act42side

Madam Extra, you must take your nutrition...

I said, I don't want it.

If you have specific dietary requirements, we can make efforts to accommodate them.

*Sarkaz expletive*, you think I'm a picky eater?

But...

Yes, you have beds and food, and your leader... that 'Matriarch' said you wouldn't do anything to me.

But I just don't feel comfortable.

In the wilderness, I know what can kill me, and I know what I need to do to give birth to this baby.

Where to hunt, how to keep warm, how to block off the entrance to my cave... And with that, I don't have to worry about myself or my baby.

But here... ugh.

Get out. Take the food with you. I didn't touch it. I'm sure there are people who need it more in this place.

Reverend Gun-Knight Patrizion?

Yes. The Matriarch was looking for me?

She's inside. A minute, please.

The Matriarch has been tending to the pregnant Sarkaz woman who arrived in poor shape. But it's been an hour and she hasn't come out yet...

I'm not one to speculate... but the prejudices of the past have made it difficult for many Sarkaz to accept our kindness.

The Matriarch has no weapons on her. I worry that...

I'll check on her.

The gun-knight Patrizion has served Laterano for many decades. He has forgiven many Sarkaz, and slaughtered many more.

He has heard the Sarkaz curse in fury, cry out in pain, roar in hatred, even plead in despair...

But he has never heard them pray.

And yet, the pregnant Sarkaz now kneels before a holy statue, her hands clasped together, stumbling over the unfamiliar words of liturgy.

The Matriarch stands behind her, her head bowed in prayer as well, the pair bathing in the warm glow. When the Sarkaz trips over a sentence, the Matriarch waits for her.

All mortals desire peace and happiness, and fear hardship and sorrow.

Therefore, we stand together in prayer, regardless of race.

Matriarch, the Sarkaz...

She has only just left behind the restless life of a wanderer. Now that she is experiencing idleness for the first time in her life, all the worries she has never had time to ponder have rushed to the surface.

She simply needs to learn to comfort herself.

You taught her how to pray?

We've only recited a few verses together.

Let's go somewhere where we won't disturb her.

Why have you called me here today, Matriarch?

I wanted to talk with you, to ease your troubles.

But it seems like words may not be so necessary now.

Troubles? I am not troubled.

Are you not troubled, or do you dare not be troubled?

Everyone in Laterano knows that our ancient order was established in response to the prophesied calamity.

As calamity descends, our order is stretched to its limit... yet no one can predict what will become of Laterano one day.

I cannot imagine it, but I have faith it will be beautiful.

You have given too much for it. The granddaughter you never have time to be with, the old friend whose name you've forgotten, and the other old friends you've exiled as guardian of order...

To deny Laterano's future is to deny everything that you have given and sacrificed for it. It is to deny yourself.

Have no fear. A sliver of that future has already revealed itself to you.

If the faith of Laterano can bring comfort even to the faithless, if Sarkaz can pray side-by-side with Sankta...

Then our order shall open its arms to all.

There will be no barriers, no one left behind, no unwilling partings.

Sounds like you're describing a dream.

Are we not about to lift the veil that separates dream from reality, before the eyes of all?

A miracle will befall this land when everyone believes that even the most fantastical dream can become reality.

The Nativity must go off without a hitch, Patrizion.

I'll do my best, Matriarch.

You're blocking the screen, 'Holy Debt Collector'!

You're the one who decided to sit that far back... not that you're missing anything if I block a few scenes. It's just <i>Eight-Armed Chainsaw Guy</i>, after all.

And stop quoting random lines from the movie. You're not on a mission or in a briefing. You're in my house!

I kind of like that name. Maybe you can use it as your code name for your next mission.

Not you too, Lemuen...

You two sure can work together, when it comes to making up bad code names.

Haha.

How's life as a cardinal, Lemuen? Keeping busy?

Busier than when I was in a wheelchair.

When was it that you got out of it for good, anyway? I don't remember.

You don't really care much about me, do you? I'm so sad, and the only thing that can comfort me is if you let me feel your horns.

Why don't you ask if Holy Debt Collector might let you touch her ear plumage?

Go ahead. I don't mind.

I never thought it would be the Summit of Nations that brought us back together after all this time.

It's like every Lateran out there got called back to the city.

I can understand Legati like Mostima getting recalled, but the old man brought me back when I was in the middle of a high-priority mission to Sargon!

Say, where is your grandpa anyway? He's the one throwing the party, right?

Should be back soon.

Who knows what he's up to? All he said was that since he was retiring, he wanted to make an important announcement while everyone's still here.

It's nice to see the kids having fun when I get home from work. Makes me feel ten years younger.

That still makes you really old, Patrizion.

Reverend Gun-Knight.

Now, now, are you angry at me for being late, Fia?

I had to turn the office upside-down, trying to find this thing.

What's in the package, Reverend?

Open it. Find out for yourself.

Wow! A guardian gun?

Looks like it's been around for a while.

Patrizion. Unless my eyes deceive me...

The first patron firearm I ever had. I picked it when I was twelve. It stayed with me for over a decade, until I became a gun-knight.

Soon, it'll become a true relic, when firearms workshops fade into the history of Laterano.

Take it, Fia.

What?

A little token. Think of it as fulfilling an old man's wish.

As your mentor, your guardian, some of what I did was... how should I put it...? Regrettable.

You know you weren't the only student I cared for. But I was never a licensed teacher. The other one should have walked a better path.

Aurela, the gun-knight who killed her cohort? That's a whole different thing.

If I never walk that 'better path', it's not because of anything so drastic.

It's because you don't have the little whatsis I have over my head. I know.

But I took you in precisely because you were Liberi.

You never told me that.

What regret are you trying to make up for <i>this</i> time?

*sigh*... I didn't want to tell you.

The loss of a friendship made me realize that I never truly knew a Liberi.

I thought I was too clumsy. I thought I could learn to get along with the Liberi.

But I was never very good at it.

I worried about your nerves that were constantly on edge, about your obsession over the accident, the anger that boiled within you, and how you struggled to fit in...

But I never knew how to guide you.

For the Sankta, empathy is a window that helps us understand each other. For you, it became a wall that kept you out.

Hold it, hold it right there—