Control (closed to Shinsou)

[Breaker]

The walls in the Temple of Draconus' main hall were hung with freshly pressed tapestries in honor of the induction ceremony. More banners dangled from the vaulted rafters, and the room hummed with quiet conversation passed between hundreds of people. The smell of blended herbs circulated from swinging incense pots carried by red-robed officials who stood on the main dais either side of the Abbott, Samuel Faustus, who wore golden robes for the occasion. The pews that dominated the middle of the hall bristled with worshipers in attendance to witness the inauguration of new disciples.

Josh and Shinsou stood near the back of a long line of uninitiated devotees that wound around the outside of the room like a white speckled snake. They had been given white ceremonial robes for the occasion, properly fitted this time. Breaker stood like a mountain amidst foothills, a wan smile fixed on his face as he made eye contact with those around him and muttered words of worship to Draconus whenever confronted with conversation. He had remained awake the entire previous night, not needing sleep in the same manner as most mortals. A few minutes of meditation while seated at his corner table in the Crow and Cockerel had sufficed. Earlier that morning he and Shinsou had made the trek across the Floating City to the temple, beneath a dreary sky that threatened rain but refused to yield it.

On the dais, Samuel rapped his silver cane and made a short gesture to the two red-robed devotees. They snuffed out their canisters of incense and stood at attention as the Abbott raised his free hand and the assembled masses fell quiet.

"Thank you all for coming," Samuel spoke in a booming baritone, straight from the bowels of his bellows-like chest. "It makes my heart glad to see so many devoted members of our faith in attendance, to witness the induction of those who would join our ranks." His golden robes glittered in the flames of oil lanterns that supported the dim natural light pouring through stained glass windows. He made a wide sweeping gesture to indicate the crowd of perhaps fifty fresh-faced devotees, all ready to pledge their lives to Draconus.

All save two. Josh glanced at Shinsou. The Telgradian seemed somewhat perturbed that day, but had simply said "I'm fine" when Breaker asked after his health. Something is on his mind, Josh figured, but whatever it is, it can wait an hour or so. We've business to attend to.

"Now," Samuel said, gesturing with both arms, his silver cane flashing in the lantern light, "I ask those of you sitting to rise and join me in a prayer to our beloved God, Draconus." The ranks of white-robed worshipers rose from the pews and spoke with Samuel in one voice.

"Oh Draconus, mighty deity of the sea and stars,
He who commands the weather and the tides,
He who can see through our struggles to the goodness in our hearts,
Bless us this day and for all days,
That we may continue our worship in peace and harmony."

Haide-blasted pretender, Josh thought, battening down the anger that threatened to rise within him, Am'aleh is the patron of the sea, the true Goddess of the tides and weather. She would never stand for such an abuse of power and wealth.

"Come now," Samuel called as the worshipers seated themselves once more, "you there," he said to the first man in the long line of uninitiated, "join us on the dais to become a fully fledged acolyte to the Temple of Draconus!"

The clean-shaven man nearly tripped over his robes climbing the steps to the dais, but he arrived safely and knelt before Samuel. The short-bearded Abbott gestured to one of his aides, who lifted a long box from the corner of the dais and opened it with head bowed. Samuel dipped both hands into the box and came out with a crystal pendant on a thin chain which he held aloft, allowing it to sparkle in the well lit hall.

"Do you swear to devote your life to the service of Draconus, and all that He stands for?" Samuel asked, dark eyes weighing the man who knelt before him.

"I do so swear," the man echoed. With an exaggerated motion Samuel hung the pendant around the new worshiper's neck. The man rose as if in a trance and bowed before descending the dais with sure-footed grace. He took a seat amidst the other assembled acolytes.

That pendant... Josh thought, the way it caught the light seemed familiar. If only I could get closer... The line moved slightly as the next worshiper strode up onto the stage. Josh settled in to wait, flashing his fixed smile at anyone whose gaze lingered on him. His hazel eyes scanned the crowd, examining the worshipers in the pews. He could not be certain... but it seemed as if every single one of them wore a matching crystal pendant.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Joshua’s attention seemed to be drawn to something in the gathered masses but as the man leaned in for a closer look his investigation seemed to escape the notice of his partner, who had suddenly become disorientated. To the Telgradian’s dismay, something in the temple was suppressing Shinsou’s senses again. The familiar tingle of Enpera’s signature and the overwhelming pressure that Joshua’s own power put on Osiris’s gut had once again completely disappeared. Worse, the only early warning system he had against the Council of Five had also vanished. As the ordained Samuel Faustus began to slowly process the line of the uninitiated, Joshua and Shinsou moving forward in tandem, the Telgradian began to worry.

