Year 1023 of the new calendar, Month of the Sun, 7th day

I awoke from my sleep, the dark room in front of me was the same as ever. Its decor had never waned, the sight had never gotten boring for me. Its walls, so similar to the starry sky, had been made with a certain stone, found only during the days of Eternal Night, a 7-day holiday celebrated by a small country neighboring our own. Their God, supposedly anyway, is said to be the opposite of the Eternal Sun. The small bed I’m on, made of the same stone as the entire room, was uncomfortable as always. Well, I suppose that is just a price to pay for the benefit of making an entire room out of Black Andromedese Stone, the dark mana in this room would be enough to destroy an entire city were it to get out. I turn my eyes to an important map, sprawled upon the wall. My map, the most important one in all Solaria. The ones my plans for this country are drawn out, plans no one but myself and His Divine Majesty The Eternal Sun know about.

The map had some areas marked down, I narrowed my eyes at a section. Revolutionary’s of the Naga race, huh. They were of use to me in the current political climate, the Minister was being far too unruly. Separate areas of the map were all marked down, their importance at varying levels, the most important being marked down in the capital. L0S-19 was about to leave and go into Samuel’s hands in 4 days, making the capital currently the most important area in the entirety of Solaria. My eyes lingered on a certain area on the map as I was planning to leave the dark room, a white mark at a certain location. I put that into the back of my mind, and instead began to start my preparations for the day. The dark room was perfect for me, allowing myself to easily create a set of dark robes that had suns woven into them, so vivid one feels that they were popping out. The robes were immaculate, perfectly fitting my body as to not be too tight nor too loose. They held up my status as the Pope exceptionally well. My dark-black hair that was loose fit with my robes as well, along with my black eyes, akin to an Abyss. Satisfied, I left my room, properly sealing it with a little over a quarter of my mana, I began to slowly and measuredly walk through the hallway, savoring the surrounding coolness.

The dark surroundings were perfect, the constant aching of my existence was lessened in the presence of these dark hallways. Their tendrils of mana weaving in between one another gave me an indescribable sense of calmness, with the dark stones on the floor having a soothing effect on me. My skin was cool, a luxury I do not have most of the time, the mana being slowly, ever so gently, incorporated into my own. The sigh that nearly escaped my lips never came out, as I steeled myself for the next part of my plan. A most daring one, one that could threaten my rule over this land but a step I am required to take. For the sake of His Divine Majesty The Eternal Sun’s plan, I am willing to do whatever it takes. Finally, taking the last step out of my cool haven, I stepped into the meeting room between myself and the Archbishops.

No matter how many times I had stepped into this room, the aura of His Divine Majesty radiating out of it never failed to awe me. The light glow in the room pairs exemplary well with the white marble, a stark contrast to the Black Andromedese set into the walls, their design taking after the liking of the current Pope. The previous, His Excellency Adam, had the room completely white, but the Black Andromedese was something that I would always revel in the luxury of were I given the chance. 6 seats in total, all of them of a flawless design, 5 had one of a black sun embedded into the back of a large throne made of white marble, those black suns would glow with just a smidgen of His Divine Majesty’s power. In contrast to mine which had the complete opposite, a sun as pure as the snow in Jevaki, a perfect white. Its cool glow was amplified, with it directly holding a droplet of the blood of His Divine Majesty. They were all thrones around a long dining table, that too woven with black suns on a white marble base, but it was never sullied with a product like food. I took my rightful place on the largest black throne, settling in the seat perfectly, with it being custom-made just for me. I looked around the surroundings, the black walls with white suns glowing majestically attracted my gaze for a bit as I looked towards the table. Closing my eyes, I rapped my arm rest, sending the message for every Archbishop.

Exactly 30 seconds after the call, I opened my eyes to see all the Archbishops sitting in their thrones with their eyes looking at me. Joan, Teser, Batos, Regin and Samuel, all of different races, equal in status that preside over almost every person in Solaria. Joan, a little fox-demon found in the filthy districts of Iabrun raised up to be a spectacular Archbishop, Samuel was a runaway human criminal from his little country, filth which should have no business being an Archbishop, but his pious soul made him an effective Bishop, turned Archbishop. My eyes narrowed a little at Teser, a large man of the Livyatan race, one of 10 surviving members. His race, while their size would be similar to the Leviathans found deep in the dominions ruled over by those damned demon lords, had nothing to do with them. Batos and Regin, a Throne and Dominion Angels respectively, fled from their own dimension after the end of The Last War, they have known about the bloodshed for so long that they did not know what to do after it was all over, at least, until Adam chose to take the two in. All spectacular in their own way, especially Batos who should be reaching the level of a true Cherub in the next 2 years or so. I nodded to indicate the start of the meeting, they all nodded exactly 2 seconds after me.

