Arc 3 - Chapter 20B: Voices, Pontifex, Lion

The night Yu Valarfin fainted:

In front of Tauntis's old eyes, which had difficulty seeing, there was a bell swinging. Although he could not see the world, he could see the bell clearly and hear its metallic sound as if it were right next to him.

The bells of the Andromeda Church often rang because of the broken ropes, but the bells that rang today did not belong to the Church of Andromeda. They were ringing for a different reason, in a different place.

"Maybe to celebrate the victory," Tauntis thought.

"Maybe for a wedding," he kept thinking. Her slender fingers were on his neck.

"Maybe..."

There had been many times when he had tried to change fate, but death was an exception.

"So this is the end of the road."

Ever since he obtained the Andromeda Blessing as a young child, he had been seeing scenes from the future. Scenes of death were not uncommon, he often saw future deaths.

It had become part of Tauntis' life to see the people he loved die and to try to make sure they had one last laugh and were happy before they died. He had lived a long life and had seen more deaths than he wanted to count.

The next death was his own. At least that was how he interpreted the bells. As he inhaled the last breaths of his life, he thought again what he had been thinking all these years: should he try to prevent death?

Sometimes he could see who was going to die where, when and how. What would happen if, when it was time to die, he sent the people who were supposed to die to a different place from where they were supposed to die? Or what if they arrived an hour late? What if they never met their killers?

Could Tauntis have prevented death, given the right conditions? Or was it no longer possible to save a dying person and no matter what he did, he would not be able to prevent death?

If he could have prevented death, he would have felt like a murderer, because according to him, the one who could have prevented death and did not, was the one who had inflicted a knife blow on the dying.

But he believed the answer was no.

His god, whom he saw with his own eyes, to whom he devoted his life and whom he fell in love with, had planned everything, and if he wanted someone to die, it was in the service of his plans. His plans could not be thwarted, everything was part of his grand plan and everything, everything would happen as he wanted it to. It was impossible to convince Tauntis otherwise.

That is why Tauntis never tried to prevent death. He saw the death of the people he loved most days, weeks, sometimes months in advance, and yet he never once tried to save them, never once had the temerity to try to thwart the plans of his god.

Nor was he going to try to prevent his own death. In fact, he couldn't wait to die. Tauntis would embrace the death Azer had planned for him and fall asleep, waiting to open his eyes on the glorious day god had promised.

But there were also things he saw that frightened him.

War.

Demolition.

Blood.

A bad smell.

Screams.

Insects.

Demons.

Queen.

The Queen's army.

Death.

A fiery beast.

Black plague.

So many wounds that cannot be healed.

And after everything, he saw nothing. An end.

Everything he saw and heard was chaotic. He didn't know which one would happen when.

But far more frightening than all this was laughter. Arrogant, sinful laughter, childish joy at evil that made Tauntis' bones tremble.

"My God has planned everything."

No matter what, in the end, everything would end as he wanted, and his faithful servants shall have eternal happiness.

Tauntis' story was coming to an end and he didn't need to worry about such things anymore.

The knock on the door brought him out of the sea of thoughts he had been immersed in because of the visions he had seen. Only the Andromeda Guardians were allowed to approach him unannounced, so it was one of them knocking.

"You may enter."

The great star-studded door slowly opened and an Andromeda Guardian entered, wearing a combination of white and gold armor, and bowed his head. Tauntis could not see the colors of his armor, nor the bowing of his head. But he knew.

"Duke Vermilia requests an audience with Your Holiness."

"I am coming."

He got up from his seat. Even if he couldn't see it, he knew every part of this church by heart, so he could go downstairs, but he had trouble going up and down the stairs. The builders of the church must have assumed that the people who would live here would never grow old, so they had built a long flight of stairs.

"Can you help me?"

His room was on the top floor and above that there were only minarets. There were so many stairs up to here that Tauntis sometimes didn't come down for days because he had difficulty going down the stairs and he did all his work here.

