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Klein was facing kind of a problem. Actually, problems were a common occurrence for him, especially after transmigrating into this world. However, this problem was particularly different.
No matter what road he took, he always ended up at the gates of an Evernight church.
This shouldn't be statistically possible, he hysterically thought looking at the sacred emblem of the Goddess on the doorway to the entrance of the church. There is no way I can get this lost!
After all, his sense of direction was quite good, if he did say so himself.
Initially, he thought this whole predicament might be due to the Master Key. As such, he had resorted to leaving the sealed artifact above the Grey Fog. However, this didn't solve his problem in any way. Instead, perplexingly, it almost seemed to have made it worse!
He looked at the church deeply for quite a while. His time in the Nighthawks had left him with a deep impression of the Church and with a loyalty to the Evernight Goddess, despite him currently trying to avoid them. Ah, but.. his thoughts trailed off as he remembered that he was currently acting as a believer of Steam and also an evil ancient god. Is it still blasphemy if the god is myself?
He shook his head, tearing his gaze away and turning on his heel, shoving his hands into his pockets. Just then, his intuition warned him of an collision, but it was too late and he crashed into a warm body.
Ow, he thought, refraining from rubbing his head and wincing inwardly as he pushed himself up. His glasses had fallen askew on the ground, and he picked them up, inwardly lampooning. Really, it's too unfair that the Seer pathway gets no physical enhancements beyond agility!
Then, he caught sight of who he had just slammed into, and his expression froze.
Lying on the ground, groaning slightly with closed eyes, was Leonard Mitchell.
Instinctively, he felt like he should run. However, he was aware that would make him seem extremely suspicious, so he pushed down the urge, instead controlling himself to fix a polite smile on his face. Leaning down, he offered a hand to the prone poet.
My dear poet, Klein couldn't help but think wistfully, it's good to see you again.
Leonard looked as handsome as ever, yet upon a closer look, there was an extremely obvious air of grief all over him. His clothes were perhaps more disheveled than ever, his hair slightly messier. There were dark bags under his eyes, a shocking feat for a Sleepless, and his face was slightly pale and his shoulders burdened under exhaustion.
He must have woken up to only two cooling heartless bodies. Klein inwardly shook his head, while offering a polite apology as he attempted to help his old friend up. Needlessly to say, he failed quite miserably and him offering aid was merely superficial.
Leonard blinked for a second, before they focused on Klein. Instantly, Klein couldn't help but feel paranoid, afraid that his disguise would be seen through immediately. However, he couldn't just immediately admit to it! What if he got taken away and locked behind Chanis Gate! After all, he still had his revenge to take, and he still had to go back home.
"Is there something on my face?" he instead asked, slightly apprehensive at the laser-like focus with which Leonard was appraising him.
Leonard startled, before shaking his head vehemently. "No," he started, before stopping, as if his words had failed him. Klein resisted the urge to tell him he was alive. Leonard revealed a self-deprecating smile. "I'm sorry, it's just you remind me of someone."
Well, there's that, Klein thought, throwing his hands up internally. I've been caught. There's no way that Leonard doesn't figure out that this is actually his dead colleague, Klein Moretti!
"On closer glance, I realize that your resemblance was quite superficial," Leonard continued, cutting off Klein. HUH???? "I'm sorry once again for crashing into you. Good day." And with that, Leonard walked away, bowing once in farewell.
Klein didn't move, gobsmacked. Really, I knew my dear poet was kind of not okay after hearing some of his poems, but I didn't know he was half-blind too! This should be an obstacle for a Nighthawk, especially if left unchecked! What if he mistakes a normal rose for a sealed artifact and jeopardizes his mission?
Well, the last thing was somewhat unlikely, because he couldn't be that blind considering he was still walking in a straight line, but with Leonard you never knew. Or was the walking in a straight line a thing when drunk? However, Leonard would totally be the type of person to pick up a rose randomly just to fit his 'poetic' air or something. He could imagine him with it in his mouth, truly the perfect portrayal of a playboy poet.
Klein shrugged, choosing to shelve those thoughts away. Instead, he walked away from the Church of the Evernight.
I trusted you, Klein looked at the cane he held in his hand. It was insistently pointing frontwards. Following the direction, one could see that they were standing in front of Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Before setting out that evening, he had also divined whether he would reach his destination without any detours. Clearly, it was a mistake to not have done the divination above the Grey Fog!
Really though, why would his dowsing rod divination be hampered when he was just trying to go to the Earth Mother's cathedral? This was clearly absurd.
(Klein Moretti being led back to the Evernight Church again and again is a reasonable development.)
