A glimpse of the Past

Chapter 77: A glimpse of the Past

/Those who do not obey will be punished, those who do not listen will be smitten down, and those who do not care to better themselves shall be doomed for eternity. Redemption is at the core of our church, yet redemption must always be earned, never freely given, and is certainly something that requires discipline, and patience, as well as repentance.

It is for that repentance that those who sin must be punished, all punishment dealt in hopes that they may realize the error in their ways and in good faith go back to the principles of order. The punishments dealt by the church are never supposed to inflict pain for no reason, never to dread those who are innocent. Much rather, it is to guide them onto the right path once more, to herd the sheep, be a guiding light, and allow them to become better.

Some have called our methods harsh, and certainly, they may be in some cases and regions. The punishments are always left up to the greatest authority in the area, and some priests certainly take bigger issue with certain crimes than others. But I do believe such measures to be necessary, and such responsibility to be well shouldered by the ones who have to carry it. Our priests are, after all, naught but the hands of order, carrying it out in our world.

However, never is one beyond forgiveness, no matter how heinous the crime committed. Of course, these punishments also extend to the members of the church, and any priest who is found to go against the principles of order will be stripped of their title for however long it takes for them to change. There are no exceptions to this rule, and even I myself have experienced it before.

In order, we must understand that few are without sin, and even fewer will forever be as such. Our high priestess, our voice has not always been as wise as she is now, and I myself come from circumstances that once caused me to take from another. That is why the care for those who have no one else is all the more dear to my heart, and those who go against order not because of necessity, but because of greed shall be punished much more harshly than those who have little choice.

After all, to uphold order, there need to be people to work together with, to accept as a large family. And if one cannot trust their family to stave off starvation or a cold grave in winter, then what use is the order we so seek to uphold?/

The fifth scroll of the series "The grand Church of Order" by bishop Nemo the eager.

- - - - - -

As per the usual by now, Mercury was bored during travelling. Well, less bored than when it was just him and Lucia, since with Yvette in the mix, there as a constant, bothersome tension in the air. Frankly, the two people he was travelling with didn't see eye to eye, one judgmental of the other because of a thousand small reasons. Too loud, to quiet, weird breathing pattern, slight imperfection in clothing, food not good, didn't gather enough wood, tent not set up properly, barbaric, the complaints were endless.

If he was honest, Mercury would tell them that they were similar in a lot of ways. Anger issues, a good amount of arrogance, and even some of their views aligned, but those things only caused them to be more irritated, since they mirrored exactly the traits they didn't like about each other. No one wanted to be arrogant or aggressive, and no one wants to be treated arrogantly or aggressively, especially those that are those two things.

Of course, Mercury would never say that out loud. He may have a problem with authority, but quite frankly, with two powderkegs in a carriage with him, he had absolutely no interest in lighting a match. Instead, he gave it his very best to ignore the sparks in the air and the clear annoyance on both their faces, trying to meditate.

It didn't work. Honestly, it felt like he was constantly sitting there with a threat to his life, almost like he was sitting at a cliff, his legs dangling over it, and children playing in the area. Of course he couldn't just close his eyes and meditate, someone might push him off and he'd fall to his death. Meditating like that was damn impossible.

"Can you guys like fucking stop?" he finally asked after days of hostility, and an eternity of oppressive, angry silence. Almost immediately, two very angry eyes snapped to Mercury, seeking to lynch him right then and there. They were like hyenas in front of a carcass, like French revolutionaries while a king was approaching a guillotine. Hungry, angry, and very ready to see his head roll.

But Mercury? He felt like he couldn't even blink for the last couple hours, scared to close his eyes for even a second with those two fucking furies in the cart, and his patience had more than run out, to a point where any instinct of self-preservation failed in the face of the utter annoyance he was experiencing.

"I asked really nicely, you goddamn babies. Stop behaving like 5-year-olds, and start getting your shit together. Both of you are being annoying pricks about this whole thing. You don't need to cooperate, you don't need to be besties, but for the love of god, stop thinking of killing each other!"

"Might just fucking kill you," Yvette immediately murmured, although a little more quiet than Mercury had anticipated.