But it was his dear friend Leoral, with whom he had been friends for half a century, who wanted to talk to him. For him, going up and down the stairs was a chore not worth mentioning.

"The Duke is here, Your Holiness."

"Out of bed again? He's so disobedient."

As his friend grew older, he became stubborn and increasingly childish. Recent events had especially accentuated these traits. Leoral was always angry with his daughter Cornelia for being headstrong, but she had inherited these traits from her father.

The people around him would tell him to stay in bed and rest every day, maybe every hour, but he still looked for an opportunity to get out of bed.

"Take him inside, help him walk."

Leoral's attitude upset Tauntis. He too had few days left and he wanted him to spend his last days resting. He hadn't even told him about the delegation from Rolderhelm, just so that he wouldn't worry and think about it any more.

When the Andromeda Guardian brought Leoral dri Vermilia inside, Leoral was sweating, his face was flushed and he could hardly breathe.

Even Tauntis was doing his own body an injustice by climbing the stairs in his sick state, he was constantly failing to cope with the stairs and was supported by the guards. As Leoral continued to take deep breaths, the guard came out and closed the door, leaving them alone inside.

"Forgive me, Holiness, I'm not as vigorous as I used to be."

"Then why are you exhausting yourself like this? Please just- Leoral?"

He could see things nearby as silhouettes, but not things far away. Still, he could hear someone falling to the ground.

He stood up from his seat and walked as fast as he could in the direction of the voice. As he got closer to Leoral, a silhouette appeared in front of him. Finally he came up to him and could see him lying on the ground.

"I apologize for being a burden, I shouldn't have made you do such a thing."

Tauntis picked Leoral up and carried him to a chair in front of his desk.

"How many times have I asked you to stop this formal behavior?"

Leoral never stopped speaking respectfully. He had spoken this way since the day he met him, and now that he was used to it, yet he wished his friend spoke with more sincerity.

"If you had waited downstairs, I would have come to you."

"I can't call you to my feet."

Tauntis took his place. A little distance away from him, Leoral's image disappeared again.

"What brings you here, my friend?"

Leoral took deep breaths before speaking, deep enough for Tauntis to hear.

"Forgive me, it's a mistake to say this, but have I ever asked you for anything for the sake of our friendship?"

"No."

He had never made such a request. He had repeatedly refused all the honors and awards Tauntis had given him, even though he was fully deserving, lest people think Tauntis was doing him a favor.

"As I approach the end of my life, please allow me to ask you for the first time for the sake of the half-century of friendship we have left behind."

"Speak from your heart, my friend. I am listening to you."

"Did Rie's daughter come here?"

"Yes."

Tauntis had foreseen his arrival and waited here.

"Will you make him Cardinal of Virgo?"

"At tomorrow's ceremony, I will make her Cardinal of Virgo, along with the Cardinal of Libra."

"S-so..." Leoral took another deep breath. He could tell by the tremor in his voice that he was embarrassed to ask for something. "Will you give her Virgo?"

Three hundred years ago, when Virgo Cathedral still stood, Virgo City was the seat of the Virgo Cardinals.

It is a small city, but because of its location it was able to trade. It was still doing well, even though trade income is down at the moment because of the war.

"Cardinals have offices, just like the current ones. So the Cardinal of Virgo must have an office."

"Do you think she can run a city?"

"She doesn't have to do it alone, we will create a council to help her."

He thought about what Leoral had said, and it was true. It had to be the office of a cardinal, otherwise it would not be valued.

"Cecilus is my successor, albeit a failure, so Cornelia is appointed to succeed me on the council of Virgo Cathedral."

Cecilus no longer had any land to inherit, but Leoral still had faith that his home would be reclaimed. Meanwhile, the Church of Andromeda could not even send support to Vermia.

"I won't reject you, it will be as you say."

Even as Pontifex, he could not make all the decisions on his own and it would be difficult to convince the others, but for his friend's sake he would comply with the request.

"I am grateful, Your Holiness, for granting my selfish request."

"You can repay your debt of gratitude with rest, Leoral. I don't want you to get tired."