Chapter 4.3: History

We stood in utter shook in the entire meaning of those words.

I dashed out my chair, knocking the chair to the floor and slammed both palms on the table.

“YOU CAN’T MEAN TO SAY YOU’VE BEEN LIVING FOR TWO MILLION YEARS?!? AND I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU REVERTED INTO A CHILD BODY SO WHY ARE YOU SO OLD?!?...”

Finral, Rin and Tenshi, they were all glaring at me, as if I were overreacting and acting like some child.

I grabbed my chair from the floor and planted myself back onto it. Then I cleared my throat as if escaping from the embarrassment.

“Forgive my sudden burst.”

“No worry…”, Finral said. He let out a small chuckle from my outburst and cleared his own throat. Then he continued on, answering my earlier questions.

“... I have seen the rise and fall of many nations… And many people. To answer your question, yes. I have lived for about 3 millennia now. And as for your other question, this isn't my true form. Even now I am actively using hoshi to cloak my body and give off the illusion that I am an elderly. It’s easier to blend in that way, I mean who wouldn’t suspect a child pope.”

“Then I have just one question”, I said.

“Ask away, young man.”

“If you know that the gods see us as nothing but lab rats to be experimented on, why exactly are you a pope?”

Both Rin and Tenshi were interested by the question and latched their gaze upon Finral, awaiting his response.

“... A fine question indeed. Tell me, what do you think a god should be?”

“Well in my own opinion, a god should be an all loving, benevolent overseer.”

“Then I ask, why do you think it is, he lets evil run freely in the world?”

“I would only assume that the devil is the one at fault for that”, Tenshi interrupted.

“Ahh the embodiment of all evil, Satan. Y’know I have walked this earth for quite some time now, and in all my days I have never seen such a being. Or so I would love to say. I have seen him many, many times, and in many different forms.”

“What do you mean to say?”, Tenshi asked.

“If you ask me… The real devil… is the man in the mirror.”

His words opened my eyes to the truth. But more than anything, they infuriated me.

“Then why create such a flawed humanity?” I asked.

I was absolutely furious at how the pope directed all evil back to humanity. It felt like I was talking to a mother that swore her evil child was actually the purest of saints. Before I realized it, I lost it.

“You want me to just forgive him for the evil in the world, simply because humanity did them? HUH? The hell is that? He made the damn shitty story, so why the hell would I direct my anger to the characters in it. WHY ADD SUCH SHITTY FLAWED CHARACTERS TO YOUR OWN STORY?!?”

“... It seems you speak from the heart, my child. I truly am sorry for whatever has happened in your life to cause such hate for humanity. But please do not blame the almighty for any of it. You see, God is like the author of a novel. That novel of course being fate itself. So I ask you, what author would purposefully add flawed elements to their book?...”

His words shocked us. Though Tenshi and I argued on multiple occasions on the topic of “God”, this perspective was one we had never looked through.

Finral continued.

“The concept of evil is shaped by the beholder. Through your eyes, elements that seem to spur nothing but misery and despair, may spur bliss and hope through another. Being the overseer of everything, he sees through all eyes, through all lives and through all perspectives. Sometimes evil isn’t a state of hate but a state of necessity. That my children, is what we call justice. Hard to say if such omniscience can be classified as a gift, or a curse.”

His words held onto our throats like some uncooperative inmate and clutched it, never to see the light of day again. This man had single handedly answered any debate, or any question we harbored on “God”. Even I, who was something of an atheist, couldn't argue against such wisdom.

“Sorry, but I have one last question!...”, I muttered.

All eyes locked to me and my expression shifted to that of extreme seriousness.

“If it’s true that god is a perfect being, then does that mean anyone who is perfect would also be god?”

They sat there for a moment of silence. All but Tenshi was confused on the reason I would ask such a question.

“Well god is supposed to be a being on a level too high for human understanding. And since perfection is also out of our understanding, I guess in a sense you would at least be closer to godhood yes… Why do you ask such a thing boy?”

“I'm sorry Finral, I have heard your words but no matter how hard I try, I just can't forgive him. Maybe I’m childish and naive but I just can't accept his way of writing.”

“So what do you hope to do about it?” Rin asked.

