Chapter 50
She gives her a wave as she walks back then spots Valen, giving him a smile and a wave as well. She then finally sees Lenna with a few of her bruises, her eyes widen in surprise before she shrinks herself, her arms coming close to her chest as she tries to wave at her "H-Hi Lenna." Eska says with a smile. "How are you feeling?" She asks her. Lenna just rubs the bridge of her nose for a few seconds, taking a few deep breaths.
"Hea...dache?" Eska asks, a bit worried but still trying to keep her distance. Lenna just drops her hand with her eyes closed, tilting her head up in frustration and taking a big breath before she says "We are here to take you to the cathedral, you are expected to join us. You have no choice in the matter." Her voice is filled with determined frustration. She looks at Eska with a piercing look. "Let's get this over with." She says as she turns around, making her way to the church.
Eska just nods nervously at her before she follows. The crowd disperses, as Eska is with the paladins now. Lenna leads the group as they walk behind her. No one says anything while walking to the cathedral. Once at the cathedral, Miriel is waiting for them.
"Lenna. No issues, right?" She asks with a smile. Lenna just shakes her head at her, then looks away. "Come, let's make our way down." Miriel follows them inside. They go down the elevator and a few elevators. Eska looking left and right, seeing all the new sights.
"Welcome to the cathedral." Miriel tells her. "I think you'd like it here, but first let's get you to the speaker. Everyone should be there to bring you into our wing." Eska nods slowly. "I'd love to see this whole place" She says quietly, genuinely curious. They finally reach a large room. The ceiling reaches high up, the walls are made of stone bricks and decorated with paintings of angels adorning the walls. Towards the far end, the speaker stands next to a pedestal in front of the god's painting. There is no one else in the room, but it seems to be meant to house many people inside. A few hundred at least.
They walk towards the speaker, stopping at the few stairs leading up towards him. He is on his knees and as they finally reach him he stands and turns towards them. "Eska, you are here to join us." Eska nods as she says "Yes, it's nice to meet you." She bows slightly, her head down but eyes looking up. The speaker smiles. "No need to bow, girl." Eska straightens herself and the speaker continues. "Given the circumstances, we won't go through the entire ceremony." He takes a small knife from the pedestal. "Your hand." The speaker extends his arm, asking for Eska's.
She walks up the stairs, giving him her hand. He holds her palm upwards with his own hand. He places the tip of the knife right above her palm then says "With this blade, a blood pact is born." He looks at Eska, "A vow of loyalty to our lord. Do you accept it?" He asks her.
"I accept" Right as she finishes speaking, the speaker pierces both her and his hand with the knife. Eska nearly pulls her hand back in shock. The speaker smiles as he says "I believe your time here will be productive, I hope you will come to see us as family." He pulls the knife out, Eska pulls her hand towards her, bringing her blood back inside. The speaker simply closes his fist and opens it after a second, leaving only blood where the wound should be. "Now go." He tells her. "I have other things to attend to. Miriel will present you with the details of what joining us means for you." He then turns and kneels in front of the painting once more, his hands clasped together.
Miriel steps forward. "Let us go." She tells them, taking the lead and guiding them to the hallway. Denise takes Eska's hand and starts healing it. "Thanks" Eska tells her. Once outside the room, Eska can't help but ask "That was some insanely quick healing the speaker has." Miriel looks back with a smile, "It's given to all speakers and angels. Angels because we are the last line of defense in the city, and speakers because that oath you took happens every year, with hundreds of people. It works a bit different for both of us though. Whereas the speaker is replaced after their natural death, angels live for much longer thanks to the healing attribute."
"That is a very strong ability to have, why don't you go out there and deal with the creatures?" Eska asks. Miriel looks forward as she walks "Because we can't go too far away from the city. The further I step away the more human I become, I even start aging after I exit the city." She answers her. "That's why the cathedral is at the center. So I can be the strongest here and defend anyone who seeks asylum in case anything happens." She finishes her explanation as they get to a different room. Smaller but still grand. There is a round table at the middle fit for ten people to sit around.
"Right! Why don't you guys take a seat? I'll explain what our lord and the speaker expects from you and your new group." Miriel tells them as they all walk inside, closing the door as everyone is inside. Valen takes a seat on the other side of Eska, as does Lenna. Denise sits on Eska's side. Miriel stays standing as she begins speaking.
"I'm not sure how much of this you know, but I'll go over it just in case." She puts her hands behind her back as she continues. "As part of the church you are expected to hold all of our values true. Eska will start as a knight or acolyte." She looks at Eska. "You would normally take orders from other paladins, but we've decided to keep you under the orders of a single paladin. Lenna." She beckons towards her with her hand. "Lenna here has a lot of experience leading new knights and acolytes. She will be a great help."
She paces for a bit before continuing. "Due to the... Circumstances during the lord's summoning, the speaker will want you to go out of the city and clear creatures out there until we find information about heretics outside. Those will be your main priority. You will be expected to take hunts with this group, others may join if they so desire and Lenna welcomes them, but otherwise you are to stick with this full team. If injuries happen, everyone is expected to wait until they are healed and then head out again immediately." Miriel finishes talking and looks at Eska, waiting for her response.
"I understand." Eska tells her. "Is that.. All? No rules about praying every day or making sure to tell the lord he is super cool every day?" She asks Miriel.
Miriel chuckles, turning around and trying to hide it. She regains her composure before answering "We don't usually do this daily, more like as needed during the week, but due to your incredibly unique circumstances..." She pauses to look at her "I don't think anyone has ever received the lord's blessing directly from him. We understand the context but it's still not something we see, even rarely. As far as major rules you shouldn't break, it's mostly just keeping your loyalty to us and enforcing our laws. I'm sure Lenna or Valen will guide you if anything happens." She finishes her explanation.
Lenna seems annoyed and can't help but bring it up "As a first guidance, do NOT mock our lord, otherwise I will have to do something about it." Eska just looks at her and gives her a slight mocking smile. "Let me guess. 'A crime punishable by death'" She says, mimicking her voice on the first day they met.
Denise giggles a bit at Eska's mockery before immediately stopping as Lenna gives her a death stare, then to Eska. "I'll let it pass, but know that I don't tolerate such disrespect." Eska just smiles at her then asks Miriel "Is Lenna in charge of our hunts?" Miriel answers her right away "Unless she says otherwise, yes. She is your leader and what she says goes. She has proven her loyalty time and time again, the speaker trusts her and is why she has been assigned as the leader of the group. Valen is here to provide backup due, to..." She can't help but pause and slowly look at Lenna "Due to your... Abilities." She finishes, hesitant on her choice of words.
Lenna just crosses her arms and looks to the side. "Yeah yeah yeah. Just get it over with, it's obvious I'd need backup if you decided you just don't have to obey." Lenna tells them both. Valen jumps in "What rank of missions will we be taking? Given we have two paladins, sentinel hunts would be the highest we can go to."
"I already have an idea for that, though I have to pick it up from the Hunters' Core, and they don't really welcome me there very much." Lenna tells Valen. "I wouldn't mind taking sentinel hunts, but I would prefer starting at strider. I don't want to be away too long while on the missions. As far as I know we've had a few Urba sightings. That would be perfect for the purpose of this group."