Venatores Noctis: Defilement of Falsehood: Chapter 2 – Tempted to Justice

Chapter 2 – Tempted to Justice

After getting an earful from her superiors, Maryam joins the meeting of Church leaders.

“Did she lose control of herself again?” a leader asks the commander that took her in.

“Thankfully, she didn’t even though it seems like she did because of all the dead she and her allies left in their wake,” the commander says.

“The dead were all vampire wolves and traitors to the Church,” Maryam’s allies argue.

“Some of those wolves were ignorant civilians.”

“And nothing could’ve been done to change them. It’s a tragedy that we must deal with and something that I bore the weight of,” Maryam says.

“Still, you shouldn’t have acted first without our permission.”

“I’ve asked for your permission and I’m done waiting. We cannot let the evils of the wolves go unpunished any longer. We have the weapons we need to stop them, so why aren’t we using them?”

“Because God’s darkness that you are blessed with lasts only for a certain time and being in the Eternal Sun blinds the conscience of everyone touched by its false light or have you forgotten?”

“No, I haven’t, but we still can’t let them do what they want. I’ve been investigating rumors of the wolves trying to bring about the second coming of Christ and now I know that it’s going to happen in London. People from all over the world will indulge themselves in the flesh of the innocent in a few days and we must be there to stop them by any means!”

“We don’t have the numbers to overtake them.”

“We don’t need numbers when we have God’s favor.”

“And we hardly have that nowadays.”

“Faithless imbeciles! If you had any faith in God, the Church wouldn’t have to live underground nor would evil have any hold on the earth.”

“If the Meridies didn’t let the Church down generations ago, then we wouldn’t be where we are.”

“My parents, siblings, and other related family members are  still doing penance in isolation for my family’s giving in to the Eternal Sun while I do my penances every day with every action I take.”

“Regardless, there’s a reason why it took fewer generations for humanity to fall to the Eternal Sun than the Eternal Night. Its cursed light even reaches us in here and can affect our decision making. We’ll go over what we know, bless ourselves, then reconvene to decide on our course of action.”

“I think our next course of action is obvious and there’s no need to go over anything else.”

“We’ll take a vote on it.”

The leaders vote and those who want to wait to make a decision win with the most votes. Annoyed by this, Maryam goes off the area of the underground city where most of her supporters live. This area like the others is decorated with pictures of scenes from Scripture, saints, the Blessed Mother, and Christ. blessed Stained glass windows let some of the light from above in for the underground farms while dimming the influence of the Eternal Sun. Candle lighters go about their business replacing the old, blessed candles with new ones and relighting them for the deceased, the people suffering in the world, and to further dull the influence of the Sun.

Unique to this section of the underground is the number of penitents doing their penance for the sins of the world and the beastmen that make up more of the population here than the rest of the underground not because of discrimination, but because of the Meridies family history of utilizing and obtaining equality for them so they are viewed as humans and the sacraments they receive are considered valid. Many greet Maryam and give her gifts for her return and news of her victory. In return, she gives her simple thanks to the gift givers and cuts her conversations short so that she can go back to her house, which is a large three story house that is embedded in the rock of the underground.

She gets on her knees, looks at the dagger on the end of her scythe then says, “St. Nave grant me strength through your dagger, the last piece of the whip that scarred the body of Christ, and weapon of the Aurora family.” Turning it around to the other end, she says, “St. Longinus, through this spear that pierced the side of Christ, grant me your strength from Heaven.” Turning her eyes to the scythe end, she says, “Saints of the Auroras, the Meridies. Grant me strength.”

After saying her prayers and rosary, Maryam looks outside her windows. Seeing the faithful, happy people go about their business fills her with a burning sense of purpose as if an invisible hand and voice are pushing her to move. It is then that she sees her ancestor, St. Claudius, appear only to her sight. He still bears the scars of his many penances, especially the IHS and cross that glow brighter than the rest of his wounds. His green eyes and blonde hair also glow with a sort of divine radiance that clothes him with grace.

Bowing before him, Maryam says, “What do I owe the honor of your visit?”

“First, you must stand and sit down. I know how tired you are and the desire within you for justice. I had much the same when I was on earth,” Claudius says.

Maryam does as Claudius says. “So, what should I do?”

“When it comes to making important decisions, then you should calm yourself, think, pray, listen to God’s answer in the silence, in your heart, or through some messenger whether it’d be your angel, a stranger, or someone you knew, then you should act. Doing these will ensure that you will make the best decision possible and not fall to any sin or human weakness.”

“I’ve been following that and my heart is telling me to move. The false holiness of the wolves can no longer go on and we have very little time before something big will happen. I must do something even if I have to do it by myself.”

“That is what I thought when I was in your place as well. I know you fight with traditional values and motives in mind.”

“Yes, my family has even given the middle name of Aurora to me and my siblings to remind us of our lineage. If they weren’t doing their penances or protecting the ones that are, then they’d agree with my course of action.”

“Then talk to those who you think agree with you and ask for their advice. If they agree, then make your move. If not, wait for the right opportunity. Remember that what God thinks is the right opportunity is not always what we think it is.”

Thinking about bringing people with her, reminds Maryam of the times when she let people down. Part of her black hair turns white before going back to being black.

“No, no. Enough with these reminders. I know what I must do and I have to do this by myself.”

“I cannot make you do what you aren’t convinced of. I can only intercede for you so that you may be granted God’s mercy.”

“Let God’s justice engulf me if I make a mistake so I may better myself and pay for anything wrong and evil I do. My sins and failures warrant it.”

“You’re thinking about mercy, but I’ll be there should you fall. Just don’t beat yourself up too hard in penance. God is glorified more by your repentance and joy than sorrow for your sins of the past.”

Claudius disappears from Maryam’s sight leaving her to think over what he said to her. Looking back at the people below her and remembering the past, puts stress on her that makes her crave justice and violence, which slowly turns her black hair white and removes the golden glow from her eyes so that they become black.

“No, no! Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. I must do something!” Maryam says before swiping a map, picking up her scythe, and leaving without telling or alerting anyone of her departure.

Using her bestial abilities, Maryam leaps and runs in the direction of London. Along the way, she comes across a convoy that she knows belongs to the wolves. She attacks it without hesitation and kills everyone involved even if they aren’t partially wolf. Going through the contents of the convoy, she finds a map of the area and a supply of the so-called bread in many boxes along with other valuables such as fine clothes, gold, home decorations, and the like. Seeing everything here grows Maryam’s anger, which is also affected by the Eternal Sun. She crosses herself and places the trust of her soul in the hands of God, the Blessed Mother, and many saints before using the darkness within her arm to block out the sun for a bit.

Once she collects herself, she takes a closer look at the map to see that several locations are marked along her path to London that are producers of the so-called bread. Since she still has time to get to London, Maryam decides to hit these locations before she gets there.

“They’ll have to be destroyed sooner or later,” Maryam says to herself.

More temptations begin to come into her mind as the darkness over her is dispelled by the light. Maryam holds her head in pain while she tries to fight the silent whispers some of which almost seem to be reasonable in telling her that she’s doing the wrong thing.

“No, no, no! These temptations are only proof that I’m doing the right thing. The devils don’t tempt their own after all,” Maryam says before continuing on her way while fighting the temptation in her mind.