A pretty long Author's Note- Honestly, I had not expected this story to get so much attention this fast, on this short-ass first chapter especially. I was honestly expecting the opposite, probably getting flamed reviews here and there since the idea of Jesus being Isekai'd is pretty taboo and the fact that not everyone is Christian in fanfiction.
I guess since pretty much everyone knows who Jesus is and seeing him in an anime setting (especially an Isekai one) is pretty intriguing, it would've caught my attention too if it were written by somebody else...
But seriously, I don't plan on poking fun at my own religion, or do I plan on shoving this story into the faces of those who don't believe. I know at least half my readers are probably atheists or believers in other religions and I can honestly respect your decisions and upbringings, just please, know that this story is not meant to offend or harm anyone in anyway and is just meant for me to write a fictional scenario on if Jesus were to be sent into another world and such.
So please don't flame the reviews section with hate on Christians or those with different beliefs, please don't start arguments and debates because we don't need that here, in the end, this is just a story and in no way am I intentionally trying to commit Sacrilege and claim that everything here is true and such.
For any of you worrying about Jesus being OOC, I'll do my best to keep his same personality as depicted in the Bible, I don't believe he will fight or tolerate any violence so don't get your hopes up on an epic fight between Jesus and Glass. In all honesty, the guy will probably just go around doing miracles and preaching, so if a slow story of healing the wicked and hurt characters of the Rising of the Shield Hero world are not your type, then I guess this story won't exactly be your cup of tea.
And if this story just so happens to strengthen your faith in Christianity or happens to convert you or the opposite, then I'll be be shockingly damned.
All seriousness aside, remember this is just a story and whatever belief you believe in; a story is something we're meant to divulge ourselves in and enjoy, not shove into other people's faces. So thank you and let's get on with the story of Isekai anime Jesus-
(WARNING - THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE WEB NOVEL AND LIGHT NOVEL, IF YOU ARE AN ANIME ONLY GUY/GAL, YOU'RE IN FOR A LOT OF CONFUSION AND MAJOR SPOILERS) (UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SPOILERS THEN KNOCK YOURSELF OUT-)
(Also, apologies for the long wait! I'm still new to writing)
"A thief is only there to steal kill and destroy. I came so that they can have real eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." - Jesus Christ, John 10:10
New Awakening; Revelation: 2
The group walked down the hallways of the huge castle, following the cloaked men as they quickly slipped through the hallways and led the four young men towards the meeting place where they were told they would meet the King of this world.
Jesus lagged a few feet behind the three teenagers, who were excitedly whispering among themselves and were too busy giggling to pay attention to the man behind them.
Jesus looked around the hallways of the castle, remembering the Roman garrisons back in Jerusalem and the few castle-like structures they had built back in Israel.
Though this world appeared to have humans too, Jesus knew these people weren't anything like the people back in Earth, instead he felt their souls radiate a slightly more powerful aura than the average human's soul back in Earth.
His father had yet to answer him as the cloaked men stopped by a huge set of double doors and pulled it open, gesturing them to step inside.
The four young men stepped inside, the bright glare of the sun's rays shining brightly into their eyes as they were greeted by a murmur of approval and surprise. As their vision cleared, they found themselves in a room filled with finely dressed nobles and soldiers armed to the tooth. All eyes stared at them with judgmental eyes, surgically sizing them up while seated on their seats of silver and gold.
In front of them was an old Caucasian man with greying hair and dark purple eyes, he eyed them with a blank expression as he rested his mouth behind a curled up fist.
Jesus simply stood there and eyed the old king, seeing a thundercloud of rage behind those apathetic purple eyes. A man tormented by nightmares and hate.
Jesus felt the aura of the eyes digging into him coming from all directions in the large room, he felt their ignorant hate towards him. A confused venomous anger that he recognized from all the lost individuals he's ran into in the world of his father's creation.
The old King cleared his throat before speaking. "So you young men are the four legendary cardinal heroes of legend. This is the land of Melromarc and I am her King, Aultcray Melromarc the thirty-second. Welcome brave heroes, please identify yourselves."
The sword guy spoke up first, "I'm Ren Amaki, I'm a highschool student and 16 years old."
The spear guy went next, "I'm Motoyasu Kitamura, college student 21."
"I suppose I'm up next, Itsuki Kawasumi, I'm still in highschool and I'm 17."
Jesus remained silent as the King's silent gaze swept past him, ignoring him completely.
"Now, I suppose I owe you all an explanation. My country, Melromarc, and the entire world is headed towards destruction. There is an apocalyptical prophecy in our world that tells the end of the world and ensures that a great wave will be the cause."
The King cleared his throat and continued. "If the waves cannot be stopped, then the world will be doomed and destroyed."
"The way we know the waves will start or end is thanks to an hour glass that every country has called the Dragon Empire," The King continued. "Our kingdom has already been attacked by one of the waves before any of you three were summoned... We had to fight them off with the help of our army and fellow adventurers, though despite our efforts, the second and third waves were much more overwhelming and powerful than the latter, forcing us into a corner. The hourglass won't stop until all the waves are over and exterminated... it has been a month since the last wave occurred."
The King gave a heavy sigh. "We underestimated the waves. But now we know for sure only the heroes can defeat the waves. And so we invoked you, we had no choice."
The sound of a blade lightly twanging against the floor sounded as Ren raised his voice to speak. "I understand. But don't tell me we won't get anything in return after being brought here."
An old man dressed in a large purple dress to the King's left spoke. "Of course not. We will give due reward when the waves has been eradicated."
"I'll go," Motoyasu said with a smile. "Well, if you promise, it's fine by me."
"I will help you as long as you don't become my enemies," Ren added. "But don't get confused."
"That's right," The green haired boy agreed with the other two. "We won't let them despise us."
The King nodded. "I'll finish the conversation. Well heroes, I want you to confirm your statuses."
"Status?" Itsuki said, sounding confused. "Uh..."
"Didn't you notice when you came to this world?" Ren said, sounding annoyed. "You don't see the icon in the bottom corner?"
The two other teens lowered their heads and began searching for the icon Ren was talking about. Jesus simply glanced down, seeing a strange dot around a square stuck in his sight. He stared intently at it, wondering what it could be.
"Try to concentrate on it," Ren said.
Suddenly a screen popped up in front of him, momentarily startling Jesus as it presented to him a status table that showed him multiple blinking "errors".
"Level 1? I'm worried..." Itsuki said.
"That's right," Motoyasu agreed, stroking his chin. "I don't think we can fight like this."
"Uh... what is this?" Itsuki timidly asked, looking up at the King and his advisers.
"The magic state. It's a skill that only heroes can see and use," The King's adviser said.
"What are we supposed to do with it then?" Ren asked.
"You will all travel and take on adventures in order to improve your weapons."
"So we aren't strong from the beginning?" Itsuki said, sighing as he looked at his bow.
"In any case, the most important thing is that everyone masters their skills," Ren says.
"The first thing then is to level up," Motoyasu says, spinning his spear around.
"Yeah," Itsuki agreed. "So we should all make a group then, so that we can-"
"Hold on Heroes," The voice of the King's adviser suddenly cut Itsuki off.
He spread his arms and begun to explain to them. "You four will form different groups to go on a trip."
"Why?" Itsuki asks.
