CHAPTER 29: MAN MADE GOD, PART 4
Children are reliant on their surroundings to fully and properly grow into adulthood, depending on a strong and healthy environment and family to achieve a sense of self and know their own life, so they may form their own future. One of the factors that plays a part in this personal development, in conjunction with society, culture, friends, family, and media, is religion.
Typically, the religious upbringing is what forms many of one's moral code and structure, teaching basic values such as honesty and kindness. Though many of these concepts could be introduced just as easily without any religious overtone, if not more easily, it is nonetheless a tradition that still exists to pass down from parent to child in order to preserve certain norms and ideas.
This process can be used to raise a kind, decent, upstanding citizen, but it can also just as easily be used to create a cold, unforgiving monster.
Relying on archaic texts with unverifiable or debunked historical authenticity combined with fantastical elements is never guaranteed to be the best source for moral values, especially when it comes from a time and society that held radically different beliefs that would no longer hold up in today's day and age, but that has still not stopped many from following the word of these texts exactly as interpreted.
As a result, there rises in these teachings prejudices against those who are different from them and their code in the slightest, ranging from differences visible like gender and race, to differences invisible like sexual orientation to even a basic difference of core moral beliefs.
Out of necessity for a stable environment to grow up in, brewing from the basic instinct for survival that transcends all things that can be considered human, there are few that would question the beliefs being taught to them, and those who would question holding their tongues, all doing so out of fear of what all human beings when their source of shelter and support are in peril:
Rejection.
Deciding to take the route of 'go along to get along', youthful minds once curious about the world and their surroundings squash their own curiosity and sense of wonder simply to protect their own self-interests of staying alive and healthy. Shunning all else around them, they reject the possibility of freedom somewhere else in favor for a prison that traps them in mind and body without a future.
But, even with these bleak facts, there are still a few who would defy the ultimatum presented before them in favor of that freedom, at the cost of all else.
And all else is what they lose as a result, facing the rejection and shunning and disownment that had been lorded over their heads to keep them fearful and obedient. The children who have spent months growing in the bellies of their mothers, cared for unconditionally during that time, find that care taken away and thrown out by the same people who had given them such perfect compassion.
Left without a family and without a future, the youth are pruned from the environment that would see them grow to adulthood, leaving them to wither and die.
In their quest to see Danny Fenton regain his soul, the two souls that helped him achieve this goal and seek his revenge; one living, one dead, but both equally his sisters, the group has encountered two of these unfortunate souls, encountering the two attempting to sell their immature bodies in exchange for cash.
Danielle, having lived a life similar in hardship for much of her own life, took pity on the youths and decided to hire them, but not for the services that they were offering. She instead offered the two a warm meal and a sum of money, all for the price of accompanying her to a place where she claimed the two could have a future.
Vague as the offer had sounded, the children nonetheless took it out of necessity for the food and money.
Following the first promise of a meal, the children had seemed to take more interest in Danielle's offer for a better future following a heartfelt talk, turning their journey to the destination from a chore to the children into one of excitement and anticipation for what may lay ahead for them.
"Well, guys, here we are." Danielle said.
After many hours of walking across Old Amity Park, taking a detour to their own destination of penultimate and critical importance, the children were at last taken to the supposed haven for wayward young people such as themselves. When they had at last laid eyes on their stop, however, the sense of enthusiasm they once had died down the instant they laid eyes upon what their destination was:
A church, once belonging to the denomination of Catholicism.
Having had their fair share of Christianity with their own parents, the children immediately took an aversion to the sight of the church, conflating the sight with all the negative experiences they once shared at the hands of their parents. Jazz, likewise, took a dislike for their final destination, taking her stance out of both compassion for the plight of the children, as well as uncertainty behind the reason for bringing them to a church.
"Alright, nice try, lady, but we're out of here." The boy said.
Taking his sister by the hand, the boy attempted to depart from the church before he could be brought inside, but Danielle stopped the two before leaving in a plea to stay.
"No, wait, guys, it's not what you think." Danielle pleaded.
"Oh, yeah? I've seen this song and dance before: Find somebody down on their luck with a few problems, give 'em some food, and you drag 'em all the way to a church where you can buy them into your religion. Swap 'em one vice for another. Well, you might've had me for a minute, but I'm not falling for it again. C'mon, sis, we're out of here." The boy said.
