[Other FULL] Wishes Divine [M][IC]

Cebres sat down to catch his breath, two more tiny fragments of Gem Star shimmering in his hand. Both were a fair bit smaller than the ones he'd already gathered, and none of those were exactly large either. He supposed it was a good thing that they were though, since he'd been ambushed by the Warlocks previously in possession of them.

They had erupted out from the ground, attacking him with mutated, clawed limbs and fangs. At first he'd thought they'd been beasts, but the reality had been that they were a man and woman who shared a patron. That became evident when they started to mutate further and brought out their fragments. Cebres had been forced to use his own Star pieces to defeat them and had been very close to violating his principas and summoning undead minions to defend him.

He could still see particles of ash in the breeze, the remnants of a battle quickly fought. In his head, he heard a rumbling of contentment from Szazoch. It seemed the Higher Power's prior irritation had at least partially abated with two more fragments in his possession.

He closed his eyes and laid back on the uncomfortable barren earth. He felt the exhaustion washing over him in ever heavier waves. Feeling the power of the Gem Stars running through you as a conduit was an incredible sensation, it was invigorating, but when the battle was over, you were still just a mortal borrowing power from a patron and a stone.

Cebres supposed there were probably Warlocks out there who had abilities that could offset how tiring hard treks and ceaseless fighting was, it didn't exactly seem far fetched when he could drain someone else's life to heal his wounds and extend his own. It was just unfortunate that it did little for his vigor in the long run. At that moment, he felt a strong temptation to just fall asleep there on the ground in the middle of nowhere.

"That's where I'm at right now, and this Goblin man wants to get a group of warlocks together for some sort of conference and negotiations? There's no way this doesn't end in a bloodbath." That wasn't necessarily a bad thing though. Cebres wasn't exactly sentimental, and he was a practical man, but he wasn't the sort to go looking for unnecessary violence. If the meeting was destined to be a disaster though, that was one more reason he wouldn't have to feel bad about killing the other warlocks and taking their Gem Star fragments. There was too much at stake to have moral compunctions. Thousands of lives were being lost to a plague in his homeland.

Aware of Szazoch's patience starting to grow thin, Cebres forced his tired body to its feet and continued trudging towards Wildfold Watch. He would have to rest eventually, he was still nearly a day out of the town from what he could tell. For the time being though, he would continue his travels.

---

Wildfold watch was tiny indeed, you could walk from one end to the other in only fifteen minutes or so - probably less. It was shabby too, many of the buildings were old and worn and there was notable damage to most of the buildings - broken windows, hacked up wood, missing doors, burn marks. There had been fighting in the town already it seemed.

That would make sense give how conspicuously empty Wildfold Watch was. On any given day, even in a town as small as that one, you'd expect to see villagers walking about as they went about their business. Instead, Cebres had seen only a handful of individuals skulking around the town - most of them armed.

Miiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. All miiiiiiiinnneeeee!

Szazoch's growling in the back of Cebres' head was enough to tell him that these were almost certainly other warlocks, gathered there for Goblin's meeting - probably with the same expectations as Cebres himself. Not that he needed an extraplanar being screaming in his head to work that out, after all, the place had been designated a meeting spot for Warlocks by Goblin when Cebres had been invited there.

It seemed likely that many, maybe even all, of the assembled individuals possessed Gem Star fragments. Cebres could feel the intensity of Szazoch's greed and longing in his words. What was more though, there was a strange feeling hanging over the town. It was eerie, but also strangely vibrant, as though a low buzz was emanating from the town. Cebres wondered if that was the feeling created by the raw magical power of having so much of the Gem Star in one place. He couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like when he had the whole thing and put it to work. That kind of power running through you was almost impossible to really picture.

"You here looking for a fight?"

The woman's voice shook Cebres from his contemplations, neither he nor Szazoch seemed to have detected this woman and that was very alarming. Cebres cautiously turned to the source of the voice, finding it came from an alleyway to his left.

The woman in question was average height, maybe a little taller. She had lightly tanned skin, long black hair and razor sharp features - she had the sort of appearance that implied she would be very pretty if she lived an easier life. Instead, she looked threatening and worn. The pile of bodies behind her in the alleyway probably didn't help with that perception though.

"Not right now," Cebres answered. He was unsure if her skill set included a way to tell if he was lying, so he settled on an answer that was truthful but obtuse. At that very moment, he wasn't looking for a fight. That would come later, after he heard Goblin speak and saw what came next. He'd let the other warlocks take each other out first… and hope this woman was one of the ones who died. She was concerning. "Where's Goblin?"

The woman indicated a run down tavern at the end of the town. "In there with a handful of other warlocks. Don't try anything funny."

