Counsel's Choice

Chenko: “What choice do we have?! You stand for nothing then. You’re supposed to be a leader!”

Chenko was face to face with Jonko, one of the main leaders of the Counsel. He was not happy with Chenko’s proposition, and let him know it directly.

Jonko: “Question me all you want. You’re desperate for help now because you yourself couldn’t lead. That was your choice Chenko, not mine. You left to form your own life and own community.”

Chenko: “My men are standing outside your doors, waiting for me to inspire them. To tell them that the counsel will come with us on this journey. Yet, yet, you…you couldn’t care less about people.”

Jonko sighed in disappointment. He never liked Chenko and always thought he was weak. He was eager to call him out for his failures, yet as a leader, he couldn’t boast about dead children and parents.

Jonko: “It’s not that I don’t care about people, Chenko. It’s that you couldn’t protect what was yours. You have a responsibility. Somewhere down the line you slacked off. You come in here and tell me about some mysterious being that killed a bunch of people. Do you really think I would believe that?”

Chenko: “Not a being. The devil.”

Jonko: “Yeah. Yeah. The devil. So the devil decided to walz out of hell to specifically attack you? There have been no other reports of this anywhere. I’m beginning to question your sanity at this point.”

Chenko: “I’m not insane. Just lend me some people. I need help getting there. Anyone that has been there already would be a huge plus. They can get us there with the chaplet and then they can leave afterwards. How about that?”

A fellow priest came barging in the door. “Sir! We just received reports of missing kids in multiple areas surrounding the land.”

Jonko sat there in disbelief. He sighed knowing well what he had to do, even though he didn’t want to. He looked at Chenko and spoke. “It’s your lucky day. Let me gather the counsel. I’m sure you’ll get what you want now.”

Jonko walked out of the room to gather a meeting with the higher ups of the priests. The man in the room looked at Chenko and winked at him. He had made this up for him, as Chenko had helped him immensely when he was still around. He led Chenko out to a different room. To Chenko’s surprise, the counsel members were already quickly gathered. He wondered if Jonko had this planned all along and was just provoking Chenko out of spite. Regardless of what had happened, Chenko was excited to hear a verdict.

The members spoke for an hour arguing back and forth. Bickering about what to do. The 9 of them boasted their own thoughts through their egos. Most disagreed with sending out a lot of their people, but some thought about the protection of the kids. The two girls specifically argued this, but two of the men also argued on their side. However, 5 of the members didn’t favor the plan. They thought it pointless to go to Deceased Paradise. Even with their manpower, they knew many would die and few would survive, if any. One of the members spoke up. An older man with a ponytail and beard raised his hand to speak. All of the other members remained quiet as he did this. Chenko stood in the corner unable to say anything. He figured this man was the leader, but his vote so far was not in his favor.

“While I understand both sides, we don’t have that much time. We must make a decision quickly. I don’t want to displease anyone. That is not my goal, but for the sake of this meeting, the opposing side needs to know soon. So…Can we please stop this bickering.”

Another member spoke up. A middle aged man with brown hair and glasses wearing a white robe and hat. “Easy for you to say, old man. You haven’t said a word this whole time, except for now. You could’ve said that an hour ago. You have the most authority here. This whole meeting is for nothing then. Let’s just take the stupid vote.”

Jonko sat at the end of the table just listening. He was technically the leader of the counsel, but had no say in this vote. However, he spoke before the vote was decided. “May I bring a thought into your minds?”

Nobody said a word, but few nodded in approval. “Although I have no vote in this meeting today, I can inquire thoughts and opinions, no? I think I have the right to that. I am an honest man I think. I may not try the hardest in certain moments, but I can certainly lead a group of people. With that in mind, what exactly is a leader? What do they embody? What do they stand for?”

Nobody said a word as he continued. “A leader is someone who takes that responsibility upon themselves. They lead a group, not the other way around. You shouldn’t be afraid to do things yourself if you are going to make other people do these things also. Just keep that in mind before you vote.”

Chenko knew that was a direct diss at him, but he sat in the back and couldn’t say a word, knowing it would make everyone hate him if he started arguing.

Some members spoke up and continued to argue. Jonko sighed as his words reached nobody, he thought. To stop the arguing back and forth, he pulled out the box from underneath the table and spoke. “Quiet! Listen…Write yes or no like always and drop it in the box. This will decide the fate of that man over there in the corner. Whether or not his beliefs prevail is up to you all. So pick wisely.”

Each of them wrote on a piece of paper that lit up green and floated into the box. The old man at the table looked at Chenko and smiled.

Jonko read the papers one by one.

“Okay, here we go. First vote, no. Second vote, no. Third vote, yes. Fourth vote, no. Fifth vote, yes. Sixth vote, no. Seventh vote, yes. Eighth vote, yes. Of course it comes down to one vote. Okay, let’s get this over with. The ninth and final vote…”

Everyone sat in silence in suspense of what was to come. “The final vote…No. The decision has been made. Our people will not venture to Deceased Paradise. Chenko and his men will take on this mission by themselves.”

Chenko yelled in rage, unable to contain himself from the outcome in front of him.

Chenko: “NO! I will not accept this! I’m not asking your people to die for me. I’m asking them to help. It should be their choice. If they want to leave, then they can leave at any time. A bunch of people like you shouldn’t dictate other people’s beliefs! That’s not your choice!”

The old man laughed. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tren Boa. I’m the father of that man over there.” He pointed at Jonko sitting in the seat before speaking again.

Tren: “I just wanted to test you son. Don’t worry. I did vote, not in your favor though. I will say that. I just wanted to see where your values took you. You should have won this vote, but because of me, you didn’t. Let’s test it even further shall we?”

Chenko: “What do you mean by that?”

Tren: “How about a little wager? Come. Sit across from me.”

Chenko was unsure of what was about to happen. He had no choice though. This man was offering him redemption outside of the vote that was cast. It was his only option. His men were waiting already way too long. He needed to get this over with so that nobody would begin to question themselves. He sat down across from the man in hopes of redeeming himself. Tren began to explain the rules as he laid out 20 cards in front of him and 2 revolvers.

Tren: “This game is called Liars Hand. Allow me to explain, but bear with me. My age certainly gets to me sometimes and I forget things. Are you prepared to die? After all, we’re playing with the Devil’s entertainment.”