"That's not what I'm trying to do, believe me. I get what you're thinking, but I'm not just trying to sell you on any religions at all. I don't believe in any one specific religion, and I don't for the same reason you do: Because their explanation for how the universe was created is objectively false. I didn't bring you here to be lied to. There is more here that what it looks like, and I promise that your life will change for the better if you come and stay here."
Neither of the children seemed to fully believe in Danielle's plea, looking to one another in skepticism over whether to accept her offer and step inside the church. Noticing the indecision of the children, and having her own sense of trust in Danielle's ways, Jazz stepped in to help persuade them.
"Hey, guys, I don't know much about what goes on down here, but I can tell you this. Danielle's not someone who takes advantage of you or anybody else. She can be a little rough or blunt when she tries to tell you something, but she never lies to you. She convinced me of a lot of things since I came down here, and I'm still learning a lot more through her. I don't know what she's up to now here, either, but, if she says that this place will help you, then I believe it will, too. C'mon. Give it a try. You got nothing to lose but a few minutes of time, right?" Jazz asked.
To hear the skeptic of the group show her support, the children took Jazz's reasoning into account when deciding their further business with the three. Having made all their way to the church following the walk, as well as having nowhere else to go, the option of going inside the church seemed to be the only true option presenting itself, apart from the choice to simply walk away.
But, having been promised money in exchange for the few moments of time they sold, the unwritten business contract formed their final decision, valuing money the most.
"Fine, but only for a few minutes. Then we walk away. With our money." The boy said.
"Fair enough." Danielle said.
Following Danielle inside the church, the group entered the place of worship together, looking inside to see many people inside as its congregation. Expecting to find the followers of the church to be clean-cut and properly dressed, and the church itself to be upheld and fancy as many Catholic churches were, the expectations were much different from the reality, as Danielle had promised the two.
The inside of the church instead appeared more like a homeless shelter than any actual fanciful place of worship.
Scattered across the floor were several sleeping bags and beds, with bags laid alongside each resting place with the personal belongings of their owners to identify whose bed belong to who. In addition to the sleeping area, there also was a full kitchen with many in line to take a serving of food, with staff in the kitchen more than happy to oblige and give sustenance for those in need.
Many of the people inside the church did not have anything that could properly be called formal attire for church, but instead held only ragged, dirty clothes off their backs, though some appeared cleaner than others, with a few volunteers taking to laundry duties for their neighbors.
The occupants of the church also took to grouping up in small circles to talk with one another, all seeming to group together and share interests with one another. Their interests did not seem to center on any religious activity or discussion, but seemed to be gatherings of play or fun with board games and book clubs.
Once entering the church with a paradigm of dissonance and apathy, the children instead took to the building with a show of respect.
"Oh, I get it. They turned this place into a homeless shelter. Why didn't you just say so?" The boy asked.
"Because it's not just a homeless shelter. It's also a church, too." Danielle said.
"Really? Well, I've been in and out of a few churches, and I've never seen any that looked like this on the inside."
"That's because none of them actually tried to give all they could to help."
"So, what exactly is this place, then? Another group of religious hippies like the Abrahamic Pascifists?" Jazz asked.
"Similar, but not exactly. They both agree on the most important thing: Taking care of other people."
A bell began to ring within the church, calling the attention of all inside to flock to its sound in attention. The bell was not a loud, mighty gong of a large church bell, but instead was a simple and shrill ringing of a handheld bell instead, showing yet another subversion against the large and grand appearance of the church's outside.
Nonetheless, the bell called forth the mass inside the church to give their attention to the main altar, which each and every member of the church did. Watching and waiting for anticipation, the flock had soon caught eye of their shepherd stepping forward to the altar, dressed in the full garb of a Catholic priest.
"Oh, here he comes, you're gonna like this guy. Trust me." Danielle said.
Watching the priest step out and prepare to give a sermon to his flock, the churchgoers all began taking seats, most of them humbly sitting on the floor. Bringing the group forward to get as close as possible, Danielle led her group to seat themselves in front of the priest, just as the others had done.