At least before I could tell if the Council were heading my way and I could have high-tailed it out of here. Now, if one of them comes here, I’m glass.

Everything was now a distraction. The quiet conversation amongst the robed cultists might as well have been frantic yelling between thousands of people. The rich scent of incense carried on the slight draught blowing through the temple was nauseating. All these things were like white noise blocking out Shinsou’s senses until a single voice dominated the blurry mindscape of his mind.

Master, look. Those pendants…

Shinsou, from the back of the line that snaked against the outside of the room, cleared his muddled head and heeded Enpera’s words. As he shifted forward uncomfortably in his white ceremonial robe, the Telgradian watched as a well-groomed man knelt before Faustus and received a crystal pendant on a thin chain. The golden-shrouded dean of the temple of Draconus hung the pendant around the man’s neck and almost immediately something changed in the initiate’s body language. The previously careless cultist got to his feet serenely and precisely, almost as if being pulled on invisible strings, before taking a seat amidst the processed crowd; a far cry from the clumsy figure from before. A moment later, a young woman nervously approached the podium and almost tripped on a step as she adjusted her robes. Her demeanour changed the instant Samuel adorned the crystal around her neck and, again, the puppet like behaviour was prominent.

Almost in synergy, Shinsou and Joshua exchanged glances.

“Don’t say it,” Osiris cautioned quietly as he looked form side to side, “Keep your head down and try to get a little closer without actually getting to Samuel. I’m going to slip out and go back to that room with the large crystal. It’s now beyond ignoring. We’ll see if Enpera can confirm anything.”

Following Cronen’s earlier example, Osiris shifted slowly out of line and plastered a faux smile on his face, making sure to sing Draconus’s praises whenever the situation required it. The sudden change in fortune for the pair after a relatively information-dry two days was enough, for the moment, to put Shinsou’s worries about the impending arrival of the Telgradian captains to the back of his mind and buoy his dampened spirits at least for a few minutes.

To hell with the Council. Let’s bring down this shit-show!

As covert as Shinsou may have thought he was, the Telgradian’s sleek exit from the hall failed to escape the attention of three of Samuel’s attendants. Concerned glances from a triumvate of scarlet robed officials preceded a subtle intervention of Samuel’s work. A cursory whisper was enough to bring the ceremony to a grinding halt as Faustus tapped his cane and made an open armed gesture to the watching crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Samuel boomed across the room, "We shall take a short break to gather our thoughts and give respite to our minds. I will return shortly. Please, refresh yourselves." His golden robes shimmered in the ambient light, but his eyes had dulled and seemed somewhat false. Josh glanced up as Faustus and his aides left and the crowd split into two distinct groups; one milling about the hall chambers, and the other seated silently and obediently in the pews.

[Breaker]

The hall hung heavy with the buzz of confused conversation for a moment, but then one of Samuel's red-robed aides returned to the dais. The ginger bearded man raised both hands and a semblance of silence fell across the masses.

"Our Abbott, Samuel Faustus has been pulled away on important business," he announced in a thin voice, "but the ceremony shall continue. You next there, attend."

The line moved marginally as a middle aged man with greying whiskers climbed the dais and knelt before the aide. He quaked with nerves, but as the pendant settled around his neck he became steady as a mountain, and descended the steps with fresh confidence.

Everywhere Josh looked he saw white robes and smiling faces. Somehow, the friendliness felt eerier than if the acolytes had been performing a blood sacrifice. Controlling the part of him that wanted to race after Shinsou to assist the Telgradian, Josh folded himself into the crowd and continued his slow approach toward the dais. The smell of incense grew stronger with each step. Another dozen acolytes received their pendants and took seats among the pews.