By this time I had calmed down from my earlier burst of rage. Calmly and with a smile on my face I stated my inner desire. My one and only true goal.

“...I’ll do it. I’ll be the first to reach it. And when I do, I’ll change us. I’ll evolve humanity.”

For the first time in all our discussion, it wasn’t the pope that shook us in our seats, but I who shook him and Rin.

“Also. As I wise man once said, hate not the child but the mother who has left him astray. So it isn’t humanity that I hate… it’s god.”

As I said those final words, I rose from my seat and walked off into the space of the living room.

Finral burst into a joyful laugh. Rin’s expression remained filled with shock as her gaze followed me. Tenshi was by no means surprised by it however, as I had long since told him my true goal. He simply smirked.

“Hey genius, where are you going?”, Tenshi asked as I walked through the living room.

I turned to face him as I answered his question.

“Not gonna lie, I walked over here to make the moment cooler.”

Finral’s laugh grew higher and Rin even let out a small chuckle.

“Come back boy. We haven’t discussed your training.”

!!!

Tenshi and I locked our eyes to Finral. Then simultaneously we shouted out.

“TRAINING!??”

“Well I would hate for another monster to show up, while you boys are unequipped.”

“Ohh about that, who or what was that thing?”, I asked.

To Finral’s right, Rin was the one to answer.

“He is a member of the demon race.”

“DEMON RACE?!? Me and Tenshi really clapped a general of the demon race?”, I blurted.

Tenshi and I locked his gaze to her in curiosity. Seeing our curiosity she continued on.

“General? Don't make me laugh!”

She cleared her throat and let out a brief explanation.

“The demon race is split into four main groups. We call the beings at the bottom of the pyramid “fiends”. They come in many shapes and colors but they’re mainly used as a source of snack for the other groups. In other words, mere foot soldiers.

Tenshi and I were more than a little disappointed to hear that. I understand we were pretty new to all this, but to think that we put well over 130% into that fight, and still almost died to a mere grunt was quite depressing to the ears.

Rin continued on with her explanation.

“Above them are the “Nephilims”. What sets them apart from the rest is their colossal bodies and abnormal raw power. Ordinarily they wouldn’t be any problem for someone of my level. Above them are what we call “Asuras”. If they look human to you, then it's because they were.”

Our eyebrows raised from her sudden words. We didn’t interrupt however, we just continued to listen.”

“Normally a human who has done evil would be sent to the layers of hell and suffer for all of eternity. But they are an exception. These are people who have not only committed evil atrocities, but they have also sold their soul to the devil. And in return, they get a bit of special privileges.”

“Could you take one in a fight?” Tenshi asked.

I was quite interested in her reply. I'm even sure that part of me was hoping for her to say she could. However, that dream was crushed almost instantly.

“No I couldn’t..”

We were a little surprised by her response. I think somewhere in our minds we both thought of Rin to be some absolute unit on the battlefield.

“What about you?”

Tenshi restated his question, but this time not for Rin. It was directed to Finral.

“Hohohoho! Why, little old me has quite the terrible back from all my aging. Hohohoho!”

(You're not even an old man!), we all thought in our heads.

“Enough with the jokes, can you or can you not?”, I asked, wanting clarification.

I gulped down as I awaited his response. Hoping for a satisfactory answer.

“Boy, I have walked the earth for three millennia now, mastering all that hoshi has to offer. And you ask such a foolish question?... Of course not. Hohohohoho. Why, they’re far too much for my fragile bones.”

He answered with yet another joke. I wasn’t angered by them though, in fact it almost moved me to a good mood. Even without him revealing the answer, I wanted to trust that I knew what he was trying to communicate.

Rin cleared her throat as she readied herself to pick up where she left off.

“That just leaves the last group…”

Her body began to tremble from the mere mention of these individuals.

“...Though small in numbers, they are monsters beyond anything you could comprehend:

Amon the King of Diamonds,

Frankenstein the King of Clubs,

Kagutsuchi the Jack of Diamonds,

Hel the Queen of Spades,

and lastly…

Dracula the Jack of Hearts.

...We have come to call these demons by one name…The 5 Catastrophes.”

“Damn they sound pretty badass”, Tenshi jokingly said.

