“Everyone, please quieten down. The ceremony shall begin momentarily” Bishop Yan gestures calmly for the audience of Brothers to stop talking about the disciples and concentrate on the heavy oaken doors that hide their disciples.

Once they quiet down, Yan slams the wooden altar three times, sending echoing waves across the room.

Slowly, the doors open and in walk Brother Chad, followed by fifty three disciples.

Many of the brothers look happy at the large number of disciples, as previous years only numbered in the dozens.

Although many are foreigners.

The disciples form a crude shape in front of Yan and look up expectantly to him; for they do not know what to do.

“Disciples of this Cathedral, welcome to your ceremony where your fates shall be decided by god and by man.

Today is the day, when your devotion to the divinities is shown in full due to godly acts and to Brother’s votes.

Do not fret if you are not yet worthy to become a Brother, for that time is merely delayed to the next ceremony. You shall have your chance once more.

And for those that become Brothers; do not forget the ties you have with your fellow disciples, aid them, show them the way to devotion and set them on the path to Brotherhood as you may be moving onto now” Yan makes eye contact with each and every one of the disciples, however he remains looking at a particular few that interested him mightily.

Moren, a once quiet boy doing little but sighing, had become loud, energetic and full of life. Although some part of madness had seem to join in with the change.

Yisra, a young woman, although looking worse for wear, is still attuned to life even with facing the horrors that Moren and that man give every day.

And finally, that man. The man that shook the entire Brotherhood and continues to shake both them and the locals daily with offerings which bring him to the brink of death. He is a wondrous and terrifying being.

Of course there are other disciples that are interesting, hard-working and lovable. However, they lack a certain something, a certain devotion that these three have fought for in both mind and body.

As interested as he is to see the fate of these three, he has a more important matter to begin with

“Disciples and Brothers, before we begin I would like us all to have a minute of silence and prayer for Brother Danfey, who lost his life this morn”

All the disciples look somewhat shocked at hearing a priest die, however only a few have a look of sadness in their eyes. The young red-haired man and the short blonde with cat-like eyes both have tears glistening in their eyes.

He knows that Danfey and Chad are the Brothers in charge of the first few foreigners to come as well as Moren and that boy Jacob. And he knows that only they among the disciples knew Danfey personally.

Sighing, he lets the minute pass and when it is over, begins the ceremony in full.

“Now, let the bravest of you stand forth and beckon your fate”

A young man with long and shiny blond hair and some blond stubble walks forward gallantly

“I ask for my fate to be decided” He says with his smooth voice

The brothers all look upon the man, but they do not respond at first. Not until Sian raises his hand and then a majority of them comply with the decision.

Stopping himself from smirking, Yan feels happy about the new system he implemented for the ceremony: The Brother who takes care of the disciple choose whether he is worthy and then unless the other Brothers feel certainly against the disciple becoming a Brother, they vote with the first Brother.

Of course he has a choice too; however he must be careful when voting as he cannot show any discord with the Brother’s opinion and his.

The young man, who never introduced his name becomes a Brother, and after lighting a red candle at the altar of his choice; Deiran the laughing god, he is presented the cream colored robe of a Brother by Sian and then sits down with the other brothers.

The ceremony proceeded as such and out of fifty, all had been approved as Brothers.

All find that a bit strange, however each Brother found their disciples to be worthy and Yan has heard of the foreigners being hardworkers going for as much as half a month with little to no rest.

Thus he does not see it as a strange coincidence, but rather as good luck as now the Cathedral has another fifty Brothers in its halls.

Finally, only three disciples remain standing: The three that had caught Yan’s eyes.

The first to step forward was Yisra

“I, am Yisra and I hope you allow me into the brotherhood” Her voice is shaky, out of anxiety and of slight fear as if she knows her fate.

Sure enough, neither Brothers nor Sisters raise their hand, not a single one. Odd for Yan to think Sisters, but sure enough it is the first time in a century that the Cathedral once again has Sisters.

