It was Sunday morning and at this point I had already reached my wits end here. Even if it was just some stupid dream, I was determined to get my brother, Tenshi, to drive me over to that stupid church.
Opening the web browser on my phone, I searched for “Church of Michael” and found that it was only 15 minutes away from our house. Realizing what exactly I was doing I started thinking to myself.
(What am I doing? Once I get to this church then what?)
Great questions they were but I quickly shut off all reason and decided to ask my brother for a ride.
Bursting through his room door -because who really needs privacy- I asked him for a ride to the church.
“Tenshi, can you take me to church?”
“...Why?” was his reply with a strong look of confusion covering his face.
(If I explained it then you would call me crazy.)
My brother burst into uncontrollable laughter; his laughter could’ve been heard throughout the whole neighborhood.
“HAHAHA! Have you finally decided to confess all your sins? Convert after all you’ve done?” Tenshi asked in a mocking tone while chuckling.
Standing there just watching him wheezing at me I was almost tempted to just turn around and forget that I even asked. I mean what was I supposed to do? Tell him it’s because I keep seeing phrases from a dream? Absolutely out of the question.
“I’m not wasting my time with any of that,” he continued as he went back on his phone.
Then suddenly, he reconsidered.
“Wait, never mind, let's go!”
My brother was prone to have random mood changes all the time and would sometimes do a full U- turn we’re his decisions are concerned but being the person I am I was still curious as to why he so suddenly changed his mind.
“Why the quick change of heart...?”
“Well, if you wanna convert, then I guess it is my duty to help with it… But more than that, I'm curious about what'll happen” he continued with a smile that curled to his eyes.
Of course I had no intentions of converting, but I had gotten my desired answer from him, and I wasn’t gonna just throw it away.
“Whatever floats your boat” I replied as I walked out his room to get ready for the drive.
“Send the address!” he screamed in hopes that I would hear it while outside his room.
We hopped in the car and made our way to the “Church of Michael,” just like the person in my dream told me to.
***
Arriving at the church I wasn’t surprised to see that Tenshi parked the car crookedly. It was an everyday thing, so I paid it no mind and we headed to the entrance.
The doors opened automatically as if it were welcoming us home. Even though none of us have ever been to this church we instantly, as if on instinct, took a right, entered the lobby, and took a seat while we waited for a pastor to meet with us.
Surely enough a pastor that goes by the name of “Pastor John,” came to greet us.
Pastor John’s appearance was that of a tall, white adult man that seemed to be in his late 30’s. Being a pastor of the Church of Michael, he was of course wearing their uniform. The uniform was a typical white, clergy cassock with an extensive red cross at the very center.
“Mr. Akuma and Mr. Tenshi?”
“Yeah...How did you know our names?” my brother and I asked in unison.
“Why the Priest has been expecting you all week of course. Now please, come right this way.”
Following these words, the pastor returned to the back from where he came.
My brother and I side eyed each other with a look that said, “this is definitely sketchy.” Even so, we both got up and out of the chairs and followed the Pastor. He escorted us down a hallway, passing all other doors as he headed for the single door at the end of the path.
We were too embarrassed to talk out loud, so we communicated in Blinks. A language we created where we communicate in blinks.
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“(Hey, you didn't take me to some sex dungeon, did you?!)”
“(Negative. And I doubt anyone would want you.)"
“(The hell you tryna' say, bro? Don't even joke like that.)”
"(Who said anything about joking?)"
"Gah-! You little-"
Arriving at the wooden door at the end of the hallway, the Pastor knocked twice in hopes of grabbing someone's attention.
KNOCK KNOCK!!!
“YES?!” an old voice from the room shouted.
“I’ve brought the boys here, Priest Finral!”
“PLEASE, LET THEM IN!!!”
I'm honestly amazed someone so old could scream that loud.
Immediately after hearing those words, the pastor opened the door for us.
Tenshi was the first to enter and I was right after him. The pastor closed the door behind me and stayed outside, as if he were a bouncer, guarding the biggest party in town.
The room was formatted like a VIP casino expense. The first thing you would notice was the expensive white marble table surrounded by red cushioned single chairs. The next thing you would probably notice is the exotic pool tables in the back. Even the pope was praiseworthy.
I expected him to look like any short, white, wrinkling geezer and covered head to toe in a white and gold clergy vestment. But he was actually quite tall.