“No need to worry about such matters right now. Akuma, please come closer.”

From the living room I walked back to the table. I had forgotten just how cold the floor was but I endured it and advanced forward.

Reaching the table, Finral raised his wooden staff towards us both.

“You boys wouldn’t mind losing a bit of your soul, no?”

“Huh?”, we asked in confusion.

“Well, it doesn't matter.”

Lifting his staff to us, he summoned forth an army of glittering stars. They trapped the entire area, covering us all. Then the pope began a chant. Similar to the time he unsealed Tenshi’s hoshi.

“He who is my catalyst, lend me vigor

The soul sleeps within, while I sleep without

Come forth thou inner and accept thou offer

Come forth!!

Tranquil, misty white aura emitted from our skin and wavered around our bodies. Shortly after, the aura that surrounded us, stretched out towards the staff. As if it were reaching its palm out to a lover.

Tips of our aura made contact with the staff, then like a bubble, it disconnected from itself and left two small blobs of aura on the staff. The blob that came from my aura turned into a gleaming golden and the blob that came from Tenshi’s faded into a deep crimson. But like a storm, his released sparks of lightning.

Rin and I guarded our faces from the sparks. Finral held his staff with both hands and tried to stabilize the soul, but all for naught. The blob expanded and then popped like a balloon.

“Umm… Is that supposed to happen?”, I jokingly asked.

“Obviously not!” Rin shouted.

Finral was the most surprised by this. He dropped his staff and rose out of his seat. The blob of my aura just hovered over the table. It seemed pretty stable, shame I couldn’t say the same about the “other one”.

Finral made his way to the other side of the table and planted his palm upon Tenshi’s forehead. Whatever he was doing, he seemed to be focusing his all into it.

(Finral’s Perspective)

I planted my right palm on the boy’s head and with my knowledge of hoshi I shot my spiritual state into the boy’s soul.

I felt as if I was swimming in an endless blue ocean. I swam lower and lower but I felt as if I was getting nowhere. Then the scenery made a drastic change. The clear blue oceans faded into a deep crimson. As if I were in a sea of blood. I wanted to dive even deeper but below me was an abyss of pure darkness. Steeling myself, I swam down anyway.

Before I could even make adequate distance, I saw an image of pure evil. A grin like no other reflected off the abyss. It was as if I laid my eyes on the devil himself.

Like a DVD rejected from a player device, I was shot out of the boy’s inner soul and brought back into the ordinary world.

(Back to Akuma)

He seemed to be sweating bullets from whatever he did to Tenshi. I could tell that he was a little drained mentally.

“I couldn’t tell you why, but it seems there's someone or something disconnecting your soul from anything on the outside… Well no tamashi for you.”

???

“What’s a tamashi?” Tenshi asked.

Rin smirked from the question. Then she began chuckling and holding her chest out.

It was clear she knew what it was and was seeking some kind of “attention”. We definitely weren't about to ask her pompous ass.

“It's a secret my boy. In due time you will see…”

Finral walked away from Tenshi and grabbed my tennis ball sized, aura ball on the table.

“Well I'm off gentlemen. While I’m gone, Rin here will teach you the basics”, he said.

Swooosh!

Before I knew it, he was gone. The area from where he vanished was left with a gentle wind and his body had disappeared. He had simply just vanished from all sight. For all I know, he could be on the other side of the damn world now.

Rin let out a sigh as she said something very strange.

“Well you heard him. Any who, hurry up and follow me outside.

Rin rose out of her seat and headed to the hideout’s entrance.

“Shouldn’t we get dressed first?”, I asked her.

“Hmmm. Nah, I think it’s better this way.”

She opened the door of the hideout and I swore I blacked out for a second. I should have known from the abnormal frosty air and the freezing floors. From the open door, came a gust of absolute zero. The cold was so unbearable I trembled from it.

The scenery on the other side of the door was that of white hills and vast amounts of snow. Our situation was all too clear now. This hideout laid in the middle of a freezing ice biome and to make matters worse, we had zero equipment. I see now why we woke up with heated body suits.

Rin let out a grin as she watched us fight off the goosebumps. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be fazed by the cold.

“Your first lesson begins now”, she said.