Gates of Penance-Chapter 33: Man in the mirror

Their group walked past some sinners who were minding their own business while some sinners stopped what they were doing and looked at Nacht with skepticism. He could tell that they were simply curious about him since they had never seen him before and he wasn’t exactly in presentable attire.

He looked around the inside of the fortress and noticed that the place looked old despite clearly having signs of new renovation. He was eventually led to another gate which led to the inner part of the fortress guarded by only a singular guard this time.

"Magi, is my sister and Lady Nora available?"

The woman named Magi shook her head.

"Magi knows that Historia is busy and Lady Nora is yet to return."

Armon frowned.

"Mirad, get Nacht situated while I have a talk with Historia."

Nacht’s eyes widened slightly as he felt a new thread sprout from his body, pointing towards Magi.

Before they could leave. Magi looked at Nacht with a dazzling smile.

"Magi wonders if you are the key we have been waiting for."

Nacht looked at the blonde haired sinner in confusion.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Mirad put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let’s go."

Mirad led him away from the gate and along a different path.

Nacht was thinking about what the sinner meant, he had already asked before and was told that they’ll tell him eventually. Instead of coming up with a bunch of theories about a question that he’d eventually know the answer to, he thought about the unusualness in which Magi spoke.

"Does she always speak in third person?"

Mirad nodded.

"She may seem a little weird at first but trust me, once you get to know her there’s no one else I’d rather have to watch my back."

Nacht looked over his shoulder and watched as Armon entered into the inner fortress.

"I’ll take your word for it."

Mirad led him along the stone walls and into a compartment by the fortress’s inner gate. Nacht followed him until he opened a door.

"This is one of the empty rooms in this fortress, you will be staying here for the near future."

He then looked Nacht up and down.

"And don’t worry about your clothes, There should be something suitable for you to wear in the closet."

Nacht turned back to look at the departing sinner.

"I appreciate it."

Mirad nodded.

"No problem."

Nacht watched Mirad depart through the thread connecting him to the sinner and noticed that instead of departing somewhere else, he hovered by the entrance of his room.

It seems like they have no intention of letting him wander around carelessly.

Well, it would be even weirder if they just left him alone after letting a stranger into what seemed to be a well guarded stronghold.

Nacht made his way over to the closet and opened it, revealing the same combat outfit that all of the sinners he’d seen so far had been wearing. It wasn’t a relic but it was still durable and far better than his mundane clothes.

Most likely you were meant to wear your relic armour over the gear but he had no relic to speak of.

Upon examining the clothing he was provided with, he noticed that it was one size too small, so instead of wearing the clothing he thoroughly inspected it. It took him a couple tries and depleted some of his orren but he managed to change his clothes into a complete replica of the battle gear using his [Spectral projection] ability.

The replica he made was arguably slightly less durable but it was close enough. The next thing he did was go to the mirror in the corner of the room. When he gazed at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes widened slightly.

Nacht remembered how he looked before he entered penance. He had shabby torn clothes, typical of the residents of District Nine. His hair was dirty, staining his natural white hair a shade closer to grey. He had also accumulated numerous scars across his malnourished body. However, the person he saw in the mirror was nothing like the frail child he had remembered.

’Is this really me?’

He was dressed in black battle gear that accentuated his milky white hair and flawless pale skin. He was quite tall and for all intents and purposes, looked like a noble from a highly extinguished clan that was being sent off into battle. Perhaps his most striking feature was his impenetrable abyssal black eyes which seemed devoid of any warmth.

Nacht thought about his transformation and realized it made sense. The enlightenment technically cleansed his soul from sin as well as any imperfections along with it. After his body was destroyed and he turned into a ghost, his immaterial body became a reflection of his soul.

His [Spectral projection] ability manifested an avatar based on his immaterial form into the physical world, so it made sense that he would look different. Before becoming an enlightened, the prospects from the enlightened clans also go under a similar transformation once their rune synchronizes with their core and they gain control over their orren.

The orren in an enlightened body will cleanse most of the body’s imperfections, minimally changing how they looked. This was why every sinner he had met could objectively be considered attractive.

Nacht’s change was similar but fundamentally different from theirs, and also had a slightly different outcome. He still looked like himself, but his appearance was far more appealing than it should be. Thankfully, his blackened eyes seemed to give him a more intimidating presence to counteract his physical appearance.

He now truly looked like an enlightened, the very people he thought so harshly of.

Looking away from the mirror, Nacht took in the sight of his humble abode. It was far more comfortable than anything he had in District Nine. There was a warm clean bed in the corner of the room as well as some candles to give the room some light.

Nacht walked over to the candles and smothered each of the small flames until they died out.