February 3, 2021 - Day 8
Alessandro and Friedrich went to the Clock Tower and there they met the magus Dorian Benard who had just finished a conference with colleagues from the Mage's Association. When he saw the two boys he approached them promptly, it was clear that he intended to speak to them, looked at Friedrich in the eyes and then, nodding, said to him:
« Maybe we have a solution. »
Friedrich and Alessandro had a moment of joy upon hearing those words, but Friedrich was the first to return with his feet on the ground and asked:
« What do you want to do with Sheol, then? »
« Maybe it would be better to talk about it elsewhere, follow me. »
Dorian took the two boys to a large antique-looking library, this was one of the two libraries that the Clock Tower was provided with. Dorian seated the two boys and then explained:
« You're probably aware of this: four days ago one hundred civilians were involved in the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil. » Friedrich and Alessandro exchanged two worried glances, went back to listening to Dorian: « Such a large number of civilian victims is worrying, especially considering that the war has just started. The police and the army are still looking for the culprits, London is scared, but we can perhaps end the war immediately. »
« How? » Friedrich asked, perplexed.
« The Rote Mäntel have contacted us and have offered to help, they want to make a relic available to us: the Cradle of Rosenkreutz. »
Friedrich was frightened at hearing that name, got up from his chair and shaking his head exclaimed:
« No don't do it! It's dangerous! »
« Calm down, what's going on? What's this relic? » Alessandro asked, worried about his friend.
« Only the Rote Mäntel know this relic, it's a vase about fifty or sixty centimeters high, it's green and has golden engravings reminiscent of the branches of a rose, its lid has the shape of a rose. It's a unique object, it's impossibile to forget that relic. »
« Maybe we have a solution. »
Friedrich and Alessandro had a moment of joy upon hearing those words, but Friedrich was the first to return with his feet on the ground and asked:
« What do you want to do with Sheol, then? »
« Maybe it would be better to talk about it elsewhere, follow me. »
Dorian took the two boys to a large antique-looking library, this was one of the two libraries that the Clock Tower was provided with. Dorian seated the two boys and then explained:
« You're probably aware of this: four days ago one hundred civilians were involved in the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil. » Friedrich and Alessandro exchanged two worried glances, went back to listening to Dorian: « Such a large number of civilian victims is worrying, especially considering that the war has just started. The police and the army are still looking for the culprits, London is scared, but we can perhaps end the war immediately. »
« How? » Friedrich asked, perplexed.
« The Rote Mäntel have contacted us and have offered to help, they want to make a relic available to us: the Cradle of Rosenkreutz. »
Friedrich was frightened at hearing that name, got up from his chair and shaking his head exclaimed:
« No don't do it! It's dangerous! »
« Calm down, what's going on? What's this relic? » Alessandro asked, worried about his friend.
« Only the Rote Mäntel know this relic, it's a vase about fifty or sixty centimeters high, it's green and has golden engravings reminiscent of the branches of a rose, its lid has the shape of a rose. It's a unique object, it's impossibile to forget that relic. »
Friedrich was seriously afraid, he wasn't joking, his hands trembled and he hid them in his jacket pockets, then he continued:
« It was built by Christian Rosenkreutz, a German monk who visited Damascus, Egypt and Morocco. During his travels he learned techniques that allowed him to give magical attributes to some objects, making them ... special. Together with three confreres from his monastery he formed the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. Nobody knows their monastery but we know that these four monks used that magic to create an object capable of sucking the magical energy: the Cradle of Rosenkreutz. That relic, however, was used only once and from what we know killed at least seven dozen monks of the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. That object is out of control. »
« I know, the Rote Mäntel told us, but they also told us that everything is under control now. » Dorian said.
« They believe it ... but they're ignorant. They don't know the truth, the Cradle of Rosenkreutz cannot be controlled in any way, my teacher knew it. He had spent ten years of his life studying that relic and the conclusions drawn are these: that relic is a tool of death, nothing else. Once you lift the lid, the relic becomes like a black hole and sucks all the magical energy nearby, there is no way to contain that vortex. »
« But can it be stopped? » Alessandro asked.
« Of course. Just put the lid back on, but you have to be ready to die doing it. So it happened the last time. The Rote Mäntel are crazy if they really hope to use the Cradle of Rosenkreutz to kill Sheol. »
« I'm sorry. » Dorian intercalated with a sad look: « But there has been a broad consensus. Even if you were right I couldn't do anything about it. »
« But it's crazy! » Alessandro exclaimed shocked: « We will all die! We won't solve anything! We don't even know if Sheol can really be killed this way! You're crazy if you do such a thing! Idioti! »
« It was built by Christian Rosenkreutz, a German monk who visited Damascus, Egypt and Morocco. During his travels he learned techniques that allowed him to give magical attributes to some objects, making them ... special. Together with three confreres from his monastery he formed the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. Nobody knows their monastery but we know that these four monks used that magic to create an object capable of sucking the magical energy: the Cradle of Rosenkreutz. That relic, however, was used only once and from what we know killed at least seven dozen monks of the Confraternity of the Rose Cross. That object is out of control. »
« I know, the Rote Mäntel told us, but they also told us that everything is under control now. » Dorian said.
