Chương 27: GODS AND SINNERS

The next day, T'balt slept until noon with a small bit of a hangover. Sweet wines tended to do that to him, but he woke up with a clear vision, knowing what he had to do. He marched down to the boiler with Cannon at his back and a couple of the heftier believers flanking him. The guard at the door didn't hesitate to open it at his arrival, letting him see the church's only prisoner. T'balt was stiff, almost angry, carrying the weight of a king and his kingdom behind him.

"Where is it?" he said with venom. Arthur was chained to a pipe. He was given much more freedom than T'balt had in his time here. He still could move his neck and his feet. But looking around at the place only gave T'balt horrible flashbacks. So he kept his attention solely on Kilgrove.

"May I request some water?" the abbot asked, voice hoarse like he'd been recently choked.

"You can request anything after you tell me where you hid the loot."

"Look at you…" he said.

"A real man of the people. Did someone tell you to come in here, rough me up… make an example of me?"

"You were going to use all of that loot against me, weren't you… I know."

"You know nothing."

"I can see the future, Arthur. You can't question what I know."

"Can you now? It's been two weeks. We are still waiting on this bandit attack of yours. This visit from this mysterious Monan, you claim to be the devil in man's clothing." The others in the room remained quiet, only acting as statues of judgment. They were here to keep things in line and to make the abbot understand that T'balt was the one controlling things here. But it almost seemed like Arthur was trying to get a rise out of them by saying that.

T'balt checked their reactions to be reassured by their stone-like faces. He took a step closer.

"Arthur, why are you doing this?" he said with hidden pleading in his tone.

"You've been so helpful until now." Arthur looked around and threw his hands up just to listen to the sounds of his restraints clanking against the pipes.

"I've been serving this church for over 20 years. And this is how easily they've turned against me…."

"That's because you betrayed them. You lied to them…"

"Don't speak to me of lies, boy… Or should I teach you firsthand about the fragility of the masses?" T'balt thought a moment. This had gone completely differently from what he expected. The abbot was far more aggressive than he had ever seen him. But he knew he couldn't risk the man exposing the truth about what T'balt was. It was clear he wasn't in complete control of the believers. That's why they were in this predicament in the first place. T'balt dismissed his group of guards, telling Cannon, "It's alright.

I'll take it from here." They left, closing the door and leaving the two of them alone. From there, T'balt undid the binds keeping Arthur's hands chained to the pipe. Then he had the flashback. His neck chained to the pipe. Ellie breaking him free. Ellie dead. Arthur dead. The fury coming for him. Monan smiling with their blood over him. It had stopped his heart for a beat. Suddenly, he felt the urge to vomit. Arthur watched him curiously as he shook the feeling back into his arms. T'balt regained himself.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Arthur. But I'm just trying to keep everything together. The attacks haven't happened yet, but they will. And we can't afford to be divided when that happens. I can't let that happen."

"You have shown yourself, hmm.. Fighting me with veiled threats."

"It wasn't a threat, Arthur. It's the truth. Everyone dies in the end if we don't stop it. I thought you believed that."

"Are you that naïve, boy? In the first conversation I had with you, I told you that we believe only what we have to believe. To survive. Your words mean nothing to me. This entire world is doomed. But that loot. Instruments of chaos and war. That is the only thing that I believe: That as many people need to be saved from them as possible. Those marks on your necks. It's the mark of the beast." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"So that's what it is then? You think you're saving people."

"I know I am. That is what my god has told me. Yours… I am unsure what he speaks to you."

"I don't have a god, Arthur. I never did."

"But you carry something that exceeds all rules of logic, that breaks everything we know about our world. Something like that can only be the work of the divine."

"I don't know. I was told about a god that made me this way. But I don't worship them. They're not my god. They're just alien to me."

"God is the belief that keeps one alive, whatever form that may take in their mind. This foreigner, you believe, destroyed our world. This foreigner, you believe, is the reason you have this power. You may not worship them, but you are their vessel. Now my god does not speak of loot or giving man the ability to turn back time. But he does speak of false gods and demons that will infiltrate our world. I have come to the realization that you may very well be one of those, T'balt Ferrier."

