"A man sent by the Gods? Hahahaha, very.....funny." in a gloomy and spacious hall, five men were standing nervously in front of a man sitting on his throne. The man tapped his long black sharp nails on the throne, making each of the men shudder more and more.
"Lithen has always been the center of atrocities and wrath, it's a paradise in Thulen. And the five of you here are telling me that an Ephemest has fallen from the skies to help those in need? This better be a Joke!" the man stood up, he gazed fixatedly at the five men.
"My Lord, we swear upon our lives that this man is real! We would never dare to joke, never ever!" the Lord of Lithen smiled, his beast like teeth terrorized the men. They didn't know what the Lord was, one thing was sure, the Lord of Lithen was far from being Human.
"An important guest is coming, I must find something to entertain him! Let's see what more the Ephemest shall do, maybe he'll inspire me." the Lord of Lithen sat back down and rubbed his pointy chin, his eyes ready to consume all that it gazed upon.
In the city, the bells of midday rang. A crowd of people were walking around the streets, at the forefront of the crowd, a man with a bandage over his eyes led the crowd. Agapios had been healing many people for the past four days, he went to the extent of giving his eyes to a blind newborn. Even though his senses were greatly damaged, it didn't seem to bother him in any way.
Agapios could still heal, preach, motivate and walk without problems whatsoever. Well, Leana took his hand when they walked. It was the least she could do for the man who had saved her and healed her mother Mirield. Old man Rulf was making sure to keep Agapios' sword safe together with Mirield and Thoman, the streets weren't safe compared to the temple.
"Another clown who doesn't know his place. He makes me so angry! Over the years, many people took advantage of the people's desperation and lied about being sent by the Gods for various purposes." a group of friends were looking at Agapios and the crowd from their house's window.
"They say that the Ephemest fell from the skies to salvate the people of Lithen. I know of a man that was mentally ill, he couldn't even talk properly...." the man gulped down, he was still a little bit disturbed when he thought about it.
"The people from around this parts know him as old Rulf. When the rain stopped four days ago, I saw old Rulf walking aimelessly towards the temple. His eyes were all white, he looked like a walking corpse being guided by some invisible force. The Ephemest healed his mental illness! Perhaps....he's truly a man sent by the Gods." the friends kept quiet, they had seen old Rulf a couple of times when they visited their friend here.
"If it's the truth....no, it can't be!" one of them shut the window down in anger. He turned his hopeless face around, he looked at a girl lying on the ground with sadness.
"Ulrich, it can't be a lie when so many people follow him! I say we go give it a try. Let's bring your daughter to the Ephemest, he may be capable of healing her paralysis!" all of them looked at the girl fixedly.
"Everyone, sit down! Savior Agapios will begin!" in the plaza of the city, at the feet of the Godess's statue, Agapios sat down. He faced the hundreds if not the thousand of people that was sitting on the ground.
"When I first reached Lithen's door, I was told that I was going to get butchered once I entered. It didn't happen, you know why? Because Lithen is inhabited by people who need help, not by savages. I would say that some of the inhabitants have become a little bit uncivilized but nothing to get too worried about." the crowd quieted down.
"I remember my father telling me about the history of this world, how war and atrocities always existed. From my youngest age, I knew the purpose of my existence. I was born to help those in need, more particularly those who needed care. I'm happy today, I helped so many people but it isn't enough! My goal is to inspire and give hope to every Human, my goal is for us to unite as one and face the forces of the orcs and chaos!" the crowd cheered, positive emotions were brimming.
"Today, hundreds of you are sitting in front of me. Tomorrow, it will be the whole city of Lithen! I already gave my eyes, my ears and I will give my life if necessary! Give me your strength, the power, the motivation, I shall strife forward and eradicate the evil in this world." the crowd cheered even louder, the guards of Lithen were also listening to Agapios.
A group of men started making way through the crowd, they pushed people to make place for them. The crowd split in two and let the group of men pass, the men were carrying a little girl who didn't seem to be able to move.
