𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔷𝔬'𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔠𝔦𝔯𝔠𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔡𝔞𝔶...
about the handful of clergy, of converts and cradle cultists and academics and theologians, that stuck around even when tensions swelled and the novelty of the third papa's ideas wore off.
they stayed because they had known him as more than just the face of their shepherd; because they had shown him patience or given the space he required when he was at his worst, not always as "typical" friends but always as co-conspirators, united in the hope that their church could be a better, safer, kinder place for everyone that may need it.
they had listened to his passionate two-voiced monologues co-led with necropolitus, about building something for those with the fiercest ambitions. and then they were there to witness his visions soften as he grew to realise that perhaps certain beautiful cities were never meant to prevail, but something more human could. and besides theological discussions, between trying to predict the opposing sects' next moves, between their own clerical duties and projects within the church, in the stolen pockets of time, when they'd actually manage to meet in peace, sometimes they'd just go to the movies to see some classics. or to the opera, if someone saved up for the tickets. or to the art gallery, to stare at ridiculously elaborate structures or paintings of rapture, greatness and decay. or just stay indoors and argue over old poetry.
anyway, yeah. the heretics™