Even though Lucius had a hard time pinpointing his and Anthony's relationship, he liked to think they were close enough for Lucia and Damien's potential marriage to be rather upsetting. Not to mention Lucius' recent association with the BBT.

And Anthony was indeed appropriately upset, even two days later, and Lucius had tried giving him space enough to process it but it couldn't last forever.

Especially not that day.

"Anthony, time to get up," he therefore said while knocking on Anthony's door. "We gotta go soon."

He received no reply, but unfortunately there was no more time for sleeping, and Lucius opened the door just a little. "Can I come in?"

Anthony was still in bed, turning around to look at Lucius with heavier eyelids than usual. He only mumbled something as a reply and Lucius chose to take it as a yes.

As he thought about it, he'd never been in Anthony's bedroom before. He supposed there had never been a reason, but once in there he was curious to look around.

Surprisingly, it was a mess.

"Didn't... The cleaners take care of this room when they were here?" Lucius asked as he eyed the stack of dirty glasses and plates on Anthony's nightstand. He didn't even ask for permission picking up an assortment of differently sized pillows from the floor. "Do you need this many pillows?"

Anthony blinked, squinting to focus on the pile in Lucius' arms.

"Well they're all different," he pointed out with a shrug. "I need them in case I want to change how I sleep."

Lucius raised an eyebrow, but placed them down on a chair next to a small writing desk. He only spared the clutter of notebooks and abandoned projects a concerned look before returning to the bedside.

"So I gather you're not thrilled about getting up, but you promised to come with me."

Anthony groaned, eyebrows wrinkling and he turned his head away.

"Guess we're getting ready in bed then." Lucius shook his head and looked for a comb. He spotted a mirror further away and decided it was his best bet, but to his confusion there was no actual mirror inside the frame.

He frowned, grabbing the large thing to look behind it.

"... Why is your mirror facing the wrong way?" He placed the mirror back and turned to Anthony again. "Kind of... Completely defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

"I know what I look like."

It wasn't like him. Lucius' surprised expression turned into a frown as he looked around again. Anthony didn't seem like the untidy, indifferent kind. Certainly not someone struggling to get out of bed.

"Just because your appearance is generally the same doesn't mean you can't get a little creative." Lucius walked over to Anthony's closet and opened it, throwing boundaries out the window. "Let's at least get you dressed."

"I'll just wear what I did yesterday."

Lucius scanned the nearby furniture to find whatever Anthony was referring to, and clicked his tongue as the man pointed down on the floor at the waistcoat he'd worn the day before.

"That's just a waistcoat," he said, frustration building up as time passed with little productivity. Then his shoulders slumped as the new pattern fell into place, and he pulled away Anthony's blanket. "You're still wearing your clothes in bed?"

"I'm going to wear them today anyway," Anthony argued, finally sitting up in bed as the comfort of his blanket disappeared.

"You're not, you have to wear your rhenelis." Lucius threw his hands out. "So help me find it."

"I will." Anthony waved his hand dismissively. "I just need a moment."

Lucius didn't say anything. He just watched as Anthony sat on the edge of his bed in silence for a minute.

"Could you hand me that?" Anthony finally asked, and pointed at an almost empty glass on the nightstand.

Lucius obeyed, tilting his head as smudges on the glass wanted to stick to his fingers, suggesting the transparent liquid was not water.

"What is it?"

"It helps me get out of bed." Anthony received the glass. "Don't drink it though."

Lucius' lip curled, watching his friend with concern.

"Is it... Alcohol?"

Anthony shook his head.

"Alcohol can't do much to my body, and why would I object to you drinking alcohol?"

"Then what the Waste is it?" Lucius shrugged. "If alcohol doesn't work I assume medicine won't either."

"Well this helps for me," was all Anthony had left to say on the matter, and Lucius agreed to leave it at that. They had to get going.

After an hour of Lucius dragging Anthony to his vanity to fix his hair and forcing him to at least change into his rhenelis they finally walked outside, and Lucius' mood instantly improved.

