Mystics

Sinead and the priest walk, escorted by Zven, Raven, and the young woman. Upon exiting the makeshift coordination center the elite priests take notice of the three escorting Sinead and the priest.

When the go to act in defense of the two, Sinead signs them to stand down, saying, “This cambion is one of the founders.”

In realization the eyes of the two elite priests widen, and they take a knee, bowing their heads in respect to Raven. Raven signs them to stand in a rather dismissive manner, which implies she has no interest in being treated like royalty. This serves to confuse every priest as well as Sinead. Zven crosses his arms leveling a glare at Sinead.

Raven looks Sinead in the eye, asking, “Why was I treated like a criminal by the faction I had a hand in creating? Why have hunters like Zven Raza treated like prisoners?”

“Prisoners?!” Sinead asks, her voice stunned with shock and horror, as she continues, “We were told they were being taken to a transitioning outpost to be prepared to be brought into the Shadows Bane.”

Zven’s glare hardens as he says. “Yeah, they lied to you. Bastards drugged me. Then when I tried to escape, put me in a cell expecting your founder to kill me, not expecting she would let me live.”

“We escaped and I used a tiny taste of my power to create the chaos that claimed this place.” Raven adds.

Sinead lowers her head, anger bordering on rage boiling in her blood. So not only was everything Izume said true, but everything she’d been told by Azriel since joining the Shadows Bane was a lie?! So she’s hurt god only knows how many innocent people in the belief she was getting revenge on the people who killed her family, when the person she should have killed was the one lying to her! If what they say is true then every single soldier here deserved exactly what they got. But the prisoners... They didn’t deserve any of it. Especially those who happened to be part of the Seekers, like Zven is. The lich had no idea when she recruited him, that he would’ve been sent here, or that his plan would have created such chaos and destruction.

“Zven, I honestly had no idea when I got you to join the Shadows Bane, that you would be sent here. I would never have allowed that to happen to you, had I known.” The lich says before turning to Raven, bowing her head, and saying, “Founder, I humbly ask your forgiveness, and a chance to redeem myself.”

Raven sets a hand on Sineads shoulder, her tone softening to match her chosen words. “No one is beyond redemption. As Lucifer would say, ‘even the worst of people deserve redemption’.”

“How can I believe that with all that I’ve seen since falling into the liminal space?” The young woman asks.

“Marcie, if everyone were denied a chance at redemption for the wrong they’ve done, then the world would be a much uglier place. The fact the Shadows Bane Church is even here is evidence alone that not everyone in the Shadows Bane agrees with what it’s leaders are doing.” Zven answers.

Raven looks to Sinead, asking. “How many accompanied you here in your search?”

“Only the Church Seeker Priests and priestesses. We waited three years to slowly build up our numbers under the claim that we were waiting until we had the whole of the CSP’s to come here and ‘honor the dead’. However our visit ends tomorrow. We must stay to give the illusion that we are honoring the dead.” The woman answers.

Marcie raises an eyebrow, asking. “Why honor the honorless? If the Shadows Bane in this dimension is anything like the one from my dimension they’re no better than the Nazi’s.”

In her dimension the Shadows Bane won a war with the Seekers, and wiped out the human governments and any humans that would resist the demonic legions. But even the Shadows Bane wasn’t safe. With them being wiped out so quickly only Shadows Bane territory was intact, a ghostly reminder of the people who caused the destruction of her dimensions Earth. Course Marcie grew up in the aftermath of the fall of Earth. For her it’s easy to say that the Shadows Bane are no better than the Nazi’s. To a degree she would even say that they’re arguably worse. In her reality the Shadows Bane didn’t just aid the genocide of a single race and culture, they assisted the genocide of the entire human race, and every known turned blood species. Not to mention they were directly involved in wiping out the angels of her dimension. Marcie’s father, the Archangel, Gabriel formed a rebellion consisting of the last surviving angels and Purgatory souls, and mortals. This was back when her mother had hope that their dimension could be saved.

