Chapter Forty Two: Welcome To The Family

The building, a church, as Liliana had been told, was massive, bigger than anything she'd seen other than the school. Supposedly this building had existed for over a hundred years. One of the tallest buildings in the city since it had been built, and in the years since the people who'd contacted her had moved in, it had only had it's splendor tripled.

"Hello?" she asked as she pushed the largest door open as quietly as she could. Decadence seemed to be the theme of the room, she thought as she admired the gold and silver that adorned nearly every inch of tit.

Symbols and statues she couldn't even begin to try and identify lined every pew and the pulpit stood nearly five feet off the ground, covered with diamonds and other precious gems she recognized.

Neyk was forbidden to students, but that wasn't a problem for Liliana since she'd dropped out a week after the attack by the man dressed in white.

Her parents hadn't been happy, but she hadn't cared; she was an adult after all, and she made her own choices. When those choices involve seeing someone she loved and feared for, nothing would stop her.

A week after the attack, she'd received a message from 'a concerned party' about Ronin, a message that would be followed again by more and more until eventually the man, her love, himself began messaging her.

She'd taken up living in the small town beneath the school and after several months of talking back and forth via message, he'd finally told her where he was and, for the first time in so very long, had called her.

 You never know how much you long for someone's voice until you think you'll never hear it again and Liliana had been living with that fear since the situation with Joseph. 

On the phone, Ronin had told her how much he loved her, how he needed her and wanted her with him in the city. When she'd asked how he'd gotten there, he'd simply said that his research had brought him there, alone.

Walking to the pulpit, Liliana saw that there were dozens of inactive screens floating behind it, their screens glimmering in the lighting.

Several minutes passed of her waiting at the front of the church when one of the screens flickered to life, a video of Ronin's face smiling happily playing. Liliana's heart jumped in her chest with joy until the second monitor flashed on, and the third and fourth until eventually they were all playing.

Videos of Ronin with other girls played all at once, some of him in a tight lovers embrace, some of him fighting and killing with a dark evil look on his face.

The sound from all the videos playing bombarded her until she was on her knees, eyes watering and heart broken.

A sharp clap sounded through the air and a young man dressed in all black walked out from a door beneath the tv's she hadn't noticed. His eyes flashed darkly in the shadow and he said, "I'm sorry to say...Ronin is...unavailable...I'm sure you can see why."

"What...what is all of this?" Liliana asked, fighting back sobs.

The man motioned to the screens and said, "The treachery of a man burdened with freedom. The passion and cruelty of a monster laid bare for you to see and judge."

"This can't be real," Liliana tried to say, tried to believe, but somewhere in her mind, she knew that it was true. Even before he'd disappeared, Ronin had been...different from what she'd come to know of him...who's to say he wasn't simply hiding what he really was?

The man snapped his fingers and the screens began playing again, all of them flipping to videos of Ronin with the girl Silas and another girl with bright blue hair. All of them showing him with them, clearly deeply in love and being quite physical with them.

"I'm so very sorry," the man started, his voice the very manifestation of compassion, "We tried to get in contact with you before you made your trip here, but...we were unable to reach you. You didn't do anything rash to get here, did you?"

Liliana felt the air suck out of her as she mumbled, "I abandoned everything."

The man walked over to her, barely making a sound as he moved, and said, "I can't begin to tell you how sorry we are. We've worked with Ronin and he'd asked us to get in touch with you via a safe channel, just to make sure you weren't being monitored. The High Cathols believe very heavily in making sure that any love felt isn't lost, so we trusted him...but we caught him in here with one of those girls you can see on the screens. They were...they seemed to be very familiar in the pulpit."

Liliana looked at the pulpit and felt empty inside, and emptiness that began to grow.

The man put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "Do you have anywhere to go?"

Staring at nothing, Liliana slowly shook her head and the man said, "I've taken the liberty of looking into your records...very impressive. Top of your class...filled with creativity and drive...particularly in the area of combat and defense...if you have nowhere to go, you're welcome to stay here with us and begin your life anew...I won't go so far as to say that we'll be able to mend the hole this monster has torn in your heart, but we can give you projects that will distract you while you try to heal."

Liliana stood and looked at the man and asked forlornly, "Who are you?"

The man smiled gently and said, "Me? I'm nobody special. I'm something of an independent contractor for the High Cathols, you could say I handle matters that require...discretion, things that the Cathols simply don't want to be associated with."

 Liliana shook her head and said, "I meant your name...you're being so nice to me, even though you've never met me before."

He chuckled and his eyes flickered with life as he responded, "Ah, my name is Jet. I get my work directly from the young woman who contacted you, I'm sure you'll meet her soon enough. She's a busy woman though, so I wouldn't stress if you don't hear from her sometime soon."

Taking her hand gently in his, Jet led Liliana to the door he'd come from and slowly opened it as quietly as he had when he'd come in.

Within, Liliana was shocked to find a highly advanced research lab bustling with life and action, a sight she'd not expected to see ever again on such a scale.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Jet said as they walked through the rows of computers and desks, gently tapping people to move past them.

Looking around, Liliana asked, "What would I be doing?"

 Jet shrugged as he walked and said, "With your record, you'll be primarily doing research in a lab of your own somewhere nearby, though you'll probably be called on to help with other's research or to help with any other Cathol projects."

Reaching a man who was clearly overseeing the work in the lab, Jet patted him on the shoulder and said, "Liliana, this man is Cornelius, he's one of the top leaders of the Cathols, both spiritually and scientifically."