Cebres nodded and made his way towards the building.

​

As the old tavern had started to fill up bit by bit, the cloaked figure of Goblin had risen from his stool and walked outside to the street beyond. He stood there silently, hood still pulled over his disfigured head and hands clasped behind his back.

A short time passed and the warlocks present in Wildfold Watch, those in the tavern included, started to slink out of the buildings and from their alleyway hiding places to gather around the tiny man.

It was as this was happening that the tall woman with the razor sharp features joined him, startling many as she stepped out from the crowd having moved through it undetected. A large, heavily muscled man with long, straight hair and a vast sword at his hip also came to stand by Goblin's side. He was a familiar face to many, not a Warlock himself but a mercenary who, with the help of the Relic he wielded as his weapon, had become quite famous: Alvar the Warlock Hunter.

Goblin himself may not have been intimidating, but the presence of one of very few non-warlocks who could hope to best one who had been blessed by a Higher Power in combat next to him was reason enough not to attack. Not to mention the eerie woman who seemed impossible to keep track of.

To Cebres, who stood near the back of the forming crowd by the tavern's door, it was clear that he had made the right move by biding his time instead. Even Szazoch didn't seem to have any objections.

Cebres simply watched and waited, keeping an eye on as many of those gathered as he could tell - especially on Alvar and the woman. It was strangely hard to maintain his focus though, the thrum in the air, the one he assumed was caused by all the fragments present, had only gotten stronger as more had gathered and it was making his head feel somewhat foggy.

Goblin too seemed content to wait, simply standing there in that same position. He didn't speak or shift his posture, he was as a statue. It seemed likely he was waiting just a bit longer to see if anyone else would appear.

Valencia strolled up to the back of the meeting space, taking in the hue of so many souls at once. The darkness which had collected in this small area was in desperate need of judgement, but what interested her even more at the moment was the sheer number of shards at present. With the Warlock Hunter alone, should a fight break out in such a small area, it would be easy for her to snag a fair few of the shards and make an escape. She knew the sins of those around her, and had already accepted that if the opportunity arose, they would most definitely need to be felled.

The female knight checked her armor, counting the new additions to her collection that she'd found on her way into the ghost town. It was only a matter of time now. She unfortunately wasn't a mind reader, but Goblin's intentions seemed dubious at best. And then, there was that woman. She... was like The Speaker. Even with her directly within her line of sight, she couldn't get a read on the woman's soul. The Speaker's powers were incredible, but would he change his appearance so much and try to sneak in to something like this? There just wasn't enough to go off of to know for sure.

Amaro slipped in the group already clad in a disguise. His illusions gave him several deep scars and a cloudy left eye. His mood was already sour, and hopefully looking as he did deterred any would be gossipers or idle chatterers from bothering him. He'd struck out with the island, a pair of warlocks already claiming the shard before he was able to get to it, catching only the tail end of them leaving. If anything, this meeting would help him get an idea of the current situation in the world.

Even if he couldn't glean any relevant information in regards to a shard, he'd at least identify some of the warlocks working in the area. Better yet, potentially the opportunity to identify any weaknesses or grudges among them. If he could trick some of these warlocks into disposing of each other soon, well that was less competition overall, wasn't it.

Cebres heard a sudden, although admittedly half-assed, growl from his patron and felt his head turn almost of its own accord. He caught sight of a woman joining the back of the crowd on the other side of the street from him, but what had really drawn Szazoch's attention was the winged cat at her feet.

Is she controlling it maybe?

Cebres figured that was the most logical conclusion. It would explain how a Tressym had managed to collect and hide Star fragments and get one up on three Warlocks. Any further thoughts on the matter would have to wait though, because Goblin had started speaking.

"That seems to be about everyone we can expect," he said, just loud enough to be heard by all, "For those of you who were less inclined to listen to my introductions earlier, my name is Cato Favian. Most, however, call me Goblin - for obvious reasons looking at me as I'm sure you can gather."

Goblin gave what would have normally looked like a warm and welcoming smile, but was twisted on his heavily scarred face with his jagged teeth. "The Gem Star exploding and scattering is unprecedented and has left us with quite a situation. Much of it was scattered around this general area and some has ended up making landfall even further away if my research is correct. Because of this, we'll be spreading an equally unprecedented level of destruction across Ashela if we keep fighting for the pieces of the Star as we have been and, personally, I do not want the entirety of this continent to end up looking like Demeste does right now. So I am proposing an alliance. We collect all the pieces, minimise conflict as much as we can and then decide communally what to do with them."

