Rolf stopped his pacing and turned to look at Anthony, "I am not... Isolating myself... I was merely... Thinking..." He replied, the pocket watch hanging from his belt on his left swaying slightly as he turned, a crude rune having been traced on its lid, apparently by hand.
"A question which... Every sentient undead... Sooner or later asks..." He began, his voice still rather monotone and broken, he really needed to check his throat sometime, he decided.
"Every undead that... Remembers his life can... Tell you that it is... A shadow of its former... Being. Our feelings are not... Feelings, like those of... Mortals. They are more like... Echos. You remember it... You do not feel it."
He looked up at the angel, "Memories are merging... To account for this... New ones are... placed into the... Brackets of the old. It is unsettling."
"I'd guess that Anthony and Luka have a plan set up. Or at least they're working on something." Wes answered.
* * *
After a while of talk around the table, the group started to dissolve as they retreated to their rooms for the night. Though there were differing levels of rest among them, by the next morning they all felt more refreshed and over the fatigue of the long flight.
As they congregated in the cafeteria for breakfast, Luka made an appearance among them. "You will have a mission later today. A member of our circle is a practicing priest in the city, and he has requested our protection this day. He believes his identity may have leaked to a few of his more-radical followers, and he fears for his life. He can not reveal his true self under any circumstances, lest his influence be lost."
"A Mythos as a priest..." Burst mused quietly. "I admire his determination and his conviction to his beliefs... Despite the fact that he is preaching a religion that would stone him to death for being what he is..."
While Burst did not agree with Christianity, he did respect the conviction of this Mythos priest, as well as anyone who could hold on to their religion during times like these.
"Yeah, this can't end well," Justin began, picking his pistol up off the table. "People are going to ask a lot of questions when this is over, like why does a priest have ten bodyguards?" He pulled the magazine out and verified that rounds were inside. "Why did someone attack said priest?" He slammed the magazine back into the pistol. "And did he fire six shots, or only five?" Justin set the pistol back on the table.
"Do we at least have a cover as his official bodyguards, or are we random people in the crowd who try to do the right thing?"
"We think the safest bet will be to meet him first, so he knows who you are. It can't be obvious what we're doing, so I believe he's going to ask you to attend in the congregation while he delivers his teachings. Hopefully, nothing will happen. If it does, you will simply be people in the crowd who reacted to a dangerous situation."
"React like humans or like Mythos? Because if you want me to react like a normal human then I'll start screaming and crying at the first sign of danger. If you want me to react like a werewolf... Well, let's just say that it wouldn't be.. pleasant. At least for the party getting attacked."
"He preaches equality between humans and mythos, so it wouldn't come as a shock to find mythos in attendance." Luka said to Eryn, "However, tearing people to shreds is frowned upon in any situation, especially in a place like a church, in a city like Rome."
Wes sat at a table listening to the conversations, ready for a mission. Eryn's spat with him still weighed heavily on his mind, and he still considered different ways to approach her. It suddenly seemed much more difficult to talk to her. She glanced over at him and he looked down shamefully.
"So what are we supposed to do, dive in front of him and absorb the bullets?" Justin asked. "I understand that mythos could do that, due to their supernatural abilities, but us fleshy human-things have a low tolerance of hot lead." He pushed away his empty plate and picked up his pistol.
"If something happens and I'm incapable of using a hand-to-hand takedown," he commented as he shoved the pistol into the back of his waistband, "I'm gonna shoot them. No guarantees they'll survive, so how do I tell his god that I'm sorry in advance?"
"God doesn't care," Anthony muttered, looking up from the table he sat at. He was still wondering how to answer Rolf's question, and so his mind wasnt completely with the briefing that they were receiving.
Anthony was the only one here who had met "God," and fought by his side, like a pawn that he was. Now his eyes had been opened to what was really going on between Earth and the Cosmos. No God didn't care about the Humans, Mythos or any of that, not anymore at least.
"No offense, but if I'm getting attacked then I'm going to do whatever I need to do to defend myself. I don't care if I'm in a church or not." Eryn said to Luka. She was already starting to dislike him.
She looked over her should again, looking at Wes... again. He was avoiding her. Had she done something wrong? She shook her head and looked back at Luka. She would definitely need to talk to him. And soon.
"You'll have to take that up with him when you meet him." Luka said to Eryn and Justin. "Both the topics of weapons and of killing in his church."
Luka paused briefly and licked his lips, flashing his pointed fangs. "You're free to leave whenever you see fit, but I'd advise on moving sooner rather than later. His services start at one o'clock."
"I'll talk to him about it," Justin began, standing and pulling his jacket off the back of his chair, "but I don't think many of us are much for heavy restrictions." He walked back to his room, putting his jacket on and stashing the two magazines into its inside pocket.
"As far as I care, if they attack first, it is open season," Vasilli hisses at the vampire.
"But...if nothing happens, my head shall be bowed in a fake prayer as many will be," he shrugs, before standing up, "I shall see you in the church," he nods to the others before leaving.
Rolf nodded at Luka's explanation, and turned to Justin. "There are those... Of us who can... Take bullets. If you deal with any... Troublemakers... I'll try to keep... Him safe."
He then looked over at Luka again, "But I want you... To know that... If UN soldiers... Show up, I can't... Guarantee their... Safety."
Azure listened, eyes shut, from his place just outside the room, he didn't like where this was going, the day he'd set foot in a church was the day it was a burning pile of ash, the mere thought of a supposed 'house of god' sickened him, anything related to god filled him with anger, so he tried to concentrate on something else, if he got enraged his other side might take control, and he couldn't allow that, he opened his eyes to watch a small flame dance across his wrist for a few moments, he put it out and stood in the doorway.
"you guys can go without me this time." said Azure, he wasn't going, wether they liked it or not, he was ready to resist if they tried to force him, he wouldn't risk his own mind for the sake of a priest, he didn't know how much damage he could do when he was no longer in control, i'll be in the training area if you want me" he said before turning away to walk down the corridor.
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