Priest was laid back on his couch, taking his well-deserved rest. The time was 10:45 AM, the time zone, which was neither a 'morning' nor an 'afternoon'.
Even though his superior powers and ever-youth look stem from the hibernation process - a deep yet short sleep that shuts down the brain, it was not always an easy task for the Priest to go through it.
Priest was a terrible sleeper in nature. Sleep never comes to him easily, and he had to take extreme efforts for a simple 20-minute sleep such as making himself comfortable on the bed or couch, keeping his surroundings as quiet as possible, and keeping his stomach satisfied and full, otherwise, it would ruin his sleep in the middle or worst case, he won't get his sleep at all.
Sleeping problems are quite common even in this post-apocalyptic world among the youth. But what differs them from the ever-youth Priest was abstinence from sleep could potentially shorten Priest's lifespan and worse, it could even kill him; a secret that is only known to Maguire.
"Excuse me... Anybody there?" a voice of a mature woman asked, knocking on the door.
That was it. The peaceful sleep of Priest was shattered by the mild voice of the lady.
"The very nature is against me, it seems..." he muttered and went to open the door. The lady stood there motionless on seeing the Priest.
"Yes. How may I help you?" Priest asked with his semi-closed eyes, which were still in sleep.
The lady panted and was lost for words, shaking her head. Priest waited patiently for a few seconds but eventually grew irritated.
"Okay... You wait here, swallowing the words... I'll go and get some sleep in the meantime..."
"You are the God of Seventh, right?" she asked. Priest looked at the lady, perplexed by what he just heard.
It has been ages since someone had referred to him as a 'God'. And that felt incredibly weird for Priest to react.
"I don't go by that name anymore... I mean a lot of names, but not that... You are not a native, are you?"
She gulped and exhaled deeply.
"I've heard that you grant wishes..."
Priest got even more confused. "Just get inside... Come in." He gestured for her to enter his house.
"I don't know where are you from... but that's not how the legend goes here... This God (points to himself) doesn't take any offerings... I mean, even if I do... It won't be even above 10 coins."
"Really? Oh!" her face brightened in relief.
Priest stared at her and wondered what else the other gates have been thinking of him.
"Now!" Priest brought her back to the conversation, "Since I clarified myself not being your 'Ideal God', let's just rebrand your wish as a complaint and me, the God as an honourable officer of the Defense Force of Seventh Gate... Nobody will acknowledge that, so don't bother asking anyone... let me hear your complaint and I'll see what I and our officers can do..."
"Yeah... Sure—"
"And your name... You haven't introduced yourself yet..."
The lady saying nothing, nodded and placed her phone with a photo displayed on the screen and proceeded to answer.
"My name is Saima... We are new to this town. And our first day was not a good start..." she held back her tears in the middle, as the emotions were overwhelming her.
"We?" Priest questioned.
"Me and my daughter... She is missing. I've written a complaint already. It's been three days and when I asked the officer, they... they yelled at me in front of everyone and blasted me for being an irresponsible mother..."
"They do that often... Go ahead. Tell me everything... Everything!"
*Back in Maguire's home*
"So, it's you... the new girl. My dad told me a lot about you... Come in," Mehreen greeted Liv.
"Adopted, right?" Liv passed the comment like nothing and straight away went into the house. Mehreen kept her kind face still, but her inner burning rage was clear as a sky for Maguire.
Maguire patted her on the shoulder to calm her down.
"It's okay, honey. She is my dad's guest... it's not a big deal to shrug it off"
"I spent nearly twenty years with you, honey... I get what that means."
Maguire's phone rang. Maguire cursed his luck and put back his shoes hurriedly.
"Who is it?" Mehreen asked.
"Who would that be? Your FATHER. He needs me, it seems..."
"I'll come too," Liv tried to tag along with Maguire.
"My dad wanted him... not you..."
"Yeah, he asked you to stay here... And she is the one who actually knows you. I don't have any clue about you, yet—"
"Maguire, it's getting late," Mehreen urged him.
Maguire rushed to the exit and caught a cab to reach Priest's house.
*Back in Priest's home*
"Don't worry, it's going to be fi — Actually, you DO have to worry about this... Do you understand what kind of mess you got yourself into? What were you even doing? I mean... Leave it. Just remember only the 'don't worry' part from what I said..." Priest deviated from consoling her to bashing her and again got back to consoling her.
"I have 500 coins now. I'll arrange—"
"I told you this before. I don't know how things with the Gods have changed in other Gates... or your Gate. But 'Money... Doesn't Matter To This God!' Now go back to the refugee camp. I have some men there... probably the last of them, but you'll get help. Just go."
Saima, still unsure but with no other options, nodded and left Priest's house. On her way, she ran into Maguire in the elevator.
As Maguire stepped out of the elevator, she entered. Maguire felt her face to be oddly familiar, but shrugged the feeling off and continued walking towards Priest's house.
"Hey, what's the issue?" Maguire asked, entering.
"You must have seen the lady. Her daughter is missing and... They are refugees."
"Oh! I'll inform the higher—" Maguire interrupted by Priest who caught his hand, stopping him from making a call.
"It is unofficial. And I don't need you..."
Maguire was perplexed by the answer. "Then for what the fuck did you call me?"
"I don't have Aalaf's number—"
"I could have messaged you—"
"I don't have a smartphone. And... you don't have your emergency pager."
Maguire then said nothing back. He silently picked a paper and wrote down Aalaf's number.
"Is that all Mr. Devil?"
"Yeah. You can leave." Priest said without even facing him, busy choosing his work clothes; but all he owns was the same black coat with some different inner shirts.
Maguire silently left the house wondering how will he explain this to her wife.
Priest brought his drawing table to the center of the room. Thoughts ran down in his head.
'Before I get into this, I have to be clear on this information. Let's see what gels and what not.'
He dialled Aalaf.
"Aalaf, it's me. Ah... Someone with different... names."
"Haa... Father! Tell me... why would you even call me? I'm... I'm kind of working here... (Ah... babe)"
"What the hell... Ahem! Well, I need some files related to refugees' entries for past six months and some help in a case — Oh, dear," Priest, slightly annoyed by those mild pleasure moans from the other side.
"Father... I'll be there in a five- no, twenty minutes (Will it be okay, babe?)"
"Yeah, yeah... Take your time... Be sure to eat your dish. This lone wolf congratulates you." Priest hung up the phone and sighed. "Just twenty? Kids these days..."
Priest's eyes came across the photo, the mother left on the table. It was a family photo with Saima and her daughter, Oixaa. A small realization stung him like an insect. Priest exhaled deeply, blowing air into the empty void in his life.
He laid back on the bed for a brief nap and was hit by a stream of memories, which took form as a clean, never-ending white space; a dream.
All he saw was emptiness; no traces of colour; no sightings of people. It was just him and the stupid, never-ending white space.
Out of nowhere, he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He knew what it was; who it was. But he also knew what reality was. What happened in the real world cannot be taken back, so seeing this mirage of his imagination could do nothing but hurt him.
He felt like his heart was getting stabbed endlessly.
'I think I just have to wake up,' he said to himself.
"Don't you want to look at us? For once."
'I would love to... But you are not real. I want to... I want to believe it is! But I think I'm too self-aware to do that.'
Priest opened his eyes and tears flowed sideways. Grief choked on his throat. For a moment, all he wanted was to scream and go mad, letting it all out.
'But I never had that option. Had I?'
Priest opened his empty wallet and gently touched the small photograph of a lady and her son, which was ragged and blurred on the faces, leaving them impossible to identify.