"That's some luck I've got, right?" He smiled at Anthony as he pulled him along, refusing to let the newly awoken man slow his pace. "To think the arch priest has been staying in Wyrmdon the past week. He barely had to go out of his way to come here."

"Yes, very lucky," Anthony mumbled as he reluctantly walked forward, still looking quite disinterested.

Lucius couldn't blame him, but he wished Anthony could at least show some excitement for his sake. Even if he didn't believe Lucius needed an exorcism it should be more than apparent that Lucius did, and what harm could it do? Either he got rid of that damned Scourge, or it wouldn't work and he'd have to find another way.

As if summoned by the thought, Lucius flinched as he spotted the blight cat staring him down from one of the elevated, wooden bridges again.

Well, there's not much a small blight can do to stop me.

He still felt a little mocked when entering the newly built sanctuary in the western part of town. The one he'd criticised for being unnecessary and only serving the purpose of giving rich people a shorter ride. Just this once, he would keep his mouth shut about that.

"Help me with the vika," he whispered to Anthony before going further, and the latter frowned.

"You don't know how to put it on?"

"Well, I... It's been a while, alright?"

Lucius had no idea how to put the headdress on. The rhenelis was one thing but he'd never worn a vika before. They were only given to adults who'd committed to the faith through ritual, and Lucius had distanced himself long before that. How the Waste was he supposed to know how to wear it?

"Alright, here," Anthony received the vika from Lucius and placed it on his head, starting from the middle and pulling parts of it down methodically until satisfied.

"Does it look alright?" Lucius asked as he felt it on his head, reluctantly curious to see if it suited him.

"It looks beautiful," Anthony confirmed for him instead, and Lucius' cheeks reddened.

"Ah, well... Good." He laughed nervously and took a deep breath. "Let's go then."

Nausea struck him as they entered the chapel, and Lucius hesitated. There were many options to choose from regarding why that was. The Scourge pact, the memories from his choir days, or that one time a priest tried to murder him on the altar.

Then Anthony grabbed his hand, holding it tight, and Lucius blinked.

"I figured maybe you wouldn't feel so good about being here," he whispered, and Lucius grew cold. Did Anthony know something? Had he figured it out?

Lucius was speechless, but fortunately for him, Anthony continued.

"I... Don't want you to go through what you did last time, if I can help it."

"...Oh." Lucius recalled the only time they'd been in a sanctuary together before, when he'd broken down in a burst of tears and panic. "That's... That's alright. I'm alright."

Anthony nodded, slowly as if doubting him, but said no more. He still held Lucius' hand though and it was a welcome gesture.

"Lord Hargreaves." A man with a white, stunningly decorated rhenelis and vika approached them, followed by five others of each archon.

Lucius tried not to glare at the priest representing Dinthia.

"And this is the young man in need of saving, I assume?" The fancy man in front turned to Lucius, who put on his best smile.

"Lucius Cromwell," he introduced himself. "Lucia Cromwell's cousin. Honoured to meet you, sir."

"It is indeed quite troubling for a person of your standing to be plagued by unhallowed forces," the arch priest said, and Lucius masked the urge to vomit with a smile. What the Waste did his assumed status have to do with sanctity?

Yet again, he had to bite his tongue and let the rich be condescending, lest they find him unworthy of salvation.

"We're all done with the preparations," the priest representing Phion said and gestured towards the platform in the middle of the sanctuary, where the altar of The Unity was.

Lucius' stomach turned into a knot, finding it hard to breathe.

"Will you please go and receive your blessing from your archon, then?" The priest of Dyris gestured at Lucius' deep blue rhenelis and then towards Dyris' tower.

Lucius looked over his shoulder, and the nausea returned.

"Right, that's... That's a good idea."

Perhaps it was the size of the sanctuary, or the pace he was walking, but it was as though it took forever to reach the tower, and Lucius wondered if some kind of holy force was trying to keep him away from it.

Or unholy...

The stairs were even worse, but he pushed forward. It was just this once, then he'd be rid of the Scourge.

His legs still trembled as he kneeled down in front of the archon of truth's altar, and he licked his dry lips before linking his fingers and making an attempt to speak.

