Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"I see...so, you managed to locate their hideout, but you failed to eliminate them?" Remarked Bishop Malachite with a strained look on his face, doing his best to keep his displeasure from showing.

"Yes, Father, you have our deepest apologies for this failure."

"Not only did we fail to carry out what you asked of us, but we also lost more than two thirds of the forces we dispatched. We have no excuse for such a disgraceful performance, we shall accept any punishment."

The survivors among the Inquisitors who'd attacked The Irregulars' hideout had returned to Malachite Town, only eight of them left alive, including Ravella.

When making their retreat, Celia had been careful to aim her explosions away from Ravella in order to avoid fatally injuring or killing her, so she'd survived and made it out mostly unscathed.

And while the Inquisitors under Bishop Malachite's control had dealt a significant blow to The Irregulars by exposing their hideout, The Irregulars in turn had dealt a serious blow to the Bishop by wiping out more than twenty of his Inquisitors...

"Damn it! I've lost over half the Inquisitors who are under my control! Should I have sent more of them? Or maybe less? I suppose there's no point in dwelling on it...more importantly, I only have about a dozen Inquisitors under my control now. I could try to bolster those numbers by getting more Inquisitors under the effects of this Charm Ring, but if too many Inquisitors hang around Malachite Town, it'll draw attention to me.

I have no choice but to lay low now, I can't afford to be reckless and try to make up for this failure...I'll just have to cut my losses and move past it. Damn it, this couldn't have gone worse!" He thought to himself in frustration, before composing himself and putting on a smile as he addressed the Inquisitors, "Please, lift your heads. While you did fail, there's nothing to be accomplished by lamenting over it. It would be far more productive to look forward and make sure that you don't repeat the same mistakes next time."

"We are undeserving of your kindness, Father Malachite."

"It's a true honor to serve such a benevolent man."

"We shall not fail you again, even at the cost of our lives."

"The problem is that you idiots did fail, despite the cost of over twenty of your worthless lives!" The Bishop thought to himself in frustration, before responding, "Return to your normal duties for now...hm, and make a report to the Knights that you discovered The Irregulars' hideout, say that you spotted one of them and followed them to that location, but they caught on and managed to escape after setting the area on fire."

"Very well, Father, as you command."

"That should keep the Knights from growing suspicious of me, at least for now," Thought the Bishop as the Inquisitors scattered and hid throughout the church, except for Ravella, before he glanced at her and responded, "Hm? What is it?"

"The Homunculus...he reacted strangely...when he broke...my mask and saw...my face. He knew...my name. And he...said that I...am his...sister," She remarked in a stilted, emotionless tone.

"Yeah? And?"

"I felt...a strange feeling...in my chest. When I attacked him...it hurt. It is...confusing," She replied with a blank tilt of her head, her expression eerily devoid of emotion.

"Ugh, talk about creepy...I don't think this will be a problem, but I should quash it nevertheless," He thought to himself, before responding, "I command you...if and when you get that feeling again, pay it no mind, just ignore it. Understood?"

"Yes...I understand..."

"Now, go, join the others and lay low," He instructed her with a sigh, before thinking as she nodded and left, "Hm, maybe I went a bit too overboard with my initial commands to her after putting the Devotion Collar on her, I might have made them too complex."

Despite the fact that the Ancient Magic Artifact was far more effective than the Enslavement Collars of the current era, the Bishop's cautious and paranoid nature led him to give her hundreds of intricate commands to make sure there were no loopholes through which she could wind up breaking free of the collar's effects.

He also gave her a number of commands that effectively created something of an artificial personality that, while remaining loyal to him, would be able to make decisions to an extent, instead of being a mindless puppet.

He figured that she'd be much more useful if she was unable to make decisions to adapt in unexpected situations or when things don't go as planned, otherwise she'd have to be given new instructions every time such situations arose.

"Should I remove all the commands I gave her and start over from scatch? No, that's a bit excessive and unnecessary...yeah, it's fine, I've thoroughly tested it and confirmed that the collar can't be broken or forcibly removed, it's effectively indestructible, which seems to be the case with most Ancient Magic Artifacts, like how the Charm Ring was completely undamaged when the Ruby Village church burned down.

And even there are some cracks or loopholes in the commands I gave her, those won't be nearly enough to free her of the effects of the collar. And I can easily paper over any cracks that I discover with new commands, like I just did. It's too bad the Artifact doesn't completely destroy her real personality, it seems more like it's just suppressed and dormant within her...that's probably what triggered the reaction to seeing her brother, the Homunculus. Hm, it's probably for the best if I keep her away from him from here on, I don't want his triggering any memories or emotions in her, after all..."

Meanwhile, a day later in Pearl Forest...

"Oh, there you guys are! I've been looking for you," Remarked Raven, as he swooped down towards a row of bushes where Aster and Tacitus were hiding, startling them.