"The Legends say that each weapon has a different attitude. Their progress is difficult when they are close to each other."
"Don't worry about it now," The King tells them. "You can leave tomorrow for a trip. We will prepare your companions."
As the King finished, a young maiden with brown hair dressed in a yellow dress walked up to them. "this way please, we have your rooms ready."
xxx
They were shortly escorted to their rooms and given a meal by the servants before being left alone to talk among themselves. The young teens made themselves comfortable in the small living room as they dug into the royal selections of meat, bread and pastries provided to them by the kitchen.
Jesus distanced himself from the loud chatter of the young teens and walked out towards the balcony overlooking the town.
It looked nothing like the city of Jerusalem or anything at all like Israel. It appeared... advanced, with a hint of Roman architecture here and there.
Had his father brought him to the future?
"They treat us well for being the heroes," Motoyasu commented as he leaned back on the bed he sat on. "And the girl that brought us here was pretty cute too."
"And the food tastes strange but it was pretty good," Itsuki added, swallowing the piece of meat he was eating. "Don't you think?"
Motoyasu nodded. "Yeah, this place has a similar concept to Emerald Online, even the food looks the same," He said as he examined a piece of bread with a strange engraving on its bottom.
"Emerald Online?" Itsuki asked, looking up from his meal.
Motoyasu cocked his head. "Huh? You don't know what Emerald Online is? It's this really popular Online Game that I've been playing for nearly a year and a half now. Your in Emerald Online now."
"Huh? This is no online game," Itsuki scoffed, crossing his legs. "It's clearly a game in the Third Dimension. It's called Dimension Wave."
Ren shook his head. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course not, it's like an RPG. Identical to Brave Star Online."
Motoyasu scratched the back of his head. "Let's agree. An RPG is such and what I imagine, right?"
The room remained silent as Motoyasu waited for an answer. Upon recieving no reply, Motoyasu brought a hand up to stroke his chin. "Alright... just in case, whose the current President of America?" Motoyasu raised his spear. "Ready..."
The three teens all said different names in unison. After hearing something they halfed-expected, the three teens looked at each other.
"Huh, whose that?"
The following minutes lead to another series of different questions with different responses from the other.
"Who is the Commander of the army?"
"Who won the war against the West?"
"Who is the most powerful country in the world?"
"Who is the Prime Minister of Japan?"
Itsuki sighs, taking a seat down as he examines the food in front of him. "It seems we come from different Japans..."
Ren waved a hand in agreement. "That's right, none of what we said was the same."
"I thought we were from different regions, not different worlds..." Motoyasu said, slumping his shoulders. "Speaking of different regions... wasn't there four of us..."
The three boys turn to look at Jesus whose back was facing towards them. He continued to look out the balcony while listening in to their conversation of different Japans and different worlds... and Online Games? RPGS? What could all these mean? Had his father hidden the fact that he had created more than one world from him?
"Hey, you're awfully quiet. Can you even speak?" Motoyasu says, raising an eyebrow at the man.
Jesus slowly turns around to face them, his warm hazel brown eyes showing no sign of confusion, annoyance or anger towards Motoyasu's rude tone.
The three teens finally took notice of the clothes the other man wore, from all the excitement they were having they had nearly forgotten about their other companion who remained quiet the whole duration of the time they were here, Itsuki didn't really pay attention to him in the first place when he first spoke to him, he assumed he was wearing some kind of long jacket. However, the clothes he wore weren't anything like theirs. His were more of a dirtied white robe with a huge red blanket slung over his shoulder. He looked like some hobo you'd find out in the street with makeshift clothes. His light-brown skin and middle-eastern features along with the medium length beard and long brown hair also differed from their pale white skin and asian-like features, immediately marking him off as the black sheep of the group.
"Where do you even come from? You don't look Japanese... do you even understand me?" Motoyasu asks, throwing question after question towards him.
Jesus simply looks at him and answers. "I am not from Japan, nor do I only speak your tongue for I speak one of all as long as the holy spirit guides me."
Motoyasu raised an eyebrow. "What the hell?"
The other two teens looked at each other in confusion.
Motoyasu could already tell this guy wasn't normal. They had somehow wound up with a dazed hobo who spoke nonsense for a companion. 'Well, at least we won't be forming a party together, and that he also has the shield...' Motoyasu thinks to himself as he shrugs off Jesus's answer.
"Well, let's go back to our rooms and sleep," Motoyasu says, shouldering his spear. "Tomorrow's a big day and is the beginning of our adventure."
The other two teens nodded in agreement and quickly finished up their meal, leaving their plates on the table as they all said goodnight to each other and retreated into their rooms for the night, leaving Jesus alone at the balcony.
The Israeli man stares up at the starry sky, watching the millions of stars above flicker and the moon glow its cool white down at him. "Father, tell me what I should do," He whispers as he kneels down on the rock hard patio, clasping his hands together as he begun to pray.
xxx
Jesus had fallen asleep on the patio of the balcony several hours into praying, he found himself in a quiet void of a dream, his mind totally blank of any distractions to shift his thoughts away from prayer, even in sleep. He had only around four hours of sleep when a low knocking could be heard coming from the front door.
"Heroes, today is the day you set out for your adventure. The King and your companions are waiting!" The voice of the same girl from yesterday called out through the door.
Jesus quietly stood up, walking over to the living room and taking a seat on one of the green leather couches as he awaited the other three teens to exit their rooms. Several flies flew around the leftovers from last night, the dirtied silverware crawling with a few strange looking ants here and there.
Jesus silently watched the small exotic insects march up the table and onto the plates and cups, collecting the crumbs and retreating back down the table. These insects were very different from those in Earth.
The sound of doors opening and low grumbles shifted Jesus's attention away from the ants, seeing the three teens sleepy exit their rooms, the Israelite stands up and quietly observes them.
"Good morning," Jesus says to the three teens.
Motoyasu simply eyes him suspiciously while the other two teens uncomfortably ignore him, their thoughts clouded mostly by suspicion and unease.
"You can open the door~" Motoyasu said just as he stifled a yawn.
The maiden from yesterday opens the door, this time wearing a purple dress rather than a yellow one. She bows and extends her hand out into the hallway, directing her warm smile to three particular heroes.
"This way please heroes."
The four heroes follow the maiden out the room as several servants duck into it right behind them, carrying along with them cleaning materials and old bags. Jesus followed behind the three teens, his quiet aura and gaze causing him to be ignored by the three teens, who had now began a conversation arguing which of their weapons were better.
They arrived at the same set of huge double doors that had greeted them yesterday, the same two doors that led into the King's throne room. Itsuki took a deep breath as the doors were split open by the two guards guarding it at either side.
"Well, here we go..." He gulps as the two other teens straightened their backs out, attempting to shift their faces into more confident expressions to strike a good first impression on their soon-to-be comrades.
Jesus simply blinks his eyes, stepping into the room right behind the heels of the three teens as they entered the throne room.
This time, they were greeted by an audience three times the size from yesterday, several dozen more nobles and high-ranking figures watched the heroes keenly from behind the line of guardsmen and above the balcony, whispering among themselves while sizing up the four cardinal heroes. Standing on either side of the king were his advisers and dozens of differently dressed men and women, all wielding weapons of some sorts and carrying along with them a battle-seasoned demeanor.
