Here's the next chapter. Please read and review, thanks.
Chapter X
"Amos, wake up!" Yalown banged on the door with such force it threatened to fall off its hinges. I cracked open my eyes but all I could see was sunlight filtering through the white sheets. I pulled them tighter around me as I attempted to ignore Yalown.
"Just let me sleep," I argued, although in vain. I heard Yalown opened the door angrily.
"Don't give me that. We have to leave today," Yalown shouted before slamming the door shut, causing my bed to quiver slightly. I finally pulled the sheets down and stared up toward the ceiling, recalling the previous night's events. My body felt completely refreshed despite the brutal fight, meaning a healer had assisted. My mind then immediately leapt to when Mara had kissed me, and my face began to heat up. Fortunately, my stomach growled, distracting me away from the embarrassing memory. I climbed out of bed to find out I was wearing flannel pajamas. My normal clothes had been cleaned, neatly folded, and placed upon the dresser. I changed slowly, taking the time to examine myself for bruises or scratches, which I found none of thankfully. Finished changing, I wandered over the balcony to examine the city. Snow had fallen overnight, resulting in every building being covered in a thin layer of powder. Sunlight reflected off all of it, creating dazzling sparkles across the entire city. People were going around, picking up trash or disassembling stalls. I even caught sight of the guy from the grilled fruits cart. The edge of the city had a low enough wall that the tops of bare trees were just visible.
"The city is quite beautiful, is it not?" asked a familiar voice behind me. I whirled around to see the Pope coming into my room, carrying a small tray loaded with various breakfast pastries and two cups of piping hot coffee.
"Your Holiness!" I said with surprise. The Pope gave a light laugh and set the tray down.
"Please, call me John," the Pope requested.
"Of course," I complied. I kept stealing longing glances at the food the Pope had brought along.
"Go ahead and have some. After your battle last night, I can imagine you must be famished," the Pope offered. I eagerly took up his offer and began to snack on a bagel. After that, I downed one of the cups of coffee. It was unsweetened and extremely bitter, but it sent shockwaves through my body, fully waking me up. The Pope just quietly watched me eat from where he stood at the edge of my bed.
"What are you doing here?" I finally asked, no longer starving.
"No reason, simply seeking inspiration from God as to what to talk about at Mass this coming Sunday," the Pope explained before stepping out onto the balcony.
"Shouldn't a pastor or something be doing that?" I asked, following the Pope.
"Vatican State isn't as beautiful as the original Vatican City. Unfortunately, it was ransacked and destroyed during the Holy Wars. It was only by the grace of God we were able to rebuild it at a fraction of its former glory. I remember seeing pictures of the original back in my childhood," the Pope lectured, seeming to either have forgotten or not heard my question. I had heard something similar in history class, but it seemed so much sadder coming from the Pope.
"So about my question?" I prompted.
"My dear boy, I am not the ruler of the Catholic Empire. At least, as far as I know I am not. I am merely here to provide people guidance," the Pope said.
"But don't you have the Gift of Leadership? You should be emperor!" I argued, to which the Pope's response was another light laugh.
"Leadership comes naturally with age, but it is not my true gift. Honestly, it's a shame you hadn't been able to train with Elder Bathsheba longer," the Pope said.
"You knew her?" I questioned.
"Yes, I did. We met on many occasions. Anyway, my gift is the Gift of Preaching, the ability to communicate God's word both clearly and easily," the Pope explained. I had never known very many people with that gift, except the pastor back from my home town. It made much sense, though, considering how spiritual the Pope was.
"So what happened to Tobias?" I asked, curious what had become of my friend. A shadow passed over the Pope's face.
"We are having our healers do their best to cure his unstable emotional conditions. He should be fine and ready to fight by tomorrow," the Pope said. It was a relief to hear that. That meant I might be able to avoid Tobias since I'd be going to Jericho today and at best he'd be arriving tomorrow. I finished another doughnut and decided I should probably be going to find Yalown or Mara.
"One last thing. Could you take me to Mara or Yalown?" I requested.
"Happily. I do believe they are at the Warehouse, which is where the Catholic Empire stores most of its weapons," the Pope said. We cleaned up and he led me to the front door. The Pope instructed me as to where to go to find the Warehouse, and I thanked him and waved good-bye before running down the street to find the building. After a couple wrong turns and dead ends, I finally found the Warehouse at the edge of the city. It was a low rectangular building, surrounded by a laser electric fence. The walls of the building looked completely smooth, with no sign of any windows. There was a single garage door as the only way in or out of the Warehouse. Two guards stood at the only entrance, which was a basic metal gate.
