Chapter Text
The friar was told that the pastor of his church suddenly passed away last night. As he helped with the deacon’s funeral not long ago, he was assigned to assist the pastor’s funeral service today as well.
“The funeral service is about to begin,” called a voice coming from the chapel’s sanctuary. “All guests of the funeral, please find your way over to the seats. For all service assistants, please make sure to review the procedures of the ceremony thoroughly.”
“Remember, everything must be perfect.”
Wiping his hands on his robes, the friar made his way to the table with the list of procedures he must do so the funeral will go as smoothly as possible. His memory had never been the best, so he was thankful that he would be granted a guide to the process. He also thought about praying to the heavens to help him not make any mistakes during the ceremony.
While looking for the guide list, he found a couple of books. One of them was a book of saints. Opening to a certain page, he saw St. Robert, the man that he chose as his personal patron that he would pray to in times of need. Putting it down, another book caught his eye- Study of Angels (2). The page that the friar opened to wrote about an angel’s appearance.
“The true appearance of an Angel is impossible to describe with the use of human tongue. Human beings who see their original form will have their minds broken, their flesh burn, and eventually lead to their death due to their overwhelmingly holy presence. Therefore, when Angels communicate with humans, they must appear as an acceptable illusion or in a vessel that the human mind can comprehend. Most Angels choose to appear in the form of animals or humans. The vessel of an Angel in the human world is gifted by the Lord, however. This privilege is no longer given after the fall of an Angel. Angels who have fallen have their vessel taken and are banished from heaven without having an acceptable form to properly exist on our world.”
After finishing the passage and scanning the table one last time, the friar realized that the memo was probably at the table directly mirroring the one he was currently standing at. He hopped over to the other side of the aisle. He plucked the memo from the table before feeling something warm trickling over his lips.
“A-ah, another nosebleed!” he muttered. “When will I get used to…” The friar paused at the statement. Used to… what? Have I bled like this before?
Looking back down at the slip of paper, he saw splotches of his blood covering the final event on the list.
Order of Service
- Opening Speech
- Prayers
- Chanting Hymns
- Wreath-laying
- R—urec——
A few symbols were scribbled on the back.
“Prayer hands = candle”
“Music notes = 1234567890?”
There was also a sketch of a flower drawn beneath the messages.
The friar smiled. This is all the preparation I need, he thought. He slipped the paper up his sleeve and noticed something else hidden there. From his sleeve he pulled out a partially burned photograph of… himself? He wasn’t sure who it was- the face had been cut out, but the body shape seemed to match his own. The hairstyle of the person in the photograph also matched his own, but it was platinum blonde in color, not like his own chestnut hair. The phrase “DON’T FORGET” was written on the front in black pen. On the back, “HADS” was written in… no, no, no, it couldn’t have been written in blood. The friar nervously shoved the photo back into his sleeve and carried on. This funeral had to go perfectly.
He began walking down the aisle toward his assigned spot near the altar. Looking at the attendants, he saw nothing but their eyes poring into his soul. He felt uneasy. Halfway down the aisle, a strange voice suddenly started to ring in his head.
“Be not afraid, Human.”
The friar’s vision went dark. He frantically looked around, but the chapel had vanished. Surrounded by the sounds of whispers, he waited for the voice to continue.
“Wow, that was way too slow and dramatic for my taste. Yeah, no- if I keep speaking like this we’ll be here all day. So you know what? Go, be free- I will release you from this pain and start speaking normally. Give a huge round of applause for my thoughtfulness, everybody. Oh- and turn this weird background ambience off too, it’s kind of killing the mood.”
With a click the whispers surrounding the friar ceased.
“Now that all that’s out of the way, can you hear my oh so friendly and soft voice that just makes your heart melt away from all the trustworthiness?”
The friar stood in stunned silence. He was simply trying to wrap his head around the situation, but the voice didn’t seem to interpret the silence correctly. “Wait a minute,” it stumbled, “do you genuinely not hear me?” The friar heard a succession of clanging noises before the voice spoke again. “How about now? You hear me now, right? Yeah?” Still not receiving a response, the voice continued nonetheless. “Welp, I tried my best. I’m just gonna continue assuming you do hear me.”
