Inside

Chapter Two

"Aah, Abel have a seat!" A distinguished gentleman somewhere in his forties was pouring over documents that was strewn all over his desk, a pipe dangling from his lips. Normally the mess of papers would overwhelm the average human mind, but not this one; important documents was this priest's specialty.

Abel wasn't looking like his usual goofy self - today he was more morose and silent. He made his way to a single chair with a small stack of paper resting on the padded seat. The sullen priest took the stack and was about to -

"Oh, you can put those over here. I need those next." William Walter Wordsworth gestured with his pipe still in mouth. "And could you hand me that box over there?"

Abel obliged with an unseen smile, handing him a cardboard box noticing grades in red ink, along with small notes on the margins.

"How many papers are you grading?" Abel inquired, sitting in the now available chair.

"Finals," He said with a whimsical sigh. "All the knowledge my students have learned crammed onto a legion of dead trees. Some are excellent works of art while some... don't know what they're babbling about." His pipe was barely lit but William paid no attention. "So, what brings you to my corner of the world?"

Well, he was there. He was sitting. William was waiting. What words could he use? What was he going to say? I visited Caterina last night and she confessed that she's dying... great way to start it, Nightroad. Deathbed confession, quite literally. All he could do was sigh and feign a smile.

"You're worried about Her Eminence, I could tell." Professor didn't even look up to see Abel's body language. He knew him as long as he's known Caterina.

Abel drew his eyes downward, hiding his gaze behind the glare of his glasses. "What can we do to help her?"

William placed his pen back in the ink pot, and sat back lightly holding his pipe, small puffs rising to the ceiling. "We're all worried about her, Abel. But we have to trust her decisions, no matter how hard they may be."

And he was right. Lady Caterina had reasons to keep her affairs to herself... but she knew she could trust at the very least William and Abel.

But he still didn't know what was wrong with her. Was it her collagen illness? Yes, that had to be it. He was sure of it!

As if reading his thoughts, William leaned forward and took his pipe out a scant inch. "There's nothing we can do besides acting like nothing is wrong. You know Cardinal Francesco can't find out his half-sister is sick. God only knows what he would do! Probably declare her dead and take over her position. We can't breathe a word of this."

Abel visibly flinched when William mentioned the word 'dead'. He could've sworn he felt another piece of his heart drop deep down in the blackness of his sinful soul. But he had to resign himself to the ugly truth - Francesco will take over Caterina's position, and will close down the AX. Since he had saved Caterina's life when she was a little girl, the AX and the Vatican was the only life he's ever known, besides the blood-filled carnage of the life he'd led 900 years ago.

Don't you remember what I promised you? We fight with the same sword. Your fight is my fight.

He had to keep going, no matter the cost. For Caterina, but more importantly, for Lilith's sake as well.

Abel had to shake the cobwebs from his mind to try to figure things out. "Professor, do you think she was poisoned?"

William took another puff. "That's a strong possibility, but without conclusive evidence. I'm afraid all we're left with is with her physician's notes and Sister Kate's briefings."

"But we don't have access to Caterina's medical notes." Abel pointed out.

"Precisely. Absolutely no one is allowed to access it those without permission. Even I, a great man of knowledge needs permission from His Holiness himself,"

"William, are you thinking of stealing Cardinal Caterina's medical records?" A holographic woman materialized by the Professor's desk. Kate seemed ageless, though her body was elsewhere.

"It's not stealing if you acquire permission."

"It's against her wishes!"

William casually glanced to the beautiful blonde nun. "Do you actually know how Her Imminence is doing? Unless you can provide us with some evidence that she is recovering well, I have no choice than to appeal to His Holiness."

Abel could just see a vein bulging from Kate's forehead. "Absolutely not! You know absolutely well Caterina's condition can't be revealed to anyone, especially to the other cardinals!"

"And why is that, Kate?" William glanced at his pipe, his brows drawn upwards in interest. "I could simply ask for permission to access her files. You know I have a strong resume that proceeds me."

"I forbid it!"

With feigned resignation, William sighed and looked up at the hologram nun. "Oh I suppose. You win this time, Kate. We shall have a chat at a later time, hm? And while you're at it, could you make us a cup of tea? I've been quite thirsty grading the knowledge of my pupils and Abel needs his sugar fix."

"Actually, I was only staying for a few minutes. I should be going. I'll take a rain-check, professor." Abel stood up and adjusted his glasses.

"Alright Abel. I'll be seeing you around." William turned to Kate. "Now about that tea..."

---

This time, it wasn't a nightmare... or was it? It felt so surreal and so familiar. Here he was standing on the edge of a steep cliff, with an unfolding ocean hundreds of feet down. The sky was a shade of lapis, the shade of Esther's eyes as stars started to show themselves, one by one.

There was music.

... our floating pale-blue ark...

...of endless forms most beautiful.....

It was a woman's voice, loud and clear but elegantly strong.

He turned around and saw tall redwoods, dominating the sky. Birds were singing, a squirrel quickly dashed out of sight, a deer leapt away into the dark. But in the darkness... he could make out two glowing red eyes, ones he saw in the mirror everyday.

... endless forms most beautiful...