"What do you want kid?" one of the guards snapped. They were dressed in the same uniforms and equipment as other Catholic soldiers except the uniforms were white to fit in with the city.
"Is Yalown inside?" I asked.
"Address him as Supreme General Yalown," the other guard argued.
"Yeah, fine. Is Supreme General Yalown inside? I'm in a rush," I snapped back, just to show my urgency.
"Use less sarcasm next time, but you can enter," the first guard said begrudgingly, pushing the gate open. I ran inside through a door next to the garage door and was surprised to see how many weapons filled the grey and dimly lit Warehouse, making it resemble a museum of sorts. Along one wall were older guns and swords, some that were rusty and others that looked brand new. Various old military tanks and levias crowded inside, forming aisles to walk through. I wandered around and found Mara and Yalown searching among boxes filled with more modern weapons. Yalown noticed my presence first.
"Ah, Amos. You're looking well," Yalown greeted me. He still wore his uniform, which was now gray to match the interior of the Warehouse. Mara had changed back into her white robe.
"It's about time you joined us," she mumbled, without even looking up. I couldn't tell if she was mad.
"So what are you doing here?" I asked her, but Yalown answered instead.
"Since we are headed for the walls of Jericho this afternoon, I thought it would be appropriate to find Mara a weapon," Yalown explained. I looked at Mara, who nodded in agreement with Yalown, but still refused to look at me.
"What about me?" I asked.
"You have your mystical sword, and from what I've heard, you're fairly adept at wielding it," Yalown said, meaning I wouldn't get some fancy weapon from the Warehouse.
"Fair enough. Let's get looking," I agreed, and kneeled down to keep looking through boxes. They were filled mostly with projectile bracelets, but they were too large to fit around my wrist, let alone Mara's.
"Found it!" Yalown announced after about twenty minutes, holding up a bracelet smaller than the rest.
"Try it on," Mara ordered, holding up her right arm and supporting it with the other. Yalown strapped it around her wrist and double checked it to make sure it was the right size.
"Give it a try," Yalown urged. Mara released her support and her arm swung down to her side like a dead weight. She struggled to pick it up, but the longer she tried, the more her effort became visible. Beads of sweat dotted her head, and she seemed to start to develop a hunch.
"It's too heavy," she finally confirmed, and Yalown undid the bracelet from her wrist. Mara began to rub a visible red mark on her wrist while Yalown threw the bracelet back into its box.
"What now?" I asked.
"I don't know. That's the smallest and lightest bracelet we have, and I can't think of any lighter weapons," Yalown sighed. I turned to leave, but my foot caught an unopened box. I caught myself before tumbling to the floor. However, the box tipped over, spilling its contents. I bent down to examine whatever had been inside. It had spilled little black objects that looked like rings. I put one on my ring finger, and it immediately contracted to comfortably fit my finger. I ran my finger around it, and found a small hump protruding from it.
"Hey, how about this?" I suggested, holding out my hand to show off the ring. Yalown examined it closer, and his eyes lit up.
"Of course. I forgot all about these. They fire a single small shot that does as much damage as a bee sting, but it releases a devastating flash that is enough to blind a person for a few minutes to allow for escape. Soldiers used to use them, but they were put away after a while," Yalown explained, straightening himself up.
"In other words, perfect for me," Mara summarized. Yalown nodded happily, and fitted one on to her finger.
"How do you fire it?" I asked.
"Just push down on the hump and it should fire. It's important to remember though that it only has one shot," Yalown instructed. I did as he said, and the ring fired. The projectile whistled through the air and collided with an old levia. The room became brightly illuminated for a few moments before returning to it's normal dimness. Unfortunately, the ring had some kick, and the recoil caused me to stumble back a couple steps. The ring then reverted back to its normal size and slid off my hand.
"Impressive," Mara commented. I agreed completely, though I didn't say it. Yalown then ushered us outside, saluting the guards on the way out.
"So are when are we going?" I asked as we walked away from Warehouse, wandering toward an empty lot.
