Heartthrob

Being inside the convent itself struck all three women - Angelien exempt, of course - in a differing, but deeply emotional, way. For Esper James, it was like being back at Tsang: the sleekness of the masonry, the lavish rugs that ran down every hallway, the uniformity of everything that seemed simultaneously at odds and in perfect harmony with the obvious expense that every nook and cranny held. Flashbacks came in rapid repetition, the supposedly hallowed halls of this hidden sanctuary feeling all too similar to the halls of Tsang HQ. EJ's emerald eyes shot over to Angelien, a nervous sweat coming to her brow as she mentally equated the blonde woman to a certain tall, domineering vampire.

The association was involuntary, but still, it had Esper James bearing herself in a way that was undeniably meek by comparison to her early countenance. Purity, by comparison, was rigid. She, too, thought of Tsang... but whereas EJ had been at the height of the compound, walking those gilded halls each and every weekday evening, Purity's reminisce was tinged with a different sort of experience. Deeper in the complex than Esper James even knew existed, much less ventured - the sterile, fluorescent-lit hallways of the R&D department. Disgust welled in Purity's throat along with acrid bile, her heart a ghost of itself made of a sort of anxiety that was only drawn out by agonies relived.

She pulled Esper James to herself as they walked, her whole body tense from the oppression of memory. EJ didn't even look up at her, simply leaning into her lover to share a moment of comfort and solidarity that they both desperately needed. The warmth of physical connection dissuaded some of the discomfort reverie provided, but not enough to completely calm the two. Unlike the blonde and pinkette, however, Esthrielle was enthralled by the sights of the place. Heavy walls of dark stonework, slightly bluish in appearance... Stained glass imitation-windows, given the illusion of an external sun by expertly placed lights on the other side... The smell of myrrh in the air from censers hanging off the walls... And the light of candles set into niches in the walls, each surrounding illuminated saintly icons. It felt to her more like home than anywhere else in Vitus had even come close to.

She was transported back three years, back to the convent she had been trained in. The prosthetic limbs and augmented neural pathways implanted artificial muscle memory and ability, it was true, but one still needed to know when it was appropriate to implement them - this had led Esthrielle to a year-long training regimen with the fellow Knights whose convent she had been assigned to. It was grueling, of course: while false muscle never grew tired, the mortal mind itself waned weary whenever exertion was concerned, if only from the intensity of thought necessitated by preparing for life-or-death combat.

She had trained so long and so very hard, so desperately... Trying to be everything she was meant to be. For Luca, for her father, and for herself, in many ways. She had felt she was finally given a purpose on this earth: to do as she was told, to follow the light of some distant God, to kill in His name. It was fulfilling, really, to be picked up out of destitution and misery and thrust forth into a world of lavish excess in the name of a creator deity who you were told loved you and wanted you to succeed. Even outside of training, she had spent countless hours poring over scripture, learning hymns, offering devotion to the Lord...

And it had brought her joy. Great joy, and a sense of purpose unparalleled. It had brought her to meet interesting people, see interesting places, learn interesting things; if it was God's plan for her to be here, then she had the utmost faith in her creator. A broad smile came upon her as she considered it all, staying close to Luca but not too distant from EJ and Purity. In fact, her mental focus shifted to those two, not for the first time tonight. They had been kinder than she had ever expected denizens of Vitus to be, and while Esper James had gotten her into some situations she'd never wish to relive, she had also shown real, genuine compassion.

The quintet paced through the halls for a time, then, passing multiple doors of heavy wooden make. The scent of myrrh and frankincense began to dull in their senses by time they finally came to a door, no different than the others, that Luca stopped them at. He raised his left hand, palm out and fingers together - a motion to halt. Whatever their destination was, they had arrived. Angelien went to open the door without a word, and once it was swung wide, a comfy-looking dorm room was revealed. Two sets of bunks sat across from one another like a college dorm room; in the middle, two pairs of hardwood chairs were placed near a similarly-made table. Tea had already been prepared by some unseen assistant, and four cups were placed at the center of the arrangement.