Yan felt a tear in his eye as seeing such a woman devoted to becoming a disciple, enough to endure the daily horrors that many only saw once a day while she slept in their room and watched throughout the night and day.

However he also heard that she is the laziest among the disciples, and when she does turn up to do chores, she does them badly.

But he cannot sow discord among him and his Brothers so all he can do for her cause is sigh.

“Disciple Yisra, it is not your fate to become a Sister this year. But do not worry, for you have time to better yourself in the eyes of your Brothers and Sisters for next year.”

She bows, trying futilely to wipe off the embarrassed flush on her face, before she goes to the corner of the room, still in a straw-colored robe.

The next one up is Moren. He looks at the Brothers and Sisters for a second before walking past them to the statue of Helia, much to the Brothers and Sisters' annoyance at being blatantly ignored.

“Helia, Heed my call and bless this one who devotes their mind and body to follow your will. I care not for the opinion of the human’s around me.

I only care about your opinion. If it is your choice to cast me to the streets then I shall willingly go to the street.

However, I do like living in the Cathedral, so please allow me the human pleasure of becoming a Brother” His voice is loud and filled with energy, not like the boy the Brothers knew a barely a few months ago and this speech, almost informal to the goddess of light is quite shocking to the audience.

No Brother or Sister raises their hand because Moren had not given them the option to.

Yan conceals a smirk behind a raised sleeve. But the smirk soon dies as no divine answer comes.

“Disciple Moren, your goddess shows no sign of accepting you, so her answer is clear; you are to be excommunicated from the Cathedral” Yan says with a hint of refreshment but also a hint of loss.

Choruses of relieved sighs come from the pews in which all the Brothers and Sisters sit. Though, many look confused as it is customary for there to be two chances for the disciples.

However the elder Brothers do not seem that confused as they know that the disciple is not seen as worthy by his goddess so he has no right to be even a disciple for that goddess.

However only Bishop Yan knew of the excommunication by first trial challenge that he gave both of them, as he had high hopes for both.

At this point, Yan doubts his quite reckless decision was the right one.

Moren remains kneeling at Helia’s statue for another minute, eyes closed as if in deep concentration, before finally standing up.

He bows to Helia and then to Bishop Yan before stripping himself of his straw-colored robe, leaving his well toned bare body exposed to a number of shocked people.

Walking past the man he spent almost four months with, he shares a devious grin with him and whispers some inaudible words in his ear before walking out the doors.

The people remaining inside are rubbing their eyes from the strange, yet pleasing to some, spectacle.

But their minds now focus on the last remaining disciple who stands with a devious grin.

He stares up at the ceiling and begins a speech which everyone present dreads

“Aegi, I have not come today to offer my life, as I have done so many times before. Today, I am here to offer you something eternally more valuable; a ticket to watch me gain immortality.

All I ask is that you bless my path and allow me the tools necessary to grow strong, strong enough to meet you in person”

Everyone looks at this man, shocked beyond belief at the hugely informal tone of the man and also the most bizarre offering. None in the room know what to say, and none forget the most delusional comment of the disciple saying that he will meet Aegi in person.

Many can’t accept this man in any fiber of their being and growl angrily in their seats.

The man just ignores them and stares at the ceiling for a minute or two.

“I see..then I guess I shall gain immortality without your guidance. I will still be seeing you in person though, so prepare something savory will you?” He ends with a cheeky grin

The man strips his robe, this time having a white shirt and brown trousers on, and begins walking out the door.

“BLASPHEMER! HOW DARE YOU SPITTLE ON A GODDESS WITH THAT TONE OF INFORMALITY AND CHEEKY WORDS. YOU ARE NOT A DISCIPLE, YOU ARE BUT SCUM OF THE EARTH AND SHOULD BE-”

Brother Sian stands up red-faced, veins popping.

