act42side

*cough* *cough*—

If their aim is to turn all of Laterano on its head, then I might know where they're headed.

The Basilica.

I had a discussion with Pope Yvangelista XI there once, and I was able to glimpse certain entities, to realize some truths.

You do not need to doubt me, Senior—

I do not. Your file was signed and sealed by the Pope himself.

I will bring you there, Andoain.

Hold on, Federico—

The whole city's gone mad, and nobody knows what the hell's going on. Why should we trust you?

Hey, that's my line!

If what you are concerned about is who shall hold authority in this situation... Considering nearly all present have violated the Law to some degree, as an executor, I have the right to press you all into my temporary control.

If it is the current calamity that is causing you to panic and deprive yourselves of sound judgment or action...

I, Federico Giallo, am the first Saint from outside the ranks of the popes.

I do not believe this title has any special meaning, but if you require a reason, then there is none better.

The procession will pass through here first as they move from the Shrine of Nurtury to the Basilica.

Keph—or rather, the monster—has unusually strong empathy. Even the bell of the Tower of Revelations can do nothing about her influence towards you.

Patia, take the other Pathfinders and these errari away from here. Go in the opposite direction.

You staying by yourself?

Trust in me, my brothers and sisters. This is the path I must walk.

At least change out of those clothes, you look godawful. Or do you <i>like</i> walking around with blood all over your robe?

...I don't own many outfits, and I don't know where my old cassock's gone.

Here.

This... You kept it, all this time?

Not like it took up much bag space. I... I don't know. I just felt like... this wasn't something I should throw away. Go on, take it.

Thank you, Patia, for all these many years.

However, we must try to find shelter for these children who have just escaped the dream...

Arturia, you and Andoain will require special supervision. I will keep the two of you within my sight at all times.

I haven't even said anything, <i>Your Beatitude.</i>

M-Maybe you can leave the children to me?

I may not be a Sankta, or a Lateran, but I am... rather experienced in looking after children.

Very well. Move out.

Hrrm... The foundation of the Sankta? The Sankta's future?

Do you not trust my words?

Why should I?

You have no reason to, true.

Much as how when we first gained the name 'Sankta', we could never have imagined our community would become one of explosions and desserts after all these years.

Halos, empathy, guns, walls of purest white... Do you believe the Law innate, child? Do you believe the Sankta have always been unique in these ways?

Why would I doubt it?

You love it... as do I.

Faith is shaped by the experiences of countless generations, the ravages of time, and the footprints of the teeming masses. It should not, must not, be swayed again by the first of the faithful.

But once more do the people face down the crossroads of destiny. I have no choice but to do this.

We have not sown lies, my child. We have merely hidden some truths, then allowed the rest to become inspirational tales and parables of saints.

These texts tell of how the devils' arrival left all things desolate, and how none saw the light of the sun. But for the Sankta, they had radiance bestowed upon them by the Law.

But the angels were born from devils, child, and as for this so-called 'bestowment'...

It was naught but a chance encounter.

In that age, the King sent out his warriors to seek a new beginning for their people.

In that age, monsters that crawled the earth longed for a 'homeland', and so were named 'Teekaz', a race yet young.

In that age, Hegemons who could command raging flames, blinding thunderbolts, wild winds, and frigid snow descended upon the land alongside their myriad servants, here to seize the Teekaz's precious home.

The flames they threw could melt the skulls of Wendigos, the howling gales they summoned could shatter the wings of Gargoyles. Even if Vampires sucked them dry, they would be reborn from eggs of fire.

Wow, that's like... that would be like...

Man, might be because I'm dead tired, but I can't get my imagination working at all.

The colossus cups the wounded Sankta in her hand, continuing onwards with a shambling yet steady gait. Her voice is as gentle as it was in her guise as the Matriarch.

And so she tells her ancient, unprovable tale, like a saint who has stopped to rest her feet, taking the chance to preach to a stranger she met along the road.

Exusiai knows she's not the only one hearing this story, though.

The winding procession follows, all while countless people pour in from every corner of the city, leaving the buildings painted iridescent, joining the ocean of faith.

I shall share the portion of the truth hidden from you, child.

