Perhaps…he was tired.

Each step he took down the straight shot path felt like miles for the forgotten one. He tried to recall where everything had gone completely wrong. Had he misunderstood the message relayed to him? Was he not to fight against corruption and usher his former home into a new era? Had he forsaken his family, his people for nothing? Had it all been for naught? Even in the light of the goddess, surrounded by the exotic and abundant flora around him, Baeleth felt nothing more than the determination to continue forward. That was all he had known now- to keep going through the end. It was only recently that the elf started to doubt himself. His mission had been complete and yet nothing fruitful come of it. Instead, a new array of questions haunted him from the moment he arrived in this world. Where had it all gone wrong?

The knight marched in glistening midnight armor, slowly but steadily. He felt lost, soulless even, and was only acting solely on his need to come here. He needed an audience with one of the beings he dared not speak of before. But mayhaps she could provide the answers to questions that taunted him cruelly.

By the time he reached the bridge, he felt his chest tightening as he panicked over his crimes, those that he tried to justify over and over to himself. Their sacrifices were needed for the world to move forward, to save it from itself. Even his own sister had not been spared, though she hadn’t fallen to his blade. No, he was sure that she was somewhere in this world, and like him, she would focus on her goal to stop him.

Not that it mattered- his war seemed so conflicting now. Crossing the structure, he thought back to the little girl he had saved. Why in the world has he done such an idiotic thing? She wasn’t his responsibility, he could have just let her fend for herself but no. He saw something in her that made him stand up for her against that group of men. He aided her in a few other things but it had been long since their paths had crossed.

Why was he so weak, in both mind and heart? His heart wasn’t to bleed for another and yet he found himself in such a situation. His teeth clenched tightly as the memories replayed, making Baeleth nearly forget that he had crossed the bridge. His body felt weak but his eyes looked dimly at the bell and sign near the stairs and nearly scoffed before he took to the latter. His pride was still intact, but barely. Slowly he hobbed himself up there, stumbling every so often but he made it up eventually. The click-clacking of his armor would alarm her clergy of his intrusion once he made it through the doors to her home.

He knew not of who he made contact with as his hand reached for their shoulder, but his words were clear. “I must speak to the Goddess immediately. I must understand my own folly.”

It had been rather quiet at the Cathedral over the last couple of days, allowing everyone some free time to do as they pleased. The whole place was spotless, and Sirona of course had helped in that chore, being able to fly and hover made getting to the high places easy. The clergy could train as they pleased if they so wished, or really whatever they wanted.

So when the stranger arrived at the Cathedral and opened the doors, he was lucky that there were even a few clergy close. The closest one turned as the door opened and her eyes widened some as the man walked in, fully armoured and reached for her shoulder. She didn’t flinch away, but because of his wear a few of the other clergy in the room eyed the stranger, these three were part of Sirona’s Anointed, though they wore no emblems or anything to mark them as such. They blended in with the rest of the clergy, the difference was that they were armed, but their weapons were concealed.

Upon the stranger’s request to see the Goddess, the clergy member cleared her throat. ”Y, yes, please, sit, I’ll go and find her.” She ushered the man to one of the pews to have a seat before making her way out to find Sirona.

For her part the Goddess was taking this down time to teach Lume some new tricks. She was outside with a small bag of treats for him, as he flew around, she threw one of the treats up in the air and he snatched in his beak on his way past. ”Excuse me, Lady Sirona, but there is a man here to see you, he wants to understand his folly. He’s also rather heavily armoured.”

”Thank you, Jenny. Sirona whistled and Lume came down and landed in front of her. ”Break time, Lume.” Sirona smiled and gave him one last treat before heading inside, the maine coon sized owl griffin following her as she did. The man wasn’t hard to spot, since he was the only no clergy member here at the moment.

Sirona, wearing simple clothing herself and evening gloves to cover her hands, walked over and a sat in the same pew a few feet away from him. Lume followed and jumped up on the pew as well next to Sirona and instantly rested his head on her lap as she started to speak. ”Greetings, stranger, I am Sirona. My clergy mentioned you wanted to talk about your follies, I am willing to give advice as to the best of ability. If you wish for us to speak in private we can do that as well, but know that anything you say within these walls stays within these walls.” She explained and waited to see what he would say.

