Back at her newly recovered apartment, Korven sits alone, head in a green notebook, copying down every single piece of information she learned from Tynro's notes.
"He has investigated the Angels more than I have; he probably has more knowledge than most members," Korven mumbles to herself.
Truthfully, Korven is completely right. Tynro has been recording and documenting every single action, every single move made by the Angels since its formation. Tynro had lost his job due to his obsession with the cult.
As Korven reads the notes, she notices that every page gets more speculative and extreme. The early pages simply tracked the known members' actions, noting what they bought at the market and how many diapers they bought. Any safe information he could gather about the cult without being discovered.
Korven flips through page after page of illustrations, floor-plan sketches, and lists of members.
One page outlines the hierarchy of the Angels, arranged in a triangular structure. Instead of copying down the drawing, Korven just describes what the diagram shows, for the sole reason that Korven's drawing skills leave
a lot to be desired. In her own notebook, Korven writes,
"At the top of the hierarchy stands the Angels themselves. The cult believes that every aspect of everyday life is determined by a collection of Angels stemming from the founding Angels: Sin, Virtue, Darkness, Light, Death, Life, Beginning, End, and Growth. These angels are sexless and come together to create lesser angels that control smaller aspects of life; for example, Light and Life created the sun angel, who, together with the Growth angel, birthed the Harvest angel and birth angel."
The cult's modernity allows for a new understanding of the world as it constructs the mythos. Because Taoism and Agorianisms' mythos' were formed in an era of misunderstanding and survival, the beliefs of those religions grew around the misunderstandings about the objectively scientific world that surrounded them. This, of course, leads both religions to hold conservative beliefs that must change over time. This, of course, leads people to lose faith because of all the changes to the canon.
Korven skips a line under the description of the Angels and keeps writing,
"Under the Angels, is Aldrick Yyelter, celebrity turned psychopathic cultist. According to the cult's doctrine (a doctrine Aldrick wrote), Aldrick is the fallen angel of protection. His miracle lets him heal anyone he sees whose full name he knows. Under Aldrick in the hierarchy are Hrin and Rulin. These two are miracles known as Brother Static and Sister Arrow, respectively. Hrin can absorb electricity to increase physical and mental speed, while Rulin can increase the power of Arrows and other projectiles. They were promised a world order ruled by miracles, believing the angels had chosen them to lead humanity. The three of them worship the second King of Yewlin, King Dytler, the dreamwalker, the only miracle-king."
Korven is shocked after finding out Aldrick's motive for starting the angels. What Korven doesn't understand is why Aldrick would pursue his goal this way. At the peak of his popularity, Aldrick could have run for office and won by a landslide if he really just wanted power; doing it legally must be easier.
Korven keeps writing in his notebook,
"Below the two miracles are the pastors of the Angels, 9 pastors (one for each original angel). These pastors lead prayer and communicate with the group's members. Right below them are the assassins; these assassins are in charge of eliminating so-called 'enemies of the church.' One of these assassins happens to be a miracle, although her powers are unknown."
Korven crosses out the last sentence and adds,
"One of these assassins is called Silia, a girl with the ability to go invisible when touching a transparent object, and taking the form of whoever she is talking to."
Even though Tynro is a very experienced investigator and reporter, there are still many facts Korven knows about the cult that Tynro would have no way of knowing.
Because Korven has never had formal investigative training, her self-given, unresolvable mindset has not been enough to carry her to many successful investigations. Even though she was considered a smart child, the informal education she received at church focused more on the teachings of Agor than on investigative journalism (though few schools would have helped much more). After growing out of the church's services, Korven took online courses to help with her goal of saving Kilder from the "Dark mist."
Korven flips through more and more pages. The more pages she reads, the more she is reminded why she chose to go about acquiring Tynro's notebook. Every page Korven flips seems to give off a darker and darker energy: random skribbles grow darker and more hopeless, and off-topic notes about Kilder's curses become more and more prevalent. Korven stopped copying the notebook out of fear that any written investigation might be fabricated or imagined, but he kept reading. By the end of the notebook, everything mentioned about the cult is replaced by phrases that seem to come from a dream.
Korven reads the final page aloud.
"Kilder, Kilder, Kilder. Where have you gone? When truth is for sale, what is the value of virtuous soul? Do virtuous sOuls exist? If no man is puRRe until deAth why stay alive. If hUUmanity is eVil, is an eviLL man pure? If the futUre is unprEdictable, Is anyThIIng I say true? In a city bUIt on moRe lies thAn bricks, caNN I bUiLd a hoMe with truth? He gOT mE He GoT HE GOT ME! WULK SAVE ME. WHAT IS THE TRUTH WORTH WHAT IS THE TRUTH WORTH?!"
Surrounding the incoherent pleas are many drawings lining the page. The drawings seem rushed and poorly made; the insanity that afflicted Tynro clearly affected his drawing ability. These drawings present a variety of humanlike figures, along with other sketches that seem not to be trying to be legible.
"Just reading this makes the whole room feel darker."
As if the room was voice-activated, all three lightbulbs illuminating the already dark room burn out one by one. Korven immediately grabs the dagger on her work desk and turns to the door, expecting to engage in a fight.
"Where are you, Hrin? I know you're somewhere here."
Korven assumes a stance with her dagger an arm's length ahead of her. She does this to ensure Hrin can't use the electricity to speed-blitz Korven, giving her a chance to fight on equal footing. As she moves toward the protection of the shelf along her eastern wall, she notices no one standing in her doorway.
Korven breathes a sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to engage in a battle against the Chosen Angel's finest fighter. She takes deep breaths in and out to try to slow her heartbeat, but it is in vain.
Korven fumbles around in her dark room before noticing something in front of her. Renowned philosopher, Flink Lenart, once said,
"In a dark room, fear the darkest corner."
Korven is reminded of these words because in her dark room, she sees an even darker mist arising from Tynro's notebook.