The children were bracing themselves for a sterile, boring introduction for the priest, expecting their interest to be quickly lost in mere moments...
"Ah, good afternoon, everybody. Real good to see everyone again, I see we've got a few new guests with us, hope you'll be willing to stay if you like it here, we do our best to take care of everybody. I'm also proud to announce that we've been keeping up food productivity with everyone in the kitchen, I want to thank everybody for their hard work there. Round of applause for our kitchen workers, everybody?" The priest said.
...but boredom does not make its way to them so easily. The congregation all gave a loud applause in support of the kitchen workers, giving a few cheers for in show of appreciation for their work. To hear the sermon begin with acknowledgement to the people of the church rather than begin with any gospel readings was an unorthodox one, catching their further attention to his methodology.
"Good, good, glad to hear that love is in the air today. Ah, I do love my job here, it's the greatest job in the world, really. And, before you ask, it's not because of the whole 'spreading of love', as one would have you believe, good and pure as that is. It's the fact that I don't have a boss." The priest said.
The joke gained a hearty laugh out of the congregation, including looks of surprise from Jazz and the children, none able to believe a priest could make such a joke.
"Well, I guess there is the big man in the book that technically counts, but I wouldn't call the association we have as 'employment'. I'm more like a free agent. That means I don't get any health benefits with the job." The priest said.
Once again did the congregation laugh at their priest's humor, this time even gaining some laughs out from the skeptical children and Jazz.
"Alright, but that's enough about me, I've got a good passage lined up for you today. One of my favorite parts: The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Anybody here already know this one? I might've done it once or twice, anybody remember it?" The priest asked.
The priest gained some light applause from the congregation, signalling that only a handful within had been told the story before.
"Oh, okay, only a few, could've sworn it was more times. Well, that's alright, because I think it's still a good one worth sharing. You guys still up for it?" The priest asked.
The congregation applauded loudly in support to hear the passage, prompting him to begin work on reading it aloud.
"Alright, that's what I like to hear. So, here we go. Luke 10:30-35, Parable of the Good Samaritan." The priest said.
The priest then cleared his thoat and opened his bible, turning to the desired page to read the selected passage.
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed on by to the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on to the other side.
"But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
"The next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him', he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have."
Concluding his reading of the bible verses, the priest then closed the book, moving onto his primary sermon.
"Now, here's a few pieces of context: This wasn't a literal event as told in the bible, but a story that Jesus told someone who asked him who is his 'neighbor', in regards to who he should care about and who he shouldn't. Samaritans were particularly also seen as antagonistic towards Jews, making this akin to a Hatfield taking care of a McCoy who got mugged. Or, a Republican taking care of a Democrat, if you want an example that's slightly less too old for you to understand." The priest said.
Despite the humorous connotation given to the lesson, getting a laugh from the congregation, the flock nonetheless still took to the story with full attention.
"But that leads into a bigger piece of Jesus' philosophy: He was making the point that we should see everybody as our neighbors, not just the people we see as part of our own insular in-groups. Jesus wasn't like that. He'd take anybody under his wing, he'd hang out with the poor and prostitutes, he'd let anybody follow him; he was a rock star who never played an instrument. He was the guy who cared about everyone equally, who saw everybody as his neighbor. Hate to go back on my ancient references, but why do you think Fred Rogers named his show 'Mr. Roger's Neighborhood'? It's because he believed in that mindset, too. The man saw everybody as his neighbor, just like Jesus. You look back on interviews with him, he'd remember so many kids' names and recognize them years later. If I didn't know any better, if Jesus hadn't come back as that guy, he wasn't gonna come back at all." The priest said.
The congregation let out only light laughs from the joke, instead opting to applaud to support his point.
"But Mr. Rogers is just one person that actually believed and followed that message. People often look to him and they say, 'Oh, we miss him so much, we need people like him again', but it's not gonna happen if you just wish for it hopefully. Actions are what speak louder than words. You gotta be the difference you want to see. That's what Jesus was trying to teach us. If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change, you start with the man in the mirror. Then, and only then, do you actually see some positive change come about in your world and people start to want that positive change. How many of you here have been guilty of not trying to make that positive change? Looking down on people for being different, turning them down over simple disagreements, not willing to treat them like your brothers and sisters?" The priest asked.