He had short gray hair to go with his all-white robe.
The wrinkly part was true though.
By the time you took all that in you would realize the bright lamp that hung from the ceiling.
(Holy hell! This room cost more than my life! Who is this guy?!)
“I knew the pope was banking, but this?” my brother let out as he examined the room from left to right.
“Good evening, boys!”
The fossil welcomed us with a bright smile as he greeted us. Wait no, not quite. I think it was more like the smile worn by rich men as they flaunt their assets to the lesser folk.
Ordinarily, I’d have hated that look, but it was blurred for me. I just couldn’t help but glare at the wooden cane he had propped up on the side of his chair.
(If you're this loaded, then why a wooden cane? What a weirdo...)
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room made a complete shift. The pope leaned forward, and his expression flipped to one of extreme seriousness.
“Please take a seat and listen closely boys, what I am about to tell you is of the highest importance,” he stated.
I glanced over to Tenshi who was standing on my left. He looked as if he was gonna walk out of the room at any moment.
This being my idea I pat my hand on his back as a way of saying “c’mon let’s just listen to what he wants.”
We both sat at the chairs at the very end of the table on the complete opposite side of the pope. Both my brother and I were completely silent.
“Akuma. You have already met with Michael, correct?”
For an instant, my face -previously dead expressionless- jumped into that of pure confusion. I wondered if he was talking about the angel guy in my dream.
(Is he talking about the dream? No, he couldn’t be! I mean how could he know something like that? But he did tell me to come here so... maybe...? Nah.)
I dismissed all thoughts and chalked it up as some wild guess.
“We do not have time to go over everything at this moment, but there is a tale I must tell you.”
As Tenshi and I sat there in complete silence, the pope went on.
“Though you only see it in stories and legends, long ago this world that we live in was filled with people who held the power to do amazing things. They could harden their bodies to be as tough as steel, command strength that could level a city or even reach speeds impossible for the common man. During those days, every human had access to a power source known as Hoshi. At its core, Hoshi is the ability to interact with the energy produced by your soul. By itself it is quite simple but paired with a Tamashi, one could use ‘Empower’ and if the condition is right, they could even use ‘Devour’. One of the greatest wielders of Hoshi this world has ever born was one of my favorite students. Moses. Quite the genius of his time, he was able to use hoshi from outside sources and split the sea. Unfortunately, the ability to interact with this energy was sealed away from mortals. As a result, people lost all memory and belief of Hoshi as the centuries passed by. All that remains are legends and folklore of its existence."
"..."
"..."
A moment of silence awoke after he dropped that story.
He grabbed the wooden cane he had resting to his side, rose out of his chair and pointed his cane at Tenshi’s direction.
“I trust Micheal has already released your seals, Akuma! So, I shall release your seal, Tenshi! It would take quite a while to do it cleanly, so I shall have to rush a bit.”
I had half a mind to walk out that very moment, but to be honest I was kinda interested in what this crackhead would do next. So far, I have been doing my damn best to hold my laughter.
He continued to hold his wooden cane in Tenshi’s direction and began chanting some sort of poem.
“Through fire and despair, thou are ensnared.
Through chains and bondage, thou are poundage.
Through strain and pain, thou shall attain.
Now flow free for this I have claim.”
My brother and I burst into uncontrollable laughter. This whole time, we listened as the pope spat his story of fable, in complete silence, but we couldn’t hold it in anymore. Our dam had finally received more than it could hold, and we exploded.
“Yeah, it’s time to get the hell out of here” Tenshi said with tears in his eyes.
At that point I was also wheezing while I made my way to the door.
As if the pope was trying to convince us to listen to even more fables, he screamed at us.
“WAIT!!! THERE IS MORE YOU NEED TO HEAR!!!...THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU!!”
His screams were meaningless as we had already tuned him out completely.
“PLEASE WAIT!!!”
Seeing that we for damn sure weren't gonna come back, he hurried out of his chair to chase after us.
How the hell is an old man so damn nimble and agile?
Thinking our lives were in danger, we did what any sane person should in such a situation. We booked it.
Darting past the pastor who was keeping a lookout, we sprinted down the hallway, past the lobby and out the door.
Our sole mission was to reach the car, and we maneuvered past anyone or anything in our way to do it.
We didn't even take so much as a glance behind us, the only thing we were thinking of was getting away from this cult of deranged lunatics.