"Right now actually," Yalown grinned. Now that we were outside the Warehouse, his uniform had turned white. He pulled out a black pad which had a row of red buttons on it. He pushed the first on, and I instantly heard the distinct roar of an engine. A sonic boom soon followed and the sun was blocked. Descending from the sky came the sleekest looking levia ever. It had sharply pointed cone front that flattened out as the body extended backwards. The propulsion system contained two blue glowing hexagonal pads underneath it.
"This is yours?" I said in disbelief as it landed in the lot.
"You like it? It's the newest model of military levias, called the Mach Impact. It's the fastest of its kind," Yalown said proudly. We climbed into the cabin which consisted of a single column of about seven seats. I took the seat right behind the drivers, which is where Yalown sat. Mara, however, sat all the way in the back, like she was purposely trying to avoid me. I looked back her, but instead of receiving a menacing glare, she turned her head away. I sighed and began to wonder what I had done wrong. As the Mach Impact was being driven toward our destination, Yalown began telling me about all the mechanics of his levia, which I understood for the most part since Uncle Saul had often talked about similar things. I began to remember such times, and Yalown's lecture blurred away as I began to remember.
"Uncle Saul, why did you become a mechanic when you have such an awesome gift?" I asked Uncle Saul. I had long had the question on my mind, but it had taken me up until I was about to enter high school to gather the courage to ask. Uncle Saul looked up from his reading tablet at the kitchen table.
"It's a long story," Uncle Saul warned.
"We have time," I countered. Uncle Saul laughed and removed his reading glasses.
"Clever argument. Very well, I shall explain," Uncle Saul consented. We went into the living room, where he sat down opposite to me.
"Go ahead," I urged.
"Back when I was around your age, I discovered my gift. Now, it wasn't much of a surprise that it was the Gift of Prophecy, since it had been in our family for generations. The offer to study at the House of Prophets arrived quickly. Your grandparents told me that I wasn't obligated to go, that it was all my choice. That night, I prayed with all my might to God. He sent me a vision of me working in as a mechanic. The next day, I discovered I loved working with my hands on such stuff, and because of that I rejected the House of Prophets's offer," Uncle Saul narrated. The story didn't satisfy me, and I still wondered why he'd chosen to be a mechanic. However, from that point on, he began teaching me everything he knew about levias and various other machines.
"We have arrived!" Yalown announced, ripping me from my memory. I glanced out and was awestruck by the wall of Jericho. It was so high that it extended above the cloud line, much too high for any levia to fly over. The wall was made of brown bricks that were each the size of a standard house. I could make out sliding doors that were probably open when the city wasn't about to be under siege to allow levias in and out of the city. These doors where about the height of six or seven levias, but seemed small compared to the enormity of the wall. It was impossible to imagine how long the wall had taken to build.
"It's huge," I breathed. I glanced back to see if Mara was wearing a similar expression of awe, but she was sound asleep.
"Wake her up, will you?" Yalown requested, for which I was hesitant to agree to. I didn't think it was the brightest idea to wake up somebody who was potentially mad at me. I crawled over the seats until I reached her, and then gently shook her awake. Mara eyes opened just enough to be able to see, but once she realized it was me who awakened her, her eyes flew open like window blinds. She shoved me away, causing my body to thud against the previous seat.
"Get away from me," she snapped. I scrambled away, back toward the front, grumbling about the moodiness of girls. We finally landed and were allowed to climb out to stretch. The ground felt familiar. The same stubby and course grass I had slept on so recently was again beneath my feet. A winter wind whipped around us, threatening to rip our clothes off and carry them far away. Around the base of the wall, soldiers in tan uniforms were setting up large tents made of a white fabric next to parked levias. The tents didn't seem sturdy enough to stand up to a light breeze, but the ones that were already standing wavered in the strong wind. Yalown led us to the largest of the standing tents and invited us inside. After stepping through the entrance flap, I surveyed the interior. It was tall enough that I could stand up straight with about two or three feet of room between the top of my head and the ceiling. Out of the wind, the tent was also noticeably warmer. The tent had nothing but the bare ground for a floor. There was a series of cots along one side, and on the other was a long table that held eight Sonic Blasters. A woman in her late twenties was checking readings on each of the Sonic Blasters. She wore a uniform like the rest of the soldiers, but not strapped on canons. She had dark, intense eyes and her red hair was pulled into a bun.
