And So, It Begins

CHAPTER THREE: And So, It Begins

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—"SAVE US! SAVE US, WHY WON'T YOU SAVE US! HEY! HEY! HEY! WE'RE DYING!

SAVE US!

SAVE USS!

SAVE USSS, VERDANAAA!"

A choir of panic screams echoed through the darkness.

Brown sullen eyes stared on into dark, Quinn found himself alone on a bridge over a glowing white abyss, the blackness of the sky was the only thing swallowing over him. The air was thick and sullen, pressing against him like an oppressive blanket, making it hard to breathe for some reason. His ears had now registered the ongoing screams. The echoing followed by distorted shrills came and went, like souls tortured within the fiery pits of hell. They were in agony, as if they needed to be put out of their misery.

It was if someone is keeping them to feed on their schaudenfrade.

—"Save us...save us..."

Quinn recoiled back as springing ghost-white hands rose from below his feet, attempting to clung and drag him down into the cold white abyss.

He stared below the bridge, clouds of ghosts all wailing out to him in plea. They were lost in infinite purgatory, refrained from escaping beyond limbo. He could hear them; "to save them" they said, "to be free". But free from what? Who could be keeping these souls from finding peace? Who was that cruel?

Quinn squinted deeply as he tried his best to adjust his sight to the low visibility of his surroundings. The darkness around him was dense and thick, almost like a heavy blanket that shrouded the air around him.

—"Please...just stop talking! ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!"

As he strained his ears to listen for any sound, a scream broke through the silence.

Quinn shifted from his stance, trying to make out where the voice were coming from, when he squinted his eyes at someone from a distance. It was a female silhouette, crouched down beneath the tree vines that kept her body down. She wasn't a soul, but a human like him. She wore unfamiliar clothes to Quinn and her hair was a strange but beguiling shade of red, draping over her face and shoulders.

And she too, was a prisoner of this limbo.

'Who...is that?' Quinn continued to cross over the bridge of silent souls, they whispered quietly which only gave hushes of a breeze. With each step, his boots clomped against the bridge, the sound reverberating in the darkness like a slow, ominous drumbeat.

The large tree vines wrapped the girl's body like a constrictor, as if she was forced to be here whilst the souls stayed below. But who was she? She wasn't anyone Quinn knew. The closer he got, the more he captured their appearance. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Go away..." she whispered, not caring to face Quinn. "Go down with the others and leave me alone. You're all so noisy."

Her voice was weak, young and scared. Quinn slowly creased his brows. "Why are you tied up?" He asked again.

"I don't know. I just hate it here. I want Rhea."

"Rhea? Who—"

"I'm stuck here in this place. I don't know why. All I want is to get out of here, and find Rhea. She's out there...looking for me. I just know it..." She aired, and the ghost slowly rose their wails up again. Quinn heard the voices again, still time they chanted in unison. Into a collective orchestra of pain. They chanted the same name, over and over again. Creating a chorus of despair that pierced the air.

And much to the red haired girl's annoyance. "They're all so damn noisy. Why can't they just shut up?! For the millionth time, Just SHUT UP ALREADY!"

The red-haired girl shrilled, her voice was giving out each time. As the souls silenced themselves, she whimpered quietly to herself, shaking and swaying her head. Quinn noticed a beguiling factor about this girl, the second she lifted her head up, her eyes held the pain behind their emerald-hued gleam. But then she met Quinn's appearance for a moment and realized he wasn't a soul. Her eyes shined. "You..."

Quinn flinched back instinctively.

"You're not a—how are you—Please! Help me! You have to get me out of here..."

"Huh? Help you?" Quinn was confused.

"I don't want to be here anymore. Please, get me out."

The souls ignored her warnings once again and continued on to wail obnoxiously; over and over and over again until it was turning into white noise. They began to rise over the abyss like a growing tide, their hands crawling up past Quinn's feet and scuttling towards the red haired girl with their pleas for relief.

"Free us! Please, Verdana! Save us...Save us...SAVE US—"

"Stop it! Let me go! I told you! I Am NOT VERDANA!" Her ear-bleeding shrill set the world to shatter into broken mirror shards. Quinn felt his ground disappear, falling over into bottomless void of broken shards. The voices were bouncing back and forth from each shard, until it was unbearable to hear no more. The girl shouted out to Quinn as he fell, with desperation and a glint of hope as the ghostly hands began to tug onto her body and bury her underneath them.

"You're the only one who can help me! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! PLEASE! HELP ME GET OUT OF HERE! HELP ME FIND RHEA!! PLEASE, PLEASE...

...please..."

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—The dark cracks of the abyss became nothing more than the chaos of a dream.

"Huh!" Quinn awoke with a jolt after he opened his eyes to a wooden ceiling. The shaggy-blond paladin stirred awake, glanced down to his feet and realized he was in a bedroom of an inn. He turned over to his side where Paige was sitting upon a wooden stool, Blanca was seen standing on her two feet and fully conscious, her torso covered in a bandage. He let out a deep sigh to alert both of them.

