Sineater

Eleven

Later that day Jin was entering the immaculate, heavy oak doors to St. Peter's cathedral, walking, cautiously, into the sanctuary. He knelt upon the decorative, marble flooring, in the fourth pew from the altar, and began to pray. His eyes flew open upon hearing the soft swish of clothing and the clip of expensive dress shoes as someone moved in behind him.

"Am I the answer to your prayers?" the man asked as he moved in beside Jin.

He was wearing an expensive dark blue Armani suit over a light blue button down shirt. The top three buttons were left open and he was standing with his hands crossed in front of his waist. His sharp jaw was outlined by the thin line of facial hair and the thin, immaculately groomed mustache connected to his goatee at the sides of his mouth.

Jin peeked up at the new addition from the corners of his eyes, hands held together in front of his face. He fidgeted, slightly, in his place as he spoke again.

"My friends call me Hoseok," he said softly. "Jung Hoseok."

Pursing his lips against his forefinger, Jin scoffed. "I'm not your friend."

Hoseok quietly chuckled, a smile on his face. He began walking closer to the altar, standing even with where Jin had been kneeling upon the floor. "That remains to be seen." He sat in the pew directly in front of Jin.

Jin moved his arms so that Hoseok didn't touch him, moving to the side a foot. He stared at Hoseok, even as Hoseok stared up at the giant crucifix of Jesus placed upon the altar in front of them.

"I know what you're feeling, Jin," Hoseok began, eyebrows furrowed, head lowering. "And you're right." Jin stared at Hoseok as he spoke, his own eyebrows furrowed and his bottom lip in his mouth. "God exists," Hoseok continued. "He just doesn't give a damn." He stood up from the pew and paced out into the aisle. "Magnificence."

Jin followed Hoseok out into the middle of the church, watched as he turned about looking at all the stone and marble statues and finery, the people milling about.

"Flesh rots," Hoseok continued speaking to Jin, his voice echoing off the cathedral's silver marble walls. "St. Peter's remains. This impossible dome, Jin... It was raised by my brother when I was still a boy."

Following behind the Sineater, Jin watched as the people fell away, the pews, the marble, the statues, everything currently surrounding them just.... Fell away. He was transported to a different time, but the same place. He watched as men and boys dressed in simple linen tunics and pants, heaved axes and operated pulley systems. They chopped wood and raised marble statues. There were thick wooden, latticed ladders with little platforms built off the sides a scattered around the thick, dirt floor.

Men sawed wood, painted sculptures and fixtures, hung light posts and torches. And somehow the Sineater had been able to bring all this to life for Jin. He didn't understand the magic he was able to weild. It was fascinating.

Jin turned in circles watching everything and everyone while Hoseok continued speaking of his past, and in conjunction, St. Peter's past.

"Blood... And sweat built this, not faith," Hoseok said, voice dripping with bitterness. "It was Michelangelo who drew the dome on a piece of paper, but it was left to my brother to figure out a way to raise it.... Halfway to heaven."

Jin said nothing, but stood, watching as men lifted a large chunk of carved marble to the center of the highly arched dome above them. Men climbed the ladders up to the platforms that were hanging from the ceiling with rope. Some were carving pieces of thick, uncolored marble while others were piecing slabs together making the walls. The natural light filtered in through cracks and pilfered its way through the dust of dirt and marble.