《Tearha: Titan War》Chapter Twenty-One: Titans May Die
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The church building of Moira was not what Adelle expected. For some reason, she thought the structure would be closer to monuments of power such as the imposing Tower of Everwind built by Lord Light. Some form of architectural regalia to show the world its strength. Instead, the building was just another wallhouse in a row of them along the streets, though the partition was twice as large as the others in its neighbourhood. They were a few minutes away from the designated gathering time, and people of all races were flowing steadily through the door. A collection scanner next to the entrance took donations.
According to Eccles, the Church of Moira sprang up some time within the last 3 or 5 years and grew quickly for its size. They now had dozens of chapters in both Citi and Citidale. Some had sprung up in multiple outskirt villages. They now had claimed members in 11% of the population and in positions of high power, though many of the names of those in-charge were kept secret, even to the informant. Eccles even uncharacteristically warned them to be careful of who they messed with within the walls of the buildings. One wrong move and they could draw the ire of those that had the capability to hunt them down to the edge of the continent.
There was also a disproportionate membership where they drew the most people from the extreme ends of wealth. Those impoverished and the stinking filthy rich, which was something Luce said to be wary of. The only times in history when those two classes came together were for extreme circumstances in disasters and wars; Times of great solidarity and expansions when the powerful needed an army and the poor needed a societal bond. The church they were headed to were in one of the wealthier districts, and were likely to have access to resources for their gatherings that other churches would not be able to procure which meant the meeting was likely more than just talk.
Eccles did know more but refused to divulge any further information. "It would be fun to see how you react," he had said before they left the hotel.
"Come on," Luce egged them to go into the church.
The pair walked up to the toll and Luce contributed a dozen credits. The gatekeeper smiled and waved them in through the door.
As soon as they stepped in, Adelle gasped out, "Now this is more like it."
Her previous expectations of a monument to power was proved correct. The immediate inside was a large chamber that took up all three stories of the building. A door to the left likely let out to whatever management area the place kept. Dangling from the walls were hundreds, if not thousands of timepieces left on strings. Those that were mechanical in nature ticked away each second in disturbing unison. Digital watches glowed mixtures of green, yellow, and red eyes in the dim dark. Smooth luminosities in the corners of the ceiling gave the room a ethereal lighting. Pews were arranged in a circle within the chamber, and in the middle of it all, a round standing podium sat atop a stained glass floor depicting the whirling of yellow and gold dust towards the centre.
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Adelle asked, "How do we do this?"
"We sit," Luce replied. "And we listen. See what they have to say, but more importantly, how they say it."
"And if we don't like it?"
"We walk away, I guess."
After a moment staring, pacing, and looking, they found a seat at the far corner of the room in what seemed to be the darkest place in there. Adelle took the seat positioned right opposite the door so that she could teleport them out and make a quick getaway if needed. As they sat, more people flowed in. 15 minutes past the meeting time the room was standing room only with the last couple of dozens of church goers strolling in. The lights dimmed further until they realised the glass floor at the centre was emitting its own pale light. A figure walked through the seats and up onto the podium, the glow from below shadowed him unnaturally.
Wearing a white cloak, the hume man had well trimmed blond hair that sparkled above the glow like stars, not that Adelle thought anyone on the clouded continent knew what stars were like. The man picked up a thick black rod with a silver bulb and spoke into it. His voice boomed into the room from around them and Adelle was glad Luce prepared her for the oddity of technology she would see. Otherwise, she might have jumped and the voice being amplified.
"Greetings, brothers and sisters, friends and family. My name is Andreas, and I welcome you into our humble abode. I understand there are quite a few newcomers in today's meeting. We Moirans welcome all." There was a round of claps and Adelle and Luce exchanged odd glances.
The man continued his speech, mostly speaking of family and the ideas of living simply. Five minutes passed and nothing substantial was spoken, though a few words of kindness for treatments between races were received with claps and cheers. Fifteen minutes in and Adelle felt herself relaxing. The darkened atmosphere and stillness of the room was almost meditative in quality, and she hated that feeling. Taking a deep breath to clear her head, she realised soft music had been mixed into the background and she was reminded of nights in the forest, listening to the nearby stream in order to fall asleep.
"What's wrong?" Luce whispered.
"I don't like it. This place. It's making my skin crawl."
Luce gave a questioning look, barely visible in the dark. "Why? It's quite comfortable here."