"Hey, bud. You doing okay?" Blanca asked. "You scared us."

"Uh...yeah. I think I'm good." He slowly raised his body upright. His head, still throbbing. He could feel the dull ache throughout his entire back and arm, a reminder of the recent confrontation with Serenity. "How long was I out?"

"Almost a day. It's now the afternoon..." Paige sighed and lowered her head down in sorrow. "It was awful. Everything was a disaster."

"Simmons, don't beat yourself up. No one has seen a Sin Wielder in years. Who would've thought—"

"—We were supposed to be prepared for anything! And we failed. People died. And...and it's all my fault!"

"No, it was mine." Blanca loomed out the window with a sour look. "I let my guard down. To think that even a little girl, someone as young as her would be a Sinistress. I didn't even sense her killing intent until I was caught off guard. Her blade paralyzed me so I couldn't move the whole time. Bloody cunning move, she did."

Quinn observed the weight on the swordstress' slump shoulders as she grappled with the aftermath. "Paige, it's not just on you," he offered, his voice reflecting a shared burden. "We all did face something none of us in this room have encountered before. It wasn't a Hellion or a Mannibeast. This one was...different."

Paige looked back, meeting the earnest gaze of her two comrades. "I appreciate your words, but it doesn't change what happened last night. I'm the leader and i should burden the fault. We need to find this kid and prevent her from causing more harm."

"The Sin Wielder of Cruelty, huh..." Quinn aired under his breath, recalling back to her blackened sneer and wicked smile that painted over her innocent persona. "I thought all Sin Wielders were gotten rid off by the Golden Paladins."

"We all did. But it would seem they have more power on their side. The Assemblage has to know about this mysterious 8th user."

"And the festival?" Quinn queried.

Paige held a sharp inhale. "The citizens are still affected by this disaster; more compared to the past events. They can't go on with it - knowing a Sin Wielder is on the loose. So they canceled it."

"Cancel? But that...that can't happen!" Quinn outraged.

"But on the brightside of things, the statue is still intact. So I'd say mission accomplished?" Blanca bluntly added.

"Not when lives were lost, Dame Blanca!" Paige argued.

Quinn's eyes brightened, clearly recalling something vivid that had been absent in his mind for a while. An image of his mother, giving him a kind smile. However, this felt like a horrible game of déja vu at work. Before more of his memory could come to mind, Quinn buried it deep back in the mental vault with a cold glance. "So what happens now? Are we in trouble?" He aired.

"No, but I haven't heard anything back from the Guild yet. I take it that for now, we'll be off duty and take rest."

"Forget that load of bull! I'm going back to Crestwood!" Blanca huffed and marched out.

"But Dame Blanca, your wound still needs time to heal! You shouldn't even be walking right now!" Paige heeded.

"Oi! That brat made a fool out of me! If the other Platinum-ranks knew of this, they'd—I'm leaving." The valkryie-like woman marched out the room and slammed the door behind her. Paige let out an aggravated sigh and took off her glasses, pressing the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Great..."

"Stubborn as ever," Quinn remarked, earning a grunt from Paige. "That's Blanca for you."

"She always charges head on, even when she should be taking it easy. But right now, I understand that her pride has been bruised."

Quinn leaned back down to bed and vented out another quiet sigh. He closed his eyes as he began to nark back to his previous dream. The girl with red hair, bound by the tendrils of purgatory. Forced to warden the wailing souls. Normally, dreams often show people you've encountered in your lifetime. But he doesn't know anyone with red hair, but also there was something else.

Those souls called her "Verdana". Was she Saint Verdana as they called her?

The context of understanding the dream was so thin to comprehend for Quinn. Who was that girl? Was his dream real? Was she real after all? If so, then why would he be there in the first place? He wasn't that close to death, was he? Or was the reason much deeper than he knew? If so, that girl was in pain, only he could've freed her.

Quinn stretched his lip in thought and turned to his comrade. "Hey, I had this dre—"

-*Knock! Knock! Knock!*-

A knocking sound came from the door and left the two staggered. A woman that worked the inn quietly creaked the door open and peaked her head inside. "Miss Simmons, Mister Lockewood. You have a message from the Town Hall, the Mayor wishes to see you."

"Right. Thank you so much." Paige nodded.

Quinn quietly murmured. "Oh shit. So we really are in trouble..."

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—The Town Hall was located not far from the square of the Emerald Legacy and the crime scene.

As Quinn and Paige made their way up the long trawling staircase, the atmosphere outside was a stark contrast to the vibrant festivities that had once enveloped Chromestown. They encountered a makeshift relief center where people congregated not long after Serenity attacked. The air was heavy with grief, and many wained in tears for their lost loved ones covered in white sheets. Almost 80 people died by Serenity alone. This was much more dystopic compared to last festival's debacle. Paige, visibly burdened by the failure, approached the office of the Town Mayor.

They found the door left wide open, and a short old man with a big signature grey mustache was seen shuffling around the room in an anxious fit. "Uh...Mayor Elsinore?"

