Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful? Isn’t she precious? Less than one minute old. I’d never thought I could make one as lovely as she. I can’t believe what God has done, through me She’s given life to one. Isn’t she lovely, made from love?

Josephine’s horse exhaled, its breath forming in front of the beast's mouth as a puff of smoke. Josephine’s breath materialized as well, copying her stead. The horse’s hooves slowly stepped on the planks of the wooden bridge, causing the planks to creak. She looked down, seeing the ocean’s waves crash into the jagged rocks below that looked like they were designed to impale anyone who fell. Across the long bridge she was crossing, laid the Central Synod. Not only was the Central Synod the home of the Church, it was also a massive metropolis, on par with a country’s capital in terms of size.

Except the Central Synod was more important than any mere capital, it was the capital of capitals. In a normal kingdom, people bow down to kings yet at the Central Synod, kings bow to the church. The settlement didn’t have a specific name like a kingdom’s capital; it was all collectively referred to as the Central Synod. Therefore the term referred to both the institution, and the settlement. The entire city was placed in the massive palm of a gray statue of the Goddess of Smoke. It was a large towering figure, looking larger than life.

Her massive head stood over the city, adorned in a hood which looked down at the city’s denizens. It was unknown where it came from, presumably built by the Goddess of Smoke herself. Being separated from the mainland like an island, it connected to the rest of the world via multiple long wooden bridges. Josephine traveled on the center bridge, seeing the Goddess’s head look down on the Central Synod’s many spires that shot into the air.

The rest of the buildings weren’t nearly as tall, consisting mostly of two story stone structures. She reached the end of the bridge and was met by a guard. No words were exchanged, merely a nod. Everyone recognized the Apostles, even the lowest ranked one. Her horse trotted into the city proper. As she went through the dirt filled stone roads, past the preachers and drunks, her mind thought about her last mission. How dare her opponents spew such lies? Yet they seemed so sure, so confident they spoke the truth. Were they indoctrinated that effectively? Town guards patrolling in pairs saluted Josephine as she passed but she didn’t respond, mulling over her thoughts. She wondered if word had already spread about Sir Duke’s death. The death of a prince made headlines, which was the intent. Josephine picked her head up, seeing that she was passing an old well. Mendicants surrounded it, sitting with their backs against its base.

There was no water inside, hadn't been for a long time. Looking at it reminded her of what that bloody elf had said.

I wonder what you would’ve been had they not taken everything from you.

Josephine shook her head. What did that elf mean? The Church had given, not taken away. It gave, but everything was earned. The well was a case in point. When Josephine was a child, she had been sent down that well with five other children, only she came out. She gripped the side of her head as images of her bloody fists came to mind. What hunger and starvation did to children was horrendous.

She made her horse trot faster, heading deeper into the metropolis until she made it to one of the Central Synod’s main churches. There were dozens scattered throughout the settlement but the one before Josephine was different. First, its size was gargantuan. It was more accurate to say it was an administrative building than a church. It followed a gothic architecture, its single spire piercing the sky above.

Second, it carried out duties outside of a normal church. It held barracks, offices, and training grounds. Here the Apostles were housed and their successors were trained. Josephine got off her horse, petting the beast's flowing white mane which starkly contrasted its dark gray fur. A clergyman dressed in green robes strode up to her, taking the horse by the reins.

“Welcome back priestess” he said, his face covered by a long hood.

“Afternoon” she replied disinterestedly.

“We’ve heard of what befell Sir Duke. Congratulations on your success.”

The compliment sounded passive aggressive, almost patronizing. Everyone knew she had failed the only mission that truly mattered. It was akin to saying ‘at least you did something right’. She did her best to hide her disdain.

“Why thank you.” she said. “It wasn’t much trouble. He even had a Confederacy representative protecting him.”

“An elf? Didn’t expect them to be interested in such a small princedom.”

“You know how elves are, bloody opportunists. Doesn’t matter how insignificant a man may be, if they could undermine the Church, they’ll help him.”

The clergyman nodded in agreement.

“They’ve been growing bold. They instituted more sanctions on the loyal kingdoms upon hearing of Sir Duke’s death. Now I understand why.”

“Cowards, trying to strangle us to death.”

“I’m afraid there’s more bad news priestess.”

He leaned in.

“There’s been rumors that King Grimmelhausen is losing his faith,” he whispered.

Josephine cursed. Sir Duke was a political nobody but King Grimmelhausen’s kingdom of Holston was a major player on the continent. Losing his support would be a massive blow to the Central Synod. However, if he renounced his faith, they’d handle him the same way. They would replace him but the people would be upset which could harm them in the long run. All of the politicking was above Josephine’s station. She simply carried out orders.

“If it happens, it happens,” she said. “Hopefully he wouldn’t do something so foolish.”

Had the false doctrine gotten to him as well? Who fed their opponents such heretical lies? Despite knowing that everything they told her was false, Josephine felt inclined to verify. No one had altered the holy documents had they? She had to make sure.

“Are the archives open?” she asked.

“Of course priestess but you want to go right now? Surely you are fatigued and in need of rest.”

“Later. I have important business to attend to.”

