A Father's Love

*CHOO* *CHOO*

A train moved along a railroad that streaked across a green plain filled with life. The train didn't look like the usual commercial ones used by the public but was smaller and more unique in its look. If someone could peer into the train, the person would discover that the train held about a dozen figures within it.

Within one of the carriages of the train was an old man lying down on a furniture that seemed like a crossbreed between a couch and a bed while before him were 2 girls, one seeming to be in her twenties, the other looking to be barely 15.

The carriage was decorated quite lavishly, with fantastic murals painted on the ceiling of the carriage and the walls and windows being lined with gold and other expensive jewels. This particular carriage also had two other seats besides the one the old man was using and currently one of the seats was being used by the older lady while the younger one was serving a tea with a strong herbal scent to the old man.

The old man drank the tea and he couldn't help but wince his face at the bitter taste. He quickly reached out for a bottle of wine that was expertly hidden in the couch but a small dainty hand pulled it away from his hands.

"The doctor said you can't take any wine. Your the Pope, master. Can't you just bear this little thing?" The younger girl said this as she opened a window and threw out the very expensive bottle of wine without paying any heed to the expression of regret on the old man's face.

"You still know I'm your master, huh? Look at how you treat me? If Gabriel's clouds couldn't kill me, a bottle of wine won't do the deed either." The Pope seemed frustrated at his newest disciple's actions but his words seemed not to affect her as she reached out to pack up the tea set before bowing towards the other lady in the room and walking towards the door.

"Is this how you treat an old man?"

"Stop playing the pity card old man. I'm not buying it, we'll stick to what the doctor said so that you can get better sooner and come and train me so that I can get stronger. " The girl seemed genuinely frustrated at the Pope's antics.

" Is that all you care about? I can feel myself inching closer to the darkness. An old man like me could do with a bottle of wine for the road yunno" The old man put his hands over his chest and he closed his eyes.

" Your not dying anytime soon old man and I wasn't asking. Hmph" With that the girl closed the door with a bang and the room was left with the Pope still keeping his hands over his chest with his eyes closed.

" In the end even if you are still under probation, your the Pope of the Church of Storm. How could you be like this master? "The lady in the room seemed disappointed at the Pope's antics. She had always known her master to be like this but she felt when he became the Pope he would have changed but alas it would seem she had asked for too much.

The Pope realized he had embarrassed himself infront of his eldest disciple and hurriedly sat up while letting out an awkward cough. The lady just shook her head but then suddenly she started coughing violently. She took a handkerchief in her hand and put it over mouth to muffle the cough but when she took her hand away, it was stained with blood.

The Pope looked at this with eyes full of sadness and regret. She didn't seem to be bothered by it though as she walked to a cabinet and pulled out a vial before downing it's contents then moving on to take a couple of pills.

The Pope's head was bowed down while she did this with unknown thoughts coursing through his mind but she didn't seem to be aware of it or if she was she didn't seem to care.

When she was done she pulled out a bottle of wine and 2 glasses and walked to the pope before setting it down on the table. She pulled her seat closer and uncorked the wine before turning it into two cups.

She downed the cup in one go and then set it back on the table, the entire time the Pope's head was still bowed down. She looked out the window for a while before suddenly speaking out admidst the silence.

"The medicine is indeed bitter." The Pope slowly raised his head and looked at her. She looked away from the window and returned his gaze. He looked at her eyes for a while before he sighed and reached out for a cup.

"I do not know what I did to accrue such a good fortune of having you as a daughter." The Pope took a drink from his wine, the words earlier said by Fiona being utterly disregarded by this pair of father and daughter.

"It is the will of the storm that gave me to you and you to me. If not for your Highness' grace I would probably be the playthings of filthy men in some degraded place. "

" Let's not bring up such sad topics but I am indeed surprised of how far you've grown. If I were half the genius you were I would have already stepped into the realm of the saints." The Pope looked at this disciple of his who was also his daughter, his only child, with eyes filled with pride and fatherly love.

She didn't seem to be able to withstand his gaze as she looked away from him. Her voice seemed distant as she said

"Your Highness, it isn't appropriate to look at your disciple with such a gaze."

