The Faith Eater III

The Mother Superior motioned for the empress to follow her, heading towards a second square building next to the temple. The whole place seemed to be made out of adobe with a mixture of cobblestone, the walls of the abbey being little more than large thin hills with a curve at the top. As they passed by a fountain, she noticed there were fish bones at the bottom, with nothing alive swimming inside. "Did whatever is attacking you do this?" The dev asked. Francine looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"Life in the abbey doesn't matter to these things. If it is outside at the time of the week, tomorrow being another event, then it is dragged away or slain right then and there." She opened the doors and headed inside, a long hallway lit with candles and torches. Stain glass windows were everywhere, depicting scenes of saints for the goddess Elesia. They stopped at a door as she opened it with a crude key, then both entered into her office. Selene sat down and looked at her as the priestess sat behind the desk.

"I have multiple questions, not all of them are for your follower's safety. First and foremost, how many used to live here before the events took place?" the auburn-haired woman asked calmly.

"We had a number of aspiring acolytes over the years, I do not know the exact-"

"I don't need a history lesson just yet, I'm just asking for a guess on numbers. Two hundred? Three hundred?" Selene interrupted the long-winded dancing around her question. Francine exhaled loudly from her nose in annoyance from being cut off.

"Roughly three hundred."

"How many are left?"

"Less than fifty." That meant that fully eight-five percent of the abbey population has been taken out.

"When did this start?"

"Two months ago." That surprised Selene. Her eyebrows raised for a second as she thought about how quickly two hundred fifty people were dragged off to some horrible fate. "They, or it, caught close to fifty in just the first week."

"And what exactly is it we are here to fight against? I've been told by Ezra there is something that comes in the fog, artificially created by it. It drags people off supposedly? Turns them into some sort of zombie or undead?"

"Ezra doesn't have all the information yet. Whatever it is, I've only ever caught a slight glimpse of it. It seemed to have a disfigured body, grotesque in shape, but I didn't get a good look at it. The creature, whatever it is, comes in with the fog, grabs whoever it can, then drags them off kicking and screaming."

"It hasn't killed them on the spot?" the empress questioned. It was performing some sort of ritual then, or some sort of magic that took time. Why didn't it just slaughter the people in the abbey and take its time without issue?

"I don't know. We've never found blood once someone was captured. The next week, those same people… they… they come back… wrong…" Mother Superior Francine took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, a candle flickering next to them. A deep sigh came out, trembling. "They had black seepage coming from around their eyes, mouth and nose, some coming out of their ears as well. They made such horrible sounds and moved unnaturally, jerking motions. They acted as extra arms to capture others that weren't lucky enough to make it inside the temple to hide." She seemed visibly shaken as the candles in the office continued to burn and flicker.

"So, they only attack during the day? Not at night?"

"I don't know, they've only come during the day as if to openly mock our goddess. During the night, regardless of the fog, nothing happens, at least nothing has happened so far." The dev leaned back in the padded chair and brought her hand under her chin, thinking carefully.

"The temple is some sort of protected zone? They never enter it? Can they enter other buildings?" she asked.

"They… at first… couldn't go very far into the abbey… just through the walls… then as more and more people were caught… we resorted to hiding in the temple every week, it seems to be one of the few places that is safe… at least for now…"

"Few places? Are there others?" she asked. Francine raised an eyebrow at her then looked away.

"I would like to say my personal quarters, just through that door behind you" the priestess replied, pointing at an entrance just behind the chair.

"Did Elesia bless it somehow?"

"Well, I am in charge of this abbey. I would hope she would at least try and protect one of her most devoted." The woman scoffed a little.

"Why were you hiding in the cellar of the temple then if it was safe?"

"Because… because I… I'm worried it no longer is safe… the last time…" Francine thought carefully on the words she was going to say. One of the candles went out. "The last time… I could see rattling at my door while the others hid. I prayed as hard as I could, fearful that it would blow open at any moment and that would be the end of me. Then… nightfall, for some reason, made it stop." It felt almost like a horror movie come to life, some creature was transforming these people into something… maybe undead. Her office door had a functional lock, so they had to have repaired it recently.

"The followers that were taken… let's… can we call them taken?" Francine nodded. "These taken then, do you believe they were undead?" The Mother Superior shook her head.

"I don't believe they were alive or undead… more… I don't know… puppets? A manipulation of the bodies to break our morale? Our faith?" That answer brought up even more questions. Was it targeting their faith? A faith eater? This was a new monster. She hadn't heard of this in Yggdrasil or in the game it was based on.

