked. "You can't be so deluded to believe you were a match for her."

"I am the High Priestess," Nora said.

"So what?" Indigo asked. "It took five of your witches to kill my mother, and she wouldn't have dared crossed magic with Gwendoline. You were threatened by her. You knew why she was truly trying to summon the demon. You knew of the Void. You just refused to believe it."

"It was a convenient coincidence to make everyone swallow it. I had personal reason to end your mother, but she still summoned a demon. Are you here for revenge? The chamber seems to think so," Nora said, and finally stood up. Nora faced her, and Indigo punched the barrier in anger. "Good luck. This barrier was erected as the dying command of a guardian. It can't be..."

"...undone?" Indigo asked. "Protective magic conjured as a dying act amplifies it?" Indigo asked. "Save your condescending explanation of magic for a coven initiate. Preferably the ones you aren't molesting."

"Molesting is a strong word. I can't help it if they wish to curry my favor," Nora said.

Indigo exhaled to calm herself. She had so much more to say, and do, to Nora, but remembered she was here for a reason well beyond herself.

"We'll have time to settle our score later," Indigo said. "Gwendoline is about to carry out the final part of her plot. You need to call the covens. Timothy needs our help to stop her."

"Timothy?" Nora asked with an intrigued grin. "Not Mr. Augustine? Do I sense some infatuation?" Indigo didn't reply, not in the mood to respond to her antagonism. "Why would I help him?"

"Why? Because she means to, and can, destroy the world," Indigo replied. "Get over your past with him and call the covens."

"I have nothing to get over."

"You'd rather the world end, than help him. You are not deserving of your position," Indigo said, and Nora sneered at the accusation.

"Only the covens can decide that," Nora said.

"You're right," Indigo said, and slowly smiled. "What say you sisters?"

"What?" Nora asked and looked at the orbs. It took her only a moment to realize they were more than just light. The orbs widened, revealing the faces of the onlooking Priestess of the ten voting covens. The Eastern Congregation.

"My mother, the murdered witch Ophelia, was once a voting member of this congregation. Look around Priestesses and you will see the bodies of witches who lost their lives through the negligence of Nora Abernathy. She confessed without coercion the murder of my mother and coven, the molestation of young witches, and the refusal to perform her duties due to a petty hatred of a lover who spurred her."

"She is not a member of the congregation, nor is she a priestess, she has no right to speak here," Nora said.

"And now she attempts to silence any who echoes her own words. Is this who you trust with our secrets? A woman who serves herself, saves herself, and treats your daughters as objects of sexual fulfillment?"

"You have no right to speak! Indigo, daughter of Ophelia is an exiled witch!" Nora screamed.

"She stands accused but has not yet faced trial," a voice said. "Any witch accused is entitled to speak in her own defense."

"Then I'll preside as judge," Nora said with a snide grin.

"With all respect High Priestess, you cannot preside as a judge for this inmerenti magicae, as you are the accuser," another voice stated. "The right to act as judge passes to the Priestess of the oldest coven present. What say you, Annette, daughter of Anita, Priestess of the Province of Carolina."

"I accept the responsibility," Annette said. "Indigo, daughter of Ophelia, you stand accused as a practitioner of dark magic, and collusion with a disciple of the Morningstar. How do you plead?"

"Innocent," Indigo replied.

"High Priestess, what evidence do you have to support this accusation?"

"My fellow Priestesses, Indigo and her mother attempted to summon the duke of hell Flauros to our realm," Nora said, turning her body in a small circle as she said it.

"Is this true?" Annette asked.

"I do not deny we were attempting to summon him," Indigo said, and the chamber was filled with murmurs. "Our coven came upon knowledge that the exiled witch Angelica Moore, through her dark experiments, had created a monstrosity. The Void." The murmurs grew louder. "Our texts, as we all know, state that the only being capable of vanquishing that beast is the Black Winged Angel. Our research concluded that Flauros had knowledge of this being. Our only goal in his summoning, was to interrogate him regarding the Black Winged Angel. We were unable to summon him."

"Sisters," Nora began, gesturing toward Indigo, "The inability to do something does not remove the intent of the endeavor."

"Do you truly believe, my mother, Ophelia, one of the most revered witches of her generation, was unable to conduct the most basic of summoning magic? No sisters..." Indigo began.

"...they are not your equals..." Nora said, angry over her lack of honorifics.

"...let her speak," Annette interrupted.

"We were unable to summon Flauros, because he was already here, plotting with Angelica. A threat she ignored," Indigo said, pointing at Nora.

"I'm not on trial," Nora declared.

"Not yet," Indigo countered.

"Sisters, I require no further testimony," one of the priestesses said. Each Priestess in turn agreed.

"Very well. Only a unanimous vote can carry a conviction. Do any oppose conviction?" All opposed. "This inmerenti magicae is concluded. Indigo, daughter of Ophelia, is found innocent. As such, she is granted reentry into the Confederation. Further, she assumes the duties as the Priestess of the Sisters of the Keys, who are reinstated as a member of this Congregation."

"I thank you, sisters," Indigo said, aiming the sisters remark at Nora. "As a member of this congregation, I call for the removal of Nora Abernathy as High Priestess and the emergency vote of a fitting replacement."

"How dare you!" Nora screamed.

"She has the right," Annette said.

"I submit as justification for this motion the High Priestesses own words. You all heard them," Indigo said, and the chamber was silent. "She murdered my mother, cloaking her crime behind a false accusation, thinly veiling her true intention of removing a rival to her position. A position she used to warm her bed with the bodies of naïve initiates. Lastly, and most egregiously, she ignored an existential threat until it was at her feet. A threat my mother was killed for attempting to reveal."

"What do you say in your defense?" Annette asked.

"You cannot take this girl at her word," Nora said.

"We're not. We're taking you at your words," another Priestess replied.

"I start the vote. Does any Priestess object?" Indigo asked, and the chamber was silent. Nora lunged at Indigo, but the barrier stopped her. "Silence is louder than screams."

"Nora Abernathy, through unanimous agreement, your title is hereby dissolved," Indigo said, and Nora fell forward as the barrier vanished. It was ordered to protect the High Priestess. She no longer held the position.