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Some five million people visited the Vatican each year. Some came to relish in the heart of their religion, other came for architecture and history. They came to see the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica or any number of the other relevant sites. Once done they meandered back into Rome to continue their explorations while remaining none the wiser about what really went on.

Of course, not all of the Vatican was open to the public. Even the Pope, devoted to the masses as he was, required his privacy. Important pieces of art needed safe storage, as well as documents that dated back centuries and even millennia in some cases. There was plenty that needed to remain behind closed doors, many reasons which could be reasonably ascertained through logic. Still, there were secrets that the Vatican kept to itself.

A well kept secret was the Knights Templar and their true history, not the one created to fill history texts. The Knights Templar did come under attack by the French King, Phillip IV on Friday the 13th of October, 1307 and many were arrested under the charges of heresy. That's where most similarities ended.

At the beginning of the Crusades, the Knights Templar were created to protect pilgrims on their journey to the Holy land and afterwards they would become prized soldiers in the Crusades themselves. They had their fair share of defeats, but were known for their fierceness and their steadfastness. Rarely would one see a Templar flee from battle. This was in part due to the make up of their ranks. One in ten Templar were Lycans, as the church called them.

The existence of werewolves had been known to the Catholic Church for a very long time, since the fall of the Roman Empire. Werewolves were ostracized. Though their note worthy difference to the common man were kept secret to avoid panic, the Church had the families, or packs, of werewolves excluded from society.

Most packs did not mind this and some even welcomed this change as a way to avoid human contact entirely, but some packs had lived well integrated lives with humans and the sudden outcast status that was placed on them hurt them badly. They craved to be part of society again.

With the Crusades underway, the current Pope was more lenient and send envoys to the Lycan packs. He offered them integration in return for Holy service in the name of God. Most refused, but enough accepted. Both sides honored their oaths, but it wasn't without some resentment.

Many individuals saw the Church as evil. It was taking advantage of their brothers woes to turn them into fodder for their armies.

These individuals came together and from the inside, began to plot the downfall of the Catholic Church. Slowly they placed their own members in positions of power in the Templar ranks and just when they were ready to strike, the Church moved first.

A member of this Lycan uprising, by the name of Loki, had been feeding information to the Church. He told them who was a traitor, even giving away his own son. With this information, the Catholic Church worked to poison the mind of the King of France into attacking the Order.

An Inquisition was made, filled with ranks of those that despised Lycans and were unleashed on the traitors while those loyal were whisked away to safety. The resulting chaos was bloody and ended with mass executions.

While the purge was mostly successful, with some traitorous Lycans escaping, control over the Inquisition was lost as their members continued to hunt for Lycans even after their disownment by the Church. Even worse though, many packs that had not originally been sworn to the Knights Templar saw this as a confirmation to all their fears about the Catholic Church and the animosity between the Catholic Church and the Lycans never healed.

Those that remained, knowing the truth of what really happened, continued to serve in secret. The Templar Order was reinstated, but in the dark and Templar, both human and Lycan worked together to serve the Pope and God to keep the faithful safe from whatever threat may come.

For most of their renewed existence, Templar were largely unused. They became glorified security and watchdogs to the Pope. Millions of people have passed the famed Swiss Guard, never knowing that some are Lycans. Others simply say at their posts, patiently waiting for their next grand Crusades and now with the annihilation of the Alpine Hold, many Templar wait eagerly for the command to go and hunt once again.

--

Marshal Emery stood patiently in the marbled hall. He was in shiny new armor that rested heavily, but without burden, on his shoulders. Ribbons adorned his chest and a red rope wrapped across his shoulders, connecting to pins that held up his cape. The only thing that was missing was his blade. It was till being repaired after his fight three days prior and Emery refused to wear a replacement.

Everything had been explained. Emery left no detail out of his report, including the unusual form the Lycan attackers had taken. He wrote everything while he had been recovering in a hospital bed for the wound on his leg. It still hurt with a deep burning sensation and hadn't healed entirely. The doctors, specially trained for Lycans, were cautious to say that the wound was festering. It was unheard of for a werewolf to suffer from infection and Emery was slated for a slew of tests to determine the cause.

