"Aaron! What are you doing here?"
"I saw you going in the valley and wanted to see if you would make it out. W...Wh...Why are there so few of you? Someone speak pleasee."
I looked at the staff and knew.
"There are no words to say but here; take this."
"My staff! W..What happened to my brother and to Hopper?"
We stood there with our heads hung low and didn't know what to say. Turns out we didn't have to say anything because Aaron already knew.
"No! Noo! Noooo! That's not good enough. We can't just leave them there to die. We have to go get them."
"Aaron stop! It's suicide. They're already gone."
"You don't know what you're saying. You lie with your tongue. All of you lie. I can save them. I can save them all."
"AARON stop. They'll eat you alive. We...we….We hav a plan to get them back.
Aaron turned and faced us with tears and a little bit of anger in his eyes.
"And what may I ask is this plan of yours?"
I took two steps forwards and locked eyes with him.
"Your brother said the sword of the Spirit was the only way to free them. We have the sword but nothing has happened so what do you say on that? You did give your brother the Bible did you not?"
He was caught like a mouse in a trap. His eyes showed it. The frantic cry for help they did but there was no one to lend a hand.
"What Bible? I gave my brother no Bible but I do know how to use the sword. You need to put it in the stone then leave it there. I can take you to the stone but I need my staff. Give it!"
"I don't think so quick hands. First, answer me this one question. Were you there?"
He retracted his hand and stood silent. I asked again but still no reply.
"ANSWER ME!!" I said, raising my voice.
He shot back just as forcefully.
"Yes, I was there ok. My brother was too young for the Book. He wasn't ready. I could tell."
"That wasn't your call to make. You don't have jurisdiction to say whether someone is ready or not. It is for them to decide."
"W..W..Well he didn't know the language so...excuses!! I know you want to protect your little brother but he has to make decisions on his own and make consequences on his own as well. You can't keep babying him or even Hopper for that matter. I saw you tagging along on all of Hoppers adventures. Yes, they both fall but it's not your job to always be there to pick them back up.
Growin up, I always thought of you as a great and mighty messenger that was there for all and let nothing stand in his way. Now I know the truth and believe me this; if you're standing by the sword when your brother comes back then I pray nothing bad happens to you."
"Woo! Woo! Wooo! You got a size of packs yourselves Croak. I'm impressed."
"Hopper, you're not the only one with a big sack."
"I know there was a reason why I liked you."
"Thanks. Let's get back to the story shall we."
"Aaron! It is an honour to finally meet you in person," someone said, speaking up and pushing his way up to where Aaron and I were talking.
"I, like others, have heard many great stories about you but so few of us have ever seen you in person. There are even fewer now because we have lost so many but although you didn't give your brother the Bible is there still a way you can help us out? The Bible was lost when the dragon ate it and Swift in one bite."
Aarons face changed a little and his eyes bulged but not enough for people to notice and I knew I had to do something.
"Forget everything we just talked about and show these people the Aaron they all look up to," I said, nudging him on the side and whispering in his ear.
Aaron looked at me, took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts; and then spoke.
"Swift was a close friend of mine and I'm sorry for his loss. Before he became friends with my brother he was a dear friend to me. We grew up a few lily pads away from each other and spent every moment together with every spare minute we could find. Then when my brother came along we shared him for a while until Swift started spending more and more time with my brother. I was fine with that because I was getting busy myself with other endeavors but then one day I met him again and we exchanged a few words. Sorry it came to this. I will be more than glad to help all of you."
I could see my team's minds racing. They were trying to discern between fact and fiction but your dad had told them too many great stories of Aaron that his words brought no warning and Swifts had no impact. Aaron was still a hero in their eyes and none of Swift's stories could be true. We believe what we want from our own perspectives and accept nothin else as truth because we were raised on one way of thought for so long.
"So how are we going to finish this map if we don't know the order in which to find the pieces? All the Bible showed us was a list."
"That's easy. We don't need to find them in any particular order. The only thing we have to be prepared for is; once we find all the pieces and one of us puts the pieces on then a path will magically appear and lead the knight to their final battle."
"How do you know all of this to be true?"
"I don't persay. I mean I don't know. I read it in a book once."
"Wait Aaron sir. Don't you have a special Bible? Swift said you had one and your brother had the other."
"Uhmmm...Is that all Swift said?"
Everyone looked at him crossed and I put a reassuring hand on Aarons shoulder as I watched him calm back down.
"Umm. Yes. Yes! I have a special Bible but it's back at home. I was just wondering what Swift said because he knows a little more about the Bible so He might've known where one was."
"Huh! How come you don't carry it with you?"
Aaron was about to say something but I sensed it wasn't going to be helpful so I spoke for him.
"What he meant to say was that he keeps the Bible at home where it is safe. If he took the Bible with him everywhere then it has an easier chance of getting stolen. Aaron has studied and memoirzed most of the Bible anyways so that He doesn't need the Bible."
"Are you sure your memory is suiting you well? I've always heard stories of how great he was but also never saw him?"
"Hopper, I know there are times where you need to speak the truth in situations no matter what but other times it's best for someone not to know. If you set your dreams and expectations too high then the truth will not only hurt but flatten you as well to the point you won't know what to believe to be real anymore. Also, since you were ummm..dead! That means you weren't alive to say otherwise whether my rendition holds truth or not. For all I know you won't believe any renditions of these three adventures to be true but only false since you weren't alive to back up my claims. It's all about trust and conviction."
"Croak, I believe you to be true. You're an amazing storyteller and I don't know what you do but I like it."
"Hops, the only thing I do is bring emotion into a situation. Something you know little about. I can teach you sometime if you want."
"No thanks. It's not that I don't have emotion. It's just hard to express it at times."
"Hops, I'll never understand you but what I do know is that if you spend all your time locked up safe in darkness then it will become increasingly harder to find the light and let others in. What event even made you lose your emotions? It had to have been big."
"Croak, you know something. You remind me just like him. It's like dad never left. But you're already getting the privilege of me opening up to this story so I wouldn't push it."
"Aww. Thank you. Just don't expect me to start calling you son. Remember, you're older than me anyways."
"Haa! I wouldn't count on it."