"Oh! Thank Xakheia, you're here! Come in! Come in!" Snapping out of his pacing, the Mayor noticed the two paladins and scuffled over with a heavy heart. "We didn't expect any of this. It's chaos! We've lost so many in one night! All the other town Mayors are shaken too!"

"We know. We...did everything we could..." Paige dismally murmured. "But we failed."

The old Mayor let out an exhausted sigh. "A Sin Wielder hasn't been seen in over 2 decades, most of us assumed they were exterminated once and for all. For one to come out of nowhere was indeed bad luck."

"There's supposed to be Seven of them, right?" Quinn pondered.

"That's right," the Mayor said, wiping away his sweat with a hand cloth. "However, their count was "supposedly" only seven. Nobody in Arcadia is aware of this, but it was said the 15 members of a dark covenant still exist beyond amongst our realm. Lurking deep below on the dead crevices of the Forsaken Lands. They are also referred to as—"

"Let me guess: The Yellow Butterfly." Quinn's insight resonated.

"Wait. An ancient covenant said to have worshipped dark witchcraft?" Paige arched her forehead. "Aren't they an old Arcadian myth meant to scare children to sleep?"

"They may be folklore to so many. However..." With his fingers tucked on his desk, the Mayor retreated into his office chair. "Everyone have been led on false explanations to believe that there were only Seven Sin Wielders, each representing every known deadly sin in existence. The "Seven Deadly Sins" as we know it. But that was just a piece of lore the public was given.

Information about these sinisters are limited, except only to those associated with the Arcadian Assemblage. No one has actually recorded their identities aside from the Seven in the last 600 years. From what we know; the Sin Wielders of Envy, Wrath, Gluttony and Greed were eliminated 400 years prior, and were said to be casted back into the 42nd World.

But unbeknownst to everyone. As for Pride, Lust and Sloth...

...they're still out there. Somewhere."

"And so the Regents decided to lie to the public for centuries, covering their shame of not defeating them all by telling us they were gone for good." The shaggy-haired paladin bluntly stammered. "Typical snot-nosed bastards."

"Quinn..." Paige glanced sharply at him. "Watch it."

"It's okay, I do not blame Sir Lockewood for his disdain..." the Mayor debated. "But the people of the Arcadian Republic couldn't stay in fear forever. They had to assure they felt safe. Arcadia was made to protect us by the gods. By the Great Xakheia herself."

"Then the Yellow Butterfly must've sent Serenity to shake us down." Paige analyzed. "She called herself the Sin Wielder of Cruelty. Which means many more like her must be rooming about in the region as we speak."

"Ah, perhaps. And Cruelty is quite the dangerous sin amongst the 15 Sinisters." Elsinore stated, stroking the hairs of his aging mustache. "Each Sin Wielder's power can lay waste to anything around them, without thought nor care. But not in comparison to the first Seven Sins. The Earth we have left of today is a result of their anarchy."

"But how do you become a Sin Wielder anyway? She was only just a kid." Quinn queried curiously.

"No one knows, not even I. Perhaps the Regents must have further knowledge of the Yellow Butterfly. You'd have to speak to the Duke of Galisboro about this."

"Seriously? He's probably at the Royal Palace right now and that's so far away..." Quinn lazily groaned, especially at the thought of going to the palace. "We'd be lucky if he was at his house here in Galisboro."

"Which means it's prudent that we head back to the State Capital." Paige nodded. "We need to figure out why this happened. The timing of the Sin Wielder's appearance is not coincidental. This Sin Wielder of Cruelty could be running amok in other regions with allies. She also has the ability to teleport, that gives us the answer as to how she got up into Arcadia in the first place."

"Well, all Guilds have been alerted after the report you sent. You should be expected back at Crestwood at the very least." The Mayor informed.

"Right. Thank you, Mayor. Let's go, Quinn." Paige turned and the two paladins walked out the office, preparing their long trip back to the Capital.

Later on that day, the townsfolk of Chromestown gathered solemnly to hold vigils in honor of the people they've lost yesterday.

Flowers, candles and frames of the departed scattered right before the Emerald Legacy, a few praying to Saint Verdana for their lost loved ones to find peace and help them enter a passage of rebirth. But as late hours had gone by, many gradually left the square before the chime of the twelfth hour was about to strike.

The streets of Chromestown became void of people, which usually doesn't happen. Oftentimes, it's still lively until the early mornings of 2am. But all markets had to close short since after the mishap at the festival. The Sin Wielder of Cruelty had shattered the peace sustained after 20 years a single Sinister had shown themselves, until now. But something was going to happen. What Serenity said, would soon come true.

—It's only a matter of time, until stone starts to bleed.—

In that very moment, where no one was there to witness...

The statue...twitched.

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Edited: 25/May/24

【Author's Note】

—Heyoo! Hope you're enjoying the book so far! This story might be a slow burn but stay tuned to see more. What do you enjoy so far? Vote, Comment and PLEASE leave a review! Totally appreciate it!

—lebzachannn

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