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?”, the pastor asked to clarify his assumptions.
“Yeah?...How did you know our names?”, my brother and I syncfully asked while confused.
“Why the pope 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.
“Did you call ahead and make reservations?”Tenshi asked with confusion in his voice.
“Negative”, I answered.
(Definitely sketchy), we both thought to ourselves once again.
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, Pope Finral!”
“PLEASE, LET THEM IN!!!”, the same voice shouted from the room.
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 cushion 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, white short hair paired with whitish gray facial hair and an all white robe. I was still correct about the wrinkly part though.
By the time you took all that in you would realize the bright lamp that hung from the ceiling. Everything in this room looked expensive. Everything except the wooden walk cane he had resting on the left side of his chair.
If you're this loaded, then why a wooden cane? What a weirdo, I thought to myself.
“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 pope greeted us while holding an intense and passionate smile.
I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely happy to see us or if he was delighted to see us shocked at his riches. Probably the ladder.
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 and we didn’t utter a single word.
What the pope proceeded to say sounded so crazy that I was already thinking of ways to fight him off and run out the door if it came to that.
“Akuma! You have already met with “Michael”! Correct? The pope asked as he gazed into my eyes.
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? Besides I don't even know if his name was Micheal for sure!)
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”, the pope continued.
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, each and every human had access to a power source known as Hoshi”.
Pausing for a brief moment, he collected his breath and began to share even more.
“At its core, Hoshi is the ability to interact with the raw energy within your body. Whether that be spirit energy or even physical energy, nothing is beyond your limit. One of the greatest wielders of Hoshi this world has ever birthed was someone you may already be familiar with. 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, the human race as a whole lost all memory and belief of Hoshi as the centuries passed by. All that remains are legends and folklore of its existence.
Once again he paused and took a short breath.
“Losing their only way of defending themselves, the Dark Ages came to be. Humans were devoured, killed, enslaved, hunted for sport and were on the verge of complete annihilation. That is, until a group of elder spirits offered aid to mankind. These spirits are what govern the equilibrium and balance of the universe”.
A short moment of silence awoke after he dropped that story.
He grabbed the wooden staff he had resting on his chair, rose out of his chair and pointed his cane at Tenshi’s direction.
“I trust Micheal has already released your seals, Akuma! So I myself 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 was doing my 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!!”, He exclaimed.
“PLEASE WAIT!!!”
Seeing that we definitely 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 probably 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.
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