This one's shorter than the others, but whatever.
Once Lucca and Joel exited the forest, the cathedral was only a stone's throw away. Inside, four nuns were sitting in the pews. The cathedral seemed normal enough.
Joel then saw something on the ground. He knelt down to pick it up.
"What did you find?" Lucca asked. He handed the object over to her.
"Oh, a belt buckle." She examined the object and gasped. "That's Guardia's royal crest!"
Upon hearing this, the nuns rose from their pews and silently filed over to the two. Each drew a dagger from the sleeves of their habits.
"Joel! You have a sword, right? Use it!" Lucca pulled up her skirt and exposed the garter belt she was wearing. She had tucked an Uzi into one of the legs. "I can take care of myself." She pulled out the Uzi, cocked it, and began firing.
One of the nuns swung her dagger at Joel. He responded by swinging his sword at her midsection. The blade slashed her across the stomach, and blood sprayed from the wound as the nun crashed to the floor.
Two shots from Lucca's Uzi killed the remaining nuns. "I knew it," she stated. "Something's going on here." She quickly scanned the cathedral before finding a pipe organ in the upper left corner.
As she rushed over to it, Joel casually glanced at his sword. He shuddered when he discovered the blade was covered with blood.
"You do realize you're supposed to wipe that off after every battle, don't you?" Lucca started banging on the keys of the organ. "I take it you're not accustomed to fighting."
"Not really," Joel admitted.
"You always seemed like a rather peaceful person to me. Don't worry. You'll be a warrior in no time."
Lucca pressed down on one of the piano keys. A door materialized behind the altar.
Lucca motioned to Joel. "Let's go."
***
A complex labyrinth of hallways and doors sprawled out before the duo as they opened the door.
"I didn't think this was here," Joel said. "What do we do now?"
"That's easy," Lucca replied. "We beat the crap out of any bad guys we find and rescue Mike and Prince Nigel."
"Okay..." Joel hesitated. He had never even considered hurting another living thing. However, if he was to rescue Mike, there was no way around it. Joel acknowledged this fact with a nervous sigh.
As quietly as they could, the two crept down the hallways, peering inside the keyholes of the doors as they went along. They came to a pair of doors with no lock on them.
"Let's try this room." Lucca pulled on one of the handles of the door. What she and Joel saw inside appalled both of them.
A man dressed in regal clothing stood over a stone tablet. A young man who looked like Mike was chained to the tablet. He clenched his eyes shut, trying not to see the sword the man was holding over his chest. Behind the two was the Chancellor of Guardia, hanging from a noose dangling from the ceiling.
"Prepare yourself, Prince Nigel," the man snarled. He jumped when he saw Joel and Lucca. "YOU! How did you get in here?!" He leapt over from behind the table and over to them. "It doesn't matter. I'll kill you both first."
Before Joel had a chance to draw his sword, the man produced a set of Oriental throwing knives from underneath his cape. With lightning fast speed, he threw them one by one at the pair. Lucca ducked as one flew straight at her. It bounced harmlessly off the wall behind her with a metallic clang.
Joel jumped away from one of the knives, but he wasn't fast enough. The blade lodged itself in his armor, landing just above his heart.
"This is pissing me off," Lucca muttered as she reached into her left pocket. She pulled out a grenade. After pulling the pin out, she threw it at the man. He ran from the grenade, which proceeded to blow a large hole into one of the walls.
As the man made his escape from the flying debris, Joel saw his opportunity. He drew his sword and rushed at him from behind. When he was close enough to strike, he swung the sword. It slashed the man's clothes before making contact with the skin. Joel's armor was stained with the blood that came splashing out of the gaping hole. He hesitated as the man crashed to the floor.
"What are you doing?!" Lucca cried. "Kill him!"
Joel shook his head.
"Don't be such a baby! I'm not always going to be there to bail you out, you know."
Joel stood rooted to the ground. He tightened his grip against the sword's handle, but remained motionless.
"Come on! Mike needs your help!"
That was all the motivation Joel needed. He swung his arm forward, making another slice in the man's back. The man convulsed violently before he collapsed in a puddle of blood.
"Prince Nigel!" Lucca ran to the altar. "Are you all right?"
The Prince remained silent. Lucca fiddled with the chains on the altar, then pulled them off the prisoner's limbs.
Prince Nigel broke his silence. "Thank you both so much. Please accompany me back to the castle."
Reluctantly, Joel pushed himself off the blood stained floor and walked with the others. His hands burned with the knowledge of what they had done.