"I..." You started, trailing off as you swallowed nervously, breathing in deeply as you tried your best to find the courage to speak. You were deeply intimidated by this figure, afraid of what they could do to you. You felt as if your immortal nature was nothing before them, as if they could cast you aside with ease. As if the firey abyss your mother had always told you that you would reside within was within reach for them if they wished to condemn you.
You reached for the strap that held your machete buckled to you, figuring that a guesture of peace was a good start while you found your tongue. You fumbled with it nervously as you struggled to unfasten it with those relentless, piercing eyes fixed upon you. You felt that he saw beyond your appearance, that he could see the darkness inside, that he could see your tainted nature.
As your fingers finally managed to slip the strap free of the buckle you slipped the weapon from your shoulder, looking up at the figure briefly before you set the weapon down beside one of the pews. With that done you turned back to him, stuttering and stammering as you tried once more to find words without luck. The figure stood there patiently, assuming a more neutral stance in an effort to ease how intimidated by him you were.
"I... I came to confess, I came to pray for forgiveness for my sins. I strayed from the path and-"
The figure raised his hand to silenced you as he started walking towards you again, gesturing for you to sit. You moved to sit on one of the pews immediately as you watched him move over to the row opposite you, hopping up as he span to face you, sitting on the back of it if he was as light as air.
You looked up at him, swallowing nervously as you looked for words again. You could see the depths of great knowledge in his eyes, you could feel power both radiant and divine washing over you. He was an awe inspiring figure, despite how he was dressed in a simple white robe and sandals.
"Go ahead, Sabrina, you have my ears."
The sound of your name, your real name echoing in your ears had you look down at your hands, ashamed once more of who and what you had become. You felt self loathing setting in, you felt disgust at how you had abandoned your mother and ran off on your selfish quest to live forever.
"I am not worthy of your time or your attention, I have become a monster. I do not even understand why you have not struck me down yet," you whispered, prompting a soft laugh from the figure as he shook his head. You immediately fell silent as you knew not how to respond to this, though the figure before you was fast to pick up on this and speak once more.
"You are the lost little girl that once renounced him, you are the little girl he expected never to see again. He weeps for how your inner beauty was stolen from you. If it were not for his mercy, hallowed be his name, then you indeed would have been treated like the monster you believe you have become. By his mercy my hand was stayed, by his word my ears have been opened to you."
You swallowed nervously, this hadn't exactly helped you feel any less apprehensive about his presence.
"I met somebody, I met a man who told me I could be better than I was, a man who helped me see how I was lost. He helped me see through the lies that I was taught to believe, the madness that I was made to embrace because I was weak and afraid. If it wasn't for him I would still be with the Enlightened, I would still be working towards their goals as part of their body."
You paused briefly, resting your elbows on your knees, your chin on your hands.
"He felt that he had endangered me by making me talk about the Enlightened, as their policy is to kill those that betray them. He sought to protect me, he sought to ensure my safety and in doing so he had to do things that did not sit well with him. Now he is their captive and I am here at his expense. I have done much that is bad in my life out of fear and necessity, but this..."
You could feel the eyes of that figure boring into you, as if they were searching your soul, as if they were looking for some sign that there was still hope for you.
"I want to be free of the taint that defines me, I want to be safe once more, I want to be myself once more," you sighed wistfully, turning slightly to face the figure as you watched him nodding slowly. His expression was troubled, betraying that he was seeing more within you.
"You have walked upon the fringes of the spiritual world recently, child. You have walked the domain where dreams shape the world, though not as a dreamer. What I sense from you troubles me, though I would like you to clarify it for me, tell me in your own words what you saw the last time you did."
You nodded, guesturing now as you spoke to emphasise things further.
"I was in a prison, a prison in what I walked past what must have been a thousand cells. From every cell I could hear screams, though when I walked past them they were empty, with no doors to get into them. I saw two of the Enlightened in this dream, who said they transcended, who were torturing Eurochkoles-"
The figure turned pale.
"Eurochkoles," he whispered, closing his eyes for a brief moment before he started to speak anew. "A thousand cells, a thousand years. The screams of forgotten memories trying to escape," he breathed, closing his eyes once more as he pressed one hand to his temple, rubbing at it as his expression became agitated.
"There was another man in the dream too, he was-"
A hand was raised as the figure made it clear that he wished to hear no more. Instead, he rose to his feet, pacing back and forth as he muttered to himself in disbelief. Something about him, something about Eurochkoles unsettled this angelic figure and you wanted to know what. You wanted to know what could possibly be so bad, that it would unsettle this figure as greatly as it did.
"He should be dead, how is it possible that he was able to be reborn, to live a thousand years without detection?" the figure mumbled to himself before he turned his attention back towards you. One hand was held out to you as he presented you with a tiny silver pin, his face betraying a heavy heart as he spoke.
"It is with great sorrow that I must ask you Sabrina, will you kill his physical body and turn him over to us?"
Author
Topic: They told me I could be anything... (Read 79088 times)