Trinity Bloods (FanFic)

23† Older And Wiser

On a mission, Abel made his way towards the Vatican's library. He held out a pass and accessed the private area just for meetings of the highest secrecy. Abel made sure to find a seat farthest from the door or any peering eyes and ears. No one would ever find where they were at. The locked doors served as almost a maze and blockade towards the group.

The women were out of breath by the time they caught up to Abel. He stopped outside the door letting them through before freezing, the books in his hands. He stared at the cover of the top book and shook his head.

"What is it, Abel? Your face is something I've never seen on you before." Noélle sat herself down and patted the dust away from her white dress.

Esther took a nearby seat, pulling out one for Abel to follow suit.

"If this book says what I hope it has inside, Eden might not be tortured for long." He laid out the books and pointed to some words, "That is a Census record book for births and deaths of the children. This has a detailed report of who the parents were of each child born through a timeline... The other is a diary..." His fingers lingered on the next book shut with a lock. Finally, he touched the last one with a few words on the cover, "This one has detailed information of... Supplicium. All which have the same years within the books."

"Father, what does that mean?"

"It means anything like punishment, torment, execution, penalty, sacrifice..."

Sister Noélle eyed the book and pulled her hands to her lap, "Well, I most definitely won't be touching that book. Can you imagine all of the memories in there? Horrendous."

Abel nodded his head then pushed up his glasses taking a seat, "I've heard some stories before. But, I never intended to actually see them written in books hidden inside the Vatican." Father Abel held his palm over his mouth as he touched the census book, moving some of the dust from the words embedded in the leather. "This book is over two thousand years old. Remarkable."

"What years are recorded in it?"

"Every one hundred years they got a new book it seems. This one has 1000 to 1100. All Anno Domini. So by this book," Abel paused and pinched his brow thinking. "Something in 1030 or 1040... Why can't I remember what she told me? Wait!" Abel stood and pulled the book of the families in front of him. "What year did his late Holiness Pope Benedict IX take his seat in the Vatican?"

"Abel, dear! That's a question for Father Tres!" Noélle smiled, shaking her head. We have no clue on that kind of knowledge."

"Actually, Sister Noélle, I do know this one. It's a trick question. There are three recorded times His late Holiness had a seat in the Papacy. First was 1032 to 1044. Second was one month in 1045. Third was 1047 to 1048."

"Yes, that's right! Eden told me in his Papacy he was kicked out for traveling the world then bringing back a pregnant Nun from Estonia... In, uhm." Abel scrunched his nose and thought a bit, "It was somewhere in the middle of his term before he got kicked out in 1044. So that means," Sorting out books, Abel opened to a page reading '1032' before sitting forward with more intent on reading. "If we keep reading, I bet we will find her."

"Wait, Father!" Esther stared at Abel in shock and a small amount of fear. "Are you saying that Eden, the woman from before, who attacked you, and all of everything else we did, is over two thousand years old? I mean if you calculate out the years from these dates till now that is well over two thousand, if not reaching close to three!"

Without any shock in his face, Abel looked up as if he didn't mind, "Well, yes. She told me years ago... Maybe more. I was young and didn't listen too well. It didn't need applying to my life then. Now I need to make sure what she said to me was true. And for her sake, too." Abel's finger followed the months in the book and smiled pointing at September's then smiled at the name above his finger, "Right here. September of 1039. Eden was born to Maria of Estonia and Theophylactus of Tusculum or as most only know him as Benedict IX. Once a Bishop of Rome, then the Pope on three separate occasions..." Abel sat back staring at the page in shock, now realizing that she wasn't ever lying about her birth, and who her father was. "Eden was an illegitimate daughter of the Pope... If she were a son, she could've taken the Papal seat."