For a moment it seemed like Lucia would reply in the same way, her eyes narrowing and her forehead creasing up, but after hearing Yvette, a light smile found itself on her face. This was her chance at being the better person. "I understand," she said. "I do not particularly enjoy Yvette's presence, and I believe the feeling to be mutual, but I do believe we are overdoing things. I apologize Mercury, hopefully we can do better in the future."

"Huh? What the fuck do you mean?!" Yvette lashed out like a cornered animal, not understanding why Lucia had lowered herself. But then, the dots connected in her head. "I mean, yeah, of course, you're both right," she corrected herself, straightening her posture and lightly clearing her throat. "We should be able to cooperate and cohabitate for at least a little while."

Well, if he had turned this whole thing into a battle of who could be more polite, that was probably the best result Mercury could reasonably ask for. With a little luck-

"Oh~, so you have changed your mind?" Lucia taunted with little hesitation, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she gave Yvette a cocky smile.

"You little-! Yes, I have," Yvette said through gritted teeth, sparks once again flying between the two. "After all, one of us has to gracefully extend a hand, and it seems like you would not be the one to take the first step."

"I am not?" Lucia asked, attempting to sound incredulous, but the fury in her voice was hardly stifled. "Then do perhaps inform me as to what your 'first step' entails, dear Yvette?"

"My first step is not ripping your throat out right now," Yvette said slowly, her hand on the grip of her sword.

"Well, well, well, aren't you truly kind today," Lucia said, the air between her hands flickering and shimmering, her bow halfway materialized and at the ready.

"STOP IT!!" Mercury suddenly yelled, focusing their attention back on him. "I fucking swear, you guys are horrible. Can't you just be quiet normally? What are you gonna do, break the carriage? Kill each other now, while we're still on the way to our goal? Are both of you just going to abandon Iris, or have me drag you there when you're half-dead and wanted criminals for killing a carriage driver?!" The two of them scarcely had a second to reply as Mercury continued his barrage.

"Seriously, what are you guys thinking? Is it that hard to live together with each other even for a week or two?! Neither of you are perfect, so for the love of fuck, try to at least cooperate, there's something at stake here, holy shit."

And with that, he closed his eyes in anger, still steaming from how immature two people could even be. To be fair, if this wasn't something important, he might've been standing at the side, chanting at them to fight, but were they really stupid enough not to separate work and their private life? Iris was abducted, and these two idiots really had nothing better to do than argue?

With his eyes closed, Mercury didn't even really register the silence that had once more set in. It wasn't as oppressive or hostile as before, but more shocked. Lucia and Yvette weren't entirely stupid, and they understood that Mercury was right, so having something so obvious shoved in their face felt a little stunning.

Wow, they had really been behaving like assholes, huh?

The arrogant do not mean to be arrogant, the stupid don't mean to be stupid, it is oftentimes just ingrained into someone's being, as was the case for Lucia and Yvette. They had always been held in the believe that they were above others, be that because of faith in oneself, or the faith of others. Both of them had struggled with drawing borders and seeing where their hostility should end, and having someone like Mercury do that for them felt strange.

Quite frankly, Mercury was quite a bit older than them, but a lot of the time, it didn't feel like that. He was oftentimes childish, silly, or playful, and it felt a little like he was their junior, so being so clearly reprimanded kind of just... struck them quiet. They weren't arrogant enough to still hold onto their silly little feud, and they at the very least understood to listen to Mercury.

After all, even if he was their junior, they still took him seriously as a friend.

"..."

"..."

Now, the silence had turned into a bit of reflection, two children caught in a stupid fight and now awkwardly sitting in front of each other. It was awkward, and uncomfortable, and it was exactly the kind of quiet Mercury needed to finally get a good night's rest, without needing to fear for his imminent death.

- - -

A couple of minutes later, Mercury opened his eyes again, only to find himself on the plains he was so familiar with, a fountain to the south, sinister mountains to the east, a citadel of fire up north, and a castle of glass in the west. A field so endless and stunningly empty that Mercury sometimes still had trouble grasping it.

He was back here again, the place he went every night, one that had grown important to him over time. It was a place where time flowed a little slower, where he could practice, or rest, or think on himself. A place where he could take a bit of a breath.

