Down System

Chapter 53

ALEERA VERNIZE

When we went out of the restaurant, I could not stop laughing. But when the old woman brought me to church, I started frowning.

Namika was right again when she told me I would see the red dragon's face whenever I go, and I just couldn't hide that fact as well that it was irritating. Who was a rival that couldn't get into someone's nerves, after all? I began hating Ferno, how much more when it was Gandor? Nonetheless, even so, I rant here all day, I wouldn't be able to avoid this reality that I willingly accepted to face.

"Observe your surroundings clearly. What do you see?" Namika asked.

I wasn't able to answer right away because my thought was still in the restaurant. I couldn't forget how delicious the food was in the middle of Mount Marrior. Most of their servings were leaves, but I liked them more than their meats. Perhaps the reason why most of their foods there were made of green leaves was that the people there were vegetarians; Namika was a vegetarian as well, so I would doubt no more.

If I could find time again, I would probably go back to that eating area. I would love to spend my whole day there, especially that the scenery was also a big factor for a customer to satisfy himself. I couldn't deny as well the truth that I loved nature because it was calming and pleasing to the eyes. I could say no more. That place was perfect!

Remembering Namika's question to me, I roamed my eyes all over the church. It wasn't the same place as the first chapel I visited with my mom and dad, but the images displayed in every corner were no different. There was still the sculpture of the four animals— the lion, the bear, the panther, and the eagle; of course, their god wouldn't be absent— Gandor's image was also there.

It wasn't a worship day, and that was why the number of people inside was just countable. However, how they praised when there were a lot of believers inside was still as alive as when there were just a few. With just that, their devotedness really could be seen; the believers' faithfulness to Gandor was unexplainable. The way they prayed was on fire— they would kneel their toes on the ground and raise their hands as high as heaven.

I couldn't believe people would waste a big time worshipping the wrong god.

"This church is pretty looking expensive," I told Namika.

"Good you've noticed," she said without looking at me. "They spent a large amount of money just to build everything that's in this place. As in everything you are seeing right now, was taken from every believer's pocket."

The entire structure seemed to be made of solid metal. The sculptures were created of gold as well as other materials including the priest's chair. The tiles were frictionless that you would fall anytime because of their smoothness; the workers definitely put so much effort into this part. The chandeliers were also looking elegant; they were shining throughout the church.

This place wouldn't be as rich as this if not because of the people that had been fooled by the priests. They were false prophets that were brainwashing the community for them to earn money. In the beginning, there were no so many leaders preaching in the church, but as time went by, they were emerging one-by-one. Preachers were even teaching in public places and asking for people's money to pay for their voices. They would say good things about Gandor, that whoever believed in him would live a happy life and wouldn't experience karma as long as they lived. After months of staying in Hades, I had already seen many of them.

But, the only question that was still in my mind was: if no one had seen Gandor, in the first place, then how did people know about him?

"Here, read this," Namika said as she handed me a book after I asked her that question.

I accepted the book that was entitled: The Red Dragon, and read the first pages right away. It was too thick and the letters were tiny, that was why it had taken me about ten minutes of reading the introduction. I had no plans of continuing because I thought of reading this in the house since this sounded interesting. Nevertheless, even though I had just read the first page of the first chapter, I knew the book was a hundred percent false.

"I assume this book was written by a priest," I said as I closed the book.

"Well thought, young girl. What do you think is the reason behind that?"

I was about to speak, but when someone took a seat by my side, I didn't continue. Since believers were coming one-by-one, I asked Namika to get out because it would be big trouble for us if somebody heard us trash talking Gandor.

"Your question is very simple," I told the old woman when we were already outside of the church. "A priest wrote this to deceive people, to promise them a false good life for them to earn money from them."

"Right, wealth is really the matter here, dear. However, only the preachers, except for the two of us, knew that the information about Gandor in this book was all fake. Then the rest of them believed it was true."

"They were wild as animals, indeed," I said with my eyes burning. "And where is the priest who made this book?"

"He's already dead," Namika answered. "But, how do you think he knew about the red dragon?"

"I don't have any idea." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Then, you should find it out yourself." She said and walked away, leaving me dumbfounded; but as soon as I came back in the right condition of mind, I moved to my place and followed her as I called for her name how many times.