“The first order of business today is to start plan 62-H, when finished, start 62-I and 62-J. This task will be given to Batos and Regin, finish these by the end of the Hierophant.” I started, the two looked each other in the eye and nodded, these were brutal but necessary developments.

Continuing, “Teser, Joan. Influence members 32, 78 and 91 of the Parliament, make sure they pass what you say to members 56, 21 and 99. Put them all under a bind, any leak would be disastrous.” They nodded as well, the tasks so far were clear. Plan 62 would finish by the end of the Empress. Next would be a bit more tricky, I narrowed my eyes at Samuel.

“Complete the task, L0S-19 will be handed to you in case of any unpredictable events. Handle it with extreme care, the mission is most important. You will be able to gain the sealing method in 4 days.” He nodded, sweat could be seen flowing down the Archbishops, even I could feel a bit of sweat on my back. “Any questions?” I asked, as a formality more than anything, what surprised me is that Samuel and Batos both had questions. Suppressing that feeling, I nodded at Samuel to go first, sweat being extremely visible on his forehead.

“Your Excellency, I do not mean to question you. But, what if L0S-19 goes all the way to 20? Do I still use it?” he asked, hmmmmmmm, an excellent question, good. Rapping the armrest, I answered “Yes, no matter the cost. Use it if you have to.” in a voice no different from normal. He shakily nodded, internalizing the answer, which I couldn’t blame him for. Using L0S-19 is not a position others look at with envy.

Batos went next “Your Excellency, His Excellency Archangel Micheal called every Angel throne level and above to meet Magician, 8th. Should I answer the call?” I narrowed my eyes, those old bastards in Hell and Heaven were always planning something, he would know that Batos is under command of The Eternal Sun, and by extension me, now. What would be the reason…, and then it dawned on me.

Smiling, I answered back with “Yes, you are permitted to go. Tell Micheal that I invite him and Gabriel to a meeting on Magician 25th when you go, do not forget it.” Batos, confused as he was, gave an affirmative nod. Hmmm, Micheal and his friends want to play a little game? Well, might as well be inside of it, rather than out of the loop. I looked each in the eye, conveying the meaning I had. They nodded, all of them standing up, giving a respectful bow to me before fading.

I sat there for a while, rapping my fingers on the armrest as I contemplated some problems. The current Minister was a thorn in my side, but that would be taken care of soon, Iabrun would also be taken care of. Their aggression anyway, the next Emperor is likely to not be so aggressive towards us, hmmmmmm. Constantine Mitchell, of the Mitchell family, is likely to be the person to ascend to Iabrun’s position of Emperor. His views are far more conservative than the current one, isolationist perhaps. Which was good, I had no plan to go to war with that country, yet. I am not fully confident in beating the people there in combat, and L0S-3 does exist, but using it would be the last resort of last resorts. Probably is not good enough though, when Samuel is done I’ll need to make sure he gets on this as well.

I finally stood up from my chair, savoring the Black Andromodese before I teleported to another area. The location was secret to all but the Archbishops, yet even they only knew the general area of it and not the exact location. My task, at the moment anyway, is to watch over L0S-23, not the strongest yet requires my constant mana output to seal. The hallways were a bluish-gray color, with torches every 5 feet on either side. Their lighting was dim, yet that didn’t matter to me as I could already see in the dark. The width was quite small, only 2 meters from edge to and, and the ceiling is 3 meters up. Large enough to accommodate my rather small 5’6 body, the constant grimace I had outside the rooms filled with Black Andromedese crept on to my face again. The constant aching of my existence, a constant reminder of who I was at one point.

Shaking my head, and the quickly flooding memories, I walked into the bright room. A room filled with only 1 artifact, L0S-23, or better known as Vim Rhodes to the public. An eccentric writer, found “dead” in an alley 4 years ago, though calling him Vim would not be totally correct. The little quill in the center of the white room, devoid of all detail, seemed to look at me. Morphing into a green blob and then, into the human known as Vim Rhodes. A small man standing at 5’0 with brown hair, brown eyes and brown skin. The same Quill that had existed since the end of The Last War, taking on new shapes every so often, making new personas every few decades. Though, I guess it likes this one the most, keeping it for centuries. Its motive is unknown, but the things it writes are all connected with fate, so called “whatever he writes shall go into the hands of the people of the time.”, which makes it far too dangerous. Fate related abilities are far too rare, and not many people know the far-reaching consequences, including me.

The little man looked at me, smiling, I just smiled back. Any sign of weakness would be something he would capitalize on, the creepy smile he held was on at all times. The unnatural way his body moved, like a puppet, the fact his mouth didn’t move even when he spoke. The joints on his limbs, the “skin” he held that was papery to the touch, it was all unnatural. The guttural low voice he had only added to it, the voice of a disjointed and unhinged monster. The Quill of Demenseria, the actual name of the little Quill, does have a true form it could take, of course it’s sealed now and the chances of that happening were slim.

