"Don't you think it's strange, Antonio?" Everything was quiet. From the ceiling, the electric light lit the empty corridor. As he snuck out of the deserted bathroom, Abel looked around carefully. He muttered to his friend from under his hood.
"What's strange?" Antonio said.
"Hmm, something doesn't seem quite right," Abel replied.
Abel and Antonio were dressed in monk's habits.
Antonio looked up and down the dirty corridor and combed his long hair with his fingers. "Seriously, what's going on?! How can one of the Vatican's most wanted be crawling round in sewers?" Antonio grumbled.
"We didn't have much choice! There was no other way in. You were the one who wanted to come! If you've got a problem, then you can just go with the others to the mountain," Abel rebuked Antonio. He didn't take his attention off their bearing, though. As he looked around, he lowered his voice a little. "Anyway, don't you think the castle is strangely empty? When we here this morning, the place was full of New Vatican."
"Yeah, you're right." Antonio looked up and down. He had to have it pointed out before he noticed it. Eulis had told them about this way into the castle. They hadn't seen signs of anyone, though. As only half a day had passed since they had been in the castle, the AX Agents had expected New Vatican to be even more wary. Were they just being careless?
"Perhaps they're all at mass? It is Christmas Eve tonight."
"I suppose."
Abel nodded his agreement as he squinted down the dark corridor. It was certainly possible, considering the depth of Alfonso's religious passion. It would explain why there was no one in the castle. But he couldn't shake the vague foreboding he felt.
"Let's not worry too much about it. It's a good thing for us. Anyway, there was something I wanted to ask you, Abel," Antonio said. Obviously, Antonio didn't have the same bad feeling about this that Abel did. He just kept talking. "Right, so Master Wordsworth's choice... It was to either break into the Lateran Palace or find Cherubim. Why did he choose Tallinn? If it had been you, I bet you would have chosen to just save Duchess of Milan directly, am I right?"
"There are things more important to Caterina than her life."
The first corridor led then to another corridor, which took them to an inner garden. The courtyard was overshadowed by tall buildings. The snow that had fallen here had frozen into ice, making it look like a garden of glass. Abel was silent for a moment as he carefully proceeded. Finally he spoke again: "She has made many sacrifices for that position. After obtaining such an important power... She won't want to lose it."
"More important than her own life?" Antonio probably hadn't noticed the slight resonance of pity in Abel's voice. He shrugged his shoulders as if they were just having a chat over coffee. "She has more lust for power than I expected. Seeing how hard she worked to be a cardinal, I wonder if there is something specific she wants."
Abel frowned. Now that they had lost Havel, he was the only one in AX who knew. It was something that couldn't be spoken about. Shaking his head, he decided that the conversation needed to be diverted toward another direction.
"I don't really know anything about that. More importantly, do you know the face of this Cherubim? This might be our last chance. It would be terrible if I saw him but didn't realize that it was him."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You really do like to worry, don't you, Abel? My dear, sweet friend," Antonio replied. He wasn't tense in the slightest. "I've seen him once from afar but I remember his face perfectly. I have a great memory."
It was then that a guard stepped out of the shadow of the pillar and questioned them. "What are you two doing here?" It was a single soldier who had probably come outside to have a smoke and look at the snow. He was now eyeing Abel and Antonio suspiciously. "All the monks are gathered in the tower... You... you...?!
It seemed that the guard had remembered Abel being involved in the disruption this morning. He immediately raised his gun. Abel also hurriedly reached for his hand gun, but...
"OW." Suddenly something pushed him from behind. Underneath his feet, the cobbles were icy and slippery. He tottered for a moment before falling forward. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
The soldier was about to squeeze the trigger, but Abel was now careening toward him. Abel hit him head on, and the two of them collapsed on the paving stones, a tangled mess of limbs.
"Good work, Abel!" Antonio swiftly ran over and picked up the gun that the soldier had dropped during his fall and aimed it straight at the man's head. Abel still wasn't quite sure what had happened.
"Pretty careless of you, though..."Antonio addressed the soldier who was lying on the ground. "Put your hands on your head. If you make any sudden movements, I'll shoot. Abel, are you all right?"
"A-A-A-ANTONIO! Did you just use me as a human shield?!" Abel screamed indignantly. "You were trying to save yourself!"
"Oh no, my friend. It was all just part of my cunning plan to save you."
Antonio grinned and patted his "friend" on the back. "You don't have to thank me; we're friends after all."
Abel had had his doubts about bringing Antonio with him, but it had paid off this time. He decided to leave it alone for once. He looked down at the soldier, who now had both his hands on his head.
"I wonder if you could tell us? There’re not many people here. Where is everyone? Are they in the cathedral?"
"They went outside." The soldier gulped. He was probably still coming to terms with the situation. "I don't know the full details, but they were saying that the townspeople had left. They're chasing after them."
"To the mountain... Why?! "Abel's voice was a high-pitched shriek.
The townsfolk had carefully camouflaged themselves for their escape; how had they been discovered?
"This is bad, Abel." Even Antonio understood the gravity of this. "We need to go back. We need to let Father Iqus know!"
If things had gone as planned, the townsfolk would be entering the mountain right about now. It would be difficult to get a signal through to them once they were underground. If the Iron Maiden were overhead, then they could request a radio link, but Kate had moved away so that the Department of Inquisition would not detect their presence. If Abel and Antonio turned back now, then they would lose this chance of finding Cherubim, and they still might not be able to warn Tres and the others.
"No. We must keep going." Abel shook his head. "Tres will look after the townsfolk. We will continue as planned and capture Cherubim."
"What?! There are sick and elderly there! It's only a matter of time before New Vatican catch up with them."
"If we were there, it wouldn't change anything. Anyway..." Abel pushed his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose. His expression was very serious now. "Anyway, if we can't secure Cherubim, it will be the end of us and Caterina. Tres is looking after them. I have faith in him, and we have our own job to do."
Abel was right. But Antonio didn't seem entirely convinced: "You're right. But you can be heartless."
"You've only just noticed?" Abel shrugged. He pushed his spectacles against his face again. His fingers were trembling a little. It was something he couldn't explain to Antonio. But he resolved to forget the people heading to the mountain and turned his attention back to the soldier. "Then one more question: Is Cardinal d'Este still in this castle?"
"Umm..." The soldier looked up in fear at the uncaring priest. He then looked to the gun in Antonio's hand. Finally, in a trembling voice, he answered, "Yes, His Holiness is in the castle..." The soldier trailed off. It sounded as if he was going to reveal exactly where.
Suddenly there was the sound of something flying above, which halted their conversation. "Antonio! Get down!"
If Abel and Antonio had not fallen to the floor, then they would have both had their heads sliced off. The decapitated head of the soldier rolled back. The gun that Cardinal of Valencia had been holding had also been sliced.
Antonio let out a holler, but Abel wasn't there. He was reaching for his own gun.
"Hah! Too late! Unbelievers!"
The sound of an old revolver rang out. Fresh blood dripped from a cut on the back of Abel's hand. The man wielding the gun smiled ruthlessly as he glared down at Abel.
"I'm glad to meet you again, AX Agents... But this will be the last time."
From behind Friedrich, a few dozen soldiers fired a volley of bullets.