No animal dares make any sound in this place. They hide and wait until the Cardinals leave to the castle, some bury themselves in, some lay low in the bushes but not a noise is heard.
Amphelise carries the body in chains and is stopped in her footing at the sight of a man in a suit and tie.
"Cardinal Killer John."
"Drop the child and nothing will happen to you."
The Viscountess was not listening and approached the axe to the throat of the kid
"Be smart about this. If you hurt her I won't restrain myself on you, and you remember what happened to the last one that defied me."
"I really want this toy. Let me have it."
"It angers you, doesn't it? That you could just do anything you want, but because I exist, you have to ask permission. Well the permission is refused. Drop. The. Kid."
She first refused but then had a second thought, actually thinking about what happened to the one before her. In this frustration she slammed the victim on the ground as hard as she could, and dizzy from the shock she ran to the man.
"You win this time, Cardinal Killer. But you won't be able to stop what's coming. We're coming for all of them. And for all of you."
Amphelise walked away empty handed, wrath on her mind. Ismael and his friends tried to take care of her but couldn't do anything. The blood was spilling, flowing everywhere.
"John? From the Kenza organization? We don't have time for this, actually. How do we help her?"
"You can't. The damage has already been done. Had she been taken to the castle, she would have been rendered a slave, the kind of thing you don't want to think about."
"It's...all right. You'll kill them without me."
Capucine held her hands and profusely apologized for her past life behaviour. She lied down on her body, hugging her as she passed away in pain.
Back in Ismael's house, they had a meeting and buried Ariane in the backyard. He could feel all of their cold stares on his back and turned around only to confirm his feeling. He proceeded anyway, and a white wind shot from the tombstone.
"She's in Heaven. The real one. Let's go back inside."
The group was silent, residing in the kitchen for now. After some time, the parents of Ariane burst in the living room and joined them, furious.
"We told you kids to not go play in the forest!"
"We were not playing, ma'am." Ismael replied with calm and serenity.
"Who killed my daughter?"
"You know who. Maybe you should have acted before this happened. It's your own weakness that killed her. Now get the fuck out of my house."
The parents left screaming.
Ismael took that time to reflect.
"I'm not mad at them, I hate this situation. This time what can we do? All my friends from my previous life are here, alive and well, and I can't seem to find happiness in it. Happiness in life does come from the inside, any seeking of external validation always ends up in emotional distress.They are new to this, new to life itself, but all of my life experiences have been kept intact thanks to my prayers and faith. They don't know much about what happened back then, I'll have to tell them. Then I'll leave them, I cannot bear this, this is worse than anything and the weight of this burden will crush my body, rendering me unable to hurt them any longer. Lord forgive me."
"Come with me, I'll write you something."
In the living room he carefully crafted a presentation. He had written characters profiles on paper and with a whiteboard explained everything. He asked Karin to help him on some of the details, and the more he would tell, the more concerned they were, looking at him with compassion and horror.
"That is...the most I can do. I cannot take this anymore, and I don't deserve to have anything to do with any of you. I'll go to the castle myself and bargain to release you all from any pain. In the time to come, for you, enjoy this world free from all the misery."
"Ismael, you said we were married back then. Now you're running off?"
"I'm not running, Gloria. It's over. This entire cosmos is messed up. We can't proceed like that. I'll see what I can do to save you all, that's all that's left. If it was me from the Lifeline, I would have crushed the woman from the forest, but as a kid with no weapons, it's case closed. I'll write myself out of reality altogether. Count on Karin for the rest, maybe with the Ether she can manage to get your memories back, if not, I'm truly sorry."
"The other timeline you mentionned must have been truly horrifying."
"It was...it was torture. But it's done, now. No one lives there...Karin. Do you think Efalis..."
"No. No way. I mean he had to...leave also?"
"We ended on good terms, if you see him here, tell him what you know, he'll complete the missing pieces from his side of the story."
Ismael dressed up with a long sleeveless white jacket with a hood and put it on his head, his long blond hair flowing down his neck. He left without saying a word, closing the door on his way back.
No rage, no regret, he left his whole life behind and a plan. "On each piece of paper with their name and history on it, I've written at the end an information they should never disclose to anybody, an intel of the highest importance. To believe in God and let Him guide them the way I never could. Individual faith influenced in whatever way it might be by others will be a detriment to theirs. Secondly, they will learn how to use weapons. Some of them are snipers, some of them are dual guns wielders. They will have to learn it from themselves, even though I've made it clear who used to have which position."
Ismael spent the rest of the day learning about the forest and getting acclimated to the new environmement. Upon the sunset, he walked with the idea that the woman had left him with: "only if you look for the castle will you find the castle."
Time passed, he gave up on everything and found the castle, plunged in an unimaginable despair, opening the gates expecting death. But he was greeted with the Viscountess.
"Take me to your leader, I don't talk with the lower class."
Amphelise wrapped her weapon around his neck and, giving a quick look at his face, she realized he came with an idea, not just showing up. So she led him to the main room where he recognized a familiar face. He walks to the table where they are enjoying food and bevrages and steps on it, to the edge forward.
"You guys are hiring?"
"You are one of the Suffered, you do not deserve any of the existing titles. I shall grant you one on the spot if you are ready for the commitment."
"Hit me with it."
"First let me introduce you to the Forgotten Cardinal Sins. Ashnael, the Count of Murder. Faviel, the Baron of Torture. Nerida, the Castellan of Suicide. Cassius, the Duke of Cannibalism. Amphelise, the Viscountess of Slavery. Melisa, the Lady of Torment. Theigon, the King of Corruption. And you, dear guest, what is your name?"
"Ismael."
"Ismael", he solemnly called, rising up, "I, High Marquis Loovis, hereby knight you as Ismael, the Lord of Sacrifice."