"Wait, faith. How many followers are there for Elesia? Are there many abbeys out there? Monasteries? Temples?" Selene questioned her, wondering if the deity was involved in a widespread religion. Francine sighed, not really knowing what to say. She calmly looked into the empress's blue eyes and looked tired.

"I've tried my hardest to spread the word, do what I can Miss…" she stopped for a second as Selene told her the fake name. "Ilana. Before this, in all my life, I've seen a few temples crop up, there was another monastery down south. They supposedly had a piece of a holy relic made by Elesia. I don't know where it is now, the monastery was abandoned from what I have been told of weary travelers. We may be the last of her followers." Fifty followers left for this goddess. That wasn't much faith energy going to her.

"Can you summon her?" Selene was abrupt and quick to ask, cutting to the chase after that.

"W-what? Summon her? She is no demon, child! She is a goddess!" Francine almost snapped at her.

"A goddess with a dying following, being attacked by whatever the hell is out there. If we can get a little more intel from the horse's mouth, I say we do it. Now, can you do it? I've heard of avatars of gods being requested by their most faithful, to ask a question. Is it possible?" Francine glared at her for a moment, then closed her eyes and thought carefully.

"I don't know if she will answer. I have only ever had it happen once, and I had help long ago. A god answers by their will, not by our demand."

Should have told that to Xaxara, though there was a sacrifice to bring her to this world… Oh don't tell me there needs to be a sacrifice for Elesia too, if that's the case let the religion die off then…

The office was fairly large, with a dais already inside just for the head priestess to pray by herself if need be. There were a few mementos here and there, some small paintings on the walls. The whole place was fairly sparse, with only two chairs in the room and a couch, the main desk and two-night tables with candles all packed together to provide light. "I can try, but it may not work."

Francine stood up from her chair and went to the dais, her old body showing she had good genes, still capable of moving about quickly and efficiently compared to anyone else of her age. As she kneeled in front of the dais, Selene stood up and watched carefully. The abbess prayed her heart out, the entire ritual lasting a good hour as the empress finally sat down again and waited. Once the hour was up, Francine had opened her eyes and looked frightened. "I have always received some sort of whisper from her… but this… I received only silence…" she was afraid, very afraid. "I don't think we'll be-"

She was cut off as what looked to be a rip in reality opened up above the dais, flashing lights and changing the background as if they were seeing through oil and water mixed with a rainbow… doused in shadows. The priestess jumped up and backed behind Selene, who pulled her sword and shield and got ready for a fight. Instead, what came out, or as it was, fell out, was a glowing woman that slowly returned to a regular human appearance… excluding her platinum blonde hair. It seemed to be waving and moving without any motion, as if there was a wind blowing through the room that no one could feel.

The woman was unconscious, gasping for air and finding it hard to breathe. "Elesia!" Francine yelped out as the empress put her weapon away and watched in awe. She was laying her eyes on a goddess, a real goddess. The woman was completely naked, not that it mattered in a room with two other women, one of which was her most fervent follower. "What's wrong? She can barely breathe."

"Let's get her into your bedroom, hurry." The priestess nodded, her mind not really understanding that she needed to actually move right now. Selene picked up Elesia and carried her to the door, with Francine fumbling with the keys. The empress was getting frustrated and finally kicked it open, jogging in and setting the woman down on the small bed.

"What's happening? Why can't she breathe?" Francine asked.

"You're asking me? You summoned her. If I had to guess, she's a goddess with a dying following. Gods… they die if they don't have enough faith, right?" The priestess's eyes widened at that thought. Fifty people were left that were praying to her. If they died, she died. That was why she was fighting so hard to keep air in her lungs. The problem was they could store that energy, it wasn't as if it was food. This goddess had been expending everything she had for some reason.

"How… how do we help her? Elesia? How do we help you? Give me a sign Elesia, give me a sign!" Francine seemed to be panicking now, begging her goddess to help her when she couldn't even help herself. Selene got up and slapped her across the face as softly as she could.

"Get a hold of yourself! Look, she isn't dead yet, and gods don't really die in the sense we mortals think they do. It's… not the same really. Stay calm, pray to her. Get your following to pray to her. That might give her a chance to… I don't know, get some rest? Something? It's an idea, the only one I have right now." The priestess nodded.

"I'll tell them Elesia is here and needs our help" As she turned around to leave, the dev grabbed her arm.

"Absolutely not! Do not do that or your following will collapse! Think about it. If they know she's in danger right now, that they have no protection from whatever it is that is coming tomorrow, they'll abandon this place as fast as they can, and she dies. If they lose faith in their deity, you can kiss everything goodbye. Keep this a secret." The abbess blinked at her in confusion.