“ENOUGH” Yan shouts Sian down with a single word and then turns his attention to the man; he had ignored Brother Sian and had walked out the doors without missing a single step.

Yan grimaces at the loss of two dreadful yet interesting men due to his own reckless decision, and with a heavy sigh, concludes the ceremony.

…

“And so after leaving the Cathedral, I walked around a bit and ended up here somehow” The man concludes his story.

Ankorr takes in the story along with a long gulp of water for the fourth time refilled canteen.

“How are you feeling there…” The man leaves the sentence hanging in expectation with his gentle voice.

“Ankorr” His voice is much more deep than the man’s’ and no longer rasps from being parched.

However Ankorr is still very thirsty. Finishing off the canteen he gives it back to the man who grins with a raised eyebrow.

“Wow, you are seriously thirsty. This’ll be the fifth time in like two hours” The man looks slightly concerned but more curious. “Tell me more about why you are drinking so much, there must be a reason”

“Well, I’ve been killing people lately because they seem delicious to me” Ankorr says without hesitation.

Normally one wouldn’t say such an absurd thing, for their sake mostly. However Ankorr decided not to lie to this person; the only one who has been able to help him thus far.

“Oh…well I didn’t expect that. I expected something more along the lines of I can’t eat…” The man takes the confession with a grin on his face

“That too but…you don’t want to ask why I’ve been killing people?” Ankorr asks confused at how the man hadn’t reacted like he expected; with horror and fear

“I don’t really care about your problems. But you don’t look like you’re psychotic or evil so I’m just guessing you didn’t have much of a choice when it came to killing them and that makes you an alright kind of guy” He replies with a noncommittal shrug

Ankorr doesn’t know if the man fully understands or not, but he still feels tears of gratitude well up in his eyes.

For the first time in a month, someone hadn’t looked at him with fear and only responded to him with screams and shouts filled with anger and terror.

“Er…there there buddy” The man gives him an awkward hug as tears stream down his face accompanied with small sobs

The situation remains for a short while as Ankorr lets out the stream of emotion that he has been lacking in the past month, both in tears and in sobs.

The man not really knowing what to do in such a situation, just hugs and pats Ankorr on the head to try make him feel better.

Eventually, the tears stop and Ankorr gains a hold on his emotions once more.

“Sorry…about that” His eyes are puffy from tears and his nose runs slightly

“Nah, don’t worry. You’ve had a hard day and not everyone can cope with it so well. Maybe it’d make you feel better talking about it?” the man’s gentle tone is so very soothing to Ankorr’s ears.

Ankorr nods as the man releases him from the hug.

The tale since that first day two months ago soon slips out of Ankorr willingly.

…

“Right, I’ve heard enough…it’s time we go and get you cured” The man stops Ankorr mid way through his story with a hand to his mouth.

“But how do we get in?” Ankorr lowers the man’s hand and asks curiously

“I heard some useful things along the way” The man answers as he stands up and begins to walk away.

Ankorr, fully trusting in the man that has not shunned him, quickly downs the ninth time refilled canteen before following the man.

“I’m starting to think it wasn’t a coincidence we met” Ankorr barely hears the man’s thoughtful whisper.

“How is it not coincidence?” Ankorr asks confused

“Let’s just say…ah damn this is the wrong way, turn around it’s the other way” he turns round and Ankorr quickly turns around to walk the other way, now in-front.

“Let’s just say what?”

“Oh. Let’s just say, I have a feeling”

If Ankorr had looked back then and there he would have seen something game-changing to him. But he was busy walking in front, leading the two of them out of the maze of alleyways.

Thus he missed the man looking to the sky with a most devious grin, along with blood welling on the man's pricked finger.

Both turned the corner and begun walking in earnest to their goal.

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Author's Corner:

MY LOVELIES THANK YOU FOR READING

If you have anything nice/horrible/something to say, please doo :D

-TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD