Chapter 58

"Now that you have heard everything, are there any further questions from you or the lady beside you?" Pope Damianus asked, smiling at both of them.

"No, we are grateful that you have taken the time to share these stories with us," Astaroth replied. He had wanted to ask about the statue Glenda had found, but he stopped himself short.

"We have taken up enough of your time," Astaroth continued. "We should be going now." Lalitha stood up as soon as she heard her master's intention.

"Hoho, no, no," Pope Damianus responded. "It had been refreshing for me to take a break from all the meetings I have had to attend with the various nobles and merchants who have come to this city. If you have the time, Lohel can show you around the temple. Although there are certain places that are off-limits to you, we do have a part of the temple that is open. And oh, yes, we have a display room where all the statues from various artists are on display. Lohel can show you the way."

Lohel twitched slightly when the Pope gave him another task to bring the two visitors around the temple, but he quickly composed himself and smiled at Astaroth and Lalitha. "Yes, esteemed guests, why don't you take this chance to have a guided tour of the famous temple?" he offered.

"Master, I think we should take a look at the artist's creations," Lalitha said, and in a much softer voice she whispered, "This would be a good chance for me to use my magic to observe the surroundings."

"Yes, we shall take up your offer, Pope Damianus," Astaroth said giving his thanks to the Pope before turning to Priest Lohel. "To trouble you again to lead us."

"It's my pleasure," Lohel replied, clasping his hands together and leading the way out of the room. Astaroth and Lalitha followed closely behind. As they exited the room, Pope Damianus turned around and spoke to a person who had been hiding behind his chair.

"So, what do you think? All the while I was talking to him, my senses were going off the meter. His aura was giving off a strong feeling of evil and danger. It felt as if his blade was at my throat the entire time, and I was not able to sense any humanity from his eyes. It was as if I was looking at pure evil." Pope Damianus's words trailed off at the end of his sentence. He had to control his voice multiple times during the meeting with Astaroth to hide the fact that he was in a state of fear from the man.

"You are right, Pope Damianus," the figure said, stepping out of the shadows. "That man is evil. And the woman beside him as well. Whatever they are, they are not human."

The figure was a young woman who looked to be about twenty years old. She was dressed in shiny yellow armor, her blonde hair tied in a braid, and a long sword hung at her side. "Pope, the woman beside Astaroth, she looks a lot like the witch of Yosnad, Elizabeth Ashcroft, but I am not sure if that is really her. She looks like her, but also not like her. There is something I cannot explain."

Pope Damianus slumped into his armchair, drained of all energy. The meeting with the two mysterious figures had lasted only an hour, but it had felt like days. The blonde woman, who called herself Lalitha, had been unsettling to him from the start. There was something about her eyes, something cold and calculating. And her companion, Astaroth, was even more sinister. The air around him seemed to crackle with dark power.

The blonde girl handed the Pope a glass of water, which he gulped down gratefully. "What now?" he asked. "Do we confront them, or do we leave them alone?"

"Leave them for now," she said. "They haven't shown any hostility, but I'm curious to know what they're up to here in Sanctavia." She paused, then added, "I want you to tell your priests to keep an eye on them, but not to interfere. It's best to let them wander around the city for a while. We'll decide what to do next when we know more."

The Pope nodded. "I understand," he said. "But I can't help but feel that they're a threat."

"They may be," the blonde girl said. "But for now, we need to be patient. We'll learn more about them soon enough."

She turned and walked away, leaving the Pope alone with his thoughts. He knew that she was right. They needed to be patient. But it was hard to be patient when there was a dark presence lurking in his city.

Lohel did as he was instructed, leading Astaroth and Lalitha to the display room. There, they viewed the artifacts created by the temple artisans, as well as pieces donated by other countries. Lohel did his best to explain the history of the various displays.

When he was finished, he showed Astaroth and Lalitha out of the temple and returned to the Pope to give his report. Unbeknownst to him, a shadow had been trailing him. As he passed the display room, the shadow stopped following him and slipped inside.

The temple was brightly lit even at night, a practice that had been in place since the first Pope built it. He had survived the final battle with the demon king, but the repercussions of that battle had left him with many mental torments. He was so afraid of the dark that he believed demons were hiding in the shadows. He commanded his priests to ensure that the temple was always well-lit, day and night so that there would be no shadows.

This practice continued for several Popes after the first one died. However, the temple eventually found that it was too wasteful to keep the temple so bright all the time. They reduced the number of lights, but they still kept the temple well-lit at night, in honor of the first Pope.

The temple was as it always was, with Templars patrolling the compound. The temple held many treasures, and the Templars were there to ensure that no one dared to steal from them. In the entire history of the temple, there had only been one occasion when a famous thief had succeeded: he had made off with a statue that was said to be the real depiction of the goddess. After that, the temple improved its security and made sure that its treasures were kept safely. Since then, nothing else had been lost.

But tonight, something was amiss. In a corner, two Templars lay unconscious, hidden behind a pillar. Not far from them, a figure stood dressed in black, including a black mask that obscured its face. The figure made its way as silently as possible toward the display room. When it reaches it, it made a quick dash into the room and headed for a wall. On the wall hung a picture: a bird's-eye view of the temple. The figure lifted the picture and found a switch behind it. It quickly flipped it, and a door suddenly appeared on the wall. Looking around to make sure no one was behind it, it quickly opened the door and stepped inside. After the door closed behind them, it vanished.

Once inside, the figure removed its mask, revealing the face of a young girl. In the torchlight, Glenda the guild master recognized her features. She had conducted her investigation and discovered this hidden room in the temple. She was certain that the Pope was hiding the stolen statue there.

The room was empty save for a single chair. It was not like any other chair she had seen before. There were cuffs on the armrests to secure the arms of the person sitting in it. The chair's four legs were bolted to a metal plate on the floor. Glenda frowned when she saw this.

Glenda approached the chair, her eyes widening at the dark bloodstains on the floor and the jagged cuts on the metal plate. The marks looked like they had been made by a sharp object, such as a knife. She turned around and saw that the door she had entered through was gone, replaced by a blank wall that was identical to the others in the room.

Suppressing her rising panic, Glenda began to search the walls for any hidden mechanism that might open the door. She searched all four walls, as well as the ceiling and floor, but found nothing. She was beginning to realize that the person who had given her the information about this hidden room had intentionally trapped her. If that was the case, then she was sure that the Pope was involved.

As she was contemplating her situation, the cuffs on the chair suddenly snapped open with a loud click. Glenda spun around immediately, and her gigantic hammer appears in her hand ready to strike anyone within distance, but other than the metal chair there was no one.