Tapestries hung from the walls, and a smaller, doorless archway seemed to lead into a bathroom. There were wardrobes, one for each bunk pair, that were doubtlessly filled with nun's habits. Or armor. Who could say without inspecting further? But that would have to wait - Luca gestured the two guests and their white-haired chaperone into the room, and Angelien offered up a curt bow to the noble before turning about on her heel and exiting. Luca shut the door gingerly, taking the initiative to sit down, beckoning his guests to follow suit. They weren't foolish enough to refuse.

He cleared his throat, a voice so velveteen yet unfamiliar with use pouring forth once he had done so. "So, ladies. Esper James. Purity. My dearest Est... The tea on the table is a chai affair. Very easy to acquire here, much easier than home... Though I prefer coffee. Anyhow, please... Be at rest. Be welcomed. I see you are tense - I would like to emphasize your safety here. You are under my protection." Est's eyes widened at that, and she looked over at the other two women. They didn't know how much weight such a claim bore - that anything that happened to the three of them would be taken as Luca's responsibility.

Purity nodded promptly, a bit awkward yet, and Esper James did the same. She was a bit more graceful in her motions - she had spent the past however-many-decades kissing ass with some of the most powerful people in Vitus, mostly Judas, but still. She had learned, she would like to think, how to please those who were plenty used to getting their respective egos stroked. Luca seemed, to her, like he had been made plenty accustomed to such treatment... The way his mere presence seemed to make Est, Angelien, and even that nun in the garage become more attentive.

"Thank you, Luca... We're really grateful, I assure you. It isn't often that someone vouches for people like us in Vitus, so it means a lot that you would." EJ nodded once more to drive the statement home, and Luca's smile was momentarily interrupted before it returned with a raised brow in tow. The noble leaned forward and propped himself up with one arm on the table, his own deep amber-gold eyes locking with Esper James's. "Oh? People like you? But, I had heard much of the kinship that the..." He struggled momentarily for the word, and turned his gaze nearly sheepishly to Est for the answer.

Her gaze locked with his, and he gave a short nod of affirmation before turning back to the blonde. "...the second-living share. Have I been led astray?" Esthrielle took this moment to turn away, the tips of her ears reddening as best as they were allowed. Purity's face twitched at Luca's words, but she said nothing - it wasn't her place to respond, it was EJ's. EJ returned Luca's probing with a simple barb, though one inoffensive enough as to not truly risk offending him. "I mean poor people, Luca. Unfortunates. The lower-class. I may be second-living, but by no means do my old coworkers feel any bond with me..."

Luca nodded, his smile diminishing sympathetically. He dared not lay a hand upon the blonde, but when he leaned back in his chair, the hand which had once propped him up on the table now went to Est's thigh to give her a concerned squeeze. He continued after a few moments of letting EJ's response hang in the air like heady smoke, line of sight now directed to Purity. "And you, Miss Purity, how did you and Esper James meet? Intel suggests that humans and the second-living don't usually mingle; I assume she really caught your eye, then?" The implication was harmless enough - that EJ was cute enough to become a coffin-jockey for - but Purity's expression only drifted towards mirth in a sarcastic sense.

"Oh, Tsang was whoring me out to help further their research. Literally. Picked EJ up at the club and brought her home, but... I kinda found that she and I had genuine chemistry, not just whatever the fuck people have with eachother in the heat of the dance floor." Purity's matter-of-fact tone did anything but detract from the seriousness of her statement, and all at the table were varying intensities of shocked by the proclamation. EJ's eyes widened and then became sad; she gave her lover's hand a ginger, concerned squeeze. Est's whole body tensed up and her figurative hackles raised immediately, eyes shooting over to gauge Luca's reaction.

