Few minutes later the family of four were cramped in the small dining room that was the kitchen at the same time. The previously spacious house turned out to be a small and smelly shack.
His parents had aged a lot, especially his mother, probably because of all the ‘blessings’ she received during the years. Father, behind his already gray beard and unkempt hair, seemed pale and lifeless, although his eyes did light up seeing his both sons.
From the moment Elsa saw them, she never ceased to talk.
“It’s so great that you two brothers finally met! Now you can take good care of each other!” She said, “Bill, don’t forget to look out for our little prophet during the grand expedition! And you, Alfons! Just because you became James Bond, don’t forget to include him in your prayers … what are you looking at me like that for? Do you think we don’t know anything? It’s not a secret – everyone knows you became James Bond during the sacred ceremony and now will bring the Lord’s love to the west!”
Alex wanted to explain something, but realized it would be futile – his parents wouldn’t understand anything anyway.
Meanwhile Elsa continued to blab.
“You both are so handsome and grown up! We are so proud of you! One son a prophet and another a holy warrior! We couldn’t ask for more! You two made us so happy! Oh, right, how did you two meet? Did Alfons find you, Bill?”
Knowing his ‘teacher’ had to prepare his speeches up front, Alex answered, “No. Actually brother found me when we were transferred from the college. To be honest, he helped me quite a lot.”
“Good, good!” Mother immediately said, “That’s how it should be. But you already knew that, didn’t you? Lord probably speaks to you regularly, just like those years ago when you sent your brother the ‘Book of Holy guidance’.”
“What?” It was time for Alex to become confused.
“The ‘Book of Holy guidance’.” Elsa repeated, “It didn’t have a name, so we decided to call it this way. Because of the Lord’s will and thanks to your blessings, that book gave your brother amazing talent. After priest Daniel read it to him few times, he immediately began to glow with the holy light! Of course, he was too old to become chosen, but his path was that of the holy warrior!”
“Sigh, it had nothing to with any kind of blessings. He has an amazing talent and feels the holy power naturally. If someone would’ve explained it to him when he was three or four years old, he would’ve become chosen as well.” Alex explained.
He slowly got fed up with the nonsense and wanted to leave. Purely because of a whim he explained the last part, but didn’t expect anyone to understand it. But looking at the brother’s expression he realized the big guy already had such guess, at least unconsciously.
“What are you trying to say …” Elsa suddenly deflated.
“Nothing much. Only that my eldest brother has an amazing talent, way above mine.” Alex shrugged in response.
While both Bills froze at the answer, each for different reasons, Elsa tried to console Alex as if he was too modest, “Don’t worry, Alfons! You have the talent that comes once in millennia! You are a prophet! You are THE James Bond!”
But either Alex disliked her for being such a tramp or mentioning the name ‘Alfons’ was the last drop, uncharacteristically for him, he lost his cool. Later thinking about this moment he couldn’t understand why it happened or even remember when was the last time he blew up like this.
“Actually, compared to my brother I’m nobody.” He retorted, “In fact, I’m not really awakened yet! I am considered chosen only because of a coincidence and my only achievement was to be born with my consciousness fully developed. Bill, on the other hand, awakened his holy power and has amazing talent in martial arts. What I don’t understand is why in the world would you sent him to join the army!”
“You … you …” Elsa stuttered, “You were the one who sent him the ‘Book of Holy guidance’ so he could aid you during the expedition! You were the one who requested his presence!”
“What expedition?! What presence?! What the hell are you talking about?” Alex became increasingly angry, “When I met that idiot Gilbert in Serenity and learned that our father got crippled, I secretly sent the manual used to teach chosen so my brother could learn how to defend himself and stay safe! Actually I could be killed as the punishment if anyone found that out! Do you take the lives of your children as a joke?”
His mother, of course, saw him becoming angry, but couldn’t understand the reasons, “Don’t worry, Alfons! Your lives belong to the Lord! When you die, you’ll be at His side safe and sound.”
“My life belongs to me! And my brother’s life belongs to him! Same with everyone else! Do you know how many chosen and holy warriors died during the last expedition? It is basically guaranteed for me to die since I’m so weak. And my brother would die if he had the stupid idea of protecting me! That is not fine!” While fuming, Alex turned towards his brother, “Why couldn’t you just live a happy life somewhere in the woods? You could’ve taken a pretty local girl …”
A strange silence filled the room. Father sat there paralyzed from shock, mother – red faced, panting in anger, eldest brother – his eyes widened in disbelief.
Suddenly Alex got an idea.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Bro! It’s not too late!” He excitedly said, “Just leave and with your skills no one will find you! I had a plan to escape later anyway, so you won’t need to worry about me! Just before you leave give me some hints on how to trick those hounds from …”
“Blasphemy!” Suddenly Elsa screamed and slapped the table, “Who are you? What have you done with Alfons? What kind of demon are you to be able to take his place and try to seduce Bill?!”
Only now Alex realized he went a tad too far. Even though he didn’t respect his mother at all, at least he could’ve waited until they left. Truth to be said, while they weren’t close at all, the idea of putting his own brother on a death row because of his actions four years ago disgusted him and forced to think of an urgent way to resolve the situation. Unfortunately he made a bigger mess as the result.
“Elsa …” Bill tried to calm his wife down, but she was already in another dimension.
