September 11, 2005 – 19:15
"Good thing we came here, then," said Gus, seeing Frank's mood changing rapidly. "Don't you worry, we'll make sure she can still hide."
"Of course, her posse is in!" said Sonylla.
"Are you also playing dodge-Tobly?" said Sebastian as Jeremie came back with beers.
"Yes! Tobly wanted to recruit us, but we told him we were pursuing other interests. He then said we shouldn't pursue Blue's district. We didn't know she was going to have a district, but when he said that, naturally, we told him that was exactly the one we were pursuing. I mind-linked her after practice, and she agreed," said Sonylla.
"Wait, so the reform hasn't been announced yet, and you all came to her like a magnet?" said Raymond.
"We're playing dodge-Elder Rolland, but as if we'd be anywhere else," said Henry while Sonylla introduced Derek.
"It is like what Sebastian's father said earlier. Family sticks together," said Molly.
"Yes, it's like that. Sebastian wasn't wrong either when he mentioned flyball earlier," said Erik.
"We met you when you were practicing for flyball's tryout after all, when we were at school," said Victoria.
"YES! That's right," said Henry.
"Holy gods from above, how many people are we?" said Coralis as she came in.
"Just the usual flock," said Stephanie.
"BROS! Did I miss a mind-link today?" said Coralis.
"Just the last one, it seems. Elder Zora warned us that Elder Rolland was about to thoroughly investigate all of the non-agents in their contact books, and we had a feeling that he was going to search us until he found something just because he knows we've helped The Rogue Paladin when he was still Andrew," said Erik.
"She then told us you'd be elder here, so we said our farewells to England and here we are," said Henry.
"They insisted on keeping it a surprise," said Gus.
"Dodgeball is a great sport. Somehow, I think you'd all be pros at it," said Mark.
"You need to watch flyball with us, you'll understand," said Victoria as Coralis turned on her holographic monitor after grabbing a slice of pizza.
As soon as their clock turned 20:00, the holographic images of Finnas, Ellya and Yalor appeared.
"Holy hell, it's even how you watch television!" said Mark.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, all elementals of our realm, we are addressing you tonight with an announcement of the utmost importance. For the past few years, we have urged you to remain hopeful that the witch-hunt was not going to destroy us, and that giving in to anger and hopelessness would be our downfall," said Finnas.
"The conflict among ourselves escalated to a faction war long before it led us to a witch-hunt. Since this hunt started, 2 years ago, we have lost valuable warriors at the hands of traitors who have betrayed us, and we have lost families at the hands of fools. However, we also have fierce, brave and courageous heroes who stepped up to protect all of us and slay our true enemies," said Yalor.
"A lot of innocent blood has been spilled in all factions, including the human one. The past few years have been very challenging for all of us, as this war started a long time before it reached the humans. The first traitor among our ranks was discovered in March 2002, over 3 years ago. The core of this war was among us, and human authorities were merely used as pawns on a board of chess by people who have betrayed our values," said Ellya.
"Hot damn, I love their speech so far, that's transparency. Are they all mages?" said Mark.
"No. The first one who spoke is a mage, yes, but not the other two. The elemental in the middle is an elf and the other one is a fay," said Victoria.
"I think remember that, was it the event we watched from the Healing Moon cameras?" said Frank.
"Yes, I think she's talking about Zaaro," said Coralis.
"High Fay Zaaro, that was you and Eva who uncovered him, right?" said Sonylla, and Coralis nodded.
"We are pleased to announce to you that peace is knocking at our doors and that this witch-hunt is almost over in our country," said Finnas, pausing. "When the faction war started, we were twelve elders serving you at the CMMA. Along the way, betrayers among us have been found and killed, and others have been killed at the hands of traitors. When the sun rose this morning, we were six."
"As one by one traitors were uncovered and one by one, loyal ones died, it became clear to us that a reform of our institution was needed. Before we appoint new elders to serve you, we had to thoroughly clean our ranks and restructure before refilling our ranks with fresh blood. During the past few years, we saw promising new leaders rising and before the sun reached its highest point today, we were back to twelve elders," said Ellya.
"Do you know why we aren't seeing the other three elders?" said Derek.
"No, I didn't think about asking this morning. I suppose we will find out soon," said Coralis.
"When we asked questions about the reform, we were told to watch the announcement. Panjik didn't even tell us he joined Blue!" said Chiwa.
"Before we introduce them to you all, we must explain what this reform will mean. Instead of one council of twelve elders, we will be subdivided into two councils," said Ellya, pulling a map and circling where the main headquarters is located. "A council of three Core Elders, us three addressing you tonight, will oversee everything from our current Headquarters in Winnipeg."
"Besides acting as head elders, we will oversee the activities of the Department of Family Affairs and handle the legalities meant to preserve our way of life. Under our oversight, there will be a council of nine sub-elders and a small unit of elite warriors," said Finnas as he started drawing divisions on the map. "We have divided our territory into nine districts and to each one of them, a sub-elder has been assigned to lead it."
"Each sub-leader will be responsible for enforcing our laws and ensuring the peace between elemental and non-elemental factions residing within their district," said Yalor as he wrote Roman numerals on the map. "Each sub-elder will have their own second-in-command, their own security crew, their own enforcing agents and their own advisor. If a major threat arises and backup is needed, or if spreads over more than one district, we will dispatch elite warriors to them if needed."
"I'm liking their new format so far," said Erik.
"Same, so Blue will be our boss under this new reform, and our contracts will be to her," said Chiwa.
"Business as usual for you, Sebastian," said Molly.
"Yes, it's all about flyball."
"That explains why all of our contracts have been dissolved this morning. If our new ones are signed directly under Blue, then Tobly can't tell us to do anything. I love it," said Sonylla.
"It prevents Tobly from interfering in Districts' management. It's definitively a good thing," said Sebastian.
"The Core Elders told me this morning that Tobly won't have jurisdiction over any district," said Coralis.
"We will regularly meet with the sub-elders. If a problem arises and doubts are planted in your mind regarding the integrity and trustworthiness of your sub-leader, you will be expected to report it to us, the Core Elder council, and we will investigate the suspicions and allegations accordingly," said Ellya.
"I think that, originally, the EBEE was supposed to be like that, but sub-divided between countries," said Gus.
"Now that you mention it… I remember hearing that before Lord Meozo rose to power… the EBEE had a head council of seven. When was the last time we heard of them?" said Coralis.