Cassie's Mom POV
It's been nearly over a month since I joined the Church.
Saint Aria occasionally calls me to the cathedral to inform me about Cassie's situation. And as a mother, knowing how my daughter is doing in a death zone… it's beyond important. It's everything.
But there's a problem.
I have no idea how they're getting that information. Sure, they could be receiving divine revelations—but it doesn't quite make sense to go through all that trouble for a single mortal girl. By now, I've already become a devout believer. I kneel before the Holy Cross and cry until my chest caves in. They don't need to work so hard to win my faith anymore.
That means… someone must be there.
Someone capable of communicating with the outside. But not powerful enough to bring back the sleepers trapped in that realm.
That's a possibility.
Honestly, I don't care how they're getting the information.
All I care about is that my daughter comes back—alive, healthy, and well. And from the sound of it, that's almost guaranteed.
Even the Pope himself, known as The Friend of God, said, "She will return healthier than anyone you know."
That was a relief, to say the least. Other than that, my life has felt… brighter than it used to.
NQSC is naturally gloomy. Most days, the sun never appears, and the air is always heavy. This darkness seeps into people's lives like slow poison. But even so, we all strive to live bright—or at least decent—lives.
That is, until the Nightmare Spell comes… and takes one of your own. For most—everyone except the legacies—it's the final hammer that strikes the nail into the coffin. Many sleepers who get marked by the Nightmare Spell don't make it.
And those who do… they return changed. Sometimes traumatized. Sometimes… unrecognizable.
"Hey! Wake up, Madame Helena will be coming soon…"
The stranger's warning fell on deaf ears as I drifted further into my thoughts.
Cassie's case was different. She lost her sight. That was the most obvious.
Her once bright personality had shrunk into the cusp of what it used to be. It dimmed, like a flickering candle on its last breath.
That much was expected. But the second reason…
POW.
A soft thud broke my train of thought.
"…Ow." My thoughts shattered as I rubbed the back of my head.
Turning, I saw two girls standing beside me, dressed in the same priestess uniform. Each of them held two or three books, thick and weathered.
One of the girls, with black hair and sharp grey eyes, leaned close and hissed, "What are you doing spacing out?! DO YOU WANT TO GET CAUGHT?"
Another one, pale with dull blue eyes that seemed to reflect nothing, whispered, "If Madame Helena finds out, we will be in big trouble."
You wouldn't get caught if you didn't sneak into a restricted library, I wanted to reply, but bit my tongue.
After all, who was I to talk? I let myself get dragged into this just as willingly.
How did I end up here, you might ask?
Well… long story short: every new priestess has to go through mandatory foundational classes. Surprisingly, these include not just Bible studies, but advanced mathematics and science.
And because I didn't join through the normal process, things were complicated.
I'm in my 30s, while most of the other girls have just reached their 20s. I was worried—worried that I wouldn't fit in, that they'd be uncomfortable with an "old woman" attending class with them.
And to make it more difficult, our instructor was Madame Helena (The librarian).
Haaaa…
I sighed deeply.
At my age, I should be listening to teachers complain about my children's mischief—not committing mischievous acts myself.
Yet here I was, sneaking around in a restricted library like a student. And strangely enough…
I'd forgotten how fun this was.
Of course, I shouldn't be doing this. But it's just this once, and as long as we don't get caught…
My eyes scanned the room. It wasn't very large—five rows of shelves in total.
One row stood at the very end, spanning the entire back wall, while four others stood in neat order in front of it. This wasn't an ordinary library.
It was called the Preservation Library—a sealed archive where books, magazines, hard drives, and even devices from the Dark Times were stored.
Why they preserved these things, no one really knew. But this place was important enough to be restricted to only a few.
He must've been from the older generation… right? But no, he looked far too young for that. Unless… he's a Saint.
Saints live long lives, of course—how long exactly, no one knows. Death is always waiting around the corner.
Still, if he considers this place worth protecting, then he must be quite old indeed. I wandered toward one of the shelves, opposite from where the other girls were gathering.
Near the bottom, I spotted something unusual—a colorful magazine.
Kneeling down, I pulled it out.
It was from the Dark Times. The cover was vibrant, bold, practically glowing with color—so unlike the monotone tomes surrounding it. Must be just an old entertainment mag, I thought
—but I was wrong.
My expression froze for a moment as I stared at the cover.
Then, without saying a word, I gently pushed the magazine back into the shelf…and made sure it went deeper this time.