Valencia scoffed. A 'communal' decision likely meant once all the pieces were gathered, Goblin and his aides got rid of the competition and split the star between themselves. In that case, it was better for her to stick around just to find out where everyone else would be searching. She couldn't trust the greater majority of the warlocks here, but the hunter Goblin had brought along seemed reasonable enough. That being said, it wasn't as if his hue was anything saintly itself. Nobody here was pure by any means, nobody, except for…

Another of my children.

Valencia fixed her gaze on the armored man across from her. His hue was the purest that she'd seen since getting her powers. Even when sins were judged, the hue of the person in question would typically be immediately influenced by their own thoughts and how they still feel about the sins they were just forced to remember. But for that knight… she wondered if her own soul were as beautiful as his. Though she doubted it, given that she'd asked for forgiveness so many times before as she did what she felt was necessary.

"And what about those warlocks who didn't agree to this little meetup?" Valencia spoke up, mostly considering the case of The Speaker. She wasn't certain of the powers of everyone in attendance, but for that warlock in particular… the only counterattack she could think of is if someone were deaf, and even then, that didn't guarantee they'd be safe from him since he could still power himself up.

The masses weren't a big deal, but bloodshed would be inevitable, even if it spared those in attendance for a short while longer. With so many different spirits here, it would be impossible to come to a common ground - not even considering the weaker of those gathered. If any group of them were to be stopped by a stronger warlock who for any reason became interested in why they were working together, she had no doubt the weaker willed among them would give this location away to spare themselves.

"A fair question," Goblin replied, "I don't deny that a total halt to the violence is an impossibility. However, by moving as teams and striking quickly and efficiently where needed, we can greatly minimise the suffering of the civilians and avoid another Demeste."

He paused for a moment to wait for interjections, but when none came he soon continued. "The majority of the Warlocks here are quite powerful, some more than others certainly, so groups of us have little to fear from most targets. In the account of a foe a group cannot surpass alone, the group can flee for reinforcements or they can lure the Warlock here where there's no risk of civilian casualties and where Alvar and Callista will remain to defend myself and the location. You would find them very effective backup. Are there further concerns?"

Cebres listened intently to Gobin's speech, it seemed like he had prepared for questions such as that offered by the woman. In truth, Cebres had been wondering the same thing. He had other concerns that warranted raising too, but he wanted to see if any of the other Warlocks present brought them up first. It would be good to know how clever the assembled people were - although there was always the possibility some were doing the same as he was.

"You still haven't given us a particularly good reason to do things 'communally'." Amaro spoke up, dropping his own tone to a gravely pitch he pictured a scared warlock should have. He crossed his arms, covering the back of his hand even further with his forearm. No need for accidents now. "It sounds good when you talk about squads and reinforcements, but unless you know how to give everyone a wish here then I cannot see this alliance having a happy ending."

Amaro thought it was a good plan. He should have thought of it himself, if only he had the magical prowess to be sure he could finish the grift. Oh well, it gave him a good idea on how to continue forward. "If anything, it sounds like you're just delaying the fighting until people realize they get nothing if the 'community' decides so. By then you'll probably have enough loyal pawns to crush the remaining competition and take it all for yourself."

"Undoubtedly, we won't all get to make use of the Star if we're all aiming for huge wishes," Goblin replied without even really looking directly at Amaro, watching the group at large instead. "There should be enough power in it though for a fair few smaller boons on top of a single massive-scale spell that we can decide upon by vote."

Again, Goblin's eyes swept over the group in front of him. He never seemed to look at any single one of the assembled Warlocks directly, instead he continued to take stock of how people reacted to what he said. "We have a relic present, it resembles a chest. Once all of the fragments are inside, it won't open until we make a decision. We can make that time easier by ruling out the impossible now."

Goblin waited in silence for a moment, taking a few deep breaths as though steeling himself for something. Cebres tensed, waiting for an attack and noticed several others around him doing the same. What came next though, was not something he had anticipated.

"Some of you have likely promised your patrons a return to this plane of existence," Goblin spoke, "This is not possible. Or rather, it is not possible with the power this Star will provide. To undo that barrier, you would need a Star of equal or greater power as the first and largest and the saviour witch's own power combined. No Star has been that large since and no warlock has that kind of power. There's no way to break the barrier."

As Goblin finished speaking, there were several shouts of alarm. Cebres' hand flew to his chain, but soon dropped to his side again. A Warlock near the front of the group had burst into flames, a few others in the group had simply dropped dead where they stood. Evidence of the consequences of forming an unfulfilled contract - and a reminder to complete one's own.

"That was unfortunate," Goblin said, his demeanour not changing in the slightest, "However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect as much. Are we done with our questions now? If so, I'd like to start planning our first moves."

