Mark piped in. "I don't think it's like that. I felt what David felt, and what I and he felt were getting closer by the minute when we were under that aura. Our inner natures don't change, it seems, but our behavior does. It's about looks, I think. Speaking of looks, David thinks you look cute in that top and skirt you decided to wear today." - Mark smirked.
David blushed beet red. "MARK!"
Rachel giggled. "So, turns out I'm not the only one who likes messing with people? Cute. I didn't want to give the fundies something else to rail against. You'll notice no demons are in the nude today either. Sam must have had the same idea and..."
Then she saw Mark blushing along and began cackling.
"Awww, you get this shared feeling thing and got embarassed now, too! How utterly precious!"
Rachel smirked. This was fun to watch. She was nearly looking around for Cass just to get that... mischievous streak she felt when animated. Well, more mischievous streak, anyways.
Lucas walked around the place for a bit. While she could and did sit and eat sometimes, she felt like she would do her job better if she took the time to walk around. Plus she knew she was smiling ear to ear right now. She had always been a nerdy guy. Now she had a hot body and an even hotter anime... date, at the very least, and it seemed she was quite interested. She had to remember to thank the priest later. She once again muttered to herself about how she loved the Iridescent Sun and all the things it gave her - this time in English, as befitting the place she was right now thanks to it.
Only this time someone answered.
"I see the Lord gave you quite a few blessings, my child." - Father Maxwell spoke up amiably.
Lucas looked around. "What? Who's there? I'm working security here..." - she said in a mildly threatening tone.
"Relax, child. I could not harm you even if I so wished. Look at the tree to your right."
Lucas looked up, already half-expecting a recognizable human face... There it was. "Oh."
She looked downcast. Here she was, glad about her new powers, mobility and girlfriend the Sun got her and talking to a man who lost everything to it.
"S-sorry..."
"For what, child?" - Father Maxwell asked.
"I... I was all giddy about the whole sweet deal I got from the sun... And..." - Lucas began.
"...and I do not resent you. What made you think I was not happy about my change?"
"W-well... Er..." - Lucas sputtered.
"The lack of movement does not bother me, child. I was Father Maxwell, from this church. I am now one with nature, and am still one of God's majestic creatures. As are you." - Maxwell said.
"I... I see. Er, I'm Lucas, a freelance translator from Brazil. I came here a few times. First time was when I had to, shall we say, I'm an agnostic, and I'm not, er, my form does not reflect my role... Okay? Just to clarify, please don't be offended..."
"You think you offend me by mentioning your lack of faith. We are not a 'sola fide' church, Lucas. Indeed, most of us do believe that those that do not believe what we do, yet do good, will reach Heaven. We do not serve the Church because we fear what happens if we do not, nor do we serve the Church for a reward. It is an honor to us. I am wondering, though, how come you are so quick to point out that your form does not reflect your role..."
Lucas blushed. "W-well... I look like an angel of vengeance. An angel serves God. I serve none. And the whole... 'soldier'... theme..." - Lucas said with a bit of disgust. There was one thing that bothered her about her form. She was a leftist Brazilian. As such, it was clear to someone with a cursory knowledge of South American history that she had no reason to like the military.
"Serving none. You wish to be a free spirit. So, was that why you did not yet raise the point that you saved my colleague?"
"Er... She told you?" - Lucas blushed - "Look, I just didn't want to seem like I was gloating... I'm way more Jack Sparrow than Superman, y'know."
"As I remember from the movies, Jack Sparrow would gloat and demand a reward. Superman would not. Maybe you are a gentler person than you want to believe?"
"Er, maybe, but I'm still not a..."
"...not servant of the Lord, yes. No matter how much you served Him by saving a person. And by your words before you noticed me, I would think you were rewarded without demanding." - Father Maxwell smiled.
"Er, look, I just don't wanna..."
"...lose your freedom. I could tell. You do not serve God specifically by believing in Him or by being part of a structure filled with small laws and hierarchies, child. You serve God by doing good. An atheist neurosurgeon that curses God's name everyday still serves Him whenever he saves a life, or whenever he even tries to. Or even whenever he gives a dollar to a beggar. That is the beauty of it. You don't need to lose your freedom..."
Lucas blushed. "You know, you are so much better than fire and brimstone guys. I might seek out religion a bit more if all priests were like you."
"They, too, have good intentions. They are not evil, child, but misguided. Ignorance is the only real evil. Now tell me something. I noticed some distaste in your transformation having a 'soldier' theme. Is that only due to the hierarchy issue?"
"I am a Brazilian leftist. I don't know how much history you know, but I was born in the eighties, and from the sixties to the eighties..."
"I aided the left wing of the Brazilian Catholic Church in those dark times, child. I know of the military dictatorship in Brazil, if that is the reason for your distaste. And I understand that, though the Dictatorship ended when you were, at most, five, you may still dislike them. Still, Carlos Lamarca was a soldier too." - Father Maxwell said, referring to a soldier who became famous in Brazil for fighting the Dictatorship. - "Surely you can inspire yourself in him, rather than those that took freedoms away?"
Lucas smiled. "You're good, you know."
"You are a better person than you want to be, child. Use your sword to protect and to free, rather than to harm and to bind, and you will never lose the freedom you so cherish. You do not need to act as people think an angel would. Angels, the non-transformed kind, are beings that are beyond our understanding anyways. Just keep doing what you do, only with a gentle heart. You said you were doing security work..."
"There was something in it for me, yes." - Lucas said, as if trying to uphold her 'not a goody guy' cred.
"And that was?"
"Er... Two crates of really nice soda?"
"How very greedy, child. I am so disappointed in you." - Father Maxwell said, this time with gentle sarcasm. - "As I am sure you would not even think of protecting all those people if there weren't these crates in it for you."
"Right, point taken, yes, I would protect them." - Lucas said.
"As I said, you are better than you think." - Father Maxwell smiled.
"Well, I gotta keep on walking around. I guess it's true what video-game RPGs say about talking trees."
"Oh?" - Father Maxwell asked.
"They are wise and you should listen to them. Thanks, Father Maxwell. If there is anything I can do for you..."
"If you find Robert or others that would need my words, send them here. It is all I ask. Goodbye for now."
"Right. Goodbye" - Lucas smiled and left.
Cass looked around, seeing more unchanged people coming to join the transformed anti-demon crowd. It was odd that those people who hated all changed would actually join the changed if they could find an easier target. It was also repulsive, she thought. She put on her 'impartial' face and began mingling, trying to listen in to what they said, in order to figure the best reproach that could be used by her own activist groups. Most people were uncomfortable with the anime changes she imposed, so she could only get a few at a time - which was pretty good, considering, in case she needed to run away from the place where those bigots were, should they start something...
