"What? That'll take too long, we'll lose the trail before you learn," exclaimed Artoria, looking genuinely shocked at my demand.
"Just tell me, it won't take longer than a single minute." I declared that my resolve was set in stone. I had to find and bring justice to the Rebels of Revel who caused this.
I didn't care if I was against insurmountable odds facing the Rebels; I wouldn't shy away from blood or death any longer. Death wouldn't be a constant in my presence. I couldn't let this act go unpunished, even if it was the work of some gullible child.
"I don't know how your powers work. You are a complete anomaly. I'm not—"
"Just tell me!" I barked, cutting into Artoria's words; she didn't seem to care about the intrusion much, to my relief.
"Fine. But you have five minutes. If you can't do it, then I'm taking over. Place your hand in the blood of your target, concentrate on analyzing the blood, taking it into your own body, then send a surge into your eyes. This isn't something that can be learnt on the fly, so I don't expect you to succeed. But I won't stop you."
Wasting no time, Artoria left, leaving a trail of blood behind her as it dripped off her hands.
Next to the front door of the office was a small pool of blood; Artoria's handprint was slowly being replaced by the blood. Kneeling down next to the pool, I placed my palm into the blood, painting my hand scarlet.
I closed my eyes, concentrating on the warmth of Seraphina's power swirling within me, grabbing hold of that feeling drifting throughout my veins. Forcefully taking control of the feeling, I pushed it down towards my hand, focusing on the blood, trying to absorb it as Artoria said.
The warm embrace of blood in my hands started to disappear, being replaced by the harsh cold of night, and an unsettling feeling followed the loss of warmth as the foreign entered my body.
I gritted my teeth, a sudden sense of pain overcoming my left hand, but it didn't last long. Opening my eyes, I saw a faint golden trail floating in the air, twirling and twisting slowly.
"Hm? I didn't do the second step of the process, though. How can I see it?"
How I could see the trail without focusing divinity on my eyes was of no real concern at the moment. I needed to follow the trail; I didn't have time to dwell on unknowns.
As I was about to leave the office, I noticed something odd: the trail of divinity overlapped and went back into the office. Curious, I followed the trail. It led me to a small chest in the corner of the room covered by a mountain of blankets.
Ripping the blankets from the chest, I opened it, finding a black and white mask split evenly down the middle. It was a plain mask of simple design. It was of high quality. I hadn't expected to find such a high-class item in a murder scene. As I picked up the mask, I felt a small shiver run across my whole body; my body involuntarily shuddered for a moment. I discarded the feeling as the effects of the cold caught up with me and placed the mask in the pocket of my cloak.
Sprinting out of the office, I followed the golden trail down to the sewers of Grandheart dropping down into a small opening. I should've thought about my actions before jumping in, landing directly in a puddle of sewer waste mudding my boots and causing the putrid stench to cling to me.
"Ugh. It stinks. Why would anyone willingly put their base in the sewers?"
I followed the dimly lit pathways of the sewers, avoiding the trails of water, staying firmly rooted to the walls. Not wanting the stench to further seep into my new clothes. Eventually, after many twists and turns, I reached the end of the trail and came to a half-opened wooden door. A much brighter light source was shining into the tunnels coming from that door, so I pushed my back against the wall and tried to listen for any voices.
"You, fucking idiot! How could you be so stupid as to kill someone! And get yourself injured, do you understand what you have done!?" shouted an enraged voice, the walls shook under the pressure of the man's fury.
I couldn't get a good look without revealing myself, but from the deep voice, I determined it was most likely a heavyset man.
"But… It wasn't my fault. It was supposed to be a simple robbery. I didn't mean to kill him, but he wouldn't stop coming at me, so I had no other choice but to use my knife."
"I don't care what your initial intent was! Do you know what having an Edict means in the eyes of the Order?!"
"I'm a threat?" said the smaller boy meekly, bowing his head.
The tension was spilling out of the room from the looks of things through the slight cracks of the door. I could see at least twenty people inside packing their things and another sharpening his blade against a large whetstone. None of them even glanced at the larger man and his smaller subordinate, not interfering with his affairs. From their behaviour I guessed he was most likely he was their leader.
"No! You are nothing compared to them! You idiot! Once an Edict awakens, divinity runs rampant throughout the body, meaning you can be tracked if you bleed! Do you understand now, boy?!"
The large man's two wings shook with an unbridled fury, dropping loose a couple of silver feathers. He pushed the smaller boy against the wall, not holding his strength back. The boy violently slammed into the wall, falling to his knees, his legs shaking under his superior's ire.
"I'm sorry, Revel! I didn't know, I just wanted to impress you! Please, forgive me!"
"We are past forgiveness, and since when did I say you could call me Revel! Revel is a collective; we are all Revel! You don't get to use that name!"
So was he Revel or not? This group of rebels is confusing, and who would willingly go by the name Revel? It's rather boring if you ask me. Evernight was much better.
It appeared that Revel's anger wouldn't be stamped out by pleas for mercy and forgiveness; it was looking bleak for the poor boy. But I couldn't say I felt bad for him.
"I'm sorry…"
"Idiot! You still haven't grasped the situation we are in, are you seriously that dense! You! Yes, you may have caused the downfall of this rebellion! You sit there all meek and puppy-like, not once have you thought about aiding our retreat!"
"I did! I'll help right now, I'm sorry!"
The smaller boy immediately sprang onto his feet, although his face was blotched with dried tears; he seemed almost relieved. A tiny amount of happiness burned silently in the sea of fear in his eyes.
"Stop," commanded Revel, his voice a low growl oozing with hostility.
"Y—"
The smaller's body stopped moving, his eyes sinking into despair, frantically clawing at his chest. Drops of scarlet dropped onto the ground from behind the boy, although they were also soundless, they still appeared to be deafening in my ears.
A flood of tears flowed down the boy's face as he stumbled forward, dropping to the ground, helpless.
"Why…"
"Why? If we are all going to be killed because of your actions, it's only right that you go first."
"But… I thou—"
"You thought just because I brought you in, then I would save you, and forgive your stupidity? That's not how this world works. You were only a means to an end at the start of your recruitment. Your days were numbered anyway; you should be thankful. I ended your insignificant life."
"I trusted you…"
With the boy's words, his eyes glossed over all signs of life being swallowed by the darkness of Revel's betrayal.
"Ahahaha! It felt good to finally kill this pest!"
Revel's hideous laughter echoed throughout the sewers, looking down at the boy's body; there wasn't a single hint that he was remorseful or even regretful of his actions. Stepping over the boy's body like it didn't even exist, barking orders to his men.
I now knew why no one interfered with Revel's tirade, the boy wasn't actually a member of the Rebels, just a worthless tool. I doubt the actual members even looked at the boy, let alone spoke to him; his only contact was most likely Revel. I didn't get how anyone could be so coldhearted to a boy; did they not feel anything?
I thought all rebellions were born out of patriotism and a need to protect the weak from oppressors. I now realise that line of thought was extremely naive. These 'rebels' were nothing but a gang of savages disguised under the banner of freedom and peace.