Amphelise had the largest room, that goes without saying, all of the necessary utilities. A completely white room with no colors except furnitures to make the servants and maids go insane.
"You. Yes you. Come here. Here's what I want. You're going to go there, all the way over there, and stare at the wall for six hours. I'll be in my bedroom sleeping. All of you will be working while I'm resting."
Shutting the door behind her, a human figure in a cage was calling out for her. She tucked herself in bed and slept.
She had a violent nightmare where the Cardinals were savaging a bunch of innocent civilians from different parts of Perseus, their throats sliced up as they wiggle on the floor in pain. They cry but she's looking at it from a distance, knowing this is all fake.
But her heart shivers while staring at the spectacle. A quick insight into her own mind. None of this happened but it was a possibility, something she was able to do all by herself.
"Amphelise, let's open them up. Like new year's presents."
"Nerida, I don't feel good doing this. This isn't who I am."
"Shut the fuck up and open them up. We exist to torture and kill. You want this. You seek an eternal damnation for your past crimes. Slice, open, look inside. Like you're washing your hands."
"What are we looking for?"
"The Saint Graal."
Amphelise relanctantly executed Nerida's orders, sliding her hands beneath the man's ribcage, retreiving an organ.
"You have a heart! Listen to it."
"It's telling me...it's telling me to let go. Completely."
"Thebn let go."
"If this is really you I will end your life as soon as I wake up."
"It won't be me. You'll never talk to me again."
Amphelise woke up in sweat but stayed in bed, panting.
"It wasn't Nerida. Probably a nephilim."
"What do you think, cage?"
The one in the cage leaned down to avoid looking at her. Out of fear.
"That's what I thought."
A knock on the door woke her up again.
"It's me, Amphelise. Nerida."
"Come in."
"Look, I've had a nightmare", Nerida announced, crouching to her bed.
"So did I. I knew it wasn't you."
"Ismael brought the nephilims in Perseus. Maybe we really do have to kill him."
Amphelise turned to the other side of the bed, facing Ismael with his rifle, canon pointed at her. Nerida slowly climbed up the bed, using her body to protect her.
"Ismael, we were simply discussing."
"Pain knows the way to the human. And while we scream in terror, only the wicked will listen."
"Put your weapon down, Mael."
"The pain, Nerida. It's so soothing to lose sanity. It's fun, you should try. It doesn't discriminate, it just exists and forces a reaction."
Ismael shoots regardless of who belongs to which group, Nerida's face on the left side is ripped apart in a deafening resonance that blew away both of them. When attacking, he was not there any longer but far away from even the castle.
"They're fun to play with, these people. They haven't realized yet that I can do anything I want in these lands. No. In this entire world. It all belongs to me."
Ismael parted to other parts of Perseus, exploring to know the surroundings. He left, without any warning nor letter. To Amphelise and Nerida this meant betrayal, this meant death. But Ismael thought entirely differently, if a man was as free as he claimed to be, why waste talents and time for those who don't deserve it?
Who here is said to be enough to tell him what to do? A man's actions are told by no one but his own heart and will. What set of rules could drive him to deny himself? Why would he do anything but kill? He is the man that is free from the world itself and will bring down to the ground the souls that happen to be on his way.
Perseus had eastern asian mountains, forests and a large cursed lake that doesn't end on any side or direction. The fog reigned and the creature came out of the water, curious to interact with the man with a weapon on his back.
"Did you lose yourself?"
"Didn't. I'm absolutely where I'm supposed to be."
"You have smells on you, young man. Powder. Blood."
"Raw emotions, I want to experience life on my own."
"I can tell you this. There are three of your people that are looking for you."
"Of course they are."
"Three? Did Ashnael snap? I hope he did. It'll be a pleasure to line up his skull with the two other whores."
"Yes, you are. After all, a killer, Cardinal. And you will keep on killing."
"And I'll never stop."
Ismael shoots the creature and mangles it with his knives.
"I SACRIFICE THIS BODY TO THE SIN."
A black and red smoke brutally evaporated from her body and he could feel her lifeforce being drained, given to him as his smile grew larger and larger.
"It feels amazing. I'll never stop, honestly. I hope they catch up. I'll leave for now but I'll leave the smoke behind so they can find the location of the corpse at the very least. They'll find me and I'll take care of them myself. Eviscerating Ashnael will be the great final. The magnum opus."
He quickly left the premisce, as cursed as it was, he was able to leave and hide deep within the bushes of the mountain right above. He stared like a hawk examining the movements of its' prey from a high attitude.
It took a few hours and a well-deserved nap for them to catch up as Ismael locked up the entire lake from his spot, aiming at them with the excitement of a war criminal on his ultimate task.
Amphelise could pick up on the trap she deemed obvious, but the execution was perfect. On the first hour of them losing their mind trying to figure out a way out of this hell, he shot his first bullet to Ashnael's heart, and seeing him not being able to speak but still reaching for his friend's arms and hands granted him such joy, he could barely restrain himself as to not give away his location. He shot another bullet as the sky went grey.
"Garden White is my second home. Soon all of Perseus will bear my sin."