"You… you want me to lie to my… flock?"

"Do you have a choice?" The woman thought for a moment as her eyes darted around the floor, hoping there was another option. Selene on the other hand was wondering if this was more than just an avatar… if it was really the goddess Elesia. The only way she'd know would be once she woke up. There was no guarantee that would happen.

The only reason she would fall out of that weird portal could be she was escaping something… her own realm? Gods have realms, right? What was she escaping, if anything at all? Was she just trying to answer the call from Francine?

"What do I tell them then?" The Mother Superior asked.

"Just… tell them now is the time to prove their faith to her once and for all, how much conviction they have of staying in this abbey. The adventurers need her blessing to fight off this… evil… whatever the hell it is. We'll set up and get ready for the oncoming battle… as for your old colleagues that have already been taken… I'm sorry to say we're going to be defiling the corpses to make sure they can't get up again… if they can get up again…" The empress was calm but stern as she explained what was going to happen.

The old woman nodded slowly as she realized what was being asked of her. They needed to be careful if it meant the survival of Elesia, if it meant the survival of the last of the following. Francine left quickly to tell the remaining monks and sisters of the faith to pray carefully, to have a night sermon for this special occasion of the raiders here to once and for all save them, a holy crusade against this evil assaulting the abbey.

As Selene is about to leave, Elesia shot her hand up and grabbed hers. She weakly wheezed and tried to breathe as her eyes shot open, staring at the warrior. "Easy, you're safe. Your following is here, they'll be praying to you to help your breathing."

"They're coming… I can't hold them back much more… tell the others… I've tried so hard…" she whispered out it seemed in delirium, falling into unconsciousness once again. Her hand slipped from the empress's arm as she went limp. Sweat started to build up on her as the dev pulled the blanket over her body in confusion. Who was coming? The creature attacking the abbey? Creatures? Pleural? She didn't know yet how many there were. Maybe, due to her religion slowly dying out, she couldn't protect those who worship her from outside threats.

What did I get myself into? This is one hell of a deviation in the plan…

New information was now making her have to alter her strategy. She was expecting to have a conversation with this goddess about the pantheon, the make-up of the deities, how far their following expanded. What she got instead was a half dead woman lying in a bed, with a freaked-out abbess now struggling with fifty worshipers attempting to pray to her via one giant lie. The dev still didn't know what the hell she was really fighting either. They weren't undead, more a manipulation of the bodies of those taken, walking puppets for this creature. Did they still have memories? Trapped souls?

Selene shook her head a little to get those thoughts out of her mind for the time being. "Charlie team, how copy?" she asked via coms. Special Forces Charlie team was stationed just outside of Sweet Water at the moment, with the other secondary teams positioned at Glass Dale and Eld Horn. New teams would be created within the next week or so. The QRF was a separate company of automatons.

"Solid copy your majesty, what do you need?" Charlie One asked.

"I need your team to head to my position, but I need you to stay hidden. There is going to be a fight on our hands, only assist once we are sure visual can't be kept on our actions." As much as it seemed the QRF would be needed, they were there to be loud and dangerous. The last thing she needed right now was the raid party to know about her armies. They were backup.

"Copy that ma'am, we'll be there." The coms call ended as she thought ahead. Having an SF auto team ready to fight as soon as the fog got thick enough so no one could see how Selene and Hrist would combat this 'faith eater' and his or her taken would help quite a bit. Bronze Team wasn't the only ones out there doing jobs for her. Bravo Team was providing mostly forward defense against scouts from Artinia in Eld Horn while Alpha Team was on call if Brynhildr, through some unholy curse, needed assistance. Charlie was open to move about.

She had no idea what to expect, however it wasn't as if she could rely on controlling every little detail. "No plan survives contact with the enemy" she muttered to herself under her breath. As she stood up one more time and looked down at Elesia, knowing that this being probably didn't need to eat or drink beyond enjoying the taste of food, left and closed the door. It was damaged at the lock due to her kick, but hopefully the main door to the office would stop anyone from rummaging around. These people respected their abbess, it was doubtful they'd go looking in her things.

The day started to fall to night as dusk hit, chanting was heard in the temple as the adventurers set up tents strewn throughout the area. There wasn't enough space inside the buildings for everyone to sleep, so Hrist and Selene propped up their tent and got ready to sleep there. Staying in the pocket house would be nicer, however if anything happened during the night while they were disconnected from the world… it could be disastrous. Campfires were popping up as she listened to the prayers in the temple, Morlanion watching his brother as he went through the hymns, pouring everything he had into them as he worshipped his goddess, unbeknownst to him lying in a bed unconscious.

