Pov: Eirian
Entering the cathedral, the ceiling was raised meters above our heads, with different paintings of what I guessed were Fey along the walls, each with her two angles. All the while, a statue of her was on the back wall of it all.
A man in a white robe walked towards us. "Sir," he said, bowing his head slightly as he spoke to Ieuan. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I need you to gather the others, it's urgent."
'The others?' I thought. There were different churches for all the other gods, but to see one this big was something. 'Maybe I'm just too used to the outside.'
"Of course." He turned as he made his way to the back.
"For now, I need you all to wait."
"Wait for what?" I asked.
"Judgment," Leuan replied.
"Huh?" Eira let out.
"Judgment for what?" Ael asked.
Leuan turned his head, "If you're lying."
As he walked forward, he continued, "Now follow."
The soldier behind us pushed us forward. Upon entering a room, men in white robes stand on seats above us. Not like the one the fellow had before, but decorated with the star of Numen and a different silver lining.
Eight of them sat around, forming half a circle. Walking up, Leuan knelt.
"Why did you call us?" A man in the center said as he stared down at us.
The room was empty with only us, Leuan, and the eight other men. The soldiers who guided us didn't enter the room but rather waited outside.
The room was lit with a white radiance, and the chairs stood on a large pillar made of light gray stone.
"Aren't you supposed to be taking care of the veil?" another of the men on the chair said.
Leuan didn't move, but rather looked back at us. "Kneel."
Kneeling, he continued to talk, "I came here to you today on behalf of the Goddess herself." He raises his head to look at the eight men peering down on us. "These four tell me that they come from the veil, and they attended the academy seventy years ago."
Mummers fill the room. "Survivors of the veil?" One let out. "How is that possible?"
"Was that not the reason you sent me there?" Leuan rang.
"We sent you there to protect it, but seeing as you are here, you failed to follow those orders." A man on the left spoke.
"Then this must have been the goddess herself," Leuan spoke under his breath as he looked down.
"What is this that you speak of, Leuan?" One of the men located near the center spoke. Leuan turned his head to meet the eyes of the man. "You must be here for some other reason than just to tell us there were survivors." The man's eyes glanced over at us.
"I did." As the others quieted down, he cleared his throat, turning to look at us once more. "They say that they have talked to the goddess herself."
"Nonsense!" One let out as if he were offended by such a claim.
"You're telling me these four actually talked to the goddess? Do you hear yourself?"
One raises his hand to quiet down the rest. "Leuan, you have always been a big believer in the goddess, but how do you know they are not lying?"
Before he could reply, I spoke, "We did, I can promise you that."
"We were not speaking to you," One of the other men on the chair replied. His face seemed annoyed at the fact that I would speak to them.
Leuan got up from kneeling, "That is why I came here, for judgment. I didn't want to make such a rash decision without first taking your opinions into account."
Some of them murmur quietly, "By judgment, are you suggesting to make a pact of death to see if they are lying?"
"Yes."
My heart beat fast. 'A pact of death?' I didn't lie, but to go such a length, could speaking to the goddess really be that big a deal?
Amiel looks up to talk to the others, "Was talking to the goddess rare?"
The men in the chair don't react the same with him as they do with me. They get annoyed but control it as they look Amiel up and down. "Who are you? What's your name?"
"Amiel, Amiel Aalato."
The same man grabbed his chin, "thought you were a noble." He leaned back in his chair, "In simple terms, yes, to hear her voice is to be blessed."
"Blessed?"
Another man to the right of him replied, "It means to be close to the goddess herself, ever since the awakening, no one except one has heard her voice." He paused for a moment, "And he turned out to be one of the strongest in the world."
"Who?" I asked. They grew more annoyed when I talked, but held their tongue.
Another man in a chair continued, "He is standing right in front of you."
My eyes widened as my heart dropped. 'One of the strongest?' I thought. 'Making a pact could really make you that strong?'
"Why lie? He is the strongest. The only sixth rank in the world." Another of the men replied.
"Please, you all honor me too much," Leuan replied.
"Although he does have issues following simple orders, he does get the job done... even if he destroys everything in the process."
"Wait, awakening?" Amiel asked.
"You really don't know?" The man peered down on us as Leuan stayed silent. "Ever since mastma seeped from the world, the goddess revealed herself to us. Ever since then, Numen has flowed freely through the world. Because of that, we have been able to make pacts with her."
'That book... that's what it was talking about.'
"Back to the matter at hand, if they do say they have spoken to the goddess herself, this could lead us to a whole new generation of followers of Numen." One cuts off the other.
"Do you really think they aren't lying?" A man turned his head to meet the other's eyes.
"I don't know, I am only talking about the possibility of so. Plus, who would make such a dumb claim?" He replied.
"Let me make the pact." I let out. They all turned to me, surprised. "I'll do it and prove it to you, but once I do, I want to fight in the war. I want to bring an end to it."
I could see Leuan's eyes turn towards me.
"Do you know what you are saying?" A man on the far right of the semicircle spoke. He hadn't spoken a word since we got here. His face lay on his hand as it leaned against the armrest of the chair. "I will let you have one chance to get out of this if you want, but other than that, we will not be so kind."
Ael turned his head up, "We can attest to this, we will make the pact and prove it to you."
Leuan turned his head back to the eight men, "If they prove it is true, lend them under my wing. Let me train them."
"Amiel?" I asked, "Eira?"
They both seemed quiet.
"Once I prove it is true, let me return to my family." Amiel let out.
"I also have a request," Eira let out. "I lost all my memories. I want help in getting them back."
"We can make that happen, but if we do that for you, you have to do something for us. As Leuan said, train under him and fight against this war." The man in the center spoke.