The King nodded in acknowledgement as the heroes stepped into the center of the throne room, waving a hand to silence the audience. The sound of the large double doors closing shut sounded in the room as the King cleared his throat.
He gestured to the different dressed individuals. "These are those who will travel with the heroes and face the wave."
The three teens looked over their soon-to-be companions with interest, sizing up the men but mostly checking out the women along the line of them.
"It's time to set off, heroes of the future!" The King said in a booming voice.
Just after he said this, the line of adventurers stepped forward towards the hero of their choice. The three teens found themselves hoping for some powerful and fun companions, mostly Motoyasu hoping for at least one of the girls to pick him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, staring straight ahead as he quickly clenched his fists.
A few seconds later, he slowly opened his eyes and took a quick glance back, nearly smiling to himself dumbly from delight.
'Seriously? Four girls?!' Motoyasu's brain thinks as it mentally jumps up and down from its natural man instinct. 'Even I couldn't get a girl back from in campus, this is totally something else!'
In his excitement Motoyasu looked over to his side to check out the others companions, to find to his strange surprise to see that the hobo shield bum had no companions standing behind him. Out of all honesty, despite being a strange looking guy, he at least expected one or two to have joined him... well, given his appearance maybe that was the reason.
All eyes fell on Jesus as he was the only one left with no companions. Despite the hundreds of pairs of sneering eyes looking down on him, the Jew simply stares ahead, showing no signs of worry or discomfort.
The King grunts, hoping for at least a reaction from the shield demon, but to his disappointment this one was quiet and boring. "Well, it seems the Shield doesn't have any companions..."
One of the King's advisers leans in to whisper into his ear, gaining a sly chuckle from the King as he returns his gaze on the shield hero.
"So it seems the rumor spread... well, to say the truth... the rumor says that the Shield Hero knows nothing about this world and is completely clueless of what occurs here and its history... It's said that he doesn't understand it unlike the other three heroes who are a lot more aware and knowledgeable and wiser than the shield..."
To his disappointment, the Shield continued to remain silent, continuing to just stare at him with those brown unchanging eyes.
"Tch..." The king clicks his tongue, waving his hands to dismiss them. "Well then, I guess you're all set. We can just hope the Shield Hero finds some companions along his... journey-"
Suddenly a voice interrupts the King's rambling, the loud and cheerful voice coming from a redheaded girl who was waving an arm up in the air as she walked up next to Jesus. "Sir hero! Is it fine if I joined the Shield Hero's party?" She asked a confused Motoyasu.
Motoyasu turns around to face her, his face a little surprised at his supposed to be member's decision. "H-huh, what? Uh- are you sure?" He sputters.
The redhead nods. "Yes, if you wouldn't mind."
Motayasu scratches the back of his head, shooting a glance towards the dirty looking man and masking the disappointment he felt. Already he was losing one of the prettiest girls in his party, did he do something wrong? Or more importantly, what did she see in... that guy? Though, he couldn't turn down that cheerful expression of hers so he just sighed.
"Well, alright... I guess."
The King silently frowns along with the rest of the spectators. He didn't know what was going on through his daughters head, he just hoped that she didn't take a sudden liking to the Shield Hero. Though he didn't approve, he didn't want to make a scene right there. He'll find some other time to talk with her about her decisions. With a forced sigh, the King raised his voice. "Are there any others who wouldn't mind joining the Shield Hero?"
An air of silence followed.
"Very well... I supposed we'll have to take other measures, the Shield Hero can go and recruit his own party members later on."
Jesus remained silent as the King continued.
"Every month, we shall provide the heroes with the necessary funds they require. This time, the Shield Hero's payment will be higher than the other three due to his lack of party members," The King beckons to four servants standing by the side, they step forward, carrying fat pouches of gold with them. "Here are your war chests, please accept them."
The brown pouches were handed over to their respective weapon holders, with the Shield Hero's pouch being slightly fatter than the other three.
"The Shield Hero gets 800 silver coins, the others get 600," The King says. "Use this to procure all necessary equipment and set forth on your journey."
The three teens hold their pouches of coins eagerly, nodding firmly. "Yes!"
xxx
Several minutes later, the four heroes and their party members were escorted out of the castle by several dozen guards. As soon as they were by the gate, Itsuki and Ren made their way out of the town and paid their goodbyes to Motoaysu.
"It's a shame we couldn't band up together," Itsuki says, looking genuinely a bit disappointed.
"Well, that's how it is. We will meet again when the time comes," Ren says, shrugging.
Motoaysu gives them a wide smile. "Hey, maybe when we aren't leveling up, we could probably eat dinner later together? What do you guys say?"
Itsuki brightens up to this suggestion. "Yeah! We could do that!"
Ren shrugs. "Fair enough, as long as we split the pay."
Once the two other teens left for the town, Motoaysu was about to go and give his party members a short pep talk when he noticed the hobo looking guy and the redhead girl making their way down a set of stairs by the corner of the bridge. He frowns at the duo, still wondering why she even chose that guy over him.
"Hey! Shield Guy!" Motoyasu calls after Jesus.
Jesus looks up the set of stairs to stare at Motoyasu, his face holding a stern look, but behind that stern demeanor was a hint of jealousy he felt towards Jesus.
"Be sure you take care of her! Don't let anything bad happen to her, alright?"
Jesus nods, giving no further response to Motoyasu.
Motayasu sighs, muttering to himself. "Guy isn't much of a talker, huh?"
As Motoyasu turned to leave, the redheaded girl decided to introduce herself to Jesus. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself... my name is Myne Suphia. It is an honor to fight with you, Shield Hero."
Jesus turned to face her. Though, she was an inch taller than him, his expression didn't change as he responded. "I see, you can call me Jesus."
"Gee-suz?" Myne said, testing his name.
Jesus nodded as Myne stretched out a hand to take his. "It is a pleasure to meet you then!" They both shook hands, the soft skin of Myne's palms brushing up against Jesus's as she let go. But as they touched and even before that, Jesus knew that the person talking to him wasn't the real Myne.
He looked up at Myne's face, staring deeply into those green eyes of hers. Jesus continued to stare into her eyes for several long moments until Myne began to express her discomfort.
"Umm... Shield Hero? I-is something wrong?"
Jesus returned his attention back to her and brought a hand up to her forehead. Before Myne could open her mouth to say something, Jesus said-
"Leave the body of this girl, demon."
Myne's eyes went wide from surprise then suddenly they rolled back as her mouth opened wide. Her body began to expel a bright purple light as an inhuman scream shot out of her mouth and screeched out into the surrounding air. As the purple light faded, Myne's eyelids fell half-shut and her body began to tip towards Jesus. Spreading his arms out, Jesus catches the unconscious body of the Princess and gently cradles her between his arms.
"Your body is once again yours, little one," The Nazarite whispered, lifting a hand to gently shut her open eyelids which revealed the white of her eyes. Kneeling down, Jesus carefully laid her body against the stone wall of the stairs, leaving her there for the guards to later find her unconscious body.
xxx
16 year old Thomas pushed past the bodies of people through the crowded streets of the market, carrying with both arms a heavy basket filled with fruits to deliver to the vendor he worked for. Everyday he pushed himself to do several jobs for multiple shop owners just so that he could earn enough money from all the meager pay combined to make ends meet for him and his mother and little sister.