"Did he really choose to come here?" Selene asked him as Ezra's older brother watched the four-hour event.

"He did. You might think our family is stuck in tradition, Miss Ilana, but some of these traditions help our family grow. I chose the martial studies, I had a knack for them. I joined the Artinian military and rose up the ranks, eventually becoming one of their heroes. My brother, Ezra, seemed to have a talent for the faith, healing and saving of one's soul."

"So, your father allowed him to be sent here? Why not this Gigsen, god of trade and commerce?" she questioned further, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the doorframe. The large male warrior sat on a stone pillar shaped like a squat chess pawn.

"As I said, he chose it. I don't claim to know what my brother was thinking; maybe it was to do some good here or help spread the word of this dying religion. It's odd, isn't it? We've come here to save their lives only to have their faith shattered with so few still around. I can't remember in all my travels seeing much more than an idol or two involving Elesia, but they could have been hiding it" Morlanion said quietly, his deep voice grinding out the words.

The hymns stopped as Francine ended the prayer for what seemed almost like the final time. Tomorrow would see whether the religion that Ezra had joined would survive or not. The young priest stood up from kneeling in the pews and bowed to the Mother Superior, chatting with her about something. Francine looked as if she was putting on a show, desperately trying to keep a straight face instead of one of fear and depression. She needed to keep up appearances for her sisters and brothers in the abbey.

The night winded down as dinner was eaten and the adventuring teams conversed with each other, telling wild stories of where they had gone and quests they had completed. Tomorrow it was assured that some of them would fall, probably a good portion of the copper ranked. Selene couldn't resurrect them openly, as that would give away what she was. Giving the orb one more time to Ezra might work to help renew the faith of the people here, potentially causing a few adventurers to convert even if they saw the spell go off. The problem was if the taken could even be resurrected. They would need to wake up very early to make sure they weren't caught off guard, to prepare the area.

Both the empress and Hrist retired early to the tent with others following suit to their own, with one large mat available between the two. There was no plan on ever actually using the thing, instead sneaking off to the pocket house. "Are you sure I should not sleep on the floor?" Hrist asked. Selene looked at her quizzically with a weird smile on her mouth.

"Oh, come on, it's one night and you aren't a dog. We'll wake up in the morning and get ready earlier than the others. You take the left side, I'll take the right." The Valkyrja was blushing profusely as she climbed into bed in her tunic top and underwear. Selene did the same and turned out the lamp, both of them trying to fall asleep with Blue lying at their feet. Unfortunately, there were a few adventurers nearby that snored incredibly loudly, keeping quite a few other tents awake. "Son of a…" the dev muttered and cast [Silence] on the general location of that tent. The snoring stopped. Her accuracy had gotten pretty high without needing to see the target these days.

Morning, 16th, November

Hrist woke up first and stared up at the top of the tent, rubbing her eyes in the process. Her left arm seemed to be held down for some reason, which didn't really register as to what could be causing it. Her right arm lifted the sheets to find Selene held on as if she was a spare pillow, still completely in dreamland.

The Valkyrja went beet red and stiffened up. The empress looked majestic holding onto her, not a care in the world on her shoulders at that moment. The battle maiden felt like this was a best day in history as the auburn-haired woman laid her head against Hrist's shoulder. For the next few minutes she just lay there, unwilling to move a muscle in fear she'd disturb this mortal goddess. She finally worked up the courage to move her right hand slowly to try and brush her fingers against the dev's cheek, but it was not meant to be.

Selene woke up slowly as her eyes fluttered open, rolling off the raven-haired woman's arm and sliding to the side of the bed. "Mmm… what time is it…" she mumbled out as her hand reached into her backpack right at the side of the bed. A small watch was pulled out as she peered carefully at it, the entire time Hrist cursed her luck, both the bad and the good. It was roughly 4 am, dawn a good hour away at least before breaking at that point. There were no odd noises that had happened in the night, no sounds of combat to wake them up. That was a good sign.

"Charlie Team, you there?" she asked via coms in a slightly groggy tone, rubbing her eyes and slowly getting up. A yawn escaped her lips as she stretched.

"We're here ma'am, just outside the fog." That woke her up a bit more as she realized it was already there.

"How far has it encroached?"

"It's already inside the abbey ma'am." That made her quickly look out the tent flaps to see Ezra and other priests walking around, not rushing quite just yet.

