The Oath

Constantine and Liam were in shock. Hildegarde held Felicia's hand and gently stroked it with her thumb. 

"Why would the Pope attack you?" Constantine demanded.

"Because he is corrupt. The church has long since fallen out of faith with the Goddess and now there is a highly sinister and power hungry man in charge. The Pope acquired his magic from a Demon Lord and he granted a fraction of it to Helena before propping her up as a Saintess. He's using her to further bolster his authority and sway over the public consensus."

Alex rubbed at his wrist when his pulse beneath the infinity symbol began to throb.

"But Alex, how do you know all this?" Liam's voice was grave. He couldn't comprehend where Alex got all this information from. He was saying such wild things!

"There is no proof that Helena is a Saintess apart from the Pope saying she is. Her so called magic is pitiful. She's had if for years and it still remains weak. I've seen her using it before and it's...the feel of it is tainted. It's not holy power. Furthermore, the birth of each Saintess is marked by the statue of Goddess Kartara shedding tears. There is no record or even mention of that happening 18 years ago. That already makes Helena's divine claim questionable." 

"The current Pope is an imposter and so is his Saintess. Felicia is the only true Saintess and I being her brother, am her Guardian. The Goddess granted me access to her sword so I could better protect her Saintess."

Alex summoned the Holy Sword and the entire room was immediately engulfed by a blinding flash of light. Kartara's blade appeared in his hand and he held it flat against his palm for everybody to see.

Liam and Constantine lowered their hands and blinked repeatedly to adjust their eyes after the harsh intrusion. When they saw what was before them, their jaws dropped in shock. 

"Goddess Kartara's sword..."

Hildegarde smiles, feeling like a proud mama.

Liam sucked in deep breath. "The earth shake, the heavy wind....it was you, wasn't it? It happened when you pulled the Holy Sword."

"Yes," Alex admitted with a smile. "Around the same time the Pope ordered the Garden of Promise to be sealed off. The gossip would be rampant if the public were to discover that the Goddess's sword was missing. People would begin to hound the church for answers. I suspect the Pope is going to keep it closed off from prying eyes until he can come up with a believable bluff. As of now, it's undergoing repair."

Alex ran fingers along the length of the blade. He was still intrigued by how the magic within hummed under his touch. "Felicia and I could challenge the Pope's authority, but there is too much we do not know about him. He's both powerful in demonic prowess and has a lot of public support. We would only be inviting danger if we spoke out against him at this stage."

"If the Pope decided to declare a false Saintess....then....that means he has other tricks up his sleeve and he could easily accuse the two of you of being heretics if you challenged him." Constantine mumbled, feeling dazed. His eyes moved from the Holy Sword to Felicia to Alex.

"But if you and Lady Felicia are both holy beings, then why didn't the Goddess shed tears on the years you were born? Shouldn't she have wept twice?" Liam asked, biting his nail. 

"We only discovered our powers a month ago. And I believe the Goddess wished to keep our arrival hidden from the demonic Pope." Alex shook his head in frustration. "Unfortunately, he's already figured it out. During the last Day of Prayer, Felicia accidentally dropped some incriminating information before we fled with the Holy Sword. He knows we're onto him."

"Why would the Pope even practice demonic magic to begin with?" Hildegarde asked. She had meant to ask them this before the attack completely sidetracked them.

Alex thought about it for a second. "He must have failed to acquire holy power. Each of the previous Popes, prior to taking their positions would retreat to the Scared Fountain up in the mountains and pray to the Goddess for blessings. I'm guessing he did not get the results he was hoping for. The Goddess must have deemed him unworthy and did not bless him, and so he decided to fulfill his ambition another way. All the while masquerading as a holy man. The position of Pope garners immense respect and influence. It would be blasphemous for anyone to imply he's engaging in demonic practices."

"That's very clever." Liam scoffed. He looked back at Alex. "But how did Helena even get involved with him? Of all the women he could have chosen to be his puppet, why her?"

Alex rubbed his chin. "That's what I'd like to know as well."

Alex's vision suddenly went blurry. The room melted away and he found himself on his knees, staring up at Felicia. She was dressed in the white dress she had been executed in and was crying bloody tears.

They were surrounded by thick mists.

He glanced around. "What is this place? Felicia, where are we?"

She continued to cry while glaring at him disdainfully.

"Alex?"

"Alex!"

Taking in a sharp breath, Alex blinked rapidly and opened his eyes which he did not even realize he'd closed. He lowered his hand on the armrest and saw that he was back in the Emerald bedroom. "What? What was that?"

Constantine, Liam and Hildegarde had all surrounded him.

"What happened? We've been calling your name for a while. You didn't respond. You looked like you were in a trance."

"Sorry, my mind drifted away." Alexander rubbed his eyes. "I had another vision."

"Vision? Is that a gift from the Goddess?"

"Yes. Felicia experiences the same. The Goddess communicates with us when we're dreaming. She warns us."

Constantine bit his lip. "What other abilities do you have, Alex?"

"That's it. I have the sword and the dreams." He looked at Felicia's sleeping face. "She has more magic than me. So far she can only heal, but we both shared a vision where she was able to throw lightning out from her hands at her attackers."

"Is that a warning of what's to come?" Liam asked.

Alex shrugged. "Either that, or it has already come to pass in another lifetime and Felicia and I don't remember it."

Liam's eyes widened in shock. Another lifetime? "Why couldn't the previous Saintesses' retrieve the sword? Did they receive visions?"

"Well, I'm the Saintess's Guardian, so the Holy Sword naturally became my weapon. As for being unable to communicate with the Goddess, it's because those women were frauds. The last true Saintess was Joan of Arc and I'm certain the Goddess spoke to her as well. But she lived 400 years ago."

Another stunned silence filled the air.

"So how many true Saintesses have there been?" Constantine was overwhelmed.

Alex closed his eyes. "My Guardian intuition tells me that there have only been six. Seven including Felicia." 

"But there have been twelve Saintesses recorded!"

"Yes, like I said the corruption is really bad. Saintesses have long since strayed away from being servants of the Goddess. They are now nothing more than tools for priests to engage in power play."

Constantine buried his face in his hands. This spelled trouble. The church already had too much power. If they were spreading bald faced lies like this, then what else were they up to?"

Alex did not like the gloomy atmosphere. Both men looked defeated by the information. "This is what the Goddess sent me and Felicia to tackle. We are here to restore balance and cleanse the continent, not just Elysium. The Pope will spread his tentacles outwards in due time if he is not stopped here. And we can't defeat him as just the two of us."

Constantine stood up. "Of course we will help you. Countless lives are on the line. Defeat is not an option."

Alex stood up and held out the Holy Sword. "Then both of you, place a hand on the blade and swear in the name of the Goddess."

Liam and Constantine did so. Both flinched when they felt a spark under their fingertips. The sword's power was apparent. 

Hildegarde stepped up and did the same. When the young men all looked at her in confusion, she shrugged and smiled. "What? I am here to help as well. I should also be part of this oath."

Alex chuckled.

Liam and Constantine smiled.

"All right. Very good." Dismissing the sword caused another flash of light. "But we have to operate as discreetly as possible. The Pope can plant spies everywhere. Someone told him we were visiting Hildegarde. Which means there is a mole in this manor."