Let Shinsou find success, Breaker prayed silently to Am'aleh, hoping that Draconus could not hear him. Let him discover the slaves, and the purpose behind that great crystal. Josh resisted the urge to put his fist through the wall, feeling helpless frustration. For all he knew, Faustus and his red-robed goons could have cornered Shinsou in the basement, before the Telgradian arrived at his goal. Perhaps he should slip off after them...

No, he told himself, I must be steadfast. My faith is in Am'aleh, and she has placed her faith in Vaan Osiris.

The buzz of conversation grew louder as Josh neared the dais, the crowd of white robed acolytes in the pews swelling. Quite suddenly it was Cronen's turn to ascend the stage. He did so slowly, metal boots thudding resolutely on each wooden step. He knelt before the red robed aide, barely seeing the man, for his thoughts were still with Shinsou.

The ginger bearded man dipped his hands into the box he'd placed on a small table and held a pendant aloft. The crystal medallion sparkled in the light of a nearby lantern, rotating slowly on its thin chain.

"Have no fear, friend," the red robed acolyte said as he lowered the pendant, "Draconus absolves you of all sins."

He hung the shimmering pendant around Breaker's neck.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

It had been a simple task for him to slip out un-noticed from the ceremony in the hall and now Shinsou found himself alone in the east wing, just outside of the door that led to the mysterious crystal artefact that him and Joshua had discovered on their first visit. The first thing that hit him when he entered the room for a second time was the rich scent of fresh wood, a very delicious scent indeed. It was the first time he had really paid attention to the details, but the room was panelled in mahogany, furnished with ivory trinkets and finished with gold leafed detailing around the ceiling. A large podium separated the Telgradian from the business end of the room, on which the glowing crystalline anomaly was placed.

There you are...

Osiris marvelled at the crystal as it shone brightly on its scarlet pedestal, a cozened indigo electrical current swirling around its interior. Watching the strange energy snap and fizz in a cacophony of paranormal activity was captivating but also a stern reminder to the Telgradian that this artefact was likely driving events above; events he believed lead to the brainwashing of the pendant bearers in the hall. With that came another problem; Joshua Cronen was a man who carried his considerable power and faith well but there was no telling whether or not the harmless looking necklace was dangerous enough to affect the mind and will of Am’aleh’s faithful champion. If Samuel Faustus was indeed behind the sinister doings the Telgradian and Cronen now suspected him of, it would surely only be a matter of time before the puppetmasters running the show would turn their congregation, including Cronen, on Osiris.

Then things will get messy. Very, very messy…

Time was short. Osiris approached the pedestal as the light from the crystal began to resonate. It had to be destroyed. Shira, the sword that Cronen had gifted him, waited by his side. The Telgradian quickly and violently drew the cold edge of the Icemold sword across the faceted face of the glistening diamond but the blade simply scraped over its surface without making so much as a scratch.

Shinsou frowned.

”For fuck’s sake...”

Osiris proceeded with another heavy assault. The razor sharp Icemold was applied to the gemstone with such force that a tremendous clang rang out all around, but once again the attack proved fruitless as the blade simply bounced off the crystal. Shinsou, now visibly annoyed, snapped his sword arm backwards and brought Shira crashing down one more time upon the glistening artefact face but once more the gem remained defiant in the face of the Telgradian. His failure to damage the shining gem left him with a strong feeling of vulnerability as he heard the metallic pangs echo loudly down the corridor with an incredible volume.

Shit, shit, shit! Everyone in the temple will have heard that and I’m still no closer to-

“Step back, slowly. Drop the blade.”

Shinsou’s heart raced as the deep, fearsome voice of the abbot Samuel Faustus penetrated him. The sharp, cold edge of a sword extending from his cane stroked the skin next to Osiris’s jugular vein before the Telgradian could react, forcing him to a submissive standstill.

”I said drop it!”

There was another clatter as Shinsou dropped Shira to the ground obediently.

“How many people have you brainwashed with this?” The Telgradian queried with his back still turned, “Thousands, I bet. I’ll give you credit though; you almost had us stumped. Almost.”

“Shut it, smartass,” Faustus commanded as a pair of attendants rushed through the door to his side. “Bind him.” The first attendant marched over to Shinsou, who stood firm. A pair of iron shackles were placed about his wrists, and the stranger clasped them shut with a violent slam. A click signified them locking. Osiris noted that the elegant air on which Samuel, in his guise as an abbot, carried his voice was lost and replaced with a much raspier tone.

