"Why is-"
The iron gate squeaks as it's opened.
Aofil walks with a perplexed look across the gravel path. Why is the pastor at their family grave? Is he about to spit on it or something? Why else would he be there?
The pastor tilts his head towards the sound of disturbed gravel, "Ah, Aofil. Welcome."
Aofil's brow sinks further down. Pleasantries? From the pastor? Something is amiss here.
The pastor motions for the nearby bench, "Please, sit with me," he invites with a warm smile.
Definitely amiss.
Aofil sits down next to the pastor, but not within arm's reach. The pastor's head is resting on his knuckles. His eyes are firmly fixed on the graves underneath the large aspen tree. Shadowy leafs dance on the grave as the wind picks up. The pastor folds his frock over his knees to stop it from blowing up. Aofil's grateful for that. They'd rather he'd leave though before he starts convers-
"So, monsters exists."
Oh well...
Aofil blows their lips in a sigh, "Yeah, they do."
"And here I thought they were gone."
"I mean, from what I've read they just came, and then went back. So maybe?"
The pastor scratches his chin while readjusting his back on the bench, "Did you perchance catch any glimpse of them?"
"Not in person, no," Aofil leans back with their arms crossed.
"Are you absolutely sure?"
Aofil looks over to the pastor with an expression furrowed in confusion, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I think I'd know if I saw one. One is a skeleton though, so chances are greater that you've seen them than me."
Aofil regrets the joke as soon as it leaves their lips. The pastor isn't amused, not in the slightest.
"I've just been reading about them in the newspaper," Aofil looks down in shame.
The pastor hangs his eyes on Aofil, running them all across Aofil's face. To no avail, apparently, since he too looks down directly afterward.
"It was front page the day after they apparently emerged," Aofil continues to explain after a short moment, "It has been it for the week too, I guess. To be fair, you have to be blind not to accidentally read the enormous headlines when passing your front door every morning."
"The free one?" the pastor asks with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He looks over to Aofil as if he's accusing them of something.
"Yeah," Aofil shrugs, "Don't really have a reason to unsubscribe from it. Makes for good tinder and white noise in the morning."
"Good tinder during summertime..." the pastor tugs a quick smile, as if he's trying to recover from something, "Fair enough of a reason, I guess."
"Do you have a point," Aofil shifts their eyes over to the pastor, slowly narrowing them as their contempt builds up, "or are you just looking for an opportunity to curse my family again?"
The pastor's smile fades, and he again bends forward with his elbows on his knees and his forehead on his knuckles. He takes an unsteady breath, and mutters a quiet prayer. Aofil's never heard it before, something about colors, and the void. Not that they're perfectly familiar with any and all prayers to begin with, but this one sounds weird...somehow.
"Curse," the pastor mutters, "Curse..." he looks over to Aofil, "Can I ask of you something, Aofil?"
Aofil's not gonna dignify that with an answer.
The pastor doesn't wait for one either, "Make the monsters pay for what they did."
The growl in the pastor's voice causes Aofil to jerk back. They've never heard him with such anger, such hate. The pastor's eyes are burning behind a dark veil that's taken hold over his face, "Promise me, Aofil. Everything."
"W-what did the monsters do?"
The pastor turns around so that his back is facing Aofil. He lifts up his frock, exposing three long and thick scars running the entire length of his back. Three, what looks to be, deep rends. Like three belts, as if the pastor is some kind of commando. They're old scars though, no way could the monsters have done that. They've only been here for a week or so. Not even that since they left almost as quick as they came! How did it heal so quick?
"Is it, is it magic?" Aofil asks with eyes wide as can be, "W-when d-did the monsters do this? They've only been here for a few days, and your scars look old. How did it happen?"
The pastor carefully rolls his frock down over his back again. The extruding scar tissue can be seen through the fabric. For years Aofil thought it was some stuffing or something embedded in his frock. How, when, could the monsters have done it? The monsters haven't been hostile. Hell, they haven't been on the Surface long enough to be hostile. They visited the Town Hall once, and then retreated back towards the mountain. Aofil's seen news vans drive by their house for a couple of days now, and if they strain their eyes, they can almost make out silhouettes of humans up on Mt. Ebott. How the journalists got the equipment up there is beyond Aofil. Unless they found the old passage. How they would do that is even more beyond Aofil, so they're left to ponder.
Even with so many journalists up there word still hasn't trickled down. No monster have even greeted them. So, how and when would they have attacked the pastor? If the free newspaper is to be believed, they've already attacked our way of living. Sure, the newspaper talks about them like the end times, but Aofil's learned to read between the lines, and opposite the lines, with it. Ever since the newspaper published their family's death as an accident, Aofil's not had the heart to unsubscribe from it. They know it's complete trash, but once in a blue moon it was actually right about something.
