Gates of Penance-Chapter 35: Dire situation

Armon sat at one side of the table with a calm expression on his face. Sitting opposite of him was a woman that looked similar to Armon himself. Nacht had seen a silhouette of this person before and recognized her as Historia, Armon’s sister. Magi was also present at the table, looking at him with an expectant look.

Mirad gestured for him to take the seat at the end of the table while he went and took the seat opposite of Magi. They both sat down; however, Nacht noticed that the seat at the head of the table was empty.

Noticing his gaze, Armon spoke in a matter of fact voice.

"We will start the meeting in a moment when Lady Nora joins us. We called you as soon as we heard she had arrived from her expedition, she will be joining us at any moment."

Suddenly, a new person entered the chamber.

Nacht heard Mirad mumble underneath his breath.

"Speak of the devil."

The person that had entered the chamber was fairly tall. She had long flowing white hair and bright golden eyes. In contrast to the black battle gear that everyone else was wearing, her battle gear was white, making her stand out among everyone else in the room.

The person that Nacht presumed to be Nora, took a seat at the head of the table and spoke in an authoritative tone.

"Well, I suppose we should start."

She looked across the table directly at Nacht.

"State your name and clan."

Nacht furrowed his brows.

He didn’t have a clan. he was barely considered a citizen of District Nine. Each district had a vassal clan ruling them and they were all loyal to the capital. Each district had a role to play in the capital’s success and continued rule. For instance, his own district provided tributes to be sacrificed to then in turn create more enlightened thus strengthening the capital’s dominance.

The clan that ruled over Nacht’s own district was Clan Chalcore who were subordinate to the clan that ruled over the capital, High Clan Halvyr.

Despite being a supposed citizen of his district, Nacht had no idea of anything concerning Clan Chalcore let alone any of the other vassal clans. This meant that he couldn’t even pretend to be from another clan, plus he didn’t have any clan’s primary ability to prove his lineage.

"I am Nacht... of no clan."

The room went silent.

Nora frowned and spoke in an incredulous tone.

"You are not of the enlightened?"

Nacht shifted uncomfortably under everyone’s unblinking gaze.

"No."

Magi spoke next.

"Then where are you from?"

Nacht didn’t know how the other enlightened felt about his humble home, but he decided to tell them anyway.

"I am from Ashenbale, a citizen of District Nine under the rule of Clan Chalcore."

Armon spoke in a blunt tone.

"Your one of those—-"

Nora put up a hand to stop him then looked at Nacht.

"You must be confused as to what situation you have found yourself in, am I wrong?"

Nacht nodded.

Once he finally escaped penance and became a complete enlightened, he barely had enough time to figure out his new abilities and punishment before he was taken by two sinners who told him that everything will be explained eventually.

Now Nacht had found himself inside a fortress in the middle of gods knew where, sitting at a table and having a meeting with a couple of enlightened sinners he knew nothing about.

"First of all, let me introduce myself."

She stood up from her seat and put a fist to her heart.

"I am Nora, of High Clan Lightguard."

She then gestured to the others at the table.

One by one, every enlightened at the table–except for Historia—introduced themselves, performing the same gesture.

"I am Armon, of Clan Nightward."

"Magi is of Lesser Clan Wayfare."

"I am Mirad, of Lesser Clan Mirage."

Nacht was already introduced to Armon and Mirad so he didn’t pay much attention when they spoke. However, he was interested in the clan hierarchy among the different sinners. Nacht recalled that the clans were ranked based on how far one of them walked on the path of enlightenment.

If the clan’s highest ranking member conquered the first gate, then they would be considered a lesser clan. If a clan had a redeemer, then it would be considered a clan. If a clan had an exalt, then it would be considered a high clan. Finally, if a clan had a champion, then it would be considered a crown clan.

Once they all sat back down, Nora spoke in a more dire tone.

"Needless to say, we are all quite far away from home. We are somewhat in the middle of a red region, that is to the west of humanities influence. We have already tried and failed to leave this place twice now with no luck."

He finally got a rough idea of where he was in the world. Nacht didn’t know all of the different categories of regions that the enlightened have labelled to categorize all of the danger zones of their world, but going by the tone of her voice, a red region had to be bad.

Nora looked at Historia.

"Historia has a high attunement to destiny as well as the flow of time. She saw a future in which we get out of this mess and she saw a vision of the ruined cathedral we had all but forgotten."

Nacht tilted his head.

’Is that how they knew I was coming?’

He was once again surprised by the different abilities that the enlightened possessed. He already knew from his own runes how wondrous an enlightened’s abilities can be, but being able to see events in the future was something entirely out of his expectations.

Nora turned to look at Nacht.

"And now that has led us to you."

She leaned back in her chair.

"We believe that you are our ticket out of here."