TF: Hi everybody! *waves* This is just a little one-shot I suddenly thought up upon seeing a copy-and-paste thing on an online site, and due to me working on TPKR, I decided to put this story in a kind of Knightius perspective. I don't technically own the basis of the story, somebody else does, but I do own several of the characters!

Wilbur: This takes place in an AU of TPKR – the world is fine, nobody is in danger of getting killed, many of the main characters are still young children, and the World of Knights is a bit more modern, like Mobius, but not quite. However, many of the characters keep their original personalities, including Morpheus' religious views paired with his sly sense of humor, John's struggles with whether or not a God exists, Thelma as anti-God as usual, Kisses is still nice to Morph, and Mellius, Asher, and Chite are still glitching.

Chite: 1T'5 A M3DIC4L C0ND1TI0N ...

Mellius: Chite ...

Chite: H3'S ME4N, 8R0

Mellius. Bro?

Chite: I W4S K1DD1NG! LU1Z! TH3 8ULLD0G! FR0M R10!

Mellius: Oh, now I get it. I think. No, not really. I can barely understand you, you're glitching so hard.

Chite: –_–'

TF: *coughs* Anyway, I only own The Pure Knight Rises and my OC's, Morpheus the Pure Sword Gospel Kitsune Cat, Thelma the Hedgehog, Jarh and Rajh the Twin Hedgehogs, Java the Mouse, and Comrade the Dog. SEGA owns the others characters, Robin Q' the Hedgehog (Rob O'), John St. Geoffrey the Skunk (Geoffrey St. John), Mellius the Glitch Winged Cat (Honey), Kiss the Cat (Hershey), Chite the Albino Guardian Chaos Echidna (Wechnia), and Asher the Glitch Hedgehog (Ashura).

Chite: SH3 AL50 D0SEN'7 0WN 3ITH3R LU1Z 0R R10, 8LU3 5KY 5TUD1OS D03S! :D

"To see rare effects, and no cause – a motion without a mover ... a circle without a centre ... a time without an eternity ... a second without a first. These are things so against philosophy and natural reason, that Man must be a beast in understanding who can believe in them. The thing that was formed, says that nothing formed it, and that which is made, is there, while that which made it is not! This folly is infinite! For what can be more foolish then to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster!" – Jeremy Taylor

By Faith

The morning sun shone through the open, glass windows of the spacious classroom, birds chirping gaily as they flew from puddle to puddle, sampling the fruits of the rain from last night. Inside the school room, several dozen human-like animals, Mobians, sat at desks as they watched their teacher at the front, who was standing while scribbling something on the blackboard. One of the young animals, a seven-year-old, dark gray and white Cat with three tails and milky-white eyes – an obvious sign he was blind – sighed softly, resting his head in his hands.

Turning his head, he allowed his powers of heat-sense to scan through the room, picking out the classmates around him and making up for his lack of sight. Besides himself, there was a black and white Skunk, a yellow Cat, a black and white Cat, a dull green Hedgehog, two purple Hedgehogs, an albino Chaos Echidna, a tan Mouse, a green and black Hedgehog, and a red Dog, all around his age. The teacher herself was a pale golden Hedgehog with lavender eyes and dark brown hair pulled into a braid, wearing a cheerful, deep yellow and creamy white dress, as opposed to the gray Cat's plain, black and silver robe.

The Cat, Morpheus the Pure Sword Gospel Kitsune Cat, turned back to face the front as the small bang of the teacher, Ms. Thelma the Hedgehog, setting down her piece of chalk rang through the room. His classmates also turned to watch her, and she turned to face her wards as well. Thelma smiled. "All right, class, for starters, we're going to learn a very important part of history – the beginning of evolution!"

Morpheus raised an eyebrow as warning bells started going off in his head. Evolution? Surely she didn't mean ... the brown Mouse raised a brown-gloved hand, and Ms. Thelma pointed at him. "Yes, Java?"

The boy, Java the Mouse, let his brown eyes wander the room nervously. "Um, well ... you mean evolution as in we used to be specks?"

Ms. Thelma sighed, rubbing her forehead. "No, Java, the correct term would be microbes, not specks."

Same thing, Morpheus thought wryly.

This time, the green and black Hedgehog raised a hand, gloved studded with sharp, metal spikes. Thelma pointed at him. "Asher?"

Asher the Glitch Hedgehog lowered his hand, mismatched deep brown and neon green eyes boring into the teacher. "But there's no such thing as evolution. That's wrong. We were created, we didn't evolve."

Ms. Thelma's purple eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "That's why I'm here. I am to lead you children down the right path by telling you the truth – such fantasies as "creation" are just that. Fantasies. Nobody can create life except for ourselves, and we evolved from mere animals to what we are now. We adapted to this world, learning from mistakes to bring forth better and better versions of our species, and in order to have a successful future in life, you must accept that such ideas as "creation" by some all-powerful god up in the sky, are false."

Morpheus bristled. An atheist teacher ... oh, brilliant.

"But we couldn't have evolved!" the winged Cat, Mellius the Winged Glitch Cat, protested, standing up from her seat. "Evolving into better Mobians by 'learning from our mistakes' is a false teaching! It's wrong! If we truly did evolve, then we'd all be dead because we'd have died in the middle of the evolving process! Dead creatures can't have kids!"

"Mellius!" Ms. Thelma commanded sternly. "Sit down right now, or else I'll have to keep you in after school."

The Cat huffed, plopping back down in her chair as she crossed her arms, and looked at Morpheus. He smiled faintly, and she smiled back, rolling her eyes at the teacher. Ms. Thelma looked around the classroom slowly. "It appears to me that we need a very serious lesson indeed," she stated. "Since this seems to be coming from a religious source, let me be blunt. Creation is not real. Evolution is."

The purple Hedgehogs raised their hands. The golden Hedgehog nodded at them. "Jarh? Rajh?"

The male twin, Jarh, stood up. "But what–"

The female twin, Rajh, also stood up. "–About God?"

Ms. Thelma shook her head. "God is a made-up person, children. Just a lullaby some adults use to smooth over all the problems in the world and assure themselves that some powerful being is watching over them, when really, it's all a lie. Adults who believe that are better off in a mental ward."

Morpheus was suddenly aware of something gritty in his gloved hand, and he opened it. Black powder fell out and onto the table – the remains of what used to be a pencil, but which was now a nicely scorched pile of ash, thanks to his powers of heat increase. Must've been Ms. Thelma's comment on religious adults needing to have mental care. Morpheus' parents, Tribe and First, were the most religious people he'd ever met, and in no way did he think they were crazy either. Ms. Thelma, however, was, and he knew it. Imagine! Believing you came out of nowhere!

He wished he could prove she was wrong somehow, but Avalon, he was only seven years old, and stone-blind. He couldn't possibly get his point that God, or Jehovah as he knew him, and Creation were very real, realer then most people considered. He couldn't ... right?

The brown-haired teacher continued. "Just as God isn't real, Jesus isn't real, the Bible is a useless story-book, and such things as salvation, repentance, supernatural, angels, demons, and 'holy spirit' are basically fairy-tales. They're fake. We Mobians, as well as humans, are the rulers of the Earth, not some invisible god that creates everything. We are here of our own devices. We are our own salvation. Our own repentance. Our own angels and demons. Our own holiness. Our own gods."

Good thing he wasn't holding the notebook, or else it would have surely burst into flames. Was she actually saying they were gods?! Being holy was one thing – the believers and followers of Jehovah and his Son were holy, not being of the world anymore, but gods? Morpheus seriously considered dissolving into shadows right there and then and just fly out of the room before she said anything else that contradicted his firm beliefs. But he had to stay here ... he groaned inwardly.

The class was silent, a mixture of confusion, astonishment, anger, and boredom hanging in the air so thickly you could slice it with a knife – which was what the red Mobian, Comrade the Dog, was doing, using his claws to pretend to cut through the air and eat imaginary strips of the emotions, causing the black and white Cat, Kiss the Cat, to snicker under her breath in amusement. Ms. Thelma looked around, then nodded. "All right, then, I understand how shocking the truth might be for you all, but now you are enlightened to it. Your future is not longer pegged down by any false belief system. And to make it absolutely clear–"

She pointed to the Skunk. "John?"

The nine-year-old, John St. Geoffrey the Skunk, looked up. "Yeah?" he asked.

Ms. Thelma motioned to the open window. "John, do you see the tree outside?"

John turned, studying the oak tree swaying in the breeze beyond the window, then nodded. "Uh huh."

She motioned below the tree. "Do you see the grass?"

The Skunk gave her a confused look. "Yeah? So?"

Ms. Thelma nodded. "All right, then, I want you to go outside for a moment and look up. See if you can see the sky."

John rolled his eyes, sliding out of his chair. "'Kay ..." he muttered, walking over to the side-door nearby the window and opening it.

He stepped outside, looked up for a minute, then turned and came back into the classroom, slamming the door shut behind him. "I saw the sky."

Ms. Thelma smiled. "Did you see God?"

John blinked. "Um ... no?"

The teacher nodded and turned back to the other classmates. "That's my point, children. We cannot see God because he isn't there! He doesn't exist!"

The Mobians looked at each other in confusion, murmuring softly, and Morpheus heard the albino Mobian groan and bang his head on the table. "0H, C0M3 0N!" Chite the Albino Guardian Chaos Echidna muttered, flickering red light violently. "DO3S SH3 H4V3 A 8RA1N?!"

Morpheus smiled at that, then suddenly froze. Wait ... a slow, mischievous smile spread over his white muzzle as an idea formed in his mind. Yes ... that would do nicely ... very nicely indeed. He raised his hand, and Ms. Thelma looked at him. "Yes, Morpheus? Do you have a question?"

The gray Cat lowered his hand. "Well, actually, I just want to ask John some questions. Is that okay?"

The teacher smiled. "Of course, go right ahead!"

Morpheus turned to "see" John, who was still standing in front of the closed door, and took a deep breath. "John, do you see the tree outside?"

One of John's black ears flicked, and he looked out the window at the oak tree a second time. He nodded. "Yeah ..."

Morpheus nodded. "Do you see the grass outside?"

John nodded again. "Yeah."

The Cat pointed out the window. "Did you see the sky?"

The Skunk's blue eyes were half-closed by now, obviously bored and wondering just what the Pure Sword Tribe member was getting at ... or if he was just being weird. "Yeeeeeeeeeeees ..."

Morpheus pointed at Ms. Thelma. "John, do you see our teacher?"

Ms. Thelma smiled, flattered at the Kitsune bringing her up, and John nodded. "Of course I do."

Morpheus' smiled faintly. "Do you see her brain?"

There was silence as everyone looked at each other in confusion. The Skunk blinked. "Um ... no."

Morpheus' eyes glinted. "Then, according to what we were taught today in school ..."

He smiled widely. "She must not have one!"

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5: 7, NKJV (New King James Version)

TF (TFTime)

Wilbur (Wilbur-Nator)

With the guest appearances of Mellius the Winged Glitch Cat and Chite the Albino Guardian Chaos Echidna. I only half own them, SEGA owns their original Versions, Honey and Wechnia. :)