Luca, in turn, let his expression soften to one of sympathy and concern - and, it could be argued, pity. He took a deep breath, seeming to be processing what Purity had told him - Purity, in response, took her own cup of tea and sipped from it. She added a cube of sugar after she swallowed. "Purity... I am deeply aggrieved to hear that. It only adds to my distaste for Tsang, of course, but... I would rather that such justification for my people's actions did not come at such a price." He took his own tea cup and sipped at it in turn - he didn't even look over to Esthrielle, though something attested to his awareness of the Wayward's thoughts on this subject.

Purity shrugged. It was in the past now - or at least, that's how she was trying to approach it. Besides, she didn't want to give Luca the satisfaction of seeing her show more emotion than was necessary. Luca's expression faded slightly, returning a few steps towards neutral, though never fully relieving itself of that dismay at being given such unfortunate news. He sipped his tea in silence, and one by one, the women at the table followed suit.

The tea was good, to be blunt. Nice quality, with notes of vanilla and baking spices, carried over to a lingering sweetness by the sugar each added. Est, notably, didn't take hers with any sugar - but no one said anything about it. More sugar for them. Esper James took hers with extra sugar, which nearly made Purity break her stoic facade, but a gentle nudge of affection from Puri's leg to EJ's was enough to convey the message.

Luca began again once they had all imbibed a few sips of the tea, clearing his throat before he spoke. "Anyways... Ladies, Purity and Esper James, I will let you familiarize yourselves with the room. Please, don't head out of it without a chaperone - Esthrielle will do fine in that regard, but I would ask that you respect our home and not wander too far from the accommodations. After all, we have need to discuss some things with you. Esper James, a few brief questions before I go, if you would be so kind?" He cocked his head ever so slightly to the side, the motion alone making him seem more human than the inhuman perfection of his visage may imply. It evoked a mental image of a curious hound.

EJ nodded, taking another sip of her tea. "Of course, Luca. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. What was on your mind?" Luca drained his teacup in a single pull, allowing the flavor to linger as he allowed it ample time to be tasted. Finally, he folded his hands and leaned back in his chair - the dismay was washed away; his face now painted with serious, almost businesslike import. "We would request that you would allow us some minor tests on you. We have yet to have a willing subject for any such things, and while it may sound daunting, in truth the nature of these tests is for information gathering and nothing more."

Testing? That sounded kinda fucked up. What kind of 'testing' would they be doing, she wondered - cutting her open? Extracting her organs? Subjecting her to torture? Sure, Est seemed to trust Luca, and she and Puri had more or less been coerced into doing the same, but... Was he really going to protect them from the rest of the convent? She was doubtful, to be frank. Luca seemed to sense her apprehension, and a smirk broke his placid lips like a fracture in a mirror. "Oh, don't worry - none of it will hurt. In confidence, I admit: we in what you call the East, we lack a great deal of information as to how people like you are even still conscious. How 'second-living' works, in the slightest sense."

He poured himself a new cup of tea, taking a quick swig before continuing on. "What allows you locomotion? What holds your consciousness, your soul, inside a body which should have long ago been interred? Why don't you age, or rot, or change in any way other than how Tsang wants you to? It is a mystery even to our top scientists, in large part because we have never had the chance to study one such as yourself. I would consider it a great personal favor if you would agree, but if you would rather not, I will not force you to. It isn't my way to subject guests to any undue cruelty."

Esthrielle, who had been silent and fairly still until this point, began to nod emphatically. Luca was the nicest man she had ever known... The nicest person in general, frankly. And so, she wanted to try everything she could to convince EJ to go along with it... To get her new friends to get along with the oldest friend she had ever known or held. If she didn't try at least that much, she would have felt herself failing the doges both new and old - Luca and his father. "EJ, EJ, I promise. I promise it'll be okay. We already know how to, y'know, fight second-living, so it's not gonna be weapons testing or anything messed up. Probably just checking how your body works."

