Chapter 14 Part 1

Christopher walks through the capital for a few more hours, ending up taking sight of the cathedral. Displeasure and rage wells up within him as he looks at it.

Heather and Haider come out from behind him, scaring the shit out of him.

"Gah! *gasp* What the fuck is wrong with you two?" Christopher yells.

"Heh, we got you good brother." Haider says.

"I guess I deserve a heart attack right now." Christopher says.

"What do you mean?" Heather says.

Christopher points to the cathedral.

"Oh, are you okay? I know this must be hard for you to see." Heather says.

"Thankfully, you showed up. I really wanted to kill everyone in there just now." Christopher says.

"You're kidding." Haider says.

Christopher shakes his head and takes several deep breaths to calm down. "These bastards are the reason the Sister died. They deserve to be brought to justice"

"I get how you feel. Trust me, we know." Heather says.

"Just try to calm down, ok? You can't do anything about it." Haider says.

"I know, I know. I'm doing my best. Seeing this place makes me so angry. These greedy, hoarding pieces of shit." Christopher says. He collapses to the floor and pants, trying to regain some control over his emotions.

"What do you mean by I can buy any holy water?" Jake says.

Christopher and the twins look on at the discussion going on between the guard captain and the proxy.

"What I mean is that our current stock of holy water is insufficient and needs time to make more. We ain't selling at this time." the proxy says.

Christopher hangs his head and starts to stand. "This is just like then. I bet it was that bitch who refused Helda's treatment."

"Hey, calm down Christopher. Keep a level head." Heather attempts.

Christopher slowly walks towards the cathedral, his movements that of a drunk, or zombie. "How dare you keep the empire's medical supplies to yourselves?"

Haider tries to stop Christopher by grabbing his arm. Christopher slowly looks at Haider, giving him a death stare. "Let go brother, unless you want to lose that arm."

Haider hesitating loosens his grip and Christopher rips his arm away. Christopher's malice can be felt in the air as the pressure above the area crashes to the ground.

"By the mother. Guards protect me." the proxy says, also looking towards the captain.

"There's nothing I can do about this. If I get in the way, I'm dead." Jake says, backing away and joining the twins. "What is he going to do?" he asks them.

"His emotions are going haywire. There isn't anything we can do. We just have to hope that he doesn't kill anyone in the process." Haider says.

"If he does, I will have to imprison him." Jake says.

"It won't come to that. We will stop him before that happens." Heather firmly says.

"I hope you're right." Jake says.

"By refusing treatment of a god-worshipping woman named Hilda, you brought my wrath upon yourselves." Christopher says, his aura becoming a blood red mixed with black.

"This boy, how can he have so much anger? He has been corrupted by the demon god. Purge him!" the proxy commands.

The spearmen charge Christopher, but before their weapons could get remotely close, they disintegrate under Christopher's defence. A small explosion sends them flying back towards the proxy.

"I will make you all pay!" Christopher screams, tears running down his face, his raw emotions intimidating everyone witnessing the sight. A gust of pure wind throws the proxy back and they retreat inside.

Christopher collapses onto his knees as his crying produces a call for help. Hearing this, Haider and Heather spring into action, throwing everything they can at him. The explosions this caused can be heard throughout the entire district, bringing adventurers and civilians from every corner to come and help.

"Damn, we ain't getting through!" Haider yells, he sees the gathering crowd and yells, "Everyone, throw whatever you can at him. I will pay for their replacements. He needs our help!"

"Please!" Heather cries.

The people look at one another, afraid to get hurt. But some take on the challenge. They start throwing random items at Christopher. Fruit, vegetables, knives, bread, baskets. Anything they had on them. It creates an opening for Heather and Haider to slip in.

The two leaps to Christopher, giving him a huge embrace.

"It's alright Christopher, we're here. Take as long as you need." Heather says.

Christopher's sobs softened, but the orbs that surrounded him started hitting the ground, destroying the limestone floor and digging into the ground. Some orbs go flying at the cathedral, destroying a sizable chunk of the wall.

After all the orbs disappeared and Christopher calmed down, the full extent of the damage can be seen. Three metres deep and ten metres wide. The front of the cathedral is now filled with massive holes, its defensive magic completely useless against it.

"There. It's over. Let's get you home, get some rest." Haider says, picking him up.

"No you don't!" the trembling proxy says.