Honestly, he was glad old Dreamweaver wasn't around this time, at the very least he couldn't see the amalgamation of mana veins, and in a field this open they were hard to miss. Mercury breathed a small sigh of relief. He had been around people a lot, and he really did enjoy it, but having a little bit of quiet to himself shouldn't do any harm.

Very rarely did he need such a thing, but occasionally it was something he enjoyed. It meant that no one relied on him, no one needed anything from him, no one would ask him anything. A place he could just exist and think, something that wasn't given if he was around people, no matter how much he liked them, because people always asked questions.

In moments like these, he often thought back to his family, well, those he considered family at least. Mercury let out a sigh at the thought. Family was troubling after all, a group of people you can't choose to be a part of or not, yet you have to rely on them for a good while, and they can simply choose to drop you at any point. He shook his head a little, trying to get rid of the bitter taste in his mouth.

After all, family could also go so very well. His brother was incredibly charming. Reliable, kind, helpful, considerate... someone who would give everything for those he cared about, and honestly, a role model for Mercury. Of course, he had grown older now, and it was sometimes a little strange to think that he still had people he wanted to be like, people he admired... but of course, just because he was approaching 40 didn't mean he would forever be the way he was now.

Maybe in a year he'd be a little kinder, or in two years a little less lonely. In five years, he might have met a guy he really liked, and in a couple more, he might have started his own family. It was funny, thinking like that. For a while, Mercury let his thoughts drift in that direction, thinking of all the people he knew, all the people he missed. Those were bittersweet memories, of course, knowing that he might never see them again, but they were his memories and he would treasure them.

Man, Earth really had been wild. As a kid, Mercury was so energetic and loud and obnoxious, he could scarcely believe it. Then, in his teen years was when his problem with authority figures began to come out. Shitty teachers and old people who thought they could command him around laid the seeds that would really blossom when he went to the military. His parents pressured him into going there, to really get in touch with his core Christian values, and he despised every moment of it.

Instructors, sergeants, officers, marshals, and his fellow trainees, almost all of them were bastards. It had quite literally leeched all motivation he had out of him, and when he came back, college was too much of a drag to properly try. Sure, it was interesting, and he listened, retaining some of the info because of his good memory, and he also reviewed a lot of it again in his later years, but man, it was a bad time. So he dropped out after the second attempt, and his parents finally properly disowned him.

For a while, Mercury had crashed at his brothers' place, babysitting his niece and playing games with her all day. It'd helped him find some joy in life again as he searched for a job. Eventually, he did find one, recordkeeping and shit at a firm. It'd seemed boring, but doable, and in the first two years it was. Then his boss changed to a bastard so horrible he could hardly describe it.

After that, Mercury had to slave away at unpaid overtime or be fired, keep doing tasks he wasn't supposed to be doing and get chewed out for not doing it properly. He shook his head thinking back to it, and how bad a decision it had been. Fucking corporate scumbags at HR... it was a time so annoying that even his memories were blurry.

With that, Mercury decided to stop his excursion down memory lane. There was not much worth reliving back there, and even less that he liked to remember.

Instead, he decided to take a walk. Not like he was busy, and with his emotions now riled up, he didn't think that he could meditate properly. Instead, he decided to head south. He liked fountains, they always shimmered nicely, and some would create rainbows in the sun. He was curious to see if this one did.

Of course, he knew that he probably wouldn't be getting any closer to the actual fountain, but still, it was, at the very least, worth a try. The feeling of the soft grass under his paws was already enough to calm his soul down a little. His body here felt more complete after really properly developing his mana veins. He could feel the sun on his back, the floor beneath his feet, he could even smell the air, fresh grass with a hint of vanilla.

Had this place always been like that? Honestly, he really couldn't remember the air smelling like anything, so either this place had changed, or he had. Maybe he was now advanced enough to be able to smell with his mana veins or something? Man, that sounded really fucking stupid. Nah, it was probably this place changing.

Thinking about that, he still had no idea where this was. Old Uunrahzil also hadn't been particularly helpful when it came to that field. Was it his mind? Or some place that was linked to his mind? Or some place he was exploring with his mind? In any case, it definitely had something to do with thinking.

What a pain, what a pain. There were still so many thing he wanted to find out. Well, at the very least he'd only need a bit of luck to figure things out. Time was still on his side, after all.