“I’m going to find Jasey.”

Sophie raises an eyebrow at this declaration. She’s sitting comfortably in her priest’s living room, tea in hand, and Jarl is attempting to be calm about this statement in the seat adjacent to hers. She nods, “I know.”

Jarl stares at her in surprise.

She smiles, “I know you well, Father.” She sets her teacup down and folds her hands demurely in her lap. “Jasey has and always will be the most important person in your life—which is fine as God is not a person. And I don’t think he’d ever hold your love for Jasey against you.” She giggles, “It’s too adorable.”

The priest blushes softly, not entirely sure what to do with that information.

Sophie doesn’t give him much time to ponder, though: “You skipping so many duties, however…”

~

“I asked Manus to scry for him,” Jarl finally informs once the Head Nun’s done playfully lecturing him.

“O?” Sophie sips her tea again while watching Jarl nod at her. “I’m surprised it took him this long…”

“Apparently, they aren’t allowed to scry for people without permission; something about privacy.”

Sophie snorts and shakes her head, “So, even magicians have restrictions…” She sips her tea again, thinking, before nodding, “Makes sense, though: the idea that someone—anyone—could just… know where I am without my consent… that’s rather horrifying.” The Head Nun then prods, “So, what did he find?”

“He’s in an underwater cave.”

Sophie almost drops her cup as she’s setting it down. Her wide eyes, horrified, look at Jarl in alarm and worry, “U-underwater?” She makes the sign of the cross—forehead, naval, and both shoulders—before clasping her hands together, praying that the poor boy is alright. Then, she looks imploringly at her priest, “You must go.”

Jarl agrees, “I’m leaving you in charge of the parish while I’m gone.”

“In charge?” Sophie presses a hand against her forehead, eyes looking even more tired, “Father, I can not!”

“You must; Manus already tried to take me to the cave—to Jasey—with his magic and failed due to a barrier. I don’t really know what I’m doing and I can’t allow him to go alone; it is too dangerous. And too unfair.”

“For you feel it is your business?” Sophie can understand that logic; really, she can. Still, “So is the church.”

“And it is your business, too, Reverend Mother.”

The brunette woman smiles snarkily at her priest, “Not as much as it is yours, Father.” She then sighs, “But… Family is most important—even more so than the church.” At Jarl’s raised eyebrow, she wags a finger, “Just don’t tell anyone I said that.”

The brunette male laughs, “I wouldn’t dream of it, Sophie.”

The two smile at each other before the woman looks curiously at the strange board on the coffee table. “What’s this?”

“What Manus tried to get us there with; he calls it the Axis Mundi.”

“The Center of the World?” Sophie looks at the board with more confusion before shaking her head. “Such a strange man….” She then looks back at Jarl, “Whom you have never believed or trusted before. Why now? What changed?”

Áesta.

That’s what Jarl wants to say. He wants to tell her that he summoned a daemon—a literal daemon—who’s not only helping him get Jasey back but also nothing like he imagined—like he was told to imagine.

But he can’t, “Nothing else was helping: people aren’t helping (they haven’t seen Jasey, like I said before), faith isn’t helping (God isn’t helping, like he doesn’t want—like this is a test or something); and I can’t…”

Sophie rests a hand on Jarl’s, holding it comfortingly, “Then I will help you—any way that I can.”

~

This is how they end up at the church of St. Shan: Jarl’s church.

The medium-sized marvel of marble masonry sits humbly upon the hill to the far north of the whole parish. Its large, beautiful, green stained-glass windows shine like giant emeralds even in the cloudiest of conditions while its gravity defying stone arches narrow down recessively via inlays into pairs of rich evergreen doors; together, these features make it look like a rare, green diamond encrusted, stone jewelry fit for Irish royalty. Add to that the set of castle-like clock and bell towers that flank the main gable, which is adorned with a giant glorious golden Celtic cross, and Jarl’s St. Shan stands as a modest beacon of Irish themed faith in their otherwise unglorious town of Shan—nicknamed Ireland’s Shanty—and raises it a few pegs above unvisitiable.

So: it’s at least considered livable.

Of course, despite its modesty and humility, St. Shan still manages to tower over the priest’s own one-story home which sits right beside it, on the right, at a distance. This distance is very easily traversed and usually allows both Jarl and Jasey to quickly get to work (Jarl doesn’t enjoy thinking of his priesthood in that way but, technically, it’s true; and Jasey does actually work in the church as an educator so the word really does work).

It’s also a distance mirrored by St. Shan’s convent (which is run by Sophie).

Today, this short distance allows the group to get to church quickly.

(Even with Áesta among them.)

~

The daemon in question… doesn’t really look like a daemon anymore.

In fact, he looks very human: his teeth are wider and blunt (no more needle-likeness), his eyes are pure green (not orange—like Jarl had expected—because orange is too odd of a color for human irises) with white sclera (instead of black), and his green hair is now pitch black. Even his skin is brown with an olive-green undertone.

He looks like a perfectly ordinary human—an immigrant at the strangest—and completely normal for Ireland.

And all of this thanks to Manus’ skills.

~

“Must ye wear t’at???”

Jarl jolts in front of his mirror and turns to stare with wide eyes at the human-looking daemon behind him. Áesta scowls reproachfully at him, glaring hatefully at his priestly clothing with new and odd green eyes, while standing in the doorway with sulkily crossed arms.

The holy man fights the urge to laugh at him, “I must address the parish; so, yes: I must.”

The daemon’s nose crinkles cutely. Almost.

Áesta glares, “Feedin’ me ain’t gonna make t’is beth’r.”

Jarl just smiles, already quite used to this irrational hatred directed towards his living (in a way, he supposes, it’s like his own feelings towards daemons; and, he suspects, there’s a lesson in there—somewhere), “Okay.”

(Apparently, this was the wrong response [perhaps the right one was to take off his priestly clothes…]: the little—now brown—daemon huffs angrily and storms out, ranting to Manus about ugly religious habits.)

~

While Manus watches over Áesta, keeps him out of trouble, and prepares for the trip with Hagen’s help (apparently, they now have to calculate multiple destinations along a path leading to the Devil’s Cavern instead of just going to it directly as they did before; this requires several new coordinates [locations/towns] and the same amount of complex math as yesterday to get to each one; the priest doesn’t envy them at all), Jarl ventures into the heart of the church to meet with Sophie and the rest of the parish.

All the other inhabitants of Shantown have answered Sophie’s (and thus Jarl’s) summons in record time, crowding the medium sized church to the brim with a bit of overflow (children on their parent’s shoulders).

Jarl smiles and waves at them, asking them all to sit, as he makes his way to the podium.

Once there, he starts explaining.

~

“We have a lead!

“Manus has found evidence of our dear missing brother, Jasey, in Bailecastle! He and I leave for it today! Reverend Mother Sophie will be in charge while I am gone. Please be well with her.

“I know not when I shall return; but it will be with my brother.

“May the Lord be with you all.”

(“Amen.”)

~

Jarl spends some hours staying in the church and finalizing his leave.

He speaks with many people after his announcement, letting them know how he came about the knowledge and then the decision to go. He talks of Manus, his magic, the barrier, and Hagen. He explains to everyone that Hagen is staying for their health and reiterating that Sophie is in charge.

He never mentions Áesta.

Or that he’s a daemon.