After we visited a very happy captain of the guard to drop off all of the carcasses we had stored, we walked back to the road that led to the church. I stopped at the end of it and stared at the huge ugly white monstrosity. I wasn't close to it, and yet, it almost turned my stomach at the thought of going inside of it.
“I want to try something.” I said and turned to the others.
“It doesn't involve Mana Presence Lightning, does it?” Evus the guard asked, and I chuckled.
“No, that was my own wish fulfillment.” I said and held my hand up and pointed to the ring on my finger. “This ring is enchanted to help me fight against area effects.”
“He had it custom made after the last time we met the Emissaries of Light.” Maylia explained.
“It kind of worked already when I was around the succubus.” I said.
“Is that why you weren't affected like me?” Evus asked.
“I was still affected and I almost fell under the charm like you did, until I realized something was going on and the power of that charm waned.” I said. “Here, I know something is going on already, so it should work right away and not kick in later.”
“What are you going to do?” Diofra the mage asked.
“I want to try and share my energy.” I said and stepped close to Imiryl and held my hand out to her. “Are you willing to try and share energy with me?”
“After hearing your side of Ozahith's story, I would be honored to.” Imiryl said and took my hand. I smiled and used Presence to initiate a connection between us. I felt my energy touch hers and I also felt the harmony between her energy and her body, then her eyes widened when her energy responded by trying to come to me. My hand started to turn cold, so I let her hand go and stepped back. I could still feel the tentative connection to her, though. I turned to Allirynn and he took my hand without hesitation and I used Presence to make the connection.
I felt the harmony between his energy and his body as well. It reminded me of how my energy used to be, before I came here and my body was changed and given mana to use. It had thrown off everything I had worked for years to achieve and I needed a lot more time than a few evenings of meditation to correct my body's conflicting energy rhythms.
I let Allirynn's hand go and turned to Evus, who took my hand and I did the same thing. I had already shared energy with Diofra several times to cast spells and to charge her mana crystal, and Maylia and I shared energy all the time, so those connections were already there. Allirynn and Imiryl were on my right and Diofra and Evus were on my left, so I had Maylia stand across from me because our connection was the strongest, then we all joined hands. With us standing in a circle, I concentrated on the mana and Presence in the ring and the enchantment. Since I had no clue how the actual enchantment worked, all I could do was propagate the energy I could detect in the ring and hoped that would be enough to protect us.
Dear god, let this be enough to stop whatever effect the emissaries have. I silently prayed.
The energy flowed out from me like a wave of water from each arm and spread out to cover us all, then the waves met at the other side of the circle and splashed over Maylia. It made her gasp and the waves flowed back to me and met again. We all glowed slightly green now, so I nodded and we all let our hands go at the same time. The glow faded and I could feel the connection between us was still there.
“Okay, I think it worked. Make sure you stay close to me.” I said and they nodded. “Let's go.”
I took Maylia's hand and walked towards the church, while Allirynn, Imiryl, Diofra, and Evus walked right behind us. Allirynn had taken Imiryl's hand to mirror us, and slightly surprisingly, Evus took Diofra's hand and mirrored us as well. The six of us, three apparent couples, walked with a purpose.
*
“He's coming!” A woman's voice rang out inside the Church of Light. Excitement and elation ran around the church and infected everyone it touched... especially Jessica and Kara. They hadn't seen Hunter since their last unfortunate meeting and they knew it was going to be different this time. The head acolyte walked towards the front of the church and stood in the middle of the raised platform with most of the acolytes around her, while the four Emissaries of Light positioned themselves in front of her on the floor. They could all see clearly and they waited anxiously, with different reasons, for the Goddess Chaiya's chosen hero to enter the Church of Light.
*
I didn't feel anything at all until my detection range crossed the door of the church and my Detect Mana and Presence technique felt the weight of the goddess' Presence inside the building. It made me stumble slightly and Maylia caught me before I tripped.
“Thank you.” I said, grateful to have her support.
“I can feel it, too.” Maylia said. “Not as much as you can, thankfully.”
“I don't think we would even notice if you weren't sharing so much.” Diofra said from behind us.
The others nodded and we kept walking down the street and approached the front doors of the church. Up close it looked even gaudier than it did from far away. It was such an obvious attention grab that it made my opinion of the goddess lower even more. She was trying so hard to get people thinking about her that she resorted to such tactics, and it cheapened her worth.
“I'm surprised it's not a bright color as well.” I whispered as the front doors opened and two acolytes stood there with beaming smiles as they held the doors.
“Pure white isn't bright enough?” Maylia whispered back.
I held in my laugh and gave her hand a squeeze instead.
“Welcome!” The two acolytes said happily and waved us into the building.