"Me? No. That's Monan. That's what I'm trying to save you from."

"Is this Monan your god then?" T'balt scoffed.

"Monan is the enemy, and I have to kill him. That's all I know… God doesn't have anything to do with it."

"If the believers could hear you now. It sounds like you're using us for your own gain."

"You're just trying to manipulate me like he did. I won't stand for it." He threw his hands up, declaring it a failed mission.

"God is all things, T'balt. He is the explained and the unexplained. He is the strong and the weak. The pen and the sword. He comes in many forms, but sin will never change." T'balt walked out and spoke to the guard.

"Tie him back up. And make sure he doesn't do anything crazy." T'balt didn't take any credence in those words. He wasn't in the mood to talk about anything divine or any of that they couldn't possibly hope to understand. A foreign god. According to Monan, T'balt already killed them once, so what did they matter? He had to focus on protecting what was in front of him now, and that was the people of this church. He'd have to find some other way to find that loot.

But unlike before, he didn't have Arthur to give his orders for him. And he was afraid that telling everyone to scour the church would cause too much of a panic. He went upstairs, finding the abbot's office. He had free rein over all of the church, but he still felt icky intruding on his personal space, even though he was a prisoner. He opened the door. Ellie was scouring his large oak desk. The drawers were cleaned out, leaving much of the abbot's belongings all over the floor.

The shelves were emptied, and the place looked like a tornado had just hit.

"It's not in here," she said. T'balt never told her he was coming to look. She then moved to walk past him as if he stopped existing.

"Ellie, wait." He caught her by the wrist.

"I've nothing to say to you."

"But I do to you…"

"What?"

"Why are you looking for the loot? What do you want with it?" She gasped at the veiled accusation in the question. She shot back with venom and disdain.

"I don't want anything with it. I figured if I found it, you wouldn't have a reason to keep Arthur locked away anymore." She yanked her arm away from him.

"I'm sorry. I… Listen, Ellie, Arthur isn't…" He saw the flash of anger in her eye. It was aimed at him, and there was truly no sense of warmth there. He questioned why he even wanted to waste his time explaining himself.

"Never mind. You can go." As she left, she passed Chosa in the hall, arms crossed, leaning against the door to their bedroom. They had no words for each other as Ellie sped off in her flare. Chosa stayed out of her way, but then she saw T'balt occupying the abbot's room. She grinned and decided she'd better leave him alone for now. T'balt spent the better part of half an hour repairing the mess in Arthur's room. It only felt right. Just because he'd lost his mind didn't mean they had a right to destroy his things.

But he mostly sat in the chair on the working side of the desk, commanding the materials to their places with his psychic loot while he thought. Whatever semblance of a relationship he had with Ellie was gone. She completely hated him now. He should've known better. Arthur's basically a father figure to her. And he had him locked away. She'd never question the pressure he was under or why he had to make that decision. But he guessed he didn't need her anymore. He had Chosa back now.

He only latched onto her so much to fill the void she had left behind, so he shouldn't be upset about it. Even though he was—Far more upset than he had any right to be. But all that got interrupted when Cannon burst into the room.

"Boss. You were right. The bandits have come. The church is surrounded."

"Really? Now? It's the middle of the day."

"Yeah. They're at the front of the barrier. And want to speak with you."

"They want to speak?" That was different. Nrv and the Bear weren't the talk-first types last time he encountered them. This wasn't right. None of it felt right. Everyone was in different positions. The congregation was at each other's throats. Before they were practically inside the church, they announced themselves. Now they want a chat?. T'balt suddenly found himself not in the mood for it. He wanted a fight. He had prepared for a fight. He didn't want to deal with any other loudmouths.

His psychic loot was activated as he shoved all the abbot's things away, still sitting at his desk, feet kicked on top of it.

"A parlay then… that's boring?"