In Brightest Day, In Darkest Night...
A Gabriel Knight Mystery
"Sed ita a principio inchoatum esse mundum ut certis rebus certa signa praecurrerent..."
"Thus in the beginning the world was so made that certain signs precede certain events..." -- Cicero
Disclaimer: Gabriel Knight, Grace Nakimura and other characters from the Gabriel Knight games are not mine. They belong to Jane Jensen, Sierra Studios, and whatever other PTB that apply. This is fanfic, I don't make any money from it, it's all in fun. Actual historical events, locations, and people are used and (mis)interpreted to suit my convenience. However, any resemblance to any real, live people you think you know is purely coincidental. Really.
Send me feedback. Even if you think it's terrible. Please.
Email: [email protected]
Genre: Adventure/Mystery
Characters: Gabriel Knight, Grace Nakimura, Michael St.Clair (original character), other original characters.
Rating: PG-13 for violence and mild profanity.
Continuity: This story is set a few months after the end of 'The Beast Within' - the second game in the Gabriel Knight series.
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Prologue
"We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wondering by lone sea breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams;
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world forever it seems." -- Arthur O'Shaughnessy
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Moonless night shrouded the countryside in gloom. An indefinable terror choked the air, as though the very darkness had taken physical form and stalked the earth with predatory intent. A human figure lay prone on the grass, unmoving, except for convulsive tremors of fear. A shape, vaguely human in contour, knelt over the shivering body. It raised a strangely gentle hand to stroke the terrified face, crooning a wordless song of anticipation.
The kneeling figure seemed to gather itself, and a dully gleaming knife suddenly appeared in its right hand. There was a terrible pause, the hunter seeming to to relish its prey's paralytic agony of fear. The blade swept sharply down, straight for the heart...
Gabriel woke up, screaming.
He sat up in bed, disoriented and trembling. For a long moment, he couldn't recall where he was, until the moonlight streaming through the bedroom window let him distinguish his own reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall opposite. He stared at the wild-eyed, sweat-drenched image that confronted him, and ran a shaking hand through his hair. A moment's respite brought him back to reality: he was in his own bedroom at Schloss Ritter.
The bedroom door slammed open, startling him, so that he rolled reflexively out of bed, landing on the floor in a tangle of sheets. Then the lights came on, letting him see: Grace, with one hand on the light switch, looking anxious and apprehensive.
"Grace! Jesus, that took a couple of years off my life! Didn't anybody ever teach you to knock?"
Grace's anxious expression turned into the familiar exasperated frown.
"Oh, right. And I suppose that was me screaming fit to wake the dead just a minute ago..." She broke off as she noticed Gabriel's gaze moving down from her face.
"Ni-ice outfit, Gracie," he grinned. "Do you save it for special occasions like this one?"
Glancing down at her short white nightshirt, she blushed a furious red and turned to run out of the room, almost bumping into a startled Gerde at the door.
Gerde stepped out of her way, looking as worried as Grace had a moment earlier.
"Herr Knight, are you all right? I heard you cry out..."
Gabriel suddenly became aware that he was sprawling on the floor in a very undignified position, and got up, wincing as he felt bruises in various awkward places. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on.
"I'm O.K., it was just a nightmare." He picked up the sheets and tossed them back on to the foot of the bed again.
Grace came back in, tying a robe around herself. Gerde, efficient as ever, was already wearing her own. Gabriel couldn't recall the last time he'd seen her with even a hair out of place.
Grace came forward, looking anxious again.
"Was it a nightmare, Gabriel? Do you remember anything?"
Gabriel scowled at her and swept his hair out of his face again. "Don't nursemaid me, Gracie.." Then his face relaxed.
"Oh hell, I'm sorry. Sit down, Grace. You too, Gerde."
Gerde pulled the lone chair in the room to the foot of the bed and sat down. When Grace hesitated, Gabriel sat down on the bed and patted the space beside him.
"Come on, Gracie. We need to talk."
She complied, tying her robe more firmly around herself. Gabriel noticed she sat down at least a foot away from him, and smiled wryly to himself.
"Yeah, it was the same dream again. The one I've been having three nights in a row."
Grace started to speak, but Gabriel held up his hand to forestall her.
"I know, I didn't want to discuss it before. But if there's anything I've learned by now, it's that when I start having the same dream over and over, I'd sure as hell better not ignore it..." He paused to collect his thoughts.
