Father Maximus sat on a gem encrusted chair with a cigarette in mouth. Puffing a few smoke circles every now and then, he tapped the armrest rhythmically.

Twitching his ears with miniscule movement, Maximus reached for his wine flask in annoyance. ‘’ You can go out now, Neville. There is nothing to talk between us.’’

Just as the frustrated voice of Maximus echoed the high-ceiling prayer room, conspicuous footsteps resounded when a stout middle aged man with a kindly smile walked inside.

‘’Aih, it saddens me greatly that you still can see through me so easily. I was pretty sure that this time I could surprise you.’’

‘’Neville, you never could hide from me, even back then. I can smell your holier than thou bullshit from miles away, why even bother?’’ Maximus crossed his legs with leisure and took a final puff of his cigarette, before stumping it on the ground.

Smiling awkwardly, Neville scratched his back and dropped the goofy act. Maximus felt the sudden change in atmosphere and looked directly into Neville’s eyes with an exasperated look on his face.

Neville cleared his throat. ‘’It saddens me greatly that you have not continued to follow the path to salvation. Little birdies have told me many things, and it would seem that we have a bit of a situation at hand. While I can barely ignore the little project you have hidden, that is conditional on it being a secret.’’ With a regretful atmosphere looming on him, Neville shook his head in disappointment.

Maximus stood up straight with some fluster and hurriedly reached into his chest pocket. Feeling that something was missing, he searched and searched, but to no avail. Only thing inside was some crumpled up paper with a note of ‘’You're welcome brother’’ written with a horrible handwriting.

He could feel his hands tremble slightly and feel the blood vessels contract when he suddenly felt a rough hand patting himself on the shoulder. Startled, Maximus turned around to see Neville playing around with his packet of custom cigarettes.

‘’Hey buddy, you have some good stuff here. Why not share your happiness with your brother. Tsk,Tsk… Custom devil sticks and it would seem that you have dipped them in something precious? Is it related to the project downstairs, hmm?’’

Maximus tried to grab the packet in a hurry, only to be evaded by Neville.

‘’Why can’t you just die in some ditch instead of flexing here… You always did do this after you advanced.’’ Dejected, Maximus dragged his feet on the chair and slumped there like a ragdoll.

Neville skillfully took a cigarette, lit it with a snap of his fingers and squatted in front of Maximus with a bright smile on his face.

‘’Ohho, so your old age hasn’t blinded you yet. Yes, I managed to reach the next level while I was on the crusade in the north.

You should have seen the faces of the inquisition corps when I flexed my overwhelming power in a full wargear.’’

Neville continued to ramble on about his heroism and deeds in the borderlands to the point that Maximus plugged his ears and tried to escape, only to be pulled back by the neck.

‘’Allright, I think we have catched up enough for now. The real reason for my visit besides wanting to see you was to remind you to clean up your mess. You should stop your abominable experiments and try to be more honest from now on.’’ Slapping Maximus playfully on the shoulder, Neville nonchalantly blew smoke while waving his arm before stopping.

‘’One more thing, lil’ brother. Insider gave some interesting information to me today and you might be curious about it. The supplier of that ragtag cult. Feeling motivated yet?’’ Without waiting for a reply, Neville marched with a steady gait towards the exit.

While Maximus was feeling a bit lost, he raised his head when he heard something about the cult. ‘’Wait!’’

Neville had no intention of slowing down and tapped his chest pocket for a hint.

Maximus remembered the crumpled paper from earlier and with frustration he saw the silhouette of Neville disappearing from his field of vision. Switching his sight between the paper and the exit rapidly, Maximus took deep breaths for a few minutes before yelling with blood vessels protruding on his temples and eyes.

‘’I DON’T NEED YOU TO CLEAN AFTER ME. DO YOU HEAR ME? I DON’T NEED YOUR PITY!’’

Outside the church few of the believers bowed reverently as Archbishop Neville van Dyke walked past them with his usual kind smile on his face.

