Third-Rate Exorcist

The next day, Derek was out in the yard practicing swordplay when his wife approached, accompanied by a man in a priestly black robe. He rested the heavy wooden sword's tip on the ground and shifted his weight to one side, overlapping his hands on the hilt. 

Jenneca rubbed her thumb over her other hand, clutching them together nervously. "Derek, this is Harold, a man of the Church. He's here to help you." 

Derek looked him up and down. The man was fairly young, with pretty blonde curls that didn't quite match his otherwise below-average features. His eyes were too close together and his nose was crooked. Harold was clearly poor, too, as his robes were secondhand and didn't appear to have been washed recently. He was nervously clutching a necklace with a pendant of the Y-shaped symbol that represented the Buelan Church. 

Derek huffed in dissatisfaction. "And why, dear wife, were you under the impression that I would need the aid of such an undignified religious man?"

Jenneca straightened herself, gathering her courage. "You've been behaving strangely, Derek. I'm worried for you. Harold, begin."

With that, Harold began praying and chanting, conducting some kind of ritual. He tossed salt towards him, formed a ring of garlic cloves around his feet, poured wine on his head, and pressed the Buelan symbol to his head. Derek let it all happen with a bored attitude. His behavior had worried his wife enough for her to bring in a third-rate exorcist, had it? He felt some concern, wondering what might happen if Deer Doctor Hyde was indeed a devil, but in the end, none of the exorcist's actions had any supernatural effect. The most that happened was when Harold's wine-pouring made him wet. 

"Are you satisfied?" Derek asked.

Harold was flicking and fidgeting with his fingers while muttering to himself, completely oblivious to Derek's question. "... aura, why won't it go away? I don't get it, I don't get it! That's supposed to work, unless… but no, that's too unlikely and wouldn't explain the possession. With what Mrs. Remington described, it's definitely a possession. Then why…?"

Derek ignored the man's ramblings and met his wife's gaze. "I know you're worried, but I'm not possessed. That much I knew already."

Tears came to her eyes. "But I didn't! How else am I supposed to understand your behavior recently, Derek? Especially when you suddenly screamed in the bath! You really were acting like a man possessed!"

He sighed and wrapped his wife in his arms, the lace of her dress feeling itchy against his bare, sweaty chest. He realized belatedly that, drenched in sweat and wine, he probably shouldn't have hugged her. Well, it wasn't like the Remingtons were poor. They could afford to replace her dress if it was damaged from this. His wife's worries, though, were not as easily remedied. He waved a hand at one of the knights standing on guard nearby, gesturing for him to escort the exorcist away. 

Just what could he do to reassure her? A third-rate exorcist hadn't been able to do anything, so would it be safe to bring in a first-rate one? He didn't want to risk getting discovered as an Apostle of Deer Doctor Hyde, if that was possible, but at the same time, he wanted to find a way to comfort his wife. 

Perhaps bringing in a first-rate exorcist would be worth a try.

----

A spaceship in orbit around Elantris

Jared Milligan, dressed in the highest-quality military suit available, placed his hands flat on his desk and leaned forward, examining the paper report in front of him. He had the pages splayed out so that he could reference every part of it at his leisure. Annoyance discolored his facial expression and he clicked his tongue, dissatisfied. As soon as godly powers had been proven to be linked to Alesha Williams's case, all authority over the matter had been wrested from him. He couldn't participate in the investigation anymore -- not until she reappeared. If she reappeared to begin with.

Out of respect for his position more than anything else, he was forwarded the findings of the Celestial Guard (who had taken over the case), but he was not allowed to interact with the ones they currently had in custody. Apparently, his methods were not suitable for those who were involved only by association. Bull. They just didn't want him to get the credit for anything they discovered until they got their hands on Alesha again.

He banged a fist on his desk. Just where had this disloyal Alliance brat disappeared to? 

Briskly walking over to a corner of the room, he sat in a deep gel chair and put on the CT-VR visor, entering his private, digital space. He launched a certain application and pulled up footage from Alesha's interrogation.

He watched as she woke up in the room, failed to stand, tested her restraints and relaxed. Not for the first time, he noticed that her gaze went up and to the right after that. A few moments later, an expression of surprise crossed her face, as if in reaction to something. But what was she reacting to?

In the interrogation that followed, there were several other incongruities like this, where Alesha's expression would change suddenly, but not in relation to the interrogator's words or actions whatsoever. Jared wondered if the Celestial Guard had noticed this. He doubted it. Those idiots were too wrapped up in researching the supernatural to pay much attention to human behavior. 

If they hadn't so rudely taken him off the case, Jared might have pointed out his findings to them. They might have been able to make a lot of progress together. Instead, however, he kept his observations to himself, and would only utilize them in his interrogation once she returned. He would figure out who she was communicating with telepathically, and whether they were responsible for helping her escape the preliminary interrogation.

Next time, he wouldn't let anyone else speak to her before he could. Slow and steady wouldn't win a race where the other party could simply teleport away, after all.