"Scuse me," Thomas said as he gently pushed past a mother carrying a basket of eggs over her head, dragging a whining child behind her.
Thomas felt the sweat drip down his body as he half ran through the narrow path through the market filled with tons of people. It wasn't usually as crowded as this, but from what he heard from the gossip of the men at the bar he found himself hanging by every now and then, the King and his court was supposed to summon the cardinal heroes someday around this week. Which probably explained the arrival of dozens of people from outside the country.
He remembered when his mother used to tell him stories of the four cardinal heroes when he and his sister were still young children. How the four of them were these powerful deities summoned from another world, and how they were tasked to save them all from the apocalyptical waves and put an end to them. He remembered those times when she told them all kinds of stories like those, when mother was still happy. But ever since their father had died in the army repelling the 2nd wave, they've been hit with several overpriced taxes and unpaid debts their father had owed.
Ever since that day, they had to sell their house and plenty of heir belongings just to pay half of the debts and taxes thrown at them by greedy individuals seeing their weakness as an opportunity. Now mother had to resort to working as a maid in a small Inn while his younger sister worked for a woman running a clothing shop. As for Thomas, he had to work several times harder than the girls, since his father had taught him to take up the burden and be the man of the house, despite growing up in a female-dominant country, his father had beliefs that men should take the burden when it came to manual labor. There were even times when he just considered joining the army for higher pay just like his father once was, but with the waves getting stronger, he doubted he'd survive long enough to bring his family out of debt. And if he died, who would be there to support his family?
He arrived shortly later at the stall of an old man who ran the fruit stall he worked for. The old man noticed him from the corner of his eye, raising a hand to wave at him as he acknowledged his arrival.
"Ah Thomas, you're here!"
"Here's the fruits you ordered from Missus Dorslie Old man," Thomas said, placing the basket of fruits down on one of the tables in the stall.
"Thanks young'un," The old man said with a toothy smile, walking over to examine the insides of the basket and the fruits. "I knew I didn't make a mistake hiring you to help my old back out."
"It's no problem," Thomas said through winded breaths, bringing his hands up to rest them on his hips.
The old man went back over to his stall and open a small chest, scooping up a handful of bronze coins and handing it over to Thomas.
Thomas looks down at the amount of coins dropped onto his hands by the old man, his mouth going open with surprise. "O-oh, what? U-uh old man, this is a little too much don't you think?"
The old man pressed Thomas's palms shut and gave him a small smile. "Don't worries, some rich guy bought a whole crate of expensive fruits from me and decided to give me the change when I didn't have anything to give him change with. And besides, I know the crap that's been going around in your family. I knew your father back then for the three heroes sake! It's the least I could do to help you folks out."
Thomas continued to look at the coins, carefully weighing them in his hands. "I-I don't know what to say... Uh thank you!"
The old man shakes his head. "It's no big deal, now go on and scram before I change my mind. You've got several other jobs to do right?"
Thomas nods, remembering his job with one of the local merchants. "Oh yeah, uhm. Thanks again!"
Thomas pulled out his pouch and tucked in the handful of bronze coins into it along with the rest of the other coins he had earned for that day. Pocketing the pouch, Thomas starts down the street into the sea of people. squeezing past the sweaty bodies as he hurried his pace to get to his next job. His next boss wasn't exactly the nicest man in the country.
Slipping through the crowd, Thomas rounded a corner and headed towards the central square where his next boss, a merchant who owned a rather large cart, waited for him to fetch the usual strange package from one of his dealers usually hanging around the edges of the town. He always wondered what were in those packages, but he never dared to check, worried that his boss would notice and publicly punish him like he did with his demi-human slaves.
Thomas arrived at the central square, spotting the large red caravan painted with golden arching lines sitting by its usual spot next to the fountain. Thomas took a deep breath and made his way towards the caravan, straightening himself up on the way.
Pushing past a small crowd surrounding and fiddling with the exotic trinkets sold by the caravan, Thomas walked up to the tall and plump figure of his boss dressed in a white coat and a blue bow. His curly brown hair was tucked underneath a small white top hat and his jewelry covered hand scratched at his beard as he conversed with a customer who was arguing with him on a price for a gold necklace.
"Look, I'll pay you 15 silver for this and no more," Argued the customer, angrily gesturing towards the golden necklace the merchant was holding.
"I already told you, this necklace came from a group of traders from overseas and is made from some rare minerals. 50 silver is my only and final offer, take it or leave it."
"Are you serious? From 45 to 50? Go to hell you piece of arse ass!" The customer cursed at him, turning away and disappearing into the crowd.
"Cheap bastards," The merchant spat, turning around just to see Thomas awkwardly standing there in front of him, waiting. "Ah, fetcher boy, it's about time you got here. I've ordered a package of some trinkets from Mr. Locke, you know him, the guy I sent you to a few weeks ago, anyways, go fetch the two packages he's got for me and be back in a snap. Less you want me giving your 20 copper to one of these filthy bastards."
The merchant barely turned his head as he scowled at a young demi-human boy who had black feathers like a bird. The demi-human slave yelped as he was kicked at his frail legs by the merchant, falling onto the floor as he spilled the tray of colorful rocks he was carrying.
Boiling red from rage, the merchant began screaming at the frightened demi-human slave, spit flying out of his mouth as he yelled out orders to the demi-human to pick the spilled rocks up.
Wanting to get away before his boss suddenly turned on him and began yelling, Thomas quickly slithered out of the caravan and made his way through the crowd, urging his sore legs to move faster and get to his destination quick in the amount of time his boss normally preferred.
Humming to himself a tune he overheard from a blind musician sitting on the corner of the street once a few days back, Thomas patted the silver he had received from the old man on his pocket, making sure it was still there.
Within a few minutes of racewalking down the crowded streets, Thomas finally arrived at the edge of the town where Mr. Locke's shop was located at. Scanning the custom made signs hanging above the doors of each shop, Thomas notices the familiar symbol of a fishlike-bird creature with the words: 'Locke's Exotic Items' written on the wooden board.
Thomas pushed open the door into Locke's shop and was greeted by the ring of a bell.
"Who izzit?" Called a voice from behind the shop.
"It's Thomas, sir! Mr. Callahan sent me here to fetch some kind of package!"
"Oh, it'z you. Alright alright, hold up!"
Thomas stood by the entrance looking dull as he waited for the shop owner to hurry it up with whatever he was doing. He heard some clanging of items and some loud rummaging coming from the back, accompanied by some loud whispered curses coming from Mr. Locke himself.
Thomas decided to look around as he waited, picking up a strange looking amulet from a plate of assorted colored gems that all seemed to glimmer under the sun's rays from the shop's front windows.
"Who said you can touch shit boy?" The voice of Mr. Locke growled, startling Thomas who haltingly placed back the amulet among the other colorful stones.
"Erm, sorry Mr. Locke..."
Locke rolled his eyes, producing a neatly covered up box tied with rope and then handing it to Thomas who carefully took it into his hands.
"You drop it, I ain't paying for it," Growled Locke at Thomas. "And tell Callahan he owes me double next week, including the crap that costs."
"Righty then Mr. Locke, pleasure chatting with you," Thomas said in a sarcastic tone. Before Locke could say anything else, Thomas quickly pushed open the shop door and raced outside, making sure to be careful with the box he carried between his arms, pointing the box away from the bodies of the people he passed.
