"This is impossible." She whispered the words like a prayer. Dark eyes traced my torso, searching for trauma that should exist. "There's no bruising. No defensive cuts. Not even scratches."
I watched her face process what she was seeing. Medical knowledge warred with religious faith. The conflict played out in micro-expressions—furrowed brow, pressed lips, rapid blinking.
"Cardinal Matthias said you fought off attackers during the coup," she continued, examining my arms with clinical detachment. "Blade wounds leave marks. Blunt trauma causes bruising. You show no signs of recent combat."
[System Alert: Trust levels fluctuating]
[Emotional bonds affect divine power efficiency]
[Relationship Tracker Unlocked]
[Sister Evangeline – Trust: 61/100 – Falling]
[Note: Bonded characters influence divine favor and skill unlock rate]
The interface materialized in my peripheral vision. Numbers and assessments reducing human connection to statistics. But Evangeline's growing confusion felt real enough.
"Maybe the healing light fixed my wounds too?" I suggested.
"Divine healing doesn't work that way." She stepped back, medical bag clutched tight. "It accelerates natural recovery, yes, but it leaves traces. Scar tissue forms. Residual inflammation persists. Something always remains."
Her fingers trembled slightly as she processed the impossibility before her.
"You show no signs of recent trauma. None at all."
Truth Sense activated without conscious thought. Her confusion blazed through the connection—genuine medical bafflement mixed with growing uncertainty about everything she thought she understood.
"I have memory gaps," I admitted, testing her reaction. "From the coup. Scattered pieces. Nothing complete."
"Memory gaps?" Professional interest sharpened her focus. "Specific to the traumatic event or more generalized?"
"Just the violence. Everything else seems clear." I paused, studying her face. "You probably think that makes me unfit for the papal throne."
"No." The answer came immediately, surprising us both. She blinked, as if her own certainty caught her off-guard. "Memory loss after trauma is common. Especially with magical injuries affecting neural pathways."
She set down her bag and began folding the bloodstained robes with careful precision.
"But the blood concerns me," she continued without looking up.
"What about it?"
"It's from multiple sources with varying coagulation patterns." Her medical training showed in the clinical assessment. "At least three distinct individuals, possibly more."
My stomach dropped like a stone thrown into deep water. Multiple people had died bleeding on me. And I remembered none of it.
The cathedral's vastness pressed down around us. Painted saints gazed from stained glass windows, their serene faces offering no judgment. But I felt the weight of their observation nonetheless.
"Sister?" I touched her hand gently, activating Truth Sense. "Do you think I'm a fraud?"
The question hung between us like smoke from votive candles. Her sincerity blazed through the connection—genuine concern mixed with growing faith and something else. Protectiveness.
"I think you're afraid," she said quietly. "But fear doesn't invalidate divine calling. Moses feared the burning bush. Paul feared his conversion. Even Christ feared the cross."
She pulled her hand free and continued folding the robes. Her movements carried the precision of someone who'd spent years tending wounds and preparing bodies for burial.
"The lower clergy whispers things," she said without meeting my eyes. "About Pope Benedict. About the weeks before his death."
"What kind of things?"
"Strange behavior. Erratic decisions. He started conducting rituals late at night when the cathedral was empty." She paused, considering her words. "Sister Mary found him once, kneeling before the altar at three in the morning, speaking to someone who wasn't there."
"Madness?"
"Maybe. Or maybe he saw something the rest of us couldn't." She set the folded robes aside and turned to face me. "The Swiss Guard reported finding him in his chambers, having full conversations with empty air. When they knocked, he'd stop immediately. Pretend nothing happened."
[System Alert: New information acquired]
[Previous Pope's mental state: DETERIORATING]
[Possible supernatural influence detected]
[Recommendation: Investigate papal chambers]
"You think something was influencing him?"
"I think the papal throne carries burdens most people can't imagine." Her gaze held mine steadily. "Divine power flows through human vessels. But humans break under enough pressure."
She gathered her medical supplies, organizing them with automatic efficiency. Years of training had made the movements unconscious.
"Sister Catherine mentioned hooded visitors," she continued. "People who came to see Benedict in the weeks before the coup. No one recognized them. They wore masks, spoke in whispers. The Swiss Guard had orders to let them pass."
"Who gave those orders?"
"Benedict himself. He seemed… desperate when he spoke about them. Like they held answers to questions that were driving him mad."
The cathedral echoed around us. Empty pews stretched toward the altar where I'd first awakened wearing the papal crown. Blood stains marked the marble despite cleaning efforts.
"Do you believe miracles can happen through someone who doubts their own purpose?" I asked.
"Miracles rarely ask permission from the vessels they pass through." Her smile was sad but warm. "Divine power flows where it's needed, not necessarily where it's wanted."
She shouldered her medical bag, preparing to leave. But something in her posture suggested she wasn't finished. The careful way she avoided my eyes. The slight tension in her shoulders.
"There's something else," I said.
"The cardinals question your legitimacy," she said without looking at me. "Behind closed doors. Cardinal Lucianus especially. He's been holding private meetings with foreign ambassadors."
"Plotting?"
"Politics. But in the Church, politics and faith intertwine like DNA strands." She adjusted her bag's strap. "Be careful who you trust. Even among the clergy."
[Warning: Internal threats detected]
[Cardinal Lucianus flagged as potential enemy]
[Recommendation: Monitor activities closely]
[New objective available: Investigate clerical loyalties]
Sister Evangeline walked toward the cathedral doors. Her footsteps echoed off stone walls, each step carrying her further from the altar's divine presence. But she paused at the threshold, silhouetted against afternoon light.
"Your Holiness?"
"Yes?"
"The guards who carried you inside after the coup… I spoke with them." She turned back to face me, her expression grave. "They described your injuries in detail. Massive blood loss. Shattered ribs. A chest wound that should have been instantly fatal."
The words hit like physical blows.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm stating medical fact." Her voice carried absolute certainty. "According to their testimony, you were clinically dead when they brought you into the cathedral. No pulse. No breathing. Pupils fixed and dilated."
My mouth went dry. The Scythe of Judgement leaned against the altar, its presence suddenly more ominous than comforting.
"But here you stand," she continued. "Unmarked. Whole. Performing genuine miracles with divine power flowing through your hands."
She took a step closer, her healer's instincts overriding protocol.
"Your Holiness… have you considered that your survival itself might be the greatest miracle of all?"
She walked away, leaving me alone with the weight of her words. Her footsteps faded into the cathedral's vastness until only silence remained.
Dead. They thought I was dead. Fatally wounded. Carried into the cathedral as a corpse.
But here I stood. Unmarked. Whole. Wearing the papal crown with divine power flowing through my hands like water through cupped palms.
I thought about Captain Reynolds' warning about hooded figures and supernatural shadows. About Pope Benedict driven to madness by forces beyond human understanding. About blood from multiple sources staining robes I couldn't remember wearing.
And I thought about Sister Evangeline.
She reminded me of Sarah Chen. Another healer who didn't flinch in the face of uncomfortable truths. Both of them—braver than the men with swords.
[System Alert: Character bond established]
[Sister Evangeline classified as: TRUSTED ALLY]
[Divine favor increased through genuine human connection]
[New ability unlocked: Healing efficiency +25% when Evangeline present]
But if I'd been dead, what brought me back? And what did it want in return?