Bishop Ymanis

Bishop Ymanis was a thin, reedy man with thick lips, wide eyes, and a tiny nose. It was actually somewhat startling to Ahsch, who half-expected the Bishop to be a massive man with a five-course meal laid out at his desk, though he had to admit that the idea was probably a leftover from some Earthian show or movie or something he'd once watched. Or a lot of them all together. Though the part about enough jewelry to buy a village certainly was accurate.

"Queen Orleya," he greeted with a shallow bow. "It is a pleasure to host you in our most holy Church." Ahsch had to stifle a laugh as Mahat made exaggerated gagging sounds in his head.

The Queen gave a small nod in response. "Your quick readiness to receive Us is appreciated, Bishop," she replied.

Ymanis gave another slight bow, then his gaze switched over to Ahsch. "I don't believe we've been introduced... though I doubt any would mistake the only male Hrafthi for anyone else, Prophet of Enochiel."

"Bishop," Ahsch replied in greeting, giving a thin smile. In the back of his mind, he was already preparing to bind the man's words to Truth.

The Bishop - as well as the cleric who had escorted the royal party - blinked at the short, almost insulting response, but then turned his attention back to Queen Orleya. "Given the need for such an immediate meeting, I can only assume that something urgent has transpired?"

"I'm sure word has already reached you of the escape of the traitors Byrdrek and Fauna," Orleya replied. "Troubling as that is, what is more troubling is that, on top of the accusations of the Church of Irzton possessing an unregistered Godslayer and aiding individuals who would engage in a coup, it has also come to Our attention that a member of your Church was instrumental in the escape of the traitors."

Heart Sight flared with the Bishop's panic, though he didn't outwardly reveal it. "That is quite the accusation; I expect that there is some proof to it?"

Ahsch finished his casting. "Your word is enough to do away with it," he said, then gave a small, almost sadistic smirk. "just as the words of Byrdrek, Fauna, and Jarsi would have been enough to rid them of any such accusations. Instead, they spoke the Truth, and condemned themselves."

Ymanis raised an eyebrow. "My word alone? You do not wish to do a thorough investigation?"

Queen Orleya made a negating gesture. "A full investigation will of course be conducted, though acquiring evidence before an inquisition is always preferable."

"I see," the Bishop said, his gaze switching between Ahsch and Orleya a few times. "In that case, I suppose it can't hurt to simply tell the truth: the Church of Irzton had n-" Much like the traitors not long before, Ymanis' words simply stopped as he attempted to tell a lie. Frowning, he tried again. "As I was saying, we did n-"

"Ah, I should clarify," Ahsch said, his smirk growing. "As the Prophet of Enochiel, I have quite a way with bonds - bonds between things, between people, between the locks in Byrdrek and Fauna's cells and the one who magicked them open, between Low Cleric Elliya and the Church. And, incidentally, between the words of Byrdrek, Fauna, and Jarsi, and the concept of Truth - which is what I've done just now. With your words."

Ahsch flexed his magic, pushing raw Mana out in a display of power - and as a threat. It was nowhere near as spectacular as what Phashim had done when they had first met, but it caused almost everyone in the room to jump, looking at him with a mix of emotions, though fear presided in Ymanis and the cleric. "You harassed us. You attempted to intimidate our faithful. You assisted in my murder. You will finish your next sentence, Ymanis, or I will bind more than your words to far, far worse things than Truth."

Mahat, in her monster form, leaned forward onto Ymanis' desk. "Please try to lie again," she all but purred. "I want to see what my Master will do to you if you piss him off any more."

Mahat, Ahsch warned, and his familiar backed off, returning to her place at his side.

The room was silent for a few long moments. "We... no longer possess the Godslayer," Ymanis finally grit out. "And I do not know where Elliya took Byrdrek and Fauna."

"Where is the Godslayer?" Queen Orleya demanded. "And who knows where the traitors are? Explain thoroughly, Ymanis, my patience is greater than Lord Odestag's, but not by much, and especially not where divine weapons and traitors of the Crown are concerned."

The Bishop ground his teeth, sighing. "Someone must have taken it from the body before the inquisitors arrived - we thought it had been consumed as normal, so didn't question its absence. As for the traitors... I do not think anyone in the Capital knows for sure. The agents of the Church are kept separate from our public, righteous works, with few links between, to limit the damage that could be done by the revelation of one agent or another. Elliya's orders were to bring them to a location for delivery to another cell, who would then secret them away somewhere safe."

Shockingly, the man grinned. "They're gone, and you blasphemous heathens who would dare disrupt our divine work will never..." his voice fell flat when Ahsch flared his magic again, and simultaneously ordered Aena to reveal her divine nature.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked, indicated his angel. "Do you feel the divine knowledge filling you? Your instinctive awareness that what you stand before is truly holy?" Ymanis stared blankly at the first of Ahsch's angels. "Do you understand that I have not once felt such from anything related to your church? Not from you; from your clerics; or from this gaudy, gilded box. Nothing of the Church of Irzton is divine. Nothing here is holy. You are a charlatan, your church a lie, and your faith is false, Ymanis."

Everyone shuddered at the mystical weight of Ahsch's words. With a deep breath, he reigned in his anger, retracted his magic, and had Aena veil herself once again. Ahsch gave the Queen a glance. "His words will remain bound. I cannot abide this... filth any longer."