(Something warning. Idk what kind of warning I should put here, just know that this chapter probably isn't for the people who are made uncomfortable easily. Not meant to be offensive, but it's definitely something.)
(Thursday, 22nd of Dancing Fool Moon, 2021)
The very next week was another short mission, and Jack was in Achisi Algi with Alice, Simo, Jojo, and Hero. Jack's group was investigating the middle of the woods, trying to find the ruins of a supposedly dangerous cult that appeared to have disappeared not too long ago. The main hideout of the said cult was in a rural part of a small town called Moose Horn. Apparently they were super secretive and never interacted with the outside. While the people around here weren't sure if the cult even existed, they decided to leave it alone for about 20 or something years. That is until there was a massive fire some time ago, and some people in the town were reported as missing. So yeah, if this cult is still out there, everyone is there to put a stop to it.
"Simo, do you see any churches from up there?" Jack asked Simo, who climbed up one of the nearby evergreen trees to look for the church from above the treeline.
"I'm not seeing anything, boss." Simo jumped down from the tree and landed without any injuries. "Weird, didn't the townsfolk say that there was a church around here somewhere?"
"They also did report the smell of something strange in the air yesterday." Alice informed Jack. "Maybe that has something to do with it?"
"I found something!" Hero shouted whilst pointing West through the forest. "It smells funny!"
"Are you a dog or something, because I'm not smelling anything?" Alice questioned the boy, who didn't even listen to her as he began running East of the clearing in the woods your group was standing in. "Come on guys, we need to follow him."
"Follow me, I may not be able to keep up, but I can track him down." Simo began running through the thick forest of evergreens. Simo appeared to be skilled at traversing the thick forest, way better than Jack and Alice were. For Jack, keeping his footing was difficult on the rough terrain with his prosthetic, so he placed his palm on a nearby tree to help balance yourself out. Jack slowly followed Simo, whose white clothes stood out amongst the brown and green forest. Jack kept pushing forward until he finally caught up with Simo, who was already caught up with Hero. Alice and Jojo were beside Jack, staring at the sight that Hero found.
"See? This is where the weird smell was coming from!" Hero pointed at the sight before him, and everyone was shocked.
What Jack saw could only be described as an atrocity. There was a single rusted car that looked like it was blown up, and right next to the car were the burnt ruins of an unknown building. Jack walked closer to the burnt building, with only a handful of walls still standing, but most of the wooden walls were turned to ash. There were parts of the wall that weren't burnt, allowing Jack to see that the exterior had a blue paint that was almost green with mold. Given how a six meter tall bell tower was still standing, only having some parts of it turned black from the supposed fire, this place was likely a church of some sorts. Within the walls, Jack walked through ash and crouched down onto the ash, noticing how it smelled funny, almost like a drug.
"Hey, Jack, check this out!' Alice got Jack's attention whilst looking at something in the middle of the destroyed church. "I found it buried under ash."
Jack walked over to where Alice was as she created a demonic magic circle, which appeared to blow away ash like a gentle leaf blower. Jack joined Alice and saw what the girl was looking at. Using the breeze of her magic circle, Alice unveiled three burnt corpses. Holding one another, they appeared to be inseparable. Their burnt and torn skin was gray, and their muscles were nonexistent. Their eyes were closed, but Jack had a feeling that their eyes were burnt as well. From the first one's teeth, Jack could tell that he was a vampire like Valerie.
"Were they trapped?" Jack asked while examining the bodies.
"The door was burned, so I'm not sure." Alice answered whilst pulling her hair out of her face. "Maybe the reason they were here together is the same as this burnt ash's weird smell."
"Oh hey, that revolver." Alice pointed at the gun in one of the corpses' hands. "That's Coyote, it can home in on anything."
"Is that so?" Jack asked as he reached for the revolver in the corpse's hand.
