Gracefall Chapter 9: A Throne of Light

Read chapter 9 of Gracefall by arsy on NovelPedia.

Mercy lifted her hand with a raised thumb. “Great!” She smiled broadly before turning. Walking over the red carpet as the two tagged along. The carpet felt firm, yet yielding. They reached the nearest seats after a few moments and stopped. Mercy kept walking. Lucia and Ishkiel briefly glanced at each other before following her again. A confused expression spread across Lucia’s face, she wondered where she was heading to. “Mercy? Where are you going? We’ve already passed by some seats!” Mercy looked over her shoulder without halting. “Yes, I’m aware! The seats in the back are the quietest,” she said, lifting her hand, thumb raised. Lucia softly giggled and Ishkiel slightly smiled. A few moments later, they finally reached the end of the hall. The three of them sat down at the table on the right, Mercy sat on the left side of it, the other two walked around the end and sat on the opposite side. There was an individual dressed in a black cloak at the opposite table, hood hiding their face. The strange person was facing their direction while eating a steak using a fork and a knife. Lucia couldn’t quite see their face, but she could see a speck of hair. It was white. Mercy glanced at the two of them. “So, while we wait for food, how about we talk about how you two got here from Luminara?” Lucia and Ishkiel glanced at each other before Ishkiel looked at Mercy, a crooked and nervous smile on his face. “Well, uh... it’s a rather peculiar story.” Mercy put her elbows on the table, held her fingers together, and rested her chin on her hands. She looked at them with a gentle smile. “Don’t worry, I can handle a strange story.” Lucia looked at him and gently put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, I’ll tell her how we got here. It was rather simple, yet strange.” She took her hand off his shoulder and turned to Mercy. A grim expression on her face. She told her everything that had happened, from her finally feeling ready to go out and kill Pales because of Ishkiel’s training, to getting enough grace to ascend together with him, to the orphanage being destroyed by pale flames, to them waking up in the Heavenrest Cathedral and being sent here to stop a catastrophe. A few moments of silence later, Mercy slowly raised her chin off her hands, took her elbows off the table, and sat up straight. She gazed at both of them with the same grim expression and let out a soft sigh. “It must have been the winged humanoid creature, the one that destroyed Luminara in the first place.” She lowered her gaze, staring down at the table as her eyes narrowed. Lucia peered at her. ‘The others at the orphanage were hunting a winged creature…‘ Eventually, Mercy raised her head and spoke, “Change of plan, you two should ascend, now.” A solemn expression spread across her face. She slid her right index finger around on the table in a small circular motion before she abruptly got up from her seat. Startled, the two on the other side of the table stood up too. Lucia stared at Mercy with a surprised expression on her face. “Like, right now?” Mercy nodded at her a few times before she began walking toward the stairs next to them. “Come on, I’ll get you two a room upstairs.” The two of them glanced at each other before hesitantly following her up the stairs. Above the stairs were tall windows that ended with an arched top, these windows lit up the hall during the day. After a short while, the stairs turned to the sides to connect with the second floor and the other flight of stairs. Railings were on the edges of it. They turned left and walked up the steps. Once Lucia and Ishkiel reached the top, Mercy was already waiting near the door of a room deep in the hallway ahead. She waved at them impatiently. “Hurry up, you two!” Both of them smiled before picking up their pace, slightly amused by her strange behavior. A few moments later, they got to Mercy and halted. She looked at them with a slight grin. “Took you long enough.”“You were just simply walking too quickly.