As he reached a corner he recognized was near Mr. Callahan's caravan, something small roughly bumped against Thomas, nearly knocking him down onto his knees as the short figure squeezed it's way through the crowd and away from him.
"Hey! Watch where you're going you stupid idiot!" Thomas called, adjusting his grip on the box and steadying his legs.
Instinctively he reached down onto his pocket to check on his pouch of coins. He patted the pocket where he had slipped the pouch into, realizing with wide eyes that it had gone.
"Oh... fuck..." Thomas hissed, bolting towards the direction he last saw the short figure go into, pushing past the crowd who yelled and cursed at him as a sudden feeling of panic began to fill his throat.
xxx
"Hey, why do you reckon the Princess chose the Shield Hero? I thought the King hated him?" Muttered a guard to his companion as they patrolled around within the walls of the castle.
"I have no idea, you think he put her into some kind of spell?"
"Impossible, they're still at level 1. I doubt he could've done it if he wanted to."
"Yeah, but it's the Shield Demon, ye know what he's capable of. Trickery and dark magic..." The guard shuddered, readjusting his hold on his spear.
They rounded a corner turning up to the castle's large double oak doors.
"Well, as long as the other three heroes are nearby, I think she's safe for now."
"Don't you think it's kind of... I don't know, ignorant of the King not to send a guard to tail them?"
"He probably didn't want to get the Shield Demon to know that he's already suspicious of him. Least, that's what I think."
The two guards turned up to a flight of stairs leading towards the castle's stables which was right next to a small stream and the 2nd entrance leading to the market.
"Hey, someone's sleeping here..." One of the guards murmured, jerking the butt of his spear towards a figure laying down on the ground at the bottom of the staircase, the body masked by the shadow of the bridge on top of it.
"Damn hobos... c'mon."
The two guards went down the flight of stairs, ready to kick the intruding loiter out when they got closer.
"Hey- oh God..."
Laying down on the dusty floor unconscious was the Princess.
"W-what- he-hey!" One of the guards exclaimed, his eyes darting around the path and searching for somebody suspicious, particularly the Shield Hero. "What did you do to her?!"
"S-shit-" The other guard cursed, squatting down next to the Princess and grabbing hold of her shoulders, attempting to gently wake her up. He turns to the other guard who was scanning around the pathway down the stairs, his spear poking into the shadows as he yelled out into it. "Hey! You stay here, I-I'll get help!"
"Hurry it up!" The guard snapped back.
Moments later, dozens of guards came running down the stairs, followed by a few castle helpers and a lone adviser.
"Princess!" The adviser yelled, bringing a shaking hand up to his mouth. "W-who could've done this?"
"Quickly, carry her back into the castle!" A One of the Captains barked at his men, waving his arm wildly at them as they scrambled to lift Malty up. "Make sure to alert the King and send word to the local Priests to check if the Shield Demon put some kind of spell on her!"
He whipped his head towards one of his men, jabbing a finger at his plated chest. "Call to arms the others, we're finding that damn Shield Demon!"
xxx
Jesus found himself walking through the crowded streets of the town's market. Large lizard-like mounts marched by, carrying with them human riders as they pulled along behind them large carts filled with exotic looking fruits behind them. Although most of the crowd were humans, Jesus took notice of a few people with strange looking ears and tails sticking out from their backs just above their rears.
Finding to his bewilderment, were a handful of people dressed in robes performing every sorts of bizarre magic ranging from conjuring flames in a black cauldron or producing items from the palm of their hands with a few waves finished by a glow of blue light.
Curious, Jesus quietly walked up behind a crowd of onlookers watching one of these miracle-performers play with fire and water, using some kind of blue colored gem wrapped around each of the palm of his hand to direct the water and flames into a cauldron in front of him, producing a purplish mist to puff out as the flames and water mixed into the cauldron with a low rumble. The miracle-performer then lifted his hand, causing several warm looking pastries to hover out of the cauldron and spin around on top of it lazily, as the crowd of onlookers applauded the miracle-performer who bowed.
Intrigued, Jesus turned away from the performance and continued down the market, taking into account everything he saw before him. At moments like these, he'd expect Peter, Matthew, Thomas or even Philip to pipe up and talk to him. But the thought of his missing friends made Jesus feel a small feeling of loneliness in his heart. After spending years with them travelling around Israel and spreading the word of his father, he had to admit, deep down in his heart, he felt a longing feeling of wishing that they were here. True, he knew that he would one day see them when they joined him in Heaven, but considering the elephant in the room, Jesus had no idea why his father had placed him in this strange, alternate world in the first place, and he had no idea how long he would be staying here in the first place.
Then it occurred to him, that his mission on Earth was left incomplete. He still had yet to show himself to his disciples, his friends, and reassure them of everything. He had still yet to encourage them to continue on spreading the goodness he had taught them. Yet, he didn't know why he was here in the first place.
For the first time, Jesus felt confused, almost lost. His father had not told him of any of this beforehand. Of course, before he had descended down to Earth, his father had prepared him, made sure he was raised among humans with a human mother and father to take care of him, but this... this was different.
In the middle of his thinking, Jesus found himself glancing at the strange bird-like and reptilian creatures pulling on the wooden carts, replacing the role he'd usually find horses, camels, donkeys or even elephants occasionally filling in the role. He glanced towards the animal like people with humanoid bodies, carrying around baskets of fruit and going about their chores, never before had he seen people like this in the surface world. Though his father's angels would beg to differ this was a different story when comparing the kingdom of heaven to the mortal world below. And the miracle-performers. The people who could produce magic and give perform miracles at will. Back in Earth, only he and a handful of humans could do such thing, but here it appeared it was a norm.
Could this world have been an alternate world that his father had created to see if providing his people with the powers of creation would make them better? But from what he could tell, he had yet to see.
Strolling down the market place, Jesus continued to ponder on his father's plans, his confusion turning to wonder. What did his father want him to do? This world seemed to possess people capable of performing miracles of their own, so what was his purpose in this world? He still isn't sure what their views on religion are on this world, but perhaps with the presence of their own miracle-performers, they've grown away from his father and so his father had sent him here to convert them once more?
Then he remembered. Lifting up his right arm to examine the strange object attached to it, Jesus gently stroked the cold metal plate with his left hand, seeing the golden orb in it's center twinkle at him. Curious, Jesus gently knocked on the plate, wondering what in the world it was. He remembered that the King had referred to him as the "Shield Hero" so he gathered that the object on his arm was a shield. But it seemed rather small for a shield, especially growing up on Earth seeing the Romans parading around their large rectangular shields. But he still couldn't get over the fact that this shield, it was really small, barely covering his arm.
Careful not to bump into anyone as he continued to examine the shield, Jesus raised a finger to poke the green orb, and to his surprise, his finger sunk down into the solid looking object. He felt a strange sensation wrap around his finger as he had inserted it into the orb, like dipping into cool, slimy lake that swirled around your finger, gently trying to drag you in. Perplexed, Jesus pulled out his finger, eyeing the shield with even more curiosity as he looked it over once more. He would have to examine it more carefully later.
Continuing down the crowded road, Jesus decided that he would find a place to rest first before deciding to explore the town a bit more.