The old woman just continued walking until she reached the park where there were long chairs she was seated on.

"You really don't have the plan to tell me about the priest, huh?" I raised my brow at her as I also took a seat beside her. "Well, okay, I'll find it out myself and you'll see."

"That's a must, after all."

I shut my mouth for some time and thought of how the priest knew about Gandor. It was impossible as well for him to see the red dragon personally because Namika told me that no human had encountered the red dragon yet and whoever would face him would die. If ever the priest had already witnessed Gandor face-to-face, he would not have written the book at all. So, how?

I flipped the pages of the book, hoping I would gain a hint from there. In the very end, my eyes caught a picture of Gandor. If the priest was also the one who imprinted the photo there, then, where did he get the picture? Perhaps it was also the reason why the believers already knew the exact face of the red dragon.

"The priest was lucky enough to know the exact face and name of the red dragon, huh?" I mouthed.

"Have you already find out how?" Namika asked me.

I shook my head. "It's a bit complicated. I can't think where did he get this picture. If he filmed Gandor secretly, he wouldn't be able to put this picture in a book because, at that time of seeing the red dragon's face, he already died. Am I right with the concept?"

"Uh-huh. Whoever sees the face of the red dragon will die in the same time and location."

"And that's why no one had seen him yet except for Ferno, right?" I asked. "But, does Gandor shows up in the lake any time?"

Namika shrugged her shoulders.

"Because if that's the case, perhaps someone has already seen him— but secretly."

"So, what are you trying to say?" the old woman asked.

"If someone sees Ferno and filmed him secretly and died after that, someone might also discover the film and started writing about the red dragon. Meaning, the owner of this book are two persons— the one who captured this picture and the one who wrote the script."

"You didn't trust me when I said no one has encountered the red dragon yet, eh."

"I'm sorry, I just came up to this idea that perhaps, someone has already witnessed him. If we're gonna think clearly of this, it's really impossible that there's a photo of Gandor here in this book yet no one had captured this. Every photo has its photographer."

"Clever."

A wide beam touched my lip. "So, am I right?"

Namika nodded. "It was long years ago when Gandor got out of the lake to meet the rising sun. He's still doing that until now, actually. During that time, there was also a lost photographer who accidentally caught him. Due to fear, he hid in the trunk and took the opportunity to film the red dragon. Right after he ended the clip, he died.

"The next morning, a priest that happened to be a traveler as well, discovered the dead photographer in the lake, still with his camera. The very first time he saw the man, he already knew he was dead, so he prayed for him and gave him a proper burial. However, the priest didn't include the camera in the photographer's grave, thus, he explored it and found out the video clip and picture of Gandor.

"While watching the video, the priest was amazed by the red dragon's power, so he started writing about him. He thought it was a good business— a step to become rich, so he wrote false ideas just to pleasure every Hadessian. He also put the image at the end of the book to give some proof to the people that Gandor is a living creature, that he wasn't just a product of someone's imagination."

I was stuck staring at Namika while listening to her telling the story of the origin of the book. I had mixed emotions. I felt sad for the photographer who died of an incident he didn't expect to encounter. I was disappointed with the priest for willingly spreading lies for his own benefit. But on the same hand, I was happy for myself for being true of my assumption. Who would have thought I was as clever as that?

"How did you know of the story?" I asked Namika.

"I won't tell you," she answered.

"As usual, you'll let me have the answer by myself," I said, letting out a sigh. "That would be harder for me to find out, I guess."

"I don't think so."

"Wait..."

Namika raised her brow at me. "What?"

"Can you also see the past?"

The old woman chuckled.

"What seems to be funny?" I asked.

"You are ridiculous."

"Okay, I got it." I bowed my head a bit. "You just see the future but not the past."

I thought Namika lied again when she said she didn't think so it would be harder for me to find an answer on how did she know about the history of this scripture in my hands. If she couldn't see the past, then what else more should be the way for her to be knowledgeable of history?

Until now, I was still confused about the old woman's identity, honestly. Sometimes, I would doubt her being only a fortuneteller. There were times that I would find her as a witch, magician, or warrior. She could do many things. She was talented. She was capable of doing impossible things, sometimes I would think of her as a god, but that was far from being true.