The congregation this time stayed silent following his question, none willing to confess their guilt.
"Chickenshits." The priest snarked.
The witty response from the priest gained laughs once again from the audience, breaking the uncomfortable silence that once set.
"C'mon, now, we're all guilty of this. There's no shame in admitting that. It's just a part of human nature, one that we've got to work together to move past and keep on the path to righteousness. Jesus had taught this lesson to all of us so that we could be more like him, and people could get a taste of Heaven here on Earth. That's the message Jesus sent to us when he came down to Earth, and that's the message that I've tried to set up here when I started this church. You've seen how many people we've helped, you're the people we're here to help, and we're here to encourage you to keep helping out. That's the goal Jesus had in store for us, and that's the goal I set out to accomplish. Thank you all very much." The priest said.
With the priest's sermon coming to a close, the congregation stood up and applauded his lecture, taking well to the lesson taught within it. The skeptical children, once preparing themselves for a long, uninteresting speech to turn their brains off to, they, too, found themselves clapping with the others in agreement with his message.
As the priest departed from the altar, Danielle took the group and began leading them towards the priest, introducing them to him personally. Though a man like this priest acted brotherly towards everyone equally, as evidenced by the many stops he took to shake hands with his congregation, to see Danielle is a sight that brought him a special smile and joy to his face.
Stepping up to Danielle, he immediately took to her hand and shook it, bringing her in for a hug with it.
"Hey, Garth, how you doing?" Danielle asked.
"Hey-hey-hey, Danielle, long time no see, eh?" The priest asked.
Finishing their friendly greeting, Danielle turned back to the group to introduce him proper to the rest.
"Alright, guys, you heard the man speak, now for the proper introduction. This is Garth, he runs the place and gives out sermons. He doesn't really care for the whole 'Father' title, so you don't have to bother." Danielle said.
The priest, his name finally revealed as Garth, stepped to each member of her group, shaking their hands one by one as he spoke to them.
"Garth Simonson, pleasure to make your acquaintance." Garth said.
"Jazz. Recently deceased." Jazz said.
"Interesting to see a ghost come to our church, I always value our afterliving guests."
"Interesting to be a ghost, and to be in a church like this. I can't even remember the last time I set foot in a church when I was alive. I probably never did."
"Well, first time for everything, now, is there?"
Sharing a laugh between himself and Jazz, Garth moved on to the children, enthusiastically shaking hands with the boy. His delight and excitement to meet any and all people who stepped into his church was not met equally by the boy, choosing only to loosely shake his hand in response to his energetic output.
"Hey, kid. I'm Garth. Your name?" Garth asked.
"I didn't give it." The boy said.
"A bit shy, are we? That's okay, nobody's rushing you here. You just take things at your own pace."
"Don't get ahead of yourself. I liked your little sermon and got a few laughs, but I didn't say anything about staying here."
"Neither did I. Just saying you shouldn't rush yourself in anything, especially life. You never know how much of it you get."
"But I am trying to show him that he and his sister just might be better off here. Think you could show them around a bit more?" Danielle asked.
"But of course! I bet the other kids are gonna be excited to meet you guys!"
"Wait, 'other kids'? There's other kids that buy your bullshit?" The boy asked.
"What do you mean 'bullshit'? Weren't you clapping for him during his sermon?" Danielle asked.
"Yeah, I liked it when he was actually talking about the whole 'take care of other people' part, and he was genuinely pretty funny, but you don't need to rely on a bunch of fairy tales made up by desert people thousands of years ago who were probably delirious of thirst when they thought of this stuff to come to that conclusion."
"That's true. I came to that conclusion just like that, too." Garth said.
Not expecting such an agreement to come out from the priest, seeming to agree with the antithetical beliefs of his very religion, the boy's opinion on him had turned from mixed opinion to pure confusion. Once finding some passing respect for the priest named Garth and his church, his opinion on it led to uncertainty, leaving room for curiousity to fill in the blanks in his mind.
"Wait... You don't believe in anything you just said?" The boy asked.
"Well, of course I believe what I said, I'm the one who said it." Garth said.
"But you just said that you don't need the bible to come to any of those moral views."
"That's true."
The answer had not yet satisfied his curiosity, leaving him still hungry for answers and leading to more questions.