That was second priority for Emery. He no longer had a command. Everyone but his squire was dead. It weighed heavily on his mind. Never had the Templar suffered such heavy losses so fast and it had been under his command. Emery expected to be stripped of all honors and sent to the bottom of the ranks. Maybe he'll become Jerome's squire. At least that would be some comfort. After what the boy had seen, he would need friends close at hand.

At the moment, Jerome wasn't at Emery's side like expected. He was still recovering. He had plenty of bruises, but nothing life threatening. He was confined to quarters to rest for a week and recover. Then he would be returned to his normal duties.

Good, Emery thought, he needed good men by his side.

Emery looked around the hall he was in. It looked familiar, but only slightly. That last time he was in the Vatican was when he had been promoted to Marshal and given command of the Alpine Hold. At the time, this entire wing was under renovation. Water had begun to seep in through the roof and threaten the murals that danced across the walls. No expense was spared and now the once dusty stone floors were replaced with a rich orange and brown granite. It was polished and Emery could see his cleanly shaven faced reflecting back at him. He frowned at his reflection, a long face with a pointed chin with high cheekbone. His hair was a white blond that contrasted with his deep blue eyes. It was easy to tell that his heritage came from Sweden or that area. It had been decades since he had been to his native homeland. He had nothing there, the original pack he would have belonged to didn't know he existed. Both of his parents had served the Templar and their parents before him. He was well removed from the packs.

"Marshall Emery?" A large dark grained, wood door opened to Emery's left and a boy, no older than Jerome, appeared. He looked up at the Templar with a twinkle in his eye. He had been close to plenty of Templar, but the privilege of it never escaped him. "The Nest is ready to see you now." He strained slightly and pushed the heavy door the rest of the way.

Emery turned elegantly on his toes towards the door and moved to place his hand where his sword would be but instead ended up putting his hand on his hip. To cover his slight forgetfulness he brushed his hand back to push his cape away. "Thank you," he said and strode into the awaiting room.

The light was a lot dimmer here than in the hall where windows let in lots of natural light. This room, designed to look like a library with book shelves lining the walls, was lit by candles that sent a mild fragrance wafting through the air.

Near the center was a large round table that took up most of the floor space. It was barren except for the folders put there by the seven Cardinals that sat on the opposite side of Emery.

The old faces looked up to Emery as he entered. The boy closed the door and bowed. He then ran off to another smaller side door to give the occupants some privacy.

"Please take a seat." The Cardinal in the middle of the group gestured to the only seat open. " We'll begin shortly." He looked back down at the papers, shuffling through them in no discernible order.

Emery took the seat which groaned at the weight, but held fast. He pushed the cape off to the side. He disliked the flourish of the uniform he had been given. It was all ceremonious. The armor was only steel, it wasn't practical without layers of the Kevlar weave. A swipe of a claw would turn anyone wearing this into string cheese. But he was before the Bird Nest, the body in direct control of the Templars, minus the Pope himself.

They were in charge of managing the Templars and for the most part, they let the Templars self manage. However, a situation as unique and concerning as Emery's case demanded attention from the top.

Emery waited for what felt like minutes as he watched the Cardinals whisper among themselves. He strained to hear them, but the unique acoustics of the room which ate up all the sound before it could reach from one side to another. It was made so that a Lycan, like Emery wouldn't be able to listen in on conversations and allow others to speak freely. Emery could only hear mummering.

Emery did not recognize this room. It didn't exist when he was last here. It used to be a small garden. He could still smell the freshness of the wood in the room, even under layers of finisher and wax. It made him feel more at ease since all Lycans preferred to be outdoors with nature. It was where they belonged as one of God's animals.

"We've reviewed your report." The center Cardinal spoke without warning. His voice was surprisingly strong for what appeared to be his advanced age. "Is this everything?"

"Yes, your Eminence." Emery replied swiftly and without missing a beat. "I've outlined everything."