He started to talk to me, the smile he had on was ever-present, not shifting in the slightest as he talked. “Hello, little Pope. How has your day been so far?” he asked me, I decided to not answer, sitting in the corner of the room while drawing my blood. The dark, thick liquid flowed out quite easily, into little vials that I then tossed into a pocket dimension.

He, seeming to not mind my rude behavior, chose to continue talking. “Oooooh, what's this little Pope? It seems to me that the blood of my master runs through you.”, the thing he said piqued my interest, but I chose to remain silent, conversing with monsters was never my forte. “I can sense the hesitation in you, you want to know why the blood you have aches right? Why, no matter what, it doesn’t seem to end? The constant pain you’re in, I have a way to fix it, all for a price.”

I sat there for a while, contemplating what to say, before deciding to end the conversation, him mentioning all of this was likely to make me break him free. “I do not make deals with monsters.”, the seemingly eternally unchanging smile moved from a smile, yet creepy, smile to a large grin. “Oooh, monster you say? I’m no more of a monster than you are, little Pope. No, it could be said that you’re the bigger monster, what with the blood that flows through you.”

“No, you are definitely the larger monster. Demenseria’s blood flows through you more than your own, more monster than human. It's laughable, isn’t it? The entire Solarian Church, said to spearhead the charge against mindless monsters, holds one at the top. I know that the damned Sun is listening in, he always is. Heh, I don’t care, he won’t destroy me even if I were to kill you. He may honey up his words, he may say that you’re his prized children, that you mean anything to him. But the truth about that is, it's all lies. All of it, he doesn’t care, same way he-oops, seems I spoke too much. Oh, what's this little Pope? Are those… tears? Is the truth of your miserable existence too much to bear? Is the truth that you’re just a gnat on the chessboard too much?”

His continued talking, the guttural voice that was already grating on the ears became worse, the words hitting my heart like a spear. Tears were forming in my eyes already, but I thankfully came here for the minimum time already, the seal of dark mana around the area completely recovered with my expenditure. Not wanting to listen to the Quill anymore, I set to teleport out, hearing one last sentence from the blasted Quill, “Oh I know you’ll cut a deal with me, it's destined, Demenseria’s offspring.”

Coming back to my room, the Black Andromedese providing some semblance of comfort, I sat down on my bed. The tears, dangerously close to gushing out in a waterfall were suppressed after a few minutes, I still had one order of business left in the day, so I needed to keep up my top appearance, though it wouldn’t matter because His Divine Majesty already knows, but it was a matter of principle, I could not look untidy in front of him.

I took a clean shower, which was not needed as my body did not produce waste in any capacity, but it was still a nice thing to have, and changed into the robes I first wore as a priest. Small and brown, with suns barely noticeable, it was the thing I first wore in my rural village, the nostalgia ran deep. The rule of visiting him for any Pope was “one must look the same way they first started guiding others on the path of eternity.”, Adam drilled this into me. Looking into the mirror, I looked presentable in front of His Divine Majesty. Steadying my hands, I looked towards the only other door in my room, besides from the one that leads to the meeting room, and pushed it open.

His Divine Majesty was sitting on a massive throne in the dark space, the size difference was that of a human and an ant, his enormous size matched his stature. There was a chessboard on a table in front of him, but I paid it no heed, what he wanted to do with it was none of my concern. I looked towards him, keeping my kneeling stance, the light he emitted was dim, and the space was dark, a way to help me I’m sure. The blonde hair and blonde eyes could not be ignored, they had an ever-present feeling of warmth, 2nd only to his white robes, clean from any impurities. Even the tiniest speck of an unclean germ could not survive.

“Your Divine Majesty, The Eternal Sun, The Inextinguishable Light, The Flare of the Eons, The Great Ruler of the Sky. God of Order, Diviner of the Stars. Your lowly servant, Pope Celestine is here.” He nodded subtly, the status of a God was something he held with him at all times. His every movement showed his regal nature.

“I come here for the acquisition of The Scale of the Divine, if I were to be so permitted.” His Divine Majesty held up his hands, adorned with a gauntlet and pulled out the scale from seemingly thin air, shrinking it down to just a little larger than my hand. Floating it down to my side. I was pensive on my next question, whether to inquire about what the Quill said. I decided not to, not because I did not want to, but the plans were in full throttle now and asking such a thing may annoy His Divine Majesty. Taking the scale, I swiftly exited the room.

POV Change: Eternal Sun

Hmmmm, she wanted to ask me about that. A shame she didn’t, but it's ok, there is always a next time. Now, with this little move, I believe it is a checkmate for me. Smiling, I took a little sip of the wine in my glass, thinking about what she was going to do in response.