Chapter 29 - The power of symbols

I’ve spent the past few days working through the exercises. Friar Francis seems to have an endless supply of these puzzle boxes, each one with a new aspect that I need to discover. The puzzles grew more challenging, and that helped me develop new techniques for attacking each new puzzle.

In the evening, when they left to my own devices I continued to probe the barriers enclosing the cell. I think they were monitoring my progress and changing the structure of the entwined barriers. It seemed that I would get so far then it would change and I would lose the progress that I had made. It was frustrating, but at least it proved that the shield around the cell was vulnerable.

On the fourth day Friar Francis introduced a change in the training program. Before he got started I asked him if there had been any progress in locating Lazarus.

“Nothing concrete, but there has been some unusual activity near the site of an ancient temple on the island of Cyprus. There’s been no direct sighting of Lazarus himself, but some strangers have been spotted in a nearby village. Luckily for us the area is so remote anything, or anybody new stands out.”

“If this is Lazarus’ people we’ll have to move out there soon, probably in the next few days. So we need to push things forward a bit faster than I’d like.”

“Today we’re going to shift focus. Before we started I said there were two things you needed to work on to become ready.  You’ve been working pretty hard on the first issue and you’ve picked it up quickly, I’m hoping you’ll do the same with today’s new subject – symbols.”

“Symbols are a way of visualising the effect you are trying to achieve. For most people symbols provide the only mechanism for developing these abilities. Usually we start with learning how to leave your body, but I think we can skip that step with you.”

I close my eyes for a moment so I can miss that smile. It’s still there when I open my eyes.

“Symbols can be used as a focus for what you think, or as a guide for what you want others to think. Let’s start with a simple, but very useful trick. Making yourself invisible.”

Cool.

“You’re not actually invisible of course. The affected people will just ignore you, so don’t try using it against cameras. “

Noted.

“Now expand your awareness and fill the room.”

I do as I’m told.

“Now copy put the image of the room in your head. Don’t worry too much about the little details, focus on the broad brush strokes, people will fill in the details for themselves. When you have the image fixed in your head, remove yourself from the picture.”

It’s surprisingly difficult to remove myself from the picture. There’s some part of me that keeps putting me back in there. It’s as if some part of me is afraid that removing myself from the picture is removing me from reality.

Friar Francis sees my problem. “Instead of removing yourself from the picture, try painting yourself transparent, you’re still there, you can just see through yourself.”

That works. I now have the room in my head, I can see through myself.

“That’s good.” Says the Friar. “Now, expand your awareness again, this time carry the picture with you. Let your picture of the room fill the room.”

I repeat this a few times until he is satisfied, then he instructs me to delve into Hammond’s mind and look through his eye. A moment later I am looking through Hammond’s eyes, I can see everything as before. There’s me sitting in the chair. I’m confused.

“You’re too used to delving, try looking through his eyes as filtered by his brain, not directly through the eyes.” I can hear amusement in his voice. I do as he says and pull back from his eyes and into his mind. I see myself fade away. Wow.

“That’s good. Now let’s see you keep it up with more than one person.” He walks to the door and after opening it he calls down the hallway. For the next twenty minutes different people, guards mostly from their uniforms. As I delve in their minds I notice that like Hammond they all have that monolith at the centre of their minds. The rock that anchors their thoughts, I suddenly realise what it is. It’s their faith. It is their faith that centres them. Each person’s is different, a different look, a different size, but it’s always in the same place.

Only people here seem to have them.

On a few occasions the picture slips, I quickly recover and hold the image steady. I believe my mistake was trying to push the image into each person one by one. I just need to hold the image straight and let it fill the room.

“You picked that up quickly. It can be very useful, but as I said it won’t work with technology. Its other drawback is that it won’t work with people who can shield their minds. Or rather it won’t work if a person has their mind shielded.”

For the rest of the day I continued to practice. A succession of people walked through my expanded awareness and they didn’t see me.

While we ate dinner, Friar Francis continued to talk about symbols.

“For most people, they inherit the symbols they use from the world around us. For us in the church we already have a rich history of symbols to draw upon. Probably the most obvious is the cross, its simplicity provides a powerful focus. With it we can focus our will, use it as a shield or as a weapon.”

