The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 64

XXXXXXIV

URIEL

Day Ten. Three Days Remain.

Lady Vigilant's Office, Morningstar Keep

Lady Vigilant scowled, regaining her composure. "Why are you here, Uriel?" she asked as she slowly closed the office doors. "And what do you think you're doing in my chair?"

"You always knew what I was, didn't you?" he said slowly, trying to find the right words. He was still wearing his bloodstained coat. "I wanted to save people, Lady Vigilant. What did you want? What was your goal in all of this, all of the secrets?" His face knotted with frustration. "Did you even think about the costs? About people like Jonathan, people I could have protected?"

Vigilant walked around her desk and placed a hand on Uriel's back softly. "You're not well, Uriel," she said, her usually collected choral voice beginning to waver. "You've experienced something terrible. You need help."

Uriel brushed the hand aside and turned to face Lady Vigilant. There was a quiet anger in his gaze. "Fine. Fine, let's start somewhere else first. What are you really, Lady Vigilant? Why are you in Eden?"

"Uriel, I-"

"Come on. There's no more time for games or secrets. Just... just the truth. That's all I want to hear," Uriel said, cutting off her roundabout reply. "You owe me that much, at least."

Vigilant exhaled slowly. "That is... complicated to answer," she said, cautiously examining Uriel. "I am both like you and wholly unlike you. I am what those who preceeded the Brigade have referred to as a 'Saint.'"

There was little energy left in the Shepherd for awe or lengthy explanation. "What does that mean, Vigilant? What is a Saint?"

"You might think of me as a ghost or a phantom, but that would be inexact. I am, as you know, a physical presence. I am a soul that once lived in flesh given new form. Given a new name. Vigilant." She paused, quickly realizing that this prose was of little practical use. "In life, I fought and died in Morningstar's name. I led armies, fought tyrants, raised a king and gave a people hope." Her eyes were wistful as she spoke, drifting off to a life that she had left behind. She envied that clarity of purpose. "A select few who served Morningstar in life are given a choice in death: Spend the rest of your days enjoying the fullness of what lies beyond, or renounce your place in paradise to serve the living once more." She breathed in deeply, as if there was some part of her still weighing that decision. "Humanity was on the brink of destruction; my role was clear. I would return to bring order to Eden. To tame this forgotten world and give humanity a fighting chance. And my return has conferred upon me, in addition to my proficiency with Dawn, a certain... fluency in the anatomy of the divine. Your 'entry' into Eden was impossible to miss."

"Then why?" Uriel pushed, still trying to fully understand what he was being told. "Then why? If you're a Saint and you understood what I could do, what I was... why didn't you tell me? Why did you hide it all of this time?" Uriel yelled, stumbling backwards and clutching his head. "That kind of power, it could have kept people safe."

Vigilant pulled a seat up beside Uriel. "I know this answer will not feel satisfying. I know that." She ran a hand along her weary face. "It's all part of Morningstar's plan. You've always been a part of her plan. Since the very beginning of all of this. Since you fell."

"The plan. You're talking about the Seraph Program?" Uriel ventured.

Vigilant nodded. "Mm. So Jonathan did tell you. Yes, in part. But your role here on Eden... it goes far beyond merely the Seraph Program. That's only a piece."