Or was it really over?
After I had died on that cross, Sheshe went up to my now-limp body and poked it with a stick. She looked back at Mikeru with a self-satisfied smirk.
"He's dead alright."
"Ooh, how true! Look at just how much his God came and 'saved' him!" Mimi shared Sheshe's twisted sense of pride.
"Good, that guy was so annoying!" Lady Bat added his contempt into the mix, as did Alala.
"Yeah, I mean, 'love God and your neighbor?' Who believes that kind of thing?" She still remembered our fishing conversation.
"Glad I could add to his pain!" Lanhua knew that her dancing would make this harder on me.
"My servants, you have done well. Now with him out of our way, there's no stopping our power." Mikeru was glad that I could be made into 'an example' to cause my fellow humans to tremble in fear.
"Heheheh! He tried to stop us, and he failed miserably!" Fuku was of course overjoyed at what this all meant.
"His soul is mine, I absorbed it into my wings as soon as he kicked the bucket. And now, we have this dark spirit to put into him." Mikeru sent this dark spirit that entered my body. My body awoke, now unable to feel pain from the nails and thorns. My eyes glowed an insidious red, and my joyful demeanor was replaced by an angry, vengeful scowl.
"Pastor Max, can you hear…"
"Who dares to speak?! Don't you know that you have corrupted the world through your sin?!" Even though I wasn't actually shouting, the growling in my voice conveyed everything needed to weaponize my theological knowledge against others. Mikeru was happy at this.
"Perfect, we can use him in our plans now." Mikeru's train of thought was interrupted when the guards came up to him.
"My lord, what about these mermaids?" The guards had noticed that they were still passed out from the pain of that song.
"Put them in the cell, we'll deal with them later."
"Yes, my lord!" The guards then took the mermaids and left them in their cell. Mikeru thought his plan was invincible, until he tried to look for my soul that he absorbed.
"Right, with his soul I shall now gain… what the?!" Mikeru noticed that my soul was not with him anymore. He tried to rationalize this.
"N-none of you took it, right?!" The servants all shook their heads. It's not like they had Mikeru's ability, nor did the mermaids. Not that they could do anything about it, being passed out and all. This could only mean…
Far away, I found myself standing naked in this strange place. It wasn't like anything I had ever seen before.
"Whoa, where am I?!" An angel then came out and clothed me in a silky white garment. These garments were the whitest I've ever seen, unblemished by the stain of human sin. Suddenly, I see a man sitting on His throne, completely basked in light.
"Is it really…?"
"Yes, it is I, the Lord God almighty!" As God spoke to me, I noticed the wounds on His wrists. This is exactly like the God I have long been preaching about. In spite of my preaching, I have still sinned and fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23).
L-Lord. Please forgive…
"Pastor Maxwell Church, in spite of your sin nature, you have continued to proclaim the truth of my Word and glorify me in all things. Not only have you accepted me and my Word, but you have helped lead millions towards the narrow gate of life. Well done, my child!"
I stood with my mouth agape. I was overjoyed to stand in God's presence. Still, I felt badly about how my forced crucifixion looked in God's eyes.
"But what about my crucifixion, Lord? I didn't mean to…"
"My child, even while you were being crucified, you brought no glory to yourself but continued to point back to me. You have no shame in what was done to you." I was expecting at this point for my name to be found in the Book of Life and spend the rest of my days in constant fellowship in God's presence. However, His next words surprised me.
"My child, I am not done with you yet. When the time comes, I will send you back to your body to continue to proclaim my truth on Earth. When I do this, I command you to tell everyone the truth about my plan for mankind, and how I can come and save them. You will bring glory to me, just as you have before."
"Yes, Lord! I'll do everything it takes."
Meanwhile, back in the sea, the mermaids had woken up in their cell. They were dazed and confused, unaware of what had transpired.
"Ugh, what happened?" The mermaids all awoke from their unconsciousness, only to find themselves in a similar cell where I once stayed. Suddenly, the mermaids remembered that I have been captured.
"Pastor Max! We need to go save Pastor Max!" Karen suddenly panicked and tried to rush through the force field to look for me.
"Karen, wait…" As Noel tried to restrain her sister, Karen bounced back from the force field.
"Aaah!" None of the mermaids could break through. A guard came up as he heard the commotion.
"What is going on here?!"
"What happened to our friend?! What have you done to him?!" Hanon too was overwhelmed by emotion.
"Please tell us he's alright!" Luchia was pleading with the guard. The guard remained stoic in the face of this.
"Ok, but you won't like this. They successfully crucified your Pastor friend, and my lord, Mikeru took possession of his soul, or thought he did. Somehow it wasn't there."
All of the mermaids gasped, fearing the worst. "Y-You mean that you…" The guard remained silent, confirming what the mermaids had suspected. All of the mermaids huddle together as tears flowed from their cheeks. They couldn't believe that their beloved Pastor was actually gone. The guard then spoke up again.
"They put a new spirit inside of him. I don't know what it's like, but from what I've heard he's in the service of Mikeru now. Oh, here they come!" The guard stands down and salutes as Mikeru and his servants approach the mermaids' cell. "My lord!"
"Thank you for keeping an eye on these little brats, I hope they gave you no trouble here." The guard stepped back as Mikeru addressed him. As they turn towards the mermaids, Karen points her finger at them.
"You monsters! How could you do this?!"
"Wow, thanks for the compliment, sweetheart. Got a better insult than that?" Sheshe's haughtiness further enraged Karen, causing her to lunge forward. Once again, she was stopped by the force field.
"Awww, don't they look cute when they attack?" Mimi further egged the mermaids on.
"Karen, please." Karen was held back by Sara. Sheshe then notices Sara.
"Is that you, Sara? Hard to believe that you were once among us. You could've had everything like we do, but instead you and your fellow mermaids listened to that Pastor. Now look at you, weak, scared, imprisoned. What a shame." Sara fought back.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your taunting will never break our faith! God will never abandon His children!"
"Well, clearly He forgot about you and your Pastor." Sheshe's taunting was interrupted when Rina interjected.
"Could you at least tell us where Pastor Max is now?" Sheshe then looked serious as a figure was entering the area.
"It seems that Pastor Max is on his way now. Only now, I wouldn't describe him as much of a Pastor anymore." What the mermaids saw next completely shocked them.
"P-PASTOR!"