Dayshift 22: Chapel

[claire_ity]

Claire woke up in her room just like before, with little idea of how she actually got there. This time, though, she noticed something different about the room. There was another young woman, a blond, sleeping in a bed across from her. Before questioning that, though, she made sure to hide the items she'd gotten that night in her closet, shutting

Comments

[grosse_sklaven]

"Note that I am not folding my hands to pray." A very soft, yet very derisive, sound at that; the Kronzprinz was the crowning jewel (pun intended) of Adelheid's arsenal, a move that he had taken from his father, and his father from the House of Strolheim, who had dedicated generations to learning the deadly technique.

Adel had mastered it in less than a week.

"Sadly, it didn't seem to do much more than disorient our opponent; normally that might have been enough to cause some lasting damage. Instead, it seems only to have disoriented you for a moment and lead the way for another to cause that damage... and from there to collapse." Adelheid was honestly hurt by that; that Ed had been so hurt because Adel hadn't been strong enough to do any lasting damage. And Adel himself was much the worse for wear, though he'd never admit that. He could force himself to keep going. So long as someone needed him, so long as Rose was still out there... he could keep going. Somehow.

"I have another technique, one even more powerful than that. But it's useless here; somehow, the Head Doctor can even dampen the power of a god. Such a thing isn't necessarily impossible in my world, but at the same time the implications are terrifying."

[dead_draven]

He frowned a little. "Still, you may have saved several lives with that, weakened or no. All of us owe you dearly." He smiled a little, reproachfully. "I did much less than my part, and you more than picked up the slack." There was a vague hint of bitterness there, but directed at himself, not at Adelheid.

"Who knows what the man can do?" he spread his hands. "It's not a pleasant thought, but he more than holds the upper hand, here. Just look at the church." He gestured to the vague, abstract stained windows. "Not a sign or a hint of Christ, not a whisper of a deity. If anyone is God, here, it's him. Not that it bothers me much--I'm quite fond of railing against Him."

[grosse_sklaven]

"...you don't owe me anything, Eric. Not you and not any of the others there." He flexed his fingers, his teeth gritting in pain as his hands felt like they were going to split apart. But he had to force himself through it, again. No matter how many times, he had to be strong during the night. And during the day, as well. He had to be. "I should have been stronger than that. I should have been able to damage that creature permanently. It's... a matter of pride. I, who has had my life dedicated to the acquisition of power, couldn't defend myself, let alone you and the others. It is worrisome, and I fear that the further I explore, the less useful I will become. An intolerable state."

Adelheid was just about to answer Eric's comment about the Head Doctor... when the man himself strode in.

The look of hatred that appeared on Adelheid's face was far more monstrous than human, as though the boy wished to tear the man's soul apart through the sheer ferocity of his crimson eyes. He was no Orochi... but right at that moment, it felt like his cursed blood was beginning to boil.