Tangled By Fate

Chapter 583: SAINT AVA'S SITUATION

 n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Saint Ava, are you okay?"

Saint Ava slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't see Veronica at first. She slowly got back her vision and noticed Veronica's desperate expression.

She was stunned to see her. "Why... why are you here?" she tardily asked. Her words slurred as she spoke. She almost choked due to her dry throat, only to realize she hadn't had a sip of water in hours.

Veronica realized that she must be perched. She took out her water pouch and let Saint Ava drink mouthfuls.

Saint Ava chugged down as much as she could. Afterward, she wiped her lips. She sat properly and looked at Veronica.

"Thank you for the water," she said. Her pale face looked slightly better.

Veronica spoke in a worried tone, "But Saint Ava... how are you holding up? The blood..."

"It's mine," Saint Ava confessed. "But I healed myself, so, I don't have injuries anymore. I just bled too much before I healed."

"Who attacked you? How long were you here? More importantly, how did someone enter here and attack you?" Veronica threw her a series of questions.

"Come down, child," Saint Ava stopped her. "We are not the only ones who know the code to enter the temple. There is a scroll where it's mentioned. Whoever has the scroll will be able to open the door. Anyway, I ran away when I knew I wouldn't be able to survive the attack. I've never fought in my life, you see. Let me guess, the scrolls in the library are gone, aren't they?" "That's..." Veronica hesitated. The stolen scrolls were all written in the ancient language. Any normal human would find no value in getting their hands on it. Unless it was a priest, a wizard or a witch, the scrolls were worthless.

Saint Ava stole a glance at Veronica and knew the answer. "There is nothing that can be done now. The scrolls are long gone. Since you are here all alive and well, I guess the intruder is gone. Help me get out of this place. It's too dark here."

After they left the cave, they saw Felix. He ran toward them. "Veronica! You scared me. Don't go anywhere without telling me. I beg you!"

"I'm sorry, Felix. Please take Saint Ava to the bedroom. She lost too much blood," Veronica said.

"The Saint...!" Felix was stunned. He quickly caught the woman covered in the bloody white dress.

They quickly took her to the nearest bedroom. After checking the entire premises, Felix already knew this area.

Ironin, Zinnia and Darius met them there. "Is she dead?" Zinnia asked the moment she entered the room.

"As you can see, I'm alive and well," Saint Ava calmly stated. She was sitting on the bed and chewing an apple that Veronica recently peeled for her.

"She is Saint Ava, the owner of the Rosemary Temple," Veronica formally introduced her to them. Then, she explained, "She has been attacked by the intruder and hid in the cave afterward. The intruder took the scrolls by that time and escaped."

"Hu? She is the Saint? Shouldn't she be a hundred years old? How come an only lady looks so young?" Darius blurted out his curious question.

Saint Ava glared at him and then looked away. Veronica nervously answered, "It's because of the amount of high healing power. This is a holy power, so, if the amount is high, you stay alive and young for a long time."

She didn't give Darius to make another comment. She looked at Saint Ava and asked, "Anyway, about the intruder, Saint Ava, do you know who it was?"

Saint Ava slowly answered, "A woman, covered in a black cape. She had a black mask covering her face as well. I wonder why she covered her face. Was she someone I knew? But how can it be? It's been a long time since I went outside the temple and associated with any human. It's not that I know any woman other than you and Sister Josephine."

"If that's how it is, maybe she is as old as you are, Saint Ava," Zinnia stated her opinion." "If I'm not wrong, it could be the head of the black witches. She has yet to die," Darius said. "If that's her, then there is no question about it. After all, the scrolls were written in the ancient language. She can read the scrolls." Veronica told them.

"How do you know she can?" Darius asked.

"How can she become a witch without reading the ancient scroll?" This time, it was Saint Ava who spoke. "If she is the head witch then she should have known. After all, they have some kind of ritual they go through and that requires them to know the ancient language."

"For a dead language, it's not so dead, is it?" Darius bitterly muttered.

"If the witch has the scrolls, what will she do with them?" Felix asked with his clenched fist hidden from everyone's eyes.

Veronica truly felt sorry for him. They were so close to reviving Sister Ruth. Unfortunately, the enemy got their hands on it before they could.

"All the scrolls we had here shouldn't go in the hands of any human, let alone a witch," she dejectedly replied. "All the scrolls we had here were filled with forbidden knowledge. Nothing good will come from getting their hands on them."

"When were you attacked?" Zinnia asked Saint Ava.

Saint Ava shook her head. "I passed out after healing myself. I don't remember much. It could be two days or maybe it happened yesterday."

"Could there be a way to catch that witch?" Felix mumbled. He wanted nothing more than the scroll that could revive his beloved.

"That witch might be long gone. Don't forget the holy barrier is gone. We can use magic in Utahill now," Zinnia said.

"So, the barrier weakened, huh? I need to fix it," Saint Ava said.

"Please recover first and then fix it. It seems like you are our only option when we are about to fight against evils. We can't always depend on Veronica," Zinnia calmly stated.

"What now?" Veronica said. "With those scrolls..." she didn't want to say the rest. Others could imagine her worry.