Valent

Whenever she is asked for advice, she always knows exactly what to say.

In the past, Valent was always worryful and easily frightened by evil. But now that time has passed, she's quite desensitized to it. When she sees it, she only has the urge to banish those demons. 

Knows a lot about religion, especially her own. If someone would ask for any specific Bible verse, Valent could easily recite the KJV and NKJV translation of it. When it comes to anything Bible-related (or even moral-related,) her mind is like an encyclopedia.

Despite her slightly intimidating appearance, Valent is very kind-hearted and friendly. She enjoys helping people in need when performing exorcism, lifting the weight of stress from their shoulders so they can live a more happy and fulfilling life. Valent has completely healed people from even the worst mental illnesses said to have no cure. As for getting rid of bodily illness, a Corporeal Exorcist (a CDE for short) is more knowledgeable in that field.

She was born with a disease called aortic stenosis and had one surgery when she was 5. This is the only heart surgery she's had (and ever needed, miraculously.) Doctors have informed her mother that the disease is highly likely to be chronic. Her exorcist mates know of this and say it's a miracle she hasn't had any major problems with it since. Especially with her having had the terrifying "exorcist's awakening" like the others.

When on her lonesome, she remains stoic, always thinking, studying, or reading. Though we know her favorite book already, she also enjoys her fair share of non-fiction and philosophy, hence the Nietzsche quote above.

Is known for carrying Bibles and crucifixes all over her. She even has a tiny one in her stomach that she can regurgitate at any time, although it's a last resort thing. The book is encased in a small box to protect it from digestive acids.

Always comes prepared for anything.

As of the present, she has no sexual orientation and doesn't show romantic feelings for either gender. Though, she'd likely hear out anyone who expressed feelings for her.

She has a very bright and loving personality. Some people claim that her kindness was so overwhelming, they could see rays of light emanating from her. 

She owns a large pet python named Stella and a bark scorpion named Crunchy. She plays with them regularly and they've never harmed her.

Her being a lamb, she has stellar hearing abilities. By this, she can discern between specific frequencies and even some that others cannot hear.

Has the ability to turn on "demon vision," which allows her to see demons, what they are attached to, and the quantity of them. She can even speak to them with enough concentration. It's a legendary ability believed to be only inherited by Jesus and holy angels. 

Your average exorcist has no superb demon vision, but any wise person loyal and faithful to God is able to easily determine whether someone inherits the Holy Spirit. Those like Valent are able to do this just by glancing at someone, no brain power required.

Can read Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and a few other ancient languages.

Once, her arm began to move outside of her control and wrote a sentence in a cryptic language. This writing was determined to be a mixture of ancient Hebrew and Enochian, two languages quite difficult to study. Valent had very little knowledge of these languages and was shocked that she could write such a thing unconsciously. This was really the result of her arm being moved by the Holy Spirit, one of God's three natures. Demonic forces in their individuality are not enough to possess a carnal body as a vessel. It would take a legion of demons in one person to make manifest such a thing.

Even without using demon vision, Valent can sense when a large number of demons is nearby, whether they be inside of a person or roaming about. It's an eerie aura that makes the fur on the back of her neck stand up, but she's never afraid to confront them. 

When exorcising, the main way she does it is by holding a Bible or crucifix in her right hand while her left hand touches the person being exorcised. Sometimes she must flip through the pages to rebuke with the right scriptures, and can do it easily with her right hand. Valent has the strange ability to know which page is open and know which verse her finger is touching without looking. She could even exorcise while blindfolded.

When she notices she's feeling upset, and there are people around, she wraps a cloth or blindfold over her eyes until she feels better. This is because Valent's eyes turn black when she's upset, and when people make eye contact with her, they soon show symptoms of anxiety. The effect is stronger on individuals harboring immense past trauma. This is believed to be the left-over influence of Hell on Valent's eyes. Several other exorcists have been required to wear blindfolds for similar reasons. It's kept a non-disclosure topic by the Catholic church.

While working in the cathedral, exorcising, she and other exorcists must wear specially-crafted garments/cloaks while on the job. They are made of a thick fabric and have small pockets located inside and outside of the coat. Due to the amount of gear/weapons being held in the pockets, these garments can weigh up to 80 lbs. They also get hot and are not best fitted for hot summers, especially ones black in color. Luckily, they also wear thermal suits underneath to keep themselves somewhat cool. Without those thermal undergarments, the wearer could easily pass out under the heat of their cloak.

Suits and cloaks are not required to perform exorcism, it's mostly a cosmetic implemented by the church to emphasize their profession in their field and to make them stand out as exorcists. As an exorcist climbs higher in the ranks and banishes more demons, they receive small badges, stars, or talismans that are attached to their cloaks, symbolizing their bravery, status, and ability. [FUN FACT: By the end of her story, Valent earns over 100 of these badges!]

