The Council of London

"Supreme Councilman Appel!" A voice cried out as the large double doors to the Councilmen's Board Room is opened in haste.

"What bids you here Dagovich? You have no authority to barge into our weekly meeting with no validity." In the center of the room, sitting on his tall pedestal, overlooking the entire hall, is Appel.

Appel sits in between two wings of other old men in this room. Sitting high from the floor, looking down at whoever is to enter the room. It almost feels like a court session rather than a government hearing. Appel shares similar characteristics with the fellow councilmen that surround him.

Each councilmen has some visible sign of aging, whether that be grey hair, wrinkly skin, or hunchbacks. Appel shares all of these visibilities in tandem. All wears his hair back with gel that gives the grey hair a new look and allows the hair to feel younger than it currently is. Appel wears dark glasses; these large round glasses are tinted like sunglasses but provide the same visual aid needed for Appel's wearing eyes.

Appel sits with terrible posture, leaning forward constantly and supporting the weight of his body with either his forearms or elbows. The old man cannot seem to fix his back, but nobody dares to comment about it. He speaks with high ferocity despite the harshness of his voice being apparent in every syllable he attempts to pronounce.

Appel is the senior most member out of all Creative Councils throughout the entire planet. Appel has been alive since the time of the 'First Creative United Federation.' Being that the current world governmental body is in its third life, Appel is a considerable veteran on the world stage. Thus, such seniority makes him the de-facto ruler of the entire world.

Dagovich is a younger middle-aged man, one sporting a well-put suit; white button up, grey blazer, and a prominent blue striped tie. He bursts into the Board Room with little consideration for whatever discussion might be taking place and he speaks with great speed.

"Pardon my intrusion Supreme Councilman," Dagovich bows before all of the men who look upon him with hungry eyes, he then looks up and surveys the room, "Pardon my intrusion Councilmen of London, but I have urgent news that needs to be addressed."

Appel stands from his seat, "Spit it out already."

"The recent chain of Sorcerers breaking the Magical Doctrine is not the uncorrelated event that we initially imagined. There is something deeper happening here." Dagovich looks down, "I believe we need to up our national and international security measures." Dagovich looks up toward Appel.

The man to the left of Appel opens up, "Our security is fine, every local council has a group of young Creators who maintain order within their jurisdiction, what more could you be asking for?"

Appel lifts his left hand in front of the man, "Let's hear him out Nano." 

The man to Appel's left takes a seat, Dagovich then lifts his left arm to his chest, "I propose that the Creative Council of London hire local Creators in order to cancel this threat."

Appel then places his hands on his desk, "How do you know that this threat is such a compromise to our nation's security?"

Dagovich then grins, "We didn't think the Populi would become a threat twenty years ago," Appel straightens his back, "that is until London was under siege from the revolution and we only had the Bridge Keepers to protect us."

"Dagovich," Appel takes a seat once more, "I presume you are very serious?" Appel questioned rhetorically, "In that case then I will take it seriously too." Appel looks down and sighs.

"I don't want a repetition of last time," Dagovich sighs with Appel, "Wizards are significantly more powerful than the Populi, thus they should be dealt with more haste."

Appel lifts his right hand while still looking down, "I understand Dagovich, the Wizards may become the biggest threat to our power." Appel looks up with focusing eyes, he then looks to the entire council, "This week I declare a national emergency, the council will meet every single day of the upcoming week. If the issue is solved by the end of this week then we will return to our weekly Sunday meeting, if not then we will go another week under emergency."

The councilmen look at Appel and lean back in their seats. Their mouths open wide as some even manage to let out streams of air. Dagovich initially sighs, but he then smiles at the council's seriousness for such an issue. All of the councilmen soon come to their senses and realize the seriousness of Appel's authority and many return to their initial pose.

"The council will now do a hearing for any information that anyone possesses about the Wizard threat, first we will start with you Dagovich." Appel looks down toward Dagovich.

"I received reports from locals that the Sorcerer–I mean, the Wizard of Man has been conducting strange experimentation on his tower at the Sulby Glen on the Isle of Man." Dagovich explained with his arms running frantically trying to express what he had learned.

"What kind of 'experimentation?'" The councilman to the right of Appel speaks down toward Dagovich.

"He attempted to use Alchemy to lure a local woman to fall in love with him." Dagovich told.

