The Saints Journey to Exilium

It has been sixteen years since I first met Father Grey. He taught me everything I know now and more. Due to his teachings, and the way he raised me, I became astute in the Bible and of Gods' works. Eventually, I started to grow my faith in God.

This led me to be even more fascinated with all his creations. Along with this fascination for our world, I had started my path to becoming a priest myself. Since I had been taught by the nuns and father Grey at the church, I easily passed through seminary school. Unlike most, the schooling only took me about two years since I had already known about all they could teach me.

Soon, I became a priest and served in a church for five years. Since I had shown tremendous potential at a young age, and passed through seminary, as well as served the ministry for five years, I was recommended to the Vatican to be a Cardinal. The current Pope Felix IV, personally invited me to the Vatican in order to be ordained as a venerable cardinal of the Catholic Church.

The news of my soon to be ordination spread like wildfire, because if I was ordained, I would be the youngest person to ever become a cardinal. Eventually, the news reached my old home at the Lux Dei Church, and they wrote me letters, and emails, congratulating me on my soon to be ordination. Of course, I wrote them back, and thanked all of them for all that they had done for me. I would never forget my time there, as it made me some of my greatest memories.

Soon after, I was escorted on a plane to the Vatican, and under the careful watch of Pope Felix IV, I was ordained. Becoming the youngest Cardinal, I had many meetings with other clergy members and soon became very busy.

Now that I've sat here in remembrance long enough, I have a meeting to go to. Just last month, Pope Felix IV passed away at an unusual time. In these recent months that I have been a Cardinal, the Pope had been very kind to me, and he seemed very caring of those around him. He was truly a good pick to become the Pope. After seeing how well he seemed to be, I am curious as to why he died so suddenly.

Everything I have heard about his death has said it's from natural causes, but it all seems too sudden. I am currently heading to the final meeting to decide who will take the place of Pope Felix IV. This meeting contains many Cardinals from all over the world that have gathered today to vote on who will be the newest Pope elect.

Among these Cardinals, a majority seem to side with a man named Clementine. He was an older gentleman of average height, with grey hair and a sharp glint in his deep brown eyes. I can't see why all the clergy members wanted him to be the next papal installment.

I would personally choose his more well known counterpart, a man named Imani. Imani is a tall, well-spoken, man of African descent. He has served as a Cardinal for many years now, and has a very well-meaning attitude. He's also been a key figure in gaining more people to the faith, due to his strong outlook on the path the Catholic Church should take.

After walking to the Sistine Chapel, I took my seat at the conclave, and began to wait for all the attendees to arrive. Soon, everyone took their seats, and a deep discussion began.

A man of notable status even among the cardinals, named Ramsy, started with his opening statement, " I believe that both candidates standing here before us are great picks to become the next Pope, but I believe the one who should ultimately win our vote is Clementine. He has been a priest for many years, and has done great works for people of lesser standing. He has helped dozens of impoverished towns and villages to gain much needed resources, as well as money to keep them thriving." I hadn't heard any of this previously, and I am still thinking that it's very strange for a mere priest to be assigned a Pope selection spot. Along with him being a priest and not a Cardinal, I have not heard of anyone with the name of Clemintine helping small villages and towns.

Soon, another older cardinal with fading black hair began to speak, " I agree with Ramsy. I believe that Clementine would make a grand selection to be the new Pope. He clearly has a caring heart, and an upright attitude. As much as I like Imani, we need a man with a lot of support from the common populace to lead our church to prosperity."

The hall echoed with agreement. Another man with a more portly build stated, "Well, if we are in agreement on who the best candidate is, I believe that we should begin the vote." Yet again the hall echoed with a tone of agreement. "I believe that we should also look at Imani's record. He has shown great due diligence in his work, and has often given great support to the church. Also, he has a large populace of people that support him and his view of the church. I believe that his populace support should greatly out way that of Clemintine, a man in which I have only heard talked about recently. Now that we are all in attendance, I don't see why Clemintine was selected to be a candidate in the first place. He is only a priest, and hasn't made any such great achievements that I have heard about until just recently. I believe Imani is a much greater choice for the Papal elect." I stated.

Everyone seated in the room turned to me and stared for an eerie amount of time, such that a small shiver went down my spine. "While I do agree that Imani is a great choice, everyone already agrees that Clemintine is the optimal choice. Also, you bring up the fact that he has climbed the ladder to papacy very fast, but I could say the same to you, our youngest Cardinal. So, I believe that we should begin our vote for the papacy." spoke Ramsy with an almost scornful face.

Immediately, the hall rang with the acknowledgement of Ramsy's statement, and so everyone voted. All the ballots were cast, counted, and thrown into the chimney, and as the world looked on at the chapel, a white smoke began to rise. Thus, a new Pope was elected.

Later that day, all the Cardinals were given their own rooms to stay the night in, in order to give them time for the papal Inauguration. As I made my way to my room, I couldn't stop thinking about the papal selection. Everything seemed too coordinated.

Up until this point in my life, I have never seen a meeting go so smoothly, especially one of such importance. It seemed odd, but there wasn't anything to be done about it.

So, I made it to my given room, and began to pray at the foot of my bed towards the cross on the wall about my confusion. "Lord, please hear my prayer, and give me an answer to what has just occurred. I think that something must be amiss, as I have never seen such an occurrence in my life, short as it may be."

Strangely something different than usual happened. I heard a soft yet commanding voice tell me, "Turn around, and you will find your answer." When I heard the voice's statement, everything in my body started to warn me of something coming. Quickly I turned around and saw a beast of a man pointing a small caliber pistol towards me.

Thinking quickly, I leapt to the side and tried to grab anything I could throw at him in order to escape, but alas, it was too late. I was not fast enough, and his finger was already pulling the trigger. With two quick pops, I was laying on the floor of my once clean room, looking up at the cross on the wall, bleeding out slowly.

I began to think of all the people I knew, and cared for. It was an experience all of its own, with nothing else to compare to. Slowly, thoughts of what I had done in life started to pass, and I realized how great my life truly was, and how blessed I was that God had put me on this Earth. Even with my poor upbringing and my parents passing, I was given a father, in the truest sense, that taught me everything I needed to know.

He treated me as if I were his son, and I treated him as my father. I had become a great figure in the church, one that people looked up to, and respected. But sadly, it was all over.

Soon, fading as my consciousness was, I saw a man enter the room who was a notable figure among the top brass of the clergy. The man who had won Clemintine the election, Ramsy. He Slowly made his way across the room, and knelt next to me, looking into my eyes with his now dark, soulless black eyes. Softly, he spoke in a tone that wasn't entirely human "everything is as my lord has planned" and just before the world went Black I heard a final scoff from that inhuman voice, "Damn it! It seems he has arrived already."