"Wha-...oh, it's just you, Raven. Glad to see you're okay, we didn't know what to think after seeing the hideout, or rather, what was left of it. Do you know if the others are okay?" Responded Aster with a look of dread, his body slightly tensed as he stood up and met Raven's gaze.

"Yeah, they're all just fine, don't worry."

"How did you find us, anyway?" Inquired Tacitus curiously.

"Well, the hideout burned down three days ago, and I'd been swinging by the area around that spot everyday since, to try and track you two down...and today, I happened to pick up your scents and followed the trail, which led me here," Explained Raven in response.

"What in the world happened, anyway? How the hideout, not to mention the section of the forest around it, burn down?" Aster asked him with a frown.

"I'll explain on the way, I'll take you to where the others are," Replied Raven, before telling the two of them everything that had happened three days ago, as he led the way to the cave where the others were.

They were silent as he finished his explanation of the events that had occurred, grim looks on their faces...

"I see, so the Inquisitors found us...from the sound of it, I think Celia's theory is right, the Inquisitors who attacked you were operating independently from the rest of the Inquisition Squad. Otherwise, this entire area would be swarming with Inquisitors by now, and the Knights likely would've gotten involved too," Surmised Aster thoughtfully.

"It's still possible that they might show up sooner or later, they could be gathering up a large force right now," Pointed out Tacitus warily.

"No, I don't think that's very likely...if the Knights and the rest of the Inquisitors have found out, or been informed of, the attack on our hideout, they'll likely assume that we abandoned this area and found a new hiding place in a different location. Therefore, I doubt they'll look for us in Pearl Forest, especially since sending out a large force will weaken their defenses," Reasoned Aster objectively.

"I suppose that makes sense, but we can't yet rule out the possibility that Tacitus is right," Chimed in Raven, before picking up the pace and adding, "There it is, right past those trees, the cave we've been hiding in."

He then led them to the cave, where they regrouped with the others. After a brief bit of catching up, they began discussing their next move...

"I'm certainly on board with destroying the Church of Persona, we'd already intended on doing that, anyway. Raven already took out the church in Ruby Village, even though they have rebuilt it since. Hm, I think out next target should be-...," Began Aster.

"Oh, you should know, the Amber Village church is gone now too. I mean, the building wasn't destroyed or anything, but I did kill the Priest in charge and all the Inquisitors that were present, so yeah," Colt informed him with a grin.

"Huh? When did you-...oh, I take it you and Lexia went to Amber Village instead of training here in Pearl Forest? Well, I'm glad it worked out, but that was a reckless move," Frowned Aster disapprovingly.

"Heh, that's a nice look in your eyes, I'm really liking it..."

"...moving on. Back to what I was saying, for our next move, I believe we should target Garnet City again. We failed the last time we were there, but we've all gotten stronger since then, and this time, we won't be splitting up," Stated Aster with a confident gleam in his eyes.

"That's not a half-bad idea. The churches in the cities are much bigger than the ones in the towns and villages, so if we manage to pull it off, it'll definitely have a significant impact on the Church of Persona as a whole," Nodded Lexia thoughtfully.

"Plus, while the cities are under the protection of the Knight Captains, Garnet City is defended by the weakest of the Captains. Aster almost defeated him by himself last time, so he shouldn't be too big of a threat," Added Celia.

"What do you mean 'almost defeated'? I did defeat him, and pretty easily at that," Frowned Aster indignantly.

"But you failed to kill him, which makes defeating him kinda pointless," Countered Lexia condescendingly.

"Anyway...," Muttered Aster, clearing his throat and adding, "Before our next move, we have a more immediate concern...we need a new hideout."

"God damn it, I'm gonna kill those damned Inquisitors...I worked so hard on the last one, and now I'm going to have to build another one? And it'll have to be done from scratch, everything in our old hideout was thoroughly burnt to a crisp, there was nothing to be salvaged," Complained Tacitus in exasperation.

"Look on the bright side, you won't have to do the heavy lifting by yourself this time, I've got a decent amount of brute strength myself, after all," Remarked Raven, as he patted Tacitus's shoulder with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I guess that's true...oh, and when we were building the old hideout, Aster hadn't yet created his Telekinetic Zone Spell. That Spell should prove highly useful for manual labor," Realized Tacitus, a slightly gleam in his eyes as he narrowed his gaze at Aster.

"Well, we do need to build a new hideout in quick time if we want to make our next move anytime soon, which means we'll all have to pitch us however possible, so I'll do what I can to help speed up the process. Now, then, as for the location...I say we stick to Pearl Forest. Of course, we'll pick a spot that's a good distance away from our old hideout, but I think we should remain in this forest," Replied Aster with a thoughtful nod.

"How come? Wouldn't it be safer to move to a different place?" Inquired Celia uncertainly.

"You'd think so...and I bet our enemies would be inclined to think so too. After all, there's no way we wouldn't move as far away as possible, right? In other words, the last place they'd expect us to be in right now is Pearl Forest. And that's exactly what makes it the ideal place to build our new hideout in."