“No, no, no, no, no … You are not my son!” She continued to scream, “My son is a prophet! My son is James Bond!”
The last words were left behind after the door slammed behind her.
“Sigh, don’t worry, she’ll calm down.” Father sighed and explained, “But you shouldn’t have said those things …”
Actually Alex agreed, but there was no way to change past.
“Yes and no.” He shrugged, “While she didn’t like what I said, I sincerely hope you’ll think about it, brother. We have never been close, hell, we don’t even know each other, but I hope you can live a happy life, not die because other people have idiotic ambitions.”
“Alfons!” Bill tried to reprimand him.
“What? I’m just saying what I think.” Alex shrugged again and pointed at his brother, “If he was some kind of a religious maniac, I would’ve been already dead.”
“Sigh … there is nowhere to run …” Bill junior finally spoke. He was not good with the words to begin with and all this time he experienced shock after shock. When the situation finally calmed down, even his muscular stature looked a bit deflated, “You can’t escape the holy warriors. Their skills …”
“Come on!” Alex interrupted, “F*ck their skills! You’re the local boy! You lived in these woods till you were ten? Twelve? There is no way anyone could outsmart you here if we consider your own skills. I can give you some stuff that will help to succeed and even draw you a map where to go!”
“Alright, alright, let’s calm down and stop it there.” Father finally jumped in, “We have not seen each other for so long. You better tell your old father how have you been. At least I’ll have something to think about after you leave.”
Alex looked back at the bearded man who felt completely foreign to him, thought for a bit and then told his story. It didn’t take much effort to satisfy the man, in addition, even they talked through the night he could sleep in the cart tomorrow while pretending to pray.
Alex told about how he ‘awakened his consciousness’ right after the birth, then how he learned the language and the road to Serenity. Then he described the life in the nursery and the miraculous survival during the cleansing ceremony. He explained how he at the age of four was living in basilica and his job was to copy books designed for the chosen in the college and how he learned about the world while reading.
He began describing the college in detail, of course, skipping the sensitive parts and didn’t notice how at some moment his eldest brother stopped listening and furrowed his brows as if concentrating on something else. Few seconds later he got up and disappeared in the next room while Alex continued telling his tale.
Suddenly the door sprung open with a loud bang and before Alex could blink, he was already unconscious.
After waking up, despite the splitting headache and the weakness all over his body, Alex attentively listened to his surroundings and, only after verifying he couldn’t sense anyone nearby, opened his eyes. It was still dark and currently he was lying in a small, a couple square meters wide cage.
His white robe was torn off and he was currently in his undergarments, but his hands were cuffed in strange looking metal handcuffs. They were extremely heavy and both hands felt almost completely numb from the elbow down.
Alex recognized the long row of tents nearby – he was back at the army camp!
‘For the love of god! That stupid woman!’ Alex almost shouted when he realized his own mother caused this, ‘Just how stupid can one person be?’
But then he calmed down in an instant. He was not scared of dying, but disliked the idea of him being burnt or skinned alive. There was also the risk of getting tortured even if the pope’s men were not a part of the expedition.
After his eyes got used to the darkness, Alex verified that the two cages next to him were empty. That meant his older brother got away! It was unlikely the big guy would get a special treatment, in fact, Alex wouldn’t be surprised if his whole family was executed.
Alex’s thoughts were sluggish and he felt dizzy, but at some point he noticed a shadow flashing in the darkness between the trees. When he tried to focus his gaze, he didn’t see anything, but then with a soft crack one of the cage bars behind him was broken.
“Shh!” Even if he didn’t say anything, Alex recognized his brother shushing him.
The gap between the bars was small, but large enough for Alex to put his head through and Bill pulled the rest of him out. Then he threw Alex over his shoulder and silently dashed away from the tents in the forest.
Being carried like this was incredibly uncomfortable, but it was still better than being burnt alive. Alex noticed his brother had changed into a dark leather outfit that for some reason allowed him to move completely stealthily. Up until now he thought only cloth wear could be like that, but it was also possible his brother had some special technique as well.
After ten or so minutes Alex finally couldn’t take it anymore and said, “We can’t continue like this.”
His brother stopped and put him on the ground. Then paused as if gathering his thoughts and said, “You’ll have to endure. I know the ‘devil’s shackles’ hurt, but we’ll have to think of a way to get rid of them later. Now we have to run. I guess we have half an hour lead and the darkness …”
“No. Wrong.” Alex smiled back. His brother was doing his best, but he was not a criminal and had no experience, “We need to hide. And for a really long time. You know the forest around here – pick a spot, even if it’s on a plane sight. One condition though – we’ll need water.”
“In that case we’ll need provisions as well.” Bill shook his head, “They’ll definitely …”
“Don’t worry about that – bring us to the best spot you can think of and I’ll explain everything later.” Alex commanded, “Oh, right. I need my staff. Did they take it from our parents home?”
“No they didn’t. Wait … why do you need that ugly thing? I’ll make you a knew one after …” For the first time Bill spoke like a real elder brother and Alex found it extremely amusing.
“Trust me, you’ll thank me later.” He grinned and his white teeth shone in the night.
“I hope it’s magical … the risk … sigh …” Bill held back his curses, but Alex laughed back.
“It’s better than magical!”