"It's kinda confused, images flashing before me, snatches of words that I don't understand. There's a shield: it's white with a big red cross on it. I'm in a cave, with lots of people chanting: something about Mithras? That's what it sounded like. Like I said, there's a white shield with a red cross on it and then a gold, uh, medallion, maybe? It's round, pretty large, it's got something embossed on it. There's a voice whispering in my ear, over and over : sounds like 'Asmodeus'. Then there's a flash of light..." He stopped, searching for words.
"The next part really turns my stomach, so I'll skip the details, O.K? It's a dungeon, and these horrible things are happening; men being tortured, there are screams, I can smell blood and something's burning. There's this guy who's being tortured, an old man - God, Grace, they had him nailed to a door! I keep thinking, I'm going to pass out, or throw up, or something, but it's like I can't move... I can't even close my eyes..." He took a deep breath.
"Then suddenly, I'm out in the open, and I can see the same old man in front of me: they're going to burn him, at the stake, poor bast..d. Just as they set fire to the wood, he says something."
"He says, 'Let evil swiftly befall those who have wrongly condemned us - God will avenge us.' Then, it's weird, Gracie, he turns and it's like he's looking right into my eyes, I swear it! He looks right at me and says "Keep your trust, Sir Knight."
"Then he looks up at the sky and says something real softly: sounds like 'Invicto'. That's when the screaming starts. Jesus, I can still smell him burning...! And then..." He stopped and swallowed hard.
"What, Gabriel? What do you see next?"
He visibly steeled himself to continue.
"Then it's me that's burning. I can feel the heat of the fire around me, and right in the middle of the flames, I can see my talisman, the Ritter talisman..."
There was silence. Gabriel looked up to see Grace and Gerde still and shocked.
"And that's when I wake up."
"Gabriel! you can't mean.." Grace was pale, and he could see she was shaking.
He grabbed her hands and held them in a comforting grip.
"Calm down , Grace, it doesn't mean I'm going to die, O.K?" he said urgently. "Remember, I used to see myself hanging, way back when I first started having these dreams in New Orleans, and I'm still alive, right?"
She nodded, looking slightly reassured.
"I've got to figure out what it means, and I need your help!" He stopped. "Yours too, Gerde."
The blond girl met his eyes, and he could see the sober determination in her face. "I will do whatever I can, Herr Knight."
Grace freed her hands and forced herself to assume a semblance of calm. "We need to figure out where to begin looking, Gabriel."
He looked thoughtful. "Yeah, well, I've a couple of ideas. I'm pretty sure those symbols I keep seeing mean something. The red cross, and the medallion thing. I'm sure there's some connection with my talisman, somehow. Here, I 'll try and sketch the medal for you." He picked up a notebook and pencil from the bedside table and drew for a minute, then showed it to Grace and Gerde.
"That's what I can remember of it."
Grace took the notebook and looked at the sketch. She studied it for a moment.
"I have some ideas, too, Gabriel. Did you say the red cross was on a white shield?"
"Yeah. St. George's shield. Just like the one in all the paintings."
"And you said you saw men being tortured in a dungeon?"
"Yeah."
Gerde said abruptly, "The red cross on the white field was also the shield of die Tempelritter."
Grace looked across at her with some respect. "That's right, the Knights Templar. How did you know?"
"Wolfgang talked a lot about them. He was interested in medieval history."
Gabriel looked up sharply. "Uncle Wolfgang was interested in the Templars? Weren't they some kind of warrior monks, or something? During the Crusades?"
"Yes, they were. They were accused of heresy and their order was abolished some time in the fourteenth century." Grace stopped and stared at Gabriel's drawing of the seal again. "That looks like a Star of David to me. With a cross in it? I've never heard of anything like it."
"Uh, maybe that was a sword, not a cross. I couldn't see enough to be sure. I'm not very good at drawing..."
"That still doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard of. Looks like I'll be doing some research. What could the connection be: this stuff and the Ritter family? Gerde, didn't you say Wolfgang had worked out a genealogy for the family that goes back to Martin Ritter in the 12th century?"
"Ja, he did, Grace. He believed that the ancestor who built Schloss Ritter moved here from France. He even started a book on the family history: I could find it for you..."
"Yeah, well, it can wait till tomorrow, girls. Whyn't you both go back and try and get some rest. We'll talk about it in the morning."
Gerde murmured agreement and got up to leave. "You're right, Herr Knight. Schlafen Sie Gut, both of you."
Grace stood up and hesitated. "Are you sure you'll be all right, Gabriel?"
"You offerin' to stay and hold my hand, Grace?" he said slyly. He lay back, pillowing his head on his hands, and grinned at her.
The concern on her face instantly evaporated.
"Don't even think about it, Knight!" she snapped, and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"That's my Grace," Gabriel said to himself. "At least she didn't slam the door that hard this time..."
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