Kanae walked on the narrow edge of the fountain, arms out for balance as Brother Junso walked on the ground beside her.
"So you are admitting that Jesus is real," Brother Junso said.
"Of course. There is solid proof he lived. To not admit that would be foolish," Kanae agreed.
"And you ALSO admit he performed miracles," Brother Junso pressed.
"No doubt about it," Kanae agreed.
"So then you can also except that he was the son of God?"
Kanae turned to face him, balancing on the balls of her feet. "Nope. He was one of the sect," she stated.
Brother Junso gapped at her and said, "You can't seriously believe that!"
"Look at the facts," Kanae said, then counted on her fingers as she said, "He rose Lazarus, he healed people who were incurable at the time, he rolled that big, heavy stone off his tomb when they thought they killed him, he walked on water, he levitated..."
Holding up his hands, Brother Junso said, "Now just hold on! You're telling me you can walk on water?"
Kanae eased her mind hands into the bottom of the fountain, then stepped back and held herself on the top of the water. She took a few 'steps', then lifted herself clear of the fountain and lowered herself down in front of him. "See, it's not that hard," she said.
Dumbfounded, Brother Junso asked, "So what about curing people with a touch, or raising the dead?"
"Lady Himari cures people every day by touch, or what anyone who's not of the sect sees as touch alone. As for Lasarus, I think he wasn't quite dead. When Mariko was real little, Mama Nana was shot, and she was brain-dead. Everyone had given up on her. The doctors wanted Papa to 'pull the plug' on her life support, but Mama Lucy found a way to bring her back," Kanae explained.
Brother Junso asked, "Then what about his statement of, He who believeth in me, shall have life everlasting?"
"He was talking about his teachings, and spiritual life. He said that all along if you read even your version of his life," Kanae explained.
"What about being the son of God?"
Letting out a huff, Kanae said, "Look at the time and place. Do you think anyone would have listened to him if he spoke about Yukaita? He was out to save people, to give them internal peace, not more conflict! He knew the people were pissed about the Romans ruling over them, he knew about the unfair religious situation. He knew they were already headed for more trouble. Didn't he tell them that Jerusalem was going to suffer again? He did his best to help them deal with what they had and learn to be happy. He needed to use their God so they would listen to him."
"If he was of the Yukaita sect, then why didn't he have horns on his head?" Brother Junso asked.
Kanae shrugged and said, "Maybe they got knocked off like Mama Lucy's did. Or maybe he had them knocked off on purpose. Your bible only covers the last three years of his life. What did he do the first thirty years, sit and twiddle his thumbs?"
"The bible only covers the years that are important to us all," Brother Junso replied firmly.
"Or maybe those who wrote the bible chose to leave those years out because back then, he DID have horns on his head," Kanae countered.
"The bible speaks of his mother, Mary. It says nothing about her having horns on her head."
"Maybe she didn't. It also is pretty quiet about his brothers and sisters. I mean come on, there was no birth control ... or not very effective birth control back then. Do you really think his parents had only one child? Besides, women kept their heads covered back then. She could have sprouted almost anything under those wraps."
Brother Junso let out a huff. "Lady Kanae, you can find a way to fit anything into your line of thinking, can't you?"
"Because I'M right."
"If the Yukaita sect is in Japan and remained to themselves, then how did Jesus get half way around the world to the middle east?"
"Who knows? Maybe one of his ancestors took the trip, or traded goods." Stressing her point, Kanae said, "All of his teachings talk about being decent and fair to each other, and being peaceful. Everything that helps your soul to be pure, and everything that Yukaita teaches us. Brother Junso, what would you do if that were you? You're faced with people you know are lost, yet they can't see it. Wouldn't you do everything you could to help them see the light?"
Brother Junso smirked and said, "Lady Kanae, you just summed up my situation perfectly."
"But I'm not the one who's lost."
"Yes, you are, dear Lady Kanae," Brother Junso said softly.
Gazing back at him, Kanae's voice was soft as she said, "My dear Brother Junso, you are seeing with one eye shut. I do mean to open that other eye, and show you what the truth is. I will not fail you."
As they gazed at each other, their hands came up and clasped.
"Brother Junso!" Father Yamato called loudly as he stood on the far side of the fountain, which made their hands jerk back as they snapped their heads to gape at him with guilt faces.
As if not seeing this, Father Yamato said, "Come, we are required at the church. Lady Kanae may come with us if she so chooses. She may want to see this also."
Recovering, Brother Junso looked at Kana and asked, "Would you like to? I do have yet to respond to your misguided beliefs."
Kanae nodded and said, "Sure. It is your turn anyway."