"I trust you, Dyris... To aid me in..." He trailed off, closing his eyes with a sigh. "... There's no point anymore, is there?"

He traced a hand along the cold stone of the altar, raising the other to touch his vika. Part of him still wished she would listen to him, and shed some light on the mysteries and dangers in his life.

Just... Enlighten me a little.

"The nerve, huh?" He tried to laugh. "Coming back here after everything that happened last time, wearing a headdress I don't deserve and then asking for your blessing..."

Another sigh, this time a resigned one, but he still managed a weak smile.

"But you know... It would be a pretty good kick in Zearis' wrinkly face... Or, not-face."

It was an unconventional prayer, if one could call it that, but Lucius couldn't bring himself to do it properly. If anything, it seemed disrespectful to pretend he'd done nothing wrong and that Dyris should listen to him.

There was one thing he had to do though, even though it pained him, and he bowed his head down to the cold surface.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, clenching his teeth as a jolt of pain shot through his head, but he remained in his position for a while.

The priests had all gathered at the large altar when he left the tower, and Lucius' pulse sped up. Part of him wanted to believe a person such as an arch priest would want what's best for a human, but the memory of that Dinthia priest's knife above his chest still tormented him, and it was more than enough for Lucius to doubt his trust in them.

Thankfully, Anthony followed him to the altar. He didn't step onto the platform but his presence still made it a little easier to breathe.

"Good luck," he said, and Lucius smiled at him.

"Hope I won't need it, but cheers."

To his relief Lucius was not placed to lie down, but instead sit on his knees with fingers linked and head turned towards Dyris' tower. The five priests surrounded him on the edges of the platform while the arch priest kneeled in front of him, placing his hands on Lucius' shoulders.

At first he hummed something. A song Lucius couldn't recognize, but he assumed it was a hymn of sorts. He proceeded to place a hand on Lucius' forehead, then moving to his chest, and finally standing up to begin his chant.

Lucius tried to calm down. What would the Scourge do if it didn't work? What if it did work and the priests somehow found out about the Scourge? What exactly was the best outcome in all of this, and what was the worst?

The other priests joined in on the chanting, and Lucius squinted, trying to feel something happening.

There was a slight headache he supposed, but as far as he knew it could have been there all along. Those faint stings and aches in his body were common after all.

He looked at Anthony, who pursed his lips together with a shrug as if prepared to comfort Lucius while also telling him it was a futile attempt anyway.

Then he blinked, and a frown appeared on his forehead as he leaned forward to look closer, mouth opening to word something Lucius couldn't catch.

Something tickled the side of his head. Both sides of his head, in fact, and Lucius matched Anthony's frown as something ran down his cheek. Looking down at his hands, Lucius was rather certain he knew what it was as small, red dots covered the entirety of his skin. They were growing rapidly in size until trails of blood began covering his body, and Lucius drew a sharp breath.

Every pore on his skin was bleeding.

Calm breathing was not an option anymore, no matter how hard Lucius tried, and he turned to look at the arch priest in search for comfort or indication that it was a natural part of the process, but blood found its way down into his eyes and forced them shut.

In panic, Lucius unlinked his hands to wipe the liquid away from his eyes. The priests were still chanting and he needed to know what was going on.

His heart stopped.

Lucius could swear the inside of his chest had shrivelled up, leaving nothing alive and forcing the rest of the body to grow numb. The first thing he could see as the blood cleared from his eyes was the floor. He was lying on the floor and struggling to breathe, desperately seeking eye contact with someone. The arch priest, Anthony, one of the other priests... Anyone, really, but all he could see was more blood running into his eyes.

No, there was something else. A light flaring through his red tinted sight, and Lucius opened his mouth.

"Wrin—" His mouth filled up with blood as well, words drowning in the liquid that spilled out over his chin.

It was those flames again. The purple flames circling the platform and stirring up chaos. Lucius didn't need his sight to know the fire had already captured most, if not all, the priests. The gutting screams around him were proof enough, but he couldn't care. Most of his focus was on the blood tearing away at his skin while his body convulsed, and despite the sensation of his heart pounding again, Lucius could barely gasp for air.