He felt out of place here, even though that familiar feeling was felt just about anywhere else, there was something particularly odd in this realm. Perhaps because this was the first time he set foot in an unnatural ground crafted to the whims of a divine-blooded. It felt wrong to his stomach, but he endured. He needed to long enough to understand where everything went wrong with the grand scheme.

Perhaps in his long self-isolation from the public, Baeleth had forgotten the simple customs when one was a visiting guest into someone else’s home. His actions here would have possibly be seen as rude, and it hadn’t occurred to him until after he was seated into a pew and looked onward at the clergy member as she left to go retrieve the host. He sat in eerie silence for a disclosed amount of time before he heard someone coming and turned his head to see who he could only presume to be the one he sought. A strange little creature accompanied her and he merely gave it a quick glance before turning his attention around. “It matters to me not where we speak. I hold no secrets worth privacy these days.” Sharp, metallic gloves reached up to his dragonic helm, and with a simple tug up, he removed it and allowed his face to be revealed. The rest of his dark blue hair spilled out and fell onto his shoulders. Eyes that once resembled a cool pool of blue gave way to an icier hue.

“I had a mission, clear as rain. One that required me to destroy the corruption of the world I used to live in. I was chosen for the tasks and I sacrificed my connections to my people, to my family, for the greater good when they tried to stop me. My task was to tear down the barrier and…welcome oblivion so that my world could restate into a more pure, innocent one.”

He sat forward, his hands clasped into one another as he thought about his parents and the sister that remained missing. Even now, he was sure that she had made it and their feud would continue on. At least her cause was justified; hers was of justice for their people and others he had hurt along the way. A deep sigh slipped out from him, “I was successful but the barrier only brought me here, into a world similar to my own. The promise of a greater world was sweet to my ears and soul, but it was not to be.” Perhaps he would be judged here and now for his crimes, but he didn’t care. For all he knew, he could be sentenced right there and then and there was naught he could do over it. Instead, he looked onto Sirona, vulnerable, and lost. “I had thought that there was nothing worth protecting or saving this one, but then I came across a youth, far too young to be on her own, and yet she was struggling to survive and nearly gotten harmed, killed even. I intervened and I do not know why. That is my folly, Sirona. I know not what to believe anymore.”

Sirona nodded at his reply of having no secrets in understanding. Regardless, anything he would say to her here today would be between them and them only, if any clergy members did happen to hear anything they knew not to talk about it. With the confession booths being used now and then, though not as much as before the Revolution, privacy was important in the Cathedral.

Lady Glory did not interrupt as the man spoke, his tale was, intriguing, to say the least, to Sirona. To reset a world and start over, make it a more innocent world from the beginning and, as Sirona thought about it, rein in the sin and evil before it could surface and spread across the lands. She was thankful that she hadn’t thought of that kind of idea before her Revolution, or else that might have been the route she had taken. She would done far more damage if that was the case, and it would have been far harder to recover from it to for everyone everywhere.

He looked to her and she watched him in return, he looked lost and vulnerable, not used to being in this kind of situation perhaps. When he finished Sirona was quiet for a moment as she put her thoughts together into words that she hoped would help. ”It sounds to me like you still believe in good, hope and the future of others, why else would have you saved the youth?” Sirona started. ”You saved her because you saw someone in need, a youth especially, and you acted to help them when nothing else compelled you aside from your want to help her. You believed she was worth saving. You may think you have nothing to believe in, but you are still believing in things, at least from my point of view anyway.” She explained.

”The Revolution that I started, that inevitably failed, after it was over I was lost for a time myself, and my clergy. What we had set out to do had failed, we felt as though we had nothing to work on going forward. However, we were wrong, of course we did. We worked on correcting the wrongs that had happened during the Revolution, helped the orphanages around the lands keep in stock with food and clean water. We got started on feeding the poor and hungry again, helping them find work if we could. Small things but they add up.” He was clearly a warrior so she continued. ”On top of all of that, my Anointed warriors have been busy finding pockets of bandits and slaves and removing their stain on this world.” She added.

”So, to me it seems you do believe in something, even if you don’t realize it, otherwise, why else would you have saved the youth? Why else would you be here talking to me? Perhaps, you need something to focus on, a purpose to pour yourself into. I can try and help with that of you like.” She offered and looked to him. ”Oh, I don’t believe I caught your name either.”

