Chapter 50: The Crying Devil
"Hmm?" While patrolling, one of the guards suddenly turned their head in the direction of the chapel. His eyes narrowed almost instantly like he had caught something or someone, but even after scanning the area several times, he saw nothing.
"What happened?" his movements did not go unnoticed. One of his colleagues saw his abnormal behavior and called out to him. "You saw something?"
"No, I think I heard that door opening." The officer’s frown deepened as he said those words. "But I don’t see anything."
"Maybe you are mistaken." The other man shrugged. "I did not hear anything. It could be because of the stress of working overtime that you are hearing things. You should take a break, man."
The young officer chuckled and shook his head, "you know I am ambitious. If I don’t put in more hours, how can I attract the attention of people who can promote me?"
...
Standing inside the Chapel, Jinn looked back and thought, ’I need to practice more with this power.’
"You are here, master." Jinn looked ahead and saw the imp appear out of nowhere and bow to him. "There have been many officers in and out of this place, but no one came downstairs."
"You did good. Keep watch; I will go down." Jinn nodded and walked through the narrow space.
Lifting up the square door hidden in the plank, he jumped inside.
With a thud he landed on the firm platform, making the wood creak.
Despite how dark this place was, Jinn could see every detail without even using his powers. Unlike everyplace else, a certain corner of the room seemed blurry and distorted.
"You can come out." Jinn waved his fingers in the air, sending a streak of silver energy in the same direction where the room was different, and whispered.
The energy tore through the air, made the space itself ripple, and then dispersed the unseen veil that had the area covered in an illusion.
"Jinn..." Once the illusion disappeared, a faint voice came from the dark corner.
The haggard figure of the former matron appeared in Jinn’s sight. Seeing him, she dashed toward Jinn and checked his body from head to toe in panic.
"Are you okay? Why are you here? Your wound was so deep." She broke into sobs and clenched Jinn’s arms.
"I am already healed, Sister Agnes." Jinn assured her with the details of the Bloodrose potion, but Agnes only calmed down after she saw his healed chest for herself.
"I am sure I am already excommunicated, so you should just call me Agnes." The woman said with a forced smile, slowly backing away.
"How about we eat something first?" Jinn showed Agnes the paper bag filled with sandwiches he brought along.
"I thought the cafeteria was closed at this time. How did you get the food?" Agnes followed his lead and sat down on the ground. She tilted her head and looked at the paper bag with a confused look on her face.
Jinn pulled out two sandwiches from the bag, passed one to her, and took one for himself.
"Indeed, there was no food, so I just whipped something up from whatever I saw inside the pantry." Jinn shrugged and took a bite of the sandwich.
His nonchalant words made Agnes’s lip twitch. She looked down at her piece in doubt before finally taking a bite.
"This is quite good." Unlike what she had expected, the taste of the unknown dish turned out to be very pleasing.
"You really have a talent for cooking."
Jinn just smiled at her comment and did not respond. In truth he was not really that good at cooking; making a sandwich was just easy.
The two of them sat in silence, eating their food until Agnes’s eyes drifted toward the spot where Geralt died.
The flashes of the past came crashing back. The blood and the bodies, all of it haunted her, like she was still present in that moment, her mind on the verge of losing its sanity.
Jinn noticed her hands pausing and her eyes drifting into the distance and she realized what she was thinking.
"You are going to waste a masterpiece." He said, taking a bite from her sandwich.
Feeling his movements, Agnes snapped out of her daze.
Before she could say anything, Jinn spoke, "there is no point in wasting your breath on the past. You cannot change it, but I can change your future."
He turned his head and stared back into her shocked red eyes. "Finish your food; you will need your strength later when I help you awaken."
"Jinn..." Agnes whispered, making the boy focus on her words. She leaned closer, her face merely an inch away from his. Jinn could feel her breath on his face as she said, "you ate my food."
Before he could react, she dove and took a bite of his sandwich.
"You!" Jinn hissed like a cat guarding her food, but Agnes only smirked and dove for another bite.
"Yours is tastier. Are you trying to keep the good one for yourself?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"Hmph," Jinn Snorted and hurriedly finished his sandwich before she could take another bite. "Eat your second-rate sandwich. Don’t even think of stealing mine."
Agnes chuckled hearing him speak with a mouth full of bread. Despite the smile on her face, she was still worried about what the future might hold for her. The path she chose was not a simple one; she was going against the core principles of the world that was governed by the gods.
She was going against the very gods.
***
Jinn had already left Agnes back in the secret room of the Chapel, hidden behind his powers to prevent others from catching her.
Currently Jinn was standing before the place he swore he would never come back to. The place he dreaded the most, and yet it was the only hope for him to obtain what he needed.
He was standing before the familiar shop that was darker than the oldest buildings of the city he had seen.
Raul’s Den!
Glancing at the crooked sign he failed to read the last time, Jinn cried in his heart. ’Couldn’t you pick a better name?’
Suppressing the unease in his heart, Jinn took a deep breath and raised his hands to open the door, but...
It opened on its own before it could even touch the handle.
’COME ON!!!’