The Crimson Tale of Conquest

---Jason POV---

In the Capital City of the Holy Theocracy sat the grand cathedral, the main branch of The Church of Light. The large building was a majestic piece of art made with gilded white stone located near the edge of the city. Many spires and towers raising to the heavens seemingly piercing the grand blue sky. The roof of the main central body of the cathedral was made entirely out of Gold, showing off the wealth and power the Church and in turn, the country it ruled over, possessed. Inside one room, located on one of the upper floors of this grand building a meeting was being held in the dead of night. Six people wear sitting down at a large circular table looking troubled.

"So, she survived huh." Jason said as he read over the report in his hand.

"Take this seriously Jason. You screwed up!" The Cardinal of Time exclaimed fuming. Her normally neat light-grey robes looked slightly ruffled as she frantically moved about.

"There's no reason to get so worked up about it, Latresia." The Cardinal of Fire said, leaning back in his chair, his orange and red robes hanging off his form loosely, his Elven ears poking out of his long blond hair.

"Well, this does pose a problem, does it not Edward? Jason, how did this happen?" A woman with deep blue robes said in response. Though calling them robes was generous since they were modified to accentuate her natural curves and expose parts of her body. She was the Cardinal of Water.

"Ha. If it were me, I would've finished them off in no time. You're losing your touch old man." A shirtless Dwarven man said, jokingly mocking Jason. His lower half was almost as exposed as his torso. The piece of dark brown and grey clothing he wore barely avoiding being called a loin cloth. This was the Cardinal the Land.

Time, Fire, Water and Land. There were only four Cardinals, yet the meeting room had more empty seats than anything else. Every single one of the empty seats had the names of the different Gods, including the God of Darkness and Demons, along with the Goddess of Life and Beast-kin. Only those that were chosen as the Gods Proxy for this world can become a Cardinal. Even though neither Desmond the God of Darkness nor Dana Goddess of life would choose someone from the Angelic race, they still had seats for them out of a sign of respect. They were still Celestials and Goddess Angelica's brother and sister.

The most decorated and luxurious seat at the round table belonged to the Goddess of Light and Mankind, Angelica. Sitting atop this auspicious chair was a woman in her golden and white robes that reflected the light of the Crystal chandelier above them sat Pope Joan. She had Dark skin and brown eyes flecked with gold; her hair was cut to her shoulders and was hung loosely like a curly waterfall.

The reason so many seats were empty was because not every God and Goddess was interested in having a Proxy in the world. Even then not every person who was chosen by one of the Celestials wanted to be a part of the Church, sometimes they were on a completely different continent outside of the Churches influence. The Earth, Air and Space Proxies are a great example. They were either unavailable or uninterested.

"Well look on the bright side, we know where she is." Joan said with a strained smile.

Jarreg the Dwarf Cardinal guffawed at this. "Yeah, I guess so, what was that missy thinking eh? Why reveal your location when everyone thinks you're dead?"

"Maybe she wanted the attention for some reason?" Amelia Moss spoke, putting a hand under her chin as she pondered.

"Does it matter why she's exposing herself?" Latresia said with a look of indignation. "Jason this is your mess, clean it up."

"... Fine." He spoke. "But don't expect me to seal with this quickly. Prosperty is the largest City on the Continent, and I won't be able to use some of my abilities in fear of destroying the place."

"Thats fine Jason." Joan said looking at him with a smile so dazzling that it was entirely possible for one to falling in love at first sight. "Just as long as you accomplish you goal of killing her before she gains any more power, I would be willing to overlook this blunder."

"Of course, your excellence." Jason said with a bow, not even reacting to her smile before leaving.

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--- Lucilla POV---

The moon sat high in the night sky. It's been five days since Lucilla introduced herself. Currently She and the others were making their way to Cristina's place. They weren't really sure what to call it. They were much closer to it now than before thanks to their new base of operations being so close to the unruly part of the city. It sat in the space in between public order and criminal dens.

It wasn't an unsafe location but if one had the money they wouldn't choose to live there. Cristina also had her store(?) located along this weird border area. Walking through the different back streets and cutting through alleys Judieth eventually led them to their destination.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

After knocking on the Heavy metal door, they waited for a few moments, eventually a small section on the top part of the door opened and a pair of Crimson eyes wear seen on the other side of the slit. After appraising the group that knocked on the door the person on the other side closed the slit before slowly opening the door. On the other side was Adrian Grim, Cristina's brother.

Just like last time he was dressed in a grey suit with a tailcoat worn over it. His medium length blond hair was tied behind his head and circular glasses framing his red eyes. In his hand was an open book, indicating he was in the middle of reading. Stepping to the side, the blond Vampire motioned for Lucilla and the others to enter.

"Cris is in the back." He spoke. "Same room as last time." After saying his piece, he went to sit behind the front desk.

"Thanks." Lucilla said as she walked past him down the hall.

Making their way down the hall they stop in front of a familiar looking door. Not bothering to knock the Silver haired woman opened the door and walked inside. Sitting down one of the armchairs that faced the door was a blond woman in a pirate outfit that was missing the hat to complement it. upon seeing Lucilla the woman's Crimson eyes narrowed as she smiled. "Hey babe, hows are you?" she asked, her flashing her Vampiric fangs with her grin.

"Don't call me that." Lucilla responded with a small frown and a glare.

"Ha! Other than you speaking clearly, ya haven't changed a bit. Same monotone voice and unfriendly look. Ain't that swell?" She said amused. "Nice to see everyone else behind ya are doing fine. Hey ya'll."

"It's a pleasure making you acquaintance again." Morella said with a small bow.

"Hey~!" The pink Demon said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Nice seeing you again." Judieth said taking a seat.

Following her lead Everyone else sat down on the couches. Lucilla took the armchair that sat on the opposite side of the low table, facing Cristina Grim, the Vampire Info Broker. Lucilla grimaced a little inside as she looked at Vampire, she didn't really know how to deal with this woman in front of her. Despite her knew outlook on the world and her desire to control what she can to keep those close to her safe, she still wasn't good with dealing with people.

"So then." Cristina said, her voice lowering by a degree, yet her smile never faltered. "That was quite the stunt you pulled the other day? So, what'd I call you now? Ruby or Lucilla?" She said half-jokingly half serious. "Specially since I learned your true name."

"My name is Lucilla, so just keep calling me that." She answered.

"Huh?" Cristina mumbled, a look of confusion coloring her face. "You're not lying."

"What did you say?" Lucilla asked.

"Uh, nothing." She said smiling again. "So, what brings ya'll to my humble little office?"

With a devilish look on her face Cristina awaited their answer.