"That's the point," she answered. "It's almost as if they are forcing us to let down our guards."
For another ten minutes or so, speaker Andreas continued his talk, eliciting a few more rounds of agreements and applause when mentioning the senseless death of soldiers in the army. Nothing radical seemed to be coming up and a few people had already left. Each body leaving the door invited a beam of light from the outside to temporarily cut through the darkness. Adelle was about to suggest to leave.
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"We are tired of this war," Andreas suggested, and the sudden change in tone - a rise in octave - caught Adelle's attention. "Too many have died for a battle that have moved back and forth by lengths of feets over the years, and the fighting has only become more violent since the introductions of the Titans."
A murmur of agreements washed over the crowd.
Andreas continued, "The Titans, they are alive. Born as beings of war, they know only destruction. They are the reason why this war has continued, why we cannot put an end to the fighting. Too long we have been numbed to the lost of lives, thinking so because we are not the ones dying. Too long have we perverted the value of life with creatures of destruction. Too long, far too long..." his voice trailed off sombrely. "We need peace, and we can only do so by putting away our tools of destructions."
Luce whispered, "I don't like this."
"This war, this Titan War has gone on for far too long. Moira teaches us that we cannot manipulate nature, that we are to only nurture it, not to use it for war and destruction. We have come too far and have created both life and death. No. We cannot be like the ancients who made the humans, tools of war to channel the power of magic. Look what happened to them? Long since extinct, neither their culture nor knowledge left for the future, a dust speckled in time. Is that what we want to be?"
A resounding "No!" echoed around the room.
"Are we going to continue fighting?"
"No!"
"Then we should end the threats of Titans, once and for all!" As the crowd cheered, he motioned off stage and two helpers rolled a cart with two blanketed containers over to him.
He pulled one of the cloth off to reveal a cage. Within it was a tiny spider-like mech with five long mechanical legs, scuttling itself into the corner of its confinement away from Andreas.
"First, we will put an end to the mechs." From under his robe, Andreas pulled out a pistol-like weapon.
He pointed it at the spider mech and pulled the trigger. The lights below the glass flickered and the spider mech jumped, sparks flying out of the joints in its legs. The mech crumbled under its weight, legs twitching as its parts fried and the glint in its sensors faded. Thin black smoke wisped from the carcass.
Some in the crowds stood up with gasps. Others with excited claps.
Luce shot to her feet too, but for far different reasons. "They killed it..."
Adelle was slowly getting to her feet too. She had a feeling she knew what was about to happen and wished they had their weapons with them.
Andreas turned to the second cover and pulled, showing another cage. Within it was a small golem no bigger than a puppy. It was simply shaped in a sphere, a smoky black glass 'eye' the size of a crystal ball shifted upon the dirt of its body, the magic circuits on the creature changing and shifting connections as it moved its eye. The golem too, rolled away from Andreas, keeping its eye on the approaching hume.
"And after the mechs," the man spouted with a grin as plant vines crept out from under his extended sleeve towards the golem. "We deal with the golems, and bring back peace to The Burning South!"
Luce launched herself over the pew and nimbly stepped on the spine of the seat before them. She jumped from bench to bench, rushing towards Andreas. The preacher turned in wide eyed shock at the attacker rushing for him.
Adelle did one better, teleporting above the man to the gasp of the crowd. She raised her leg and pushed her body forward. Her feet axed down, slamming into the skull of Andreas and sending the man crumpling to the ground before she landed on her feet. The crowd went into a panic, screaming and running for the door, toppling pews and assistants trying to rush the two Titan Rangers.
Luce was next to Adelle and one of the assistants rushed the former. Luce sidestepped a tackle and kneed the attacker in the groin, causing them to lurch forward in a painful bent. Balling both her fists, Luce raised her arms and smashed into the back of the assistant and Adelle was quickly reminded that despite being a preferred pacifist, Luce was a highly trained elite soldier, a former Titan Hunter.
Adelle placed her hand on the cage and teleported the top away, leaving clear bifurcations on the grill. Luce reached in and picked up the creature who still seemed to be trying to roll away.
Luce voiced kindly. "Hey... we're friends. We're here to help." The little Roller seemed to stop struggling, its glass eye shifting between the two of them and Luce turned to Adelle and said, "Get us out of here."
"You don't have to tell me twice."
Adelle grabbed Luce's wrist and looked out the door. With a line of sight to the streets outside, she teleported them out into the open.
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