There is no right time to publish this story, honestly there isn't and right now, this is probably the worst time EVER. My contemptment towards my church is put in here along with actual history facts, yay Mr. Khan! Like my other story (on Danny Phantom, Your Guardian Angel) I will be researching throughout this storyline.
DISCLAIMER! IMPORTANT! MUST READ: I DO NOT have anything against religion, I even LOVE to hear about other types of religion, HOWEVER this fit of contempt I have for MY church and MY church ONLY is due to a reason that will be stated in this chapter. Please do not tell me to love god because I care for him in my own way, in no way am I truly bashing the church, for I am only brining to light the history of the past.
Army of God
Chapter One:
God's Child
We have saved you, you will protect us. You will bring God to light.
Were those the words they said?
I can't remember… there was always just cold…
The cold catacombs of the deceased as we were trained with staffs, shields, and guns.
May God's grace be with you. They would whisper as we lay bloodied on the ground. You have served God well, rest and you shall be forgiven.
I'm beginning to think I don't like God much anymore…
Max screamed out in pain as she slammed into the old limestone of the cold catacombs. The Priest stood in front of her a metal staff in his hand. He was smiling malevolently, his long fingers were wrapped tightly around it.
"How will you save this world if you cannot defend yourself from God's Disciple?"
"My ass you God's Discipl-urk!" The metal staff pressed against her throat, choking her as she struggled for freedom.
"Sinful words, dear archangel. Confess your sins and God will save you, we will save you as we have before. Where would you be without the grace of God?" Unbearable memories came to mind of the young girl. She gritted her teeth and bowed her head as he loosened the staff.
"Dear heavenly father, I regret my sins against you." Max whispered. She jerked her head up quickly and roundhouse kicked the Priest, sending him flying onto the ground. He cackled, a deadly thrill on his features.
"Heaven has forgiven you to give you such strength! I have always known you were God's child!" The Priest struggled to his feet. "God's child will save us, as will her followers." In the blink of an eye the Priest brought the metal staff down upon Max's head and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious. "I will not lose to God's Child." He spat, leaving the cold and dark catacombs.
"I hate it down here." Angel whimpered as Fang bandaged Max's head. "Their thoughts are everywhere."
"Who's thoughts?" Nudge asked.
"Their thoughts…" Angel pointed to the skeletons several feet away. "They died a long time ago but their thoughts are imprinted in the walls."
"Angel, sweetie, I know you don't like them but – ugh" Max groaned, "I don't think we have much of a choice."
"What does he call you?" Iggy asked, changing the subject. "God's Child?"
"Shut up about that." Max growled as she attempted to sit up.
"God's Child is supposed to be lucky." Nudge stated.
"I hardly call that lucky." Gazzy scoffed, pointing to Max's wounded head.
"Oh haha." Max glared.
I hate that word. They schooled us in match, science, English, other languages, but most of all their religion. It is their religion we live by, this dangerous suffocating religion that rests on one word:
Amen.
I hate that word. I'll say it over a thousand times a day. I hate that word. They told us what it means, the Priests, the nuns, bishops, and cardinals have all told us what it means. Amen means to obey God. It means "I am here for you Lord. I am your servant and you are my master. I would die for you Lord." Those are the words they said.
We cried out against those words once, the one time we were allowed above the cobble stone streets we asked what amen meant and a person said with the softest smile, "It means, 'we agree'." We cried to the Priests, the nuns, the bishops, and cardinals and they looked at us in disgust.
"We saved you!" They cried. "And you'll believe the word of a devil follower before us?" And we confessed against our sins.
The only other time we've been above the cobble stone streets is when we are helping out the church. Gazzy pulls the bells, Angel and Nudge greet the guests as Iggy, Fang, and I help the Priest with his mass. Afterwards we're shoved down below again.
And I hate it.
"Again!" The Priest roared as Max charged at him with a metal staff of her own. The metal made a resounding noise, echoing to almost every corner of the catacombs.
"Not again!" Max roared through gritted teeth as she knocked the Priest of his feet.
"Get dressed." A bishop came down with clean robes.
"Where's Fang?" Max's voice was more demanding than asking. "Where is he?"
"That is of none of your concern." The bishop replied curtly.
"He's every part of my concern!" Max snapped. "Tell me!"
"Child of God, listen to me, what we have done is for the good of the world." Max froze.
"What have you done to him?" Her voice was quiet and slow. "What did you do?" Max yelled. "Tell me!" She slammed the bishop against the wall, holding him against it by the scruff of his robe. She clutched it so tightly her knuckles were evidently white.
"Get dressed, Child of God, and you shall see." The bishop's voice was just as quiet.
"Children of God, for many yeas we have lived in darkness, in lies fed to keep you from leaving. But alas! You must know the truth about God, our ever forgiving savior's wishes have been ignored for centuries! We must correct it! We must teach the world to love God in his true form and not in the lies fed! Behold Lucifer!" The blue curtain behind the priest was pulled open and chained in midair was a dark boy, his black wings bloodied, his face pale, dark hair falling over his face. He was unconscious and blood dripped from his fingertips. The dark boy was chained where Jesus would hang on his cross over the chapel, high for the crowd to see. Gasps were thrown about and some terrified yells. "Yes! Lucifer lives! The fallen angel of God lives! We must keep him chained and if we ignore God's will any longer he will be set free and wreak havoc over our world so when Judgment Day comes no child can be saved! Let us follow God's will and keep Lucifer at bay!" A strangled cry was drowned out by a sea of cheers.