Perhaps it's time for another blue moon…
"I'll tell you more when the time is right, Aofil."
Aofil just now notices that the pastor has stood up, and is bowing his head down. He turns on his heel before Aofil has time to stand up as well, "What do you mean with that? What happened to your back? Can't you tell me now?"
"No," the pastor looks over his shoulder, "just like how you don't teach kindergartens advanced trigonometry before they learn basic arithmetic. I'm sure you can understand that analogy, Aofil. It all depends on how the monsters act these coming weeks. There's already talk about something in the coming future that may or may not involve you, Aofil. My belief is that you absolutely will be, that there is no may or may not. That's why I'm telling you now to be careful around these monsters. They've been imprisoned by us humans, and there is no telling how they'll take revenge on us because of that. You've already had one close call with them, Aofil."
They have?
"There is also the matter of those who I suspect have had even closer calls with the monsters. Your sibling, for instance."
Aofil snaps their head towards the graves. Have they?
"Not those," the pastor informs with a soft and careful tone, "Your other sibling, from your other family."
"What!" Aofil shakes their head in disbelief, "What the hell are you talking about? My other family?"
"You don't remember, which is for the better. I will share with you more details if, and when, the time comes. Know that it is because of the monsters that you don't remember. Take some time to process what I've said, you are going to need it if you are to hear the rest. There is going to be a trial in the future, Aofil, and I want you on our side."
"Whose side?"
"Humanity's."
"But-"
The pastor puts a hand on Aofil's shoulder, and they immediately tense up. It's the same hand, on the same shoulder, that the pastor used to hold Aofil in place while he screamed in their face, while he cursed them out, while he pointed and scorned their parents. Now his hand feels warm, comforting, almost begging. His face is pleading too. Soft eyes filled with suppressed worry, and fear. The same fear the pastor had way back then, the sliver of humanity Aofil saw midst the rain, sweat, and words of hurt spewed from the mouth that is now smiling earnestly. It was hidden behind hate. Hate which is nowhere to be seen now. It's comforting. How? Aofil doesn't understand. They can only stare at the cheeks wrinkled from the smile.
A smile that's fading into a frown filled with sorrow.
"Forgive me, Aofil. For all I've said."
The pastor's frown turns pained as he feels Aofil's shoulders sink in confusion.
"The words I spoke about you, about your parents. For long I thought they had ties with the monsters. I thought that now that they've returned, that they would seek you out for sanctuary. That you..."
The pastor swallows hard to quell his throat from clogging up. Aofil can only stare, what is going on?
"Aofil, have you met the monsters?" the pastor asks again, tears building up in his eyes, tethering on falling, "Tell me the truth!"
"No, I haven't," Aofil answers again, "I've only read about them in the paper."
The pastor needs a few moments for his newfound reality to sink in. It has caught up with him, and the pain clenches his hands. Aofil doesn't feel him grasping their shoulders though, they're too busy with trying to make sense of it all.
"Then I've let my wound cloud my judgment. My mind is scarred, just like my back. I thought I could leave that faithful day behind me, but still to this day the echoes still ring loud in my head, and pulsate on my back."
The pastor looks over to the graves, but then averts them quickly, as if he's been blinded by the sight of the weathered stones. He inhales deeply, to collect himself, "Aofil," he says with a voice shaking like the leafs on the overhanging aspen twig in the wind, "please forgive my words, and me."
Just like that? Aofil can't really produce an answer. It's all so sudden, so wrapped up in all of the other things the pastor has said. So many strange things, and now he's asking for forgiveness. Aofil can only stare blankly. Their mind can't handle this right now. It's-
"I understand."
What?
The pastor nods, "I understand if you need time, Aofil. I've put a lot on your mind, but know that it is vital that you need to be eased into this. Otherwise you might..."
What?
"Otherwise you might do what I did, and blame humanity for the sins the monsters did."
And with that, the pastor turns around, leaving Aofil standing in pure bewilderment. They can't even reach over and ask the pastor what's happening. Their body is too confused too move. Judging by the sobs, something heavy has been dug up. What does it have to do with Aofil though? And their family?
Once Aofil's mind has settled on some form of temporary plateau, the pastor is already gone. Not many places he could go though, and if Aofil were to make an educated guess, he'd be inside his church.
Aofil has more pressing matters though, and they return their seat onto the bench.
"Been a while, hasn't it?" they ask their family after a quiet minute of solemn thinking.
The aspen shakes gently in the wind.
"Yeah, I've no idea either what he was on about. My other family? Am I adopted?"
The aspen calms down.
"You'd tell me if I was, right? You did it to sister, so why not me? I mean, where else would I've gotten these cheeks if it wasn't from you, mom?"
A gentle scoff from Aofil clears their mind a bit. No way that they're adopted. Never have they met someone else with cheeks like them, or their mom. That's at least something cleared up.
