Bats in the Belfry [Nighttime -Part 2- :: Event]

My mistake. Tension is back to 25% again.

It was over, but Maria was starting to pant slightly. Light sweat was starting to form on the back of her neck, but she abruptly brushed it off before Serenity could see them. She grit her teeth and pursed her lips together as she felt something course through her veins. The postulant kept a straight face, ignoring the pain. It hurt, Andraste was starting to take a toll on her body. Originally Maria had no potential in the first place. Her connection with the Demon had always been a botched operation from the start. It would've been a miracle to be able to live this long, but all of that can be linked to the drugs she had to take. Unlike many other Forgottens, one could easily say she was a tenuous experiment.

"...Yes, Ma'am." Maria tersely nodded at Serenity. It was a familiar advice, Sister Louise continued to complain about it. But with what Andraste was capable of right now, it was far a difficult focus to improve on. Yet it didn't mean she couldn't try despite the difficulty. It also didn't change the fact that each subsequent battle threatened to weaken her. Normally the girl would blame the idiotic eggheads who designed the Demon Weapon that would add to her difficulty, but she lacked that mindset presently. It just wasn't the time. "Are you alright? You seem troubled."

Another slight crack in her facade. Had Louise been here, she would be viciously reprimanded. Maria was a weapon, but sometimes that was difficult to maintain at all times. It was the most important thing that she had to improve on, regardless that it meant throwing away every bit of humanity she had left.

The girl clad in blue would continue walking down the path with Serenity. She had kept her silence, but not much longer. Maria had her suspicions of her identity. In fact, the evidence was in front of her very eyes, the Forgotten would have to be blind to miss it. She began to ask her, "Ma'am, are you by chance related to my superior?"

It was a passing interest, but it was probably a good idea to have some information to work with. Right now, something strange was happening here. Demons were what she had expected to a degree, perhaps from her own urges to slaughter their kind. But a human? Was that a Psyche-Terrorist? The more she thought about it, the more it was getting suspicious and worrying. But to set up something like this, to bend reality, there had to be some resources organized here. She broached onto another topic.


Maria looked around the entirety of this otherworldly side of the Dragon's Maw to accentuate her point. A lot of this uncertainty made her start to believe in one thing. What is happening in Sunlake Palms had to have some kind of connection here. The timing was far too convenient to write off as chance.

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"I-I see... I'll keep that in mind," Maria faltered awkwardly at Serenity's advice. This sounded like a pain. A superior who didn't look down on others was something many subordinates would cherish. But the Forgotten felt like it might complicate things given her nature. The Serenity's confirmation soon immediately led to her straightening up and then bowing down her head just as awkwardly as she sounded, "M-my sincerest apologies, Ma'am. I-I was being rude back then."

Pulling a gun on the Princess? Sister Louise would've gotten a heart attack and another. She silently gulped to herself upon imagining what kind of punishments the maiden of the cloth would inflict. The very thought of it caused her to feel at unease. But that wouldn't be the only thing putting her at such a state.

Serenity's statements was a definite cause for worry. So she had to face an enemy worse than Alice. It made her wonder if it's any possible to take on such a foe with just the two of them? The reminder of the Eternal Divide sobered her. Memories of that time had been... painful. Her fists clenched tightly at them, allowing her to ignore the pain from her current condition as she straightened back up to look back at her. "Have you been able to contact Alex or the District Head, by chance?"

Maria had remembered that Julius was going to go patrolling with Alex back in the morning class. Was he here too? Even so, communications were likely shot still, but it didn't hurt to try to ask.


"Have faith, he's your brother after all. He'll be fine. Let's focus on moving ahead right now," Maria spoke firmly as she looked towards the door. It brought some old memories. The closeness between siblings and how they truly mattered to her before the Eternal Divide. There was something about Serenity's concern for Julius' well-being that had warmed her heart more than anything in these last five years. But it also dampened it too, a reminder of her own failures. "The sooner we can meet up with him, the better."

She nodded at Serenity and opened the door.

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So they were basically alone without the choice for back up. What a situation to be in. She began to feel more envious of her fellow Cadets. At least they were together as a bigger group. It would be a marvelous boon for Maria to have the Princess at her side. If she wasn't here, that previous battle could have been the end for the Cadet. And what a disappointing end would that have been. It was a sobering thought, having to face her own mortality. Maria had done her best to prepare herself for this, but preparation can only go so far. But it wasn't like all hope was lost, they just needed to make the right calls and hope for the best.

When they were back in the entrance, she knit her brows together into a scowl. This really complicated things, but at the least they never had to worry about going back to the left path. All that remained to them was the middle and the right paths. But which ones are the right ones? Maria wasn't exactly what one would call the smartest girl in the class before the Eternal Divide. She had been pitifully average, and at times below average. Many could say it was because she was so busy with helping out her parent's restaurant-bakery store. But deep inside she knew that she just wasn't that smart. Even Sister Louise had teased her about it.

Looking back at the paper that they had found earlier, the numbers were still the same. But what kind of clue did it provide. Earlier Maria had reasoned that perhaps going for the left, where the number 1 was more situated towards might have been the best to try out first. But now it brought her back here. Suspiciously enough there were two of the same numbers, the 3's. Perhaps the 2 would result the same way with the 1. If such was the case then perhaps the way is finally clear. But if this wasn't the way, then Maria would truly be lost.


"Don't worry, I have an idea," she finally spoke while pointing at the middle path, "It might be our way forward. But first, we may need to call for back up. It might not be enough with just the two of us. Do you know anyone who can lend us some assistance? Can you contact them outside of this place?"

Hopefully she might know someone who could give them some help. This whole thing might be over Maria's head in all honesty.

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She nodded at the Princess in confirmation. It would be nice to have some help along the way, no matter how little they can provide. Maria leaned closer to scroll through the number of Cadets. As she scanned through the list, she soon realized that there weren't a lot that she could try to get along with. Many that resided in this compendium seemed to be more of a liability than an asset. Others were questionable in their entirety. This cut down her choices a lot more. Soon she decided to pick one, after sifting through the rest. The Cadet wasn't exactly too confident even then, but the situation didn't provide her enough of a choice anyway.

"This one, please," she bid to Serenity as she pointed to a Cadet named Vivian Oates. It was a rather familiar name. Now where did she hear this one? She tried to wrack her gray matter for answers, but it refused to eke out anything to satisfy her curiosity. Perhaps Maria will find out why this Vivian Oates sounded so familiar. Was it something five years ago in the Eternal Divide? There was only one way to find out. She waited for Serenity to make the call, and once it was over, it was her cue again to talk.


"M.I.A.? That's odd..." Maria repeated to herself while thinking of this new information, "Even Claire said he was gone since last night on their patrol when I first met Claire this morning. And he's still missing? This is all timed so... strangely. What exactly is going on here?"

Something was clearly wrong and this bizarre expanse wasn't going to answer her questions any time soon. Maria wasn't sure what to make of this. When they reached the door, Maria then decided to shake her head. There was something about her gut that didn't exactly feel right about it. She looked back at the note again. Could it really be that easy? Just matching numbers like this? There was so much to doubt. But there was something they should do first. "And on second thought, this probably isn't the door. It would be too easy this way. My apologies. In any case we should meet up with the Cadet first before moving on."

And who's to say there would be more clues anyway if she managed to get it right? There was definitely something more to this. Even if they were moving back, at least they could meet up with the Cadet along the way.

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