Chapter 3: Induction Ceremony
All the Sin Archbishops were sitting around the table now. Roy and Lye were nibbling on their hair with bored expressions, occasionally complaining about how hungry they were. Sirius was clinging to Petelgeuse's arm as he was trying to pry her off himself. Regulus's attention was focused fully on Pandora. After the display from Regulus, I was considerably worried about what would happen if this meeting were to drag on for two long. Just how did she survive that? I'm scared. I don't understand what's going on. I want my brother. That's all I want. I don't want what happened to Pandora to happen to me too. Am I going to die here? Snapping me out of my thoughts, Pandora stood up from her chair and let out a small cough.
"Brother… where are you..." I mutter under my breath.
"I can understand the confusion as to why you are all here. Now that everyone has had a chance to meet our newest Cardinal, I will set your worries aside." Pandora raised her right hand with the palm facing up and pointed it at me. Her voice seemed to call my attention away from my thoughts, making me forget all about my worries. I guess she wasn't lying when she said she'd set them aside.
"I have chosen the late Cardinal Vollachia's replacement, however, there will be a few setbacks in her induction into the fold. This is due to her lack of formal education and age. Rectifying the former won't be much of an issue, but the latter is where the real problem lies. As for the solution, she will be kept in the care of Cardinal's Romanee-Conti at this Cathedral until she is properly educated and trained. I would like to have her aid Cardinal Lugunica with her experiments once she becomes an adult..."
"Gahahahaah! The gentle and merciful Capella will gladly remake this child into a slab of meat worthy of loving me. Now tell me… what form would you like? Anything your heart desires~ Tell me and I'll surely respond to it." Capella yelled out with a grin.
"You are free to refuse, Cardinal Arided." Pandora added.
"I don't understand. I j- j- just want to find my brother a-a-a-and Pandora said the Gospel was t-tthe wayyy to do it." I responded.
"Meatbag. All the love in this world is to be monopolized by this lovely lady. If there's even the tiniest chance of teaching this slab of meat to love the magnificent Capella. I'll gladly refine it until it suits your tastes. In fact, if the reason you're unable to love me is due to your brother, describe him to me and I'll take his place~."
"I-I-I- don't know exactly what he looks like. I c-c-can't remember."
"You love your brother~, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"And you don't even know what he looks like? I'm the ultimate embodiment of virtue and beauty. I can surely be much more~ satisfactory. If even then you still won't love me I'll just turn your pitiful brother into a fitting bug. Humans are creatures who can't live without love. So, if I were to deform him beyond repair you'd surely stop loving him. In that case you'd be forced to redirect your love to this lovely lady~."
"P-Please s-stop it." I pleaded as tears began to form in my eyes.
"Cardinal Lugunica. As I mentioned earlier, please do not frighten our newest member. Cardinal Arided are you alright?"
"I think so." I sniffled a little.
"Good, I believe there is one last thing that needs to be accomplished before you all may be dismissed." Pandora turned to me. "Please stand." I stood up and she began, "In the name of the Witch of Vanity, Pandora, I hereby confer to you the seat of Pride. Do you accept it?"
"I do." I nodded even though I knew that no wasn't an option here. I don't want to receive a scolding from Regulus for wasting his time and I'm sure Capella would also be angry.
"Now please introduce yourself to your fellow Archbishops."
I turned towards the table and everyone's eyes were on me, it was nerve wracking frankly. I took a deep breath to calm myself and said, "I am a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult representing Pride, Deneb Arided." I copied the style of the greetings I've heard so far, substituting in Pride. Was that why she had me wait? So, I'd pick up on how I'm expected to introduce myself? Regulus looked satisfied as I introduced myself. Petelgeuse was jumping with joy, but the rest seemed indifferent. Capella was staring daggers into me; it was frightening to say the least. What did she mean by, 'teach me how to love her?' I had a feeling that was something I didn't want to find out.
"With that the ceremony is concluded. Everyone except for Cardinal Romanee-Conti and Cardinal Arided is dismissed." Everyone else in the room stood up and swiftly left the room as if they were itching to get out of there. The only ones left were Petelgeuse, Sirius, and me. Pandora quickly explained to Petelgeuse what he was expected to do which he complied without a single question and he hurried out of the room with Sirius following closely behind him.
"Now that that's out of the way there's one last thing I'd like to tell you before you're brought back to your room."
"Okay."
"If you feel a tickle in the back of your head, I'd implore you to check your Gospel."
"Huh? What does that…" Before I could ask her what she meant she had already disappeared. Shortly after Petelgeuse and Sirius returned with a small group of cultists following them. They stopped only a few paces before me and bowed deeply.
"What a wonderful day! What a wonderful day! Diligence being rewarded with LOVE! I will entrust you to my fingers for the time being as they will take care of you with utmost diligence. If they become slothful, do let me know. I'd hate it. I'd truly hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate it hate hate hate hate hatehatehatehatehate it! If your education was obstructed by my Sloth! Oh, how terrible that would be!" He moved around in an unnatural manner as he spoke with his voice varying between mildly enthusiastic to downright crazy. Sirius somehow manage to remain clinging to him throughout the erratic movements which just made it seem even more crazed with the sounds of her chains rattling as he twisted himself.
