In a dimly lit room was a massive stone slab, around which there were 13 cushioned seats and a throne-like seat at the end of the table.
Of those 14 seats, one normal seat was empty.
"Now," The old person sitting in the head chair spoke, his voice deep, aged, and extremely calm.
"Now that Cardinal Marjorie has martyred, does anyone have a candidate to fill her spot?"
A hand was immediately raised from the middle of the table, as the head signalled him to proceed.
"May I suggest..." Everyone was on edge, as if they were expecting a name.
A name that everyone was thinking.
"Archbishop Matthew Snyder, your holiness?"
Murmur! Murmur!
The room got noisy immediately.
"Silence!" The head raised his palm, silencing everyone in a single motion.
"Any other candidate?" He asked.
But no one raised their hands.
Which wasn’t weird since he knew who they were talking about.
"Who else agrees with the verdict that Matthew Snyder should be the newest addition to our Cardinal rankings?"
And unsurprisingly, every single hand in the room was raised.
It wasn’t even close.
It was a unanimous, dominant sweep.
"Hmm..." He contemplated for a minute.
The room was completely silent, giving him space to think.
"I..." He opened his mouth to say, "will personally judge him and deliver my verdict in next week’s meeting."
Everyone nodded and didn’t complain.
"What’s next on today’s agenda?" He asked, looking at a particular person at the end of the table.
The person he was staring at stood up and spoke out, "The decoy, your holiness."
"The decoy for the apostle?" He asked, and the other man nodded.
"Have any of those come out on top?" He asked, referencing a certain group of people.
A group of people specifically trained to be suicidal decoys.
A group of simple-minded, yet extremely loyal zealots.
"There is one, your holiness. Jerry Beck." Another person in charge of this specific task stood up and spoke, "We are merely waiting for your orders, your holiness."
"Not yet." He spoke, his tone firm, "We have to make it big."
He went silent again, creases on his forehead relaxing, "Prepare his mark further, and wait for the day of Assignment."
Everyone nodded again, as another item on the agenda for the week was decided.
"That reminds me," His eyes suddenly lit up, and his tone became softer, "What are some updates on our Apostle?"
"His Eminence is apparently being coerced into the new project of theirs." The person keeping tabs on the agendas spoke.
"The Arbiters?" The head asked.
To which the man nodded in affirmation.
Few people present there were stunned.
Wasn’t this quite dangerous for him to work under the church directly?
But the head and a few others were calm and looked completely unfazed.
"It’s not bad," He said, "not bad at all."
The others looked at him, looking for answers.
The head stayed silent, so another person started explaining.
"Their Pope and the Apostle would not be directly overseeing this, since it’s a joint effort by the Cardinals." He answered, "So, His Eminence would be safer being under their noses than outside."
The head nodded and said, "If he stood out outside their Church, those heretics would investigate him harder. Given that he was involved in the mass kidnapping incident."
"What are the odds he wouldn’t be investigated inside, your holiness?" Someone raised the question.
"The odds are still stacked against him," The head answered, "It’s just that the imminent threat would force him to look for the suppressor better."
Adapting to the situation.
This truly was crucial for the Apostle to survive here.
"And," a normal member spoke out, "the freedom of this job would only aid in his divine mission."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Suddenly, the person-in-charge of the Decoy Apostle raised his hands.
The head allowed him to speak.
"Your Holiness," He started speaking with a small grin on his face, "May I suggest letting the apostle meet the decoy on that day?"
A wave of confusion washed over the people, but they caught on instantly.
This was brutal.
But maybe it was what he needed?
"We shall vote on this." The head spoke, "Raise your hands if you agree to this proposal."
Hands started being raised immediately, and in the end, there were six hands raised.
It was a tie.
The head felt their eyes on him.
It was upto him now.
"I..." He spoke, "Agree to this proposal."
The people who hadn’t raised their hands sighed in pity.
They secretly wished the Apostle good luck for the day.
"Meeting adjourned."
The head announced all of a sudden, his expression tense.
Everyone felt it was weird, but they didn’t voice it out loud.
They stood up in unison and conjoined their hands in a revering position.
"Praise the Moon."
...
Inside a massive hall with a simple-looking stone slab as the flooring, stood two figures.
A white-haired, red-eyed, pretty woman and a black-haired, golden-eyed, young man.
"What weapon do you use again?" Eve asked, slightly embarrassed about her question.
She was supposed to know this basic stuff about her little brother, but she didn’t.
Raven didn’t blame her, though.
From his memories, he knew she had been rarely home for 8 years now.
"Let me fetch it in a minute." He said as he walked towards the wooden showcase in the corner of the hall.
He picked up two weapons from the showcase and started coming back.
"Oh yeah," She finally remembered, "You dual-wield axes."
"Good!" She praised as she unsheathed her own sword from her scabbard. "Come at me with all you’ve got. You can use your magic, too. I would evaluate you."
’Fuck,’ Whereas on the other hand, Raven was in despair. ’I have never held axes in my hands, and I only have the memories.’
Magic was one thing, since he could use it from his memories, but weapons?
He needed practice to catch up with the original Raven.
Simple memories and muscle memory were not enough.
But he couldn’t refuse this duel either.
He collected every bit of courage from his body and got into his stance, "Here I come, Sister."