The entire council excluding Appel burst out into laughter, "What kind of national emergency is this?" The councilmen directly to the right of Appel blurts while laughing maniacally. The laughing continues for a few seconds before Appel stands out of his seat once more.

"It's a real emergency Pirou." Appel said as he lifts both his arms to silence the council. All the councilmen soon retreat back into their seats as Appel waves his arms, "This Wizard has attempted to use Alchemy to manipulate another person's mind and chemical function. If successful, either that Wizard or somebody influenced by his work could use such magic to harm the structure of this council. It's a small door for large possibilities."

Dagovich grins at Appel's words, "I suggest we send a party to arrest this Wizard immediately."

"I suggest the same," Appel looks to Nano on his left, "Inspectorate Councilman Nano, are there any Creator's we could employ for such a task?"

Nano looks up at the standing Appel, "Well Supreme Councilman, I regret to inform you that all our Creator interns have moved on from this position in the last few months." Nano then grabs a handkerchief from his coat pocket to wipe his face as Appel puts his right hand in a fist, "Nobody has answered our recruitment call because they claim being a Security Member of the Council is similar work to being a Keeper of the council."

"The damned young generation and their great pride." Appel opens his right hand and examines both his left and right hands in front of him.

"Supreme Councilman," Dagovich bows, "May I lay down a suggestion."

Appel looks at Dagovich, "What may that 'suggestion' be?"

"We could employ Semi-Creators," the entire council cocks an eyebrow, "or maybe...we could employ Pre-Creators." Dagovich suggested.

The council once again are taken aback in their seats from shock. Many mouths grow wide and much carbon dioxide is expended into the air. Appel still stands strongly, even with his weakened back.

"What you are suggesting is preposterous!" The man two seats left to Appel exclaimed.

"How dare we allow inexperienced and inferior members of our caste deal with such a large threat!" The man at seat at the end of the right side of Appel joined the defiance.

"They don't even know how to use magic yet, how the hell can the public trust us if we send teenagers on suicidal missions against veteran magical users!" Nano expressed his concern as well.

 "The council itself does not know how to use Alchemy, can we really trust a teenager to commit to such a large task?" Pirou finishes off the expressions of concern.

"That is enough!" Appel exclaimed to the rest of the council and soon all the councilmen take a seat in a professional position and become completely silent, "Investigative Councilman Dagovich, which such logic that you try to present to us, why do we just not hire Keepers to do the job?"

"Keepers are inferior to Creators," Dagovich looks up with a blank expression, "Keepers are inferior to all Creators, even Pre-Creators. We cannot expect them to complete a task such as this because their weak 'magic' is only good for defense." Dagovich became vile with his attitude.

"I have an idea." The councilman to the far right side of the seating arrangement raises himself from his chair and lifts his left hand, "What if we pair a Pre-Creator with a young Keeper."

Appel quickly looks to the man, "That is not a bad suggestion Range," Appel looks away, "The issue is that we don't know if we could even trust a young teenager to commit to such a dangerous task. I'm sure most will see it as either inferior work to where they might go in the future, or they might see it as suicidal." Appel sighs, "Even if we could pair a Keeper and a Pre-Creator, will that protect the Pre-Creator from the possibility of a violent and superior Wizard opponent?"

Dagovich then lifts his own hand, "Pardon my interruption of that thought, but in my professional opinion, I don't believe we have much option but to send a young Semi or Pre-Creator with a Keeper escort to arrest these Wizards before their magical and alchemic influence spreads to imitators and apprentices."

"I respect your humble opinion Dagovich, however I cannot seem to bear the possibilities that such a proposal might bring. The reputation of the entire council could be jeopardized, and such reckless action against the Wizard threat could be the catalyst for our feared repetition of history." Appel takes a seat and with a tired face. 

Dagovich then looks toward Range, "If what you suggest becomes reality, what would our insurance be?" Dagovich stared at Range with a neutral face.

"Honestly," Range says to himself, "the only insurance policy I can imagine is a miracle."

The councilmen once more gasp at the words they have heard. This time the energy of the shock is minimal compared to the previous incidents. The councilmen seem to show less effort for such unexpected words. Words like, 'miracle,' are oftentimes avoided during a professional meeting in the House of Government.

Dagovich then addresses all of the councilmen while Appel sits thinking to himself, "Let's hope for a miracle then." He said with his arms wide open.