I hate churches. I hate them and most religious buildings. They all give me a sense of unease. Of insecurity. I feel as if even my thoughts are being watched, akin to a famous book set in the twentieth century. I've never gotten used to that feeling of not belonging in those places. It has gotten to the point where I am reluctant to go anywhere near them. The idea of a building full of pious believers of a religion, who would gladly execute me if they could read my mind. This was a very, very good example of those times.
The moment I was through the door, all eyes fell on me. I made sure to look down and look a bit rugged. Luckily for me, I had rubbed a bit of dirt on me and my clothes here and there. Otherwise, they might not think me fit to stay with them. The room was typical of a small religious building. There were the usual four benches, tucked up against the wall to make way for a dining table in the middle. At the end of the rectangular one-room building was an altar, with a large cross above it. However, there was no dead Jesus on the cross. There was nothing on the cross except for banisters of flowers and trees. At the aforementioned dining table were a dozen or so children of varying ages, going from a young three year old to a rough looking eighteen year old. Around the dining table, watching the children with smiles were three nuns and a female priest figure. I don't like it.
Now, you must understand that I have never lied. Ever. I don't bother myself with white lies and have always managed to twist the truth to avoid simple lies. I guess it's one of my few morals. To not lie. It can be quite tricky, but I hate the idea of lying. Of giving someone a false truth. I am, however, entirely for having secrets and causing misunderstandings. Blatant lying, though, is another story. It's not fair. It's not fair game. You can't give someone a riddle that has nothing to do with the answer. An impossible puzzle is boring to watch people try to solve. A near impossible puzzle however, is very amusing because there is the slightest chance to get it right, and it is fair.
Once the door shut behind me, all eyes turned to me. I lowered my head and looked at the floor, looking a bit sheepish.
"U-umm..." I said. Despite how my inner monologues sound (they don't sound of anything), I am still a shy person at heard, and have no clue how to start a conversation. A downside to my size, strength, and personality. It can't be helped however...
"Yes, my child?" Asked the head nun. She looked curious as to why this small boy, covered in filth, had walked into her establishment, no doubt.
"A-a-a gu-guard told m-me you r-ra-ran an or-orphanage he-he-here... I-I-I w-was w-w-wondering i-if I c-could... n-never mind... i-it w-w-was a-a stupid idea a-anyway..." I said, mumbling the last part to myself. I blushed, looked down, and started to walk out of the orphanage. There were two scenarios. Either they felt bad and let me in, or I had an excuse to start some anti-religion. In other words, this was one of the best ways to proceed.
"Come here, my child. Do not be frightened." She said in a soothing voice. I did as I was told. I walked up to her and stood before her, head bowed in shyness and hands gripping the bottom of my t-shirt, fidgeting. "Why have you come here, my child?"
"I-I-I d-don't have anywhere e-else t-to go..." that was a half truth. While I did have the school to go to to learn, and I had the town to explore, and the clothes to pick up, I had no particular home. No place to stay. And thus, nowhere else to go.
"What do you mean?" She was looking slightly concerned now.
"I-I-I have n-no one and n-no h-ho-home..." I shrunk even further. At this point, I was practically whispering.
"Well why don't you stay here. We'll look after you, don't you worry." She petted my head. My skin was crawling, but I didn't let it show. I looked at her, smiling happily. I was glaring and ripping her arteries out with my teeth in my mind, don't worry. She smiled back at me and nodded to one of the other nuns.
And hand was placed on my shoulder and I was led down to the basement. There, they showed me the sleeping area, with six bunker beds. They then showed me the small library they had. Three bookshelves. Small bookshelves. They then pointed at a door with a "holy symbol" on it, and told me to knock on that door if I need help with anything. I nodded at all they were saying. They then brought me back upstairs, gave me some of the stew they had, and sat me down next to a girl and a boy.
Now that I had time to count, there were six boys and five girls. As I had spotted before, they were all varying in size. There were two little girls and one little boy, two girls who looked a tad younger than me by about a year, give or take, a girl with pointed ears who looked about my age, two boys who looked about my age, and two boys who looked like twins who looked to be two years younger than me. They were all happily chatting twatteries to each other. Useless gossips and frivolities.
