WIZARDS [Incubus Hunt 2]

Vatican City Fortress [Dreams]

Sarah’s Side

“How is Mother Hershey tonight, Sr. Belladonna?” I anxiously asked the senior nun who was patiently guarding our head nun’s door. “Did our interventions last night worked on her?”

“It didn’t change at all, Sr. Airi…” She shook her head also worried about Mother Hershey’s condition. “Would you like to try it again tonight?”

“Yes sister, will you let me inside again?”

“Alright… tell me if there’s progress,” She unlocked the door to her room. “Let’s not lose hope… I will pray for her here outside.”

As soon as I entered the room, I immediately felt the lustful energy leaking out of her. Every single night since we’ve been here Mother Hershey had been suffering from an enchantment accidentally done by one of our allies. It was also probably two months ago when Mother Hershey got charmed by an enemy incubus and it so happened that the New York Incubus was passing by disguised as a human when he got to meet her in Japan… it was actually a long story as to why the New York Incubus was in Japan, but to cut the story short, he was able to undo the charm from her but he may have had unconsciously charmed her by accident. While our ally incubus wasn’t around, Sr. Belladonna andI were trying our best to lessen the effects of this charm.

Every time that Mother Hershey fell asleep, she would always emit an alarming rate of lust that would attract the enemy. As much as we want to use her as bait for the enemy incubus to appear, we cannot leave her alone because the charm might actually overtake her body and soul. Besides, the incubus was afraid of coming here since Sr. Belladonna always guarded her room at night.

We Celestial beings are capable of masking our powers so that we won’t get noticed even if our miraculous powers leak out. Celestial beings have a power source known as Miracle. All of us have miracles but those who are higher beings like for example Archangel Michael has a unique miracle called God’s Strength while Devil Queen Lilith has a unique miracle called Demonic Lust. Compared to Mother Hershey’s condition, Queen Lilith’s Demonic Lust is far more superior.

“For now, I’ll try to break into your thoughts,” I put my hand on her forehead. Even though she was fast asleep, I never forgot to ask for her consent. “I know that you can’t hear me but I need you to break free from it. I need you to fight it…”

“N…n…h… ahn…” Mother Hershey moaned as if she heard my voice.

“If only Beaux was here,” I sighed looking at the time. “She hasn’t come back ever since she left this morning… I wonder where she ran off to… Hopefully, she is doing her part… For now, I need to try and break into your thoughts and pull you away from the enchantment.”

Inside her thoughts, I could see a thick barrier containing the essence of the New York Incubus. If I needed to pour all of my power just to be able to get her out of there, I had to! However, my fear was that she might not make it back alive… Should I still try though?

Slowly but surely, I tried to pass through the barrier as I make sure that every step that I make won’t stress her out. After making sure that she had calmed down, I safely made it into her thoughts. I wonder why I didn’t do this one before? It didn’t feel bad… or so I thought…

Her thoughts were filled with the images of Agent Akihiko… … …

I got it…

She got herself charmed by kissing him on the lips the moment he removed the original charm from her…

If I could… try to temporarily lock away her memory of kissing him… I could somewhat… or somehow… calm her down, right?

“What are you doing here?” Hershey’s thought projection appeared in front of me and blocked my path towards that specific memory. “Can’t you see they’re kissing?”

“Shouldn’t you be alarmed?” I tried to direct her attention at me, her nemesis, the Southeast Asian Witch. “I am…”

“I know who you are,” she replied with a cold stare. “I’m asking you what you are doing here.”

“I’m here to save you from that enchantment…”

“I don’t need saving, what made you think that I needed saving?”

“You are being charmed!” I sighed, “Why haven’t you realized it yet?!”

“I was charmed but because of Agent Akihiko’s intervention, I was saved!”

“You were saved, but then you kissed him so you got charmed by accident!”

“Kissing him wasn’t an accident!” She insisted, “I’m in love with him!!!”

*SLAP*

I slapped her hard in the face stunning her for a few seconds.

“You’re a nun! No, you are the Head Nun! The Mother-superior! You shouldn’t be thinking of kissing someone, right?! You should be thinking of serving God through… I don’t know… I’m not a Christian… or whatever… but the point is you aren’t supposed to have relationships because of your… err… sacrament!!!”

“I… I… I…” she looked back at her memory. “I’m such… a bad… girl…”

Taking advantage of her situation, I rapidly used my magic to seal that memory and purify her thoughts. After making sure that she successfully been purified… I decided to leave her thoughts. When I left, the barrier suddenly grew thicker than before. It was like the enchantment just got even more powerful… thankfully the cause of the enchantment had been sealed in temporarily.

