“By the gods no!” Mordechi scream, “You shouldn’t be able to do that. You shouldn’t be able to do that!” He ran toward Obidaan and lunged at him in an effort to disrupt the spell but he hit a barrier where he was repelled back into the podium.
“Oh,” Relina said, “my love, it starts and ends.”
“What’s he doing?” Terry asked. Others were gathered around wondering the same thing
“That chant.” She said. “It’s the chant of excommunication. It’s what you use to dissolve a church faction in a city or outpost. If a priest is no longer following the path of their god, the leader, and only the leader of the church, can go there and do a chant. This chant breaks the connection between the gods and the church, removes the power of the priest, then destroys the building, leaving it as rubble to know the gods were displeased.”
“But this isn’t an expansion, it’s the main church.” Don said.
“Doing it on the main church will not only destroy the church, but the religion itself. He is excommunicating the entire religion.”
“You mean you will no longer be a priest?” Terry asked.
“Yes.” Relina began to cry.
“Wait,” Terry said, “There’s still a chance. For something like this the gods have to grant the request. I can’t see them destroying themselves.”
“True.” Relina said, “But I just don’t know.”
Several minutes passed, the chanting continued at a steady pace. Then the skies opened up and there in the clouds were the Seers. They looked down at their church, at Relina, who had tears in her eyes and was shaking her head, and then through the church and to Obidaan. The chanting stopped. The gods were making gestures indicating they were talking.
The Seers looked at Obidaan
“Why,” he asked. “Why did you perpetrate this fraud on me?”
“It wasn’t intentional” Lady Seer began to explain.
“Probability and outcome; that was our downfall.” Lord Seer continued.
“We always planned on you becoming our paladin, we foresaw from the day you were born. What we couldn’t foresee was the effect a family would have.”
“When you got married,” Lord Seer continued, “this didn’t bode well. In consulting the gods of probability there was a 75% chance you would have children within the first five years of your marriage and that would cause the darkness. You having a family and being a paladin didn’t mix we had to make you a paladin before you had children, not after.”
“So we ‘arranged’ the death of the Paladin of the Hunt. He was the newest and therefore the easiest.”
“We knew what we were doing when this happened. The uproar was tremendous but still we prevailed when the leader ruled in our favor anyway. The downside was we could offer you no help. You had to figure out everything on your own.”
“The gods of Justice though, believed that a half trained paladin was an even bigger threat, so they nudged Gheriballi your way. That’s when things went horribly wrong.”
“Now fully trained, you not only had your full power but felt betrayed and no one could explain why.”
“In trying to fix things, we have created a self—fulfilling prophesy. We must pay for our sins.”
Then a final word in unison came just before they disappeared and it echoed throughout the city, “Granted.”
“Oh no!” Relina said and grabbed Don for support, “we have to move away, this place is going to come down.”
“Everyone,” Don yelled, “Get out of here, the building is going to collapse!”
As they began to scatter, they could see the building cracking and buckling. Stone began to fall to the ground. Soon the entire building was falling in on itself leaving nothing but rubble and smoke.
People looked to the smoke, a moment later they saw a figure. It was Obidaan, and he was dragging Mordechi behind him. He was unconscious but alive. Once clear, Obidaan woke him up.
“See.” Obidaan said.
“What have you done?” Mordechi was flabbergasted and on his feet. “The church, you destroyed it.”
“Yes, you’re faith is no more, your power is no more. You have nothing.”
“And you, you’ve ruined yourself. With the church gone, your faith is gone as well.”
“Well,” Obidaan started, he reached for the holy symbol around Mordechi’s chest, yanked it off him, held it in his fist and with his thumb, broke the symbol. “Not exactly.” At that he laid hands on Mordechi, healing his wounds.
“That’s not possible,” Mordechi said. “Without a church, you should be as powerless as a peasant.”
“Ah,” Obidaan said, “but you see, I am directly connected to the divine. My faith doesn’t come from a building, or a book, it comes from within. We use the building and book as tools to understanding and unlocking our faith but they are not faith itself. As a result, my faith, unlike yours, can never be destroyed. That’s why the Seers granted me my request. Um, honey?” Obidaan looked over at Relina, “Our friend here is a bit dusty and in need of some clothes, what say you clean him up a bit?”
Relina stopped crying for a moment, “What? But I can’t you’ve destroyed our religion.”
“No, I destroyed a building. You also, your faith is within. You can do it. Just concentrate and do it.”
“Ok, I’ll try.” She said.
“Don’t try, do. You proved it previously when you healed Alister after Gunther’s hit.” Obidaan replied.
She began to cast, as she did she could feel her faith renew itself and she felt better than ever she touched Mordechi and he had on clean new vestments. Then she blinked. “That’s permanent.” She said. “It shouldn’t be but I know. You can wear those whenever you want.”
“Um, thank you,” Mordechi said, “I do not deserve your kindness.”
“Everyone deserves kindness,” Relina said, “Especially you.” She reached over and hugged him. They both began to cry.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“I know,” Relina said, “but I have a feeling everything’s going to be ok.”
“How do you know?”
“I have faith.”
Obidaan hopped on his horse, I’ll be back tomorrow; I have to see a lady about a book.
“But,” Mordechi said, “What about the rest of our priests?”
“For the moment, they are as powerless as you are. I will explain everything when I get back.” He rode off.
“Where is he going?” Mordechi asked.
“I don’t..” Relina thought for a moment, “By the gods, Cecilia! He’s going to visit her. I hope he’s not too late.”
“Who is she?” Mordechi asked.
“The celestial who records his life story. She, like the gods, lives on the faith of mortals, now that’s there’s only two of us, she could be…”
“Dead?”