Standing up, I dusted my knees and turned toward the next shelf.
One thought echoed in my mind: "No matter the era, and no matter the age… a man will remain a man."
While the girls busied themselves taking pictures and copying passages into their communicators, I made my way to the final shelf—the last in the four central rows.
Most of the material here was dry: old scientific papers, archived studies, data logs, encyclopedias—remnants of pre-Dark Time academia.
Other than a few interesting novel titles, the tour had been mostly boring… until—At the very top of the final shelf, a collection of books caught my eye. They looked ancient. Their spines were thick with dust and they were separated from the others by a thin metal divider.
I carefully pulled the whole set out and began scanning the titles:
[King of the Undead Scourge]
[Queen of Lust]
[The Forgotten]
…
Weird titles. They seemed like fantasy novels… and perhaps they were. But one in particular caught my attention:
[Mysteries of 3-6-9]: Author: Keter As.
My breath hitched. A book written by the Pope?!
I was just about to open it when—
Creakkkkkk…
The unmistakable groan of the heavy wooden door echoed through the archive. We all froze like statues.
A tall shadow darkened the doorway.
It was none other than—Madame Helena.
She looked at the three girls, who had stopped mid-scan with their communicators halfway raised.
Her eyes narrowed as she took a slow step inside.
as she did that, she spoke in a low voice, "you girls have alot to explain".
***
Madame Helena wasn't holding back.
She had given the two girls a generational scolding—the kind that leaves your soul questioning every life decision you've ever made. All the poor duo could do was stand outside the archive room, heads lowered, taking it like drenched kittens caught in a monsoon.
Surprisingly, she didn't unleash the same fury on me.
Maybe because I was new? Or maybe… something else?
Madame Helena was my age, but far more refined than anyone I'd ever seen. If someone looked at her, they would never guess she was the same age as me. Perhaps she was also an Awakened.
She had a strict, commanding presence. Her face was sharp, and she wore rectangular gold-rimmed glasses. Even beneath the priestess robes, her figure was hard to ignore—elegant and ostentatious. Her chest was especially… prominent, drawing attention without effort.
I glanced at my own chest briefly before shaking my head inwardly. Get your head out of the gutter. I threw those thoughts aside and stood up straight.
Soon, the duo was dismissed, and Madame Helena turned to look at me. As she did, her chest bounced slightly. She crossed her arms beneath it and narrowed her eyes.
"You haven't been here long, and you're already getting into this kind of mess?" she asked, clearly expecting an explanation.
"I was pulled in before I could even do anything," I answered quickly. When facing a superior, it's best to get to the point and avoid excuses.
Madame Helena sighed deeply. "Since it's your first time, I'll let it slide. But next time, you'll be answering to the Pope himself."
"I'll make sure this never happens again," I said promptly.
"Yeah… make sure it doesn't. I don't have the energy to scold you again," she muttered.
"After all… you're my age."
"You're still my senior, Madame," I replied respectfully.
"Just call me Helena."
"Alright… Helena."
And with that, we were just about to go our separate ways when someone walked in.
His hair was white with a golden hue, cascading down his back. This time, it had been combed and trimmed to shoulder length.
Of course, it was none other than the Pope of the Church.
Madame Helena and I were both caught off guard.
She was the first to react—dashing into a bow. And as she did, her chest bounced again.
I, who was following her, noticed… and the only thought that came to mind was:
"How the f—"
Before I could finish the thought, a powerful yet soft voice cut through the air.
"Please don't bow. I don't like it," he said, raising one arm in a gentle stopping gesture.
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A/N: here is the first batch of chapters, i did say that i would do 20 chapters all that once, however circumstances allow me to do that, due to being sick, laziness and personal work, i have only managed to complete only 11 chapters, the 5 chapters that are left still needs work left so i will be uploading them next week, I actually wanted to upload all 11 chapters together but i haven't updated in a long time, i didn't want to keep you waiting any longer so i spent a whole day proofreading the first 6 chapters and i am uploaded them now, i apologize for the long hiatus, which should have been 2-3 weeks atmost, but i do hope you continue enjoy reading my work, and another news, we are expanding our fan universe, ie. Shadow Slave: Fan universe, i have also created a timeline graph so you can better understand how keter ended up in this fic and hidden lores and the mystery behind the timelines, Flash and I have also expanded our lore so if your interested join our small server to find out more! Discord server: https://discord.gg/mBrx24A6Ue