“Mother Hershey seemed to have calmed down…” Sr. Belladonna was standing right behind me, “but she is still charmed. What did you do?”

“I simply sealed the memory that caused it… temporarily though…” I sighed.

“What memory would that be?” she curiously looked at me in the eyes.

“Well… I hope you won’t get mad to our ally…” I hesitated for a moment. “You see, the memory was of her kissing him…”

“What the hell did that Kuroshiro do this time?!” Sr. Belladonna raised her voice.

“Relax Belladonna… It wasn’t Kuroshiro’s fault…”

All of a sudden, Hershey woke up… much to our deep surprise.

“What of Agent Akihiko?” Hershey yawned and stretched out her body. “Did something happen to my savior, Sr. Airi… Sr. Belladonna?”

“I…we… uh…” Sr. Belladonna stuttered.

“I was just telling her how you were saved that time…” I immediately thought of an excuse. “How are you feeling, Mother Hershey?”

“I had a bad dream…” she sat up from her bed and checked the time. “It’s already midnight… you should go to bed, Sr. Airi…”

“I’ll see her out,” Calming down, Sr. Belladonna escorted me out of their room. Once we’re out of the room, she whispered, “Are you sure, it’s been sealed?”

“I told you, it is only temporarily sealed,” I whispered back. “You don’t have to worry… for now… at least.”

Sr. Belladonna nodded off and then sighed, “I’ll see you tomorrow…”

When I returned back to the room, I found Sr. Eri fast asleep. I never bothered her because I knew that she was doing her part… that was my biggest mistake…

[The next morning…]

Sr. Eri was already gone. One of these days though, I’ll start becoming a strict master to my apprentice. Going by my usual daily life stuff, I noticed that Mother Hershey was already feeling better. I was relieved that I was able to temporarily seal off the cause of her enchantment. Sr. Belladonna always accompanied her wherever she went. She always told me that Mother Hershey must be protected and that’s her job. As for me and Sr. Eri, our job was to study our suspected people. We studied them within the first month and as of that moment… I was on my way to look for suspicious activities involving the suspects.

First was Fr. Adam Belmont. We suspected him because of his suspicious activities revolving around the Saints Orphanage where Sr. Eri daily investigated. We believed that he was using the orphanage to brainwash the orphans. However, we haven’t gotten any proof of it just yet. As of the moment, we had nothing against him.

Second was Cardinal-Bishop Dimitri Rossellini. There were “rumors” that he was a vampire in hiding. Although he always denied the allegations, we still had to investigate. He also rarely visited the Papal Palace for some reason. Other than those, there’s nothing more.

Third was Archbishop Juda Aureo. At that time, he was the head of the Vatican Crusade Internal (Office) Department and he chose Mother Hershey to be the head of the External (Combat) Department. Also, Agent Kuroshiro believed him to be bewitched along with the Mother-superior. However, we noticed nothing wrong with him. He was kind of charismatic and he had a knack for gardening. Sr. Belladonna didn’t like him though… like it was a gut-feeling.

Fourth was Sr. Anastacia Borelli. Her profile was left blank prompting us to consider her as the prime suspect.

Finally, there was Archbishop Timothy Guillermo. As for him, we didn’t know why he was marked as a suspect. There were rumors flying around that a nun saw him bathe in the moonlight… like he was looking at the moon intently for about an hour. Some suspected that he was praying while others suggested that he was a werewolf. We could only speculate though… Lastly, there were reports that he always argued with Archbishop Aureo.

My main mission that day 22nd of September, 2019 was to befriend Sr. Anastacia…

To be honest, I didn’t see anything suspicious going on with her. It was just that her biodata was blank for some reason… The only way for me to find out about her was to be blunt about it. I had a lot of alibis …

“Good morning, Sr. Anastacia,” I respectfully greeted her.

“Ah, good morning,” she greeted back. “You must be… Sr. Airi, right?”

“Yes, sister…”

“…”

“Uhm…”

“You must be here to ask me about my biodata, is it not?” She seemed aware though…

I had no choice but to nod, “Yes sister… I was curious when I saw your records while reviewing the database as part of the three-month training curriculum… but I guessed that you already knew about that…”

“You’re not alone,” she patted my shoulder. “A lot of newcomers asked me of the same thing. I am considered as a hybrid…”

“You mean that you’re half-celestial?” I never expected that revelation.