Valencia shook her head. It seemed obvious to her, at least. It was more the fault of the patrons than anything else that these warlocks had to die. If it were so easy to pull them back into this plane, then surely one of them would have already accomplished such a feat. At the very least, that thinned out the number of souls she'd have to judge later on. Though, what interested her more was this relic Goblin had brushed past in their retort.

She didn't know much about relics personally, but would there really be such an item? And was remaining locked really the only thing it could do? There were implications for its intended purpose going in either direction, but there would be a better time to ask about it later. For now, she'd have to just go along with things and pick off the sinners individually.

When no further remarks came, Goblin smiled again. "Excellent, time to start planning."

​

Valencia watched the fellow warlock of Estrillad the whole time that they had been moving towards the monolith. It had been days since they started walking, and they'd already lost two of their party. Unfortunately, neither Val nor this other knight had been able to cleanse their souls before they fell.

"Can we-" a young, feeble looking warlock gasped for breath as he climbed over some of the nearby rocks on the path. "Can we stop here for today? I don't think I can go on any more."

This boy was interesting to Val, having the second clearest hue among them. But… despite that, the feeling that she got from him made her skin crawl all the same. He may not have done anything yet in his life, but there was something about him… he just hadn't done anything yet.

"That's fine," the other knight turned to look at them all before taking a seat on a nearby log after clearing it of the thorns that had wrapped around it. "There are beasts around, but you should be able to protect us, yes?"

The boy cleared his throat as he fell on the ground. "Ouch…" he groaned, leaning back up to pick the thorns out of his back. "This forest is terrible…"

"You should be able to protect us, yes?" The knight questioned once more.

The boy looked up at the knight and then began to scan the woods around them. "Y-yeah. I should be able to do that." The boy took off his pack and closed his eyes, placing the tips of his fingers together, making a circle with his hands at his chest. "Put your hands on me…"

Valencia and the other knight nodded, having already done this a few times before and knowing the potency of the boy's powers. The two warlocks of Estrillad looked expectantly at Cebres, waiting for him to join them so that they could get on with things.

Cebres finished his own survey of the area before crossing what would become their camp site and placing his hand alongside the other two warlocks. "I have to admit, this is an extremely useful ability."

In the back of his mind, he heard Szazoch growling hungrily and felt the faint temptation to start siphoning the youth's life force rising. He disregarded it though, this was not the time to make enemies and he himself had no desire to kill anyone aimlessly. He could feel his patron's frustration, but made a point of trying to tune it out.

If I get killed for turning on them, you're going to lose out on a lot of deaths. It was already hard enough to explain away why the other two turned into ash when they died.

The boy, having felt all three hands on his body, suddenly stopped breathing. He leaned his head back, opening his mouth before releasing a gutteral screech which was followed by nearly a dozen ethereal arms which caused his throat and mouth to bulge as they poured out from within him. The arms dug under the ground, uprooting what was left of the nearby trees with ease as they cleared out everything around the boy within a 100 meter radius.

The boy's body began to shake as time went on, his face turning purple as he came closer and closer to passing out with each second that creeped by. Valencia squeezed the boy's shoulder whispering into his ears. "You've done enough. Hurry and finish it."

The arms immediately stopped creating the clearing, and shot into the sky, clasping together at a point above the group before melting together and creating a canopy over them that nearly reached the edge of the empty space they'd created. The boy quickly closed his mouth, breaking his hands away from each other as he passed out, gasping for breath as the color slowly returned to his face.

Valencia rubbed the boy's head, feeling somewhat sorry for him having to put himself through so much just to act as their shield. But, that being so… even with his hue being so clear, she wasn't sure that she should let the boy live on once they finished their mission. The way that those arms were so easily able to uproot the forest and scare away the creatures that took up residence within it… how easily such a power could be used to take the lives of others. Was the risk of letting him live worth the potential loss of life that such a decision could lead to?

For now, his strength in creating these barriers would be worth keeping him around. "You've done well, child. Now, get some rest."

The other knight had already walked away, leaving the boy to fend for himself as he set up his bedroll. The knight removed his plate mail and his helm, keeping the heavy layer of chainmail on as he took a seat on the cushioned mat. The two warlocks of Estrillad glanced at each other for a microsecond, knowingly nodding their heads. The boy would be easy enough to dispatch if it came to it, but they still didn't know much about what Cebres was capable of. And if he chose to turn on them, they wouldn't want to be completely unprotected.

Valencia left on her armor set, not having nearly as thick plates as the other knight. Besides, she'd grown used to sleeping with its weight as she travelled out of the mountains after first becoming a warlock. The girl pulled out her own bedroll, laying it out on the ground a fair bit away from the other warlocks. "I'll take the first watch." The barrier had been able to keep all the monsters they'd seen up until this point out, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be something, or someone else that could break through it… whether that threat came from outside, or within.