" Your right but it's different if it's my daughter i'm looking at. *sigh* I'm a terrible father to have dragged you into all this. "

" Your majesty picked me up from the streets and took me as his daughter granting me a new lease at life, this kindness is something I may never be able to repay in my life but I can at least try. It was by my own will to be here so there is no need for your majesty to feel bad. "

" I've told you to let go of such sad topics, we should focus on the good things. I still can't believe you were able to kill the Chief Inquisitor."

" I cannot claim credit for Sir Owen's death. If not for Sir Brontes binding him and that mysterious figure that seized 'Durandal' thereby not giving Owen a weapon to counter my arrow with, I wouldn't have been able to kill him. At most I could have grievously injured him. "

" The fact remains that he died and at your hands nonetheless. So in that case the Church has given me the power to reward your efforts. So starting from the moment we reach the Capital you will be the new captain of the Templars. As for Noah don't worry about him, I've already given him an appointment as the new Chief Inquisitor and with Henry leading the Tempest Cavalry the 3 divisions would be under my complete control but there is something I must ask you before you accept this post. Not as the Pope but as a father. "

Sensing the solemn air in the Pope's tone, Rain sat up and focused her entire attention on him.

" Rain, I want to give you a chance before it's too late. The power play within the church has not yet ended. I don't believe Daniel would be stopped so easily so I fear the fight within the church will only get worse. So I give you a choice today, do you want to take up this position as the Chief Inquisitor which would thrust you into the fray without any chance of coming out or would you rather walk away from all this. I can help you settle down in another place far away from here and allow you to avoid all this. I know you don't like all this fighting, despite the fact your good at it you'd much rather spend your time watching the rain shower the earth and tend to your gardens. As a Father it hurts me to know the things you've done against your will so I want to allow you to make your decision. Do not be afraid, I may be old but no matter how powerful the True Gospel Faction is, I can at least do this. There will be no issues whatsoever. So my beloved daughter, what do you choose?"

Rain had a glassy eyes look as she stared at her father. The Pope let out a sigh as he saw this. How could he not know what his daughter wanted but due to her talent it was always difficult to convince those fools to let his adopted daughter go but after seeing his daughter almost die at the hands of Gabriel he had decided that no matter the cost he would grant his daughter her heart's desire. He was just about to call in one of the Templars to stop the train so that he could make arrangements to send her away when she suddenly dashed towards him and embraced him. She didn't make any noise but he could feel his robe getting wet from her tears and he clenched his fists heavily.

'What kind of father am I? Have I truly lost sight of that which is most important in my pursuit for sainthood? Damn the saints! Damn those fools and even damn the church! I will take my child away from all of this even if it means me having to cause rivers of blood'

Rain could feel her father's anger rising. His aura bending the light that came in through the window and twisting space. Winds howled out from his body and blew through the room and the pressure from his energy surging out was so strong that even Brontes in the next carriage sprung up thinking they were under attack but she didn't stop him, she knows her father well.

He was like a sky that was calm and peaceful but when it stirred it's wrath came forth with thunder and lightning. If he didn't release his anger it would only stifle that tempest within him and it may even make his injuries worse. The only thing she did was to continue to hold on to him through the tempest and as she did the Pope gradually calmed down.

The winds seized and the pressure faded away. The Pope let out a snort and his eyes had a deadly light in them.

"You will leave for one of the missionary outposts at the isles. Far away from all this rubbish, as for those bastards... I'd like to see who would stop me. " The Pope had his mind made up but Rain suddenly stood up and went towards her seat as though the emotional burst that happened a while ago didn't come from her. The Pope's heart twisted when he saw it and his hate for those bastards only grew the more.

"Enough Father. It's enough for me to know that you have my desires at heart but we both know the implications of sending me to the isles would be too much for you to handle. I will take up the post cause that is what is needed of me, not for the church but for you. Noah may be in charge of the Inquisitors but you don't fully know where his allegiance lies and Henry may be the commander of the tempest cavalry but he doesn't have complete control of them. With me in charge of the Templars, you would at least have a group of fighters at your command and those you can trust. As for my dreams...who says we can't watch the rain and tend the gardens after all this is over." Rain let out a brilliant smile that could be likened to the sun that came out after the skies cleared.

The Pope looked at her with tears coming out of his eyes as he nodded gently not saying another word while he turned himself another glass of wine to drink but as he drank it his eyes gleamed with thoughts that Rain, try as she might, couldn't discern. She let out a sigh and picked herself a glass to drink and so father and daughter quietly drank their wine together as though hoping to drown all their worries in it.