"And my other sibling? What's up with that? Did I have an older sibling that moved away?" Aofil leans forward, "Do I still have an older sibling? Are they..."
The wind is silent.
"Are they still alive? Why didn't they attend the funeral then? Did something happen between you and them, mom? Dad? Both?"
Still silent.
"Surely, neither of you would let them just move away like that? Nothing that bad could've happened that neither of you two could talk them out of it? Are they just sulking in some far away city, not wanting to reconcile? Not even with their own family?"
A gust of wind blows a handful of leafs into Aofil's face. They sigh as it passes by them, and pluck a leaf away from their left cheek by the stem. It kinda looks like a green heart.
"Yeah, sorry. I let my mind race a bit, didn't I? Can you blame me though? After all that the pastor said," Aofil spins the leaf between their thumb and index finger, "I can never get a read on him, you know? Even worse now than before. Me having a close call with the monsters? I didn't even know they existed last week! Jeez. I'd think I'd remember if I ever saw one. Especially like one of those big goat looking monsters. That's not something you forget. Close call too with one? Man, what is the pastor doing in that church? Drinking a bit too much holy water, or taking in the incense a bit too much."
Aofil shakes their head while looking over to the old church at the end of the graveyard., "I mean, how many times did we travel up Ebott, and even to that cave where the monsters supposedly came out of? Never did we see anything. Just jagged rocks. Not even another human!"
The stem snaps in two from Aofil twisting it so much. It's carried away with the wind, and Aofil flicks the stem left in their hand over their shoulder, "Except that gorgeous sunset. Maybe I should run up there. I felt like I wanted it the day the monsters came out, but I couldn't find my running shoes. Found the pair the day after, but by then the monsters were already here, and..."
Aofil rubs their chin while breathing through their clenched teeth, "...I'm not really sure if I really want to meet them. I'm curios what they're planning down there, but it feels kinda, suspicious? Are they hiding something? Like, a plan to kill us all. I don't know. Am I being racist?"
A single twig vibrates gently.
"Why else would they stay down there? If it is their prison, then why wouldn't they want to escape it? Is it the sun? Is it humans? No one knows, and the monsters are not coming up to answer any questions. Maybe they're afraid of us? We did put them there to begin with. That was a long time ago though, and magic isn't used anymore. Did we even know magic? Why would we stop using it then! Everything's just so confusing."
The sound of Aofil smacking their palm against their forehead echoes throughout the otherwise quiet graveyard, "And then the pastor said something about a trial, and me being involved because I had met the monsters before? I just-"
Aofil blows their lips tiredly.
"I don't know."
They lean forward with their hands crossed over their legs, and with their head resting on the cross section, "I wished you were still here. Like I always do. Not a day passes by without me thinking about you. I've tried to keep the house in good shape, but I don't really have the money for it. The silence isn't helping either. You know all of this though. What is it now, the tenth time I've talked about it? Perhaps when it becomes three digits it might feel a bit better, but until then? I hope I'm not bumming you out though. I'm still promising that if something new happens, then you'll be the first to know."
The aspen is disturbed by a powerful breeze.
"I have to let it sink in with me first. Still, sorry I didn't tell you directly about the monsters. Maybe you felt their magic or something? I don't know..."
Aofil sigh competes with the heavy wind dragging itself across the graveyard. It flurries up the aspen. Not a single leaf is left silent, and the collective dance rings loud. More than a few leafs are shaken loose, and fall like enormous and colorful snowflakes, covering the graves, the gravel, and Aofil.
"I don't know."
The leafs slid of Aofil's head, the few that remain are shaken off by Aofil running their hand through their hair.
They look up the mountain, but can't make out if there's people on the plateau or not. The angle is too steep for Aofil to distinguish if it's humans or tops of trees. With the wind swaying the trees Aofil can't even rely on motion to tell them apart.
Their stomach rumbles. They have ways to go back home, so they should probably get a move on before it starts hurting. With a silent grunt they stand up, and brush whatever leaf that might be sticking on them still.
"I need to get going home. I'm still alive, so that means I still have to eat."
The clouds above part ways, letting the sun shine down on the looming mountain. Aofil smile solemnly at it.
"I've always wondered if our house would be in the shadow of Ebott if we were on the other side. You know, where our summer home is? Where our summer house was, maybe. I wonder if it's still standing. Ebott shook pretty violently just before the monsters emerged, so perhaps that shifted the fault underneath the village. Speaking of that, it must've been scary when the measurements came back, right? I was playing around there! The entire ground could've sunk underneath my child weight!"
Aofil scoffs, "You're so irresponsible, mom, dad! Letting your children play on top of a fault line. Jeez."
Aofil's stomach rumbles again. It stings a bit.
"I'll see you later then."
The iron gate squeaks as it's closed.