The boy felt a chill shoot down his spine when a pair of muffled clanks were heard. The sheepish murmuring was inaudible, but not the tender shuffling approaching the door. There was a couple clamps heard on the other side, then more shuffling. Thud? Finally, a couple clicks. He took a few steps back, the priestess almost hugging his arm meanwhile.
Another click.
Squeak.
And the door creaked.
Teresa? A bald elderly priest uttered and peered inside. My goodness, how did you get here? And when?
Then he turned to the boy.
O Theotokos, the priest stammered. Benjamin?
But the boy looked at him with a wide eyed frown.
Where have you been for seventy years? The priest spat euphorically.
Seventy years? The boy parroted and blinked. What art thou you talking about?
You dont remember?
The boy didnt respond for moment but he asked hesitantly. Thou said seventy?
The priest looked at him bittersweetly, no reply except a slight nod. Then it occurred to the boy, a gasp steadily forming on his face.
But I only been away for seven days, the boy exclaimed.
Seven days? Teresa asked with a frown. Pateras, whats going on here?
Why, you dont remember, the priest sighed sadly. You dont remember at all.
He then looked over his shoulder and nodded, where he slowly opened the door, revealing a dozen monks gathered on the andesite steps. Their austere scutums lowered upon seeing Teresa, but their stern expressions distorted into shocked gasps and murmurs when they saw the boy. It only inflamed the frowning and subsequent blinking from the boy, his eyes gently racing around at everyone.
Papadimos, the priest said over his shoulder.
A young adult monk lowered his scutum and bowed curtly before the priest. The elder gestured with his right arm to the boy and for the monk, prompting the latter to gesture the boy to follow. Up the steps and beyond the iron bars was the back of the altar, but when the boy ascended into the sanctuary, a deep inhale entered his throat.
The son of God on a cross, the boy uttered upon seeing the nativity and then apse overhead. Thats...
He stopped and turned to everyone on the steps. Everyone was staring at him when they heard his terrified utterance, the priest looking at him sombrely, which caught the attention of boy and he stared back at him.
You crucified me, the boy oozed with simmering ire. How could you?
We didnt do it, the old man shivered. I swear under His name.
No, you were just a seven year old boy. And the rest of you, you werent even around to see it. Honestly, I am disappointed, not at you and this faith, but your authority. Where is he?
Nobody replied. They were looking at each other repeatedly from his question, but no frowns were on their faces.
Where is he? The boy asked more slowly yet sharply.
He is dead, the priest murmured. But his family lives.
And his children?
Please, dont hurt them. Revenge will only bring you emptiness.
They carry the sins of their fathers. I intent to make them repent. But tour lives are at a stake, and I need to know what we are going up against. Have you performed mass recently?
The priest simply shook his head.
Continue as you were and deliver the service, Pateras. The people need hope, but they will need faith beforetime. As for me? I shalt go up above and assess the situation. I will return in awhile.
He climbed to the bell tower within a few minutes, another featureless wooden door separating him from the gloomy staircase to the battlefield outside. The four Golems were struggling to hold the line, overwhelmed by the zombies and Pillagers, along with skeletons and spiders in between. Creepers were mixed in between but far and few compared to everyone else. Perhaps the worst news of all that attracted his attention was the concentration of Golems in the northward direction. Everywhere else was open. Upon laying some ladders to climb down and then atop the dome, his heart almost completely sank.
So many zombies, the boy uttered. What went so wrong?
He didnt have much to think when his head reflexively leaned back rightward, an arrow narrowly zipping past him. His shovel immediately appeared in his hands and he leaped leftward, the stone head smacking air before a back swing felt bones. Bones? He looked up and saw a skeleton, its bow flying from its hand.
A skeleton on a spider?! The boy exclaimed before poking the overgrown arachnid in the face. Get outta here!
He sent a push kick, but it ended up getting caught by the skeleton. Suddenly, he felt himself lurching forward, but the boy swiftly dug his shovel into the spider, sending himself and the skeleton sliding the dome. Falling stomach first, he lost his grip on the shovel as he grabbed the skeleton by its ankles and climbed atop it, his hands wrapped around his spine whilst the other had his bones wrapped around his head, attempting to push him off. But the ancient human was stronger, prying his left hand on its mandibles and nostrils, ensuring that the skull would slam head first. Then, they slammed onto the roof. Bones exploded all around him upon impact.
Phew, the boy sighed before seeing the dead spider flop upside down beside his right. You just got boned.
He stood and brushed himself off, retrieving his shovel thereafter and returned to the top of the dome. He was almost at the top when he heard a thunderous roar below. The hordes of zombies? Nay. A hauntingly familiar rhinoceros beast suddenly obliterated through their ranks, sending corpses flying all over with a Pillager riding atop. Its head rocked and bobbed everywhere, growling or grunting as it made way for its masters. A Ravager.
But the boy simply stood there, producing his axe and sprinted, valiantly leaping off.