Suddenly, a strange foreboding feeling filled Klein and he looked up at the crimson moon that hung overhead. Perhaps, the Goddess is already aware of my revival and wants me to return? he thought, before abruptly pushing away the thought. After all, the Goddess truly wanted him to return, or wanted to merely lock him up for being revived by unknown means, no doubt the Nighthawks of the Backlund diocese would be hunting for him.
For now, I shall take this as tacit acquiescence, he thought, turning away from the Church. Now to hope I don't end up here again, he sighed inwardly.
He didn't. After all, soon after, the Great Smog of Backlund came to pass, and Sherlock Moriarty had to exit the stage of Backlund.
"I can't return anymore," Klein said, turning away to leave. Behind him, Leonard reached a hand out, as if trying to pull him towards himself, or to steal the distance between them. A moment passed, and the hand fell.
Suddenly, out of the shadows, once again, a bearded man dressed as a priest appeared. 'His' child-like, limpid eyes shone, and 'His' lips were quirked up in a beatific smile that bore the slightest hint of a laugh as if 'He' was enjoying some joke Klein was unaware of.
Klein tensed, activating Creeping Hunger. However, before he could, Adam scrawled into the notebook 'He' held in 'His' hand with an unassuming white quill, reciting as 'He' wrote: "After the fight with Ince Zangwill, Klein Moretti immediately collapsed with exhaustion, giving him no time to travel away. This is a reasonable development."
What the fuck! Klein couldn't help but exclaim inwardly, glaring harshly at Adam as his vision blurred and his arm grew heavy. Creeping Hunger inexplicably slipped off his hand as Adam recited more sentences in the background, no doubt making sure he was completely helpless. His head spun as he collapsed on the ground.
Before his consciousness entirely left him, he could feel Adam kneeling next to him. "My apologies," 'He' said. "However, this is the result of the deal that Evernight and I have made. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
The last lines dripped of such insincerity that Klein couldn't help but scoff. Fuck you!! What do you mean 'forgive you'? I bet me being led back to the Church again and again was always because of you!
Then everything faded to black.
He regained consciousness and found himself lying on a hard, dark surface. Groaning, he pushed himself up to his elbows and found himself lying in a cell. Around him, there was a permeating impression of horror.
Chanis Gate. The realization dawned and Klein swung his legs off the cot he was lying on, dropping his head into his hands. I'm done for. I was wearing my real face, the Church absolutely knows Klein Moretti is alive now!
His mind conjured up a myriad of horrible fates for him, and he sobbed inwardly. Well, at least I got my revenge, he thought, a small rush of satisfaction rushing through him.
Footsteps interrupted his doom-thinking. He raised his head, and met a pair of gray eyes. A jolt of fear, and a feeling of impending doom chilled his spine. This was Archbishop Anthony Stevenson!
"Klein Moretti," the Archbishop said, and Klein steeled himself for his sentence. However, his smile froze as contrary to his expectations, the Archbishop reached forward to unlock the door, gentle smile on his face. "My apologies for locking you up in this manner, but we were afraid that you'd try to escape after waking up."
I'd like to run away very much! Klein hysterically yelled inwardly. However, outwardly, he only nodded cautiously, walking out of the jail room, slowly asking, "Why are you letting me out?"
Anthony Stevenson turned to him, confusion clearly visible in his eyes. "Why wouldn't I? After all, the Goddess' Blessed shouldn't be locked up behind Chanis Gate."
You just locked me up, Klein deadpannedly snarked inwardly, before the entire sentence caught up to him. "The Goddess' Blessed?" he almost yelled incredulously.
The Archbishop looked more befuddled. "You didn't know?" he asked.
"What," said Klein, feeling that sometimes this world felt more like a very absurd comedy. However, he couldn't help but feel a rush of happiness, as well as a vague sense of irony.
Ah, I suppose that all along, the Goddess had been planning for this moment. Strangely, despite being played along, he couldn't bring himself to feel really angry about it. After all, his time in the Tingen Nighthawks was one of the most cherished moments of his life as Klein Moretti.
"The Goddess wants you to return to the Church," Anthony Stevenson seemed to have moved on. He walked out of Chanis Gate, and Klein followed him. Before Klein could reply, or even think about it, he continued. "You'll still enjoy the same liberty as a wild Beyonder, and won't be asked to participate in many missions. However, for your ascension through the sequences, you can either choose to rely on yourself or accumulate contributions directly to 'Her'."
Hey, isn't this too much leeway? Klein couldn't help but wonder, but he didn't protest, instead nodding shortly before remembering he was still wearing his original face. It seemed that he had gotten too used to acting as Gehrman Sparrow. Despite the distrust he should realistically feel, he couldn't help but long to agree.
Returning to the Church would be nice.