The elf girl was quite, refraining from talking to the others, and being left alone. She didn't look like the quiet type, however. She looked like a stubborn person who represses their emotions and desires. She glanced at me a few times, looking away quickly. I presume she was contemplating what kind of person I was and if I was going to judge her for whatever others seemed to. Must be the pointy ears. Humans hate that which is different to them, and have an insurmountable urge to destroy that which is peculiar. It was the same problem with racism and sexism. I assume it's racism against pointy eared people? Maybe. I don't know. I really need to do some more research...
From listening to other people conversations, I gathered that the head nun's name was Sasha and that she was a "hero" in this place, that the pointy eared girl's name was Primera and that she was half human and half elf, and that the boy my age was young man from the slums who wanted to become part of the Royal Guard whose name was Nicholas, or Nick for short. I suppose here were the most prominent people here. And I assume Primera is shunned because she's a halfbreed. I have no idea what "hero" is though. Something to research, no doubt.
"Hey! You're new here, right?" Asked Nicholas. Well obviously, why else would he have not seen me here before? Blimey, people in this world seemed to be rather slow on the uptake...
"Y-yep." I answered, still stuttering...
"What's your name?" He asked. He was sitting sideways on the wooden bench to face me now. I did the same to look friendly. As usual, I was thinking about ways to scrape off the membrane on his eyes in the most painful way possible!
"K-Ka-Katt. Y-you-yours?" I hate my stutter... I have to say short sentences to keep the bloody conversation on a roll! Otherwise, the other person just gets bored...
"Nick. I don't really have a family, and that's why I'm here. What are you here for?" He was still being a Nosey Parker...
"I-I-I ha-have nowhere e-else... a-and no one else..." I looked down, looking slightly sad. In truth, I didn't give a flying f*ck, but this was one way to twist the truth without actually lying. I'm not explicitly telling a lie. I'm making it seem a certain way so as to make him believe a lie that I had not uttered. I never lie. Never. I acted. There's a difference.
"I'm sorry... but you have us now, don't you! And we're just one big happy family!" He was grinning at me. I grinned back, making sure the eyes smiled as well, so as to make the smile believable. "So... what do you want to do when you grow up, kid?"
This w*nker was calling me a child! While still technically a minor, it doesn't mean I'm a f*cking child! I was his age for f*cks sake! The f*cketing f*king f*cker!!! I knew there would be a f*ckening, and here it f*cking is! He just had to ruin my day with his f*ckery! And I've finished my science and maths degrees for f*cks sake! I can become a leading f*cking scientist! Or a top class mathematician! Or even a f*cking biological engineer! I will release a mutated form of the bubonic plague on you next time you call me that! You f*cker!
"N-not sure..." I said. I calmed myself down. No point getting angry like that. It would only blow my cover. And I was close to saying scientist too... that would've ended badly... them knowing I was basically an atheist wouldn't help me in my goal to stay here for the time being.
"Well I want to be in the Royal Guard!" He almost shouted, eyes gleaming in the dim candle light. It had indeed gone dark outside, so I really wanted to stay in here to sleep, even if I did feel a bit uneasy.
"Wh-why?" I asked.
"What "why"?!" He Shouted at me, staring in disbelief.
"I-I-I-I-I m-m-me-mean I-it's d-d-d-dangerous, I-isn't it?" His shouting made me hide myself in my scarf a bit, shrink away, and stutter even more than usual... great... such a nice person...
"Oh. Well, yes it is, but I would be able to protect and honour the King of Lescatie! He's the ruler of the human empire, you know." Well if he's a king, he's a visually a ruler, you nitwit... but what did he mean the human empire? Were there more. Elves maybe? Dwarves? Dryads? Demons?
"R-right... he seems c-cool."
"Cool? Cool?! He's the coolest guy you could ever hope to know about! He's the coolest of the coolest! Even cooler than that!" Crikey. This King must be a cold fellow. Badum tss. Thank you, thank you. I know all my personas love hearing my terrible comedy.
I didn't really answer after that. I just ate slowly while staring at the food. Nick was constantly rambling on about the Royal Guard and how "great" they were. He didn't actually tell me anything useful aside from the fact that this, Lescatie, was one of the larger cities built near the Demon Lord's, or as he called it, the "Mamonno Lord"'s, territory. This intrigued me slightly. But I couldn't ask him. It would seem too out of place to ask about something which is most likely common knowledge. And it almost made sense, what with the talk of elves. And a half-elf was sitting not so far away. That would mean it was not too unreasonable for there to be demons and monsters. This world was looking more and more like a typical fantasy world. Fun...