“Now, how about it- aren’t you curious on how I look now that you’ve heard my voice?” The friar admitted to himself that he was in fact wondering who the source of the voice was, especially with the air of confidence that it had.
“Alright, alright- Everyone gather around for the grand entrance of yours truly!”
A sudden bright light flashed before the friar’s eyes, along with an angelic choir and a single toot! of a party horn to welcome the man that the friar had been speaking to.
The voice belonged to a disheveled man who appeared to be in his early forties. He bore a massive black trench coat with the left side slumping off of his shoulder. He had a loose grey necktie and his white-collared shirt was hastily and partially tucked into his slacks. Half of a glasses frame sat on the left half of his face, while his right eye was covered with a bandage that wrapped beneath his hair, dark curls that reflected the holy light shining behind him.
The friar smirked, and the man seemed to notice this. “Aren’t you too disappointed? What, did you expect me to be more… well, ‘holy’ looking? Aw come on, chin up now. No one besides me even wanted to try and come and meet you- I personally came to help you out since I’m super nice and proper like that. You should be GRATEFUL, kid!” The friar opened his mouth to ask what any of that meant, but the mystery man rambled onward.
“Before we start getting attached to each other, I need you to answer something for me first- SURPRISE QUIZ!! Guess what I’m supposed to be. Feel free to answer however you like, you’re not getting punished or anything. I’m just an illusion in your head, how could I ever hurt you?” The friar realized that it was going to take a long time for him to get answers out of this guy. The man continued, “Ah, that doesn’t mean I want to hurt you If I could, by the by- so don’t start assuming I’m evil just yet.”
What.
This worried the friar. What if it was a demon attempting to possess him to commit terrible deeds? But if he were a demon, then why would he come to him in holy light and escorted by a choir of angels? Was he… God? No, he couldn’t have been, God wouldn’t be as cocky as this man was. He concluded that the only being with that kind of arrogance would have to be human.
“Oh-? Then I assume you also talk to other humans telepathically and show them illusions in their head? Woah, I didn’t know humanity has evolved this much already. Oh, how the time flies…” The friar remained silent. He hadn’t necessarily thought about the fact that this entire conversation was in his head. The… being chuckled nervously. “You’re joking right- Tell me you didn’t actually think I was a human-“
But before the friar could respond, the being proudly declared, “I’m an Angel. That’s right- an angel. Well- Guardian Angel, to be specific. You know, the ones that get assigned to a specific human and look after them so they don’t die. I think we’re also called ‘The Silent Protector’ sometimes? But don’t call me that. Too pretentious of a title, don’t you think? So just call me by my name. It’s Ramin.”
Ramin flashed a smile at the friar. The friar didn’t know whether to smile back.
“Anyways- I believe this is the point where you’re starting to wonder: ‘Why is this suspicious angel reeking of old man energy suddenly talking to me? Why does he talk like that? His characterization sucks.’ What, am I not allowed to talk to people when I’m bored? Are you saying angels should shut up and only stand around looking pretty?!” The friar had, in fact, not said a word, so he wasn’t certain where Ramin had gotten this idea from. He interjected, “I didn’t say anyth-“ but was once again cut off by Ramin. “Oh well,” the angel continued, “I’m not here because I’m bored anyway. I’m here for business. The human I’ve been assigned to look over got tied up with this obviously suspicious church. Now, it would be really convenient for me if someone who’s already in the site were to help me…”
Ramin took a step toward the friar. “Kid, how about we make a deal?” The friar took a step back. This certainly sounded like a deal with the devil, and Ramin seemed to notice as well. “Hm,” the angel muttered as he recoiled. “Alright, what I just said sounds a lot like I’m supposed to be something else that’s not an angel. But like I told you before and am telling you again now… I’m a one-hundred percent pure Angel! Don’t forget that!” The friar took another step backward, so Ramin reigned himself in.
“Anyway, you’ll even get a prize if you do your part well. It’s… drum rolls, please… Ta-daaah- Me!!!”
The friar snickered. Ramin seemed hurt for a moment, but quickly regained his confidence.
“Yowch, aren’t you being too harsh? Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be a friar? How can you even act like that toward me?! I’m a very serious and graceful Angel, you know?!”
