“And so, you came back, and got me?” Alex asked.
Elza nodded. Her eyelids hung low over her eyes, and her movements dragged lazily. Clearly, while Alex had had a long night, hers had been longer. “Yeah. I didn't mean to get you, specifically…”
“Did you have someone in mind?” Alex asked.
“Yeah,” Elza responded. She pushed herself off the ground, and stood with a grunt. “A friend.”
Her legs looked like they were about to give out beneath her, and Alex grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Thanks,” she said. “We saved him, didn't we?” Her words had begun to slur, a clear sign of not just physical, but psychological and magical burnout.
“Yeah,” Alex said.
Together, as one limping unit, they made it to the edge of the lake. Before them, across a few miles of ice, lay their home. The Angelic School of Arcadia, the most secure bastion of the True Church, where its greatest warriors were made, raised, and taught. Even now, in the depths beyond midnight, lights shone in the Basilica and the Grand Library, proof that even when the students and teachers slept, the members of the True Church never stopped in their mission.
Elza levered herself off of Alex's shoulder. At first, she looked as if she might teeter over, but instead, she began stretching, limbering herself up for the journey back. After maintaining an obscuration spell strong enough to fool an Angel, and performing the healing Alex had just witnessed, she'd have a long walk ahead of her.
Alex rolled his shoulders. It wouldn't be any easier for him. But regardless of how tired they were, Alex had to make the obvious clear.
“We need to tell an adult about this.”
Elza, who was bent nearly in half reaching for her toes, straightened up. Her mouth hung open. “Tell them what? That we found a maleficus? And healed him? That'll go over super well, Alex.”
He stood firm. “That doesn't matter.”
“What? How can that not matter?”
Alex took a deep breath. “It is our duty to report violations of the laws of the Church. Whether or not it effects us personally does not change what our duty is.”
“They'll kill him,” she said.
Alex spoke with the confidence of someone who knew they were right. “That isn't up to us. They may, they may not. But whatever they do, it will be the right thing.”
That set her off.
The edges of Elza's mouth twisted into a snarl. “You're talking about a man's life.”
“If putting him to death is the right thing to do, then-”
“And when, exactly, is that right?” The muscles in her arms tensed.
Alex could have listed off specific statutes and rulings, but he thought better of it. “Severe moral violations, posing an ongoing or inherent danger to society, that sort of thing.”
“Hmm, that sounds like exactly what he'd be labeled as, Alex.” Elza grabbed him by the shirt. “So you'd just send him to his death, would you?”
Alex was running out of tact. “Yes, Elza, I would. And you would, too.”
She pulled closer, looking like she might spit in his face. “How dare you-“
“If he’s a danger to others, that’s what has to be done. Do I want his death on my hands? No! Of course not! But if I had to choose between one death on my hands, and a couple hundred because I didn’t report someone who was in danger of turning demonic? I’d pick that one death every time.”
“But-“ she started. Some of the fury had fallen out of her face, but the fight was still there.
“We were in each other’s heads. You know I would, and I know you would.” They were very different people, from the impression he’d gotten in there, but they both had a strong sense of justice. When he looked inside his mind for the fast-fading memory, he could still feel that sense of justice burning bright.
Elza let go of Alex’s collar, and he took a step backwards. She let her arm slowly fall to her side, and she took a deep breath before looking back into Alex’s eyes. “Okay. But I’ll be the one to report him.”
Alex was glad to see her finally seeing reason. “Do you want me to come with you? I can vouch for your character.”
She shook her head. “No. This started with me, and it’ll end with me. It’s my responsibility. Good night, Alex.”
And with that, she skated out onto the ice.
“Good night, Elza.”