After another half hour or so, the nuns all told us to go to bed after putting the dishes in the kitchen. We all took our plates, some of the older children taking the plates of the younger ones. We walked in single file, with the irregular pair of small children. I walked at the back of the line. When I got to the kitchen... I was revolted...
There were dirty plates all over the place, used cutlery, used glasses, and generally just a huge mess. The other children put their plates in the sink and simply walked off to the bedroom. But I couldn't go just yet! There was so much to be done! Too much grime! I need to sort this kitchen out! Now!
And so I went to work, scrubbing away at the plates first with soap, then rinse, dry with a cloth, and finally tidy up the plates. Then for the glasses. I made sure to clean the rims more than the rest, because that's where people put their mouths. Rinse, dry, tidy. Now for the cutlery... I did the same for the cutlery. I then rinsed my arms, dried them, and went to leave, but I was stopped by Sasha.
"My child. Thank you for your help. You've really helped us out." She said, patting me on the head. Who did she think I was?! A small child?! Oh wait... I do look like one, don't I? Sh*t...
"I-it's okay. I-I-I j-ju-just w-wanted to ma-make e-e-everything lo-look nice!" I said, smiling cheerfully at her. While not completely true, all it was was my revulsion for the dirtiness, so I had to clean up. It was not so much out of making it look nice, so much as making it not look terrible. But it was still technically the truth.
"Tell me, my child. What do you believe?" Oh no... this was the inevitable 'what is your faith' question...
"Wh-wha-what d-do you m-mea-mean?" I asked, looking puzzled. I had no way to answer that. Elaborate please!
"I mean... do you believe in the Gods?" Oh? So this was a polytheistic religion. Okay...?
"I... I d-don't know..." I said. Now... I said this because I have no idea whether in this fantasy world with demons and monsters whether there would be angels and gods. Then again, all I've had was word of mouth. I've had no sound proof of anything.
"You mean you're agnostic? Well, I suppose that's better than being a heretic. Pray tell, would you consider coming with me?" She said this last part more as an order than anything else. And, I didn't say anything about being agnostic. She assumed it. I didn't lie.
I simply nodded.
She smiled at me and took me by the hand. She then took me to a room I had not been shown before. It had a wooden, square table with two chairs facing each other. She sat on the far chair and beckoned me to sit, which I hesitantly did. She then proceed to explain to me the principles of her religion, and some basic "facts" about the world.
She said that her religion had various gods. The ones who were the prime gods and the ones who were held in a better light by the majority of the populace were the First Chief God, and the Current Chief God. They were vehemently anti-monster, and would not aid any monsters, but would grant any help to those who fight monsters. Thy seemed to be the two two mainstream gods, mostly the Current Chief God. The "neutral" ones who would help any of their worshippers, whether monster or otherwise, were Ares, the God of War and Fighting, Eros, the Goddess of Love, and Bacchus, the Goddess of Alcohol. One was permitted to worship them, but it was a lot less mainstream. Finally, there were the monsterised and who were prohibited from being worshipped were The Fallen God, Poseidon, God of the Sea, Bastet, Goddess of Cats, and Hel, Goddess of Life and Death. They actively encouraged the monsterisation of humans.
I liked Bastet the best. I mean, come on! Goddess of Cats, who presides over the Cat Spirit Realm. That had got to be the best thing I had of in a very, very long time!
She then looked at me and smiled.
"I hope this has helped bring you to the side of Light, my child. Go to bed, now." I smiled back and nodded. Spoiler, it didn't.
I then left the room and went to my bed. I assumed it was my bed. It was the last empty bed there. I lay down, still fully dressed, except for the shoes, covered myself in the duvet, and shut my eyes. I thought back to a poem I had heard once when I was young. (Thinking about these things helped me sleep).
In the silence of the night,
Where the Dark Things live,
Who slither and crawl in dark caves,
There is but little light.
One should be wary at night,
Lest you meet the Dark Things,
They'll sap and wring your body of being,
And you'll wish you had something bright.