“You won’t be getting out of them anytime soon. They’re from Terrinore, those cuffs. You’re done here.”

Terrinore?

“Draconus forgive you, sinner.” A cocksure grunt echoed out from Faustus who was now wheeling about Shinsou with an incredible confidence. As the man circled about, Osiris flicked open his palm slightly. A second later, a minute orb of dark matter manifested.

“Forgiveness? I don’t need such a thing.” The Telgradian smarted, “I accept who I am. I welcome it. As for you, though? You're no abbot and absolutely no preacher of any faith. Only someone within Terrinore could have possibly gotten these shackles...”

Samuel Faustus spat to the side, his hands on his hips. The airs and graces of his facade crumbled away, revealing someone hardened and cold.

"Is that what you figure? Well, you're not wrong kid, but you won't live long enough to tell anyone about it."

Shinsou glanced at him from the corner of his eyes as Samuel folded his arms. He was an imposing man, even when dressed in flowing and elegant gold robes, with hands the size of anvils and a pot belly. He stood up straighter now, running a swift hand through his locks, and as he did the false priest caught Shinsou’s gaze. It was the first time he had really looked him in the eyes since he had arrived; they were deep, golden eyes filled with a quiet fury. His brown hair was swept back to the crown, and for a man as old as he, Faustus could see a boyish charm about the lad. High cheekbones, strong frame. A fine man. It would almost be a shame to cut him down.

Osiris broke the momentary stare and coughed. He appeared puzzled about something and quickly spoke his mind.

"Who are you, then, if you are not Samuel Faustus?"

Samuel’s demeanour changed instantly. He started itching on his right arm, looking irritated by the question.

"Smarteye Sam. The Smarteye sam. You mean to tell me you've never heard of me?"

Shinsou fell silent but his head throbbed with rage. He had heard of him. This was one of the Terrinore escapees he had been told about a week prior. This was one of the people his men had been following, the same good men who this criminal had kidnapped, and the whole reason for the Brotherhood's mission to Lornius in the first place. No one but Shinsou and his men knew it. He ground his teeth in silence as he regretted not telling Joshua about his real reason for coming here sooner, but never thought the mission from Am'aleh and the escape of the Terrinore inmates would be related.

“One more thing…” Sam said, putting an unsympathetic hand on Shinsou’s shoulder as he gloated. “Your friend will be here to join us shortly. Only, he won't be here for an impromptu rescue, oh no. He'll be the one to deliver the fatal blow to you. That is your punishment for your meddling!”

It was at that moment that something inside the Telgradian snapped. It could have been the humiliation of being outmanuevered for so long by a common criminal, or the fact that with each moment he wasted here with the fat lummox, the council drew ever closer to deliver their judgment upon him. It could have been the thought of Joshua being forced to kill him against his will, destroying both their lives. More than any of those things, though, the urge to kill seeped through every one of his pores for one reason and one reason alone.

You tried to rob us of our will and control us. It happened once before to me and I will NEVER allow that to happen again!!

With his painful past pounding in his memory and driving his body, Shinsou drove forward, his concealed dark magic smashing open his metal shackles. He cannoned into a startled Samuel, knocking him to his feet, and scooped up Shira in his right hand whilst scrambling to remove the loose chains, tearing them violently away with a single pull. Pushing his body up from the carpeted surface, his diluted, golden eyes caught the attendants moving smoothly in a semi-circle around him with Faustus at the crest, swords drawn and pointed threateningly at the Telgradian. Smarteye's fury was obvious and full as he screamed for further assistance. Six heavily armed temple guards came running through the oaken double doors and immediately re-enforced the gang of assailants, locking the doors behind them.

Ordinarily, a man cornered in a room surrounded by half a dozen armed men would feel fear, isolation and panic. He'd be mentally all over the place. But, as Smarteye Sam and his men advanced upon what they believed was a vulnerable prisoner, the criminal noticed something odd.

Shinsou Vaan Osiris was smiling.

"What the fuck are you smiling at, boy?" Smarteye rasped, jutting his sword-cane towards the Telgradian. "You think this is funny?"