« They believe it ... but they're ignorant. They don't know the truth, the Cradle of Rosenkreutz cannot be controlled in any way, my teacher knew it. He had spent ten years of his life studying that relic and the conclusions drawn are these: that relic is a tool of death, nothing else. Once you lift the lid, the relic becomes like a black hole and sucks all the magical energy nearby, there is no way to contain that vortex. »
« But can it be stopped? » Alessandro asked.
« Of course. Just put the lid back on, but you have to be ready to die doing it. So it happened the last time. The Rote Mäntel are crazy if they really hope to use the Cradle of Rosenkreutz to kill Sheol. »
« I'm sorry. » Dorian intercalated with a sad look: « But there has been a broad consensus. Even if you were right I couldn't do anything about it. »
« But it's crazy! » Alessandro exclaimed shocked: « We will all die! We won't solve anything! We don't even know if Sheol can really be killed this way! You're crazy if you do such a thing! Idioti! »
«The Cradle can kill Sheol, believe me, but it will also kill thousands and thousands of magi. This is the sacrifice that you're accepting to make. » Friedrich said.
« What if we find a way to contain its power? » Dorian suggested.
« You can't, end of the discussion. »
« So what are you going to do? »
« We want to destroy the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil. Sheol is still tied to that Grail, if we destroy it she disappears. It's much better than genocide. »
« Well, Friedrich, first you have to be in front of the Holy Grail and we don't know where it is. We don't even know if it can be destroyed. You are betting with blindfolded eyes, if you were wrong it would be the end of the world. Do you realize it? »
« I don't think Sheol wants to destroy the world, though ... » Friedrich muttered to himself, then realized that Dorian was still listening to him: « Forget it, that's not the point. The point is, you risk doing more damage. No, I can't accept your suicidal choice. Only a fool would do it. »
« We're desperate, Friedrich, we must stop Sheol at any cost. Will two thousand, perhaps three thousand or perhaps four thousand magi die? Yes. So what? It seems to me a necessary sacrifice to preserve the human race! »
Friedrich slammed his fist against the table, got up and without saying a word left the library. Alessandro followed his friend to the outside of the Clock Tower, stopped him by taking his arm and asked him, worried:
« What can we do? »
« I don't know. I hate bureaucracy, I hate the fact that that fools make decisions for us. We're in the hands of desperate imbeciles, they have lost the light of reason. Maybe ... there's something we can do, but it is very risky. »
« What if we find a way to contain its power? » Dorian suggested.
« You can't, end of the discussion. »
« So what are you going to do? »
« We want to destroy the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil. Sheol is still tied to that Grail, if we destroy it she disappears. It's much better than genocide. »
« Well, Friedrich, first you have to be in front of the Holy Grail and we don't know where it is. We don't even know if it can be destroyed. You are betting with blindfolded eyes, if you were wrong it would be the end of the world. Do you realize it? »
« I don't think Sheol wants to destroy the world, though ... » Friedrich muttered to himself, then realized that Dorian was still listening to him: « Forget it, that's not the point. The point is, you risk doing more damage. No, I can't accept your suicidal choice. Only a fool would do it. »
« We're desperate, Friedrich, we must stop Sheol at any cost. Will two thousand, perhaps three thousand or perhaps four thousand magi die? Yes. So what? It seems to me a necessary sacrifice to preserve the human race! »
Friedrich slammed his fist against the table, got up and without saying a word left the library. Alessandro followed his friend to the outside of the Clock Tower, stopped him by taking his arm and asked him, worried:
« What can we do? »
« I don't know. I hate bureaucracy, I hate the fact that that fools make decisions for us. We're in the hands of desperate imbeciles, they have lost the light of reason. Maybe ... there's something we can do, but it is very risky. »
« What? Tell me. »
« Either we destroy the Cradle ... or we find a way to steal and seal it forever. »
« Time is against us. »
« I know ... »
Friedrich had the expression of a person who was haunted by invisible ghosts that Alessandro didn't know about. Concerned, gloomy and pensive at the same time, Friedrich had trembling hands, he was trying to hide them but his fear was revealed. Alessandro couldn't blame him but at the same time he didn't know how to help him, the best he could do was follow him and do what he said.
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| Friedrich Wolff by Bikowolf |
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