As the other two got, for want of a better word, comfortable, Cebres busied himself with setting up a small campfire. He didn't particularly feel like freezing to death, and the light made it harder for shifty travelling companions to pull something sneaky on one another.

"You know," he said, "While I certainly appreciate the caution, I can't imagine sleeping in that heavy armour every night is particularly comfortable. If I was going to attack you, I would have done so already."

He reached into his pack for some of his rations and his own bedroll, keeping an eye on the other two conscious warlocks to see how they'd react to the statement.

The knight who had stripped down to his chainmail had paid no attention to the other warlock, and had instead pulled a small book from within his breast pocket. With a jar of ink - created hastily from the ashes of the fallen warlocks and a small bit of water - and a quill, he began to write something into it.

"And if you had no intention to, you wouldn't feel the need to bring it up."

Valencia continued to scan the edge of the clearing as she spoke, hearing the crackling of the fire that was being built up behind her. The two warlocks of Estrillad didn't need the light of the fire to know if one of the others were about to attack, but their aura vision wasn't exactly something they wanted to reveal to every random passerby for that very reason. As far as Cebres should know, they had to actively turn that ability on or off and that would give him time enough to get in a sneak attack.

"Besides, it's not any of us that I'm really worried about." She paused, pointing out towards the part of the woods that was still standing outside of their protection. "It's them - and whatever else we've yet to see." The warlock stared back at the beady red eyes which were locked onto them from the shadows of the forest.

Cebres shrugged and offered the rations to the rest of the group. "Suit yourselves. Personally, I'm not overly concerned about either you or the beasts. If you were going to attack, you would have done so while I was asleep and the beasts have not been able to so much as dent this barrier."

The boy had proved very trusting, but these two were certainly much shrewder. Cebres wasn't lying when he said he had no intention of attacking them at that moment, but he couldn't deny he was prepared to if he had to. He would have to watch them carefully.

The other knight pocketed the book and writing utensils, looking back over his shoulder at the treeline. He stared at the top of the monolith, which was peeking out just over the highest trees they could see from where they stood. "We should be there by tomorrow."

'To the temple?' Valencia questioned, using Estrillad as a messenger to talk directly with the other warlock.

'To the temple.' He responded, glancing back at the woman. 'I've been there once, but only for a few seconds.'

Valencia mulled over the statement for a second, turning back away from the other warlocks. "I wonder what's going on up there…" Both warlocks had been able to see the mixing of hues for the past two days. Although they could have taken the direct path to the top, knowing that there were other warlocks laying in wait, they chose to go in a roundabout way to the peak.

They'd explained to Cebres at the point where they split from the "path" that was still just barely visible from those that had tread it years prior that they'd noticed other warlocks up at Aion's Pinnacle, who most definitely were not part of their group. So far, they'd only had to fight through the regular beasts of the forest, but even then they'd managed to lose two of their party.

These four were all that was left of the party which had started out at the behest of Goblin. The threat of running into a group which might actually pose a threat was certainly real and present. Killing regular sinners was one thing, but if they were to be outnumbered and rushed by warlocks who actually had power…

'Valencia,' the knight spoke to the woman once more through their shared patron. 'When the others go to sleep, we must speak candidly, and in our own voices.'

The woman furrowed her brow, not turning to look at the knight as he laid down, crushing the thorns and barbs which were poking through his roll with the weight of his armor. Valencia chose not to reply, instead focusing on her task of keeping watch. She didn't know what they had to speak about, or why it had to be done in their own voices, but as far as she was concerned, he was the only trustworthy person there.

Time passed on, the group sitting in silence in front of the campfire as the sky darkened. Eventually, Cebres settled down on his own bedroll and shut his eyes. He did not truly sleep though. He would eventually, but first he wanted to hear what the other two said to each other when they thought he wasn't listening.

Valencia watched out over the creatures that paced at the edge of the barrier. Hours passed as she read the scorn and anger which gleamed in their eyes, piercing through the darkness of night. She heard the crunching of twigs and thorns from behind her, turning her head briefly to see the other knight making his way towards her.

"It is safe to speak now," he said softly, taking a seat directly next to her. "I've checked the others. It seems they're asleep."

Valencia turned her attention back to the barrier. There were many things they could speak on, but she was uncertain of how much Estrillad passed on to her other warlocks. If anyone was going to waste time bringing up topics that the other already knew about, then it wouldn't be her. "What did you want to speak on?"

The clasped his hands together and joined her, gazing out towards the edge of the barrier. "How much about our powers do you know?"

