1 The Passion and Belief

"Natalia? Natalia!"

Natalia, now an adult, opened her eyes realizing she had been sitting at a bench under an acacia in the monastery courtyard for quite some time. It was the afternoon and she can feel the sun shine through the trees. She then sees Signore Nestore standing near her.

"Are you well? You seem to be adrift there for a moment. I saw you tear from afar." Nestore asks her as he sees her alone and almost lost in thoughts.

"I'm well, grazie signore." She smiled and assures the worried man.

"Memories, I take it?" He asks as he sits beside her.

"Horrible ones, Signore. But I'm okay."

Nestore sighs, "Nothing is quite true, Natalia, unless you give it meaning. Your past can make or break you. Whatever you went through, it is up to you on what you will do with it."

"Grazie, Signore. I will keep it in my heart."

Natalia's closest confidant in the monastery is Signore Nestore. He took her in as she fell ill from the chaos she experienced in her village. Till then he always kept an eye on her.

"How are you holding up?" Nestore checked.

"I finished the mission you gave me. I did as you asked and kept him silent for good."

He stares at her, realizing she had been lonely and pained most of her life. "You know you don't have to do this for us Natalia. I know it can be difficult at times, you killing our enemies."

"I have to. It's what brings me peace, knowing that the unjust is dealt with." She answered confidently and with conviction.

"I know you want revenge. For what happened to your parents."

"No, I want peace, Signore." Natalia looked him in the eye. "I'm grateful that you took me in, if it weren't for you I might have been dead along with my entire village. But many people still suffer from the hands of the evil; the sinful, men who serve the abyss, demon appraisers, I'm here to put them at an end."

Nestore sighed. He knew that what drives Natalia is her passion to bring people justice. As the days pass he knew she will slowly be closer to the truth; the truth that led to her parents death, the truth that led her to the monastery.

"Very well. I won't trouble you further." Nestore pulls a sealed letter from his pocket. It has the monastery's sigil on it. "Here, I have another mission for you. Be sure to bring this to the capital. No one must get their hands on this."

"Sí, signore."