"You stupid, wretched thing," a voice said, and Lucius was hoisted from the ground by his throat, arch priest only inches away from him with a sinister look in his eyes. "And I thought you couldn't possibly be more pitiful, but it's almost laughable how easily you prove me wrong."

Lucius tried to blink the blur from his eyes, squinting to stare at the priest in confusion. He tried to speak again, but ended up retching as blood found its way from his stomach to his throat.

"What a thrilling experience though. Almost makes me want to thank you," the arch priest admitted, and Lucius stared in horror as skin began to tear in the man's face, opening up gashes where a cluster of deep red growths bubbled up to the surface. "I never thought I would get an opportunity like this so soon, that perhaps you would hesitate even for just a moment. But no, you happily gave in to your delusional arrogance without a second thought and without questioning just how a ritual like this works."

The priest pulled him even closer, crunching sounds emanating as bones cracked and a large part of his face twisted and grew, skin almost gone now and veins bursting from expansion.

"So thank you, my miserable game, for tearing up the planes and letting me through."

Finally, Lucius managed to cough out enough blood to speak.

"... Zearis?" He stared in horror at the priest's transmuting appearance, only now noticing the purple glow in his eyes. "Why? H—How?"

The Scourge smiled, wide enough to rip apart the corners of the priest's mouth.

"Finally, an appropriate reaction, and yes, you're right to be scared. This poor vessel could easily have been you, and I believe it's becoming clear that no human could ever hope to contain an entity like me." It grabbed a hold of Lucius' throat. "So there's a piece of that enlightenment you so desperately prayed for."

Lucius turned his gaze to the statue of Dyris that adorned her tower. Of course she wouldn't help him. She never had when he was a child, and she certainly wouldn't now.

"Please," he whispered to the Scourge. He should have fainted by now. Why was he still conscious? Why did his body insist on experiencing this?

"Fortunately for you, I have other plans in mind." The Scourge suddenly ripped the top of Lucius' rhenelis to shreds, and a sharp pain seared through his chest as the priest's hand dug into his skin.

Lucius spat out blood, trying to scream in an effort to relieve the pain but no sounds came out. Instead his breath choked again, and a pulsating sensation spread from below his collarbone and up over his shoulders and throat.

"Uncomfortable, is it?" the Scourge asked, twisting its hand in Lucius' chest. "It's understandable. You're dying, after all."

Lucius' mouth opened to protest. Not now. He couldn't die now.

Then the priest was pushed away, and Lucius could draw a deep breath of air as Anthony threw his arms around him.

His skin had been burnt to an alarming degree and his clothes were barely distinguishable from cinder. Considering the fate of the other priests Lucius concluded that he'd looked even worse before, and had only recently healed enough to move.

"Anth—" Lucius croaked, words getting stuck in his throat and all that came out afterwards was a trembling sob.

"It's—It's going to be fine," Anthony whispered, expression looking nowhere near convinced, but he held Lucius tight and turned his head to look at the priest, who'd barely made it up from the floor.

"You," the Scourge's distorted voice growled, blood soaking through the priest's rhenelis while most of it streamed down to the floor. "You have no part in this, you cheating, cowardly abomination."

The priest's body had reached its limit though, and it sank to the floor again to bathe in its spilt blood before the Scourge could command it to move.

"Looks like I'm out of time," it said, eyes rotting away and it made a last effort to force a smile onto the desecrated man's lips. "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, and I think you've learned your lesson now."

A crumbling sound caught Lucius' attention, and large cracks in the floor spread from underneath the broken body. Every increasingly large rift found its way through the sanctuary, making the bridges and walls crumble and pieces of the balconies collapse.

At the rate it was happening, the entire building would cave in within the minute, and Lucius doubted he had strength enough in his body to walk. He still had to though. Even if Anthony carried him he wouldn't be able to get them both out in time.

It had to work. He'd just need to make it happen. Summoning the last strength he had left, Lucius got up on his knees and looked towards the entrance.

And then he fainted.