"What do you mean?" She questioned, not really sure what he was getting at. The first month in her pact with their patron had been nothing but learning how to utilize their powers. What more could there really be to it that Estrillad wouldn't have told them? Then again… Estrillad never told her about The Speaker until she was face to face with him. "Only so much as our Patron has told us."

"I see… then tell me, how did you come about your pact?"

Valencia turned her head slightly, not enough to actually put the knight into view, but enough that the movement had been recognizable. "I… wished to be able to enact justice on the man who killed my family and razed my kingdom."

"And?"

"And…" she paused, remembering back to that time, not all too long ago. "He was also a warlock, in a pact with the same patron as us."

"I see." He paused, fiddling with one of the chainlinks on his arm before continuing on. "And then… did She ask you to kill him?"

Valencia hesitated, remembering back to the day she found the other warlock, cackling over the thrones of her newly deceased parents as he invoked the name of their Patron. "He got what he deserved. His sins were-"

"Did she ask you to kill him?" The knight repeated, his voice more commanding this time.

Valencia hesitated again, and then slowly shook her head. "No… she didn't tell me to kill him."

"As I thought." The knight began rising to his feet to look down at the woman. "We who serve She Who Bears Sin, should never kill one another."

Valencia tilted her head towards the man, and then quickly looked away. "And what would you have had me done different? The color of his soul was one of the darkest I have ever seen… though my judgement may have been clouded by my own rage at the time, I was justified in carrying out my duty."

"Then what of your own soul?"

"My own soul…" she paused, looking back over towards the brilliantly gleaming soul of her fellow knight. "I… I assume it is unlike yours, with the weight of your words."

"Though you do not know, you also do not lie." The knight reached his hand out to the young woman. "Take my hand."

Valencia looked up at the man and then followed his arm down to his hand. "Why?"

"I will show you - what you should have done when you were but a fledgling warlock."

Valencia brushed her hair back with her hand and then extended her own towards the man, prompting him to take it and lift her up with ease. "We have the power to judge, and the authority to execute. But, as you know, execution is not always the answer. Redemption is possible if you can clear the darkness that clouds their perception. Their every sin weighs on them and their every decision. Whether they know it or not, the first time that they act upon evil, they'll have already found themselves trodding down that path of self-destruction."

Valencia nodded knowingly. In the few short years since she'd become a warlock, she'd come across many whose sins were not so unfathomable that they deserved to die for what they'd done… but even those who'd committed petty theft a single time could find themselves with a hue as dark as any murderer or rapist.

"I will now contract with you, and judge your sins, Valencia Strago."

The young female knight staggered backwards, feeling a weird sensation within the mark between her shoulders. It was a feeling of sinking she'd felt only a few times before, but whereas that had been relegated to her chest, this was like a dripping wax that trailed down her spine. The girl lurched forward, curling her fingers and opening her mouth to scream, but releasing no sound.

"I, Domingo Pestle shall now pass judgement on you, Valencia Strago, warlock contracted to She Who Bears Sin."

As Domingo spoke, everything that Valencia had done in the past weeks quickly ran through her mind. The warlocks she'd killed on her way to the meeting spot, the villagers she'd judged to be corrupting their children with the darkness of their own greed, everything - all the way back to her attempted judgement on The Speaker.

Domingo staggered backwards, the color of his hue slowly turning darker as he took on the sins of his fellow warlock. Tears began to fall from his eyes as the months passed by, and then years, and then… there they were, standing in front of the first man she'd ever killed with her powers as a warlock.



"Hah hah ha!" The man cried out, repeated sliding his sword in and out of the woman who had long since stopped moving. "It's what you fucking get! You royals are all the same - filthy… filled with impurities as you let your sins fester and grow without ever acknowledging your wrongdoings!"

Valencia pressed the doors open, her armor stained and bloodied from her father and the many barbarians she'd killed on her path back home. The draperies burned around her, the crests of her kingdom reduced to ashes that fluttered to the ground like leaves in Autumn. "What have you done!" She cried out, brandishing both of her swords as she strode across the marble floor leading to the two thrones.

"I've done you a favor, girl!" The man laughed as he pressed his blade through the woman once more, breaking the arm off of the throne upon which she was slouched. "Without these royals guiding your life, you can be free! You can be pure! You… I'd go so far as to proclaim that you have been saved!"

"Shut up!" She cried out, tears filling her eyes as she came to the steps that sat just before the thrones. "I'll make you pay… I'll kill you for what you've done!"

"What I've done? Child, I've done no more than right the wrongs of this world! I've only enacted my god-given right to pass judgement on the filthy sinners that inhabit this plane! My God, Estrillad, The Bearer of Sin! She's blessed me with such wonderful power that I might protect the world from evils such as these! It's only right that I use what I've been given!"

