Chapter 2

"Look he's going to heal that sparrow!" Someone shouted from the crowd who were now gathering around Douma eager to see the miracle that was about to happen. It was mainly the visitors, even though they knew of Douma's existence and what the shrine had to offer they rarely encountered such things. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and now they got to see it happening at their very eyes.

"Gracious Founder your heart is made of gold we should never have doubted you like that will you forgive us?" One of his followers, Isaki looked at him apologetically, Douma didn't say anything he only felt pity towards every single person in the main hall right now, the scene was so tense, everyone was begging him to continue with the normal routines of the shrine, some even started bowing down to him like he was some kind of monument. "Please guide us through these hard times." They said.

The sparrow stayed still as light emitted from Douma's palms sending waves to its broken wing. Everyone watched as the bird chirped and hopped around Douma's palm, flapping both wings energetically. 

"He healed the sparrow! The animal has been healed!" The people clapped and thanked Douma for his kindness they began apologizing for what happened, Douma didn't think too much of it, humans were like this sometimes. But still he had to do something about the cold temperatures and his followers may not like to hear it, but he was prepared nevertheless.

Suddenly there was a loud rumble in the sky as everyone looked outside and saw how dark it was now. Douma knew what it meant, the impact of his healing ability had caused another round of dropping temperatures, the wind became even more aggressive.

"Did you guys see that? Right after Douma healed that bird the sky got dark, this isn't the first time it happened," Isaki and the others slowly turned to look at him in grim expressions. It seems they were beginning to realize and even though Douma wanted them to know, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease at how they were looking at him.

"Everyone I have something important to say." Douma said calmly as he sat down on his mini couch again and faced the crowd in front of him.

"That you're responsible for this?"

"Don't interrupt him like that!" 

This is going to be interesting I wonder if they can handle the truth. Honestly, I could care less about it now, I've tried my best to help these people wake up from their delusions. There's more to life than begging from others, they need to learn to live independently, I appreciate everything they've done for me though. This shrine is indeed memorable and I'm sure they'll keep it safe.

"Paradise Shrine will resort to just talks and consultations from now on," Douma said in a cold tone that seemed unsettling to some of the visitors they never saw this side of him. The blonde male watched as some of his followers crossed their arms.

"We knew it all along you're tarnishing Lotus Mountains for your own benefit!" Isaki yelled from the crowd who started bickering, some of the visitors demanded the shrine to be disbanded, at some point Douma thought of doing that for their own good.

The chaos was unfolding, Douma didn't understand why these people were so angry it was hard to put himself in these people's shoes. Afterall, he had a hard time connecting with others sometimes, it placed him in this strange empty void where he expected something to emerge from the darkness but nothing ever did.

One of his followers grabbed one of the paintings on the wall and attempted to shove it in his face. The blonde male got up and backed away, this time nobody was telling the crowd to calm down and stop what they were doing everyone was furious now.

"This right here is you! What happened to the young founder of Paradise Shrine who sought to put a smile on everyone's faces?" The angry man went on rambling about what the painting meant, Douma just stared at it blankly, the painting was beautiful the artist did a great job on it.

Now everyone was talking about the painting Douma wondered when he'll get the chance to speak. The blonde male watched as the man who was still holding the painting didn't feel the need to take a break he was so determined to explain everything to him, that his saliva was splashing onto his jet blue kimono.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Walking towards the crowd of people was an old man that Douma recognized he always came to the shrine during the earliest hours of the day. Sometimes he would talk with Douma and ask him if he's doing alright at the shrine. Of all people who worked and visited the shrine, the old man was one of the calmer ones. Even though he had his grumpy moments, he always showed his support for the shrine and Douma's efforts to maintain peace and stability in Hasu Mountains. It seemed to be working until now, Douma wasn't sure if the old man will still maintain his calm stature after everything he heard.

Douma smiled and watched intently as some people from the crowd started arguing with the old man, Mr Hanekama, someone they see at the shrine almost every week, they couldn't stand his naggings and here he was confronting them. "Oh this is interesting I wonder if they'll start leaving now," Douma said to himself as he walked away from the crowd and looked at the paintings on the walls. "It's been a while since we had any new paintings maybe I should make one myself."

While Mr Hanekama was threatening the crowd of angry people with his walking stick, the blonde male looked at the paintings in front of him, on his right was of him holding a light-pink lotus near a waterfall. If he remembered correctly it was done by his followers about a month ago, there were new lotuses added to the shrine's collection in their garden.

There was another roar of thunder in the sky as it started pouring heavily, the trees and bushes outside were swaying back and forth violently. This alarmed the crowd as they started running around frantically, some even grabbed the umbrellas near the entrance and started running out of the shrine. There were screams from every corner, as the visitors started rambling about getting home, even his followers were getting ready to leave, Douma wondered if they'd ever come back after the events that unfolded earlier today. Perhaps this was the only way to get them to understand.