La Sacerdotessa

The Truth

"SOON men! Soon we will take what's ours!" The crowd of men cheered, each of them wearing comedia dell'arte masks to conceal their faces.

The leader stood proud on his stage, a red devil mask over his face, his eyes gleaming with blood lust as he watched his subjects cheer his name.

"Il Diavolo! Il Diavolo!"

"MHMMN," Satira groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She was in her room, a wet rag draped over her forehead. She looked around her, feeling a slight weight on the bed beside her.

Elmo was cuddled up beside her, his soft hair resting below her arm. Satira smiled down at him before trying to sit up, hissing at the pain in her chest.

Elmo's eyes fluttered open and he sat up. "Mama! You're awake!" Elmo smiled at her; Satira smiled back weakly, ruffling his hair. "Mama, I'm going to go tell Papa you're awake! He's been worried about you!" Elmo got off the bed and ran out of her room.

Satira groaned as she leaned into the pillows. She took the damp rag off her forehead, resting her hand there instead as she recounted the events that led to where she was now.

"Satira!" Luca ran into her room, followed behind by Debito, Pace, Jolly and Elmo.

"Lulu-sssss..."

"Don't move, Bianchi. You're beat up pretty badly."

"How long?..."

"You've been asleep for three days..." Debito glared over at Pace and Jolly as he walked to sit beside her on the bed. He smiled down at her, the glossiness of his eyes hinting that he was exhausted and possibly on the verge of tears.

"Satira..." Pace began, his fists clenched by his sides.

"Come here, Pachey Poo," Satira smiled and Pace completely broke down, running to her side and grabbing her hand with own and bringing it up to his lips. He peppered the back of her hand with gentle kisses, his tears dripping off his nose and onto her knuckles.

"I'm so sorry, Satira... I didn't..."

"I know, Pace. It's ok," she pulled her hand from his, using it to wipe away his tears. "Don't cry, Pace. Tears don't suit you."

"But I..."

"I decided to get involved. It's not your fault," Satira smiled at him. Her stigmata began burning, and the hand at Pace's face focused in and out of existance.

Luca and Jolly watched her hand as it came back to stay, and Luca's eyes met hers.

"Is Jolly responsible for this?" He asked.

"No, he isn't. In fact, he's helping me with my arcana powers."

"What do you mean?"

"Since I can remember, I've been contracted to La Sacerdotessa. I don't know if I was born with the contract or if my parents made the contract soon after my birth, but I've lived with the contract since I was little."

Pace and Debito looked at her intently.

"As you know, La Sacerdotessa allows me to teleport myself anywhere I choose. However, during the time my body is teleporting, my body goes to a place that is neither living nor dead, a place of nothing. Jolly and I call it L'altro Posto, The Other Place. In exchange for my arcana powers, La Sacerdotessa is allowed to drag my body into the void, where my body will seize to exist while my consciousness stays."

"Bianchi would be dead to you in name only. She'd be alive in the void," Jolly explained.

"When we were taken by Jolly for his experiments, La Sacerdotessa was already in the process of taking me there. In order to stop her progress, I had to make a contract with Il Sole. Il Sole can negate arcana powers, or, in my case, make La Sacerdotessa calm down. He acts like an inhibitor: whenever La Sacerdotessa tries to take me or I teleport, Il Sole makes her return me. The two have a deal: I get to live and stay here on Earth, but if I over use my arcana powers, La Sacerdotessa is allowed to take a part of me into the void... that's why my arm vanishes when I teleport. She wants to remind me she can take it away."

"Without me, the man you hate," Jolly began, "Satira, the woman you love, would already be in the void, never to be seen by you again."

"This is what you didn't want to tell us?" Pace asked and Satira nodded.

"Satira, you could have told us earlier. Nothing would have changed." Debito comforted her, placing his hand over hers.

"You guys..." Satira smiled at them, trying to sit up to hug them, but finding that she was in too much pain to do that.

"How about we go make you some breakfast?" Luca smiled at the boys, who nodded. Debito got off the bed and stood beside Luca while Pace placed a kiss to Satira's forehead.

Satira smiled as her boys walked out, Jolly staying there a moment before walking out of her room with Elmo.