Chapter 12: The Supreme Cross organization

On the same day, that Tatsurou had defeated Wilma and fell unconscious, in a place far away from Takamagahara, something unexpected happened, that place was France, in the beautiful town of Paris to be exact, a certain place was about to be shaken, that place was Notre Dame...

As a young priest walked the long hallway of the Notre Dame, looking around as if was appreciating its beautiful architecture, he stooped in front of the altar as his eyes opened wide upon seeing the cross that was placed in it, glow with a black aura.

"N-No way, it can't be happening..." The young priest said as he began shaking like a scared child.

"S-Someone, call lady Delacroix..." The young priest said as he began running out of the hallway...

Meanwhile, still in Paris on the sidewalk of Port de la Conférence, close to the bridge Pont de l'Alma, where the river Seine passed under, a young woman was walking with an umbrella over her head, this young woman had long hair that reached to her thighs, that was white as the clouds in the sky, her eyes were in a shade of pale violet, and she wore a black long dress with long sleeves, that showed off her beautiful figure, and on the center of the said dress was a silver cross, stamped on it.

"Today's a really beautiful day, but some clouds to cover the sun wouldn't do any harm..." The young woman said as she pulled her umbrella a bit back and looked up to the sky.

"Your right, Lady Delacroix..." A young girl with short pale blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in priest clothes probably in her mid-twenties said to the young woman

"Now, now, Michelle, it's Helena, when we're alone!" The young woman, said to the young girl, as she looked over her shoulder without stopping.

"But Lady..." As Michelle was about to say something, Helena looked at her again in silence and she got the message.

"As you wish, Helena..." Michelle said in an embarrassed tone to her, Helena just smiled.

"Now, Michelle, no need to be embarrassed, we have known each other for years, it's alright!" Helena said with a happy tone as she looked forward and kept enjoying the view, and just as Helena and Michelle were halfway through Pont de l'Alma, a black car, stooped next to them and a man probably in his 40's dressed in priest clothes, came out of it with an expression that was filled with one emotion, fear.

"Lady Delacroix, we finally found you...!" The man said as he got close to Helena breathing heavily, as if he just had run a marathon, Helena just looked at him a bit surprised.

"My, oh, my! What happened, for you to look like that?" Helena said to the man jokingly, but the man didn't take it as a joke.

"Lady Delacroix, this is no joking matter!" The man said to Helena with an angry tone.

"You better watch your mouth, when you talk to Lady Delacroix!" Michelle said as she got in front of Helena and grabbed the man by his collar,

"Damn brat..." The man said to Michelle, still with an angry tone, honestly it looked as if they were about to start a fight in the middle of the bridge.

"Now, now, you two! No need to bother the people enjoying their walk here..." Helena said as she closed her umbrella and walked towards the car, Michelle let go of the man and went to the car to open the door to Helena.

"Well then, I do hope that whatever it is, that makes you come and stop my morning stroll is worth it or I am going to be very angry..." Helena said as she glanced at the man and entered the car, the man just shivered upon hearing that.

"What are you waiting for? Get in!" Michelle said as she went around the car and entered the passenger seat in the front, and after she got in, the man got up and went inside the car, to take them to Notre Dame...

After a rather quick ride, the car arrived at the entrance of the Notre Dame, when they stooped, Michelle got out first and opened the door for Helena, as she got out, a group of tourists and passerby's began looking in her direction.

"It's Lady Delacroix!" Some said.

"No way! She's even more beautiful in person..." Others said, and Helena just smiled and waved at them, as she walked towards the entrance of the Notre Dame, while Michelle followed her from behind, and now the question remains, who is this woman?

This woman was, Helena Delacroix, the leader of the Supreme Cross Organization that belonged to the French magic association, the Supreme Cross was created roughly 35 years ago and it held power over all the Christian churches of Europe, they are in total 9 countries, Portugal, Spain, France, half of Great Britain, Switzerland, half of Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria, and despite the small number of members, it was, in fact, the strongest Organization of the world all because of Helena Delacroix herself, as she made it possible for the Vatican to lose all of its power, even prompting Helena to change the HQ of the Catholic church to the town of Lourdes in France, all this and she was just a simple Patriarch of the church and yet she held the power befitting of a Pope and all of this was achieved in a mere 5 years...