“Come on, you can mock me…” she sadly sighed.

“I can’t do that…” I sympathized with her. But I want to know if she was an ally or an enemy. “Are you perhaps from Antarctica?”

“No-no-no…” she waved her hand. “I was born here… … … I was already a nun when they found me out five years ago… but the pope gave me a chance to prove my worth. The humans though… you guys… This is the reason why I’m always alone… I’m considered a bad omen…”

“What do you mean… and… uh… what other half are you?” I was really curious to find out.

“I am part…”

“Sr. Anastacia! The pope is asking for your presence!” A nun suddenly cut things short for me.

“I’m sorry, Sr. Airi but I have been summoned…” she lowered her head and then headed off leaving me hanging.

“No, it’s alright sister…” It was never alright!!! The timing was too much perfect!!!

“Sr. Airi, is it?”

“Yes?” I turned around to see who called for me… “Fr. Aureo…”

It was him, the chubby archbishop. I was wondering what he wanted to talk about…

He nodded at me, “Would you like to help me with gardening?”

Great timing!!! This was my chance to get clues, “Yes…”

“Fr. Aureo!!!” The same nun who called Sr. Anastacia came running towards him. “You’re being summoned to the Papal Palace!”

He shook his head frowning, “It looks like I won’t get to go to my garden… We’ll have to change schedules… probably…”

“I understand father,” I affirmed him.

He soon followed the nun towards the palace. It looked like they were about to do a very urgent meeting. That nun had the best timing ever!!! My goodness!!!

“Sorry for being late,” Archbishop Aureo immediately took his seat. “Your Eminence…”

“It’s alright, Fr. Aureo. We have not yet started. We need a complete attendance for this holy fellowship.” Cardinal-Deacon Gepetto Pino Ciccone, Governorate of Vatican City Fortress, nodded at the archbishop.

“Thank you, your Eminence.” Archbishop Aureo took his seat beside Archbishop Guillermo and asked him, “How long have you been waiting for me?”

“Why should I wait for you?” Archbishop Guillermo sighed. “You should mind your own personal space.”

“Let’s keep it down, shall we?” Archbishop Arnulfo Tobias (seen once in the Incubus Hunt) went and sat in between them. “We do not want any more scuffle between you two.”

“Why is that nun there?” Archbishop Guillermo whispered to Archbishop Tobias.

“The pope personally asked for her presence.” He looked at Sr. Anastacia who stood at the back. He shook his head and sighed, “We can only trust his Holiness’ judgment…”

“Halflings…” Archbishop Aureo who was also listening to their conversation sighed. He then gazed at Mother Hershey who was seated beside Sr. Belladonna. He suddenly noticed that Sr. Belladonna was glaring at him prompting him to turn away, “That’s a bad omen…”

“Now that all leaders of the Fortress have arrived,” his Eminence Ciccone stood up, “we shall now convene the Fortress Fellowship. Please rise as we welcome his Holiness! Pope Valentine the Second!”

All of them solemnly stood up and applaud the pope as he greeted everyone until he had reached his throne. When the pope took his seat, the rest of the leaders took their seats. Sr. Anastacia remained standing at the back since she didn’t have a seat… and that… she wasn’t really actually welcomed by the others to Archbishop Aureo glanced at Archbishop Guillermo and then at back his Eminence who then began the Fellowship…

“In the most sovereign name of the Father, and of the most respected name of the Son, and of the most influential name of the Holy Ghost. I had a dream… last night. I saw myself in the same position as Mother Dimaria Ventura during the time that she was fighting against the Evil Witch. I saw courage, loyalty, and love for God as she banished the wicked to the depths of hell.”

Archbishop Aureo licked his lips and grinned. Archbishop Guillermo bowed his head and blissfully bit his lower lip.

“I feel that she visited me during my sleep to show me that we are winning against the demonic adversaries from Hell. She showed me… and wanted me to announce to all of you… that her sacrifice to the world wasn’t in vain. It was a miracle from God… a miracle is shown to us in the darkest of times, so hear me out brothers, sisters, and fellow leaders. In light of the multiple crises known to mankind as the Beginning of the End of the World, I feel obligated to propose…”

The irony… that was Dimaria Ventura… known by celestial kind as the Evil Witch… but known by mankind as the heroine who banished the Evil Witch…

“… …that Mother Dimaria Ventura, the first leader of the Vatican Crusade, be canonized as Saint Dimaria Ventura, patron of all believers.