Jack's hand touched the bare corpse's, and his vision suddenly went pitch black, as though someone just turned off reality like it was television. Jack couldn't hear or feel anything either. Jack began to panic. Was this a trap? Soon, his vision soon returned, but he was no longer where he was earlier. Instead, you were inside a building. There were torches on the walls that flowed with an eerie red flame, and there were peas all over the room. Down the middle, and on the edges of the room were spaces that acted as walkways through the pews. In the front of the room was a stained glass shrine that depicted a man reaching up at the sun, and the sun as another man, reaching towards him. It didn't take a genius to realize this was a church, especially since the stained glass windows depicted random old people. Weirdly enough, Jack saw some kind of black vine sneaking its way into the church. In the middle of the church, Jack saw a boy, holding the bloodied corpse of a younger girl, crying.
"Why did Sol do this to you, my most devoted sister dying in his own home thanks to some ruffian?!" The boy shouted in front of the altar, and the silence sunk into the room. "This is just like when he sent his son and daughter down from Heaven only to die due to barbarians..."
"How do you know that this isn't the same situation?" A mysterious voice came from the entrance of the church, and due to the angle his vision was at, Jack couldn't see the speaker at all, but given the voice, he was a male. "What if the Great God known as Sol sent another one of his children down onto this cursed plane of torment for their sins."
"She was the most devoted of us, so it makes sense that the lord would call her his child." The little boy smiled wickedly as Jack noticed a the black vine sprout a flower, a flower that released an odd looking pollen into the room.
"That's right, your sister is the Messiah of this world." The man appeared to encourage thoughts of the young girl being a messiah. "Her good word must be spread, and I'll even lend you my power to do so."
"Yes, YES!" Jack watched the boy begin bleeding from his nose, and Jack wanted to know what was causing his odd behavior, and he finally realized it. The flower. The flower was a drug, and it was infecting the boy. "Everyone in the world will worship my sister!"
Then the boy began to laugh at the ceiling, and everything went black again. While Jack was hoping to go back to normal, the scene changed again. Now the scene was in that small town Jack was in earlier. Except now it was sometime around noon, and there were clouds blocking the sky completely. The scene was focused at the front of a highschool called Moose Horn High, and Jack noticed three people talking to one another. The first one was a high school girl with long, curly purple hair, a witch's hat, plaid shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, and a backpack. The second was a pale boy around the same age with black hair and glowing yellow eyes. His attire consisted entirely of a black jacket, black pants, and black shoes. The third person was a girl around the same age as the other two, with short blonde hair, a white collared shirt, a skirt that reached her ankles, stockings, and heels. Over her eyes was a white blind fold, yet Jack had an instinct that she could see just fine. On her back, she had a set of green butterfly wings and some kind of leather holster in her hands. All three of them looked like they were just getting out of school.
"Charlotte, Harry, be glad that you two aren't fae like I am." The blonde girl sighed whilst gently patting her wings. "Having to put my wings in this brace just so I can sit in chairs with backs is a pain."
"Yeah well at least you're not the one who has to dodge sunlight during PE." The vampire, supposedly named Harry, whined. "I'm so grateful it's cloudy now."
"Hey, at least when we get to go to Sanctuary, it'll be more cloudy since it's in the Heliosian Empire." The witch hat girl, named Charlotte supposedly, spoke up. "I'm gonna go train with Golden Feast and Silver Garden, what about you Harry, Martha?"
"I'll go train with you." The fairy, named Martha, agreed before looking at Harry. "Harry, you wanna come with us?"
"No, I can't." Harry informed the two girls. "My family's attending a client's funeral out of respect. Apparently, she was an eight year old girl and was murdered in the very church the funeral is being held in."
"Oh that's right, your family is a bunch of funeral directors." Martha remembered as Harry began walking down the sidewalk.
"Alright, we'll see you later, Harry." Charlotte waved goodbye to her vampire friend.
"Remember to train yourself, after all, all three of us need to make it into Sanctuary." Martha watched as her vampire friend left.