Meanwhile, already inside the Notre Dame, Helena walked towards the alter and as she got close she saw the cross, that was still covered in a black aura.

"Well, this is quite unusual! Don't you think so, Michelle?" Helena said with surprised tone and expression as she placed her hand on her mouth and turned to Michelle.

"It really is, Lady Delacroix...what do you suppose..." As Michelle was about ask Helena what she thought that could be a reason for the cross being covered in a black aura, she was interrupted.

"Lady Delacroix, I'm sorry for interrupting your morning walk!" An old Archbishop said as he appeared behind them and got down on one leg.

"No worries about that, but whatever this is about, I hope it's worth it..." Helena said with a happy tone that had a small hint of anger as she looked at this Archbishop.

"Please, follow me to the meeting room, then!" The old archbishop said as he got up and began to walk towards the meeting room with both Helena and Michelle following him, and after traversing to the other side of the church and climbing the stairs to the third floor, they got to a door adorned with the image of the Virgin Mary, after stooping in front of the door and praying for a brief moment, the Archbishop opened it.

And as they went inside the room that was decorated with imagery of the various saints and angels of Christianity and in the middle of it was a round table with exactly 9 chairs, every one had a small flag of the country they represented, but one of those chairs had the flag of France, that was more adorned and bigger than the others, it was obvious, that it was the chair Helena seated during the meetings, and this room was also one of the many changes Helena did to the Notre Dame, once she took over.

"Very well then, you're dismissed!" Helena said to the Archbishop, as he made a small bow before leaving and closing the doors of the meeting room, Helena then began walking towards her chair and as she took her seat, Michelle placed herself beside Helena.

"God created us so that we live and communicate, but he did not create a way for us to communicate, so by the power of the angels, that were the original bringers of communication, I ask for you to arrange a meeting with my allies..." Helena chanted this and the eyes of the angels in the room began to shine, and a few moments later, in every seat of the room a shadow appeared, the shadows represented the 8 leaders, of every country that belonged to the Supreme Cross, and after all the shadows, were in the room.

"Greetings, Lady Delacroix!" The Shadows said all at the same time as they bowed their heads, these shadows, were also known as the 8 Cardinals of the Supreme Cross.

"Hello and greetings, so what is all this about?" Helena said to the Shadows in an uninterested tone, as she rested her head in her right hand.

"I see your still the same, with your rebel "wannabe" attitude! "The shadow from the chair that belonged to Germany said, in a jokingly harsh tone.

"Yes I am, and your still the same grumpy old man that can't hide his jealousy..." Helena said as she laughed, and the other shadows did the same, as for the shadow of Germany he got angry with her remark.

"Lady Delacroix!" Michelle said as she whispered to Helena, but she brushed her off.

"I'm sorry, well then, what is so important that you had to talk to me with such urgency?" Helena asked still with an uninterested tone.

"Lady Delacroix, if you would allow me, have you noticed anything strange in the Notre Dame?" The shadow with a young female voice of the chair with the British flag asked.

"You mean the fact of the cross of the cathedral having a black aura over it?" Helena asked with a curious tone.

"Yes, here our statue of the lady of Fatima was also covered in a black aura..." The shadow of the seat of Portugal, said in an informative and worried tone.

"In Westminster Abbey, there was an earthquake and strong winds that broke the windows" The woman from the British chair also said with a worried tone

"And here in the Cathedral of Cologne, something along those lines happened too..." The shadow of the chair of Germany said, as he crossed his arms, and not too long every shadow began telling similar stories and talking all over themselves until...

"Silence!" Helena said with a tone of authority to the shadows and they all became silent upon hearing her, it was as they never spoke a word to begin with, then Helena placed her hands together, as if she was holding something and placed them on the table.

"Since your all calmed down, I will ask this once and only one of you shall answer, what is going on?" Helena asked still with her tone of authority on, but this time it was somehow scary...and after what felt like an eternity, the shadow of the seat of Britain finally broke the silence.

"Ahem, do you allow me, Lady Delacroix?" She asked and Helena signaled her with her head to proceed.

