x
"What are you?" He asked as he stepped away from Tymon. "There's a tremendous darkness in you; I can sense it. You're evil...."
Tymon looked at the priest, unbothered.
"You're kidding, right?" He responded.
"I would never joke about such a matter," the priest stated. "Accept our god, and his light will wash away your darkness, young man."
"Look, the darkness you sense in me isn't what you think it is," Tymon said, trying to clear up the misunderstanding. "I'm not evil or possessed or anything like that. It's part of who I am, so your god can't wash it away."
"A demon," the priest exhaled.
"No, that's wrong too," Tymon replied nonchalantly. "Actually, we need Michael's help saving you all from one."
"Trickery! You mean to deceive us. There are no demons here," the priest yelled.
The crowd of worshippers had begun to close in on Tymon. They circled him without touching him, leaving a large ring between him and them.
There were some angry threats and discouraging statements as the people tried to dispel him.
"Go away! You don't belong here!"
"We don't want you here!"
"His light will never reach you!"
"Anti-light scum!"
"Begone!"
"Die!"
"Kill him!"
"Sacrifice him told our Lord!"
As the group's anger swelled and more threats were spat, they tightened the circle around Tymon, attempting to trap him.
I watched as Tymon became annoyed and sent out a weak surge of malice to waive them off. While some backed down and ran away, most of them only staggered and regained their senses.
"We're not afraid of you!" Someone yelled.
"Our savior will heal us!"
It seemed their faith in Michael was so strong they could resist weak amounts of Tymon's fear-inducement.
Before Tymon could turn his fear dial up a notch, I wanted to reach him, but I struggled to navigate through the river of people that was between us now.
"BEHOLD!" The priest yelled suddenly. "He possesses power! The dark energy pulse you just felt proves he is an enemy of our Lord. He is here to dismantle our faith!"
This incited the crowd into a bigger rage as they swarmed Tymon. They clawed at his face and clothes as they screamed for his death in the name of their lord.
"STOP!" I screamed.
"YOU'RE MAKING A MISTAKE!" Trik shouted, but our voices weren't reaching them.
They were too focused on getting rid of what they perceived as an enemy of their god.
The air around us suddenly grew colder.
I looked at Naomi, who, judging from her joyless expression, was the other personality. The happy Naomi must've been frightened and retreated.
"I can stop them if you want," she said to me as her body started to give off cold vapor.
"No, they'd turn on you too," Trik inserted.
I cupped my hands around my mouth to yell at Tymon.
"Tymon, don't hurt them! They don't understand!"
A tiny dome of Tymon's energy expanded from him, pushing everyone away. Then he flew up and hovered in the sky.
The people started throwing rocks and loose objects at him, demanding that he fall and accept his death.
He reached out to me through his c-chip.
"There's no explaining anything to these people. I'm going to wait at the bottom of the hill," he relayed.
"Okay, we'll meet you there," I replied.
After that, he flew off.
I turned toward Trik and Naomi.
Naomi was looking off in the distance. When she looked at me, she started talking, but the crowd had begun to yell in outrage about Tymon escaping.
Over the noise, I couldn't hear anything she said, but she was pointing in the direction she was looking earlier.
I started to gesture for them to follow me to meet up with Tymon, then Naomi quickly moved me and caught a rock that had been thrown at my head.
"Don't let them escape!" Someone shouted.
"They were aiding the enemy of our Lord! They're his followers!"
"No! You have it all wrong," I voiced loudly.
The priest motioned for the followers to halt and quiet down.
"Go on then. Explain," he demanded impatiently. "The least we will do is give you a chance to speak."
I sighed in relief.
"The guy that just flew away was not an enemy of your god," I began.
"And we are not followers of his," Trik clarified.
"He is a being similar to Michael. So is my friend, Naomi," I said, motioning to her. "We're here only to talk to Michael. Not lead you away from your religion."
"Blasphemy," the priest called out. "There is only one god. Do not compare the likes of a demon to our lord."
Again, the crowd was incited to anger, this time focusing on the three of us.
The group started to close in on us but suddenly stopped. There were gasps as they all stared into the sky.
In that same moment, I sensed someone above us who hadn't been there just a second ago.
"Oh? Do you have new followers?" said a soothing voice.172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xudr5Pg4f
172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuGJRkwQdE
