Father Monahan looked around the room. It was a sanctuary for him. The only people ever allowed in the room were those he invited. It was a simple room with seats for as many as two dozen, and the walls lined with copies of the writs that helped govern his people. In the years since he'd been appointed leader of their order, he'd overseen countless meetings in the small room, but never been faced with such a controversial subject, especially after an event that should have simply been great news.
Just the day before, the two newest arrivals to their humble home had done the miraculous and saved the lives of three of their miners. The manner in which they'd done it though was unorthodox to the monastery's beliefs, and as of yet they were unsure how to view it. That was why Monahan had called this meeting.
Putting an end to his musings, Monahan realized that the last of the group had arrived, and he raised his hands to call for quiet as he called the meeting to order. When everyone found a seat and became silent, he led them in a quick chant to center their minds on the natural state of life and serving it.
Now that they were ready to discuss the topic on hand, all the eyes in the room were steadily on him. He cleared his throat. "Well, to start off... I'm glad to say that Brother Odilo assures me that our friends should all be ok in time, though Thalos may lose a limb. Still, this is great news." He nodded at the other senior Brother in the front row. There was a few moments of cheerful comments before the room quieted down again.
"Alright. Now that's done, we need to get to the reason you're all here. We need to discuss the events yesterday that lead to the recovery of the injured from the mines, and how it affects us. I don't need to remind anyone in this room how we normally view such... usel of the force." He had to pause to think of a way to end his statement, with 'use' instead of 'abuse'. He didn't want to imply that he had already made up his mind on the issue.
The first voice came out of the back of the room. "The Force is not here for us or anyone to control whenever they deem necessary!" Whomever spoke had managed to keep harsh tones out of their voice, thankfully. Monahan certainly expected this response from the start.
There was an immediate counter from another voice in the back. "Would you have done anything different if you could? Would any of us? If it wasn't so against our nature, would the council have thought to use the medallions at least in an effort to save those lives?" Monahan noted it was Bartholomew's brother who had been the first to defend what had happened. He raised a good point though. If the council had thought to use the medallions, what conclusion would they have come to?
It didn't take long for the conversation to get out of hand, with opinions sometimes being yelled from the corners of the room.
"When is the cost too high to go against your own beliefs?"
"How is saving lives against our beliefs?"
"I don't appreciate having my mind taken over!"
Father Monahan remained silent as he listened to the growing volume of the argument. It went back and forth continually for nearly half an hour. Was controlling the force abusing it if it's used to save lives? Should the outsiders be banished? What's to stop them from more gross abuse? How much is a life worth? Wasn't the natural state of the Force reinforced by their actions? What about holding one of their members back against their will?
Then the point that everyone was avoiding finally came up.
"What if one of them IS the one from the prophesy?"
Silence took over the room once again, even though everyone there must have had the same thought. Even if they all thought otherwise, the rumors that had been passed around earlier had reached every ear in the monastery, surely. It was Mathias who had finally spoken it aloud though.
"Now, I've never really been one for much daydreaming or thinking of such prophesies the way my son does. I've even heard the boys tell him that they weren't part of a prophesy. Truth be told, despite all of Mannix's ramblings, I never thought it was a possibility really. With the events of yesterday though, I think we'd be remiss if we didn't at least discuss it."
The room was not silent after that, but it remained quiet as there was whispers being shared among small groups. Brother Varth walked up to the front of the room with his normal jovial expression. He blinked a few times while he waited for the attention to shift to him. After his patience was rewarded, he went over some of the relevant points he'd found regarding the prophesies, both for and against the possibility of one of the newcomers being 'The One'. The small crowd was mostly attentive, with only the occasional whisper, which brought a smile and a few more blinks from Varth.
Then Varth recounted a tale of the deeds of 'The One' that sounded remarkably like the events from the day prior. 'The bell shall toll and the people will say, 'They are dead. The tomb is sealed,' but He of Right shall reply, 'All hope is not lost.' And the earth shall be torn asunder, and the dead shall live once more.'
The room erupted again into argument.
"Did you see the older one's eyes after they moved that giant boulder?'
'How about that rock of his?'
'He doesn't fit the description!'
"Prophesies are always vague and easy to apply..."
"They're outsiders!"
"The younger one has the scar!"
"A partial match is no match at all! This is a prophesy, not some game!"
Monahan sighed. This was exactly as he'd expected.
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