THREE:

The walk through the desolate corridor was one that Tyler knew off by heart, he knew every turn to take, every staircase to climb and he knew exactly where to go to start his work. But still he was escorted around the fortress each time he was called for. The outside of his room wasn't any different to the inside, it was still built with the same grey and dreary stone walls and the same dark floorboards and the same rectangular windows that lined the corridors and the same doors that matched the one to Tyler's own room except he knew all the other rooms were empty, he never heard anyone walking through the corridors and never saw anyone else unless he was required to. For the most part, Tyler was completely and utterly alone.

He followed the gasman as they took a left turn up a flight of stairs into a lit corridor, red tapestries were draped from the walls fluttering softly in the cold breeze, the symbol of Dema printed on each one. Eventually they came to a stop at a set of double wooden doors with huge brass hinges where a faint murmuring and humming noise could be heard. Tyler glanced over at the gasman, not really expecting a response as he asked, "Are they inside?" The gasman looked at Tyler for a moment, gormlessly, before they pushed open the heavy wooden doors with ease, the loud squeak of the hinges silencing all noise inside the room.

The hall was a wide-open space with huge grey stone arches reaching up towards the ceiling with large stained-glass windows set high into the walls, like a church. Dark wooden pews lined a direct pathway to the centre of the hall where the same statue from the courtyard outside was situated on a large mount where it towered over the audience within the room. The gasman behind Tyler nudged him further into the room making him stumble as the doors slammed shut behind Tyler. The nine figures in crimson red cloaks and the four people sat on the pews in the same grey jumpsuits as Tyler turned to face him making him cough awkwardly as he walked further into the hall, his footsteps echoing loudly off the floor and reverberating in the rafters. 

Tyler kept his focus on the people sat in the pews, his eyes darting to each person individually. There was a woman with pale blonde hair and an angular but pretty face on his left as he walked down the pathway. Two men on his right both with dark curly hair and even darker eyes who looked like they could be twins in Tyler's opinion. Finally, at the very front of the row of pews there was a trembling younger male who looked only a few years younger than Tyler, making him smile a little and place his hand on the dark-skinned male's shoulder, remembering when he'd been in this situation himself. "Tyler Joseph?" A deep voice called from the front of the hall causing Tyler to snap his head up and shuffle forwards as the leader of the red cloaked figures stepped forwards. His hands and face were covered in white all except from the tips of his fingertips which he had dipped into a bowl of black liquid that was held out by another one of the cloaked figures. "You know who we are?"

Tyler refrained from rolling his eyes as he responded, "The nine Bishops of Dema."

"What's our motto?"

"Deny the ones in yellow." Tyler answered monotonously but clearly, his voice echoing through the hall. Shivers ran down his spine as the thick black liquid was smeared across both sides of his neck by the Bishop whilst another rolled up the sleeves of his jumpsuit before the same black liquid was smeared across Tyler's hands and forearms, coating them. Tyler shivered, the black liquid dripping from his fingers as he was led forward into the centre of the hall facing the stone statue.

A neon glow filled the otherwise dimly lit room as a glowing statue in the shape of a trapezium rose from a small slit in the ground filling the room with an ethereal white light. The Bishop gestured for Tyler to step to one side of the glowing statue whilst another led one of the curly haired boys up to stand on the other side opposite Tyler. If Tyler looked closely enough, he swore he could see the numbers one and zero glowing through the trapezium shaped statue, glowing brightly like snapped glowsticks. He stood watching as the nine Bishops surrounded him their white hands and black tinted fingertips raised upwards towards the sky as the same deep voice rumbled. "We begin."