I couldn't refuse like I wanted to, especially since I had agreed to the meeting, so I walked through the doors with confidence. I managed not to wince as my body entered the goddess' domain; but, I heard a slight hiss from a manly voice behind me and saw Evus had winced for me.
“The air is thick with it.” Diofra whispered in awe and put her hand out as if to catch some of it.
“We welcome you with open arms, the Goddess Chaiya's Chosen Hero.” The head acolyte said and the pressure around me doubled. We all somehow kept our composure as it hit us, thankfully.
“I don't know how you can say that, considering I'm pretty sure that Kara has told you all about me.” I said with a fake smile and we all walked forward to stand in front of the emissaries.
“We do know of your exploits and the multitude of suffering that you have caused others; but, the Goddess is forgiving and...”
“You can save the fake forgiveness speech. It's not necessary.” I interrupted her, to everyone's surprise.
“F-fake?” The head acolyte looked at me with wide eyes.
“Yeah. Do you think I want, or need, the goddess' forgiveness?” I chuckled. “I'm perfectly fine with all of the things I've done, both good and bad.” I stopped talking and grinned. “Actually, god seems fine with it too, and I didn't ask for his forgiveness, either.”
Everyone stood there in silence at my words and the pressure on me and my group lifted almost completely. It barely touched us and I heard and saw the others with me relax.
“I only came here to talk things over with the emissaries.” I said.
“A room has been prepared for you to stay and...”
“I'm not staying in this awful place.” I interrupted the head acolyte again and all of the acolytes gasped.
“A-a-awful?!?” One of the acolytes asked, her shock too much to stay quiet.
“I know you can feel the oppressive weight of the goddess' Presence.” I said.
“You mean her warm and comforting embrace.” The woman said and managed to not hug herself.
“Suuuuure.” I said and looked at Kara. “I was forced to live under The Order's influence and the goddess' Presence for twelve years. I absolutely refuse to continue doing that, because now I can choose not to.”
“How many times do I have to keep telling you that we didn't keep you prisoner. You were too young to...” Kara stopped talking and her face flushed slightly red as the Presence wavered from the lie.
“So, you know.” I said and looked at Jessica. “You and I need to talk.”
“That can wait.” Allirynn said and glared at Steven. “You let her go.”
“It wasn't intentional; but, yes, I did.” Steven admitted, because he knew Allirynn was referring to Siada. “My actions led to her escape and the death of an unprepared guard.”
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“It was my fault.” Josh said and stepped forward. “He left her alone for a few hours to attend my wedding.”
“Wedding?” I asked and saw the young woman next to the head acolyte. Her robes were slightly different than the others and I looked back at the emissaries. “You let someone die, just so you could attend a wedding?”
“We didn't let anyone die!” Jessica said. “It just happened while...”
“You knew full well how dangerous she was! She nearly killed Allirynn and several of his friends died because of her.” I said, my voice full of scorn and I glared at Steven as well. “Why didn't you bring her as a date or warn the guards that you were leaving and to stay away from her until you returned?”
“I... I didn't think...”
“None of you are thinking.” I spat. “You're just bumbling around and hoping for the best while depending on the goddess for everything.” I shook my head and let Maylia's hand go. Our connection didn't weaken in the slightest, even when I grabbed Steven by the neck and picked him up. Several of the acolytes protested that move loudly.
“Go ahead and beat me up. I deserve it.” Steven said. “You'll only hurt yourself, though.”
“You're right, you do deserve it... and I would hurt myself, because I haven't had the time to meditate and refine the conflicting energies inside me.” I said. “However, Allirynn doesn't have that problem.”
“What...” Steven started to speak and I tossed him over to Allirynn, who caught him easily.
“There will be no fighting inside the Church of Light!” The head acolyte's voice boomed out and made everyone wince.
“QUIET!” I yelled and used Presence to boost my voice to make it as loud as hers and everyone winced again. “Unlike some people, I have respect for other people's beliefs. I won't sully a place of worship for petty gains.”
That made everyone quiet down, even the protesters.
“Allirynn will be taking him outside to teach him a lesson in humility.” I said.
Allirynn bared his teeth in a satisfied grin and walked down the aisle with Steven, whose feet never touched the floor and he didn't speak. The other emissaries tried to follow them and I formed a slightly green see-through Mana Presence Wall in front of them to stop them. Kara reached out to dissipate it and I held a hand up to stop her and covered her hand in solid Presence. Jessica reached out and touched the wall, and I felt her hand. That surprised me slightly, since it had never happened before.