Brother Junso began explaining as they followed Father Yamato. "First of all, Jesus' purpose here on Earth WAS to die for our sins. He was the sacrificial lamb that was born so all of us could be forgiven."
"So you believe," Kanae said with a nod.
"Dear Lady Kanae, hear me out, and I shall prove it to you..."
As they walked to the church, Brother Junso talked about the Arc of the Covenant, and how God had it made to accept sacrifices to him. He then gave her a history lesson about the temple mound where it was kept until the Egyptians sacked Jerusalem, and the Arc went missing. He then shifted to the Shroud of Turin, and how the shroud had been dated to the time Jesus lived, and contained his imprint.
As they walked around to the back of the church, Brother Junso talked about a recent archaeological expedition in which the actual Crucifixion site had been discovered by accident.
"OK, hold on," Kanae said, "How do they know it was HIS crucification site. The Romans did a lot of that."
"Matching descriptions of the site from the bible, common Roman practices of execution, and placement of each cross." Brother Junso explained as he opened the door Father Yamato had gone in, but let shut behind him.
"OK, so there is proof where he was crucified," Kanae said.
"Correct. This expedition hadn't been looking for the crucification site, they were looking for a tunnel that they thought some artifacts from the original temple mound had been spirited away through before the Egyptians conquered Jerusalem."
Stopping to see Father Yamato head down into the basement, Brother Junso followed as he explained. "What they found in the caverns directly UNDER the crucification site was the Arc of the Covenant. They also found a crack in the ground that ran from the post hole of Jesus' cross, directly onto the Arc." Turning to Kanae at the bottom of the stairs, Brother Junso said, "This is not, 'belief', Lady Kanae, this is scientific proof. Hard evidence that Arc was placed there hundreds of years before Jesus was born. His blood ran down onto it, so he could be the sacrifice to God and save all of us."
"A very good lesson, Brother Junso!" Father Yamato said.
"Thank you, Father..." Brother Junso fell silent as he saw six monks he didn't know standing around them. Other than a raised bed and a medical bag, he didn't see anything else down here.
"I don't like this," Kanae whispered.
An older man with white hair and a long beard bowed to them. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Father Okawara. I have come to take care of the problem here in Kamakura. Brothers, if you would."
Brother Junso stepped in between them and Kanae. "What is this?" he asked. Arms stretched out palm up, and fists came down onto the palms. "No!" he cried, then turned and pushed Kanae to the side.
The words were spoken, and Brother Junso was hit by an invisible force that knocked him back into the stairs.
Kanae saw them turn to her. Heart in her throat, she shot out her mind hands low to the floor and knocked all the monks off their feet. Getting up, she jumped over to Brother Junso. He was alive, but out cold. Bolting up the stairs, she picked him up with her mind hands to get them out of here. Ahead of her, the door slammed shut. Kanae smashed the door and ran through the flying debris. Too late she saw someone in front of her. Too late she felt small barbs racing toward her.
The barbs hit her mid belly, then the world flashed in pain as electrical arcs danced along nearly invisible wires between the barbs and the device the man in front of her held. Kanae fell blasting out a scream. It felt like something was slamming her from the inside. The powerful full body slams kept coming. Each slam wrecked her senses, she knew nothing but tremendous pulses of pain.
.
Father Yamato got to the top of the stairs and watched the mountain devil jerk in spasms as the tazer fired jolt after jolt into her. The punishment was stopped long enough to get plastic straps on her feet and hands. She groaned in pain. Once she was tied, she was shocked again repeatedly until her eyes were vacant and her limbs quivered.
.
Brother Junso woke up in the basement with a pounding headache. Bruised and sore from hitting the stairs, he tested to see if anything was broken. One of the other monks helped him to his feet. In front of him, Father Yamato said, "Brother, your task of saving this girl has become much easier. Take her up to the guest quarters and clean her up, then put her to bed."
Head aching, Brother Junso looked past Father Yamato to see Kanae lying on the raised bed. There was a white wrap around her head. Her horns lay on the floor with spots of blood by them. As he got closer, he noticed a small round bandage in the middle of her forehead. Drool leaked out the corner of her mouth as she stared off at nothing.
"Wha... what did you do to her!" Brother Junso cried.
"A special type of chemical frontal lobotomy," Father Okawara said. "The gland that the devil put in her is gone. She will be more ... docile also, but collateral damage can't be helped. Don't worry, she is in no danger of dying, we were careful to maintain sterility."
Brother Junso felt his stomach contents welling up in the top of his throat. "You ... lobotomized her?" he asked. "Dear God, WHY?"
"To save her soul. She is in your hands now, Brother."
"And soon, we will treat all of them," Father Yamato said in a satisfied tone.