“Do you feel bad for him?”

Looking back at the bloodied Savior still sobbing quietly in a huddled mess as we leave the longhouse, I can’t help but say, “Umm, yes. Confused mostly, but yes I do feel bad for him.”

Niel grins towards me and says, “Well, don’t. I wasn’t lying when I said he’s the cause of everyone dying last night. Keep this to yourself since no one outside of the Elders knows this, but fath- excuse me, the Savior lost most of his ability to perform magic a few years ago.”

“But what about his moving throne?”

“Notice how I said most of his ability. He can still move that little throne of his up and down as much as he likes but that’s the full extent of his magic now. It’s because of that, that we couldn’t repair the stone ramparts on the eastern wall and as you saw firsthand, it came crumbling down last night. It was only a matter of time until someone figured it out even though we tried throwing bodies upon bodies trying to prevent it.“

“Okay. But isn’t the Savior the leader of The Fold? Is it alright for you to hit him like that?”

With a snort, Niel says, “This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last time I punish him as his dear, penitent son. My fath- The Sav- He has never led The Fold in any capacity. I mean, have you seen him? He’s a fucking monstrosity that should have never been born in this world.”

Holy shit. This is some wild shit I’m hearing. I thought the exact same thing when I first saw the Savior but when Niel says it, it’s laced with pure venom. What a dysfunctional family cult.

Niel continues, “The Elders have led the fold for as long as I can remember. We’re the ones who hold the real power in the Haven and he’s nothing more than a mascot for us at this point. An ugly, utterly reprehensible mascot at that.”

Daaaamn he hates his father. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you despise your father so much?”

Stopping at the longhouse’s double doors, Niel seems lost in his memories when he hears my words. When it seems like he’s sorted through them, he says with a crestfallen tone, “You know, I’m not sure what it is today, but I’m feeling quite talkative. Perhaps it’s your presence that’s lightening up my mood.”

No, I’m sorry Niel, you’re feeling the way you do because of the water you drank today. Niel looks at me with an appreciative gaze and proceeds, “My mother was one of the very first lost ones my father found and threw into The Pit. She miraculously made her way out and wanted to leave but the other trial passers had already formed The Fold by the time she made The Climb and refused to let her go, reasoning the Savior must have an heir. From there, you can imagine the hell she went through.

“Needless to say, my childhood wasn’t the happiest. If you felt pity for him back there, remember that he’s just as much of an abomination on the inside as he is on the outside. Ahh, but I’ve taken enough of your time today, Isaac. I have business I must attend to and considering our current circumstances, I’ll be busy as a bee for the foreseeable future. However, feel free to drop by my humble abode any time you wish. It was a pleasure meeting you in person rather than hearing stories about you from a third party.”

With that, Niel left me at the entrance of the Savior’s longhouse. When I couldn’t see his back anymore, I took a look back at the Savior’s throne and he was back on his feet, limping his way over to his throne. Taking his seat, the throne didn’t move at all much to the Savior’s frustration. Eventually, he slammed his fists down onto the armrests, seemingly hurting himself as he instantly retracted them to his chest, cradling his hands. What a mess.

Glancing up at the sky, I realize it’s almost time for The Pit’s morning food delivery and I hastily make my way to the canteen. I wasn’t expecting my talk with Niel to go that long or be that intense. When people see me making my way through the citadel, they try to talk with me like this morning but they seem overly enthusiastic now. When I tell them I’m busy or outright ignore them, their enthusiasm immediately turns to anger and they curse at my back as I walk away from them. Those Doom Shrooms are definitely doing their job.

When I arrive at the canteen, I see someone leaving with a large sack of bread. Catching up to him, I shout from behind him, “Brother Quil! Let me help you with that.”

Turning around, Quil looks surprised to see me and responds, “Hmm? Brother Isaac, it’s good to see you. Oh, don’t worry about this. I’m just delivering it to The Vessel for the morning delivery and I’ll be done. No need to bother you with it. You must still be exhausted from last night.”

“No, no, I insist. Everyone should lend a hand to each other, right? Let me bring that over for you.”

“Nooo. Brother Isaac, there’s no need. It’s not even that long of a walk. I’ll be fine.”

This fucking… “Alright, Brother Quil, if you insist. It’s just… sigh. Nevermind.”

Seeing me despondent, Quil looks concerned and asks, “What’s wrong, Brother Isaac?”

“No, I can’t bother you with my troubles.”

“Brother Isaac, please! You’re The Fold’s hero! If you have any troubles, feel free to tell me about it and if I can’t help you, I can definitely find someone else who can. It’s the least I can do.”

Glancing up at him with appreciation, I reply hesitantly, “It’s just… I’m sure you’ve noticed how empty the citadel is.”

Nodding in solemn understanding, Quil says, “Yes, I have. We lost a lot of good brothers and sisters yesterday.”