Now Marcie has a chance to stop what happened in here reality from happening here. She grew up in the aftermath of that fight. So it’s her hope that she can keep anyone from going through what those people from her reality did. Nobody deserves to suffer like that.

“It’s important to pay our respects to the dead, that they might change as Purgatory Souls. For in passing into Purgatory, may they be redeemed.” Sinead answers. “To build on your comparison not everyone in Germany was aware of the true horrors, and not everyone there agreed with the Nazi’s. It is very important to learn friend from foe if we are to make a difference.”

Zven sighs before asking. “On the subject of bringing change, how do you plan to reveal the truth to the whole of the Shadows Bane without starting a very bloody civil war?”

A man enters the room, saying. “Apologies for interrupting your meeting priestess Harriet. We found a Seeker holo-projector among the ruins.”

The man wears a green robe adorned with a variety of colored runes. He has tanned skin, black hair, and hazel eyes.

Turning to face them Sinead responds, “It’s fine Sam, was there anything to note in the recording?”

With a nod Sam answers. “It was a recording of Darius Vandom. In it he said that much of the paper records were vaporized in the explosion, but servers in the upper levels survived since they weren’t as close to the explosions. According to the recording, the drives held detailed records about experiments with the blood of the founder. They were trying to create new turned bloods that only the military would control.”

Raven cuts him off, saying. “But they couldn’t create any new turned bloods because they always turned out as some kind of existing species. The reason for that is that I have a very limited control over what humans become when they consume my blood. I won’t ever help that militaristic cult take over, or release Lilith.”

“You have limited control?” Zven asks, surprised.

With a nod Raven explains to everyone that before they engineered the chaos that claimed this place, Zven had the idea for her to turn him into a monster that can drain the years of life from a person, effectively killing them and claiming the years of life that the person would have had if they had lived, as well as a limited version of that persons strengths. The cambion explains that it was one of the few details she left out at the time because her mind had been thrown into a demonic rage. She explains that when she controls what a person becomes she has to use a lot of her human halves focus, which causes her demon half to throw her into a blind rage. After that she was able to take out her rage on a door and the guards sent there to contain her.

Raising an eyebrow Zven asks. “Is that why they expected you to kill me when they put me in your cell?”

“Yeah... When I worked with my brothers and sisters to create the Shadows Bane I wanted to be sure that if it ever fell into the wrong path that there would be those to facilitate change. So I created the honor guard and assigned them to guard the temple, and take orders from no one but me.” Raven answers, looking around as she speaks. “It was my insurance that the Shadows Bane never truly falls into corruption. They are our best bet at ridding the Shadows Bane of its corruption.”

“How is the Demons Fist going to make a difference against the entire military? They’re good, but they aren’t ‘take on an entire military’ good.” Sinead asks, baffled at the idea.

Zven crosses his arms, saying. “Much as I hate to admit it. She’s right. Even if we have enough to make a garrison, that won’t do much against the might of an entire military. They’d need way more support.”

“Once word of what happened here spreads to the rest of the church, there will be plenty of priests and priestesses willing to support them.” Sam says, a tone of confidence in his voice.

Marcie couldn’t believe her eyes. Here are these people, calling themselves Shadows Bane, but acting nothing like they were said to have acted in the horror stories her mother told her in her dimension before the fall.

Sinead adds to this, with her own confidence, saying. “Once the church turns the people will follow suit.”

“How can you be sure they won’t just turn on you?” Marcie asks, her doubt replaced with curiosity.

She reminds herself that what happened in her reality isn’t the same as what is happening here. Hell the timelines are entirely different. Not to mention that if it was the descendants of Lilith who created the Shadows Bane, it would be they who can facilitate change. All her live, Marcie has only known running, and being out numbered beyond belief. For the first time in her entire life, Marcie feels there is a chance to fight back. To make the difference.

Sam looks at young woman, answering. “While a great many aren’t very religious it is the church that has always welcomed the people of the Shadows Bane, by giving them a chance to find their feet, and helping them to foster connections. When the church turns on the military the people will follow suit.”

