Chapter 27 #2
“Protectors and Guides of Sanctuary,” Tradition began, and his voice was like rich molasses, trapping everyone’s attention.
“These are unusual times. Sanctuary is threatened on all sides. There are dangers facing us from the Abyss and, as I have recently learned, there are also dangers from within.” His eyes moved to Sunny and Hope.
“We have a system of rules. Laws and precedents to help protect you, and these halls, and Earth itself. When our laws are broken without regard, the perpetrators harm every one of us, whether intentionally or unintentionally.” His voice thrummed with grave sadness, and a ring of truth, which was only slightly less prevalent in the next words.
“I take no pleasure in today’s trial and judgment.
All I do is for Sanctuary. To uphold the legacy so many of our forebears sacrificed to build for us.
To keep you safe.” His words held all of us immobile, and I closed my eyes, wondering at the sheer charisma he emanated.
His firm belief that he was doing the right thing was a power in and of itself.
I dove into his thoughts, hoping to find some weakness, some angle I could play to get him to really listen, and reconsider his actions.
But his mind was fixed on the one overarching thought that consumed him, that echoed in his mind: Protect.
I must protect this realm. My younger ones who can’t protect themselves.
The Guides who are losing their way. They have no one else.
Only me to make the difficult choices, to follow the paths of righteousness.
If I show mercy, all will be lost. Great Guide, my heart aches with the pain of this day.
But for the good of the realm, I harden it for You. To protect.
Protect. It was the same command that I had heard for so many years, telling me the same thing. I was a threat, a clear danger. He was absolutely certain of it.
My heart lurched. Tradition was the bad guy here… wasn’t he?
Though I was the one who’d sucked the juice out of a whole realm earlier today.
Drank all of Sanctuary’s power down like chocolate milk.
That’s some supervillain-level action right there, Feather.
And Rumple’s the guy who taught me how to do it.
A guy with horns, tail, bat wings, lives in and apparently rules Hell? It’s not that hard a riddle to solve.
I swallowed hard. When Gavriel had first found me, he’d asked if I knew what I was. I’d said a superhero. What if I was the opposite?
Tradition’s next words grabbed my fractured attention.
“…and that is why, when I learned that the Protector Sunny had ascended without coming forward to ask permission, I was gravely concerned. Sanctuary’s power is limited.
From the rations at meals, to the dimming lights and the virtual blackout we experienced not long ago.
We feared there was a connection between unapproved ascensions, and Sanctuary’s loss.
And today, only moments ago, we discovered Perception has willfully ascended as well.
And he did so immediately before Sanctuary lost all power for the first time since it was created. The correlation cannot be ignored.”
This seemed like the time to admit that I was the one who had fried Sanctuary’s circuits, not my friends. I opened my mouth to reply, but the room had erupted into shouts of disbelief. No one but Valor, whose eyes were fixed on me like a rabid dog, even noticed me trying to interrupt.
Then Hope stepped forward. “Guide, may I speak?” Tradition nodded, though Valor was hissing for the others to force her away from the podium.
“The rule that was made requiring permission to ascend was instituted mere days ago. It is entirely possible that they had already begun to ascend—the rules could be overlooked in the absence of intention—”
Tradition sighed. “If only that were true.”
Hope spoke louder. “Guide, the process of ascension normally takes months, even years. I would offer that what happened to these two was not their fault. It could have been out of their control entirely! If they ascended—and I’m not sure Perception has even done so, not fully—it must have been because some series of events forced the change upon them.
They had no reason to rush their ascension.
The Great Gate is still unusable, and the Well is sealed.
There will be no moving on to the Celestial Realm. Why would they do such a thing?”
Tradition sighed. “Protector Hope, you yourself asked permission to ascend not long ago. I believe your thoughts then were that neither Righteous nor Valor were up to the task of leadership?” She sputtered at that, but he spoke over her explanations.
“We did not approve your request, when it became clear you were positioning yourself to be the acting High Angelus, with Mikhail and Gavriel unreachable. Were we wrong? As you yourself just said, what reason could there possibly be to rush your ascension—if not to snatch power? You have the floor.” He stepped back, waiting.
