Many of Whom

Liber Secundus IV

The descendants of the seed spread across the world. We were pleased with what We saw, and We told Ourselves, "Never again shall We put the land under a curse because of what man does; We know that from the time they were young, their thoughts were evil. No fault is in the holy dogma, for We are the ultimate, higher power. Never again will We allow living beings to rule without divine authority, as We did formerly. As long as this world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night."

- Volume MCDXL, Sourcal Affirmation 01;04:03

'I take full responsibility for everything that happened,' Elano muttered, his face still at the microphone-infested podium.

The rest of the Foreverends glared at him with sustained vitriol. A silent simmer of their blood steeped as they paid all their attention to Elano. The room was quiet, yet screaming its bright reds and emerald greens. In the LED-flooded world summit hall, the Foreverends sat in the summit assembly hall, surrounding the main stage at the front of the room. Despite all the newly installed ceiling lights, no single window revealed Elano to the world.

'On the evening of the Gold House's New Year's Eve dinner, my oldest attendant - Gacan Bardaan - attacked and murdered an innocent Sourcalist man on an open balcony of Sancterra Tower. Despite his... unexpected behaviour, he will be dealt with accordingly and rest assured that he will not negatively influence our society.'

Elano took a deep shuddering breath, looking around at the crowded painting of uniforms and robes from across the planet, taking in all that he saw. He turned to face every leader, looking down on them for he was on a short platform. He readjusted one of the microphones on his stand, wiped the sweat off his face and wiped his palms on his blue and orange suit.

Reshuffling and looking at the papers in hand, Elano continued, 'I must say that the actions of my attendants or any associate are not indicative of the opinions or agendas of the Gold House. To my knowledge, no one else I work with advocates supports or welcomes the behaviour displayed by Bardaan, and his behaviour is and will never be welcome again. Thank you f-for listening.'

The army of Foreverends obligingly clapped without emotion.

After the applause, a man in a fashionable white suit ran onto the stage, adjusting his bowtie as he walked up to the podium of microphones. He gestured Elano to the side with the wave of his hand.

'Sorry for that, ladies and gentlemen,' He apologised, grooming back his sleek black hair, 'Onto other news, I would like to thank our wonderful financial sponsor, The Culinary House!'

As Origo stood at his crowded podium, he waved to the Culinary House Foreverend, Culina de la Pia, who waved back to Origo and blew kisses. The crowd clapped with greater happiness as Origo took the stage.

Origo signalled for silence, and silent the audience was, 'To make up for any discomfort or impatience, it is with great pride and deepest pleasure that I shall personally invite you all to a delight-of-a-lifetime luncheon in the comfort of the upstairs rooftop. Shall the past be gone and the future be above us!'

Once again, the crowd gave a round of applause, standing up from their seats. The standing ovation continued to drain out any other sounds of the crowd, from sneezing and coughing to Elano leaning towards Origo and muttering, 'I didn't finish my speech.'

'I know, I know,' Origo responded, waving to the Foreverend audience as if he were screwing in a lightbulb.

'I can't talk like you can!' Elano whispered, 'I can finish the speech later!'