Chapter 66 – Lighthouse Chapel

I walked for a few blocks after I broke away from Quinn. Once I was sure I wasn’t being tailed or watched, I slipped into an alley and pulled out the key to Redline. It was half the reason I didn’t let Quinn drop me off. I got a new ride, so ‘course I wanted to try it out. 

How did this work? The description for Redline hadn’t been totally clear on how it actually summoned out a bike. I hesitated a moment, and then tossed the key out. It splashed against the water running across the asphalt, doing absolutely nothing. 

”Well… that didn’t work.” I bent over to grab the keys, and sucked in a cold breath as it put pressure on my side.

”What did you expect, Operator?” Vigil spoke up from where I held him in my arms. I didn’t need to see his eyes to feel the judgement radiating from them.

”That it’d summon the bike?” If that didn’t work… I stretched out my hand, and twisted the key in front of me. The key was pulled out of my hand, and space warped just in front of me. Pixels formed out of thin air, and rapidly formed into a motorcycle.

It was a lowrider sports bike with an overly aerodynamic design that honestly looked a little unrealistic. The entire chassis sat between two oversized tires like something straight out of a retro arcade game. Red neon ran along its frame, backlighting the sleek black design. 

“Cool.” I moved around Redline. Actually riding it would be… uncomfortable. It was one of those designs where the rider would be basically parallel with the ground. 

I carefully straddled the bike. I wasn’t a complete idiot when it came to riding bikes, but that didn’t mean I was super comfortable with them. It took me a moment to figure out. The weird design of it certainly didn’t help. Interestingly, there wasn’t a dial for fuel. Not sure what I was expecting considering the bike was anomalous in nature, but it seemed like it would just run? 

I twisted the throttle, and the engine purred underneath me. That was all I needed before I ripped out of the alleyway and into the streets of Silverport. I almost immediately wrecked thanks to the burst speed of the bike. In less than a second, it went from 0 to 60. 

My tail curled back against the seat, and I ripped the handlebars to the side just in time to swerve around a minivan. The van’s horn blared, though the sound was swallowed by Redline’s beast of an engine. 

The full extent of my dexterity was tested as I sped down the street and swerved around several other vehicles. It wasn’t till I nearly ran through oncoming traffic that I finally got a handle on it and slowed back down to street speeds. If I needed to, I had a feeling I wouldn’t have any trouble getting around.

I messed around and tested the bike quite a bit more on my way out to Sister Neriyov. Eventually, I found a toggle on the bike that swapped the engine into a silent mode. No idea how that was even possible, but the bike didn’t exactly work by the rules of reality.

Soon, the Lighthouse Chapel appeared in front of me. I pulled into an alley and hopped off the anomalous bike. Retrieving it was as simple as pulling the key out of the ignition. Redline pixelated into nothingness just as the small bike fob appeared around the key ring once more.

I took a breath of the rain-filled air, and wrung out my tail to get as much of the water as I could. Unfortunately, my rain jacket didn’t cover my fluffy limb too. I looked like a drowned rat instead of a proper Silver Wolf. With Vigil in my arms once more, I headed for the chapel’s doors.

The Lighthouse Chapel was crammed full of people. Most of the pews had been turned into temporary beds, and cots sat scattered all over the place. There was the pungent scent of incense, but even that couldn’t totally hide the smell of rainwater and hot soup.

A sister moved around the place with a steaming pot, and handed out bowls of food to several people. Another moved around with a cart covered in medical supplies patching people up. Off to the back of the chapel, a sister read from a story book to a bunch of quiet kids.

A White Rabbit jolted upright on a pew near me. The kid rubbed at her eyes blearily. “Mom?”

“Sorry.” I shook my head and tried not to notice how her expression collapsed. She bundled back under her blanket, and blankly watched the door behind me.

Sister Neriyov handed out the last of her blankets. Her ears alertly perked up toward me, and her tail gave a soft swish. For once in her life, she actually had on a proper habit. Honestly, it was incredibly weird to see.

“Reyna!” Sister Neriyov approached with a dangerous grin on her face. The way she spoke made my ears flatten. Several of the people taking shelter in the Lighthouse Chapel took a step back. “You’re late.”

“Aha…” I rubbed at the back of my head, and looked away from her. “You know how it is. Some work stuff came up.”

”That’s not an exc—“ Neriyov froze, and her nose twitched erratically. She grabbed me by the chin, and forced me to look up at her. “What happened?”

“I’m fine,” I muttered. People all around the room were starting to look at the two of us. Especially after Neriyov practically growled at me.

“Funny. I don’t remember asking.” She ripped my sleeve up to fully expose the wraps of bandages. There were only a few bloody spots from where I’d rubbed at my injuries. “Pyre, kiddo, what happened to you?”

”Work.” I wiggled out of her grasp, and looked around the main chapel. My hand tightened around Vigil. Far too many people were staring at the two of us. “There somewhere more private?”

”Yeah. Yeah, come with me.” The Silver Wolf waved to a few of the other sisters, and led me back through the chapel. We cut through a short hall and slid into a private prayer room. “What actually happened?”

”Quinn and I ran into an anomaly.” I couldn’t quite meet her cold amber eyes. My tail curled low around a cut on my leg. “It’s, uh, it's classified.”

“Quinn—that’s your Guardian, right?” I only met Quinn after Hades, so Neriyov hadn’t had the chance to meet her. She didn’t push for more information, and instead waved her hand to a bench to the side of the room. Neriyov jumped up to take a seat directly on the prayer altar. 