Hope’s face went beet-red, and as she spoke, my heart plummeted.
She was an amazing individual and looked like a blonde Amazonian warrior, but Hope was no public speaker.
Her rage made all her words seem too sharp.
I watched the eyes of the Protectors around us shutter as they tuned her out.
“… and something is wrong with the Guides, it must be! Possibly even with High Angelus Gavriel. Our teachers have been teaching false doctrine, and the lecture halls smell like sewage! I’m not imagining it.
You might not see their smut, but the scent of their crimes is poisoning the very air in our realm! ”
When Hope’s high-pitched screed ended, the room was so silent I could hear my own heartbeat.
It was time for me to tell them who was really to blame.
I had just cleared my throat when Tradition sobbed and wiped a tear from his cheek.
He looked devastated. And when I dipped into his thoughts once more, I could hear the voice of his mind, faint but unmistakable.
Protect.
No. It was the voice in his mind, saying Protect. The word repeated, in an endless, insistent thrum. Not his own. Another was speaking the word, urging him.
And it sounded like the same voice I’d heard my whole life.
I was stunned into speechlessness.
He let out a shuddering breath. “Friends, this is the reason for our rules, our laws. So when one of our own, our finest, is tempted from the paths of righteousness, we can protect the rest of us. Valor?”
Valor nodded, and pointed to two Guides.
Suddenly, Hope was being held on both sides, as another slapped a gag over her mouth.
They wrestled her over to where Sunny stood, and the two of them stared into each other’s eyes while Tradition stated somberly that Hope would also be receiving judgment.
All of us on stage started shouting at once, before suddenly, cloth gags were being put over all our mouths.
The crowd grew ominously silent as well. I could feel the waves of conflicted emotions surging in the Hall. It was making me feel almost seasick.
The trial was a farce. Hope was found guilty of sedition and disobedience to her superiors, and sentenced to be “detained within a cell” until the High Angeli returned.
Valor couldn’t contain his evil smile at her sentence, and I picked up on his sick plans to visit her with the soul knife and do the same as he’d done to Righteous.
Perception and Sunny were both found guilty of ascending without permission, but Perception’s judgment was delayed until they had more information about what had caused his ascension. Sunny’s sentence was being debated, and would be announced at the end of the trial.
When Righteous was brought forward, however, the mood in the room turned against the Guides and Valor.
Righteous’s eyes met mine, and I heard his thoughts.
I know what they’ll ask, Feather. I won’t tell them; this is information I don’t want shared widely.
But you should know, I studied ancient High Angelic sacrifices long ago.
I read that if you had the material and the power—the kind a true sacrifice generates—you could create almost anything out of soul energy.
As Sanctuary does with food and drink. As Mikhail did with his own flesh, making the Novices.
I was planning to use my wings at the least to crack the gate back open.
At best? To make a rope. To tether one end in Sanctuary, and travel beyond the Great Gate to pull you out.
I failed you once; I was determined to save you, no matter the cost.
I felt my jaw drop. That was nuts.
His smile was wry. They’re not wrong when they say I was temporarily insane.
But what is love, if not a beautiful madness that makes the clamoring world fade into nothing, and brings clarity to one moment, one soul?
I would sacrifice far more than my wings to save you. And given another chance, I will.
What do you mean? He didn’t answer, and I remembered he couldn’t hear me. He was so close to ascending, though. Maybe, if I focused, I could use my High Angelic powers to get through to him. Ry? That book you studied—was it called Great Sacrifices of the Ancient High Angeli?
His eyes widened as he heard my question. Yes. How do you know about it? Gavriel removed it from the library long ago, right after… He swallowed.
Yeah. I sighed mentally. Perception said Valor found it. He’s been reading it.
Fuck.
I had worse things he needed to know. Ry… I think that I’m to blame for the darkness. For Sanctuary’s loss of power. Rumple—Seraphiel—taught me to take power from Sanctuary. I’m not sure I was supposed to do that.
His eyes were filled with forgiveness. You weren’t. But you didn’t know. Mikhail and Gavriel will fix it. I’ll tell them what happened. We just have to make sure we survive until then.