Specularis (The Order - Vermish)

13: my fire is starved of oxygen

"I see you've invited everyone.  A great initiative, I must say." After The Council initiated the meeting, none of us expected them to pull out laptops and projectors. Yet here we were, right in front of Council members all over the world whose worried expressions were glaring despite the grainy display of the screen. I caught a glance at Jack, who was lightly shaking his head in concern.

The head of the Council, whose name has escaped my memory, sheepishly smiled at Vera. "Well, as you've expressed earlier, this is a fairly serious situation, Grand Magus."

She, of course, had no choice but to shrug in agreement. "Right."

"And what justifies the suspicion?" A man from the rows of seated Council members spoke out of the blue.

"Always the straight shooter, Mr. Bernard." There was an edge to Vera's stance that told me that this guy was bad news.

"He's right. Did someone in your Temple summon someone for personal gain again?" A heavily-accented voice seeped through the speakers.

"As I've disclosed on the call, there are no other speculations to be made. Tell me, have you thought of other causes that we could link to this phenomenon?" Her question was met with silence and back-and-forth glances.

"Alright, I admit that we also have no clue as to why this is happening, but forgive me, you can't just pull something as big as this out of your ass. Although, it wouldn't be the first." The audience gasped at the tone of "Mr. Bernard".

I glared in retaliation to his lack of respect. "Hey, remember who you're talking to."

"Yes, I agree. Subservience, Stue." The Council Head cautioned, and the man in question scoffed in response.

"Thank you, Thomas." Vera nodded her head in gratitude.

"But," Thomas continued with a hesitant look. "Grand Magus, I also agree that this can't be based purely on suspicion. Is there any other reason why you think a demon could be causing this much amount of chaos?"

"Especially since hundreds, if not, thousands of demons enter into this realm with ease through rituals. And not one demon in our recorded history has ever attempted to get through because they have never wanted to, needed to, and it is out of their capabilities." The defiant man once again vocalized.

"But you're forgetting about powerful emperor demons." Jack intervened. His suggestion elicited a panicked reaction from everyone in the room.

"You can't seriously be suggesting-" Mr. Bernard rolled his eyes in suspicion.

"Are you suggesting-" Thomas asked, frightened.

Jack admitted immediately. "Yes, I am. And I apologize for speaking out of turn, but my only wish is to help solve the puzzle. I hope I didn't overstep, Grand Magus."

"No, not at all. Thank you, Magistratus." Vera masked her appreciation with nonchalance, but it was obvious that Jack realized that she meant the words more than she let on.

Mr. Bernard ignored all the commotion and went on with his blabber. "So, how come you think this one is an emperor demon, then? When I'm sure everybody knows, hopefully so, that emperor demons don't do the dirty work. They get the ones beneath them to do it. Rogwan was the exception, and the only reason he got loose was because of the former Grand Magus of this Temple. It always seems to come from here, hmm? Who's to say that history hasn't repeated itself?"

"You're getting too comfortable with that tone of yours,  Stewart. Maybe you need a reminder as to why you need to stand down." Vera riposted. The smirk on his face irked her in ways that made her challenge him. "Come on, spit it out. Go ahead and tell me what it is that's on your mind."