“I-is that allowed?” I asked. Somehow, it seemed a bit… sacrilegious? Heretical? I wasn’t sure what the right word was for it.

”I’d probably catch fire if there was an actual issue. The Pyre Lord cares more about people than places.” She shrugged, and leaned back to inspect me. Her eyes darted down to my side before resettling on my face. Her ears twitched, and the silver fur caught the light. “You okay?”

”Hanging in there.” I took a seat on the bench, and curled my tail around onto my lap. The soaked silver fur mostly blocked Vigil from view. 

Neriyov watched me for a long moment. Eventually, she hopped off the altar, and I let out a breath of relief. Tempting the divine just didn’t seem like a good idea. Not that she'd actually get set on fire… probably. 

“I guess that’s the best we can ask for these days.” Neriyov pulled a towel out of a cabinet, and sat down beside me. My tail tried to curl away, but she caught it and strong-armed the soggy mess of fur into her lap. 

I put a bit more strength into my tail, only for her to follow suit and continue to hold it. “Hey.”

”You’re dripping all over my floor.” She ran the towel roughly alongside my fur, and proceeded to attack it with all the grace of a gangster in a glass shop.

My ears pulled back at the rough treatment. “You’re going to knot it.”

”Keep whining and I’ll wring you out next.” I went silent, and just let her work at my tail. “Sylvie came by a few days ago. Congrats, by the way.”

”Thanks.” A surge of pride went through me. It wasn’t my awakening, but I was just so proud of her. My ears relaxed, and a small smile sprung to my lips. “I’m surprised to see you in a habit.”

”Ugh, I got reprimanded.” She pulled at the habit uncomfortably for a moment before busying herself with drying off my tail once more. “This is just until those stooges from Absalom Cathedral leave. Can’t happen soon enough.”

“Absalom Cathedral?” That was the biggest cathedral in the world, and located inside Absalom City, the central and most important city of the UCS. What were people from there doing here?

”Ugh, me and my big mouth again." She stopped rubbing my tail, and just let it sit on her lap for a minute. “Keep it quiet, will you? They’re trying to keep it on the down low.”

“You can trust me.” My ears perked up, and warmth radiated from the Rose Window Ear Cuff. “What are they here for?”

”Well… there was a heist on their reliquary.” Her eyes darted around superstiously. “Some stuff turned up here. A bunch of paladins are here to find the thief and stolen loot.”

“Oh.” Someone was crazy enough to steal from their reliquary? Purely from a professional criminal’s standpoint, I had to tip my imaginary hat toward them for being absolutely batshit.

”Yeah…” Her eyes darted around the room. Neriyov stuck her hand into a hidden pocket of her habit, and pulled out a simple cylinder. “Here. You have no idea how much of a pain in the ass that was to get.”

“Is this…?” I took the cylinder from her and stuffed it into my pocket. “Thank you.”

”Don’t mention it. It was a serious pain in the ass to get a hold of, though.” Sister Neriyov propped her arms up on the pew, and leaned back. One of her hands ruffled my hair lightly. “Be careful, yeah? The Psion Society is acting up again. Barely managed to get a hold of just one inhibitor.”

“Those bastards?” My expression soured. Inhibitors were hard to get a hold of, and part of that was thanks to the Psion Society. Although it was technically a government agency, it was closer to a high-society hunting party. Only instead of animals, they targeted Psykers.

“Probably best to lay low for a bit. Inhibitors’ll probably be almost impossible to get a hold of in the coming months.” Neriyov sighed heavily. “Probably only a week or two until they get active in Silverport, too.”

“Thank you for the warning.” The Inhibitor in my pocket felt incredibly heavy all of the sudden. With them getting around—well, it was a good thing Hades still needed me. “How’d you get it, anyway?”

”…” Sister Neriyov stared at me silently. She slowly raised a brow. 

“Heh, right… none of my business.” I rubbed my hands against my knees, and looked away from her.

She smiled and patted my tail. It was mostly dried off, and no longer felt like a soggy mess. ”I knew you weren’t stupid.” 

“What’d you do? Steal it?” Or kill someone for it? Pyre, if she went back to her old ways just for me, I’d feel absolutely miserable.

”Let me worry about that.” She pushed my dried tail off her lap and tossed the wet towel over the side of the bench. “Even in the mountain, He provides.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” I said.

“Ah, faith.” She sighed, and then immediately broke into a soft chuckle.

”You, uh, you really believe that stuff?” I asked quietly. With the divine so blatantly obvious in Radiance, it was impossible to say it wasn’t real. Still… the pyric doctrine was just too good to believe fully.

“I’d still be hunting heads otherwise, wouldn’t I?” Sister Neriyov pulled away, and waved at herself. “‘Sides, I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of these.”

”Heh, right.” I shook my head, and stood up. Vigil warmed in my hand as I pulled him tight against my chest. “I won’t keep you any longer.”

”You can stay for as long as you want, kiddo.” Neriyov patted my head lightly, and ruffled my ears. Her own fluffy set flicked with affection. “I should probably head back out there, though. Can’t let the other sisters have all the fun. Call me sometime? Me, you, and Sylvie should totally go get food at some point.”

“I will.” I promised. For once, I had a feeling that it’d be an easy promise to keep. But before that, I headed back out to the pews and found the White Rabbit girl. Before heading back to Sylvie, I was going to find one last person tonight.