"Well then, Lady Delacroix, roughly 9 years ago something similar happened, but we paid it no mind, as it was rather quickly so we ignored it thinking it was just a false alarm or a ritual went wrong, but now we believe that whatever caused this thing, is none other than the Endbringer..." The shadow of Britain said with a tone that gave of a lot of things but if we had to choose one it was, fear.

And Helena's eyes opened wide, as she heard the words of the British shadow and silence reigned again in the room for a while...

"Oh, now this, is interesting..." Helena said as she smiled, but this just made all the shadows look at her.

"Are you kidding us, Lady Delacroix? This is an emergency!" The shadow from the German seat said in an angry tone as he got up.

"Yes, I have to agree, this is a critical situation and no laughing matter!" The shadow of the Portuguese seat, said in agreement.

"Silence..." Helena said again and once again the shadows obeyed she then proceeded.

"Well firstly, where did this happen?"Helena asked with a curious tone.

"It happened, in the same place as 9 years ago... Takamagahara island, Lady Delacroix..." The shadow of the British seat said this to Helena.

"Takamagahara...I see but even with a district there that belongs to us, it's unfortunately out of our jurisdiction..." Helena said after she let out a big sigh, and she was right, even though there was a district in Takamagahara that belonged to the Supreme Cross and by consequence also belonged to the French magic association, they had no power there, as it was created like all the other districts of Takamagahara as a research place, and no organization could interfere with the island unless it was for a research proposal.

Helena then got up from her chair and looked at the shadows.

"Very well then, my dear Cardinals, I will take care of this, so please rest assured and keep going like nothing happened!" Helena said with a reassuring smile to the shadows but they just started to look at one other with confusion written all over they're faces.

"Lady Delacroix, you can't possibly expect us to just stay still, when the Endbringer is back!" The shadow of the German chair said as he hit the table with his hand, a mistake in all fairness.

"Say...did I, stutter?" Helena asked in an angry tone as her pale violet eyes turned into dark violet color, and all of the shadows jolted, upon seeing her like that.

"N-No, Lady Delacroix..." The shadows all answered at the same time, in a scared tone.

"Good then, now I will ask that you wait for my news on how I will deal with the problem at hand, you will have my answer...let's say, next Wednesday!" Helena said with her eyes closed and with a smile, this made the shadows look at each other again, and after some more silence.

"As you wish, Lady Delacroix..." The shadows said as they bowed their heads and began vanishing, one after the other, and when Helena and Michelle were finally alone in the meeting room.

"Honestly, if I didn't have a grip on these idiots, they would probably already marched on the island..." Helena said as she took a seat on her chair and let out a sigh.

"Not going lie, Helena, they really would, but aren't you worried? It's the Endbringer, we're talking about..." Michelle asked Helena with a worried tone.

"Please, Michelle, everyone deserves a chance, even if they have the power to destroy the world, first we have to know him before we can pass judgment, right?" Helena said with a smile, this made Michelle look at her with an impressed expression.

"With that said, go and garter information about this Endbringer, the more we know the better..." Helena said as she got up and began walking in the direction of the door to leave the room.

"Wait, Helena..." As Michelle said this Helena stooped and look at her a bit curious.

"You still haven't told me, what you're going to do?" Michelle asked with a curious tone as she tilted her head a bit.

"Hmm, well, that is mostly a little secret, but before I do anything else, how is my schedule?" Helena asked and Michelle looked at her a bit confused but proceeded.

"If I remember correctly, today you will have a visit to the hospital of Saint Laurent, then tomorrow you will have a meeting with the president, Saturday is the meeting with the leader of the British Supreme Cross branch because of some stolen equipment, and Sunday you will preside the morning ceremony of the Lords Day..." Michelle said as she used her fingers to count Helena's appointments.

"Wait?! Did I have that many appointments? Why didn't you told me?" Helena asked Michelle with a panicked expression and tone.

"Well, I would have said something, but I didn't want to interrupt..." Michelle said in a stoic tone to Helena that gave her a confused look that didn't last long.

"You know what? It's alright, so Michelle, would you be so kind to get me plane tickets, for Monday?" Helena said as she sighed and opened the door to leave the room.

"Sure, Helena, but to where?" Michelle asked with a confused tone and expression.

"Easy, to Lourdes, of course!" Helena said as she left the room, looking forward to continuing her interrupted walk...