Then a loud commotion from up ahead the sea of people pulled him out of his attention. Looking up, Jesus saw the startled crowd part away to a small figure who came hurtling towards his way.
Catching a glimpse of the figure's face as he turned around to face ahead, Jesus saw the face of a young redheaded boy with a frightened expression come charging towards him.
Taken by surprise, Jesus rose both his hands instinctively just as the child took notice of him standing in his way. Then with a loud clang, the child slammed face-first onto Jesus's shield, falling onto his back knocked out cold.
Momentarily surprised, Jesus immediately knelt down next to the child, gently clutching the child's shoulders as he tried to see if the child would stir. He then raised a hand towards his throat, feeling the gentle movement his skin made as he breathed.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Jesus finally took notice of the child's features. He wore old dirtied clothes that could be considered as rags, and his pale skin was covered by dirt and a few stains of dried blood. Jesus noticed several whip marks running down across his wrists, indicating that the child was abused. Jesus frowned, taking note that the child looked to be only around 13 or 14.
"Hey!" A voice suddenly called.
Jesus looked up to see a much older boy come running out of the crowd, breathing heavily and having a scowl on his face as he eyed the unconscious child held in Jesus's hands.
"Hey..." -He panted- "Does... does he have a pouch with him? That kid stole from me!"
Jesus looked down at the child, seeing a small pouch still clutched between his hands. Jesus looked up at the older boy and nodded, lowering the child and gently prying off the pouch from his hands. Standing up, Jesus faced the older boy, his shield glistening under the sun's rays.
The older boys tired eyes grew wide from surprise seeing the legendary weapon attached to the man's right arm.
"Sh-shield h-hero?" He stammered, eyeing Jesus with uncertainty in his eyes.
The startled crowd stood to watch as one of the four cardinal heroes stood before them, carrying a blank expression with him as he looked over the older boy with his golden brown eyes.
"This child stole from you?" Jesus asked the older boy, his tone carrying no hint of curiosity, instead it sounded more like he was probing him.
Thomas has heard of the Shield Hero from his friends and some of the people he worked for. Most've them told him the Shield Hero was a manipulative, sly and beast of a person, said to embody the soul of a demon. There were even rumors that the Shield Hero was supposed to bring the end of mankind, like one of the previous Shield Heroes before this one had done, raising an army of demi-humans to slaughter countless of innocent human lives all for his own pleasure.
And here he was, standing before him was none other than the Shield Hero himself, the next one after countless of Shield Heroes before him. Although this Shield Hero looked plain and rather frail, he knew that under that guise was somebody who could arrange for his death and suffering with the help of the rumored demon residing within him.
Taking a gulp, Thomas nodded, answering with a rather lame "yes."
Jesus nodded, handing Thomas the pouch of coins which he took rather quickly. But before he could turn and leave, the Shield Hero asked him another question.
"What is your name?"
Eyeing the Shield Hero with unease, Thomas replied by giving him his name.
"Thomas..."
"I see," Jesus said, then muttering "rather similar to the names back in Earth some of the Romans had... perhaps this world isn't too different..."
Thomas gulped, unsure whether he should leave already or not. Then feeling the weight of the package he was supposed to bring to Sir Callahan. Remembering he was late.
Jesus noticed that the boy name Thomas was attempting to slip away, suddenly having an urgent look on his face. Before Jesus could raise his voice the question the boy where he was going, a voice whispered into his mind everything he needed to know. Feeling that his father had plans for this boy, Jesus walked up to him and gently held his shoulder.
"It's okay, there are plans ahead for you that greatly outweighs those've what Callahan has for you."
Thomas held his breath, looking over at Jesus with wide eyes. "H-how did you-"
Jesus didn't answer him, instead, he gestured towards the body of the unconscious boy. "First, if you would like to, please help me carry this boy to your home. He isn't well."
Thomas heart sank upon those words. For sure Callahan would rage at the fact Thomas didn't show up, especially when he had the package that he's been waiting for for weeks. But then, he felt the gentle grip of the Shield Hero and for some reason... he felt suddenly lighter, as if some kind of feeling of ease was being transferred into him. Yet, his mind wavered, this man was a stranger after all, and... he's the Shield Hero for fucks sake!
Thomas looked up at Jesus and stared into his warm golden brown eyes. "I-I don't know... Sir Callahan-"
"Do you enjoy working for Sir Callahan, Thomas?"
For some reason, Thomas wanted to tell the truth. "Well... no..."
Giving him a smile, Jesus stepped back and spoke. "Thomas, I know we have just met but something tells me... there's more to you than being an errand boy. But of course, your future is determined by you."
And just like that, Jesus turns around and walks back over to the unconscious boy, kneeling down to pick him up and carry him between his arms.
Thomas just stood there, dumbfounded. How the hell did the Shield Hero know about Sir Callahan? And why did he talk to him... like that? He felt strange, confused on what to do. This strange man had just asked him if he would be so kind to carry that thieving brat back to his home? Just what kind of request was that? But then, he couldn't explain why, but a small part of him told him to go and just do it.
Then, remembering the gentle touch the Shield Hero had given him when he held his shoulder, a memory came shooting back into his head from so long ago, a memory he thought he had forgotten he had.
He was with mother and father back in their old house, father was retelling him of his adventures in the army as mother sat by the corner, listening in as she cradled his baby sister to sleep. His father was in the middle of telling him of the time when they were fighting a group of demihumans who were resisting the Kingdom and were raiding farms and villages, killing the people who lived there.
"-And so, the King sent the General and us to go and find these demihumans and show them that they don't mess with us humans," his father said, staring at the fire burning in the room.
"When we finally found their hideout after saving a couple of villages from a couple of their raids, we starved them out then went in for the kill."
Then his father smiled, his eyes looking misty as he stared at his son. "Yet, I remember it, clear as day. I was leading my men around the camp in search of any prisoners or survivors then we saw it- a wounded old man carrying along with him a wounded demihuman woman. The old guy had broken chains locked around his wrists so we knew he was a prisoner. When we got to the guy, he kept telling us to help that demihuman, said that she saved his family during one of their raids, and now he felt that he should help her."
There was a moment of silence before his father continued. "One of my men asked him why save her? Their people fucking murdered our people, tied them up onto some logs and- hurt them... destroyed so many families... then he just said, he did it to stop all the hate, to try and do some good in the middle of the storm. Then he died right on the spot."
Thomas stared at his father, seeing that wondering look on his face he got whenever he was confused and looking for an answer. "What happened to that demihuman papa?"
"Apparently she was pregnant, so I think she gave birth or something... I honestly don't know what happened to her... though maybe she became a- ah forget it."
His father stood up, scratching his beard. "I'll just tell you some tomorrow, kids like you need their sleep."
"Papa," Thomas suddenly piped up as his father turned. "If you were that old man and somebody who was our enemy saved us, would you... help them?"
Thomas's father turned to stare at him. "Yeah... I guess... probably. Though, I guess we should try and love our enemies some more..."
"Though, I doubt we'd want to anyway," His father muttered under his breath, leaving the room as Thomas stared after him.
Thomas's memory faded a he returned to stare at the Shield Hero carrying the unconscious boy, walking towards him with a blank expression on his face. His golden brown eyes watching him, asking him.