Nodding back in solidarity, I respond, “Right, and since I don’t have any chores around the citadel, it feels like I’m just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. It feels horrible for me to stand around unable to help with anything with all that’s happened.”

“No! Brother Isaac! You’ve done more than enough for The Fold. You’re the reason why we’re still here breathing right now. Now it’s our turn to help you and make sure you have the energy to do the things only you can do while the rest of us handle everything else.”

Seeing his bright eyes and sunny smile, I can’t help but lament that it had to be him of all people delivering the food today. Nodding in understanding, I say, “You’re right. You’re right. But I can’t shake this restlessness inside me. It’s like… I’m feeling guilty for surviving when so many of ours have died. I just need to keep myself busy or else those dark thoughts start seeping in, y’know?”

Quil looks at me with sympathy and responds quietly, “Oh… Brother Isaac.”

“I’m sorry to heap all this on you, Brother Quil. I’ll leave you to your work. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Wait!” Before I can turn around and start walking away sadly, Quil grabs me by the shoulder and says, “I’m the one who’s sorry, Brother Isaac. I didn’t take any of your feelings into account. Here, if this is something you need to do to get your mind off of everything, by all means. But only if you’re sure.”

Quil hands me the sack filled with bread and I look at him with gratitude, saying, “Thank you, Brother Quil. Thank you.”

As I walk towards the wooden platform suspended over The Pit, Quil stays where he is and sees me off like he’s just done me a great service. Dear gods almighty that was a lot of effort for a fucking sack of bread. When I’m on the bridge, I loosen the string around the sack and stuff the note I had written in the morning inside with the bread. With how hard and heavy each roll of bread is, the note should rest at the top neatly but I carry the sack with additional care after tightening the string again just in case.

When I get to The Vessel, I find Yoel operating the contraption. When he asks me why I was the one delivering the bread when I should be resting after yesterday’s heroics, I sigh as I tell the same sob story as I did with Quil. With tears in his eyes, Yoel makes way for me so that I can finish the delivery with my own two hands. Walking into the familiar wooden box, I gently lay down the sack of bread next to the barrel of water that Quil had already rolled here before I caught him. Phew, that was close.

Watching Yoel as closely as I could without making it too suspicious, I memorized exactly what he did to send The Vessel to the bottom of The Pit. As I hung out with him for a bit, gossiping about various topics around the citadel, I waited until it was time to bring The Vessel back up and memorized those motions as well before leaving. Assuming Hawthorne gets my message without a problem, everyone down there should be ready to go for tonight. Seeing how it’s still morning I make my way back to my shack to get as much rest as I can before it’s showtime.

As I was resting, I heard a commotion outside my shack around noon. Sticking my head out, I saw a couple of people in an altercation, shoving each other. With a knowing smile, I pulled my head back in and kept napping. Sometime around the afternoon, I was woken up again by a ruckus and there was a brawl happening a few hundred feet away from my shack involving a dozen people. Looking around, I even found a couple having sex out in the open not even a dozen feet away from the fight without a care in the world. Those 30 fucking gold coins were worth it.

At sunset, the entire citadel devolved into insanity. Fights would break out abruptly, orgies would begin out of nowhere before ending in fights again, people would laugh uncontrollably until their stomachs ached, people would cry hysterically as if the world was ending, and I didn’t see a single person acting normal. Seeing how it was nearly time, I strapped on my belt, weapons, and my leather pack. I’m not expecting to come back to this shack after tonight.

But before I could leave, someone barged into my shack and I nearly unsheathed my sword until I recognized it was Sister Bella. Bella is a little older than me, somewhere in her early 20’s and she was one of the more attractive sisters in The Fold on account of her long, auburn hair and her… assets. Though the only reason I knew her name was because Yoel memorized the name of every pretty sister in the cult. When I had to make up a story to tell Gavin, she was the first one who came to mind. Although, I certainly wasn’t expecting things to end up like this because of what I said that night a few weeks ago.

Seeing me, Bella’s face blossomed into a smile and she said, “Brother Isaac, you’re here.”

“Uhh, yeah. This is my shack after all.”

Bella giggles and replies, “Oh, Brother Isaac. You’re so funny.”

“... Right. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get some food.”

When I get up, Bella doesn’t move away from the door and instead asks, “Brother Isaac... Do you think I’m pretty?”

Fuck me… how do I deal with this? I never received any fucking training for this. I try to remember the things Bertrand said to the women at the brothels he brought me to because I don’t know what else to say. Remembering a line he liked using, I answered, “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life, darlin’.”

Smiling at me, Bella loosened the strings around her collar and disrobed, her clothes falling to the ground. Fully nude, she slowly walked over to me, gentle with each step. Stunned, all I could do was stand there, frozen. Those godsdamned Doom Shrooms!