Heather turns around and looks at her. "We can settle this another time, bitch. You and this church are solely responsible for killing the one he held most dear. Not only him, but us as well. Let that fact sink in to that idiotic, thick skull of yours. Who knows how many people you've killed by refusing treatment."

The proxy backs down through gritted teeth, cursing the three under her breath. Haider and Heather take Christopher back to the inn to rest.

Christopher wakes up a few days later. Haider, Heather, Mizubi and Thordis are asleep around him. Mizubi hears him and wakes everyone up.

"Hey sleepy head. How are you feeling?" Mizubi says.

"How long have I been out?" Christopher asks, his voice crackly and his throat dry as a desert.

"Three days lad. Now drink." Mizubi says, handing him a glass of water.

"Thank you." Christopher says, taking the cup from Mizubi and taking a sip of the fluid.

"Are you feeling alright?" Heather asks.

(Narrator) Hold on a minute. Didn't Mizubi just ask that?

"Much better, thanks to you and brother." Christopher says. He looks down at his hands. "I lost control again." he starts to shake. "I caused so much damage and horror. I'm so sorry everyone!" he sobs.

Mizubi gets onto the bed set up in his room and hugs him. "It's ok Christopher. The fact that you're showing your weakness is a good thing. If you let down your guard more often, you wouldn't be prone to these outbursts." He tightens his embrace.

"That's right. If you become less hostile towards people, you may be able to control your emotions a little more." Llamiryl advises.

"I'll try. That sounds super hard, though." Christopher says.

"At least you have something to focus on improving along with your magic. Start with it in your meditations, ok?" Thordis asks.

"Hay, you can't just ask him to do that! His meditation is very personal." Heather says.

"I'll do my best." Christopher says.

This leaves Heather dumbfounded. Haider giggles slightly before he says, "We've been trying to get him to do that for years."

"Well, at least he's finally making significant progress. We can only hope that he eventually moves on." Heather says.

"We have bigger problems right now anyway kid." Thordis says.

"What do you mean?" Christopher says.

"You need to meet with the pope about the damages that you caused to their property." Thordis explains.

"He's here at the inn, waiting for you to come round. Are you up for this?" Mizubi asks.

"Yeah, I need to make this right." Christopher says.

"Haider, would you go get him for me?" Thordis asks.

Haider nods and leaves to fetch the pope and returns a few minutes later. Christopher locks eyes with a man dressed fully from head to toe in white and gold robes.

(Narrator) I have a bad feeling about this.

"Hello child, my name is Pope Glafydd." He says, his voice soft and gentle and kind.

"Hello sir, I'm sorry for the damage I have caused." Christopher bows his head.

"No need for that, my boy. This entire debacle was caused by my inability to foresee my proxy's selfishness. I understand she refused treatment to someone very close to you. I humbly apologise for that." Glafydd says.

"I appreciate your apology sir, but it won't get rid of my malice towards you and the church." Christopher says.

"I predicted as such, that's why my proxy has been reprimanded and stripped of her status in the church." the pope says.

"That's not good enough. I made a promise to make you all suffer, like how she suffered." Christopher admits.

"I have to say that's hard to hear. I would like you to know that I had no role in her passing." the pope says kindly.

"Drop it, old man. I see through this facade. You seriously think I'm this stupid?" Christopher says.

"I have no idea what you mean." the pope says with a smile.

"If you want to stay alive, I suggest you leave now." Christopher says.

"Calm down, brother! You can't say that to the pope." Heather says.

"Well, I just did." Christopher says.

"It's fine, the gods forgive all sinners." the pope arrogantly says.

"So I'm a sinner now? Go fuck yourself. Get. out. Of my sight." Christopher stares him down.

"As you wish, boy. I will leave as requested." the pope walks out of the bedroom. Moments later, screams can be heard from the hallway.

One of the disciples comes rushing back in and yells, "The pope is dead!"

Everyone comes rushing out, and Christopher slowly staggers to see. As he locks eyes with the pope's corpse and his vision becomes hazy as he braces himself on the wall.

"It was you, wasn't it! You killed the pope!" the disciple points their finger at Christopher, pinning the blame on him.

"That shouldn't have killed him. I only meant to drain his mana a little." Christopher says, dropping to his knees as he looks at his hands in horror.

"This isn't good. Christopher, why did you do it?" Thordis asks.

"I swear I didn't mean to!" Christopher starts to cry.