Everything went black again, signaling that the scene ended. This time, Jack was back at the church again, but now his vision was at an angle that allowed him to see the entrance. The church looked different now, since the torches were now glowing with regular colored flames. Given how the stained glass was dark, it was night time. Jack looked at the ceiling of the church, and saw that the thick black roots have extended themselves into the darkness of the high church roof. They were barely visible, but Jack could only see the roots because they were somewhat reflective, similar to that of crow's feathers. On these vines, numerous flowers were blooming, and they were constantly emitting purple pollen. The front of the church was shrouded in darkness, so Jack couldn't see the stained glass. In the pews below, there were numerous people, all dressed in black. The boy from earlier stood in the front of the church, wearing a suit. In one of the back rows, Jack saw Harry, sitting with who Jack can only assume were his parents, and his little brother. Jack could hear the chatter of the funeral, but nothing distinct could be heard.
"Welcome everyone." The young boy from earlier made himself known, but the weird thing about him was that his eyes were glowing red now. "Today we are gathered here to worship the newest Messiah, Maria Smiru. Let us pray."
"Hold on, this is a funeral, right?" An elder man asked from the extremely confused audience. "Where's the coffin?"
"Oh we didn't get a coffin, because the messiah's body must be shown off!" The boy pulled out a remote from his pocket and pressed a button. What you saw next made Jack feel sick.
Hanging right in front of the stained glass, was the corpse of the boy's young sister. Holding her in the air were almost invisible wires wrapped around her wrists, elbows, and neck, forcing her dead eyes to look on at the audience. Everyone except the little boy was horrified, and some people in the back rows even tried running out the entrance, but the moment they left the building, Jack saw blood burst out of their nose before they collapsed onto the ground, dead.
"If you try to leave, or if my sister judges you to be unfaithful, you will be struck down with the fury of Sol!" The little boy then began to order the room. "Now, we shall pray."
The little boy ordered everyone to hold their partner's hands, and everyone was forced to follow his orders for fear of death, including Harry's family. Slowly but surely, the flames in the torches began to turn an eerie crimson color. Jack could see that some members in the audience began to cry. Harry was holding hands with his brother, when suddenly, his little brother's nose began to bleed, and the young vampire suddenly fell onto the ground, but Harry only let go of his brother's hand. Jack looked at Harry's eyes, and it was like he was in a trance. His eyes were glowing red, focused on the hanging corpse, and his expression was the same as everyone else's, nothingness.
"ALL HAIL MESSIAH MARIA!" The little brother shouted, and Jack's vision went pitch black again.
Jack was used to his vision going back, but when it returned this time, the vision's angle was the exact same as the previous vision, but there was a noticeable change in the scenery. It was morning, and light was being let in through the stained glass windows. Jack wasn't sure how much time had actually passed. The bodies of the people from the previous vision were still there, all sitting on the pews. Their clothes were all dusty, and their bodies were extremely thin, the result of malnourishment. On top of that, the roots of the plant were creeping their way down the walls. In the front of the church, the little boy was eating a piece of bread as though nothing was wrong with any of this. The doors then opened to reveal Charlotte, looking worried beyond all belief.
"Harry, are you here?!" Charlotte pushed the doors open, revealing that the bodies that fell outside were gone now. "Where are you, Harry?!"
"So the reincarnation of the messiah arrives..." The little boy finished off his bread and looked at the girl, who was just confused.
"No, I'm just here for my friend Harry, he's been missing for a week." Charlotte's eyes land on Harry, who was sitting at the pew, lifeless, yet still alive. "Harry! What happened to you?!"
"The reincarnation of the messiah has no business caring about the average scum." The little boy began walking towards Charlotte as the girl hugged Harry from behind. "You must get ready, the ritual for your ceremony is about to begin."
"I'm not going anywhere without Harry." Charlotte summoned golden flames and silver ice around her, trying to scare the boy, but the flames accidentally burned some of the vines on the wall, releasing smoke, but not damaging the building.
