Page 72 of Forge the Blade

“English doesn’t have a word for something that’s artistically beautiful but also terrible,” Alice countered.

“Beautiful disaster,” Ellisandre said, voice soft. “And some apocalypses are beautiful. They mean you’re starting over.”

The van was quiet for a moment. Rei let himself breathe inside the silence. That’s what he was to Sevastyan. A beautiful disaster.

But they hadn’t gotten to the starting over part yet.

Rei

The church was everything Alice had said it would be. Abandoned. Dirty. Tragic. And cold. There was a security perimeter of men walking the area. Cameras were focused on the entrances and external lines of sight. Rei pretended he wasn’t scanning them, but it was habit now. He always did that. Sevastyan had drilled details like that into him early on when he had started taking Rei out. The building itself looked like something from a video game, not that he’d played very many. Bak had said playing video games made him relatable to fans, so he’d learned to navigate a few. It wasn’t something he’d done in a long time, but it was the only experience he could relate it to as he stepped through the weathered doors into the lobby, and onward towards the wide expanse of gray light and dust that made up the sanctuary. It was early, the sun not truly over the horizon yet. Bits of weak illumination streaked in through the broken arched dome of the ceiling above.

There were already people inside. Rei kept close behind Ellisandre, carrying a lightweight bag of props. Before getting out of the van, Ellisandre had gone over his cover, even applying tape to the sides of his temples to pull at the skin around his eyes and change their shape. Then they’d adjusted his mask and hoodie, making sure they would stay in place for a long time. His ankle was wrapped and feeling strong, but Ellisandre had brought crutches in case he needed them later and promised to check the swelling in three hours, whether or not he felt good. They were thorough and obviously experienced. With each choice and point of awareness they demonstrated, Rei felt more secure with them.

A man as tall as Sevastyan with dark hair and an air of authority moved through the haze.

“Ellisandre. Ash, Alice.”

“Hi, Richard!” Alice ran forward, dropping her box and giving the older man a hug around the waist. “Where’s Collin?”

“With Jun at the Parsonage.” Richard waved towards his left and hugged her with his right. “We’re filming there first. But we could use some hands here to finish part of the set.”

“I’m on costuming, so I can’t,” Ellisandre said. “But maybe Ash and Alice can.”

“We can,” Alice said.

Richard grinned. “Go check in with Damian.” He pointed them at someone Rei couldn’t make out in the distance, and they ran off.

“And who’s this?” Richard asked Ellisandre, nodding towards Rei.

“A friend,” Ellisandre said, bending the word with intention. “You can call him Andres.”

Richard bent his head towards Rei. “Any friend of Ellisandre is welcome.” He turned back to Ellisandre. “Is he helping with costuming?”

“Maybe,” Ellisandre said. “Going to go check in.”

“Damian says he brought his part of the outfits, but they need you on makeup for the first round.”

And that was that. Richard turned to follow Alice and Ash and Ellisandre headed for the side exit of the sanctuary. Rei blinked to himself behind his glasses. He’d met Richard, one of the Residency men, and he was fine. Nothing had blown up. It didn’t feel real.

The Parsonage stood on the other side of an overgrown outdoor space that had once probably been a prayer garden and play area for the church. It was old, made of brick, and four stories tall with basement windows on the ground level and the main entrance up a flight of ten steps. Beside it was a parking lot, but the front steps rose up from the cracked sidewalk running through the grounds of the church complex.

Ellisandre kept their stride short and slow, offering Rei their hand over some of the broken pavers. When they reached the house, Rei grimaced at the ten wooden steps up to the front door.

Ellisandre took the bag from his hand and hefted their own box. “Wait here.” They jogged to the top of the steps and put down their burdens, then came back down. “Hang on.” They took his hand, put it on their shoulder and bent down, sweeping Rei’s legs out from under him with their opposite arm, hoisting him up in a bridal carry.

Rei’s breath stuttered, but Ellisandre was looking at him with so much smug dominance that his throat wouldn’t even work for a pitiful attempt at remonstrance. They were up the stairs before he remembered to breathe. Ellisandre lowered his feet to the wood planking of the porch and picked up the box. “Let’s go get some boys made up.”

Inside was organized chaos. There were camera stands against walls. White sheets hung between rooms. Renovation tools stood side by side with light stands. And there was Jun, standing in the middle of it with a bunch of white printouts in his hands, directing Yoihei and Geun as they moved a large wooden box into place.

“Is it steady?” Jun asked.

Yoihei reached out and pushed on it. Geun jumped up on top and crouched, moving his weight around. “Not going anywhere.”

“Good. We can shoot this section, then, as soon as we’re dressed and Émeric checks the lighting.”

“Which means you have time for me,” Ellisandre interjected.

Jun spun around. “Yes.” He glanced at Rei. “Is that Alice?”