Chapter 13 - Embodiment
Later that day, I was awakened by the rumbling of the earth. Sleepily, I removed my blanket and stepped out of bed. Something was missing.
On the wall hung my white trenchcoat. Well, at least they took it off for me. It was quite hot in the place. Then, as I turned around, I saw my pants and shirt hung on the wall. With my eyes widening, I turned it the other way. There, I saw my underwear on the wall.
It came to me: I was naked!
Suddenly, the knob on the door began to turn. I took all the knives on the bed table and hurled them at the door, pinning it.
Where the hell was I?
Hastily, I took my clothes and dawned them on me. I took the coat on the wall, but didn't wear it. It was hot, anyway. I decided to just leave it in the compartment I recently discovered in the hoverbike.
I walked to the door and kicked it open. The knives fell to the floor, each landing with a loud, hollow sound. In front of me stood a man with a white piece of cloth bearing ornate designs. He wore nothing on his torso, save for a few necklaces. His body was very buff, bearing a tattoo of David's Star. What was this place? Some kind of pagan tribe?
"Erm…right, you're awake." The man said, still in shock. He was apparently looking at the several knives on the floor.
"Yes. I know that." I replied, "And who are you suppose to be?"
"I am Kuramarael. The high priest instructed me to go and fetch you as soon as you were up. He wants to talk to you."
Then, I remembered what he said the day before, "We'll talk later."
"Yes, of course." I said, as I walked down the stairs, "Oh and next time, please knock."
He put his hand behind his back and put on a very goofy expression as he quickly followed down, leading the way.
As we head for the door, Kuramarael waved at the innkeeper. I just smiled a fake smile when he looked at me. Outside, I was greeted by a blast of bright sunlight.
"By the way," He began, "I hope you weren't disturbed when you found your clothes on the wall. It is our custom."
"Right…"
I looked at the place around me. It was beautiful. Lush, green fields, a clear blue sky. Lots of trees here and there. The houses looked like they had a medieval style. As well as all of the other buildings. The place looked as if the people were living in the middle ages: with kings, knights, castles and whatnots.
Except the castle. There wasn't any.
I turned around to look at the sign.
"The Prayer and the Sword." I read out loud.
Kuramarael turned around and noticed I was still carrying my trenchcoat, saying, "D'you wanna, like, leave that somewhere? It's kinda hard to bring it around everywhere. Especially now in this hot weather."
"Wait, this hot weather…how do you stand it?"
"Umm…hi? It's summer?"
I didn't notice that. Lost track of the date, I guess. And it wasn't noticeable back at Prontera. It was never this hot!
"Uhh…yes. Of course. I knew that." I said, trying desperately to cover up my stupidity. "I'll go put this….somewhere."
I ran to the back of the inn, hoping my hoverbike was there. Thankfully, it was there. I lifted the seat and placed my coat in. Then, I closed the seat and started walking back to Kuramarael.
The town seemed to have nice people. I saw kids playing in their backyards, women happily doing their chores, and the men just hanging out. Then, I found out the cause of the rumblings: Two children were fighting each other….with magic? They must be really good…I never learnt any magic 'til I was fourteen.
A while later, I caught up with Kuramarael. He heaved a sigh, saying, "Can we go now? All set?"
"Yeah, yeah." I replied.
He lead me to a small cottage in the center of the village. Obviously, it was the high priest's place. It was very ornate outside, and was the only house, as far as I could see, that had two floors.
He opened the door and held it out for me. I went in, and he soon followed afterwards, closing the door behind him.
I stared in awe at the house I just entered. It was actually quite bright in here. Windows on each side. Large windows. There was a fireplace at the end of the house, burning fire wood. A wooden spiral staircase led to the second floor, but I dare not investigate further; I'd bet all my money that it had private…things.
Near one of the windows was a small table. A coffee table, perhaps. I looked up at the ceiling. There lay an ornate, chandelier made out of natural crystals.
"Have a seat." He asked, offering me one.
I graciously took it and replied with an equally gracious "Thank you."
"Kura, how bout you?" He asked.
"Kura?" I asked.
"Yes. Kura. Kuramarael. The guy who brought you here."
"Oh! KURA! Yes, of course."
I turned around, just to find him staring at me in an awkward manner. A while later he looked at the high priest and said, "No, father."
"Let me introduce myself. I am Father Rubalkabara."
"F-Father Rubalkabara? I haven't seen you in ages! When was the last time you've been to the Sanctuary?" I said, standing up in shock, "No, wait, I've never seen you…"
"Yes, but I know you, Re. Yosuke told me everything about you."
"So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Why are you here?" He stiffly asked, "You know very well you shouldn't be here."
"Why?"
"Re, if you haven't noticed, this is a pagan tribe! If they found out you were a Christian priest, they'd slaughter you!"
"Then why are you still alive?" I bellowed, standing up, "Why did you denounce your faith to the Lord? Why did you turn away and pledge your loyalty to some pagan deity? Why?" I continued, taking a thick book, containing ancient pagan rituals, "WHY?"
He just stared at me in shame as I breathed in heavily. "You're disgusting! How can you even call yourself a priest? You corrupt—"
"Enough!" He bellowed. "You have sins yourself. "Don't clean others when you haven't yourself!""
"Get to the point!" I was getting irritated at him. Much like the irritation I once felt for Mother Mathilda.
"Your sins….you've committedsome of the seven capital sins, haven't you?" He said.
"Yeah, so?"
He was getting just as annoyed as I was at him. Perfect. "Your sins, Re Suqhawe, are taking a physical form!"
"MY sins? I'm not the only one who commits these sins!"
"But you are the embodiment of the sins! You define "the seven deadly sins"! You take them to a whole new level! Your envy was not just mere envy! Your envy later evolved into murder! What's worse is you don't even repent! Which is why they have taken shape! The angel of lust: Incubus, has just raided our town the days before you arrived! Women have been raped by an unknown being!"
And how do you know this?" I asked.
"God told me, Re Suqhawe. I am the last prophet after several aeons!"
Then I realized the gravity of the situation: What if my gluttony took a physical form? What about my envy? My hatred? "And what am I suppose to do?"
"Cast them out. Exorcise them. Send them back into the abyss." He sternly said.
Just then, we felt another rumbling accompanied by a heat hotter than the one we were currently experiencing.
We ran outside, only to find a group of sorcerers, chanting. And to my surprise, I saw Nadine—and Kaizel on a hoverbike similar to mine. They were being surrounded by other sorcerers wearing clothes similar to Kuramarael's.
I looked up at the sky. A huge meteor was making its way down here. I had to do something.
"Nadine! Get out of there!" I called out to her, ignoring Kaizel completely. Why was he here anyway?
They wouldn't let them, and instead, created a barricade around them. The meteor neared, and they—along with everyone else, would die.
Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me shout, "Lacuna Meteora!". It was Father Rubalkabara's.
Green walls began to emerge, surrounding the city. I could only pray, as the meteor drew closer, that what he just did would be enough.