What would she be thinking of his ordeal? It would hardly surprise his being if she had thought him to be mad or perhaps possessed by some malicious entity. Many that would have heard such a wild tale would surely think the same and condemn him either way. Would he fault them? Perhaps not. He would have likely thought the same if he was in their shoes. The madness was like a disease that the afflicted wouldn’t even know reality from their delusions.

Perhaps it was through this madness if it were that he had sought out the help of a deity. He would have never set foot inside the home of one without that being the case. But even though he was not a believer, he would have been foolish to believe that she was without strength that normal mortals couldn’t contain. She watched him, her motives unclear to him as he confessed his sins, fears, and despair. It sickened him to the core with every word spewed out but he needed reasoning, any sort to understand what went wrong. To seek the light of the truth, which was ironic given the place he was in at the moment.

Baeleth fell quiet and lowered his gaze as his disgust melted slowly and he listened well. “Mayhaps. The girl had done nothing wrong other than to defend herself. It is those with grains of power that abuse such a right, and there’s plenty of them out and about in this world as well as in the last one I thrived in.” Maybe he had seen a glimmer of hope in the youth and it drove him to assist her. But it conflicted with his beliefs- that even the innocent were stained with the sins of those that came before them. His hand gripped tightly around the sides of his head as if he was in pain. He was, but not in the physical sense. No, his mind was in turmoil from the contradictions. If the line of innocence and unjust was much thicker than what he had believed, then did it mean that all the people he had slain in the name of his “justice” was unnecessary? Did it mean that he was the wicked one after all?

He continued to grip his fingers through his hair, yet if the goddess had moved to try and help him, he would throw a hand at her to cease. Even though the pain, he listened and acknowledged her own experiences, similar in the desire to his own but with much more at her arsenal and grasp. Perhaps the other deities had gotten involved or perhaps the will of the people here wouldn’t kneel to her whim. But no, the goddess had grown clarity in time, or perhaps after her own folly and reflected in her actions. Would he have to do the same to save himself? Baeleth’s grip loosened slowly as he looked past the darkness the held strongly to his mind and heart. He had steeled himself in order to followthrough with whatever he had to do back then. “I know not what to believe in. Innocence…the guilty…the line is blurry at best. I had done what I thought was best for the entire world. I have much blood spilled on my hands and they will forever be stained. I did believe in a better world, however. Perhaps I was truly wrong in my methods.”

He raised his head back up and continued to reflect. “I thought myself mad to come here. I do not fully believe in your kind, but I will not slander you lot. I am sane enough to know that power stands right before me.” He pondered how the girl was doing now; time has passed since his journey to that little village. A part of him believed that she was thriving to the best of her abilities. And…there were others like her. Hands too gentle to spill blood.

“Baeleth.”

Hearing him speak his own name was bizarre to his ears and it shocked him briefly. “I do not know what you can do for me, but if that is your whim, then I will accept whatever help you can lend me.”

”And unfortunately, as I have learned the hard way, there always will be those kinds of beings in the world. They gain a little power, than want more so they take it and soon they are a tyrant.” She commented and he continued and she listened, Baeleth was his name. ”You are ever so correct, the line between is very blurry and very grey. Is there truly a soul out there that is not touched by some kind of sin? I don’t mean larger things like, murder, but we have all done something in our past that could be counted as a sin to someone else. I’m no pure soul in this myself, none of the Clergy are either. The difference is that we recognize who and what were are, what we have done, and try to make small changes to make things better.” She explained, though perhaps she was over explaining?

”The world will rarely change in such a drastic way, again, I have learned this the hard way. So, no we focus on the smaller things instead, smaller changes add up.” She ignored the part of him not believing her kind and not slandering them, that was fine, it didn’t bother her what people believed in that regard. ”Join my Anointed, help them in their missions, they aren’t glamorous but they do good for the smaller communities around the lands. Help them, and perhaps in time you will be find something to help yourself as well, a new path in your for you life to take? This is just an option, I will not force you to do anything you do not wish to do, we can find another way if you so wish, but, given that you are a warrior, this, I believe, is a good starting point.” Sirona offered him and waited to see if he would accept.