Valent was raised in a lower-class household by her single mother, Tess. She is an only child. By age fifteen, her mother had gotten ill. This is when she introduced Valent to the "secret work" she'd done when she was younger. Exorcism; a practice that went on in Tess' bloodline for many generations. Valent sees the legendary heirloom cloak, and although she cannot fit it yet, the little lamb reads up on scripture and becomes invested in the practice. Within several years, her mother's illness worsens and she becomes bedridden. The hospital determined her illness terminal. She chose to stay in her home instead of a hospice for her last months alive. 

Although she has moved away into her own home and city at this point to work, Valent still visits her mother to care for her occasionally. Old age has made her bitter, and her dementia causes her to treat Valent with an unfamiliar scorn. But even after she flings scalding hot tea at her, it doesn't keep her daughter from visiting. 

Valent lives alone in an apartment building. She eats mostly microwave meals and takeout for dinner every day. She does things to conserve on money, since her job at the supermarket doesn't make her much. She puts more money into the cash register in a month than she's paid in a year. Every check is somewhere around 200-300 USD. She works the late shift six days a week, clocking in at 2 AM and finishing her shift at around 12 PM since the store is open 24 hours. Most of her exorcism jobs are done at night as well.

Often times-  too often- people target and harass her, sometimes even going to attack. She tries to move away, but there are many people in the city who hate her for what she does and always seem to find her. They even created a hate group for all exorcists, and Valent's apartment building has been vandalized with vulgar hate speech written over the walls, which caused her to lose a few dwelling places. She's woken up to banging on her door, bricks thrown through her window, and even gunshots through her walls. She has one scar from when a bullet traveled into her thigh, but luckily this is her only gunshot scar. It seems that people are more willing to threaten her when she's asleep in her apartment than when she's outside. She has no intention of retaliating anyway. Valent doesn't exorcise people outside of their request or Jethro's command, so she ignores these individuals until they get physical. Then she must use means of force to restrain them, putting them into a strained position and holding them there until they surrender out of exhaustion. For larger enemies, she can outwit them and use her speed to incapacitate or disarm them in some way before swiftly leaving.

There is also the option of deliverance, which is only a much softer method of exorcism. No force nor Bible is required to perform it, only one's voice. It's a harder skill to master than classic exorcism, but a true gift from the Lord that requires much talent.

In the inside of her cloak, there are different pockets meant to hold select items and gear. Behind the big cross on her chest is her primary Bible, an important heirloom passed down by her exorcist ancestors for 700 years. Despite its age and cumbersome weight of 20 pounds, she uses it most often to read from and curse demons with. In other pockets all over her body are multiple Bibles of different sizes, along with holy garments, crucifixes, and the pockets for holy water, anointing oil, urim and thummim, although she doesn't possess those items yet. The only weapon she carries is a small dagger on her waist for self-defense, despite pro exorcists being legally exempt from obeying concealed weapon laws. Meaning that if she wanted to, she could walk the streets carrying a unlicensed guns, brass knuckles, or even a sword. But Valent has never used her pocket knife as anything more than a cutting tool.

As time goes on, the world becomes more and more corrupted at a very fast rate. People are in such distress, that there is no more order. Cars are abandoned on the street, beaten bodies are lying about, stores have broken windows and missing merchandise, and screaming can be heard in the fiery distance. There's a thick red fog scattered over the city, never revealing the sun, moon, or even the stars at night. The streets appear barren, but there are bandits at every corner hidden in plain sight, stalking and waiting for the next victim to assault. Money is being stolen and losing its value at the same rate. A big part of people's panic is a result of legislators planning to pass an act to deprive all US citizens of internet and cellular service.

As the onslaught of disorder grows, Valent receives an urgent call from Tess' guardian. Very worried, she quickly books a train ticket and makes her way there as fast as she can. The closer she gets to the door of her mother's home, the more dreadful suspense settles in. Valent was distraught to see her mother lying in her bed, peaceful but motionless. She had passed away in her sleep. 

Valent would attend the funeral of her mother, an event that was the start of a very sorrowful evening for many. Family members from all over the country had arrived. There were many tears at the burial. It was a dark week for Valent, but alas, she couldn't spend too much time grieving. There were matters in the present to take care of.

Valent sees the world crumbling before her eyes and is not affected by the sudden virus among the people. Little has changed for her after the law was passed, as she never had access to an internet connection. With no cable to watch, she spends her free time reading scripture, meditating, and doing calisthenics using whatever surfaces she can find. She's studied the Torah and is always reading over the books of Matthew and Proverbs for advice. As for physical exercise, she can keep a single-handed handstand for two hours and manage 60 trunk twists in one set. She can perform half that amount of pull-ups in a single set, which is an extraordinary number. She may be small in height, but she has even more core strength than a fit male. 

