The Twenty Virtues Book 1- The Twenty Generals

29-The Curious.

There is a legend in Paris about the great cathedral of Notre-Dame, a holy building. They say that when you step inside the temple, you can see the heavens opening and the supernatural happening, with angels dancing and singing to the sound of the church bells. It is said that the place is like a magnet for spirits, attracting the attention of God and all beings. But if it attracts good, it will also attract evil. Just as people say they have seen angels, they have also seen demons. They have noticed a shadow moving among the gargoyles of the place and have claimed to see a more than horrendous creature laughing and, like a specter, secretly wandering the holy place.

Like a cockroach that lives amid the trash, it was seen once and then disappeared, and everyone kept it in mind: "Where did it go? Could it be beside me now?" Its name was Ordep, and it was no demon, beast, or ghost; it was a human, deformed and terrifying, but still human. Neither saintly nor abominable.

When Ordep was born, his face was so hideous that his parents took him to the cathedral, thinking he was a demon and needed to be exorcised. The nuns and members of the Cathedral stared in shock at that thing; deformity wasn't even the right word to begin with. When the parents found out that he couldn't be exorcised, they abandoned the child, horrified by the thought that they were the ones who had created that being—it was nauseating.

And all those who remained there considered sacrificing the child, taking him out of his misery so he could rest in peace. They were about to commit such an atrocity when the archdeacon stopped them, saying it was a soul like any other. Thanks to the good man, Ordep was taken in by the church to be cared for.

However, fearing that the poor boy would suffer in the outside world, he decided to raise the child in the bell tower of the cathedral, hidden and isolated from everyone—just the child, the darkness, and the gargoyles. Years passed. A young nun would bring a tray of food to the room where Notre-Dame's secret lived. The woman entered the place cautiously:

"Ordep, your breakfast is here. Come here." The woman waited for the boy to appear, but nothing. It was so decrepit to be there, a horrible sensation always took hold of her body, a shiver, as if all that was bad gathered in that place hidden by God.

"I am here." The boy, now 12 years old, whispered, revealing himself to be behind the woman. The nun was startled, causing her to fall to the floor along with all the food. Even his voice wasn't normal; it was a tired and broken voice, as if his throat was sealed and the sound gave its best to pass through. There was no way to get used to the existence of that... that boy, no matter how much time passed, it was as if he didn't belong to this world, like a flaw, a mistake, a problem. He was too abominable. "Why did you get scared?"

The... child asked, with what could be understood as his face showing genuine curiosity, and having something stare at her so fiercely was terrifying.

"You... You appeared out of nowhere; you can't do that."

"So you got scared by something you didn't expect. Sister, were you tense? Thoughtful? Or were you normal?"

"No, I was fine and..."

"You're still on the floor, sweating, speaking a bit fast. Is this fear? Why? It was just a scare, wasn't it? Or are you afraid of me? What scares you? Is it just that you don't like my face? Do you think I'm dangerous?" The woman couldn't think; Ordep was analyzing her like a hawk. There was no sarcasm in the boy's voice, no malice, no cynicism. It was pure curiosity, genuine interest. The boy's eyes analyzed and saw every detail, trying to explain each of her actions, trying to dissect her with his eyes, forming a spider web of facts and evidence in his mind. And with each step he took closer to her, the more fear intensified on her face, and the more the boy became interested. "You're breathing very fast. You were so composed when you came in, but within seconds you changed. I wonder how this process works. Could you explain it and..."