Dressed in a dark cloak Max stood in the shadows. She was an archangel, bound by the church and she could not be set free. They had taken Fang without warning and now she saw what had become of him. She was crying. She wanted to free him. Her heart pounded and the metal candle stick she held clattered to the ground silencing those around her until all eyes fell upon her. "Let him down!" She yelled, sobs wracking her body. She ran towards the center of the church, unfastening her cloak and letting loose her wings. "I will save him!" She attempted to cut the iron chains with her bare hands as the crowd watched in awe. When she knew it was hopeless she wept, cradling Fang in her arms. He moan silently, just low enough for her to hear.
"Behold! Our first angel who will deliver us!" The Priest yelled pointing to Max. "She will keep Lucifer pure so one day he will be worthy to stand by God's side once again." Max now shook with anger. "Dear Angel, what have you to say?" The Priest gazed at her with threatening eyes.
"Do not be afraid." Max said in an eerily calm voice. "I will only hurt those who scorned against me." Her gaze locked on the Priest. The Priest smiled.
"Our Angel!" The Priest cried and the crowd repeated in a thunderous boom.
"God's Child, learn when to not interfere!" The Priest yelled as Iggy and I dressed Fang's wounds down in the catacombs.
"I'll interfere when I want to interfere! He's my family not your toy!" I yelled back as Fang winced in pain when Iggy tightened a bandage.
"Is that what you think he is? A toy? He is a symbol to bring back the faith of others!"
"Liar! You're using him to as a THREAT to bring back the faith of others! Is this how the church works? Doing under handed deeds of the devil-!"
"Max!" Voices screamed. I slowly became aware of my throbbing head and side, looking around I saw the Priest with his metal staff out, a small bit of blood on the tip. I gazed down at my side and saw blood staining my shirt, I just can't go one day without doing that, now can I? I reached behind me to check my head and felt warm liquid tangling my hair, great, there too.
"Do NOT mistake the word of God as the deeds of the devil, child! What we do is for the goodness of the world so when it ends we shall all go to heaven!"
"You're hurting him, isn't that some sort of sin?" I asked in anger.
"Thou shall not kill, however he's not dead, is he?" The Priest looked smug. I lunged at him, grabbing him by the collar, my teeth bared at him.
"You think that's not killing him? Time kills, dear Priest, every second of our energy has a purpose and hurting him has wasted his. Do you think you're not killing him, creating wounds he was never supposed to have, taking time from his life? We're all being killed at this very moment, don't you think, every second that ticks by aren't we one more second to dying? But who controls our life, isn't it dear old God? Doesn't it mean that God goes against his damn commandments and kills people from the second their born?" I snapped.
"You DO NOT SPEAK OF GOD THAT WAY!" The Priest threw me back. I heard a snap in my arm as it collided with an archway. Great, another bone broken. I sat on the ground, my body refusing to stand up. Either the pain was really bad or my thoughts were running in crazed circles because tears began falling down my face.
"What if those wounds kill him on the inside? What if he becomes dead inside?" I asked in a quiet voice, my voice cracking at both of the 'what's'. "I WON'T FORGIVE YOU IF HE DIES!" I screamed, glaring at the Priest through my tears. The Priest began laughing. "GOD WON'T FORGIVE YOU EITHER!"
"What do you know? How do you know God won't forgive me? That boy will still be living, still breathing and that's all that matters. You said 'if' God's Child, it is only an 'if' it may never come true but who will God believe in more, the idiot child he favors but does not discipline or his patient disciple who obeys his every word? A Father cannot always believe their daughter's words when one wiser than her is testifying against her." The Priest's cool gaze caught me off guard. "Clean up your mess, I have a mission for three of you tonight." The Priest's footsteps were haunting as they tapped lightly on the stone steps.
"Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, this is your mission tonight. I have to stay and watch over Fang and Nudge has to watch over me." Nudge was already walking towards me with a roll of gauze. Fang moaned again as Iggy tightened another bandage around his wrist.
"God's Child." I laughed lightly as Nudge cleaned the wound on my head. "I'm supposed to have all the luck in the world but…" I gazed at Fang, "what about those around me? The luck is only for me and no one else…" My voice grew so quiet until only Nudge could hear as she began wrapping my head. "What if he does die on the inside? How… how can we live with that?" A tear fell down my cheek and Nudge wiped it away.
"You can't cry Max, not right now, everyone's still shaken up from the Priest." Nudge tightened her lips shut before she could say anymore. But I knew she wanted to say more, it was more than just her blabber mouth that wanted to speak, she wanted to comfort me more but she would have ended up rambling off subject for hours only to sum it all up into three words for all the questions I asked: I don't know…
Concepts, theories, the Amen part was true. They taught me that, they burned it into my skull and I hate it. Flame all you want, I'm not atheist, I don't hold anything personal against God and all religions but the person who taught them to me.
Ah, I have a Challenge for you: 'When the heart forgets, the body remembers', God's Child (who has all the luck in the world) Those two concepts come from where? (Come on manga/anime lovers) It's pretty easy if you're into the popular stuff. Here's a hint: Tsubasa (translate that from Japanese and/or look up a title with that as the first word) Oh so easy.
Press the purple/blue button that says 'review' or your computer will self destruct in five seconds :D
Adieu
Nightwing