"How are the Sonic Blasters looking?" Yalown asked her. The woman turned and gave the Supreme General a smile.
"They'll be fully charged and ready to fire by mid-day tomorrow," the woman said. Yalown remembered that Mara and I were there, and focused back on us.
"I'd like to introduce the head of the Catholic Empire's Military Science Department, Eve," Yalown introduced us. Eve eagerly shook our hands.
"I've heard much about you two," she told us. After our introductions, Eve and Yalown began discussing different readings on the Sonic Blasters, so I dismissed myself. Once back outside, I began to walk for the wall, which seemed like the best place to be alone. When I finally reached it, I ran my hand alongside as I paced beside it.
"What am I suppose to do? Ask her?" I complained aloud. Not surprisingly, I received an answer.
Yes. The Voice echoed inside my head. I couldn't tell if it was because my predetermined fate was coming closer, but the Holy Spirit inside me was sounding much stronger. I didn't like the answer, but I knew He was right. I was turning back to go back to talk with Mara when I noticed a dust cloud rising in the distance.
"It couldn't be," I murmured, but despite that, I took off running in that direction. It wasn't until they were practically on top of me that I could properly recognize the Evangelics, with Malachi riding at the front with his daughters not far behind. Before his horse had even stopped completely, Malachi leapt off with a crazy grin.
"Amos, it's good to see you again," Malachi greeted me along with a vigorous handshake. It was a surprise to see him, but I was happy with it all the same. Malachi looked completely unchanged; even his clothes hadn't been altered. I was about to say something when Malachi noticed someone behind me. I adjusted myself so I could see Mara and Yalown striding toward us.
"Mara! Yalown! Hello!" Malachi cheered, waving to them. By the time they had reached us, the rest of the Evangelics had dismounted and Sapphira had joined her father.
"What are you Evangelics doing here?" Mara growled.
"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" Malachi asked with a laugh, which just made Mara angrier.
"Father, leave her alone," Sapphira defended Mara, whom she then gave a smile.
"Mara does have a point. What are you doing here?" Yalown asked.
"I heard the Catholic Empire was going to attempt to invade Jericho and figured Amos would be here too. So we came to see if my theory was correct," Malachi explained.
"So are you just going to sit back and watch the battle?" Mara snapped.
"Of course not. We are here to fight as well," Malachi announced. Mara was taken aback by this, but Yalown looked pleased.
"That's good. This means we'll have even more of a numerical advantage," Yalown calculated.
"Exactly. Now do you guys want to help us set up our camp?" Malachi asked. By the time we had finished, it was already getting dark and the rainbow campfire was burning. The Evangelics graciously cooked dinner for the entire Catholic army. After the satisfying meal, the Evangelics began their daily worship much to the soldier's and my own delight. It wan't long before a fair number had joined in the dancing. I was about to join as well when I saw Mara sitting by herself, like the first time we had been with the Evangelics. I figured she was still fuming that they had showed up, but I went over to check on her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked. Mara looked up and the angry look on her face intensified. She was sitting so far back from the fire that the fire's heat couldn't be felt anymore. I was forced to sit down next to her in an effort to conserve body heat. She scooted away, but I finally got the death glare that I had surprisingly missed.
"Nothing. Now go away," Mara grumbled. I ignored her and slid closer to her.
"What's wrong with you today? You keep trying to get away from me," I observed.
"It's your fault I'm like this," Mara retorted, surprising me. I tried to mentally run through what I had done since the festival but couldn't think of anything.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling angry that she was accusing me for her bad mood. Mara blushed and began fidgeting her hands.
"You made my guard go down at the festival. Then I ki-... ki-..." Mara stammered, trying to choke the word out.
"Kissed me?" I offered.
"Yes!" Mara exclaimed. It took a moment for me to process, but once I did, my face heated up, partially from embarrassment and partially from anger.
"Really? That's what this all about?" I snapped back.
"Of course! Why? Didn't it mean anything to you?" Mara growled. Truth was, it had meant a lot. It was the first time I had ever been any kind of intimate with a girl. We sat there in silence, watching the soldiers and Evangelics worship.
"How about we worry about this after the battle and be friends?" I suggested, standing up. I offered my hand to Mara, and after considering it, Mara nodded and took it. I helped her to her feet and we went over to join in the worship.