บท 157: Chapter 46.2
After what seemed like days, Elizabeth exited the bathroom with a glowingly refreshed face but puffy eyes. Jason frowned when he noticed her bandaged hand while she sat down but neither of them spoke, each hesitating on what to say or do.
"Let's not talk about …" Jason hesitated in using the word 'us'. He wasn't sure if there was anything between them anymore. "What can you tell me about this group that's controlling Katie."
Katie . .
Hearing Jason calling another woman so intimately crushed Elizabeth's heart and she realized then what it was that had been bothering her ever since they met recently. There was this gap, no matter how close he insisted they were, no matter how intimate they were that night, a gap had formed between them. Time and distance had driven them apart.
"Ay don't know much, only their name and whispers," Elizabeth finally spoke, her voice hoarse and heavy. She coughed before continuing. "They're known as the Societas ex Revelationis."
"Society of Revelation? Latin," Jason murmured to himself and Elizabeth remained silent. "They a branch of the church or something?"
"No, they're older than even the formation of Christianity," Elizabeth shook her head. "And this is a relatively new name fer them. They seem to have had several other names in the past."
Over two thousand years old? Jason mulled over it for a moment. "Revelations . . ."
"It's an allegory to the Book of Revelation," Elizabeth explained. "Which itself represents the Apocalypse."
"So, we're dealing with a bunch of cultists," Jason surmised and Elizabeth shook her head.
"No, they're not just some cultists," Elizabeth denied. "They have their hands in everything, everywhere. Even here. What's worse, some of their people have . . . abilities."
"Espers? No, Spellcasters or Practitioners?"
"Neither," Elizabeth replied with a scowl; she seemed to be remembering something unpleasant. "They didn't use Aether or Qi. If anything, it seemed like Magick. And theoretically, with the emergence of Aether, it is possible to convert and use Mana but . . ."
"But?" Jason pressed, even though deep down he already knew the answer.
"They were very similar to my special skill, Aura Sight," Elizabeth hesitated but finally explained. "But there was something . . . oppressive. The air became heavy, an' it weren't from a Killing Aura like yours, it was something . . . more primal. Archaic, but divine."
Jason narrowed his eyes when he heard her and he began tapping his fingers. He recalled hearing how the Pyramid of Ra's when he first arrived in Sanctuary and the unnerving feeling as though everything was falling in place, as though every step he took was planned and mapped by some unknown hand multiplied.
Revelations . . . heralding the end of times . . . World War III . . . the arrival of Psionic Aether . . . the re-emergence of Practitioners . . . and now, powers originating from Divinity . . .
Jason frowned as he put the pieces together like a jigsaw.
Could it be that these . . . this Society . . . are they the followers of Them? Are They trying to return?
Jason stared out into the open balcony, his thoughts as murky as the cloudy evening sky.
Are the Gods truly involved? Jason asked himself grimly.
Even though the memories of his previous incarnations were botched and fragmented, he would still dream of a time when Gods, Pantheons, existed. They followed their whims, playing with the lives of mortals like a child would with their dolls, with nary a feeling of guilt or concern. Just as they did with his previous life. No, lives.
Jason raised his head and looked up at the ceiling. His obsidian eyes seemed to pierce through the building and into the sky, gazing up towards the abyss that was space.
Even if they are behind all this, it would still take them centuries to break through, Jason thought. There's time to get stronger. And when I do . . . I'll hunt every one of them. I'll rip their hypocritical smiles off their faces, rend their flesh from their bones, and suck their marrow dry. I WILL KILL THEM.
The temperature in the room dropped and a heaviness engulfed Elizabeth as Jason released his Killing Aura. Elizabeth shuddered and reached out, her shaky hand touched Jason's shoulder and immediately he stopped with a start.
"Sorry," Jason said quietly and Elizabeth smiled forlornly.
"It's fine, I'm used to it," she answered softly.
Jason looked away with guilt, his feeling in turmoil. He knew that he wasn't an easy child to deal with when he was younger. Case in point, he could hardly contain his bloodlust or Killing Aura, even more so when he first attempted to live a normal life.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about this Society?" Jason asked.
"They're sneaky gets," Elizabeth replied. "Years ago there was a discrepancy in the bookkeeping records that Morta had. Worse, it was fer centuries and once the higher-ups knew, they sent me to figure it out.
"And so, I did. And I followed me leads to a secret laboratory in Morocco, where another get, an insufferable numpty bawbag, went all Kill Bill and burnt it to the ground," Elizabeth glared at Jason. [1]
Helena . . . and . . . Project Chimera . . . of course, Jason thought with a groan.
"Hmm. Those bastards," the latter quickly realized that the 'numpty bawbag' Elizabeth referred to was him; she was referring to his subsequent rampage once he discovered how the hidden lab had dissected his sister, Helena. "Thought I killed every one of them."
"All of thems in Morocco, aye. But that was just a branch," Elizabeth said. "They are everywhere and they also have connections to several groups, including your lassie's. The Asāsiyyūn."
"Hmm," Jason grunted with annoyance as soon as that name came up.
"Still dun' like 'em?" Elizabeth noticed him grimacing and couldn't help but ask. It had been years, but it seemed like Jason was still annoyed at the group.
"No. They've always been an annoyance," Jason brusquely replied.
The reason why Jason was able to identify the Asāsiyyūn previously was because he had encountered them many times before when he was a child soldier. At that time, they were a frightening existence that was capable of slaughtering dozens of mercenaries with their eyes blindfolded and most, including Jason, would avoid them. One time, Jason was unfortunate to encounter one, and he almost died before taking the assassin down.
"Well, they would know more about the Society. After all, they've been lending them one of their best assassins for some time now," Elizabeth said.
"And that's why you want to capture Katelyn? For information?"
"Aye."
"I see," Jason was silently considering his options before turning to look at Elizabeth. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure of what to say before standing up reluctantly. "I should go."
[1] Get: Scottish version of git, means incompetent person.
Numpty: idiotic
Bawbag: Baw means dick, so she called him a dick bag. I think.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง