Angie's most prized possession was of what she believed to be (and most likely was) the final remaining copy of the Tome of Absolution, the holy book of Atua. The book contained all the important morals and stories that were necessary to know. Even with her foster family not being supportive of her 'strange' religious ideals, she still was able to keep this, the last remaining archive of her religion's existence. It was all that was really necessary for a possible revival, but there were other beneficial artifacts that would have been nice to have.
The stage of the church was very simplistic compared to those of other, larger religions. It was simply a short long wooden structure with a podium to read the Tome of Absolution off of. Angie imagined that eventually she'd be able to give her lessons to a much larger group of people. The one church on her island was massive, being able to house the entire population. Angie hoped that eventually she'd be able to contain the two thousand people the island used to have. Right now, though, as she stood on the podium only a few hours before her near murder, it was looking almost empty. The only people attending were the three others that lived there. A humble beginning, for sure. On the front bench was Korekiyo, ready to listen to his girl intently. A bit behind her were Himiko and Tenko sitting next to each other. Angie had asked Tenko to wake Himiko up if the extremely likely event of her falling asleep occurred.
Just because there was only three people here didn't mean Angie wasn't nervous. This was the first gathering for Atua in any way in nearly five years, the first of any kind in this country. And this wasn't in front of three people who randomly decided to show up because of some posters around the town, these were her three best friends in the world. The only three people who stood with her through all of her anguish. Even then, this was the first time she had ever even attempted anything like this, not even with rehearsal, unless reading the Tome of Absolution through dozens of times over the course of years counted as rehearsal. Angie breathed in long and deep to prepare herself for the sermon, and finally, she spoke. "Most of the time, these would begin in blood sacrifices, but Atua wanted them before we got this underway today, to make more time for the readings of the book itself. This first reading won't be very long at all, but that's fine." she said, opening the book.
It had been a while since she had actually read the old thing, but it instantly brought her memories of a simpler time back home. "The two most important things Atua wants are submission and release. Submission is a term that can be defined in many ways, but how Atua sees it is that he wants us mortal people to submit to his willpower over anything and anyone else. Those who can hear him, such as I, can do this much easier than others, although hopefully you and whoever may also be attending this will also learn this kind of submission, or better yet will learn to hear him in your mind as well."
She flipped to the next page. "However, just as important to submission is release. However, like submission, release can be interpreted in different ways by different people. The way Atua asks us to see it is to release your feelings to others. Atua is all knowing and always watching over us. He knows our problems and how to fix them. Sometimes, he'll tell us ourselves, while other times, we'll need to release our emotions towards those we can physically speak to, to make everything better. Atua knows all, but he'll never in a million years say a bad thing about anyone. He may not trust some people based on old but bad decisions they have made, but he'll never criticize someone to someone else." she continued.
Angie quickly surveyed the small crowd. Korekiyo was obviously listening very closely because of his anthropology work. A great addition to the cultures he had learned about. Back a few rows, however, she could tell Tenko and especially Himiko weren't as interested. She'd seen Tenko repeatedly wake up Himiko. Thankfully for her, Angie knew exactly how to get her attention, and that came in only the next page. "Atua is benevolent and caring most of the time, however, get on his bad side repeatedly, screw up time and time again and not learn your lesson, and you will receive his wrath. It usually depends on what infraction you continue to violate, and how much it has been done. But doing something disgusting and inhumane to someone over an extended period of time is the worst sin of them all. Severe cases of this may lead to Atua asking for a human sacrifice. We don't need to get into human sacrifice right now, but we can save that for a time where it may be necessary."
Angie had seen many a human sacrifice, so they didn't phase her. In fact, she wanted to perform one on her own, although she never believed she'd ever get that opportunity. There were dozens of different types to choose from, but she'd still likely ask Atua for closure. She was getting to ahead of herself on the thought of killing for religious purposes, however. The sermon went on a bit longer, with Angie telling some of the beginning stories of what Atua has done to reward or discipline those who have done right or wrong for him. Atua's rewards weren't as good as his disciplinary actions were bad, though. Not even close. A guarantee in heaven didn't mean as much to those who hailed him as suffering and immediate and eternal damnation did. Any other person would have been disgusted by the Tome of Absolution, and Angie knew this well, choosing not to go into gruesome detail.
The first sermon only went about thirty minutes, but it was still enough time to get the basics down. Tomorrow, she and Korekiyo were going to go for some classic religion recruitment tactics, like putting up posters or going door to door to ask to go next week. Maybe some online recruiting would work. Angie was satisfied with the work she had done, but there was still a specific someone she wanted to talk to, though. After the sermon, Korekiyo had gone to his room and went to sleep. For him it has been an exhausting day. Most days where he at least attempted to kill a girl were tiring to him. Angie let him sleep for a bit, but she was getting restless waiting for him to get up. Atua wasn't giving her any ideas on what to do until he woke up, either. Eventually, she grew tired of waiting. "Wake up, sleepy head!" Angie yells, entering the room, the door slamming on the wall.
Korekiyo puts his head in his pillow. "Angie, now's not the time. I'm not in a good mood." he says. Angie walks to his bed, confused but curious. "Did you not like the sermon?" she asked.
Korekiyo looks up at her. She was right above him, staring him right in the eye. What he wanted to do was grab her by the back and embrace her for hours, for days on end. But it wasn't as simple as that. "No, I loved it. It's just I... I can't get it... I can't get her out of my head." he says.
Angie continues to look at him in confusion. "My sister. She speaks to me. She's not like Atua for you, where he gives you advice and tells you information you need. My sister really wanted you. She's extremely disappointed. Everywhere I go, all I hear is her telling me what to do. I used to be able to live with it, but now that she's told me to kill you, I... I can't. I thought maybe going to sleep and worrying about it some other time would work, but..."
Angie kisses him on the forehead. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to know what you thought about the sermon, but I guess you have already told me. Thanks!" she says, smiling. She turned around and almost left the room.
"Wait a minute, stop!" Korekiyo yells. Angie looks back at him. "Could you... could you come in the bed with me? I don't want to, well, you know, but..." he says. Angie thinks about this for a second. What if he was trying to do something bad now? She believed, though, that she could indeed trust the boy she desperately wanted to love. She took off her jacket and got under the covers with him.
Korekiyo hugs her with all his might, and Angie hugs back. "I never want to hurt you. I'll always be there for you, and I hope you'll always be there for me. I don't want you to think I'm crazy, I just want you to understand how I feel like this. I love you so much." he says.
The embrace stops, and Korekiyo closes his eyes, ready to sleep with his girl for the first time. "I have a question." Angie says. Korekiyo opens an eye. "I know you said before that you don't believe in a god or religion, but... why do you do it then? Why are you here doing this with me?" she asks.
Korekiyo sighs. He's tired, and Angie being there to cuddle with was making him more tired. "Your religion is a dying tradition. I love learning about other cultures. When I was gone for that year, that's what I went to do. Learning about other cultures is what makes me happy. I'd do anything to save a way of thinking like this from dying. Without it, you wouldn't be in my life. If we can be introduced like this, then I can't have an issue with preserving it." he said, yawning afterwards.
Angie continued to embrace him, a big smile on her face. Angie couldn't see it, but the man she was holding was also smiling. "I think it's best we get some sleep now. Love you, girl." Kiyo said. "I love you, too." replied Angie. This would be the first of many nights they'd sleep together.