"I... don't understand any of what's going on here." The boy said.
"Here, step into my office. I'll explain it better for you guys." Garth said.
The priest named Garth led the group out of the main area of the church and into his private office, allowing them all a private quarters to speak over their thoughts and fulfill their discussion. Upon entering the priest's office, the group were all surprised to see it decorated with various posters, decorations, and other knick-knacks all about, none of which they would expect a priest to have.
Seating himself behind his desk, Garth urged the group to seat themselves as well, which, after watching them seat themselves, removed the collar from his suit.
"So, you're probably wondering the obvious thing: 'Is this guy actually Catholic'? Not at all. My parents were Hare Krishnas. I grew up pretty irreligious in general. Never gave it a second thought at all. I've also had a few girlfriends and got a steady one now, so the whole 'vow of celibacy' thing sure ain't me." Garth said.
"Then why did you become a priest?" The boy asked.
"Well, it seemed like the only logical thing to do at the time, and I stuck with it."
"How'd you come to that conclusion?"
"After the Disasteroid. You probably don't know that much about it, you probably weren't even born yet, but that whole debacle was a mess. Sure, we were saved from a giant meteor that was gonna destroy the Earth, but, seeing the dead rise from the grave to save the Earth from that? Oh, boy, was that a massive mess to sit through. Religions tried to play it off by saying that the meteor was god's will, and the ghosts who saved the Earth were agents of Satan, then moved the goalpost to saying it was god who let the ghosts save the Earth, to people starting to question whether god even existed in the first place. Seeing people who were once alive come back to life? That alone got a lot of people questioning, and eventually leaving the faith. There was still a lot of people left, something like 20 percent of the population, that was never gonna leave the faiths no matter what, but most religious leaders were running out of excuses. They were starting to quit left and right, leaving these churches empty-staffed and people coming and going for nothing but the satisfaction of going. You know that suicide rates started to spike when the Disasteroid first was averted? People seeing their entire worldviews shattered in front of their eyes? That trend only got worse and worse among these people. They were lost, aimless; they had no life and nothing to to live for. I could look at these people, and I just know they needed something that wasn't there anymore."
"So, you decided to become a priest and lead these people under a new church so you could, on paper, lead them into better lives."
"Well, you look down the street, you'll see plenty of other people doing the exact same thing as me, only using it to get women or money or power. I don't do that. All I did was take that same business structure, and try to use it for good. I'd like to say that I'm dong a good job so far, I might add.
"But aren't you just basically lying to them? How is that okay to do in your worldview, even if it supposedly makes people do good?"
"There's an old saying I once heard: 'Religion is simple answers for simple people with complex questions'. You can try to simplify the answer as much as you want, but people won't always understand what you're trying to tell them, even if it's the truth. Sometimes, it's easier to tell them a little story to ease their curiosity if they can't comprehend it otherwise."
"You could say the same thing about telling little kids about Santa Claus to explain how presents got under the tree."
"You could. And kids can grow and learn that the presents really got there because their parents got them, and they'll be okay with the real answer then."
"There's a big difference between lying to kids about Santa Claus being real and telling people whether a god exists or not, you know. A kid might be able to quit being a little shit to get some presents, sure, but applying that to an adult's not as not so innocent. If they really needed the threat of being sent to hell or rewarded with heaven to be a good person, then were they ever a good person in the first place?"
"If they wouldn't have been a good person otherwise without it, then why wouldn't you want them to change for the better in some way? If the end result is people becoming better, then what difference does it make to the means to the end?"
"Lying to get them there shows a sense of hypocrisy. If you're willing to lie to get the results you want, then what's to stop them from lying to get what they want? And what's to stop them from turning right back to their old ways when they find out what you told them was all just a lie?"
"Well, going back to the example of telling kids about Santa Claus, what happens to kids when they realize that Santa Claus isn't real? They don't suddenly just become amoral sociopaths, do they?"
"Well, no, of course not. They still learned some morals and values of their own later on, and they wouldn't probably even think about Santa Claus anymore. They'd have outgrown the concept by now."
"See? Now you're getting it."
