Zoe met a young soldier as she turned the last corner at a run, panting from all of her exhaustion. ”Reverend, you are safe! The heretic has given up his chase!” Zoe was instantly wary of the young soldier that she did not know. She had sent Magnum for a warrior, not a soldier, and no one could share the great hound’s thoughts beside herself; how did this man know that a heretic had been chasing her? Fearing that something had happened to her precious companion, for why else would he not return to her, she ran as fast as she could into the Cathedral, not waiting for the young soldier. She hollered as she entered, “There is a heretic scouting the area surrounding the Cathedral right now! Where are our defenses?!” She hoped that Glöckchen would pass on her message, for surely he sensed the vibrations of her voice moving about the huge entryway. She could not be bothered with that for now; she needed to find Magnum immediately. She could sense that he was in full health, but there must have been some reason for his delay. She headed for the dungeons, still sprinting despite the miles that she had already run.

Being left behind, the young soldier was greatly confused. Still he quickly followed the Priestess, responding to his comrades’ questioning looks by shrugging and rolling his eyes. He was only in the Church for a short period of time and couldn’t yet get used to the magic users’ attitudes. To him, they were all just eccentric.

The chef guard knew better. He managed to catch up with Zoe, and since she refused to stop, he explained while following her to the dungeon, “There’s no need for you to panic, Reverend. Glöckchen had detected the Heretic entering the Church’s ground and he had temporarily expanded his territory to look after him. He had met with another Heretic, and they both had retreated. On the other hand, Magnum had reached the Church safely and had made contact with two Warriors, namely Desire and Tempus. It is still unclear what took them so long though. Also the higher-up decided not to pursuit the Heretics… not at a time of chaos like this.” He then spotted a golden dove. “Ah, there… The Cardinal will give you a summary of what has happened.”

---

The Bells of Wisdom rolled out of Glöckchen’s stiff fingers, chiming sadly as they rolled on the floor. The boy fell on his back, silver hair scattering around him. He closed his eyes and breathed out. The effort to expand the Bells’ territory had exhausted him; he now needed his humble rest. The Church would have to take care of itself for a while.

Zoe barely listened to the chief guard as he ran beside her, trying to reassure her but failing miserably. Didn’t he know that she could not take his word about Magnum? She needed to see him with her own eyes! Her breath was beginning to come in quick, short bursts as she ran as fast as she could through the dungeons, her frock coat billowing behind her and her boots whispering almost soundlessly along the halls. The dungeon was not a place that Zoe liked to visit, in fact, she despised it. She could not bear the agony that came with performing an exorcism; nor could she witness such an act without becoming physically ill. Whether the so-called patient was a heretic or not, she could not stand to see pain inflected on another. The dungeons reeked of such pain and misery, and Zoe could feel her already frantic emotions spiraling into desperation as she wove her way through the long, haunting corridors.

Magnum had sensed that Zoe had returned the instant that she entered the building. Despite the distance, he could hear the tinkle of her voice at her arrival, and though he could not make out her words, it was clear to him that his mistress was upset. He gave up on the two warriors immediately. He had always known that Naked-beings, other than Zoe, were unintelligent, but their degree of ignorance was completely astounding. How is it that they failed to notice the giant, white Irish Wolfhound that was so clearly trying to gain their attention? He sprinted through the dungeons towards the only direction that Zoe could be coming from, ashamed that he had failed her. She had been chased by a heretic through the city while she was entirely unarmed and no one had been sent to rescue her, a Priestess! The anger that pounded through his body as he ran was indescribable, and he swore to himself that he would never let her out of his sight again, regardless of the situation.

As Magnum appeared in the hallway in front of her, Zoe let out a little sob of relief. In mere seconds, her giant friend had closed the distance between them, and the force of his relief and excitement at finding her uninjured caused him to be slightly overzealous. He bounded up and knocked her to the ground, licking her face with his rough, wet tongue as if to make certain that she was real. His tail, though usually a stationary appendage, whipped back and forth through the air like a propeller. Zoe wrapped her slender arms around his neck and lay there on the cold, stone floor with one massive paw on either of her face. Despite all that had happened to her in the past day, from seeing her threatened children to being chased by a winged freak throughout the city, none of the horrors compared to being separated from Magnum for such a long period. She vowed immediately that she would never let herself be separated from him in such a way again; it was simply too painful. For now, she simply lay there, soaking up Magnum’s heartfelt attention, storing her anger at the cowardly actions of the Church. Her children were out there, in danger at this very moment because at least one heretic was stirring trouble on this very block, and yet the “higher-up decided not to pursuit the heretic.”

