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Post by Bee on May 21, 2012 18:33:09 GMT -6
The man of god hadn't had much time to heal with his encounter with the lord of hell in his own realm. While he was a regenerator and his wounds healed faster than any normal man, it would still take a while with the extent of the damage. What his body did allow was a lack of bleeding so he was in no trouble, while wearing his priest garb no one would know he was injured aside from the limp that he played off as a bum knee.
An elderly woman was dying a few houses down. The girl he stayed with visited her often caring for her as she did Anderson. What the man found out about the girl was that she was an orphan during her childhood, and that her kind heart was second to none in her path of righteousness. It even inspired him to join in visiting the elderly woman.
Once inside the house he was introduced to the ladies daughter. The daughter was near the same age as the girl who provided for him, however she wasn't nearly as strong spirited given that she'd been tending to her mother for years now. Everyone in the room knew it was close to the end.
The elderly woman asked Anderson to sit by her side. She saw from his dress that he was a priest. "Please. Say a prayer for me. I'd like someone to look after my old weakened soul."
Anderson put his hand on hers, "Madam. In no way is yer soul old o' weak. Yer spry as a young lady on th' inside. Lest no one tell you differently. However, your shell has expired it's time with this land. An' for that we shall pray for the lovely spirit that is t' pass in the coming days.
"Please, everyone in the room close their eyes and remain silent. Lord Jesus Christ, as you stood by the bed of good Saint Joseph and gently led him home t' heaven, so shepherd this soul about t' die t' a paradise of perfect peace. Lest the tears we shed upon her passin' stand witness to our love fer them and the depth of our thanks givin' for the gift of their lives and the grace of a good death. For you are the lord, forever an' ever. Amen."
The woman smiled at him and spoke softly to him over the sobs of her daughter who was comforted by his friend, "You would of been a good man to know in my life long ago. It is a blessing that you would arrive now to see me off."
Anderson smiled kindly and spoke to her, "In another life the two of us could of shared joy. But you must remember every joyful moment even with yer last breath."
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The two of them left the house shortly thereafter. "I'll return before sundown, I wish t' explore the surrounding an' gather my barrin's in this hamlet."
"It's a town Father Anderson."
Anderson smiled.
He too the long path down the lanes of houses until he came to a more populated area where fruit stands were set up to sell to the populace. Anderson watched the children play and gnawed on an apple while sitting on a grassy hill overlooking a park. It was peaceful here. For a while.
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 22, 2012 0:41:50 GMT -6
Utena decided to go for a walk that day, wanting some time to herself and to clear her head. She left her Rapier and knives back at the hotel in Aminee's care as her mental state was still in question and she was far less dangerous on her own without any weapons than with. Utena was also dressed in casual street clothes for once instead of the Ohtori school uniform you could usually find her in. Sins of the past still weighed heavily on her heart as she thought about how she could repent for such terrible crimes. Could redemption truly be sought? As soon as the question entered her mind Utena's eyes would fall upon a man up ahead dressed in priest robes eating an apple on top of a hill.
Coincidence? Utena knew of a group of religious men and women under God who came from a place called Aircano that was destroyed, rebuilt and renamed as Crystal City only to be destroyed again. Though she was told to stay away from them as they were against all foreigners who hail from other worlds in Genesis. Utena thought she was more than capable of blending in. If Miracle could get away with having natural purple hair than pink shouldn't be all that outrageous to them. Approaching the man she cleared her throat to get his attention.
"Excuse me. Are you from Aircano by any chance?"
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Post by Bee on May 22, 2012 5:28:23 GMT -6
A lovely breeze blew over the hill top. He took another bite from the apple and leaned back noticing someone approach in his peripheral vision. However he didn't burst her bubble like many in his position would do, he allowed her to get the drop on him with her words just to blend in a bit.
His gaze slightly tilted to her as she spoke to him and he didn't change his expression when he replied with his thick Scottish accent, "Nay lass, never heard o' it before. I'm from the Vatican City in another reality t' this one. However, if there's anythin' I can assist you with, be my guest to ask." He smiled at her now, there was something more to this priest the trained eye could tell by the look in his fiery face. Regardless, nothing too out of the ordinary.
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 22, 2012 13:48:27 GMT -6
"Oh. When I saw the priest robes I merely assumed."
The residence of Aircano/Crystal City were all the way up in Hallowton and she didn't feel like going out all that way if she could help it. They needed those portals for something more important after all. But maybe where he's from wouldn't make a difference. She could hope.
"There is one thing."
Utena sat down next to the priest and crossed her legs before continuing.
"I've been told that God is forgiving I was just wondering if there was anything God couldn't, or wouldn't forgive and if so what would those things be?"
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Post by Bee on May 22, 2012 18:08:18 GMT -6
Anderson smiled and bit into the back half of his apple as she asked him her question. He took a small breath in and replied, "The Lord forgives all sins so long as you repent them. The religion I follow says an' I quote from the holy letters written: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just t' forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have no' sinned, we make him a liar, an' his word is not in us."
He paused and took a breath and continued, "For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will no' be forgiven. Salvation is the Lord," Anderson set the apple core down. "Is that a suitable answer lass?"
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 23, 2012 17:37:11 GMT -6
"All sins so long as you repent them," repeated Utena quietly aloud to herself.
It seemed too good to be true. That all the blood on her hands from the previous months after going insane would be washed off so easily without a catch of some kind.
"Even murder?" she asked, her voice shaking. Afraid that her questions may unintentionally reveal the sins she didn't want to voice out in the open. "How does one repent?"
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Post by Bee on May 23, 2012 17:48:23 GMT -6
"All sins, even murder, are repentable," Anderson replied, he adjusted his glasses as they began sliding down the bridge of his nose. The children stopped playing and all went to one of the ice cream stands.