The Cardinal looked down at the folder he had. He flipped through several more pages and then straightened his pair of spectacles that had a chain attached to them which then went around his neck. "You mentioned Ragnarok multiple time. Care to explain?"

Emery recalled the attack. He focused on the form the Lycans had taken during. "Half way between man and beast," Emery explained. "I've read in the archives that during the Great Purge, traitorous Lycans took similar form."

"Yes." Emery wasn't sure if that a yes to say he was right or a yes for him to continue. He chose to continue.

Emery cleared his throat. "Also that a name was already given to the scenario if the surviving traitors ever rose up again."

The Cardinals looked at each other for a moment and then the center on took off his glasses. He placed them, folded shut, next to the folder. "You are well read Marshall Emery. Not many know about Ragnarok even though it is there in the plain to be ready by any Templar. If what you say is in fact true, then the end times that the pagans believed in is truly upon us and we all must prepare for the coming storm. God bless us."

"Then what will you have me do?" Marshall asked. He was glad that the conversation never turned towards his failings at the Alpine Hold. He secretly admitted that it did need to be addressed since he was responsible for all those Templar Lives that were lost, but the guilt made him keep it to himself.

"We will be sending you and your squire, when he recovers of course, to America?."

"America?" Emery exclaimed and quickly calmed himself and apologized. "I'm sorry for that outburst, but what good would I do there when the enemy is here?" He wanted to fight and deliver Holy vengeance.

"It is believed that you would not fare overly well in the line of duty as of right now."

The words were like knives. His failings were not forgotten and they were testing his competence with a simple task to see where blame should go.

"You will go to America and retrieve an asset. More information will be provided later, but for now we have another waiting on us." The Cardinals didn't move to leave and Emery quickly saw that he had been excused.

He got up and bowed. "May God guide your steps," He said and then left. The boy from earlier was already there and pulling the door open.

Emery exited and nearly ran into a man standing just outside the door.

The man caught Emery by the shoulders. "Marshall Emery!" It was Turcopolier Reiss. "I'm glad to see you are up and moving." He talked loudly and boisterously.

"Turcopolier Reiss." Emery automatically locked arms with the fellow Templar in their usual greeting. "Pardon me."

"It's fine. With all that armor on, it's impossible not to barrel into everything," he slapped Emery on the shoulder. "I heard you were to receive your new orders today. Getting you right back into the fray." He grinned a contagiously perfect smile. Each of his teeth looked like they were coated in pure white wax. He was handsome by any standard with combed brown locks, blue eyes and a prominent Roman chin and nose.

"Not quite." The two released their holds on each other. "They're sending me to America to pick something up. Some sort of assert."

The human's face scrunched a bit. "You will be wasted there. I had put in to have you under my command, but those Birds in there are picky. Still I hear many interesting things from our endeavors in America."

"Can you share?" Emery asked. "They didn't tell me anything else."

"I'm afraid not, my friend." He chuckled and patted Emery's armored shoulder again. "If they didn't tell you then it wouldn't be my place to."

"Oh." Emery felt his currently nonexistent tail droop.

"Though I can say that ever since Pope Francis, bless his soul, united the Church more with the modern world, some interesting things have been happening. Trust me when I say that you of all people will find it quite the experience." Before Emery could ask for more information, he was gone. The doors were closed and there was only him and the door opener who hadn't gone inside with Reiss.

"Are you two close friends," He asked still giving Emery that awed look.

"I actually just met him a few days ago."

The boy raised an eyebrow and Emery explained. "When you bear the red cross, all Templars are brothers."

Once Jerome was fully recovered, Emery and his squire were taken to the airport and told that they would be met there by a representative who would explain everything.

Emery managed to talk to Reiss again who was also going to be traveling, but to Russia for reasons that Could not be shared.

Emery could see that the gears of the Church were moving now and once the beast was rolling, nothing could stop it.

He only wished that customs would let him fly with his sword. He hated the idea of it being useless in the cargo hold all the way across half the world to San Diego.