Because her usual microwave food is unavailable for purchase, the healthy lamb tries to keep her diet clean by going out and buying fresh resources from a hidden produce market, like dairy, grains, fruits, and vegetables. The only kind of meat she eats is fish. She can digest other proteins just fine, but avoids them because the smell of them makes her sick. The manager of this market has allowed her and any other proclaimed exorcists to buy from his shop at a discount. However, this has resulted in many false exorcists coming to receive service. This makes the store manager furious, but Valent is generally indifferent toward the impostors. 

She's not afraid of many things. Even at her young age, Valent has seen the worst things anyone could imagine. The only thing that still scares her today is remembering when she physically experienced what hell was like. Even though she was unconscious for just several minutes, it felt as if she were suffering for an eternity. When she woke up, she was suddenly bleeding from her ears and nose. This is part of what motivates her to continue the rough job of exorcism. It was the most dreadful torment, so morbid that she couldn't even speak of the things she saw. Ever since, she's had dark, blood red eyes. Some people have a reaction of panic when they look deep into them. The effect is negated when she's happy.

This experience has also allowed her to gain a new ability. Two months after that traumatizing morning, she found that one day she could see demons and the amount of them. While using this special power, her pupils would glow a vibrant cyan. The only catch is that it gives her massive headaches. Like, huge headaches. As if she's using 200% of her brain, or like x-ray vision. For the next 12 months, Valent would succumb to a plummeting decline in her mental health. Self-harm, suicidal thoughts, even homicidal thoughts. She had to isolate herself for that time until she was sure that she was harmless around other people. The constant stress, anxiety, and panic attacks were debilitating. She was homeless during this time and had lost 30 pounds in just two months. It didn't let up until she finally realized it was enough, clutched her Bible to herself in the cold, and said a desperate prayer for relief. Shortly after, she curled up on the cement to sleep. She didn't feel complete relief in the morning, but she felt vigor. An urge to do only one thing. And that was to read the book in her hands. Valent went on a serious fast. Even though she was so thin, her ribs were showing, she decided not to eat nor drink for a week.

No other thoughts went through her mind. Every day, she woke up and eagerly began reading, quickly going through all 66 books of the Holy Bible in those seven days. She had no fears, no concerns, and no worries. Suddenly the wild forest around her felt so safe, even with so many carnivorous animals and venomous insects roaming close by. She had no roof to give her cover, no fire to give her warmth, no torch to give her light, and no pillow to soften the rough twigs and dirt against her cheek. But she didn't have to focus on anything more. Her only concern was to protect the Bible she held. After she finished reading the book of Revelations on the 7th day, it began to rain plentifully, creating puddles all around her when she awoke. Valent drank from these puddles gladly. Her dry tongue felt like sandpaper in her mouth. She couldn't even speak with the condition of her throat, or see clearly with the dryness of her eyes. Water, even when it came from a puddle in the dirt, was like heaven with every sip. Her fur was drenched in rain and stained with mud. For the rest of that month, she survived in the harsh wilderness using her own two hands. She didn't know how she had any energy at all, but she found herself going out for hours to forage for fruits and hunt at a nearby stream for fish. While she did this, she built up her confidence, willpower, and strength. By the end of the month, she'd gained back the weight she lost and more, and developed her muscular figure purely by natural labor. She spent her free time meditating and studying over the books she had read, finding meaning and gaining much wisdom. She also got the chance to connect with nature, all while showing it who's boss. She created a small bond with a six-foot python, letting it curiously slither along her arms and shoulders until it went along on its way. She made eye contact with a grizzly bear from just several yards away and managed to create a bond with it as well, over days' time. The grizzly eventually got so close, that Valent could touch its head. Neither of them had any fear. The female grizzly hung around for three days, sharing the salmon supply with Valent, until she went off to prepare for hibernation. The bear had left behind the gift of a nice-sized branch of berries for Valent. She enjoyed the short experience.

With her forty days of living in the wilderness, Valent realized that this was the perfect detox. Her mind was serene and peaceful; no harmful thoughts to cause her panic, and no voices to lose her sleep. She had truly bonded with God in this way. It felt so refreshing and alive, like everything was renewed. So many things that confused her in the past, she could now understand without a doubt. The trials of her experience and her studying of scripture equipped her with much great wisdom. At some point after the forty-day mark, she felt it okay to return to society and pursue her goal to deliver people of any suffering, just as God had delivered her. This is when she found Jethro, an exorcism priest, at a catholic church and offered to work for him. He saw that she was homeless, and in return for her services, he offered her a job and enough money to settle herself in a nearby apartment building until she could reach the higher rank where she could gain monetary profit from her work.