But whatever might happen, however hard it would be, I'd still be willing to find the answer to this question. I would know this woman more. I would dig more— deeply.

"By the way, do you wanna see the modern part of this world?" Namika asked.

"Modern part?" I puckered my eyebrows.

"Uh-huh. The place where people think intelligently. The part of Hades where there the advancement of science and technology is high," she explained. "Do you wanna see flying houses?"

My eyes grew bigger. "Flying houses?"

"Uh-huh. And there are flying vehicles, too. So, showing off my big bubble there wouldn't be a problem anymore. Wanna go now?"

"Let's go!" I held her hand as I stood.

Namika didn't make it any longer to bring out her flying bubble. She started bringing it up to the air as she told me more about the modern place in Hades she was saying.

I looked stupid while hearing her stories. I couldn't believe there were flying houses and vehicles in the land I was stepping in, and they weren't made of magics but pure Science! Amazing, wasn't it?

"Does other regions know about this modern place?" I asked Namika while we were flying. This time, the speed of the bubble was just low, and that was why I was able to learn many things from her.

"Uh-huh," Namika uttered as she nodded her head. "However, they don't dare to go to this place because they find people there as aliens."

I gave her a scathing look. "That's weird!"

"Uh-huh. And they also think people living there are weirdos. Well, you can't blame them for that. Every person has his own perspective towards things and you are no one to change it, unless if it's really necessary."

I was about to rant about what Namika had said if only she didn't add the last words. Respecting someone's standpoint was alright, but what if you knew that person was believing the wrong thing, would you still tolerate that false faith of him? How would a person be able to know the truth if you didn't show this to him?

It wasn't really bad to confront a person regarding what he confided, especially when you already knew the truth. It would be much better to slap them with the reality, because how would they learn if you didn't do so? Everyone would be mad at you, but at least, you did what is right.

After some time of flying, we finally arrived at the modern place they called Shukga. Just by the moment that we landed there, my eyes immediately glimmered in delight; I couldn't even blink them because of the place's power to fascinate me. The houses were moving in the air, as well as the vehicles. It looked dangerous, but Namika said it wasn't as harmful as I thought since the people there already knew the proper management of this advanced technology.

"How did they make things fly?" I asked the old woman, still roaming my eyes all over the sky.

"I don't know, but of course, Science."

"They are good, in all fairness. I can't imagine how wise the people here are."

"They really are bright. But as far as I knew, they also set limitations of using this kind of technology. Not all the time that they have to make their houses and vehicles fly, only when it's needed. Good thing, they are all disciplined."

"That's so nice then! I think I wanna leave here soon."

"Everyone would really dream of this kind of land, but, but, but... however advanced this place is, this will not escape from the evil hands of Ferno and Gandor."

I looked down and let out a deep sigh, thinking that Namika was right again. No one was exempted from the future. No one was safe from the dark plan of the two demons unless I did something to save them. That was why I was doing everything because I wanted them to be excluded from the uncertain tomorrow of Hades.

"But, do you think this advancement will help even in a small way to save the future?" I asked the old woman while we were wandering the place.

"What do you think?" she asked me back.

"Maybe yes, if only we know how to use them properly. Also if only the people know what's coming ahead, but unfortunately, they don't."

"You really think so, eh?"

I nodded.

"Don't you remember? The rivals here are gods. Ferno is now also like a god because his heart is connected to Gandor, meaning, his power is also close to him or just the same as him. No matter how you exert an effort advancing the technology, it will not help you fight with those two. Magical power will only do."

"We are not gods either to match their strengths," I said. "I don't have magical power like Ferno. I just rely on your abilities. Then, what does this imply?"

"That's why I'm teaching you everything," Namika told me. "We are not finished yet. You have to trust the process."

Her words didn't discourage me, as always; but this time, I didn't want to just depend on her words for me to know that I was capable of something. I just wanted to believe in myself, to wholly trust my strengths. I just wanted to put an end to this unending doubt running inside my head and swirling around my heart. This wasn't the key to the success I was aiming for, but a strong belief.

"Namika," I called out for her name. "Teach me magic."