“Yes; like the fact that Jasey was kidnapped by a DAEMON summoned by one of OUR parishioners?”
Silence coats the room—both of them, regardless of the distance—and Jarl can feel his heart completely stop in his chest as his mouth goes dry and drops to the floor in shock. Between worrying over Jas’, waking Manus, and whether or not he should tell his somehow-more-pious-than-himself Head Nun about his literal daemon, he’d completely forgotten that this is ALSO something he’d have to tell her about: that they were BETRAYED.
Although he still knows not by whom.
“Ich updated her before ve called…” Hagen’s voice is thick with apology and accent worsening with guilt.
Jarl waves it off; “I should have been the one telling her from the start…”
In Shantown, Sophie nods, arms crossed under her critiquing frown. In Olecastle, Jarl leans back, white shirt (which probably needs to be cleaned by now—it’s been a week and, maybe, the hotel has laundry facilities… or he can just ask Manus to do to his clothes whatever it is he does to his own—just to make it/him CLEAN… but wait… there it is again: reliance not on oneself but on MAGIC—the Devil’s Dust, laziness, lack of piety…) rustling as he moves to run his hands through his hair and press his back against the chair—all in frustration.
Because: how DOES he begin to explain any of this when HE, HIMSELF, doesn’t KNOW all of it?
The priest sighs. “Manus contacted a friend of his while he was sick in Bailenac’ringy—”
“Manus was SICK‽”
Sophie
looks horrified and Jarl would probably laugh at this—at the fact that she’s so
worried about this man whom she quite literally HATES—if it weren’t for the
fact(s) that: one, he’d like her to grow and develop beyond the hatred that she
has for impious things (such as Áesta… and if he’s the sole main reason
for this, Jarl will probably never admit to it because that would mean
admitting Áesta’s why HE grew beyond that, too; and admitting it to himself is
very much different to admitting it to others—especially to Áesta); and, two, he’d
like for her and Manus to get along better, period, because it’ll help ease
her into accepting Áesta Manus, he thinks, is simply here to stay (like
Gina in Castlegodry—quite literally: pink housing and all) and Jasey will probably
be happier if she does (because he’s beginning to understand that Manus loves
Jasey, truly, the way he would want someone to love his little brother before
letting go of him—if only partially—and, if he’s right, he’s been purposefully ignoring
all the signs that were telling him Jasey might like him back). As a result, he simply nods and glances back at the bed—seeing, for a moment, that
image, forever ingrained in his mind, now, of his mage laying prone and pale
and weak and wane—and shivers before speaking, “Yes; the common cold,
surprisingly enough. All the transporting wore him out and then the weather
just…”
“… So, even HE isn’t infallible…”
“He’s HUMAN, Sophie.”
~
“G-getting back to…” Jarl’s Head Nun stumbles over her words, face red with embarrassment (and shame?), as she tries to get them back on track and away from undaemonizing magic; “His friend…?”
Her priest allows this, understanding that she needs the time and space—and this divulging’s more important anyway. “Manus called them a wise user—a knowledgeable person with information—and they told him about the non-magic user who summoned Kane—the daemon (that took Jasey)—from Shantown.”
“And this… wise user is trustworthy?”
“As much as Manus.” And Áesta.
“Manus has mentioned z’em before: wise users,” Hagen interjects, offering Sophie more tea to calm her; “Apparently, it’s quite the honorable position—like being a nun—that he wishes to achieve one day.”
“Manus, a NUN?” the head of them snorts amusedly into her cup; “That’ll be the day…”
~
“Manus is trying to get more information,” Jarl continues quietly, keeping an eye and ear out for the mage waking or whining or anything—even winning; “On Kane and the person that summoned him.”
“Is he getting help from The Elders?” Sophie’ question startles the priest, causing him to sit up straight and stare confusedly. The Head Nun huffs quietly, “They’re some form of governance, right? For magicians? Shouldn’t they be able to DO something to help us—get Jasey back or find and make this person undo… THIS?” She waves her hand vaguely in the air to try and gesture at everything that’s happened recently.
Jarl understands; but he also shakes his head, “I don’t think that’s actually how they work… or WHY.”
Beside the consternated nun, Hagen nods. “As I tried to explain earlier: Z’e Elders are not… benevolent; z’ey’re much more likely to z’ink ve helped or even DID IT OURSELVES z’an lend us aid.”
“But that’s—!”
“A logical conclusion for them to make.” Jarl holds up his hand to prevent Sophie from screaming. Part of this is, of course, to not wake Manus—or anyone else in the hotel—but also because she’s not looking at it right. “The person who summoned Kane to take Jasey is a non-magic user—which means they’re unregistered—and, if they ARE a governing body, controlling that non-magic user and the daemon they unleashed onto us would be far more important to them than rescuing some non-magic child they might not even know of.”
Sophie and Hagen glance at each other, as though only NOW realizing The Elder might not KNOW of Jasey.
To be fair, it was a horrifying realization Jarl had only in the back of his mind for the longest while, now, and—probably—the only reason it’s come into the light is this conversation. Another thing that’s coming out is the realization that he—JARL—is no different from the person who summoned Kane: he’s non-magic but summoned a daemon—ALSO for Jasey (although obviously not to kidnap him… unless they’re kidnapping him BACK?)—and is even travelling with that daemon to the same place (Devil’s Cavern)—
Why WOULD the Elders help them?
Because they’re the good guys?
(We’re just as bad…)
~
“See, it is as I said.”
Jarl looks at Hagen in confusion. Sophie, however, looks begrudging as she nods.
“Vhy look to Z’e Elders for help vhen z’ey are unlikely to vant to—AND ve can get better help elsvhere?”
It takes a moment for Jarl to fully understand what the apothecary means; but, eventually, he gets it. “Right! Like Kane. The Elders didn’t give us that name—Oak did: one of the world trees; part of the Axis Mundi. Between them and Manus’ friends, we don’t NEED The Elders to help us save Jasey. We can do that.”
“Right,” Hagen agrees with a nod; it’s mimicked by Sophie, albeit more slowly.
Jarl smiles confidently, although in the back of his mind he’s now wondering if there’ll be a punishment waiting for the kidnapper and if it’ll bleed over onto HIM for also summoning a daemon as a non-magic user (or, perhaps, the punishment can be waived if Jarl, himself, registers as a magician—is that even possible?), “And to start: we’re gonna catch ourselves a kidnapper.”
(He must, after all, have left clues back home.)
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