Some time before getting serious about religion, after she'd just finished high school, Valent was in a relationship with a guy named Jake (placeholder name until i find a better one.) Jake was 22, and had come from a background similar to hers. Their relationship lasted for nearly three years, but neither of them were happy. After being together two months, Valent allowed him into her home with her mother and introduced him. He seemed to be a very gentle, loving boyfriend, so Tess had no objections. From then on, the two lived together, Valent fully expecting to push their relationship further. She was finally beginning to think she'd found someone who makes her happy, until he started to show a dark side she'd never seen before. He would be angered by the most trivial things and lash out, often letting out this anger on Valent and coldly insulting her. Although it was unpleasant, he'd always apologize for hurting her feelings and would beg her to forgive him, so she endured it. She endured it until he even began to get physical, striking her with his fist when she'd fail to obey his simple commands, such as missing a turn on the road or cooking him the wrong breakfast. These assaults grew more frequent and more severe, to the point where her body would be covered in bruises and burn marks from hot objects. He'd make belittling remarks in response to any problems she expressed, and would treat her as if she were underneath him; a servant meant to obey. He punched her, dragged her, choked her, kicked her, burned her with a hot fork, stabbed her with the same fork, hit her with a chair, bit her ear, ripped out her fur, and many other awful things.  The constant apologies were beginning to lose their merit, but Valent refused to give up on him. At one point, it was the first genuine love she'd felt from any male figure, and she didn't want to stray from it. Pushing through the fear he made her feel, she genuinely believed that Jake could change, despite what others (even strangers) have told her.

It was now the day before their second anniversary, and Jake decided he wanted to celebrate by going out to dine with friends. He decided to treat his girlfriend to a romantic night out, as a token of his gratitude for her patience with him over the years. Valent was very happy to hear this, and was really starting to think he'd become a better person. They hadn't argued in several months, they were being passionate, and Jake was beginning to really show his potential. He'd even found himself a decent job. Though a bit disappointed that she had to wear a less appealing dress as a result of her visible bruises, Valent preserved her excitement.

The date turned out to be very pleasant for the both of them. Valent was rather flattered by the fanciness of the place. After they'd finished dining, Jake planned to head to the lobby so they could meet up with their friends and chat before they left for the night. Several minutes after departing to the lobby, Jake said he was leaving to use the restroom, and walked out of the room. Valent noticed he was gone for quite a while and went to check on him, but when she passed a VIP room on the way to the restroom area, she heard his voice behind the door. Pausing to put her ear to the door, she could hear the voice of a moaning female. She wished her ears were deceiving her, but with a lamb's keen ear, she knew Jake's voice. Immediately, she opened the door and what she saw confirmed everything, and every suspicion she had. The woman noticed Valent and got startled, stumbling and nearly falling off of Jake's lap as she scrambled to find something to cover her naked body with. Jake saw his speechless girlfriend standing in the doorway and stood up hectically. "Babe, w-wait, it's not what it looks like-" Valent stepped back and covered her mouth. It was too hard to look at him knowing what he was doing behind her back for so long. Valent rarely gets emotional, but this discovery brought her to tears. It was like her persistent effort with him meant nothing.

The woman watched, standing beside the bed with guilt. She felt extremely out of place. Jake approached Valent to wrap his arms around her and she gave him a hard shove. "Don't touch me," she shouted with tears streaming down her cheeks that washed away her eyeliner. "Why, Jake? Why? I trusted you." 

"Baby... you know I love you-"

"Oh Jake, don't give me that," she looked up at him with hurt in her eyes and slipped her ring off her finger, put it in his hand, then made her way back to the lobby to grab her things. Jake stared in disbelief. "Where are you going?!" He trotted past the shocked group of friends and up next to Valent. 

She took a deep, trembling breath to push through her tears. "It's over, Jake. Don't contact me, don't ask to come back, I'm done with you." Jake furrowed his brow, appalled by her sudden independence. He couldn't believe she was opposing him so openly. By this he worried that she was serious this time. "You're just gonna leave me? Babe, that wasn't even- I don't even know her!" Valent ignored his attempts to reason and buttoned up her coat, took her purse in her hand, and made off toward the exit while her ex shouted at her with all his might. "Valent! Get back here right now! I mean it. You are not leaving on our anniversary!"

Valent swallowed her tears and stepped out of the door. Finally. She'd taken that step. It hurt, but she had a feeling her life would be much healthier now, without him. Wiping her teary eyes to look at least somewhat presentable, Valent took out her phone and called a taxi cab to take her home. Little did the lamb know, her destructive partner had silently followed her outside into the night.

She sighed, looking up into the night sky in thought. "What an awful dinner. Why did I ever tolerate it for so long? I hope he gets the help he needs." 

TO BE CONTINUED