I noticed that the acolytes at the front door looked like they thought about not letting Allirynn and Steven leave, so I used two Presence Hands to open the doors. Both women yelled as the doors were taken from their grasp and scrambled to close them again. Allirynn easily walked outside with his punching bag before the doors closed. I absorbed the Mana Presence Wall and the Presence Hands, before I looked at the emissaries with a smile and we all heard the sounds of a fight outside.
“You can't come in here and just do whatever you want.” Kara said, slightly angry.
“Why not?” I asked. “I'm the chosen hero, aren't I? The goddess chose me. Not you. ME.” I yelled and exuded as much arrogance as I could. “I could kill every single person in this city that annoyed me and she wouldn't do anything to stop me.”
Kara caught her breath because the Presence didn't waver, and shock spread to everyone... except to the people in my group. They knew me better than that.
“You're shocked to hear that she would like the attention?” I asked and started to laugh. “Good god, Kara. I feel dirty just pretending to be as arrogant as you are.” I shook myself and stopped trying to be something I wasn't. “You don't know your goddess as well as you think you do.”
Doubt blossomed on Jessica's face and I stepped over to her.
“I know you've heard Kara's filtered version of the truth of what happened to me. Would you like to hear the actual truth?” I asked. “It's still biased, since it's my view of everything; but, at least when you hear it, you can make up your own mind as to which one is more believable.”
“I...” Jessica looked at Kara and Josh and then back at me. “Hunter, I...”
“It's hard to fight that feeling, isn't it?” I said and motioned to the church. “It feels all encompassing, doesn't it? It makes you think it will always be there and you eventually believe that you want it to be there. The only problem with it, is that it's a lie. Being told that you want it or should want it, and actually wanting it, are two different things.”
That made me think about my guardian Emari, and how I had accepted her into my life and loved her, and then they took her away from me.
“Believe me, there is a difference. When you learn what it is, you will never forget it.”
Jessica blinked her eyes for a moment. “I... I chose to come to this world and be an emissary for the Goddess.” She said. “I came here to help people.”
“From what I've heard, all you've been doing is helping yourselves.” I said, and her face flushed red as she blushed. “I can see you realize that you can't keep doing that, Jessica. I'm glad that the queen's lessons have gotten through to you.”
“You know about that?” Jessica asked, surprised.
“Of course I do. Unlike a certain group I won't mention, I've been relaying messages back and forth from the queen every time something happens... or each night if nothing happens.” I said. “Diofra can cast the spell hundreds of times before her mana crystal runs out... well, her old one, anyway. I just bought her a new one and we haven't charged it up yet.”
“Mana crystals? I haven't read a book about them yet.” Jessica said. “You can use them to cast spells?”
“About twice as fast as a normal spell.” Diofra said. “You still need a chant, so you know what spell you're using and to direct the mana; but, as long as you have the spell contents in your mind...”
“...you can shorthand the chant and abbreviate it to streamline the magic, while still retaining the versatility.” Jessica finished and nodded several times. “That would explain why some of my spells went off before I was done speaking the chants.”
“Having extra power helps.” Diofra said with a bit of a smirk and glanced at me.
“You can share mana?” Jessica asked me, and I nodded. “Can you show me?”
“In a little while.” I said and turned to face the door of the church. “Allirynn is just about done teaching.”
“What do you mean he's almost done?” Jessica asked and the doors to the church opened and Allirynn carried in a severely beaten Steven.
“By the Goddess!” The acolytes yelled and some ran over to them.
“Bring him over here.” I said and waved at Josh.
The acolytes helped to carry Steven to the front of the church. Allirynn had no trouble carrying him though, so he waited until he was near Josh and dropped Steven at his feet. Steven grunted in pain and spit up a little blood, so the acolytes gasped and started to berate Allirynn.
“Stop acting like I killed him.” Allirynn snapped at them and they huffed.
“It's all right, Steven.” Josh said and knelt. “I'll have you fixed in a minute.”
I waited until Josh started to pour healing out of his hands and I grabbed one of his wrists.
“HEY!” Josh yelled and tried to pull away.
“Shut up, you arrogant little prick.” I said and held a hand out to Allirynn. “You're looking a little beat up yourself.” I said with a smile.
Allirynn smiled back and took my offered hand. “I thought about just holding him and pounding him as hard as I could, then I thought about what you would do, so I let him go and we had an actual fight.”
I chuckled, because it was the most I had heard Allirynn speak in once sentence. “Tell me you had fun.”
“Oh, it was great.” Allirynn said as Josh's healing energy was boosted as it passed through me and into him. “It wasn't even close at first, then he realized that he didn't have to hold back against me.”
There was a knock on the church's door and it opened to show a town guard.
“Hey, who's going to pay for all the damage to the street?”