"Hey, Ezra, psst." The young teenager looked at her peeking out of the tent flaps, holding them closed as if she was naked behind them. That wasn't case, but all the same, he was uncomfortable. Hrist on the other hand had a full view of her rear in underwear and immediately turned around.

"W-what… what do you need?" he asked, averting his eyes as fast as he could.

"When do the… the things, you know, those things, when do they show up usually? Is there a time frame or is it just day?"

"Um… normally… uh… about, 7 am?" he seemed to guess out the answer. That gave them roughly three hours to get prepared.

"Alright, thanks." Her head disappeared back into the tent, clipping the inside shut. Both women slipped into the pocket house for a quick breakfast and a fast shower. Once they were prepared, they quietly slipped out of their tent and packed everything up. The rest of the raid was just waking up by now, not really prepared for what was coming. As soon as their eyes landed on Selene and Hrist in full armor, they realized things needed to get going fast. Some of the warriors were juggling their gear and trying to get everything back in their bags, others tried to get their armor strapped on correctly without it coming completely off in one strike.

"Do you believe these adventurers will be of much help?" Hrist whispered to her as they walked towards the temple and saw the followers all inside, ready to seal the doors shut and pray.

"We don't know how strong what we're facing is. Only once we get eyes on will we know what to do and what will happen." Charlie Team reported their sniping position and were tracking slow haphazard movement in the far distance. The empress requested they take some long shots to whittle down the number to roughly one hundred fifty, to even out the opposing force compared to what they had available. Fighting fifty of them at a time might not be much of a problem, fighting them in the fog… that would cause some issues with vision. Both women could very easily see at a range of fifty feet, much further than anyone else around them in the white soup.

Markers in the distance started to get removed as two hundred fifty was dropped to one hundred fifty over the course of a half hour, with shots silenced and going easy on the enemy, obliterating the bodies with the acid rounds. During that time, Selene checked on Elesia in the abbess's office. She was soundly sleeping, no longer fighting for air after last night's sermon. Her life was still being held by a fine thread, however. She needed whatever the hell the energy that the faithful gave to her. For the time being, she was just going to call it faith energy, because no one else seemed to have a name for it in the books she had read, and there had been no information in any game back on Earth, so it would have to stick.

"Ma'am, uh… Miss Ilana!" Dylan called out as they stopped and barely saw through the fog as they left the office and out the front door.

"I'm over here follow my voice" she yelled as the Undead Destroyers walked carefully towards the sound, eventually reaching them.

"The temple is almost ready to be sealed up and ready for what is to come. I'll admit, I've never fought in fog like this before" he said with a little chuckle, scratching his head.

"Keep your backs to each other, stay inside the building, don't move away or you'll get flanked. If you find yourself separated, get against a wall, barricade around you, light torches to heat the room up to try and get rid of the fog." He nodded as he tried to take in what she was saying, pulling a small parchment from his pocket and a quill. A little bottle of ink was opened soon after, with him jotting down what she was telling him. Morlanion walked through the fog towards them, somehow able to see better than the others. Elsei was just behind him with a small glowing orb in her hand dispersing the fog around their bodies.

"That looks nifty" Selene commented as the elf looked down at her hand and smiled. It wasn't even close to the brightness of a light orb, but it was dispersing the fog within a limited distance around it.

"An old spell that is taught to elven children to find our way home if we ever get lost. Surprisingly, I cannot seem to get rid of the fog beyond this."

"You have clear weather spells?" the empress asked, curious as to if she was a warrior or a caster. Her main weapon was a halberd, though there was such a thing as dual class in D&D.

"I have… one, which didn't work at all. This isn't normal fog, it won't go away."

Not normal fog… hmmm… so created… temperature doesn't have an effect then… torches won't help if someone barricades themselves in a building… crap, I gave bad advice…

Dylan ran to the other teams to warn them about what they should do to fight as efficiently as possible. They seemed almost cheerful, expecting to win this without issue with four warriors the equivalent of Adamantite rank and four orichalcum rank helping. "We should team up for this fight, stand side by side" Morlanion said.

"I… that…" Selene didn't know how to tell him she didn't want him watching her back. Her odds drastically increased if he wasn't near Hrist and herself, with Charlie Team tracking anything that came near her. Ornithopters were flying above, acting as mini AWACS alongside the air fleet. If things got too hairy, she'd drop the façade and tell Hrist to simply 'go loud.' Losing their lives wasn't worth playing delver with the kids. Hopefully they could do it without anyone seeing them show the true power of a Valkyrja and a Clockwork Empress.