Darkness At The Heart Of My Love

3

A few days had passed and Athena had once again volunteered to help out around the ministry. This time she was prepping the dining room because Sister Imperator had informed her that Mr. Saltarian was going to be visiting again to discuss important matters. Athena, though being respective of Saltarian, was not too keen on him meeting with Cardinal. Saltarian, like many others, did not take the Cardinal seriously and saw him as a joke not fit to be Papa. But nonetheless, she performed the tasks of what she had volunteered for.

On her way our of the dining room, Cardinal had stopped her.

"Athena, I was looking for you. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's going on?" Athena asked.

"Take a walk with me." Cardinal suggested and the two began to make their way towards the entrance of the church.

Once outside, Cardinal began to express what had been heavy on his mind.

"Listen Athena, I have known you for several years now and you are one of the most talented people I know. So tell me, why do you devote all of your time to the Church of Ghost?"

"Ghost has always been there for me, Sister Imperator took me in and gave me a home when I needed it; for that I will always be grateful." Athena replied.

"Is that the only reason you're still here?" Cardinal questioned further.

"Absolutely not. I've come to love this place with all of my heart. This is my home, my safe place, I owe my life to Ghost. I don't know where I'd be if Sister Imperator hadn't found me."

Cardinal gave his friend a sympathetic look "Athena, I understand you're grateful for what Sister Imperator has done for you, but haven't you ever thought that there's more to life than this?"

Athena furrowed her brows and looked down at the ground for a moment before looking up to Cardinal again.

"What could there possibly be for me out there?"

Cardinal was practically dumbfounded at Athena's response "Athena, there is so much out there for you. The world is yours, you just have to go out and take it. I see so much potential in you and the fact that you don't see it, baffles me."

He then took Athena's hands in his "Tell me who you want to be and I will set you free. You can leave the Church of Ghost and become something so much more. Wouldn't you like that, Athena?"

Athena smiled up at Cardinal but shook her head "That's sweet of you to say Cardinal, but I can't just pack up and leave. I have responsibility here, I have a home here, I can't just pack up and leave. What about you?"

"Don't worry about me, Athena. All I want is for you to be happy and make something more of yourself; something you can't do if you're tied down to the Church of Ghost."

Cardinal had given Athena something to think about and for the rest of the evening, that's all she could think about. Leaving the Church of Ghost? It almost sounded absurd. Athena thought it was the best place to be. Along with that, sure, Cardinal had faith in her but Athena couldn't see herself being anything more than what she was now.

Meanwhile, Cardinal sat in his room playing a video game, trying to distract himself from what had been going on in his mind. He knew that it was going to take a lot of convincing for Athena to even consider his proposition. Midway through his game, he began to hear a squeaking noise coming from the hall. He looked up to see Mr. Saltarian pushing a coffin down the hallway with a look of content on his face. Cardinal was slightly unsettled by this but shortly reverted his attention back to his video game.