“Not dead, they can’t die, but become nothing is more appropriate word.”
Don got a horrified look on his face, “Are you saying Cecilia is going to become nothing? That explains why she was so worked up the last time we were there.”
“I hope not,” Relina said.
“Please,” Don pleaded, “the only other thing I love in this place can’t go away. If she does, there’s going to be another period of darkness around here.”
“Have faith.” Relina said.
Obidaan rode for a while in one direction till sundown, when the Hall of Paladins appeared. He rode inside. On the walls were pictures of him and Lucinda, their fight, her rebirth, the destruction of the church and a current picture of his gods, who now looked old and withered.
He got to the front desk where the manager was, “Greeting Mr. Grailann.” He said.
“Is she here?”
“Yes, she lives, barely. She is at her desk, unable to move from it. All she can do
is move her hand enough to write.”
“Thank you,” he said and ran to the back to her room.
As he burst in, the other scribes looked up at him. Without saying a word, they pointed to her and went back to work. Obidaan approached her chair. The once vibrant and bubbly Cecelia now looked like a withered old woman of 110. She could barely move. As he got closer it seemed she gained more strength and was able to lift her head.
“Obidaan?” she said in an old crackly voice. “I’m going away,” she continued, “Soon, I shall be nothing. Two people aren’t enough to sustain me. I, like other celestials, will be sacrificed so the Seers may continue to live, lest they go to oblivion as well.”
“No one is going anywhere, darling,” Obidaan said. He pulled up a chair next to her sat down, then pulled her over to him.
He held her in his arms, rocking back and forth, “I love you,” he told her.
“I love you, too.” She whispered back. They continued to rock. Soon, too weak to hold the human form, she turned in a ball of dim, flickering light. Obidaan continued to hold her. Over several hours, the light began to get brighter and brighter. Obidaan, exhausted fell asleep in the chair. When he awoke, Cecelia was back in her human form and holding his hand.
“Have a nice nap?” she asked, smiling at him.
“Peachy,” he said, sitting up in the chair.
“How did you know holding me would save me?” She asked.
“I didn’t, I guessed. I figured since I am the church now, the only way to get you back was through direct intervention. There aren’t enough people for you to draw on, so I let you draw directly from me. My faith is limitless and boundless, so I figured I could give you as much as you needed.
“Thank you,” she said she then reached over and kissed him on the lips. He didn’t resist. She then kissed him one more time, “That’s for Don,” she quipped, “Pass it along.” They both laughed.
Obidaan left soon after that and headed back for town. When he made it to town, he went to the nearest Inn, where everyone was holding up, waiting for his return.
“How is she?” Don asked.
“She will be just fine. She was dying but my faith renewed her and she is back to her old self.”
“Yeah.” Don said.
“I missed you too.” Relina said. They kissed then they kissed again. “That second one is from Cecelia, for Don, pass it on to him, please.”
“Whoo hoo.” Alister said, “This should be fun.”
Relina walked over to Don, who wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. He puckered up and closed his eyes. Relina grabbed the back of his head, acted like she was going to give him a passionate kiss, then at the last second kissed him for several seconds on the cheek. “Let’s just paraphrase that, shall we?”
“Fine by me.” Don said. Everyone got a good laugh out of it.
“So,” Mordechi asked, “What happens now?”
“Yes, Obidaan,” an elderly couple came toward them and sat near the group, “What happens now?”
“Lord and Lady Seer,” Obidaan said, “I am honored by your presence.”
Everyone was silent for a moment when Lord Seer said, “Don’t worry about us, we’re just as curious as you are.”
“And it seems with no building, we can almost go where we please,” Lady Seer said, “As long as Obidaan and Relina are in the building.”
“And don’t worry about other celestials, because of your faith and what you did with Cecilia, we can survive.”
“Well, firstly, the church will have to be rebuilt. People will have to have their faith renewed, and there are only two people on the planet who can do that now: myself and Relina,” Obidaan said. “All of the priest will feel the same calling they felt before, and will come looking for us; including the ones who have our children. At that time, we will be a family again.”
“Unless I find them first,” Mordechi said.
“What do you mean?” Obidaan asked.
“I do not feel the calling; instead I feel the need for penance. Before I become ordained again, I will make it my mission to find your children. The church may be gone but the medallions I used to hide them still work. I will start my quest today.”
“Thank you, Mordechi,” Relina said, they all looked over at Lord and Lady Seer, who simply nodded, “It seems you are finally thinking with your heart.”
“Yes,” he said, “and it’s about time.” He smiled, for the first time in a long time.
“And what of your conquering ways?” Lord Seer said. “Are you going to continue to take over the world?”
“I don’t think so.” Obidaan said, “It seems even a one world government can’t solve everyone’s problems.”
“And the lands you have taken over?” Lady Seer said. “What of them?”
“Most are being ruled by paladins or people I trust. It seems I have created a new paradigm and hopefully peace will finally come to the world. It seems I have fulfilled my destiny by showing the proper place for everyone. Paladins are taking a more active role in the world as I believe they should have in the first place. That’s why they only answered to gods. I believe the real test was to see if someone would figure out their true place, and I have.”
“I see,” Lord Seer said.
“I hope you are correct,” Lady Seer said.
“Well, then, my next point is, it seems we’ve won.” Obidaan said.
“How so?” they asked in unison.
“We aren’t holding this discussion in Oblivion. You still have Relina and me. Through us your church shall rise again.”
“I hope so,” said Lady Seer.
“I have hope and faith,” Obidaan proclaimed, “so you have everything. This is the dawn of a new day, a great day. For the first time in a long time, I am happy.”
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