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Back in the City of Skycloud, two figures sat in a carriage as it wobbled along the street. The coachman hollering to the people to shift aside to allow the horse pass. One of the figures within the carriage was dressed in a gentlemanly suit and a beautiful cloak while the other simply wore a simple brown leather pants and green cotton shirt.

One was dressed like a noble, the other like a commoner. A strange pair indeed for despite the fact that the church encourages equality, there would always be a difference between nobles and commoners that cannot be easily breached.

However the two people sat within the carriage and there seemed not to be any awkwardness between them. The noble figure pointing out to the people along the street while talking to the 'commoner' who once in a while replied him.

The two continued like this till they reached their destination, an old manor that was in a less walked part of the city. They paid the coachman and the two walked until they reached the gate that had vines winding around it's poles with some crawling on the walls. Besides the gate were 2 lion statues lined up along the wall on each side for a total amount of 4.

"I still can't believe you almost cut my head off cause of a stupid rule."

"You already knew the rules and just so you know if you had stepped into the kitchen, death would have been an ardent wish of yours. "

" There you go again scaring people. How are you going to make friends if you keep on like this? "

" I don't need friends. How do you intend on breaking this barrier? "

" It is a tricky one but that's not an issue. The problem is, if I'm wrong and she isn't here then that would mean that my actions would alert her and it would be a bit more difficult to achieve my goal"

The two figures stood in front of the gate but none of them moved to pass the gate. They simply stared at it as though they hoped to see the truth behind it.

" Well? I don't have all day. You pay well but don't think you can waste my time because of it. "

" Oh hush now. Allow me to calculate a bit more, if you think I'm wasting your time add it to my bill. You know who my father is, I can afford it"

The commoner seemed to agree with the noble's statement as he didn't complain again. He calmly waited beside the noble as they stood there till the sun cast long shadows of them on the ground before the noble figure let out a sigh.

"I've got to hand it to Fiona this time. Her 'Fortress' sub profession is really something else to be able to arrange such a barrier as this that even with my 'Star Lens' I can't see through it to tell if it's false or real but what she is doing is simply futile. It'd have been easier if I could catch her unprepared, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of letting her know I'm here. No matter how she struggles she won't be able to escape me this time"

As the noble spoke, a pinkish aura arose from his body and a beautiful smile spread out on his face as he cast his spell while the commoner figure looked at him with a solemn gaze.

"It seems it won't be that easy if I wanted to kill you."

"Naturally. If you could kill me so easily then I won't be deserving of being the son of that man." The commoner once again agreed with the noble figure. As the son of the esteemed Magus Carnal Sins, he had to have at least this level of ability.

'If my memory doesn't fail me, he should have the sin of lust. Among the 7 sins split between his siblings, his ranks at 5th but that doesn't mean he's weak though.... It really would be a pain in the ass to kill him but why would he come here alone.' The commoner had to end his thoughts as he witnessed something that left him with a grim look on his face.

"Hm. It's ready, now then, would you kindly break for me?" As he spoke his words, the bartender watched on as the plants quickly withered away while the gate calmly opened itself allowing the two of them to walk in.

His eyes were cold as he watched on as the lion statues eyes lit up but as he took a defensive posture he saw as the light died out immediately after it lit up with the stones crumbling. He looked at the noble figure walking towards the manor and he was even more wary of him.

The figure seemed to notice as he turned around and looked at him and let out a dazzling smile. He was lost in it a bit but then he quickly snapped out of it and a bloody aura burst out of him as he looked at the noble figure. The figure let out a playful laugh as he covered his mouth with his palm.

"Oh come now, I was simply playing with you. If the hangman was so easily turned into my thrall you wouldn't be worth your name. This place is most likely a false hideout though but I still want to see if I can find some clues so you stay out here while I take a look inside. Alright? "

The bartender looked at this beautiful noble figure before letting out a cold snort and turning away while reining in his aura.

" It would be better if Sir Charles didn't play such games in the future or regardless of whether your the son of that figure I'd still kill you. The people behind me would be enough to make your father stay his hand and your life would be lost in such an unjust way. "

Charles didn't seem disturbed as that smile was still on his face as he let out a laugh and walked into the manor.