"Give me a moment t' recite: For I will declare mine iniquity; I shall be sorry fer my sin. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins behold, he will confess them an' forsake them. And it came t' pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness."
He took a long pause and took another breath, "And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof. He that covereth his sins shall no' prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more."
Anderson bowed his head slightly, he talked casually now, "Feel sorry for your sins, confess them to your lord, ask for his forgiveness, rectify the problems of your sins, forsake your sins and you shall get forgiveness."
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 24, 2012 7:12:57 GMT -6
Utena was both relieved and surprised to hear murder was on the list of sins that were repentable. For such a forgiving God and Lord his followers in Aircano sure were heavy on the bloodshed lately. Perhaps they didn't properly represent him like this man here did. She felt sorry for them if that was the case.
"Thank you, Father. You've been very helpful in all of this. If you don't mind my asking while I have your ear, was there anything in particular that turned you to God or were you brought up in the church?"
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Post by Bee on May 24, 2012 21:15:19 GMT -6
"I wasn't born in church nor had I followed it's rules for the first part o' me life. The world I come from I was born in darkness and lived in darkness," he paused and shifted from one side to to the other. He now extended his opposite leg and rested on his opposite knee, "I was bein' chased by vampires 'r demons, I forget now. When Grand-Marshal Benedict hit them with holy light and disintegrated their bodies before my eyes. Afta' seein' that I was adopted into the Vatican City, and become part of the Knights Templar."
The children sat under a tree not too far away and ate at their ice creams, each of them chit chatting about the kinds of non-sense children talk about, "from there on I became a paladin. Once I was fully adopted into the order an' accepted amongst very few men I was chosen to hear the voice o' my god. The voice I heard said that I would be the wrath o' god, an' that I would destroy the threats in my realm.
"But I apologize, I'm rambling on an' neighly avoided your question with too much information."
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 25, 2012 8:44:32 GMT -6
"There are vampires and demons in your world?"
That was one thing his world had in common with this one. It seemed Utena was lucky in a way, while her world had it fair share of good and evil people vampires and demons were still merely works of fiction. Nothing more. Utena listened to the rest of his story with interest.
"Wrath of God..."
Then in reply to his apology, "It's all right. I enjoyed the story. Your world and this one is rather different from my own. You'll soon find though in case you haven't already that vampires and demons exist in this world too. Moon Valley tends to attract several monsters. I was told of a zombie outbreak that occurred the previous year and we suffered from a demon assault not too long ago. Not all of them are bad, some actually fight in the name of humans but it's still pretty bad..."
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Post by Bee on May 25, 2012 19:49:43 GMT -6
"Any unholy fowl shall be slain at my blade, no matter his moral alignment. Just because a demon has a clear conscious doesn' mean he is on th' side o' the lord."
Anderson reached inside of his coat and pulled a small bible from one of the inside pockets and handed it to her, "I believe the Lord has sent me here t' do what I did in my world, just here."
(sorry small post)
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 26, 2012 15:02:06 GMT -6
((That's fine.  ) Utena wasn't expecting that reply, though she really should have considering it was a man of God here and unholy beings like demons, on the side of good or otherwise, weren't at the top of their 'make friends with' list. But it did make her worry about Chloe if the two ever ran into each other and they were bound to sooner or later if he ever went to Jherrazad. Utena wasn't even sure what side of morality Chloe was on anymore but that didn't mean she was beyond saving. Chloe's friends had managed to pull her away from the dark side once, her new friends could surely do it again. "What if they repented? Would they be spared then or would you still have to slay them?"Utena's eyes then looked down at the small bible Anderson had pulled out of his coat for her and took it, opening it and beginning to flip through the pages while looking it over. "Thank you."Something told her she was going to need the encouraging words in the days to come. |
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Post by Bee on May 27, 2012 13:11:41 GMT -6
Anderson looked up at the sky. The sun was glorious, something he rarely got to see where he came from. He noticed that no one but himself took advantage of this glorious day. He would spend his time basking in the sunlight taking in everything he could from it. But there were signs of something troubling him as he handed over the bible to her, he felt the tremors even now.
"It is no' my place to play God. My mission is t' eradicate all that are unbelievers an' unholy, and let the Lord sort them out."
Anderson leaned forward as if to stand up but stopped himself and rested his hands behind his body bracing himself for the position he was sitting in now, "An' I shant discriminate on thine Lords wishes."
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Post by Tenjou, Utena on May 28, 2012 14:32:16 GMT -6
Coincidentally, or maybe not such a coincidence, Utena fell upon a passage of scripture that talked about those who did not seek the Lord would be put to death. Second Chronicles chapter fifteen verse twelve and thirteen. That made her worry about several people she knew and she wasn't just thinking of the ones who weren't human. Speaking of those who weren't human...
"Then I'll help you. Moon Valley was attacked by someone called Darkseid not that long ago. Though he's now trapped in another dimension he found a way to continue existing in this one through of his dead followers, he's literally a walking corpse. One of my friends who's been tracking him down said that he found a way to remove an individual's free will and force them into a life of servitude. He calls himself God. He was last seen on the outskirts of Moon Valley near the Isafaro's military base. It's abandoned and in ruins now, not sure if that was his doing or someone else."
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Post by Bee on May 29, 2012 16:02:36 GMT -6
"Interesting."
Anderson lifted his hand up blocking the sun slightly and stared up at it as he turned his hand allowing his fingers to filter each individual ray of light, "There is some business I must attend t' firstly in a far off city. But when I return I will lend thy holy hand to your mission be it true and just.
"Angel of God, my guardian dear. To whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day be at her side, to light and guard, rule and guide. Amen." He lowered his hands and placed it on her shoulder, "There is much to do in this world an' so little time."
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