“Having that much support doesn’t mean anything without the means to overthrow the military. Without the proper weapons it would be a short lived civil war.” Raven states, crossing her arms.

It’s not that she doesn’t agree. She supports the idea. But an army without weapons or armor isn’t much. Not to mention if the Knights of Hell become a factor used by the military against the people who join the revolt. At that point it would be a massacre, and what happened in Marcie’s reality would happen here.

Sinead crosses her arms, asking. “Alright, then how do we get our hands on enough supplies to lead a successful revolt without Hannible or the Knights of Hell becoming aware of it?”

“Many of us were recalled from our assignments to find and break the remaining eight church seals to come here. Maybe some of them know sources.” Sam suggests.

Raising an eyebrow Marcie, asks. “What do you mean by break the remaining eight seals?”

This also catches Raven’s attention. She has a passing familiarity with Sinead, since it was her that broke the first seal. There are benefits and dangers to opening those seals. Here brothers and sisters would be released, but it would also mean that the world is closer to Lilith being released. With each broken seal, Raven and her siblings would gain more and more influence over the Shadows Bane, and would rip away more and more of the militaries control.

Opting to explain it all, Raven looks around saying. “After the Great Flood, I alongside my brothers and sisters created the Shadows Bane, in the hopes that when we were sealed away, it could act on our behalf. We had the first priests seal us away in ancient churches to lock Lilith in Hell. With our containment she is stuck in Hell, and so she must fight to corrupt, which is why Lucifer and the forces of Purgatory have been fighting in Purgatory for thousands of years. With each broken seal, the curse binding Lilith to Hell gets weaker. Once all the seals are broken.”

“Lilith walks out of Hell...” Sinead says, falling to her knees, and adding. “How could I be so stupid?!”

Zven looks to her saying. “I don’t expect it to mean anything, that stupidity is the reason we’re all standing here.”

“If you had not broken the seal, I would not be here to help facilitate the change, and Zven would be a prisoner in this hellish place. The fact you are even here looking for the truth shows you are not the blind zealot you once were when you broke that seal.” Raven states, looking the lich in the eye.

Marcie looks around, horror in her face at the revelation of the seals, and looks around frantically, saying. “That’s what happened in my reality. All the seals were broken in my dimension. Lilith walked out of Hell, Lucifer fought Lilith. They killed each other, and that was followed by the corruption of Heaven, the conquest of Limbo, and the complete destruction of Earth. If those seals are broken that will happen here!!”

“You mean to say that all this time we’ve been looking to break seals that will cause the apocalypse?!” Sinead asks, sheer horror taking over her voice.

Sam, and Zven are right beside Sinead in terms of their horrified expressions. Zven had no idea these seals even existed. while Sam was a Church Seeker Priest. Sam had no idea he was looking to break the seals that would cause the end of the world.

Raven closes her eyes, saying. “Actually its worse. Lilith isn’t seeking to cause the apocalypse of Earth. She’s seeking to do so much damage to our dimension to cause it to collapse into the void.”

“So... that will happen to my reality?” Marcie asks.

With a regretful nod, the cambion answers. “If it hasn’t already. The same could happen here if Lilith wins. Our hopes hinge on the human nephalem to defeat her.”

“You’re gonna hinge your hopes on Maxwell Raza? The man who got his ass kicked by the Knight of Hell Azazel, and was only saved because Azazel’s vessel killed himself to kill Azazel?!” Sinead asks, a mix of surprise, and worry in her voice.

She only heard whispers on the crossroads from the few Purgatory souls that would even talk to her, that Maxwell Raza was in really bad condition after that fight. But it was made known that Jason Lacova died that day, by a demonic blade which he drove into his own head.

With a nod Raven firmly answers. “The word of a prophet is cryptic, but has never been wrong. I do not blindly believe in the prophecy. It can only come to pass if we all do our part to ensure that the human nephalem faces Lilith alone. To do this we must purify or kill the remaining Knights of Hell.”