"Well followers of the new messiah aren't allowed to leave the building during prayer, or we'll be killed by our mighty god." The little boy then came up with an idea as Charlotte breathed some of the smoke in, and began to act differently. "How about this, you become our Reincarnated Messiah, and Harry gets to survive."
"Okay...yeah...I'll agree to become your messiah." Charlotte agrees, and both the fire and ice disappear around her body.
After Charlotte agreed, the little boy pulled her hand towards the front of the altar, and everyone stood up from their spots on the pew. Charlotte was followed by Harry, who still seemed to be in a trance. Harry walked behind the witch until he was between the two front pews, where he stopped.
"All hail our reincarnated messiah!" The little boy shouted, and slowly, Charlotte's eyes began to glow red, like everyone else's.
"All hail me!" Charlotte agreed with the hype, and in total sync, everyone in the room bowed before the girl.
Jack's vision went back once again, and now his vision was outside of the church, and in someone's car. It appeared to be a woman in her mid thirties, and Jack had no clue who she was until he noticed a set of green butterfly wings on her back and blonde hair on her head. This woman was Martha, and she was driving a car through the woods, looking determined. Weirdly enough, she had her blindfold off, and Jack could see her eyes. Martha's irses were glowing a lime green color while her pupil glowed gold. She kept on driving that car until she crashed into the side of the church, but she wasn't injured. Martha got out of the car, ignoring the fact that her car's engine was now on fire. Martha unholstered the revolver known as Coyote. Martha ran to the entrance of the church, and slammed the two doors open to enter the church.
"ABRAHAM SMIRU!" Martha shouted as she entered the church, but while she didn't see the little boy, who is apparently known as Abraham Smiru, she did find her long lost friends.
All over the church, thick and convulsing black roots covered the walls, floor, and rooftop, sprouting odd flowers that constantly emitted pollen. The same pollen that Abraham has been using to brainwash all those people. Speaking of those people, there were new people sitting alongside skeletons on the pews, not saying anything as they looked on ahead. In the front of the room, the corpse of Abraham's sister has decayed to the point where it is a skeleton, while Charlotte sat in the front in a chair, dawning a patchwork wedding dress. Standing at her side, Harry wore a priest's robe. Like the still living people, their eyes were glowing red. Martha walked over the roots, and embraced both of her friends in a hug.
"You both may not remember me because of everything that's happened but...I...never forgot about either of you!" Martha knew the drug was starting to take effect, but she still clung to her old friends whilst crying. "I promise, none of us will be separated ever again..."
With that, the walls began to catch fire from the car outside, and little by little, the church began to burn. No one moved inside the church, instead, they all stood still and accepted their fates. After a couple moments the entire church was engulfed in flames, all except for the spot where Charlotte, Harry, and Martha were. Charlotte got up from her chair, and held Harry's right hand, and Martha's left hand. While still holding Charlotte's hands, Harry and Martha held each other's hands. While they didn't say anything, the three friends hugged one another and fell to the ground, allowing the flames to engulf the three of them. Abraham was just outside, revealing that he was now a fully grown man, watching as the church burned down.
"JACK...!"
"BOSS...!"
Jack found himself on his back in front of the three corpses, Simo, Alice, and Hero were trying to wake Jack up, and when he did, Alice hugged him. Jojo was sniffing the corpses, while Jack was trying to process what had just happened. Jack noticed that green lights were coming from the three corpses, signaling that Jack was absorbing their power. At the same time, two small orbs, one gold and one silver, emerged from one of the corpses' chests and entered Jack's.
"What the hell just happened?" Simo asked while examining the three corpses and you.
"I think I just saw what happened here..." Jack was still in shock of what had just happened. "I touched one of the corpses' hands and then I just got a bunch of visions..."
"Well, get up, we can talk about what happened on the shuttle." Simo offered Jack a hand up after Alice broke the hug. "We were here to just figure out what happened to the church, and we learned that it burned to the ground."
"Alright, how about I tell you guys what happened on our walk back?" Jack suggested, and Simo sighed. "So basically, what happened was-"