OOC:

[Hello everyone,

One week, still no new post. It's okay, I'm not here to whine or to blame anyone this time. ^^"

I know I should be the one to blame, for starting this and not even trying to keep up with it. I apologize for not being good enough. I really have problems with forum role-playing. First of all, I'm not at all of a fast thinker, and it'll take me really long to come up with a solution for a certain situation. I usually can't come up with anything unless I feel like it. My inspiration, unfortunately, doesn't have any fixed period... Secondly, as some of you may have already noticed, I'm not a native English speaker. That's why it takes me a lot of effort to write a even short post, also absolute concentration is required. Which brings me to my last point, I really can't concentrate on a post when there isn't anything that motivate me. A dead RP sure is not motivating and I can't pump it up any better than I already tried. Moreover, whenever I get on my computer, I'm surrounded with a multitude of things I'm chasing.

It'll be very irresponsible for me to just let this RP fall into oblivion, that's why I'm writing this. It'll be a pity, too, because we barely passed the stage of "getting started" and things just began to get interesting. I've been planning this RP for a long time (It was supposed to be held on deviantArt, but nobody there was interested...) so I don't want to just let it die. I'm going to give a last try.

If anyone is (still) interested in this RP, please contact me (by PM, or Yahoo, or Window live messenger-- Information is available on my profile). We should be able to hold one-on-one, or group RP on chatroom somewhere. As for new applicants, you can always apply here.

Sincerely.]

[Should have gone to the OOC thread, but I'd be double-posting there if I did. I want to make sure everyone reads this. *bows apologizingly* ]

Zachary entered the great worship area. The vast paintings and statues filling each wall, almost to the point that the original wall bricking could not be seen. Zachary's gaze drifted over the ever tightening gathering of various priests, cardinals, paladins, and other clergy members. They are all muttering to them selves over the death of the archbishop, I suppose. All of the people in the crowd could be called vultures; all scrambling to claim the newly opened position for themselves. That matter would be settled at a different time. What was this silly meeting all about anyways? Zachary could only guess. That is until a bishop caring a scroll with the Pope's seal walked in.

The Bishop walked strait to the gospel podium. His steps unfettered, unquestioned. He looked across all the important figures of the church and began to read.

"To all of the faithful members of the church,
Today an Archbishop was slain. This atrocity against God is a unrelenting testament to the ever emboldening Demons. Their unholy legions continue to strike at us and prevent our most sacred duty. I have only the thoughts of Peace and the love of God in my heart. I feel I have no business in controlling the crusade effort. Therefore, I believe a new Pope is need for such desperate times. A Priest with much more battle experience that i, or most of you, could ever hope to achieve. In doing so I pray that he will lead the servants of God to an era of demonless peace. I name Father Zachary the new Pope, until a time of peace is achieved.

Bear in mind I do not relinquish many of my duties. Father Zachary will have full control of the military aspect of our organization; nothing more. Any custom changing orders must still be clear by me. Think of Father Zachary as a stand in.

As my last order as Commander and Chief I have order the negotiations with the Black Organization to enable us to combat the ever strengthening Legion. Do not fret my children, once Legion is wiped out we will surely turn our attention on to the Black Organization. Zachary will head this upcoming conference as his newly acquired position dictates that he must.

Go with God,
Former Pope Ephraim."

There were gasps and mummers between all of those gathered. Only Zachary remain silent. Most were outrage some felt humbled by the wisdom of Ephraim. Zachary only scoffed in his mind. He knew very well what the Pope really wanted. A scape goat. The crusade had been going badly since the begining of this year and the Pope did not want to take the blame for anymore losses. He would play along with the Pope's puppet strings, but he was going to make holy thunder.