Chapter 11: A Bankrupt Theory?

FOX

No, I'm not Jesus. My real name is Rena. But Alicia isn't totally off base.

RENA

You see I met Jesus. But let's get to that. Let's back up a bit. I remember Alethea's last moments, before everything changed. Alethea had moved away from Luminos and Albia to stay near us. We kept close in front of her to guard her from harm, something her parents could not do, no matter how powerful they were. They were too focused on fighting off a horde of demons with the other townspeople.

"Phase Blast!" Luminos called out. A pulse of non-elemental energy pummeled the nearby demon, pelting it with tachyons and various forms of radiation. "Soul Blade!" Luminos called out. His own chest shimmered around where his heart was, then he drew from the area as though he was unsheathing a sword. Unlike other forms of energy, all but much stronger demons could be killed with a single swipe of radiant energy. The blade went snicker-snack and three nearby demon fall, turning into stardust. Albia was given enough time to complete her prayer and turned a full power Holy Cross on the crowd. Unlike a hastily created Holy Cross, it had great size and piercing power. It drilled through about seventy of the demons before a greater demon used a barrier to break its momentum. I recognized that one. Belial. Marina had done some tea leaf reading, and we all saw Belial in the future. That particular demon was so powerful that even the Oracle of Tao had originally had trouble against him. Indeed such prophecies predicted the New Earth, which was to come about from the extreme corruption of this world. The two of them fought back and forth, but this battle was predictable brief. A mere human couldn't stand for long against an archdemon, and when his leg was slashed, the group broke through.

"No!" Alethea screamed, seeing her parents in danger, "Noooooooooooooo!!!!" In the background of the town, snow was falling, specks of white on the backdrop of evergreen trees and wooden houses. It would be easy to mistake this for falling snow in the Town of Winter. But I knew better. With quiet focus, she wove the power of the Oracle around, bombarding the demons in the area with the purest light. I recognized this sort of dance called as the Brush Knee Twist Step, which involved waving her hands while turning in a specific pattern. Energy built up, and out came a holy tornado focused on a target at range. Belial took notice.

Most of the demons in the area were blasted away, so Luminos, Albia, and most of the townsfolk were safe for now. But I could see this wasn't to last. "Rena!" Albias called to me, "Get my daughter to safety at all costs! The Earth depends on it." And so, we ran. I turned into my gumiho fox form, and the other five got on my back, as I gracefully and bravely... galloped off. Off in the distance, a dome of dark energy and fire leveled the town.

"I don't think I can keep running forever, guys," I said while still in my fox form, "Also, even as big as this fox form is, you guys are fucking heavy!" Autumntwig, Marina, Aellisa, and Arboria jumped off and huddled together. After a moment of conferring, they all reached a consensus, "Jikū isekai tensei shintai." I gasped, "No..."

Alethea had clearly never heard of this, "What now?" And so, it was my duty to explain the sad details. "Okay," I told her, "It's like this... You won't be you anymore. We're sending you to a new time, a different area of Earth, and a new body. And the five of us will need to find you. This will keep you safe from Belial, until you are ready to decide whether to face him. Belial cannot be allowed to kill you, for your natural rebirth may not have such powers. The Earth needs you." She was shocked, as we were effectively sentencing her to a force reincarnation to keep her save. This all hit me hard, as she was my dearest friend. In fact, had she been male, the two of us might have dated. But now I had to leave her, risking the chance of ever seeing her again if I didn't find her in time. While she would definitely be human, I would have no way of knowing which country she was to be born in, what sex, what race, and even what her face might look like. "Here," I said, "wear this." I handed her a necklace, and then joined hands with her. "Bind a marker to her using this necklace. If I am near Alethea, let me recognize her. Soulmate!" I said. I also made a quick prayer to God that my search would be fruitful, and that Belial would not ever be able to find her.

And now, we began the ritual. Each of us were to sacrifice something that we owned. Aellisa gave up a ring that had been made just prior to the Third Age. Arboria gave up clippings of her own sapling. Autumntwig gave up a pet turtle (anything to save Alethea, but she cried for months afterward). Marina scaled her own fins, making her earthbound. And I cut my arms to make the circle, losing about a quart of blood before I closed the wounds with healing. I was seriously woozy, having effectively caused a class 2 hemorrhage on myself. But this had to be finished. "By the power of fire, I thee sacrifice," I said, and the blood started burning. "By the power of water, I thee sacrifice," Marina said. Her scales turned to water. "By the power of earth, I thee sacrifice," Autumntwig said, and the turtle got swallowed up. And so on, until all five elements were used. We joined hands, and the elements bound together in a weave, and then was the words, "Jikū isekai tensei shintai!" The energy arced around the circle of blood, then struck her, coating her in rainbow-colored energy. The next moment, she was gone.

There's something you must know. Before recorded history on Earth, all of Earth existed on a single island. You know its name. Pangaea. Winter wasn't the first town to fall, nor was it the last. I gradually learned over time that Alethea was the goal of the demons all along, as she was the only one powerful to stop their leader Belial. But not only were they searching for where they hid her, but once they were satisfied that she couldn't stop her, they plunged the Earth into a Dark Ages. The remaining towns were also burned down, historical records were destroyed. And the five of us had to go into hiding. So you see, the idea that I was Jesus was totally wrong. But only because you didn't know all the truth.

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