The boy at last saw the viewpoint of Garth's morals, stopping in his dialogue in contemplation over the final point and beginning to find an area of agreement and respect for the point the faithless priest was making. Nonetheless, he still did not come to full agreement yet, basing his concern mainly with the book of choice of the priest, and questioned his position further.
"Okay, I can see your point, but why base your whole viewpoint on the bible? I can quote all kinds of bad shit in their like genocide, incest, rape, and all kinds of other stuff, most of which isn't even historically accurate. You put half of that in a movie or comic, I'd be deemed too young to see it. But when it comes to that book, oh, no, I can read that one all I want." The boy said.
"That's true. There's an awful lot of stuff in there that really shouldn't be read by children, or praised as 'moral' at all. And I could spend all day pointing out the historical plot holes or the logical inconsistencies: The Earth being incestuously populated twice, once by Adam and Eve and the second time by Noah and his family, Adam and Eve's 'original sin' being based on eating the forbidden fruit, when, without the understanding of good and evil, they couldn't have even understood the consequences when explained to them or be punished fairly, the global flood supposedly killing all wicked people, but plenty of wicked people coming after, and that's just all off the top of my head. But I never try to push those stories or focus on them. I always do my best to focus on Jesus. Real person or not, you go back and look at his sermons, and there's hardly anything bad you could say about him. He wanted you to treat everyone like your family members, give away all your possessions to the poor and needy, live off other people's good will; he was a communist before communism ever existed." Garth said.
"In other words, you just cherry-pick the good parts out so you can spread the message you want to spread."
"You could say that about almost anything. There's good in everything, whether it be a little bit or a lot. 'In the shit, the gold', Paracelsus."
"But, like you said, 'real person or not'. What if he wasn't real? What if those stories were just made up and didn't really exist? Does that mean we shouldn't actually listen to them?"
The next answer came not from the priest named Garth, but instead from Danielle, who decided to speak up and provide her own input.
"Maybe it doesn't matter whether it really happened or not. Maybe what matters is what you decide to do with that information." Danielle said.
It seemed at last that the boy had his curiosity and questions sufficiently satisfied, visibly coming around to the overall point being made with a look of realization and satisfaction coming to his face. Likewise, Danielle gave a look of satisfaction of her own, smiling and taking a knee to the boy.
"So, how was the sales pitch, kid? Wanna give these Jesus freak weirdos a shot?" Danielle asked.
The boy, who seemed like an emotionally disconnected lost cause once before, once would be expected to give a blunt and simple answer of 'no', taking his money and leaving to continue his past lifestyle. However, in getting many lectures in the short time he spent with the group, slowly but surely becoming convinced to the opposite position, his answer was a triumphant accomplishment of the group to hear him say...
"Yeah, sure. I guess I could spend a month or two here and see how it goes." The boy said.
The boy's glib words were contradicted by a more hopeful look on his face, showing the response to be nothing more than childlike sarcasm to deliver an ultimately positive answer in light of his flippant response. Giving a chuckle at his joke, Danielle pulled out the 200 dollars as promised, completing their contract.
"Well, since you've decided to stay, you might be needing this now more than if you just said 'no'. Use it to start a good life for yourself and your sister." Danielle said.
"Nah, I think I'll just spend it on crack and overdose. Just kidding, I might save this up towards college or something... maybe." The boy said.
"Well, now, if that's all settled, how about I take you kids to meet the others?" Garth asked.
"Others?"
The group soon departed Garth's office and moved to a room with a series of bunk beds, and inside the room many children grouping around a center, focusing on playing with action figures in an imaginary fight with their toys. The two children seemed to take to the sight with awkward uncertainty, not sure how to approach the group.
Their inaction is an aversion of their usual business approach during their now former days of prostitution, for their past and nihilistic attitudes are not easy to overcome with the promise of a future laying itself before them. As such, they are hesitant to step forward and talk to the group, remaining still and silent.
However, their future does not sit idly by and ignore them or wait for them to come to it, instead it beckons them with other children noticing them and calling them over.
"Oh, hey, guys, look, new arrivals!" One child said.
"Hey! Come on over, join the fun!" Another child said.
Hearing a group of similarly-aged people eagerly accept them as their own friends, the children ran up to the group and joined in, becoming the newest additions to the fun. Like a piece added to a puzzle, they connected instantly to the group, fitting in as if they were one of the crowd who were always there from the start.
