Revelation

"Ha?! So this is the plan?" Tina blurted out, taken aback. "You're just gonna sleep? Merciful Marhwani! I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

She was totally disappointed.

But George only chuckled. "Yeah. This is the plan. To conserve as much energy as possible and not waste it on unnecessary blabbers. Wake me up when a cultist comes." George told her.

And then he slept. Not bothering to listen to her.

And as soon as he closed his eyes, a familiar sight greeted him. Dark, squarish room. Cramped, dirty, and eerie. And there was the old man who was stretching by the corner.

"I knew you would come!" The old man declared. "I knew it! Rats never lie. I knew it!"

Then he kneeled and stretched both his arms into the air. As if praising an invisible entity. He was so lost in his own world that George started to wonder if the old man had forgotten about him.

"Uh… Are you okay?" He couldn't help but ask. But the man didn't reply. He was kissing the ground as he cried tears of joy.

The act made George cringe. Even with shoes on, he could feel how dirty the floor was. It was damped and it had a nasty shade of yellow and brown.

His mind was becoming wild so he decided to ask what he came for.

"You tried to warn me earlier, didn't you?" George said. "Thank you."

Then the old man froze. The devotion in his eyes disappeared. It was replaced by a glare that George would have sworn was laced with lunacy. Then he stood and stomped his feet to his direction. "Say that one more time and I'll have the hounds of Phulas drag you down to Aznarok."

And that surely shut George up. He knew about the hounds. Diego told him. And they were the last thing he wanted to meet.

"Good. You stay like that. A good boy and silent as a tree."

Then he sat in a lotus position and gave George a piece of his mind.

"My god gave me a revelation. He told me to help you." Yerribas started. "And he told me you would take me out of this place if I did. And honestly, I didn't wanna help you but my god begged me so you should be honored. But before that. Do you believe in gods?"

George was stunned. 'Is this some sort of a trick question?'

"I can't even believe in myself and you want me to believe in a god?" Was what he wanted to say but he would be a fool to actually say that. And so he decided to dodge the question and change the topic. "What is this place anyway?"

The old man licked his lips. Smacked them a couple times and then he whispered in a very low tone. "Aznarok."

There was a sharp glint in the old man's eyes when he said that. It only lasted for a second before he had the silly look again. "You'll come, right? Right? Haha. Of course, you will come! My god doesn't lie all the time. He only does it from time to time to have some fun but not this time. Haha."

But George's head was a mess. Save the old man? Free him from Aznarok? Doing that is like asking for a death sentence.

"I'm sorry. I think I misunderstood. I'm a bit of an idiot, you see. But, uh, you are expecting me to do what?" George asked in disbelief.

"To free me, of course. And in return, I will help you three times."

"Only three times?"

"Yes. I think that's plenty enough."

"I see. Then that would be a no then." George would welcome any help but if in exchange he needed to risk his life? Nuh-uh! Never happening.

The disgruntled old man groaned. He didn't expect to be turned down so quickly. But he suddenly froze. His eyes widened. Then he jerked his head left and right.

'Did he break?' George thought.

"A revelation! Haha. My god just gave me a revelation!" The old man cheered.

"And… What did he say?" It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious.

"That no help will come your way! Haha. And that without my help you will die," said Yerribas. "Including the woman."

"How did he know?" George pretended to be calm. He already expected the first one but the latter troubled him.

"Because he's a god!" The old man declared with no shred of hesitation.

"And being a god makes you all-knowing? Does being a god allow you to see the future?" George asked, irritated. And it caused the old man to frown.

"No," he answered.

"Then?"

"Because he's a god and that's all that matters. And he's powerful and could flip the whole Phulas if he wanted to."

"Then just ask him to free you instead if he's all that powerful. And to answer your question earlier. No, I don't believe in any god. Because if they are real, then they must be cruel gods. Because if they are real and as powerful as what you say, then they must love watching people's misery, huh. Love to watch us suffer."

George didn't intend to say all these. They just suddenly came out of his mouth. But those were his real feelings. After all, it was the work of a certain god that brought curse upon their family.

"You'll regret saying that," said the old man. "You'll regret saying that, kid."

Then he woke up.