Perfect Storm

Cermin did not return to the Temple ever since, and avoided Zeriav for a while.

Zeriav let him have his space, secretly hoping that his friend would come to his senses and come back to him.

Even Sister Marigold was tense these days. She can sense something as amiss between the two men, and had long forgotten the trouble about her veil.

She prayed for the reconciliation fo the two.

But one person prayed for the opposite, and plan to take matters to his own hand just to make sure of that.

One day, Cermin returned back to the Temple.

The moment the Moonstone monk saw him, he stood up from the pews and quickly approached him.

"Cermin, I..... I a-apologize about my behavior before---"

"Zeriav, we need to talk. In private."

He looked more stern, somehow. His gaze towards him was penetrating, and his tone doesn't allow anyone to disobey his words.

Zeriav has no choice but to immediately agree. "Of course..... Let's go inside."

They went towards Demetri's temple once more. The two fountain statues stood forebodingly with their hands spread out and water flowing through it.

These statues were as much a part of the god's divinity as all the other objects, maybe even more so that their altars and offerings.

"I want to talk about you, Zeriav." He said calmly.

".....About me?"

"Yes.... About you." Cermin walked over the stone pavement, taking a look at the many beads inside this temple.

He took some of them to examine. He listened to the tinkling sound of glass, and the swooshing of water inside them.

Then, he put them back gently.

"Zeriav, I think I understand now why you never speak. You fear too much what people would think of you. You can't decide what to say for a long time."

He went over to the confused man, and grabbed the beaded necklace on his neck.

"And so, because you could not decide what to say or do, you end up praying to your god for advice."

"I........ That's not true at all." He denied.

He was becoming more agitated now that Cermin was twirling the beads between his fingers, but did not scold him for it.

After all, Cermin might still be upset with him. He really doesn't want to burn this bridge and keep their friendship.

"The problem with me, Zeriav..... is that I would never be aware of your suffering unless you told me so." He smiled bitterly.

"I stay quiet because you stay quiet. You are right, I am using your silence to my advantage."

He made a light tug, and Zeriav had no choice but to grab his wrist and stop him this time.

"What are you getting at, Cermin?" He asked somberly.

"I do not deserve any friendship, Zeriav. Everyone suffers in the end because of me, daemon or not."

He let go of the necklace, and looked at Zeriav directly.

"Don't you understand by now? What can rituals do to save me........ to save us? Destruction is inevitable, especially when you are with me."

Zeriav shook his head. "That is because a daemon follows you---"

"No. I am not being followed. Zeriav, I am the daemon." He said in sad tone.

"And every minute you spend with me, I get fed. Soon, I will swallow you whole just like I did with Volken, Rabuka and Pavone."

The monk pitied that he would think of himself this way.

Despite himself, he had the urge to hug Cermin and comfort him. Even when he felt awkward doing so and honestly have never embraced someone before.

"Shhh, don't say that....... It would be alright..... You are not a daemon." He said.

Cermin smiled as he hugged back, wrapping his hand around his neck----

Clang!

The sound of broken glass hitting the floor.

Zeriav furrowed his brows, letting go of him. He looked down......

Only to see his bead necklace shattered into many pieces.

"Oh, but I am." Cermin grinned with pure delight. "Ah, it's really amazing, your belief and affection for me."

"Such devotion would be similar to a devotion to a god, don't you think?"

He looked down at the shattered glass.......

"And since I am your god, anything I do would be alright with you, wouldn't it?"

And stepped on it more!

"Ooops, I didn't see that there. But you'd forgive me, right, Zeriav?"

He patted the stunned monk's face, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Since you needed me, you worship me, you cannot stand to be without me."

Zeriav exclaimed, and immediately summoned his scythe!

"Daemon!"

The moment he sliced through, however, everything went dark!

He could not see this daemonic imposter, and he continued to slash through. He felt a a tap on his shoulder, and he furiously swung his scythe on that direction---

But nothing.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

He kept on spinning and slashing blindly on all directions.

His terror and anger had completely overtaken his senses inside this darkness. He cannot even recall where he was anymore, that he was in a Temple surrounded by precious objects....

He just kept on following the playful taps, hell-bent on killing this daemon!

And then, the darkness had disappeared, along with his frenzy.

He was breathing heavily......

And turned around, seeing all the wreckage.

Statues sliced in half, glass shard from broken beads everywhere. Water all over the floor.

Demetri's temple was completely defaced, from the inside down to the door and the fountain statues guarding it.

By his very own monk.

And there was no daemon or Cermin in sight.

A monk from the same patronage as him, from the Temple of Rain, screamed when he saw the destruction.

"Brother Zeriav, what have you done!?????"

Zeriav looked at his own sight, which was slowly dematerializing.

Outside, there were endless rumbles of thunder.

He had desecrated and angered his own god.

"It's not me....." His eyes shook with denial. "It's not me....... That daemon made me do it..... I......."

Words continued to ring in his ear. Those sly, putrid words that slip inside his ear like a disgusting, crawling insect.......

"What can rituals do to save me........ to save us? Destruction is inevitable, especially when you are with me."

The rituals and prayers could not do anything from the inevitable, perfect storm that had come to destroy them.