"Ephemest, we have heard of you, the whole city has! It's said that you have the power to heal all, from a mentally ill to a dead corpse! If it's the truth, show us right now what you're capable of. My daughter is paralyzed, heal her!" the men were walking closer to Agapios, the four of them stopped and waited in front of him.
"I'm no necromancer, the dead are dead, I'm not able to bring them back to life. The mentally ill need guidance, I can provide them that. The paralyzed are cursed.....I can burn it to ashes!" such a powerful statement struck everyone's heart, many were impatient to witness the great healing powers of Agapios. Others doubted and wanted to see the Agapios healing the girl.
"Lie the girl in front of me, tell me her name and leave the rest to me." the four men lyed the girl down. The four of them stayed vigilent, they didn't trust Agapios that much. Her name was Astrid.
"Astrid little girl, my name is Agapios. I'm blind and my hearing is slowly coming back, so whatever you say I may not hear correctly. One thing is sure, I can hear and see emotions. Right now, your father is scared and hopeless. Let's heighten his hope, okay?" his hearing was coming back, the people were curious to understand how it could be.
Agapios reached his hands in front of him to exactly know the position of Astrid. Once he found her, his hand traveled until he found her little head full of curly hair. Agapios placed his finger on her forehead, he traveled to her Spiritual Domain(1).
Her Spiritual Domain was all red, Agapios could see and hear perfectly. He walked around this red and unending grass field, there was a tree not far away. The tree's branches had all weird forms, too weird in fact. Once Agapios was close enough, he saw it.
"A Paralos(3), an evil spirit that attaches to the baby when still inside the mother. It coils around the Spiritual Tree(2) togheter with the soul of a person and lives there peacefully. The Paralos cursed Astrid to live in paralysis." the Paralos was all hairy, it had two horns on his head.
Agapios walked closer to it, the Paralos moved a bit. Sensing the dangerousness Agapios posed for his existence, the Paralos rapidly uncoiled from the Spiritual Tree and slowly let go of Astrid's soul. Before he could escape, Agapios burned the Paralos to ashes with a motion of his hand.
The Spiritual Tree was all little and old looking, but it slowly straightend itself. The crooked branches straightened a bit. Astrid's soul jumped around from happines and ran around the Spiritual Domain. Agapios had successfully accomplished his mission, he closed his eyes and returned to the world of the living.
"Look! The little girl is moving her head! The Savior Agapios is truly divine, I was wrong for doubting him!" the crowd cheered and voiced their respects to Agapios. Those who doubted him where now convinced of his healing powers.
"Father, savior Agapios has saved me from my pitiful fate! I can move, my muscles are weak and feeble but I can move!" hearing the happy voice of her daughter, her father fell down on his knees. He couldn't stop the sea of tears from flowing, he kissed his daughter and Agapios with all his heart.
"Savior Agapios, I was wrong to have doubted you. I offer my sincere apologies, you've saved my daughter from her fate with a single touch of your finger. How I hoped my wife could've witnessed this....she would've been so...happy." Agapios took a big breath of air, all those positive emotions were speeding the process.
The process of self-healing, one of Agapios' powers. That's why he didn't hesitate to give his ears and eyes, they were gonna heal with the time anyways. Agapios suddenly stood up, he removed the bandage from his eyes and threw it to the ground.
"This is the power of love! This is the power of hope and positivety! My vision and hearing are back!" Agapios waved to all those present and entered the temple.
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(1) The Spiritual Domain solely exists to serve as home for the soul and to maintain the Spiritual Tree and its further possible evolution.
(2) The Spiritual Tree is the Soul and the Soul is the Spiritual Tree, the appearance of the Spiritual Tree is a reflection of the being itself.
(3) Paralos are evil spirits who only target babies when they are still in the mother. They penetrate the Spiritual Domain, capture the soul and coil around the Spiritual Tree. When all requirements are met, the Paralos will curse its target to forever live in paralysis.