Bewilderment was a word that could only begin to explain the look that crossed Samuel's face as Shinsou dropped Stygian and Shira to the floor again with two rapid clangs. It was utterly ridiculous that anyone would disarm themselves in front of a mob baying for blood. As Smarteye tried to figure out what was going on, he gazed upon Osiris. The man’s face was entirely unfamiliar, and yet something about it tugged at the deepest recesses of his memory. It felt like there was something he wanted to remember, but he just couldn't remember what. Despite this, Sam's breath hung on the air, the anticipation of being so close to killing the Telgradian and his friend almost tangible. Heavy rain began pelting the windows, the only source of light from the outside world, leaving streaks of water where it travelled.

"What are you doing?"

At first the energy behind Shinsou was no more than a shimmer of purple mist that smelt of burnt cobalt and diffused through the brickwork of the room. It drifted further from its midair epicentre and became slightly out of focus, like a poorly taken photograph, before suddenly ripping a giant void open from nothing with a pulsating crackle. As the rift expanded further, its membrane humming as it pushed out, the tips of several lances of dark matter could be seen sliding through the portal before stopping midway through.

"What I am doing..." Shinsou elaborated, angrily "...is gifting you oblivion!"

With a simple wave of his hand, Shinsou commanded a hail of dark matter projectiles to spew forth from the void, bombarding the armed guards and attendants. Smarteye Sam looked up in horror as the sounds of projectiles whizzing past his ears mixed with the sickly death knells of his men around him and all too late he realised what was happening. Ahead of him, he could now see the cold, golden eyes of the Telgradian and the deadly dark matter spears that thundered past him, hissing clouds of white electricity into the air.

Shinsou saw the crackling, unstable black energy of the lances protruding from the skulls of the seven slumped corpses ahead of him. Each one gushed torrents of blood that pooled sickeningly around the feet of the now stoic Smarteye.

"Tell me how to shut this crystal thing off. Do it right now, or you die!"

As Shinsou reached Sam, he kicked the legs from under him and watched as the Terrinore escapee crashed to the floor. One spear hovering next to the Telgradian and primed to kill, the criminal quivered and looked up at his assailant. He no longer saw a man, or a prisoner. Instead, a demon loomed above him, his eyes ablaze with righteous fury, wielding his dark magic menacingly.

"One last chance. Do it!"

Sam’s shoulders drooped for a moment and he cocked his head to one side, his brain struggling to make sense of everything. A threatening growl was the closest the criminal came to responding as he swiftly span to reveal a hidden sword sheathed underneath his robes, across his back, and a strange black dagger at his side next to his belt. Shinsou backpedelled as the dagger cut at him but hit nothing more than air, leaving a desperate looking Smarteye almost red in the face from the exertion of the last few minutes. The Telgradian roared instantly back into action, grabbing the levitating dark matter lance next to him with little more than a grunt and guiding it expertly into a powerful upward arc as Samuel knelt before him. Sam's head snapped back violently on contact, a pitiful whimper escaping his bloodstained lips and a crop of matted black hair whipping the air about his head. The criminal growled with rage as the edge of Shinsou’s lance carved a jagged crevice up his chest.

A pair of once bright eyes faded. Their last moments saw Shinsou’s emotionless visage staring back at them, the Telgradian’s pale face and ceremonial robes spattered with splashes of blood from force of the brutal attack. The body, carried by its own momentum, rolled carelessly over the steps of the pedestal and clumped in a bloodied mess at its base, a crimson pool forming below the face-down corpse to merge with the river of corpses.

You fool.

All in all, it had taken about five seconds for Samuel to slash at Shinsou and finish up in a crumpled, mangled heap, but those five seconds had passed almost in slow motion. Now, a voice spoke to him; A familiar voice.

Shinsou! Enpera's voice bled through the chaos of Osris's mind, Try your dark matter on the crystal! Try your magic!

Only now did Shinsou truly react, hearing the voice of his sealed companion. Nodding to himself, he span, approaching the crystal one more time.

Let's see how you stand up to a full-power Enpera Kurohitsugi!

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Breaker receives 1,845 EXP and 80 GP!

Shinsou receives 1,315 EXP and 80 GP!

All EXP rewards include 1.5x EXP bonus for completion of a thread in Lornius.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards have been added.