“I'm sorry about that.” I said and used a glowing green Mana Presence Hand to take out a silver coin from my pocket and flicked it across the church to land at the guard's feet. “Keep the change.”
The guard quickly bent down and grabbed the silver coin. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. It will be fixed by tonight.”
I used the Mana Presence Hand to give him a proper salute and he returned it before he left. He hadn't been surprised by the floating green hand in the least.
“Thanks, Hunter.” Allirynn said and I saw that all of his bruises and scrapes were healed.
I let Josh's wrist go. “No problem.”
“No problem for you.” Josh grumbled and put his hand back over Steven to concentrate his healing energy. Steven was healed a few moments later and Josh helped him stand up.
“Are you happy now?” Kara asked. “You've killed me and had Steven beaten nearly to death. Is that enough for you?”
“Only if you learned your lesson.” I countered. “Steven? What do you say?”
“Yes, I got it.” Steven said. “I apologized for my mistake, and that guard's death was my fault. I'm going to live with that for the rest of my life.”
“So, you understand that this isn't a game? That peoples lives are at stake? That mistakes can have huge consequences for you and for others?”
Steven nodded. “Yes, I understand, Mr. Perfect.”
“I'm not perfect.” I barked a laugh. “I've made mistakes. Mistakes that have gotten people killed. I've also done a lot of bad things and I've even killed people.”
Some of the acolytes gasped and some caught their breath, and the head acolyte covered her mouth. I had to assume because they never thought I would admit to such nefarious acts.
“I told you before that I'm okay with everything I've done. This isn't a confession and I'm not here to ask for forgiveness. I'm just here to state the truth.”
“What truth?” Jessica asked, and I could see that she was afraid to hear what I was going to say.
“I know that the goddess designed the emissaries to work together.” I said and her hand lifted slightly towards mine. “I know your abilities are designed to work well as a group. I also know that some of you believe you need me to complete the set.”
Jessica heard the tone in my voice and let her hand drop back to her side.
“You can't say no.” Kara said. “You were sent here to...”
“I know why I was sent here.” I said and cut her off. “Unlike you four, who were given abilities when you chose to come here, I wasn't given a choice. I was kidnapped again, my body altered against my will to work with mana, and then I was brought here before my body could adjust to the changes.”
“You should be okay after...” Kara started to talk.
“Jessica, punch my hand.” I interrupted and held my palm up to her. “Go ahead.”
“I'm not strong like that. I'm an archmage.”
“I know what you are, even better than you do.” I said, and her face flushed red again. “Punch me.”
Jessica made a fist and swung it like she had fought all her life and smashed my palm. The sound of the bones in my hand as they shattered was loud in the quiet church. I hissed while my fingers flopped around and Jessica screamed in sympathetic pain at the sight. Kara stared at me like she had never seen me before.
“I'm so sorry!” Jessica exclaimed and started crying. “I didn't mean to hurt you!”
“I know.” I said and cupped my broken hand to my chest.
“Josh! Heal him!” Jessica said and didn't try to catch her tears as Josh held his hands out towards me. The energy wasn't working, though. “Josh!” She exclaimed again.
“I don't understand.” Josh said and he concentrated on me. “What's going on? Why isn't it working?”
“I don't want you to heal me, so it won't work.” I said with a smile, and Jessica gasped.
“Hunter, please! Let him help you.” Jessica pleaded.
“Now you know the main problem with faith-based healing.” I said and held my hand out to Diofra. It took her a few minutes to chant the spell for major healing, and thanks to my sharing ability, she had plenty of mana to do it without depleting herself. It was a cheat that I had figured out about not being able to heal yourself. I couldn't think of any rule about not having someone else use my mana to do it. It was the healing wards on the elf trees that gave me the idea. The wards used mana to heal and it didn't matter what the source was, as long as the effect itself wasn't generated by the tree.
I flexed my now healed hand and looked at Jessica. “I hope you'll listen to me now.”
“I was always going to listen.” Jessica said, her face wet with tears.
“Yeah, but now there's a chance you'll actually hear what I have to say.” I said and held my healed hand out to her.
Jessica looked at the hand she had just broken and tentatively brushed her fingers over my palm. “You made me hurt you like this, just so I would listen to you?” She asked, her voice sad.
“It was the best way to get your undivided attention.” I said.
Jessica stopped rubbing my palm and slid her hand into mine and held on. I smiled and used my Presence to make a connection to her, then my ring-enchanted energy flowed over her. She gasped as she took in a sharp breath and stared at me with wide eyes, probably because she felt the immense mana pool I had and the Presence of the Goddess receded from her.
“Let me tell you my story.” I said, then I smiled as her energy responded and flowed back over the connection to swirl with mine.