An old man was adjusting his hair, bleached white by the merciless flow of time. The incredible number of wrinkles contorted his face. Far more than 'old Greth'. His brown eyes glow under the light of his Lord.
"A sea of men, and no one thought of closing the doors." He thought, looking at the open doors of the temple.
He was standing where the man of the Outside was shown.
"A monster." He looked around, recalling some people talking about him.
"A skeleton." As many others have called him.
He tried so hard to imagine a skeletal monster, but failed. He knew only one type of monster, and they were far from being skeletons.
"I know who he is." He thought, staring at the drops of blood inside the main path of the temple.
<> He said between his teeth as he lifted a bucket of water and entered.
His steps echoed between the tall and thick pillars. The murmurs of a body that had left work and effort behind, to the point of struggling to support even its own bones, travelled beyond the pillars and never returned.
The sound of water dropping from an old piece of cloth was sacred to his ears. Everything was sacred inside Its house. His efforts, his pain, the faint red shade of the water.
The statue was observing his work from the height of his majesty.
"They should have called him a blood monster." He thought, placing the bucket on the ground once again.
"HOW MUCH BLOOD HAS HE SPILLED?!" The pool of dry blood was his last sacred duty. He got closer and began to wash it away, right under the statue.
He passed the wet cloth piece on it countless times. But, it still wouldn't come off; it was as if it were part of the stone itself. It took him a lot of strength, a lot of time, and a lot of patience to wash it all away and restore dignity to the house of his leading light.
Wiping his barely sweaty forehead, he straightened his back and looked up at the statue, pleased.
His bones trembled out of terror when he realized that its eyes were staring at him.
*****
The light of the orange sky was hitting him in the face, slowly waking the Savior up. The dreamless sleep that he had was so refreshing that he almost forgot where he was.
The wooden ceiling boards were not properly aligned, and beams of light penetrated into the small house. But none of them were hitting him in the face, and the room was too bright to be illuminated by those faint rays.
His whole body was warm, so he shifted his gaze towards his feet and saw a large square hole in the wall, next to the wooden door. Beyond that, a sea of green leaves hid most of the horizon, yet over them shone a large whirlpool deforming the sky at his will. Its center was pure yellow. It shone so bright that it stole the sun's job.
"Uh. Cool."
He returned to look at the ceiling. Slowly, he became more lucid and more connected to his body. The pain had lessened, allowing him to breathe normally.
He felt the 'Thing' inside his body still on the left ribs. He moved all his fingers, his arms, and his legs. Accidentally hitting the bucket under his right arm, and stretching his whole body as a reflex.
"This thing." He thought, touching his left ribs. "It's Its Soul, and it's healing me. I think."
He continued to touch that part of his body.
"Of course it's the Soul of Sun God, you idiot." He had his gaze lost in the void, fixed on a random beam of light. "I did not expect it to be so small. And so bothering, I can't even control it."
That Soul didn't respond to his will as arms and legs did. It refused to move and kept that area warmer than the rest.
In the end, he stopped thinking about it, hoping that the strange feeling of something inside his flesh would disappear.
(<<...Monster.>>)
(<<...Blasphemous union.>>)
(<<...Outside...>>)
(<
Fragments of the past day flooded his mind. All the questions they asked him, all the things they said about him, all those strange 'things' that they said. He was new to everything. He was like a newborn.
His right fingers were touching the wooden bucket. Surprisingly, it was smooth, like the armor of the Bastard.
"No. I'm no newborn. I don't know what, but that view was strange. Somehow wrong." He lowered his gaze to watch the mighty whirlpool.
He recalled that moment: his weak and naked body, his eyes fixed on the orange sky, the Black Sun, Greth talking to him, and the sea of heads watching him.
"..."
He was naked, with his jewels on display, surrounded by a crowd.
His face turned red. With an explosive movement, he covered his jewels, feeling a cheap and thin cloth over them.
"What?!"
With the help of his right arm, he raised himself partially up. In that moment, he remembered that Jest put those brownish pants on him.
A huge sigh of relief calmed his heart, but the fact that many people saw him in that state made him uncomfortable.
"What have they thought of me? They will never believe I'm their Savior." He looked at his left arm. The muscles were non-existent, leaving only the small bones and countless veins visible.
"They are right not to believe me, with this body." He shifted his gaze to his torso. "Not even a single muscle and...-" <
His eyes were glowing. His right arm was holding the weight of his entire torso.
<
Powered by excitement, he bent forward and slowly raised his right arm. His entire spine was holding the weight of his upper body.
<> He laughed, and then he leaned back on the ground.
Eventually, he calmed down, and his mind was quick to hit him in the face.
(<
(<
"I should really find myself a new name. Everyone will mock me if I introduce myself as the 'Savior', even though I am."
He began to caress his jawline. On the sides, near his ears, tiny, thick black beard hairs moved, pinching his hand.
<
<
Suddenly, the light of the whirlpool was obscured. He lowered his gaze and saw a giant head at the window smiling at him.