Once we arrive at the Basilica, the past will be made clear, and all shall know it!

It is then that the term 'Sankta' shall be redefined.

The King's might could not slow the decline of the Teekaz. His weary gaze scanned the land for countless days and countless nights, before finally falling upon the ancient silver mounts.

And so, his warriors set forth, seeking out these never-before-seen argent mountains beneath the earth. With the language conferred onto them by the King, they would conquer them, and command them to rout the foes of the Teekaz.

To grant the Teekaz the chance to truly become 'those with a homeland'.

Before they left, the King took the blood of a burdenbeast, and anointed the head of every warrior with a crimson circle, symbolizing the mission they all shouldered together.

The warriors strode across the land, crossing the most barren of wastes, where not even the hardiest of plants could take root, where not even the most tenacious of beasts could survive.

But with their twisted limbs did they aid one another. Not even the weakest of their number would be abandoned before they breathed their last.

For the King had taught them this: 'Kin shall not eat kin. Kin shall aid kin.'

Wha?

Exusiai can barely believe what she is seeing. A scene unfolds before her in an extraordinary way, and the next second, she catches a glimpse of the amazement spreading out across the sea of faces.

There is no doubt. Through empathy beyond empathy, the monster is sharing what she sees with all present.

Finally, after many days and nights, numbered beyond reckoning, they arrived at the edge of a great rift in the earth...

And then, they saw...

There, floating above the floor of the valley, was a new beginning, one that should not exist in this desolate waste—

The pale, petrified forms of plants and beasts dance among mud, spinning about to some rhythm beyond ken. A string of boulders draws them along as they go, coming together to form a great ring.

The fragments of the ring pulsed faintly with light. At first, they thought it was fire, but they sensed no heat, and it seemed untangible.

In that age, the warriors of the Teekaz knew they had found the slumbering silver mounts.

In that age, the warriors encircled the ring. They attempted to call out to it, to appease it, to command it, to persuade it...

They cried out until they could cry out no more, their throats hoarse and bleeding, but to no avail. The ring remained silent.

They were trapped in that wasteland, with no way forward and no way back. Time passed, until an ordinary Teekaz could not stand it any longer, and stood up.

She looked at her near-mad, emaciated companions, and realized that they all would die of hunger and thirst before the silver mounts awoke from their slumber.

Instinct overtook her. The stone lance in her hand pierced one of her dying fellows, and she began to devour his flesh.

The Teekaz had no fear of eating the flesh of other Teekaz, but it was the Farchaser, exiled for refusing to partake, who returned with the Black Crown and became the first King.

Since then, eating our kin has become the strictest of taboos.

But at that moment, one of the warriors handpicked by the King defied his ban without the slightest hesitation.

Only through this act could she live. As for... As for whether she lived so as to complete the mission they were entrusted with, that is a tale for another time.

But at that time...

A strange noise comes from above her head.

Exusiai, no, all the people behind the monster lift their heads, and together with the Teekaz of history, they look toward the sky, welcoming that one fateful moment—

In an instant, the surfaces of the boulders within the ring begin to split and peel away, revealing a metal that glows with a crimson light.

In an instant, bright halos and wings of light sprout from the black bodies of each and every Teekaz present. It is as though they have always been there, revealed from the dust with a swipe of the hand of the creator above.

The warriors did not have the time to ponder this strange change, as boundless vitality poured into their exhausted frames like the surging tide.

With the greatest of joys did they touch one another and embrace one another, like newborn babes.

As for the Teekaz with the stone lance, its point still painted in blood, she looked up at that alien metal and remained silent for a while.

She did not understand why it remained aloof to the words the King had imparted upon them to appease the silver mounts, yet deigned to respond the moment she ate of the kinflesh.

Then, comprehension dawned on her. Perhaps... Perhaps the metal would not respond to the King's dignified appeals nor the pleas to smite their enemies...

But rather it answered the simplest and purest of ideas, a quiet 'prayer'...

For <i>survival.</i>

Was that Teekaz... you?

The silver mountains are in Laterano? And you want to take everyone to go see them?

Do you understand now, child?

Before faith became faith, before the first brick of this Paradise of tolerance, equality, mercy, and joy was laid...

This was the origin of it all.