But, that boy stole from him... he didn't save anybody like that demihuman in his father's story. Why should he saved somebody who did him wrong? Yet, it seemed at that moment, something opened his eyes, revealing to him the scars on the unconscious boys wrists. He knew those scars didn't just come out of nowhere, they came from somebody who hurt him.
"Okay..." Thomas said under his breath, walking over to the Shield Hero and helping him with the unconscious boy.
Jesus stared at Thomas and nodded, transferring half the weight of the boy's unconscious body to him. Together, the two of them went down the road, silently watched by the crowd of people.
"Our house is this way," Thomas said, raising a free hand to point towards the direction of his home. Jesus remained silent as he followed the direction Thomas led them to. As the crowd of people eyed them curiously, Jesus found this situation rather similar to the time he carried the cross towards his supposed death, accompanied by Simon of Cyrene, who helped him carry his cross. The only difference was, he wasn't being whipped by angry Roman soldiers and yelled at by a jeering crowd.
They arrived at the door of Thomas's home a short while after, the home appearing old and beaten and hidden amongst the other old homes in this clearly poor street.
Thomas knocked at the door, announcing that he was home as he waited for a response. The door clicked open as a woman who appeared to be around her late 20s appeared at the door, she had long brunette hair and had a tired expression her face as she looked Thomas over, then finally noticing Jesus and the unconscious boy they carried, looked momentarily confused.
"What- Thomas! Who are these people-"
Thomas gulped, having never occured to him what he would tell his mother when he showed up with these two at their front door.
"Uhh... this boy is hurt mama. W-we have to help him."
"Hurt? What?! A-and, who is this?" She exclaimed, turning to face Jesus.
"He's the Shield Hero... mother."
"S-shield Hero?!" His mother exclaimed, stepping back and eyeing Jesus with fright in her eyes.
"Yes mother-"
Uncaring that Jesus overheard her, Thomas's mother eyed him when a furious look. "Thomas! Aren't you listening to the rumors?! That Shield Demon is evil and all the past Shield Demons before him! Don't you know of all the demihuman uprisings they've caused and all the deaths-"
"Excuse me," Jesus suddenly interrupted her, disturbed by the information he's hearing. "But I can assure you, I am not a servant of evil-"
Thomas groaned. "Mama, he's not a demon! I thought so at first too but he hasn't killed anyone at all!"
"What's happening?" The voice of a girl suddenly piped up. A young girl who looked to be around 12 popped up behind her mother's back, eyeing Thomas and Jesus with curious eyes.
Thomas's mother gulped. "Still! How can you be sure that-"
"He helped me get our silver back mama!" -Thomas exclaimed- "And this thieving little runt is the one who stole it from me! But he's hurt and now we've got to help him."
"What?!" Their mother exclaimed, sounding even more furious and confused. "First you brought in the Shield Demon and now you've brought a theif into our house! Thomas! You know we are already-"
"For the last time mama! He isn't a demon! And this kid's been abused! Look!"
Thomas adjusted his hold on the unconscious child and pointed at the scars on the child's wrists.
"Oh my-" His mother whispered, bringing both hands up to her mouth. Eyeing Jesus with unease, she turned back to the girl behind her. "Alright Sofia, can you go and clear over the bed, we'll lay him down over there.
Without protest, Sofia runs off into the house to go and fix up the bed.
Thomas's mother stepped aside as Thomas and Jesus stepped into the house, carrying along with them the unconscious boy.
Sofia emerged from the room, gesturing them over. Thomas led the way as they both carried the boy towards the bed, laying him down gently and stepping back.
"Is he sick?" Sofia asked, turning to face Thomas who shook his head.
"No, he's just unconscious. Shield Hero knocked him out with his Shield."
"He crashed into it," Jesus corrected, saying nothing more.
Sofia shrugged, turning and leaving the room leaving both Jesus and Thomas alone. Bothered by what he heard awhile ago from Thomas's mother.
"Thomas... about what your mother said. Is it true that the Shield Heroes before me were... evil?"
Thomas turned to face Jesus with an unsure expression. "Erm... yeah, they are true."
Jesus nodded, understanding why his father had put him in those role.
"Another challenge from father," Jesus thought to himself, breathing a deep sigh.
"But, you aren't like that... right?"
Jesus looked up at Thomas, seeing the faith in his eyes and nodding. "I swear to you Thomas and on my name, I am no messenger of evil."
"Your name..." Thomas mumbled. "Do you mind if I ask, but what is your name Shield Hero sir? I never got it."
Jesus smiled at him. "My name is Jesus but you may call me Teacher."
"Teacher?" Thomas repeated.
Jesus smiled at him and gestured towards the living room. "Let us go and see your family, this boy needs his rest."
Nodding, Thomas follows Jesus out into the living room where his sister sat quietly and his mother paced back and forth, muttering. She then looked up and eyed Thomas, pointing at him. "Aren't you supposed to be at work? What happened?!"
Thomas's heart dropped at the mention of this. "Erm, yes but-"
"But?! But what?! Thomas, you already know we're behind our payments! We can barely afford this house and sooner or later we'll be kicked out of it! And we can barely eat Thomas! So why?" Tears streamed down her eyes as she burst out crying, she turned into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Thomas merely sighed, looking glumly down onto his old beaten shoes.
"Thomas," Jesus said. "Gather all the sacks you can find, small, large any size."
Thomas looked up at Jesus with a confused expression on his face. "Excuse me... what?"
Jesus held Thomas's gaze firmly, nodding at him. "Do you have faith in me Thomas?"
"W-what?" Thomas said, looking at his sister in confusion then back at Jesus. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand."
"Gather the sacks Thomas, I shall help you."
Confused beyond bewilderment, Thomas found himself obeying. He looked around the house, gathering up all the sacks he could find and bringing them to the living room where everyone else was at. Every time he went to leave the room to search for more sacks, he would catch his sister's eyes and she would shrug back at him, looking as confused as he was. Once he had found all the sacks they had in their small house, Jesus knelt down next to the pile of sacks and looked up at Thomas.
"Gather a piece of trash for each sack you have brought me."
Thomas stared at Jesus, dumbfounded. "I'm sorry Shield- erm teacher but this all sounds absurd! You made me gather all these sacks and now you want me to go hunting for trash?"
But Jesus just stared at him and said. "Thomas, believe in me."
Throwing another exasperated look towards his sister, Thomas went over to the kitchen and swung open the door leading outside, where they dump most've their trash at. Grabbing a handful with mild disgust, He went back into the house and dumped the trash right next to the pile of sacks.
"Now what?" Thomas said to Jesus, getting a bit annoyed.
"Take only one piece of trash and put it inside the sack. If there are any leftovers of trash, burn it."
Thomas didn't know why, but he obliged. He strangely wanted to find out what the Shield Hero had in mind. Why the hell was he making him put trash in sacks anyway? There must be a reason.
Once he was done sorting the trash into the bags, he went and scooped up the remaining trash and threw it outside, returning into the kitchen to grab a match and set the trash on fire. Upon returning to the living room, Jesus was kneeling over the sacks, muttering something under his breath.
"Now what?" Thomas asked. But before he could get an answer from Jesus, his mother came out of the room.
Noticing the pile of sacks on the floor, she stared at Jesus and then at Thomas with a look of bewilderment in her eyes. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Erm..." Thomas started, but could not come up with and explanation.