Est's gaze immediately turned up to Luca, whose smirk bloomed into a great and beautiful smile. He nodded, going to pat Esthrielle on the head like a particularly obedient pup, ruffling her hair a bit as he did. "Yes, Esper James, it is as Esthrielle says. Diagnostics on your physical limitations and capabilities, and, if you would permit, the taking of a small sample of your flesh to try and decipher how your regenerative abilities are possible. There is so much we don't know... And it is said hatred is born from ignorance. Perhaps knowing you better would help change the hearts and minds of those in the East?"

That was a devilish thing to say - the implication that world peace may be in EJ's hands was as daunting as it was tantalizing and unbelievable. How could she, of all people, be the one who could smooth things over? Was it because of Luca being who he was? Was it even possible that he could convince the others in the New Way that the second-living were equals, not untouchables?

She sighed deeply, body beginning to tremble. She was a reed in a gentle gust, the prelude to a summer storm, but her stalk held fast as she made her decision. "O-Okay... If you think it will help, then I'll do it. I... I don't want us to fight anymore, as childish as that may sound. It... It feels senseless, you know? We all want to live." Her voice broke as she finished that last sentence, and her head dropped down, her eyes falling upon her own lap.

Her own words echoed in her mind for what felt like an eternity. 'We all want to live.' Was that even true? Sure, she did want to live... at least, she thought she did. She did right now, right in this moment, with Purity and Esthrielle here to comfort her. She wanted nothing more than to live safely and comfortably... To put recent events so far behind her that they may as well have happened to someone else. And yet...

Just a few days ago, she had wanted to die. And countless times in her tenure with Tsang, she had considered true death. She had thought so much about it... For so long in her life, countless times, she had dreamt of a final sleep. But, she held true to her words - at least, as true as could be ascertained just by looking at her. Purity's hand slipped into her own and held it tightly, wordlessly offering just what the blonde needed to hear.

Luca nodded, his long ebon hair barely moving, so weighed down with product - if it was even his actual hair at all. "Thank you. For everyone involved, I thank you. I know this seems... ominous. Threatening. But it is as you say: we all want to live. I would rather cease this senseless, directionless violence. There are those more deserving elsewhere in the city."

This was something they could agree upon unanimously, everyone in attendance calling to mind the exact same name. Somewhere distant, at the top of a skyscraper more akin to a fortress than a place of business, a single decrepit soul pondered his city - pondered his subordinates, their actions, their goals. It would be a long road to get to him, this ancient evil, thought EJ. She had never seen Tsang himself before... But she had heard the stories, and that was enough.

Ugh. Her mind drifted then, in that silence, to Kell. Where did she fit into all of this? Where would she and hers end up if anything actually did come of EJ's meeting with Luca and the Knights? What about Roth? Or even Cinna, whom she had only met briefly? Where did the average citizens of Vitus come into play, the vampires, the ghouls, the zombies, the expies? Surely they would not be unscathed.

There she went, thinking as if she was a strategist for some great and terrible battle. She'd been playing too many RTS games in her free time: Complete Conflict Warcudgel Four had given her a brainrot that the cold-wombs couldn't cure. She needed to leave this stuff to people better suited for it... People who thought that way naturally, who were trained to think like that.

The tea was drained then, and swiftly, too. It was plenty satisfying, and tea was a high enough percentage of water rather than plant material that it didn't churn the second-living's stomach. She wondered about that often, about why the second-living could only eat animal products in normal quantities. Why didn't they suffer deficiencies? Why didn't they suffer for their inability to get certain vitamins?

That was what the supplements had been for, of course, but even then... She hadn't had her supplements in weeks, and felt no ill effects. It was bizarre, to think that the life she had been leading for so long was also almost completely encased in enigma. No one really knew how the second-living worked, or why they did - people just accepted them as a constant, as a fact of life.

People simply listened to what Tsang told them. Perhaps, with the Waywards' tests, it could be time to get some answers.