Neville stopped to marvel at the beauty of the world, while his protégé priests respectfully arrived from across the monastery.

‘’Mentor! You finished your task fast, we almost missed you.’’

‘’Lucy, Olaf. The world is a beautiful place. Sometimes you should just take your time and appreciate the moment.’’ With a gentle smile on his face, he patted his protégées head and motioned them to be quiet.

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After a brief moment, Olaf and Lucy broke the silence simultaneously. ‘’I don’t hear anything aside from birds chirping and leaves rustling…’’ ‘’Have you been smoking again mentor?’’

Finishing their sentences, the voice of birds and rustling sounds ceased when an yell filled with frustration and rage resounded from within the church.

Neville gave a satisfied sigh and slapped his thighs playfully. ‘’You almost missed it. And yes Lucy, I am but a mortal. Maximus was kind enough to donate for the greater cause.’’

Lucy nervously looked at the direction of the church and then back at his mentor speechlessly. Gulping hard, she opened her mouth carefully.

‘’I know he is a bad apple, but do you have to tease him everytime you see him? The way he looks at us is frightening…’’

Giving a reassured belly laugh, Neville shook his head and combed through his beard with a sagely presence. ‘

’He has always been like that, I think I told you before that we grew up together in the same orphanage. I really want to believe that he will find his way once again, that is why he needs the push.’’

‘’B-b-but I don’t think there is a way back for him anymore.’’ Stuttering a little, Lucy thought back to the rumors that had been circulating among the church's inner circle.

‘’God said where there is light, there must be darkness. It is our duty to save the majority from the darkness, even if there are sacrifices… I should guide him towards salvation, but the sudden appearance of a strange disease outbreak takes priority.’’

Lucy and Olaf reluctantly nodded their heads.

Priests and nuns have been shuttling holy water between the church and the city all day and this attracted the attention of Lucy fast.

When interviewing the nuns, they found out that a contagious disease has broken out in several areas and some merchants who saw the situation as an opportunity had been buying an ever increasing supply of holy water in preparation.

‘’Aih, the greed of man… We should get going, time waits for no-one.’’

----------------------------------------

‘’STOP PLEASE STOP. NO MORE.’’

Aaron grasped his head frantically and rolled in sewage water, trying to hold on his screams. On a closer look, one could see his left hand gradually being morphed into something…Different.

True pain lasts forever, evolution is just a mere moment

‘’Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP. Make it stop! I can’t go outside anymore looking like this.’’

Flesh adapts. Share your torment with those who disdain you.

Aaron felt the pain subside. Sitting in a rodent infested sewers, he gasped for air.

Finally after a moment to calm his breath, he observed his arm closely. Sticky, flexible and extremely strong. Haaaah.. I have become stronger, but at what price? Who the F*CK would want to have tentacle-like arm and still live like a person?

Hmm. Flesh adapts? Is that some sort of hint? Aaron put his miscellaneous in the back of his head and tried to adapt to the changes he had.

After a few minutes of playing around with his hand, he could feel that the tentacle could be pretty quickly shaped in the form he wanted. Yeass, I can finally go to the surface and have fun.

Glancing at the carefully packaged paintings leaning against sewers, he decided to give the other after having his fun. After all, why shouldn’t he enjoy the moment while he can? The thought of his mental well-being occurred to him briefly while he writhed on the ground, but he already knew very well that even before the voices, he was a broken man.

You have done well. You are the first, but not the last.

Share my love to the world

♭♪ Share my pain with all ♪♭

♪♭ ♩ Share my despair with our enemies ♩♪♭

♩♪♭♪ Share my flesh with brothers ♪♩♪♭

♬♪♩♪♭ Share my secrets with no one ♪♩♪♭ ♬

Just as the voices started to sound more and more excited, the light in Aaron’s eyes grew brighter and a bit moist. A purpose. Yes, this might be my first time I have felt actually needed. Shedding a few tears, he fell on his knees and burst into laughter. ‘’I will.’’