"Pleasure to meet you, Lady Archbishop. I am Faust." The man took off the hood obscuring his face. His hair was brown like mine, but his eyes were blue.
"I'm Sado." The man was rather short yet plump and appeared to be middle aged and his hair was brown like mine and his eyes were an odd shade of green.
"I'm Sergei." The man had short green hair and black eyes. His voice carried a sense of calmness to it.
"I'm Fogg." The man's hair was a long blue that matched the color of my eyes.
"I'm Prylla." The girl had long purple hair and her eyes were a beautiful shade of green. She was easily the most eye-catching of the small group.
"Nice to meet you all, I'm Deneb. Please take care of me." I bowed to the group.
"You must be tired after that meeting. Come I'll show you to your room and answer any questions you have." Prylla said as she motioned for me to follow her.
She held out her hand for me and I grabbed it. We started to walk away when another robed figure appeared out of the ground.
"Lord Archbishop," The cultist bowed, "We have found the potential candidate."
"Reaaaally? How perfect, how diligent! The witch's blessing has fallen upon us! Let's go at once. The Ordeal is at hand! Another will face the great trial as the Gospel foretold!" Petelgeuse smile and moved around erratically until he was so close to the cultist it looked like they were about to meld together into one. Right after he finished speaking, he marched out of the room without another word. The other cultist sunk into the ground immediately after.
"Ordeal this, and Ordeal that. God, I don't care. Just give me some demons to burn. I miss the smell." Faust groaned and began walking out of the room with Sado and Fogg following closely behind. Sergei looked at Prylla and nodded before walking after them.
Still holding Prylla's hand she led me back to the same room I was in before. I immediately notice a new set of clothing sitting on top of my bed. It was the same robes everyone else was wearing except similarly to Petelgeuse's the inner outfit was colored. The difference was that mine was a bright purple while his was green.
"Why don't you try them on? I'll step out for a moment."
"Okay!"
I quickly changed out of my clothing into the robes. They fit me quite well and the cloak felt soft to the touch. Unlike the rest of the cultists there wasn't a hood connected to the cloak, so my face was left exposed.
"Prylla, I'm ready!"
"My, they fit you quite well." She reentered the room and pulled out the chair by the desk and sat down as I twirled around in my new clothes.
"Thanks! They're super comfortable."
"Yes, they were designed to be easy to move in. If you look at the cloak it has inner pockets where you can store your Gospel when travelling."
"Gospel? Do you mean that black book Pandora gave me?" I pointed to the book that I left on my desk.
"Yes. That's what we refer to as the Gospel. I do recommend that you refrain from using our Lady's name however."
"But… why?"
"She prefers to be kept a secret. The only ones who have ever seen her are the Archbishops. I only know she exists due to my new position as your personal tutor."
"Tutor? Does that mean you're going to be teaching me from now on?"
"Yes, exactly. I will need to find out what you already know, and I'll devise a schedule for you from there."
"Oohhh…"
"I'm sure you've already noticed the papers on your desk."
"Yeah, I didn't get a chance to look at them though."
"Well then come take a look." She stood up from the chair which I promptly sat down in. I picked up my Gospel and moved it aside and stared down at the pages.
"So, what's this supposed to be?"
"A test or a quiz if you will. It just assesses your current level of education."
"These are words?" I looked down at the papers again and started leafing through them. Each page was covered in strange blocky symbols that I couldn't recognize at all.
"Oh my. So, we're starting from zero, are we?" Prylla muttered. "Looks like I'll have to teach you how to read and write first, then you'll be able to take the test. So just rest for today, and we'll formally begin your lessons tomorrow. I'll arrive early in the morning to bring your breakfast. After that, we'll go test your affinity and begin magic training as soon as possible with literacy in the evening."
"Ooooh… Magic? That sounds super cool!" I was going to learn magic!
"Yes, if we have someone here who can teach you otherwise, we'll need to go find someone. We do have one person of each affinity among our ranks who are competent in their craft, but with the next Ordeal at hand they might need to leave for a while. However, you don't need to worry about that, Lady Archbishop." She turned her head to look at a blue crystal that was sitting on the wall before turning back to me. "It's getting late. I'm sure you're quite tired and you have a busy day ahead of you. Do you need anything else?"
"Hungry…" My stomach began grumbling.
"I will go fetch you some dinner." Prylla bowed and swiftly left the room.
She returned shortly after with a plate of food. The food was delicious, certainly one of the best meals I've ever had. Much better than the… Huh? The…? What was my mom's signature dish? Wait, I had a mom? I- I- I- don't remember. I guess it wasn't important. Hmm… time for bed then. Pushing the thoughts aside I thanked Prylla who left my room shortly after, and I took the cloak and draped it over the chair. Now just wearing the inner layer of the robes I laid down in my bed. I pulled my blanket over me up to my chest before I closed my eyes and let myself drift off into the darkness of sleep.