A Holy Mission

Jp with LSP
Caspian sat in the dimly lit room, next to the nightstand using the candle as light to read. Watching over Chris to ensure his state of health didn’t diminish any farther.

The silence was broken by the sound of Chris groaning in pain, with speed none have seen since his time as the Purifier, the man rushed to a bucket. He spat out the last bit of blood caught up in his throat. He coughed up some more, finally his last coughing fit ended. He slowly rose to his feet without the aid of a cane, and approached the nightstand, putting back on his glasses, wiping his sweat covered face with a handkerchief.

Chris looked at Caspian, "How long was I out?" It was quite obvious that the bishop's claim of Chris's health improving was clearly seen with him awakening from whatever dream he had.

Still sitting, Caspian licked the tip of a finger and turned the page of his book. “Likely a few hours.” responded not looking to make eye contact. “Though it must have been restful, I’ve not seen you rise to your feet that quickly in some time.”

"It was eventful. I must go see something." Chris gathered his coat and cane, and pulled them over his body. He approached the door, he had to see if his family were there, at home.

Caspian sighed, taking note of the page he was on, before closing the book. Following at his own pace knowing that he’ll be stopped by a guard at some point, and then he’d catched up and see what the fuss was about.

Chris approached the exit of the door, a guard looked utterly lost as Chris strived with power of his knightly days, "I want you to bring twenty men to the front, immediately." The dazed guard quickly saluted and ran off to do as he was commanded.

As Chris approached the stairs, he was stopped by a gentle hand to his shoulder. He turned to face the owner of the hand, and nearly fainted. Before him was a raven haired woman with a streak of white, he kind features known by all, beside her was a young woman with the same raven hair. Chris pulled the two into a tight embrace, the united family began to weep.

From the corner the Bishop appeared, "A great blessing from the Goddess, not only has she healed you, but has returned your family. Praise our mighty Goddess!" He raised his hands in praise. After a moment of prayer, he turned to Caspian, "Ah, Caspian, good to see you. How was his recovery?"

“He recovered the same as he always does.” Caspian said in a rather bored tone. “Sleep, and the administering of a ‘sunlight gem’.” Caspian turned to Chris. “Have you plans to visit your family before we proceed with the investigations?” he asked, tapping a second book attached to his belt. “We have many matters to attend to after the escape of The Demoness.”

Chris glanced at Caspian, "I haven't seen them in over twenty years, and you dare ask me such a question?" The bishop stepped into the two, "Caspian, let the man be, the goddess has blessed us today. No reason to ruin the blessings, I appreciate your devotion, but perhaps we enjoy this moment."

“Yes, I do dare to ask such a question.” Caspian said coldly. “Go. Abandon your duties.” he said in his snakey voice, turning to leave before Chris could speak again.

Chris snarled silently, "Such behavior is what makes on loose favor"
The bishop calmed the man, "His mind is in the ways of the church my friend. You deserve a small break, facing a demon, fighting this accursed disease. You deserve the blessing given to you. I'll call you in when we truly need you." He gave the man a warm smile, Chris shook his head. "I have work to do anyways. I can see my family by the end of the day." He marched after Caspian. He caught the man around the corner, "Come with me, we need to check the crystals containing the essences of the demons we slayed over the years. You ever speak to me like that again, you can go back to confessions." He warned the man, he turned to face the door that led to the church's special vault.

Caspian didn’t budge. “We’ve had sightings of that necromancer woman again,” he said, “and a demon lord escaped, and you know as well as I do you’d have never contained the demon's essence without my assistance.” He didn’t face Chris. “I do not pretend that your family returned to you is something you should show joy in. I am however suspicious of the events, with respect I just believe you should be aware this could be a trick.”

Chris pushed the door open, "I don't need you, there are plenty of other priests that can replace you. Don't think that's the only reason you still remain where you are. I know something is up, that is why we must check the crystals. You are one of the few people who know why they disappeared, so because they appeared means the fiends got something back that they wanted. So, come down here, so we can make a head count of those demons we purified."

Caspian followed once in the ‘vault’ he pulled a brick from the wall revealing a small leather book hidden inside with a list of names. “Shall we begin?” he asked, opening the book.

The man gave him a nod, he approached the first crystal on the shelf, it was blood red and black in color. "This one is?"

“Gresh the Eviscerator. General of the Seventh Sanctum of the Nine Hells.”

Chris gently tapped it, "Taken down after his failed incursion of our realm, the first of many we captured." Chris proceeded down the difference essences, going through the list of captured demons. His checklist came to a stop, a cracked crystal was caught, clear as glass. "Who was this?" The issue of an escaped demon was clearly seen.

Caspian studied the book, then the crystal's container. “It’s not logged. Or rather it appears to have been magically removed, not only from the book but also for memory.” Showing Chris the book. A place was blank like it was plucked away like it was just lifted from the page. “I believe we can ascertain what it’s ability is.”

Chris' mind wandered for a moment in thought, he studied this demon before, "It was the first born of Thurzal, Ezikle the Knowledge Eater. From the look of it, he slithered out, and back to the domain of his father. It seems Vomntik the Guardian of Secrets is also gone." He looked at the other clear crystal beside it. "What's the last three of the list?" He looked at three crystals which were a bit bigger than the others.

The first one was a sickly yellow color, dark faces swirled in the twisted essence. The second one was a vortex of black and purple,a wicked blue flickering around, as if frantically looking. The last one seemed to contain a raging flame. As Chris approached one, a demonic skull slammed against the container, snarling at Chris. "Nevermind, I know these three. Have any idea why they are so active compared to many others?"

Caspian leaned in, pushing his glasses up his nose. “These are quite small.” he said, gesturing to the three. “Given their…let us call it renown you’d think they’d be of a larger size, yes?” Standing back to his full height Caspian posited a new question. “It would be possible that this is not the fullness of their form. Would it be possible they escaped and this is only a tip of the iceberg?” he asked. “They were captured early in our understanding of the crystallisation process. It’s possible we missed something and they fled and regained power. Like the tail of a lizard.”

Chris thought for a moment, "Well, we have relics that have most of their essences in them, The Flaming Sword of Yord, The Amulet of Lovely Ayala, and the Ring of Mad Gorz. However those ones are trapped, and don't explain why they are active." The man was lost in thought before a man came to him, "That Demonologist, over twenty years ago, Hamlet was it? He spoke to the head of a succubus, yet it wasn't a conversation between human and demon, but rather high ranked against low ranked. Not long after that little event, Hamlet disappeared, but reports record him saying, "Fratres fuge. Flee brothers."

Caspian remained silent for a moment. His eyes flickering between all the containers. “I suppose it is worth looking into?” he questioned half rhetorically. “Shall I fetch the girl?” Caspian asked. “I assume she’ll be invaluable in tracking these…abominations.” he said venomously, adjusting his glasses.

"Yes, have her take her guard, we'll need to prepare for a fight, even as fragments, those three were once members of the Nine, something we can't handle alone. I'll gather the relics, the best we can do is trap the rest of their essences inside the relics, then go from there." He adjusted his own glasses as he turned away from the containers. He felt something else within the room, "Go, bring her here, she will need to know who she is searching for. I have to check one last thing."

“At once.” Caspian said, placing the book on the lectern, he turned and headed out the door, it wasn’t long before his footfalls reached the stairs and the sound vanished from the walls.