The Anointed in fact would be off soon to remove some bandits from a camp that had been found not too far from a small farming community in central Canelux. He could join them, in fact, Sirona could go with them to and assist, or give her Anointed a rest and go with just herself and Baeleth.

Logic would find itself agreeing with the goddess’ words; there would always be sin and evil as long as mortals thrived. It mattered not how many perished- as long as there were enough of them, they would forever be caught up in the whirlwind that was this imperfect balance. Power, territory, momentary gain, lust, pride- these reasons and plenty more were motivators for those to commit crimes, large and small. Even he, who had the best intentions placed, had tried to justify the slaughtering of those he ushered to unfortunate ends. His own soul was stained with much more than just the blood of others- he had taken their innocence of just existing in this world. He robbed them of their lives and their souls was torn apart prematurely by his magic and steel.

“I see. Who you are…I’m not even sure if I could answer that with ease right now.”

While Baeleth had always known what his actions done, he thought that the deaths of a few would outweigh saving his world. But it was practically a fever dream he had been living through ever since he was lured by the seduction of the shadows and that haunting voice that manipulated him into the genocide of his people.

He was no better than a beast and yet Sirona did not seek his head. Instead, she sought for him to find understanding with his faulty logic, serving herself as a prime example of when things go too far. He shifted more in his seat in the pew, turning to face her fully. His mind was carefully in thought over the offer. The last thing he had wanted was to give service to a deity, but given that the road to redemption would be difficult, if not entirely impossible for him, he would have to start somewhere.

“Warrior is too good of a title for me. I was once that until I fell corrupted and rob the world of innocent lives. But you are correct, Sirona. I have to start over again and find my path. I care not how menial the tasks are. I have no right to complain.” He rose to his feet and placed his helm back on. “Just point me where you require me then.”

”Because the answer is not an easy one.” Sirona replied. ”It takes time and a lot of inward thinking to answer such a question about yourself. Alone it would take that much longer, but if you’re willing to speak, as you seem to be, then we can help you answer that question.”

Baeleth turned to face her fully now before speaking, finally standing up and placing his helm back on his head. Sirona got to her own feet as she spoke. ”Everyone deserves a second chance, if the Voice can find to give me a second chance after what I did then I can’t deny that chance to anyone else that comes here looking to better themselves.” She explained. ”Come then, Baeleth, we’ll go see the Anointed and I can introduce you to them and what their mission will be.” Sirona turned and started to lead Baeleth away from the main Cathedral area towards the door leading outside that was on the left side of the building.

They didn’t have far to walk across the pathway to the door to another building, Mafunzo, the training area. ”The Anointed, when I first started them, were a secret group within my Clergy, those willing to take on much more rigorous training and go out into the world, knowing that they will have to take lives at some point. Since the Revolution their existence is known so we no longer have to guard their existence.” Sirona explained as she opened the door and stepped through holding it open for Baeleth with her wing. Above the door, carved into the stone but with glass embedded to reflect the light was a sign that read “No Mercy for the Wicked”. Sirona glanced up at as she walked in. ”That’s, hm, I think it’s time to remove that, or at least make a change to it. I think Mercy is something that is more in this world, and only not given as a last resort when there is no remorse or repentance evident.”

Walking inside the building Baeleth would see a modestly set up training area, and there were about thirty people of varying races gathered around. Four training squares of soft white sand were in use as two people in each sparred with each other, a huge variety of weapons were lined up along the walls in racks. Before the door closed however, Lume came bounding through and jumped up towards Sirona. His wings opened to allow him to perch on Sirona’s shoulders as he nuzzled her neck, getting a chin scratch in return, before her balled himself up for a nap using Sirona’s wings as a bed.

Sirona caught the eye of someone and a man in his early forties came over to them and bowed slightly as he looked to Baeleth. ”My Lady, what can I do for you?”

”Please, Luke, no need to be so formal.” Sirona grinned, she had been trying to get the clergy to just call her by her first name as she was finding the formalities tiring. But, habits could be hard to break. ”Anyway, this is Baeleth, he’s looking to… make some changes in his life. I’d like you take him with you on your next mission please.”

Luke nodded and looked to Baeleth and reached a handout. ”Greetings, Baeleth, I look forward to seeing how you do in the field. Is there any kind of preparations you want to make before we leave in the morning?”