The Apostolic Matters LP

The first person to tell me what the title references get's to chose what Gods bless the next Apostle. Hint: Please bitch it should be EXTRA easy. But if you need it, the "LP" is a dead giveaway you dumbass.

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After our little mental confrontation, Olivier, Cassim, Yuno and I moved towards her office. Once there, we all sat in individual couches. Yuno for some reason decided to sit on my lap. She liked pampering, but she wasn't that clingy or aggressive, so all I could think of was that she wanted to avoid Olivier having any ideas.

<Sheesh, Yuno I know she is beautiful but I'm almost nineteen and she is thirty-seven!>

Oblivious to my offensive thoughts, Olivier once again asked the question that we all were here to discuss.

"What do you know about Apostles, Noah? And... why is she here?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and simply stated a few facts so she would know how the conversation would go.

"First of all, I am the first one to be named an Apostle, that much I am sure of" I explained calmly before taking a deep breath to continue. "Second... I know the most about Apostles at the moment, not because of the month of time I've been one, but most of it is thanks to Cassim and my powers"

Then I directed my eyes at Yuno who was resting her head on my shoulder. If possible I didn't want to reveal her until she was stronger, but that would be hypocritical of me, since I had revealed Cassim to the public.

"I hope you are trustworthy, Olivier" I said while looking at her seriously. "Yuno is here because, besides being my girlfriend and trusted aide, she has the potential to become an Apostle"

Everyone looked absolutely shocked. Yuno because I had never told her about this, Cassim probably thought something along the lines of 'as expected of the Boss, even his girl is amazing', and Olivier was probably shocked because I knew she had that potential. I pacified the confused Yuno with a warm smile, reassuring her that it wasn't something to worry about. She immediately went back to resting her head on my shoulder.

"How do you know that?" Olivier asked, evidently a bit skeptical of my words. I simply explained what I had learned.

"You see, I can see people's souls with one of my powers as an Apostle of Death. A pure soul is white, and it gets darker the more sins it comits. But us Apostles are different. Our souls aren't affected by sins, but by other aspects. You soul, Olivier, is light green with splotches of autumnal colors. It clearly represents your status as the Apostle of Fertility. Mine is teal with veins of white and black, representing my power over souls and my connection to death. But our souls didn't become like this after becoming Apostles. They were already that way."

Olivier's eyes opened wide when she understood what I was implying.

"When I met Cassim, his soul already was deep red with spots of scarlet. After he became an Apostle the colors only got more vibrant. Yuno, the same case, has a pink soul with very fine lines of silvery blue"

Yuno looked at me in wonder, same as Cassim. after all, hearing the color of your soul was something that one would only think of in fantasy. Then again, when the world is invated by Gates that give entrance to fantasy creatures... it isn't that hard to accept it. Olivier quickly got out of her stupor, asking a critical question.

"So you can tell who has the potential to be an Apostle but... how exactly do they become Apostles?" she said in an inquisitive tone with curiosity overly present in her voice. "That is easier to explain. Apostle Candidates, as I've taken to calling them, must find a piece of 'divine' equipment with an affinity for them. Cassim here, for example, only became an Apostle after we found Berserk, Incarnation of Wrath"

"I see... this has been a very rich conversation for me, Noah" Olivier said with the most sincere tone I had heard from her since we started talking. "Thank you for trusting me and revealing this information"

I only smiled softly. I had been constantly using Soul Seeing Eye and Observation Haki. If she had lied at any point or even had bad intentions, I would've known. So I wasn't exactly trusting her per sé.

"Now onto the next issue I wanted to discuss" Olivier said, once again entering 'work mode'. "What do you think we have to do as Apostles?"

I had thought of this before, but... wasn't our job already explained from the very beginning? We only had to do what our powers compelled us to.

"I have already thought of that, but there is only one answer to the question" I said with my eyes closed while leaning my head back on the couch. "And that is to answer our duties given by the Gods"

Olivier seemed to understand what I meant by that. She was probably given a task related to granting fertility to places that needed it, while my job was to cleanse souls and Cassim had to defend his 'home', which could be considered the entirety of Earth. Things would get more and more hectic once we made an official announcement on this matter.

"*sigh*... I guess we must be all over the place, huh?" said Olivier with a tone of resignation. Apparently, even someone like her didn't like to work too much. I just followed her example and sighed helplessly. "It would seem so"

We had reached a conclusion, so we only had to work out the details. In the end, we decided to announce the path we would be taking to the world a week later down the line. I could only think about one thing.

<If I had known all of this was going to happen I would've waited to establish my Guild...> I thought while heading back to the Armstrong's State to rest. <Now I have to make it international! It's going to be so much work...>

*

The week went by rather quickly, with Yuno and I doing some turism all over Germany with Cassim following us like a bodyguard. Ever since we left the dungeon and he became the Apostle of War he had grown to be stockier than me, which made him the perfect goon, though he still was -and would always be- weaker than me.

The three of us were currently in a car with Olivier, driving towards the biggest stadium in the country. Olivier had contacted the President of the German Branch and told him about the importance of what we would be announcing to the world. Luckily, she and I had a great deal of respect. Her because of her ten-years-long career as a Mercenary and I because of my sudden appearance and shows of strength. No one had cleared a B-Rank Gate alone before me, though I was sure the other S-Rankers could do it too.

Suddenly, Olivier started a conversation while driving.

"I never asked but... what is that black cat that you carry everywhere, Noah?" she asked while looking at Felix, who was resting on my lap -as he always does, through the front mirror. "His name is Felix and he is a Carbuncle. He was in an egg I found on the Gate where I got Lament and my Garments from. He's been my lucky charm ever since, besides being one hell of a good hunting partner too"

"Really? How strong do you think he is?" she asked with curiosity clear once again. I had already understood that Olivier just wanted to understand the nature of things better to not be caught unprepared, so I knew she didn't mean any bad. "Well, since he and I are connected, I reckon he must be as strong as I am, perhaps a bit less. But definitely not stronger. Oh I almost forgot to mention he can heal anyone if need be, though he only heals people he likes"

With only a hum as response, she kept driving while I petted Felix and hugged Yuno with my free arm. Cassim was looking through the window, probably thinking of his sister.

*Cassim POV*

As we drove through the highway, I overheard Oliver-san and the Boss's conversation. I looked at Felix sideways, not wanting to blatantly stare at him. The more I spent working under him, the more I came to respect the Boss. He had a beautiful girl who was a bit stronger than me currently and had the potential to become an Apostle. His pet was as strong as him and, taking his words into consideration, was also related to Apostles. <Heck, I am an Apostle and work for him!>

At that moment I made an oath to myself, with the Gods of War as witnesses.

<I swear I will be strong enough to always stand guard by the Boss's side, and never be a burden! And I will get a pet as awesome as his! And a girlfriend too! Damn it Boss! Riaju go die!>

*Noah POV*

"*achoo*... *sigh* someone must be thinking of me" I said offhandedly, thinking that someone back at Japan might be cursing me for all the work I left for them.

<Huh, Cassim has a really weird face right now... maybe he has to take a shit?>

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Thank you everyone for the support and positivity on the previous chapter. I wanted to show a different side to Noah than the simpleminded guy you've seen so far, so I went for his prideful and domineering side instead. I think I did a good job and your comments proved me right!

Did you like the little comedy skit at the end?