Red Roses

Chapter 12 (Fool's Gold Arc)

"Let the Golden God be an eye for comfort. Each ray of light is an arm they may use to reach for you, lest you succumb to temptation. Those who wish to walk the path of the wicked may do so on their own volition; let it be known that the path of the sun and the road to righteousness is never closed! Say goodbye to conflict and desire in the warm embrace of the sun. Their delicacy is unmatched, the Golden God has seen every event in their eye's view. Everything that is unveiled to the light is remembered till time stands still. Be not afraid however! The Golden God is forgiving, every mistake you made can be undone in their eye. If you are willing to change, even the most devastating vices can be forgotten! Praise be the sun and their forgiving heart set ablaze!" A preacher seemed to stand at the altar of a church, reciting text from a book while seemingly adding his own words.

Outside this church, four noble heroes would wait for this excruciatingly painful session to end. Ardit decided to be the one to say what was on everyone's minds, "People really worship this thing? I'm sweating my skin off over here!" This remark was met with a thrust to the gut by Zolio's fist. Ardit took in a sharp inhale through his teeth. He kept his hands on his stomach. Zolio insisted, "Don't be rude! This isn't just a place you can come to talk shit about someone's belief." Jade made the decision to follow after by flicking his head with slight force. Ardit gave no response other than a glare. He would then murmur, "Just because it doesn't hurt as much doesn't mean it's not as effective."

Keertan gave reassurance, "Cheer up guys, hear that?" A moment of silence fell between Ardit and Zolio, Jade being the only permanent exception. The three began to narrow their eyes. Zolio answered, "No?" As they continued to listen, Keertan's smile grew slightly. He confirmed, "Exactly, they're taking their moment of silence at the end of the session. Now remember, let me do the talking."

Eventually, a prolonged silence fell upon the group. Jade tapped her fingers against her leg. After some time, Ardit decided to break the halt of sound, "You know after a certain amount of time you can't call it a 'moment' of silence, right?" Keertan seemed lost in thought. The pianist responded, "No.. this can't be the case, it's usually not this long." His expression had shifted in those uncomfortably long minutes of waiting. Keertan stood up and approached the side door, entering the temple with his companions following.

The nave was somewhat larger than Ardit had anticipated, his eyes moved around to take everything in, he noticed ganymae sitting along the seated aisles. However something was off about them, their expressions were blank, all staring in a single direction, the altar.

At that moment, Ardit caught a glance at the elephant in the room.

A figure of light shone with radiance, the figure was almost incomprehensible. It looked to be almost seraphic in shape, the center seemed to be an incandescent ball of pure light, although it wasn't harmful to look directly at, quite the opposite. Ardit caught himself staring directly at it for a considerable amount of time, it was alluring. There was a loud and constant hum emitting from the center. The angelic figure had twinding rays extruding from the center, the shape of each ray shifted by the moment. Together, the twinding rays were formed as wings of pure light. Beneath the floating orb of light sat a large pile of Bristles.

The others weren't enchanted by the light, more so they were confused and shocked. Jade had to be the one to snap Ardit back into reality. Ardit's breath gave out a hitch. Now that he came to his senses, he seemed to notice that the entity was somewhat blurry, exuding a static from the center. The three's collective eyes shifted to Keertan, he looked a bit confused and worried, but for the most part kept his composure.

Keertan's feelers twitched, his voice echoed in the nave, "Hey! Just who do you think you are?!"

In that moment, the hum stopped, a slit formed horizontally through the front of the orb of light. Opening, a single red-gold eye gazed directly onto the four. An ethereal cry similar to a choir's song pierced the building. Both Ardit and Zolio flinched, Jade tried to cover her ears. The shoulder blades upon Keertan's back began to vibrate. Without other warning, an ear-splitting bug-like chirp quickly hushed the being. As the room went silent, Keertan's muscles began to relax.

The equalized hum emitted from the specter returned as it leaned down, lowering itself and quickly swallowing as many bristles as it could into its eye as if the orifice could store them. "Hey!-" Ardit howled at it. He rushed the altar as if to stop it. Unfortunately, the eye closed and returned to a slit in the sphere, the slit disappeared and the angelic figure backed out through the wall as if the building didn't exist at all. All that was left was a small collage of scattered bristles.

Ardit reached the altar and tripped on the steps, collapsing on the ground. He winced, "What the hell was that thing?!"

Keertan seemed to be lost in thought. Zolio's eyes widened, "How should I know?! Some weird ghost?!" Before she could continue, she felt a tug on her arm. Her eyes met with Jade's. She seemed to be pointing in the direction of the pew chairs.

The ganyma of the church felt their conscious return to them, confused mumbling ensued among them.
"Did that thing brainwash them for their bristles or something?" Ardit began to speculate. Zolio nodded, "that seems to be clear."

A snap of two fingers came from Keertan, the other three turned to him. His face lit up, "I got it!"

Zolio asked, "what is it?"

Keertan approached the altar, lightly smacking Ardit's hand as he appeared to be trying to sneak whatever's left on the ground into his bag. Keertan cleared his throat, "I'm pretty sure that thing was a mimic, clever little critters that shapeshift and get in your head, they'll do whatever it takes to put the money in your pockets into their collection. In this case, making an entire church think you're a god is a pretty clever trick..."

Zolio got heated, "What a scumbag! It's stealing from these innocent folk?" Ardit raised the hand that was recently smacked, "I'm right here-" She cut him off, "I know."

Keertan nodded, "These people are my friends, I'm gonna help." His eyes shifted at the pious members. As he took steps away from the altar and near the entrance, he felt a hand place upon his shoulder. Zolio reassured, "We're coming with you, got it?"

A smile grew on the musician's face, "Well, I guess I don't have a choice now do I?" Zolio responded with a shake of her head as Jade stood beside her.

"Um- hey-" Ardit quickly stepped down from the altar, "Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we've already got our problem, remember? I don't think we've got time for something like this!"

Keertan placed his hands behind his back. His voice was gentle, "Well, I need to know that the people I'm helping are worth saving over any other human, right? Plus if we bring their money back, maybe they can help you guys."

Ardit still took some time to consider. Zolio's hand latched onto his, pulling him out the door with her and the other two. He let out a small yelp from the sudden pressure in his arm. She exclaimed, "Come on! When we get the goods you can keep as many as your little dirty gloves can carry."

It was going to be a long day.