“If you insist. Good luck to your research priestess.”

The clergyman led her horse away, leaving Josephine alone in front of the building. She stepped through its massive doors.

Inside were dimly lit hallways, filled with clergymen going from room to room. Given the overcast weather, torches placed on the walls lit the way, giving the hallways an orange glow. The clergymen bowed to Josephine in respect as she walked past but she didn’t respond to them either. She eventually found herself passing the building’s training grounds, making her think about her past once more. It was on her right and below, giving her a full view of the grounds.

If she continued on her path, she could walk around it, allowing her to have any angle from which to view it. It was that way by design for the examiners when choosing the next Apostles. Like always, it was full of children training. Their feet shuffled on the sand, kicking it into the air as they swung wooden weapons. There was one adult among them, an older woman with silvery hair tied into a bun wearing a purple collared shirt with black trousers and boots. She watched the children with hawk-like eyes, scanning for any mistakes.

That woman had trained Josephine, instilling discipline into her the hard way. She used a large paddle on the small children, a whip for the older ones.

“Grandmother is as threatening as ever, eh sister?” a voice said next to her.

Josephine had stopped to look at the children unintentionally. So much for being in a rush to the archives. To her left stood the 11th Apostle, Charlie Wilson. His appearance surprised her. He wore otherworldly clothes and was covered up in bandages like he’d been in a fight. He gave her a smile which had a few teeth missing.

“You didn’t” she started.

“I did.” He admitted. “I went. I’m going to be honest, I thought you were exaggerating.”

“You think so lowly of me?”

“I know I’m better. That’s for sure.”

He leaned on the railing of the training grounds, his eyes focusing on the children below.

“I always was. I would’ve won too. You should’ve told me about the stranger in red with the dirty blonde hair. I expected to only fight people my age.”

Josephine cocked her head.

“I didn’t encounter such a man.”

“Well, I did. He used magic on me. I don’t know what spell it was but he hit like a hammer. I was so close. I was this close to killing the hero of prophecy.”

Charlie showed his right hand to her, almost connecting his forefinger and thumb.

“But.” he continued. “I saw why you struggled with the hero himself. He’s a skilled guy. He summoned aura by the end of our fight. It was clear he didn’t know what he was doing but if he kept going, I would’ve lost.”

“Did you tell anyone else you went?”

“No. I went alone. I wanted to surprise them. That would’ve shown the upper Apostles. Imagine it, the 11th accomplishing the most important mission of all time. Too bad I messed up.”

“They’ll send the others. Probably in force now given what’s happened.”

“I know. Once the others go it’s over for the hero. He’s coming here one way or another.”

Josephine nodded in agreement. Now two Apostles have failed in their missions. Grandmother was going to be irate. If only the others weren’t on other missions, they all would’ve been sent together from the start. Unfortunately only Josephine was available at the beginning but now the others were trickling back to the Central Synod, being recalled from their current duties.

It was unlikely Charlie or Josephine would be sent back given they failed already. Their more powerful members going together would make up for their losses. Besides, missions had to be completed here, otherwise the Central Synod would be open to attack.

“So did your sidekick go with you?” Josephine asked, leaning on the railing.

“I sent her after the hero’s allies you told me about. To my utter surprise, she lost to them.”

“Are you certain?”

“Very much so. I couldn’t believe it myself. I thought she would have at least succeeded. Their world is much stronger than we realized. We’re going to have to make sure the others understand that.”

“And not be like you, brushing off my warnings.”

Charlie sighed.

“Yeah, not like me. I’ll make sure they take full advantage of those mercenaries too.”

“I don’t like it. They’re a bunch of heathens.”

“Agreed but they could be useful. We’re hiring Dead Claw. Best group of mercenaries money can buy.”

“Do you know when the others will return?”

“The 10th is already back. If you go by her room you can hear her playing that damn violin of hers. The rest of the lower half should be back within a few days. The upper half will take a few weeks since they were all sent so far away. We shouldn't need all of them but better safe than sorry; I know that now."

Charlie turned to Josephine.

"So 11th, where are you off to? I heard what you did to Sir Duke.”

“I’m going to the archives. He spouted nonsense about how the prophecy has more pages than we were taught.”

Charlie turned to her, taken aback.

“That’s heresy!” he exclaimed.

“I know.”

“Why are you humoring a dead man? You’re not going to find anything.”

“I want to be completely sure.”

“You imply there’s a chance he’s right.”

“I do no such thing. I’m merely doing it to see how in the world he could say such a thing.”

“It had to be an altered copy.”

“He was here a few months ago so he had to have read the original. Perhaps the prophecy’s pages were modified. Someone defiled it, so when he read it, the seeds of doubt were sown.”

Charlie slowly nodded his head, the sound of a whip cracking echoing below. Some poor child must’ve messed up.

“Fair point. Alright 11th, I’ll leave you to it.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Try to explain to Grandmother my failure in such a way that she doesn’t kill me.”

“I doubt you could.” Josephine said, walking past Charlie.

After a few more minutes of traveling, she found herself in front of the large wooden door which led to the archives. With the words of Sir Duke echoing in her mind, she went in.