"If your so-called 'God' really did give you the power to pass judgement on 'sinners', then she is entirely cruel and unjust! You've murdered, raped, and pillaged for your own pleasure! I've followed you through the hinterlands, walking the trail of your sin! Following your trail of evil and destruction! And you dare to stand here and incite the name of your 'God' and try to claim what you've done is just?" Valencia shook her head, completely baffled by the tyrant in front of her. "If there is any justice to be dealt this day, it will be by my hand unto you!"

"You would sully yourself with sin, just to see your revenge played out?" The warlock questioned, his eyes filled with sorrow as he pulled the blade from the corpse of Valencia's mother and stepped towards her. "When you have no idea of the pain and destruction that your very parents committed? The sins that they've carried since before the thought of you was ever conceived?" The man shouted, pointing his own blade towards her now. "You, who have yet to be graced by the divinity of Our Savior, dare to speak to me in-" The warlock looked away, his eyes searching the room as he cocked his head. "No, no… I didn't- but- no, you have to understand that I- wait, Estrillad, I-"

"You will be held accountable for the atrocities that you've committed!" Valencia screamed out, leaping up the steps towards the distracted warlock. "I will be both your judge and executioner!"

'You will stop, child.'

Valencia strode past the warlock, slicing at his chest as she slid across the marble towards the corpse of her mother. There was no time to pay heed to the voices in her head, nor to mourn the death of either of her parents. They would be avenged in this moment, or she would be joining them soon after.

'I said, you will stop, child.'

Valencia felt a burning on her back, causing her to fall to the ground in pain as the voice reverberated through every fiber of her being. "What… what have you done?" She spat at the warlock, dropping her swords as she arched her back and cried out.

'I am Estrillad, the one known as She Who Bears Sin. Should you wish, I can give you the power necessary to pass judgement on this warlock.'

"You-" she laughed, taking a short pause in between her words to wince and catch her breath. "You would push me into a pact, just to see blood shed between those that you've taken an interest in? You truly are an evil being."

"No!" The warlock cried out, searching the room. "Estrillad, please! Do not allow her to become one of your children! I am enough - I can do anything you need! I will be your sole vassel, I will enact your will, I will-" the man cowered, wincing as if he'd just been reprimanded.

'The man you see before you is indeed one of my own, however, his soul has become consumed by darkness and the sins he bears. He is no longer the knight that I once called into my order of warlocks. However, should you choose to take my offer, you may be able to ease his pain.'

"You want me to kill him… because he's gone mad with the power you've given to him? And what then, should I go mad will you do the same to me in time? You're crazy… you're all crazy! You're not worthy of judging others! You're covered in far more filth than any of those that you would deem fit to kill! You're no judge, you're a simply marauding about in the cloak of those innocent people whose life you've taken before all whilst pushing the blame onto whoever you find convenient!"

'Valencia Strago, do you accept my arrangement? Should you choose not to take up this pact, you will surely join your parents. There is but one way for him to be stopped at this moment.'
"Fuck!" Val cried out, feeling the weight of the pact forming on her back. "I'll do it! I'll do anything just to put him in his place! Take me, my soul, my life - whatever you need, I'll give to you if it means I can wipe that smug look off of his face."

"Oh… no, Estrillad why? Why would you forsake me in this- oh, I see. I had no idea that was a possibility!" the man began to laugh uncontrollably again as Valencia slowly rose to her feet, empowered by the newfound power of a warlock. "Well then, if that's how it is, come at me! Perform your holy duty! We warlocks of Estrillad must-"

Valencia flew across the marble floor, her blades cutting through the warlock's neck as if it were air. The man's head quickly began to slide off of his neck as he fell to his knees. The new warlock turned to look at his body as it tumbled over, watching with her aura vision as the spirit of the warlock escaped, splitting off into two separate masses of black and white which disappeared through the busted glass panes in the ceiling.

'It is finished. There is nothing else that can be done now. His sin has been purged, and his soul released from the pain that was forced upon it.'

Valencia's eyes filled with tears as she dropped both of her blades. She'd done it. After months of tracking the warlock through the hinterlands, and catching only the aftermath of the chaos he'd caused, she'd finally done it. She smiled and wetted her lips, letting a short laugh escape her lips before falling to the ground.



Domingo staggered backwards, having taken on all of the sins that Valencia bore throughout her time as a warlock. The man did his best to quiet his voice, feeling the sudden strength of lifetimes of sins piled up on his back. Valencia watched as he curled up into a ball, crouching down to the ground as he winced in pain.

