The Nameless Assassins

Arcane Business

"I lost the priest," was the first thing Ash said when he got back, disheveled and slightly frazzled.

Faith lounged back in her beribboned chair, the epitome of elegant ennui. "That's all right," she drawled, waving a hand listlessly as if she just couldn't muster the energy. "The Church will probably execute or Hollow him." At the thought, she suddenly perked up and started gesticulating enthusiastically. "There's a basement in the Sanctorium where they keep the fallen. You can hear their screams ringing off nearby buildings!"

"There's a what?" yelped Ash, appalled by the Church's transgressions. "It's unacceptable to keep people in eternal torment!"

"I agree," said Faith with a twist of her lips. Sinking back into her chair, she trailed a languid hand over the armrest. "It was driving down property values, so the Church has added soundproofing in the past few years."

"We can't just leave them there!" cried Ash.

Bored again, Faith shrugged. "Oh, don't worry, the bodies decay eventually. It's only the ghosts that are stuck there forever – or at least until Doskvol falls. And then the Sanctorium will collapse, and specters driven mad by too much faith and too much drugs will be released to wreak havoc on the city. They will take revenge upon and possess everyone, humans and demons alike."

Now that just sounded like wishful thinking. No demon I'd ever heard of could be controlled by a mere ghost.

In perfect agreement with me, Ash gave Faith a reproachful look. "How about something that doesn't take ten millennia?" he proposed drily. "We can target the Immortal Emperor."

Ironically, I reminded him, "Who's going to pay us?"

"All those who stand to benefit," Ash replied immediately. He seemed to have put some thought into the matter already. "But for now, I want to blow up the wards around the Sanctorium and free all the possessed people."

Faith yawned widely without bothering to cover her mouth. "That would be bad for property values. Are you long or short?"

"Short, of course," Ash retorted. "What do you take me for?" Turning to me, he inquired, "What's your take on the Church?"

Promptly, I replied, "It's not big in U'Duasha. If it leaves me alone, I leave it alone."

"Except that it doesn't," Ash said, somewhat nonsensically. (Given our activities tonight, it was really more the other way around.) "We should check on the ghost that's possessing the priest."

"You mean the mad ghost?" Faith drawled, arching an eyebrow as if she were edging towards interested.

"What does that have to do with us?" I protested at the same time.

With infinite sweetness and patience, Faith explained, "Because, Isha, we should make friends with people who have the same level of social aptness and mental instability as ourselves. It's important to befriend our peers, and if they happen to be mad ghosts, then we should grow to accept that."

I didn't even know what to say.

More practically, Ash pointed out, "A high-ranking contact in the Church will be helpful."

After tonight, probably – except that I wouldn't exactly call the priest of a church in Charterhall "high ranking." I objected, "What good will he do us if he's just going to be caught and disintegrated?"