03
Vincent

“Who are you? State your purpose here!” Reese barked. Standing near the entrance was a man and woman. The woman was Ribos, her ribbon-like arms having a maroon shell on them. She had her dark, dense hair tied up and wore a simple tanktop and khakis. The man appeared to be Humil like him, with dark skin marked with pale patches across his face and arms. He wore a tan jumpsuit and Vincent could see something red stitched onto the shoulder. Despite being the larger of the two, the man was standing behind his companion in a way to make him look smaller.

“We’re medics,” the woman answered. “We came to see if there were casualties after the earthquake hit.”

Vinnie placed a hand on Reese’s shoulder, convincing his retainer to lower his sword.

“Did anyone get hurt?” Vinnie asked.

The woman said something to her companion, before she looked back at Vinnie. “You’re the only ones we’ve found,” she said.

Reese had alluded to such earlier, but it still surprised him nonetheless. The structure had finally opened and no was there to witness it— well, no aside the four of them now.

Vincent side-stepped Reese’s protection to go and greet the medics. Only then did Reese finally relent and put his sword away.

“I’m sorry about my friend’s outburst.” Vincent extended his hand out to the strangers. “My name’s Vinnie, and he’s Reese.” he said. “We just got here earlier today to help with the excavation.”

“Briar Fulcanelli,” the woman stated, shaking his hand. She then gestured to the man beside her, “And this is Orias.”

The man, Orias, simply gave him a curt nod before averting his gaze elsewhere. Guess he’s not a talker.

“Fulcanelli…” Reese began. “You’re the Sigil Master here on site.”

She tucked a hair behind her ear almost smugly. “So you’ve heard of me.”

“The director spoke of you. I suppose a place such as this would be your expertise.”

“You could say that,” Briar said. “They asked me to come here when the strange sigils began appearing around the building.”

“Really? Maybe you can help with something then,” Vincent spoke up.

That seemed to catch the two medics curiosity.

Reese, however, was not thrilled. “Vincent, I told you—”

“Hush,” Vincent interrupted. “We’ve got help now.” He then turned around and headed back up the marble staircase. “C’mon, it’s this way!”

Vincent led his new companions down the long hallway that sat at the top of the steps. At the end was another large set of doors decorated with golden trim.

“It’s just past here,” Vincent said, and he shoved open the doors.

On the other side was a chapel. A large marble statue of the Administrator sat at the back of the chapel, her eye closed and hands to her side. Her hair was carved out of obsidian, spilling over her shoulder like a shadow. To her left and right were statues of the four Patron Deities, each having a seal carved into their abdomens denoting their names. Together the statues formed a semi-circle around a central platform. Furnituring the rest of the room were pews lined up in orderly columns. The flowers that sprouted throughout the structure were far more abundant here, tangling themselves around the seats like decorations.

When they had first found this room, Reese thought they had waltzed right into a deity’s domain and urged for them to leave. But if Vincent was expected to go on a pilgrimage anyway, then he’d be waltzing into domains like this eventually. When they entered the room, he couldn’t help but notice one of the medic’s discomfort by their surroundings— Orias, if he remembered right. He avoided looking directly at the Patron statues.

They approached the center where a lone statue stood on the risen platform, depicting a figure he did not recognize. She was an older woman, smaller than the Patrons surrounding her yet still taller than him. Her were palms opened and outstretched to her sides, welcoming them to come closer. Stepping onto the platform, they could see a giant sigil that had been carved before her, the sigil of the bow and arrow.

“Is this what you wanted me to see?” Briar asked.

Vincent nodded. “We also saw this sigil burned into outside doors,” he said. “Is there anything you can tell about it?”

She paused for a moment, walking around the platform to take in the sigil’s entirety.

“I thought it looked familiar,” she began. “It similar to the ones we’ve been seeing for awhile now. This one doesn’t have a written seal on it so its tough to tell what means. And seeing that this place only just opened up, there really isn’t any context I have to deem if it does anything.” She gave a passing glance over to the statue, then looked again when she noticed something. “Hey, looks like there’s something written on the statue’s base.”

Vincent crouched down to where the inscription was. He could make out a name:

Atropos

“Who is she? A deity?” Briar asked.

He turned toward Reese. “Have you heard of her?” But Reese shook his head. He mulled the name over, trying to remember if his father had mentioned the name during his journeys, but he was drawing a blank. He then felt something, not a memory but something tugging at the edges of his mind, demanding for his attention. He looked up expecting to see something at first, but nothing had changed about the space they were in.

Then he heard a crack and saw a piece of marble fall from the statue.

Crack! And a large fissure formed across her face. Vincent and the others backed away from the statue as vibrant lights spilled from the wounds, forcing open the stone for more of their brethren to escape.

Crack! Little by little, the deity’s visage was torn apart.

Crack!

Until the statue broke open.

The lights burst from their marble prison, soaring around them like birds. They began funneling inward, swarming around Vincent. They greeted him with warmth, and something within him told him they had been waiting for his arrival.

But the dancing lights could not stay, soon spilling out the chapel doors, until all that was left was crumbled marble.