Cornellius turned toward the two of them and said, "Is this the young woman our Lady referred to earlier today?"

"Our Lady?" Liliana asked curiously.

Cornelius nodded and said, "Our Lady oversees much of our holy work as our Lord's representative, when we realized the situation with the scoundrel Ronin, she insisted that we do anything we could to help you."

Liliana shook her head and said, "This...this is all a lot to take in...plus I'm not really all that interested in religion right now."

Smiling gently, Cornelius looked at Jet and said, "She sounds like you when we first met."

Jet chuckled softly and said, "Contractors aren't expected to share the faith of the Cathols, in fact it's preferred that we have our own beliefs and ideals. We are often called upon to do things that the High Cathols simply can't do on their own, for one reason or another."

A scientist ran to up to Cornelius and asked for a few moments of his time and received a nod in response.

Looking at Liliana as he moved to leave, Cornelius said, almost a whisper to her, "You've been hurt dearly, my friend. We at the High Cathols believe heavily in love, but we also understand that suffering happens...we believe that our Lord Jevah is as willing to grant a chance for retribution to those who prove worthy as he is to move people together. I would never suggest that you do anything to harm someone, but being surrounded by people who want nothing more than to help and save others can be a form of vengeance in itself. You've come so far and sacrificed so much to get here only to have it ripped from you by a heartless monster, the very kind we work actively to stop...don't you think you deserve your own small form of retribution?"

 Liliana thought for a second as Cornelius slowed to a stop and she said, "If I wanted to harm someone...would you still consider working with me?"

A sympathetic, but sad, expression crossed his face as he responded, "Such dark desires and actions are, ultimately, human afflictions, but our Lord is understanding to the extreme...should you do something...regrettable, I'm sure he will grant you forgiveness for actions...after all, what is a single action of violence in the eyes of a god?"

Jet smiled at Cornelius and patted his shoulder as he began to walk away again, muttering with the scientist from before.

"Come on, we've got one more person to talk to before I can get you a room," Jet said brightly.

Liliana nodded and followed him through another set of doors while he talked about the benefits of working with the Cathols.

They reached a door in a hallway that was easily the most normal doorway she'd seen since arriving on the grounds, so much so that she doubted that it could belong to anyone of note.

Jet knocked on the door in a rhythm of four sets of three and nodded as they waited.

"I'm going to introduce you to the person you'll most likely see the least...he's Cornelius's counterpart in the faith and is very...hands on with his methods of forgiveness," he said.

As she started to ask what he meant, a moan escaped the door, coupled with a set of feminine giggles.

"Looks like he's 'forgiving' someone right now," Jet said, rolling his eyes.

Several more minutes passed, with the moans and giggling increasing in volume until Liliana began to shift uncomfortably, though she noticed that Jet had an irritated expression on his face.

Suddenly and loudly the door shot open, almost hitting them both as a man, near naked, burst out of the room and screamed, "Another lost soul brought back into the arms of salvation, praise Jevah!"

Liliana stared at the scantily clad man incredulously when he rapidly turned his head toward her and said, "Oh...right…"

Four girls crept out behind him, giggling, in similar states of undress and he said, "Don't forget to read your scriptures ladies, I expect to see each of you tomorrow for more counseling…"

Turning back to Liliana he said, "Come into my confessional, please."

He walked back without waiting and Liliana mouthed, "Confessional?" as she and Jet walked into the room.

"You'll have to forgive me, those young ladies have been burdened by a terrible lust for several months, I have been working exhaustively with them to relieve them of that weight," Desmond said as he slowly sat in a chair located in the center of the room, casually kicking a pair of handcuffs and feathers under the bed nearby.

Jet glared at Desmond, just out of Liliana's view as she said, "It's...good that you're so devoted to helping them."

Desmond nodded and said, "So many people in our faith are afraid to admit their sinfulness, but that's the worst thing they can do. Denying yourself what you want and think you need only makes it much harder to control...but my yoke is not so heavy that I can't bear it alone. What brings you here?"

 Jet stepped forward and said, "Liliana here has fallen upon hard times. Betrayed and left to the shadows of the city, we've opened our arms to her."

Desmond nodded and said, "Like so many hurt souls here in Neyk...I think you'll enjoy it here."

"Is there anything you think I should know?" Liliana asked.

Smiling at her, Desmond responded, "Embrace your desires as part of a path to controlling them, you're always able to gain forgiveness with enough faith."

Turning to Jet, he asked, "Have you had a chance to introduce her to our Lady?"

 "You don't think it's too early? She can be...intense," Jet responded with an inquisitive look on his face.

"It's never too early to meet the person who took it upon themselves to return two lovers to sweet embrace...even if that golden invitation was tarnished by the very one to be embraced."

A strange expression crossed Jet's face as he said quickly, "Yes, you're right...I suppose she'll have a moment to speak with such a talented young woman."

Gently pulling her out of the room, Jet said, "She'll most likely be at the top of the building in her quarters."

As he pulled her, Liliana said, somewhat confused, "I thought Ronin asked the Cathols to reach out to me."

Jet chuckled mirthlessly and said, "Desmond can be...forgetful...after a session of forgiveness, he'll be good to go later on."

Looking back at the door as they walked away, Liliana saw seven young men and women waiting quietly for Desmond to prepare for them and she said, "Remind me to request forgiveness from Cornelius…"