Quoted By:
"If we were killed by an anomaly, imagine how they'd react?" Ashley steps a bit closer to the SCHISM. "You aren't sanctifying us. You're not inspiring belief in anyone. You're not purifying our sins."
"You're only hurting people. Look at us."
A Waxen Soul scans across the six of you. Clover, Casey and Vincent are wheezing for air after being suffocated. Kiara is ripping out thick strips of wax still clinging around her joints. All of them look abjectly miserable.
"I was only trying to help. To give their souls purity." A Waxen S- Gabriel whimpers.
"You won't change anything by hurting those around you. We were only ever trying to help." You rub your still sore throat. "Please. Your family cares about you. Otto sent me to track down five of his siblings just because he was worried about you."
"He believes in you. He cares for you," Ashley continues on your behalf. "Would you deny his belief? His love? He hired a whole army to look after his family."
"Maybe the City doesn't believe in anything but the people in it still do. Do you want to turn away from that?" You give the poor man a genuine look of sympathy. "Blindly believing that no one truly cares about anything isn't belief. It's delusion. It's cope."
"You can still come back, you know."
The wax cocoon he's trapped in begins to crumble away until a large chunk of it falls away completely. Okay, okay! He's reverting back to normal!"
"I." He closes his eyes and takes in a deep, deep breath to ground himself. "I absolve you of any sins I wrongly perceived in you." His voice is wispy and distant now, all of the zealous energy sapped out of him. "I'm sorry."
A sudden rush of energy flows through your body! You look over at Ashley and she seems to be feeling the same thing. Her body begins to tremble with raw energy and POWER. The rush of energy wears off as quickly as it came for the two of you but it left an impact.
>YOU and ASHLEY permanently gain +1 COGNIZANCE, VIOLENCE, and CHARM due to his forgiveness.
Vincent steps up to the altar to peel the rest of the shell off of Gabriel. For his part, his tanned arms are REALLY strong. He peels off thick layers of wax as if they were tissue paper. Kiara moves in to help him while everyone stnads back and watches.
"I still want that fucker thrown in jail. He killed people, Nicky, I know he wasn't in the right state of mind but..."
"He can face judgement when he's out of here, Clover. We're tasked with keeping him alive until then."
[OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT] "The role bestowed on an officer of the law is not to execute the sinner. It is to protect and serve!"
Clover begins to grind his teeth but he has to admit defeat here; Gabriel surrended. Killing him wouldn't be justice. It would be mindless slaughter. "Fine. We should get outta here, righ-" Something's shifting behind you.
An innumerable pitter-patter of feet scrambling across the wooden floor echoes throughout the interdimensional church.