The friar raised an eyebrow and Ramin sighed. “You still don’t get why me being around you will be the best thing that can ever happen to you? Listen here- I’m a Guardian Angel, yeah? Think of everything a Guardian Angel can do for their human. You’ll never get hurt, all troubling things in your life- POOF, gone. How useful is that? Well, how ‘bout it? Pretty neat, eh?”
But the friar still seemed skeptical. “Isn’t that your responsibility in the first place?” he asked. Ramin’s face fell grim. His dark brown eye began to glow a more amber color as he bluntly said, “I’m doing you a favor. You aren’t my original responsibility, kid.” The friar’s throat went dry, and the angel blinked a couple times as if he was shocked at what he himself just said, the natural brown color returning to his eye. “Nevermind. What I mean is- yes, that’s my job- BUT I’ll upgrade those perks by eleven. Like a bonus package! Guardian Angel Premium, you could say!”
Ramin laughed at his own joke, but the friar stopped him by getting straight to the point. “What do you even want?”
“What I want is fairly simple,” Ramin said, “No matter what happens, I want you to focus and finish today’s funeral perfectly all the way from start to finish.”
“I was already going to do that,” the friar chuckled. Ramin laughed triumphantly at this. “Well isn’t that convenient, you just need to do what you planned then!”
“Oh, and don’t forget- Never think about escaping, or helping someone. Ignore them. Focus only on what you’re doing.” The amber glow returned to Ramin’s eye as he issued the warning. But just as quickly, it vanished as a nervous smile returned to his face. “Haha, was that too specific? Are you suspicious of me now?”
The friar nervously asked, “You sure you’re not a demon?”
Ramin put his head in his hands and groaned. “HOW MUCH MORE DO I HAVE TO MAKE MYSELF CLEAR ON THIS TOPIC, KID?! DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW MUCH LIKABILITY POINTS FROM ME TO YOU HAVE BEEN DROPPING SO FAR?!” Once again noticing how the friar jumped at his outburst, Ramin collected himself. “I do want to make you trust me from the get-go, believe me, but you know how it is, the boss upstairs is pretty strict about this kind of thing.”
“Listen- all Angels have rules we must follow. We cannot let humans know what kind of crisis or problems they’re going to be facing directly. Boss isn’t much of a fan of the classic ‘showing illusions to warn what’s about to come’ method anymore. Didn’t really like the idea when I proposed to meet you this way. But you know, since I’m a nice Angel I begged and begged- so here I am. This is as good as it gets. Meaning… I can only help you through vague lessons and never the direct answer. You must figure out the rest on your own and overcome it.”
Ramin paused his monologue and scoffed. “I know right? It suuuuucks that I’m basically some kind of a pet rather than an actual assistant. But I guess it’s fair. Characters with know-it-all mentor positions like me are supposed to be enigmatic after all, or else we won’t be popular. But anyway- since I’ve eaten up a lot of time, I’ll let you go for now. If you want to talk to me again, come find me. Ah- how about this? If you find yourself stuck or clueless, just send up a ‘prayer’ and I’ll come right down. Good luck, kid. I’ll be cheering you on. Remember my words. I’m on your side.”
And with that, Ramin disappeared and the friar found himself back in the chapel. The bells calling for the ceremony to begin rang, and he realized just how much time he had spent speaking with the strange voice. I need to focus and go to my assigned spot , he thought. He took a few steps forward before stopping again. Where was that again? He sighed soberly. Why do I feel like I’ve been forgetting things more often lately. Even now, I feel that I’m missing something very important… For now, I’ll just use the other assistants as an example and figure something out!
He made his way toward the sanctuary where he saw the pastor laid in a coffin. He looked more closely, then flinched. Did… the pastor’s chest move up and down just now? He shook his head and laughed anxiously at himself. Must’ve been my imagination…
He nervously turned around and found an empty spot between two of his brothers, which he assumed was his assigned spot. Just in front of him to the left, the friar saw a cage covered in a black cloth. Something breathed heavily inside it, but because of the cloth, he couldn’t see what. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.
The lights of the chapel dimmed. “We will now begin the funeral service.”