Out of the group, one child paid a compliment to the sister, commenting on her choice of hairstyle.
"Oh, I like your hair. It looks really pretty." The child said.
Having been silent and meek for the majority of the trip, and even most of her life, her response was more normal and calm, carrying a strong confidence.
"Thank you. Yours looks good, too." The sister said.
Seeing their business with the children now fully concluded, and a better future in store for the two, the main group prepared to depart from the church, leaving behind their completed business and moving back on their own journey. Giving one last hug to the priest on her way out the door, Danielle gave Garth a light kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks again, Garth. It was really great to see you again." Danielle said.
"You too, girl. Take care of yourself and your friends, you hear?" Garth said.
Responding to Garth's plea with a nod, the group departed once again on their quest to regain Danny's soul, moving on from the church. A feeling of resolution and satisfaction was strong with Danielle and Jazz, but the latter still had her own issues with the side-quest as a whole, concerned mostly and primarily with her brother.
Her altruism for the children led her to silence, leaving instead Danielle to speak up with her own commentary on the event, with a morose tone over the affair.
"The world's never that fair, you know. You get somewhat of a choice to live life again as a ghost, but you never get a choice the first time around. No one asks children if they want to be born. Imagine if kids knew what kind of life they would be in store for, to have shitty parents that mold them into being who they want you to be and not yourself, being forced to run away just for a decent shot at life, only to live it all by yourself, alone and scared, suffering and helpless, without any chance at a decent shot. Imagine if you knew all that was in store for you. Imagine how many would say: 'No thanks. I'll take the coat hanger'." Danielle said.
"Is that how you felt growing up?" Jazz asked.
The answer was an obvious one, requiring no direct response, leaving Danielle instead to follow up with her point.
"But there are still people out there who can make a difference if they care enough. That's why I brought them here. This is where I grew up." Danielle said.
As the group departed, the two children they left behind continued to be at play with their new friends, indulging in the use of action figures in an imaginary battle.
The toys of their choice were action figures not based on any conventional superhero, but instead various figurines of religious figures, ranging from Western beliefs such as Jesus of Christianity to Eastern like Buddha of Buddhism and Krishna of Hinduism, in a collectible toy line known as 'Religimon'.
The figurine replicas were more stylized and borderline cartoonish in comparison to their mythological counterparts, in appeal to children of the modern day and age to keep their images relevant. In lieu of worship, they are instead used as objects of play for active young minds, creating battles between gods and monsters for fun; not too dissimilar from the use of superhero actions figures of years before.
But the holy wars that the images had sparked once before are no longer relegated to gang fights in the streets, instead also being debates between the children over which god is the most powerful over all the other gods; the one to stand superior and supreme over the rest.
"Krishna's the most powerful god, you'll see!" One child said.
"No way! Zeus is the most powerful!" Another child said.
"Zeus doesn't know how to use lightning, Thor's the most powerful user of lightning!" A different child said.
"You're all wrong, Yahweh is the most powerful god of them all!" Yet another child said.
The many action figures were placed all up against each other in a crude mashing together, clashing the plastic objects one another in the simulation of battle between the deities. In the imaginations, the battle is an all-powerful one that rages and carries on without end, seeing no resolution to the debate between the others.
Just like the many holy wars before it, there is nothing but battle for the many gods collecting more fans and followers, like vicious dogs fighting over scraps.
But the boy who has become the newcomer to the group does not pledge any allegiance to the other gods offered before him. Instead, deciding to place his own preferences front and center in the battleground of supreme supernatural constructs, he placed his own god front and center.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a Danny Phantom action figure.
"All of you guys are wrong. Danny Phantom's the only real god, and he's the most powerful there is out of all your crappy little gods!" The boy said.
Wildly swiping his hand all over the imaginary battleground, his hand still grasping the action figure, he began knocking down all the other gods, leaving them clattering to the floor in presupposed defeat. Taking the gods out of the hands of their followers, laying them down in defeat, the boy established his own god as the superior one, leaving it the only one remaining above all else.
Establishing its superiority, he placed the Danny Phantom action figure among the defeated gods, setting it standing victorious over the others.