"Are you…" she whispered, reaching out towards him. His soul was dark - not nearly as dark as The Speaker, but darker than anything else she'd seen before him. "What am I… what am I supposed to do?" She questioned, suddenly feeling the weight on her back disappear. For the first time since she'd become a warlock, she felt incredibly light. There was nothing holding her back from her full potential, no worries, no anger, no sadness… "Is this… is this what I-"

"I've removed your sin from you…" Domingo stated, slowly stretching himself back out as he rose to his feet. "But, all that it's accomplished is moving it from one soul to another. Your darkness still exists within me."

Valencia furrowed her brow, not exactly following what he was trying to lead her into. "So… how do you fully get rid of sin, if it can only be moved from one soul to another?"

"There are… two... ways." he spoke slowly, grunting in between words as his body twitched and contorted. "The first is to simply kill the host of said darkness." Valencia watched Domingo, watching as the two hues of his soul began to split apart - one of pure white, and the other consisting of her own darkness. The second… is to fully accept your own darkness."

Valencia shook her head and looked into the pit that had formed in the man's soul as it attempted to take on her sins. "What do you mean by fully accept my own darkness?"

"You've judged many times… and accumulated many sins. Now I've returned the favor, and you've seen the darkness which has accumulated within your own soul. Now… you can see it within me, having taken on all of your sins. The only way to remove this sin from existence is to accept it, before I'm forced to harbor it. By now… my soul should be-"

Domingo winced, falling quickly to the ground. His soul was beginning to envelop the darkness of her cumulative sins, and she couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do to stop it. Was she supposed to judge him now? Wouldn't that just move the sin back to her? She couldn't kill him either. What was there left to…

'Have you really accepted your own darkness?'

"Estrillad?" Valencia questioned, turning her head to look towards the sky.

'Where are you looking, when you should be finding yourself?'

"When I should be finding…" the girl walked up to Domingo, placing her hand on his chest as he fell back on his heels and looked up at her. "This is not you… this is my sin to bear, the consequences of my choices that have led me here." Valencia focused on the darkness within Domingo, forming a black circle in the center of his chest. "Valencia Strago, in the name of She Who Bears Sin, I, Valencia Strago, accept me for all that I am."

From where he lay on his bedroll, Cebres listened carefully to the exchange. He did not open his eyes, as tempted as he was to do so, because that would risk giving himself away. He was not one to judge others for their choice in patron, it was hard to justify doing that when he himself was partnered with an eldritch abomination who profited off of death. There was a lot to be concerned about with what he heard though.

Certainly, there were plenty of warlocks who worshipped the higher powers and saw their patrons as gods. But if these two's patron were presenting themself as some sort of arbiter of justice on the world who gave them authority to judge those around them, that likely made them volatile zealots. He would have to be very careful. They seemed strong and he had little desire to fight both of them at once.

A few minutes passed in silence. Valencia stared at the shifting darkness within her hands. The sin - her sin - that she'd pulled from the body of Domingo was within her grasp, free from any retainer. The sin shifted, pulsating and moving as if it were a living thing.

"You've completed the first step," Domingo whispered, rubbing his chest where the second circle had been. "Now, you must give it a place to reside - until the time that you may see it properly laid to rest."

"What do you mean by that? Properly laid to rest? Why can't you just be forthright with what you need to tell me?"

Domingo glanced up at Val, and then looked over at the two other warlocks they were travelling with. "Even if they are asleep, there are some things better left communicated solely between Patron and warlock." The knight turned his gaze back towards the young woman and motioned towards the three blades at her waist. "If you simply release the sin now, it will go back out into the world and take root in someone else's soul. What you must do is give it a new vessel. Now... choose."

Valencia followed Domingo's gaze, tapping her dominant hand against the blade at her waist. Was this… was this what she was supposed to do? She unsheathed the blade, coiling her fingers around the sin with her off-hand as she held the sword out in front of her. She looked back at the other warlock, searching for the nod of approval that came from him mere seconds later.

"I don't really understand why I'm doing this… but-" she whispered as she pressed her sin against the blade, forcing it inside of the weapon with surprising ease. "I don't know what I expected, to be honest. But… I didn't think it would be that easy."

'That is your sin. You are now free, unclouded in your sight and released from your misjudgements and wrongdoings. You may use your own sin in situations where there is none to take, or against those whose sins are too much for you to bear.'

Valencia listened to the words of her patron, pulling the sin from the blade and placing it back in repeatedly. "So if I-"

"Do not worry. You have now fully accepted what you were, and what you have become. Your sin no longer has power over you."

Valencia looked down at the blade, watching as the manifestation of sin coursed through its length. She sheathed the weapon, not wanting to think on it any more. "So… that is how it should have been."

The other warlock frowned slightly and then nodded. "That… is how it should have been."

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