Judgement Blood: A Celestial's Vendetta

"A red cloud, huh?" Alexander muttered.

Ilyas had just finished telling them the details of what had happened on his end in disturbing detail.

"Quite the gory distraction, I must say."

Henry cleared his throat and said for the first time in a while, "Were there no Imitators nearby? Any Imitators at all?"

"I think there were," Ilyas said. "When I first came into the clearing, they formed an arc around me. The ones closest to me were the Imitators, and so they were squashed by the beast first."

Henry nodded and retreated to his gloominess. 

"Speaking of which," Alexander said. "Did any of you perhaps glimpse the Congruent in command of the encampment?"

Cenric shook his head. "I doubt we'd have been able to get away if we had. But, considering that Gordon and Sera clashed against Silversun in the North near Marianne Lake, it cannot be either of them."

"So it's between Holdon and Yuros," Ilyas added, feeding the mask the roasted eggplant.

Alexander and Cenric nodded in agreement. 

"It must be," Alexander said thoughtfully.

"So," Cenric began, "What happened then? Alexander faced the Master of Hearts, and..."

Ilyas swallowed, rubbed his hand on his sash, then leaned forward.

Cenric and Alexander were sitting attentively, waiting.

"The Master of Hearts was shocked to the core to see him, of course, but Alexander was too saddened to care..."

***

"Oh dear Celeste," Cenric breathed. Henry was already asleep, but the other three were more awake than ever. "The Master of Hearts... what a character. He does remind me of my old employer."

The GentlePug's tiny frame scooted to one of the trees, preparing for bed.

"That does remind me, GentlePug sir, how did you end up in all this?"

Alexander turned to Cenric with a smug smirk, "Well, isn't that a curious question. Indeed, how did an unknown boor survive and end up with such a noble purpose?" 

Cenric looked at Ilyas with an adorable smile and his big bulbous eyes, then at Alexander with a sneer.

"Your curiosity is warranted, my good sir. I am a native of Serecy- southern Serecy, to be precise. The initial and more gruesome Salivitian uprisings were in northern Serecy targeting the more central figures of the Mathesonian envoy, so I am quite lucky to be a southerner."

Alexander seemed to passionately agree with that sentiment.

"I was a butler, not yet an Imitator." Cenric paused, and his flappy face fell to a sorrowful expression. "My employer was the Serecian mayor of the City of Romelius-" he turned to Ilyas, "That was where it got messy in the south. This sorry excuse for a young lord was there too, that's how I recognised him, you see."

For some reason, that seemed to please Alexander.

"His name was Reginald, and Master Reginald was a great... no... he was the best of men. He took me in as a young pup and raised me in his most honourable ways. He taught me to be a gentleman and never once raised his voice. He had a heart softer than cream, and principles firmer than stone. That there, my good friend Ilyas, that was a man I can proudly call my master, friend, and most sincerely, the father I never had."

Ilyas's face crumpled behind his mask. Of course, he knew where the story was going.

Alexander's eyes, meanwhile, snapped open in realisation. Perhaps remembering the man in question. 

"The council house was where we hosted the Mathesonian envoy, the Sycrusian mediation, and the Salivitian ambassadors. The Viceroy led the proceedings while Master Reginald was at his side. I was instructed to be the waiter for that accursed evening. When things took a turn for the worse, I got stuck in the crossfire. I was going to die. But Master Reginald threw himself into the chaos to save my life, and before he died, he made sure to inject me primitively with his blood."

Ilyas then understood why Cenric never wanted to share his story, not out of privacy, but because he couldn't handle the memory.

And though he tried to narrate it elegantly and properly, Alexander and Ilyas could see the very clear wavy glimmer in his large eyes. The GentlePug looked to the ground, a soft whine involuntarily escaping him as he let go of a few tear drops.

He tried to hide it, and maybe he thought he did, but the blue silence that followed exposed everything in his heart. "If there were..." Cenric began, "If there were men as proper and noble as my dear Master today, then, my fellow companions, the world will surely see better days."

Ilyas nodded. But inside, the brewing anger towards the Salivitans only grew.

To Cenric? To his first companion, and the world's most proper GentlePug? If not for Master Reginald, then he would've...

For some reason, that thought made Ilyas scowl behind his mask and convulse inside. 

Alexander, meanwhile, kept quiet. His blue eyes were...

'Oh wow... I didn't expect that.'

Alexander was pretending to look at the dark forest, but the fire reflected in his blue eyes exposed their bleariness. 

"Well," Alexander muttered. He then cleared his throat and said more sternly, "Well, I guess that man is a sole and distinguished existence to have moulded a GentlePug such as yourself. Although still a boor, you're still the first I've ever seen."

'Wha- WHAT! Was that a compliment?! No, it was! It was most definitely a compliment!

Cenric sniffed, then said, trying to raise the mood, "I'm sure he would've done a better job with you. Don't be saddened, Alexander, maybe in the next life."

Alexander scoffed and made a poor attempt at rubbing his tears discreetly by scratching his forehead until his eyes were dry enough. 

Ilyas stifled a chuckle when he saw that Alexander only made it worse. Now, instead of only his eyes, his whole face was wet.

"I will let that slide," Alexander uttered confidently with his wet face. "You're mourning now, so I will deny ever hearing your affront on my honour. It is unbecoming of noble men to poke at the fragile, you see."

Cenric stared at him blankly for a few seconds, frowned once he registered Alexander's wet face, then giggled. "I haven't any time for your nonsense tonight, Young Lord." Cenric waved them goodnight, then settled under his covering to sleep.

'I have a feeling... I'm not sure... but I have a feeling that they really care for each other.'