September gave way to October. Weeks went by, the investigation of The Seraphim consuming the Bat Family's nights, and Cassandra's continued English and religious education overtaking her days. As horrid as The Seraphim's methods proved, a small part of her felt satisfied in the way it strongly separated the two of them and their convictions to belief. Or what she thought could turn into belief anyway.
Stephanie bought a companion book to read along with The Bible at a second-hand store, so the two stopped going directly in order and instead would jump from book to book, with Stephanie reading from the companion after a given chapter. They had also begun alternating between Stephanie's house and Wayne Manor, so it was easy for Stephanie to spend time with Tim afterwards, the two having seemingly recovered after their argument on the rooftop.
"You know, I was really expecting this to be boring," Stephanie chuckled as she shut the book at the end of one of their readings. "But hey, you don't stick around for thousands of years, cause wars and get a billion plus followers by being a dull read. How are you feeling about it at this point?"
Cassandra thought back on what they had gone over together. Indeed, God had sometimes proved a very frightening figure. The exile from the garden, the flood, the command of Abraham to sacrifice his son.
But she also remembered what had followed that. "All the gods people used to worship asked for sacrifice. This God told him it was just a test."
God did indeed seem to be good, sometimes even loving, towards his servants, but she noticed a stark difference between his behavior in the earlier parts of the book as opposed to the latter, to which Stephanie had said, "Remember, they're stories. Stories written a long time ago. It doesn't all cross the culture timeline very well," she looked down at the companion and muttered, "And you better agree with me."
And then there was Jesus. There wasn't any doubt in Cassandra' mind, she liked Jesus. Stephanie went to great lengths to give him praise and stressed every one of his seemingly-impossible feats. He seemed so dedicated to his call to good, but did so without the violence of the world she was living in. Still, she knew the most significant part of his life was apparently his death, and she was left to wonder why it would be so important when they came there.
"I like a lot of it," Cassandra said. "Especially Jesus. I like him best."
"Yeah, he's most people's favorite. I've heard some non-Christians even like him too."
"But I don't know about other parts." Cassandra said. "So much dying. And sometimes God is kind. Others times vengeful. There is so much to understand."
"It's not going to get any easier either."
The two looked up to see Tim standing in the doorway, Stephanie raising her guard. "Careful here Tim…"
He raised his hands, open palmed, "I'm not here to make trouble. I'm just here to share what I know, that's all."
"He's fine," Cassandra said, nodding to Tim a little to invite him in.
"The simple fact is that if you're going to be a Catholic, you're going to be asked to accept a lot of things. Catholics believe some hard, sometimes confusing things, based entirely in faith."
"Just how different is that from any other religion?" Stephanie asked.
"Did you ever have Communion back when you were going to church regularly?" Tim asked.
"Yeah, like once a month, something like that."
"Okay. Now apply that to every week and assume you're taking it literally. That it isn't a representation, it's literally salvation. It's said, there's a lot to take in that way. I don't know if it would have spread quite the way it did if it wasn't for the fact that it was the only Christianity for fifteen-hundred years… That and evangelizing…"
"I like Monsignor Ryan," Cassandra said. "And I like you. And Jesus. I want to be closer to all of you."
The three quietly considered this for what seemed like a long few minutes before Tim chuckled a little and said, "I dunno… It might be a sin, but I could take you to Adoration."
Cassandra looked towards Stephanie, who shrugged, "What's that?'
"Like I said, Catholics think the bread at Communion literally turns into the body of Jesus. So, once in a while, a piece of it is put out for parishioners to observe, pray to, and yes, worship."
"It isn't considered idolatry?" Stephanie asked.
"Not if you believe it's literally him," Tim said. "It's a weird line of thought if you didn't grow up with it… Who am I kidding, I did grow up with it and it's weird."
"But we do live in a world of Supermen, Manbats and green-magicky-ring-using-space cops," Stephanie pointed out. "Heck, we saw someone doing real magic a few weeks back… Maybe I should try and convert now, the whole 'bread turning to flesh' thing is starting to sound pretty tame." The two laughed, Cassandra exchanged looks with them both. "Can she go if she hasn't decided if this is a good fit yet? We don't want to break any rules here."
"I'll look into it," Tim said. "If you want to go at all that is."
"What would I do?" Cassandra asked.
"You just go in and face at the host, talking out whatever's on your mind with God. If you just peek in, it appears like a lot of people sitting around, quietly doing nothing at all. If it's done right, you can hear a pin drop."
"What would it accomplish?" Asked Cassandra.
"If you can be there, like that, and say you've felt God in the room with you, it's probably a sign Catholicism is a good route to take. If you can't… Maybe you just gotta shoot for something less ancient and mystical."
"How much time would we have?" Stephanie asked.
"Couple weeks. Saint Michael's does it on the first Friday of every month."
"Is that going to be enough time? Seems like a big test to try out so soon."
"She doesn't have to decide right there, maybe it'll just tell you guys if you need to change strategies or something."
Both of them looked towards Cassandra, who contemplated their words for a little longer before saying, "I want to try."
"That'a girl," Tim said. "It might be a little imposing, but nothing worse than Arkham," this time Cassandra laughed a little. "Promise." He turned his attention towards Stephanie, "Have you gotten to the Last Supper yet?"
"Working our way there," Stephanie said.
"You'll wanna do that, the crucifixion and the resurrection," Tim said. "I don't know that Adoration is gonna make a whole lot of sense without them." He stepped forward, hugged Stephanie and kissed her on the cheek, "I'll let you two get back to work. Tell me goodbye before you leave tonight."
"I will," she told him, smiling as he walked away. "Well, he was actually pretty helpful today."
"Yes," Cassandra said. "I hope it works…"
Stephanie gave her a look, "Everything okay?"
"I just like the way he is with you," Cassandra said. "Sometimes I want that too."
"Yeah, but he's your step-brother." Both of them burst out laughing. "No, I know what you mean," Stephanie said. "But I also remember you told me it didn't go that great when you tried with Superboy."
"No," Cassandra sighed, "It didn't."
"One normalizing-topic at a time Cassie," Stephanie said. "Right now you're learning about religion. When it's all over with, I'll teach you how to talk to boys and break every rule about modesty the book has to offer. Hold me to it."
And again they both laughed, "It doesn't really say that, does it?" Cassandra asked. "It doesn't say not to love others, does it?"
"No," Stephanie assured her. "It doesn't say that we shouldn't love. It says we should love each other a lot, no matter what it takes. It's called the good book for a reason."
And in that moment, more than any before, Cassandra was sure. She was on a journey, a journey to find God and his son Jesus. And she felt confident she was headed in the right direction.
