9: The Inquisition
Phantasia sat down on the swing next to her and looked out across the dusty horizon. She could sense things out there in the wastelands that, she hoped, Shelley was unaware of. Demons prowled the ruined world, while life corrupted by dark energies sought unwary travellers to prey upon. She knew that there were people – humans and faeries – who were out there doing their best to keep those forces at bay, but now she also knew there were such forces working inside the town itself, corrupting it from within.
“I wanted to…” Phantasia paused, knowing what she was about to say might arouse bad memories, “I wanted to ask you about this Inquisition thing. Who they are, what they want, you know? Stuff like that…”
Shelley shivered slightly and bit her lip, but managed to mumble a reluctant answer.
“Godhand. They’re with Godhand. You know them, right?”
“Nope, just heard…” she paused for a split second, recalling that she had heard the name from Kaori, “…someone mention them before,”
Shelley stared at Phantasia with wide eyes. “You really must be from somewhere far away,” she said, and for the first time Phantasia caught the hint of a smile from her tiny mouth, “Godhand’s some religious cult and their leader, Bishop Wotan, controls the town. The Inquisitors are…” she jumped down from the swing and walked forward a little, keeping her back turned to Phantasia – not that it mattered, as Phantasia could tell she was starting to tear up, “They hunt down heretics. People connected to the occult. That’s what they say, but really, it’s people they don’t like. Like me, and my mum… They said I’m evil, that I’m a demon…”
Phantasia walked over and placed a hand on Shelley’s shoulder, ignoring the ripples of negative energies that were beginning to emanate from her. “You’re not a demon…” was all she could say.
Shelley began to walk away, shunning Phantasia’s empathy. “Then why does that thing keep coming in my dreams? That shadow thing? It keeps reaching out to me…”
The demon, thought Phantasia, it had a hold on her after all!
“Maybe,” she said, thinking quickly, “Maybe that wasn’t your fault. What if some other people did it, and they tried to set you up? It could have been someone you know, even!”
“Elone?” she sneered, “Or maybe Kaori? Vincent’s always bullying me. No one cares, they’re all the same. Maybe it’s because I am a demon, and they all see it…”
Shelley kicked some stones across the dirt and shuffled away, her hands in her pockets. “I don’t need friends,” she said as she wandered off, “You’re better off without me. Then she might talk to you again…” The darkness that was surrounding her had intensified tenfold as her thoughts lingered on her peers and their resentments – things Phantasia didn’t really understand. As much as she wanted to help, she really didn’t know how, and all she could do was watch Shelley scramble over the fence and away into her own self-imposed nightmares.
***
