"How many people are aware of this?"
"If you an Lucy, then much of the cardinals."
"No, I an about my ability to sleep with Lucy."
"Just three, , you, and Lucy. I’ll be informing the pope of this by the end of today, so you could say four."
"Can we not do that?"
........
Lucy didn’t pay my wishes any mind. When I was done eating, she got on my feet.
"I didn’t want to et him today, but since we’ve already talked to this extent, it wouldn’t be right to keep him uninford."
It had been two hours since we got to the Vatican, and since then we had been sitting inside a warm, cosy room, the sweet scent of tea filling the air, white and red furniture all over the place.
"Other than aesthetics, is there any other reason white is used to present holiness?" I asked out of the blue.
"Do you believe in faith, Marcus?"
"Can’t say I do."
"Well, you should.
Irrespective of how nonsensical any religion might be or seem to be, as long as it has followers, it has power.
We human beings are spiritual, as long as we believe in sothing, it exists."
"So, if I can get a congregation to believe you are my destined wife, you will beco it?"
"Well, that depends on the strength of your congregation. You don’t expect the faith of a thousand stones to move a mountain," Chiara said, but my eyes lit up as I rembered a particular phrase.
"The Bible says the faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain."
"Yes, if the mountain has no faith of its own."
"That makes sense," I muttered under my breath.
"When it cos to the supernatural, Marcus, while building up quality, never underestimate the power of numbers."
"Sounds like a lesson. I’ll take it to heart."
"Good. Stick with and you’ll learn much."
"Sure....."
"I’m older than you. Don’t be embarrassed to learn."
"Hmm, wait, by how much?"
"What do you think?" The redhead smiled suggestively. "You seem to have seen a lot."
I didn’t get a definite answer to my question.
I spent the next few minutes wondering how my second eting with the pope would go, whether to apologise for my previous rudeness. With doubts still in my mind, I engaged Chiara once more.
"You’re aware of my previous encounter with the pope, right?"
"You’ve t the pope before?" Chiara was surprised.
I was sure that sothing as significant as gaining the pope’s ire would have reached the redhead, but it seed I had touched upon her limits in the Vatican.
"Yeah, during the introductory eting where the different religious groups t the pope."
"Okay, what happened?"
"I ca late, and the pope noticed. He wasn’t pleased."
Considering how much of what I desired now rode on the pope’s shoulders, this was a real concern for .
"So you’re the one. Soone ntioned the incident. I was not too interested, there’s nothing much to it."
"Really? Because of what happened, I had priests and even a cardinal angry with ."
"Bootlickers." Chiara waved her hand dismissively.
"If you were so ordinary man, it would be an issue, but you’re not. I won’t be surprised if he’s already forgotten you."
Chiara’s flippancy about the situation was boggling. Unfortunately, I could do nothing much but prepare for the worst.
If the old man turned out uncooperative, I wasn’t beyond so sneaky moves.
Minutes later, one of the most powerful n stepped into the room.
Given how much he had made us wait, I stood up, ready to play the part of a humble young man, hoping his old mind had forgotten about our previous encounter, but Chiara left petrified.
"Hope you didn’t spend the last two hours of my ti walking here."
Indeed, the pope was moving slow. Despite being closer to the grave than any of us in the room, he took his ti to make each step.
"Or maybe he knows he’s close, so he no longer values ti."
Just as this thought ca to my head, the old man in black robes and a red cap stopped and looked at .
Once again, like before, he stared into my eyes and this ti, shook his head.
"What do they see in you?" he muttered.
"A human trait which your society shies away from and condemns Lust."
The words ca out of my lips before I knew it.
The pope’s words had been directed at , and I was triggered.
"Its excesses are at the forefront of the degradation happening in the world. In the coming years, morality will be a thing of the past. Chaos will spread all over," the aged man bitterly and vehently said.
The annoyed expression that had been on Chiara’s face when the pope walked in disappeared. Taking a step back, she observed us.
I doubted she understood what we were talking about, how much the pope had just revealed about his knowledge of my existence, but the woman was curious and ready to learn.
Hearing the old man’s words, I went silent, my mind straying to mories from the future, finding the old man to be indeed correct.
It had already begun, but in the coming years, the view of morality would undergo another huge transformation and this would be worldwide. But.....
I burst out in a chuckle.
Out of nowhere, understanding flooded my brain. What had been veiled from my sight beca open.
I began understanding a lot, even began to understand a little of why it was , why I was the one sent back and not the geniuses and philanthropists of my ti.
"Do we humans live to be moral, or are we moral so we can live?" I focused on the old man.
"It’s like Chiara told , for change to co, chaos must appear.
Lust is at the forefront of the incoming chaos; it’s what will lead us to the change we perceive, the evolution humanity needs.
Don’t be biased toward my existence. Your generation had its turn, and guess what, it failed."
The pope was taken aback by my words, a strong denial appearing on his face. But before he could speak, I raised my hands, now laughing uncontrollably.
"You can’t deny it. It’s the reason I’m here staring at you and not at Francis."
Reviews
All reviews (0)