Not waiting for an explanation, she stomped over towards the pile of sacks and seized one, opening it up to look inside.
"Why the hell did you put trash inside?!" She bellowed, looking angry.
"I... ah-um..." Thomas stammered, unsure what to say.
"I asked him to have it put there," Jesus told Thomas's mother calmly.
"You!" She snapped, pointing outside her door and screaming. "Out! I don't want no Shield Demon staying in my house! Making my children do strange things and putting trash into sacks! Get lost you spawn of hell!"
Jesus calmly stood up, quietly walking towards the door and opening it. Casting one last glance at Thomas who looked at him helplessly, he left the house, shutting the door behind him with a low thud.
There was a long moment of silence as the family stood there, staring at the pile of sacks in the living room.
"I'm sorry," their mother whispered, tears once again filling her eyes. "It's been so hard..."
"It's okay mama," Thomas said, sighing. "But... what about the other kid-"
"I know it seems harsh, seeing that he was abused. But we can barely keep ourselves alive too. let alone manage another child... I'm sorry but we'll have to send him out as soon as he wakes-"
"H-hey guys, look!" Sofia stammered, staring at the pile of sacks in shock as they began to grow fatter, expanding as the sound of metal stacking on top of each other sounded from within the piles of sacks. Then, silver coins began spilling from the top of the bags and onto the floor as the family stared at it in shock.
There was a long moment of silence as they stared at the once flat pile of sacks that lay on the floor which were now overfilled with silver coins.
Finally, their mother found herself able to move, she kneeled down onto the floor and picked up a coin, examining it.
"Oh my God..." She whispered, her voice shaking. "They're real..."
She looked up at both her kids who stared back at her with wide eyes. Then, as reality sunk in, they managed to smile, then they began to laugh. Soon, they found themselves running to each other and taking each other into long embraces, tears running down their eyes as they cried with tears of joy.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! This is more than enough to pay of the taxes and debt!" their mother cried, tears running down her eyes as she sobbed with joy.
"We can finally have good food and buy our house back!" Sofia cried, falling onto the pile of coins with a laugh, tears in her eyes.
Thomas couldn't stop himself from grinning. He couldn't believe it! Who would've thought-
"The Shield Hero!" Thomas exclaimed, looking at his sister and mother. "We have to thank him!"
Their mother clasped their mouth in realization. "And I called him a demon and sent him out our house... oh no... Thomas! Please find him! I have to apologize and... and... thank him!"
Thomas turned and swung open the door, running outside as he looked both ways down the road in search of the Shield Hero.
"Shield Hero!" He called, bolting towards the way that led back to the main square. "Shield Hero! Jesus! Teacher!"
Thomas continued running, calling out for the Shield Hero as passerbys gave him a strange and disgusted look.
xxx
Jesus walked down the road, past the oblivious crowd as he was deep in thought. The fact that people stared at him in disgust for no apparent reason finally made sense to him after Thomas had revealed to him that the previous Shield owners were apparently evil. He remembered how Thomas's mother had called him a demon from fright, immediately assuming he was evil because of the actions the previous owners had executed before his time.
But he didn't blame her. She was scared, they were all scared. They believed that there was a demon residing within him, ready to command him to kill them all and start another war. Yet, remembering what the King said, there were already monsters invading their world. And as he had experienced with the Princess, there was already a powerful demon controlling her, perhaps there are more within other people, and those people are oblivious to what resides within them.
Jesus raised his shield, examining it and feeling a faint sense of evil within it, asleep but awaiting for him to wake it.
If only he could remove this Shield, he would've done so. But for some reason he can't. No matter how hard he pushed and tugged on it, it won't come off. It was this same shield, that has slaughtered millions before him, this same shield that made its previous owners think that what they were doing was right by stirring into violence a peaceful country into waging a brutal war towards their neighboring country consisting of humans.
This world is built on fun, and behind that fun is cruelty. It's Earth all over again, only this time, a different evil torments its people. And from what he knows, that evil residing within the Princess has a name. And now that evil is aware of his presence.
"Medea," Jesus whispered, looking up into the sky.
His father once again wants him to save the world. Only this time, it isn't just sin. He feels an army is approaching, much larger than the waves these people worry about, an army of sin. Armageddon is coming to this world much sooner than expected, and his father has sent him to put a stop to it.
"Halt!"
Jesus was pulled away from his thoughts as he looked up, seeing a large formation of armored guards blocking his path, weapons drawn. Looking around, he was completely surrounded, all he could see from everywhere he turned were armored soldiers, men and women alike, who each held a look of anger and fear, and all of those emotions were pointed towards him.
Then one tall man emerged from the huddled formation of soldiers, the captain most likely. He drew his blade and pointed it towards Jesus's neck, a gesture he was used to being greeted by.
The guard spat at him, poking his sword deeper at Jesus's neck and growling. "Shield Demon, you are under arrest for attacking the Princess."
2nd Authors Note- Well, thanks you guys for being so patient with this story. I'm really sorry for taking so long, this is my first fic and the sudden amount of followers really put the pressure up. I wasn't sure what to do, there were times I got bored with the fic and times where I didn't know what Jesus would do. Like, I'm not sure what Jesus would do about monsters attacking people and humans enslaving demihumans, since it isn't talked about much in the bible. So I have to result into soul searching and going through Christian sites for stuff like this. But now, I feel a bit confident on what I'm gonna write since I did a bit of brainstorming how I want the story to end. I might end the story in around 20 chapters considering its Jesus. And I seriously doubt it will drag as long as the original Shield Hero has lasted. I mean, with God and an army of angels supporting you, I think 20 chapters or less should conclude this story. And as some of you pointed out, there is a Bible section apparently for fanfics, I discovered. I've been trying to change this story into a crossover but it won't work. I have to delete my story and reupload it into a crossover and I'm not sure you guys would want that. I guess I'll try making a poll if you guys want and see if you want me to transfer the fic to the crossover section. Also, regarding the first chapter, I am aware that Jesus is still alive for 40 days after his death on the cross. But I'll just say here that since it's pretty much God pulling the strings here, I'm pretty sure he can stop time for an Isekai back in Earth, so just assume the new testament was put on a standstill for now. And also, a couple of you wanted me to add more depth into the first chapter and see some of Jesus's thoughts before death for characterization so I'll get to that next. And also, regarding the fact some of you don't want Jesus being a Mary-sue, I'm doing my best but it's rather difficult. Which is why I made the story 3rd person so I can have both Jesus's and the other characters thoughts so we can see what they're thinking. Since the Bible never showed us what Jesus thought, I'd like to think most of his insecurities are all in his head, where he may sometimes question his father's tasks for him and get frustrated and worried at times. So please spare me the torture guys, I'm really trying my best on my first fic. Anyways, once again, thank you and the next chapter will probably take awhile again since I need to do some more soul searching again. If you guys want to, throw me some ideas in private messaging like some of you did before, those people really helped me push the fic forward when I was stumped on what to write. So can we all get an amen?
Update: So sorry for the delay! I've restarted the chapter because I felt the first creation wasn't as interesting as what I came up with now. I want to make the next chapter really good so please excuse this delay for now! I want to publish this 3rd chapter before the middle of this month, maybe around "March 15-20" (Cancelled again due to me moving houses). Again, so sorry!