“For you it makes more sense for you to create your own symbols. They’re just a tool to help refine your ability. You have no shared history to gain any benefit from established symbols. So use what feels right for you. Allow your will to shape the symbol and symbol will then focus your will.”

I let that sink in and think about the rocks in all of their heads. I wonder what would happen if those rocks broke.

Chapter 28 - Learning to focus

We shared breakfast in the morning and while eating the full English I gave the Friar my answer. ”I will do this job for you, when do we get started?”

“Soon.” He replies “First we must locate the target and when we have Lazarus you can do your thing. In the meantime we have planning and you have preparation  to do.”

I finished chewing the mouthful of egg and bacon, washed it down with a gulp of sweet  tea. “Preparation? “ I ask. “What preparation do I need?”

Ah, that odd little smile again.

“You’re about to try to break into the mind of probably the most powerful person on the Earth. You have remarkable strengths, but your gifts are unrefined. Using relatively simple methods we are able to confine you.”

“Have you been able to enter my mind since you met me?”

He knows the answer, I don’t bother to reply and continue with my breakfast.

“Have you been able to travel with your mind beyond the walls of your cell?”

Again I do not need, or bother to reply.

“As a Champion you should be able to breach either of these barriers. We know you have the strength, now we have to give the technique to match. If you can’t enter my mind then you have no chance with his.”

“Now I know what you are thinking.”

I’m sure that he does.

“You are thinking that once you have the skills you can then force your way out of our custody and break the deal.”

Ok, maybe he does know what I’m thinking.

“I think it is fair that you should now that while you were being transported here, a devices was implanted in your body. It is a simple tracker that is continuously being monitored. No-one here knows where it  has been placed. The people monitoring your location are at a different facility and we have no direct contact with them. Should they see you moving beyond the parameters that we allow then a team will be dispatched to take you down.”

“This time there will be no attempt to capture or restrain you. A sniper will take you down from a mile away without you even knowing the bullet is on its way.”

I contemplate this for a moment and then nod in understanding.

The Friar continues. “Now we know that you may be willing to take this chance, so you should also be aware that the whole team that you will be operating with have the same skills as Hammond or myself. You will be able to subdue some of us, but not all of us quickly enough to escape”

I can see that they’re taking a big risk with me, they would rather have spent more time breaking me down, making me more pliable before using me. They don’t have that luxury and that is to my advantage, but now is not the time. I’m actually quite interested to see what I can find in the mind of this Lazarus.

The real danger will come when we are done, if they have no further need then they will take me down immediately. Friar Francis isn’t stupid so he will know that I suspect this. I think we both have interesting times ahead.

So that morning the Friar begins my training.

“To master the ability you have, you need to learn two things. The first is how to measure the power you project. You need to learn how to control it.. The second is how you can use symbols to focus the ability.”

“You’re already on your way to mastering the first problem. In the short time we have known you, the force that you put into your ability has changed. You have learned to probe, to tease before charging in with all your might. We’ll help you develop that further. To do this we’ll give you some items that you can practice against.”

He places a box on the table in front of me. “Inside this box is an item, I want you to tell me what is inside the box.”

I look at the box, the wood has been well polished, and it is dark and rich. I can see no ornamentation or markings of any kind on the box. I reach forward to touch it and the Friar snaps, “Do not touch the box! Examine it only with your mind.”

I lean back in the hard chair and expand my awareness, it wraps around the box. I can feel the barrier that encloses the box, fractionally larger than the box itself. I probe at the box, rippling my presence against it. The barrier feels uniformly smooth all around it. I press against it, but I can feel no give in it.

“I can see you have surrounded the box with your awareness. “ The Friar says. “You can feel that it is a single item, there are no gaps, or weaknesses. Try again to find a blemish.”

With my mind, like finger I rub over the barrier. Even at the edges it feels smooth.

“You’re seeing things as you would with your eyes, they are big and clumsy. Focus only on feeling the barrier, but make the probe much smaller than your finger. The nature of the universe is that nothing is perfect, it is the imperfection that you seek.”

The probe from my mind shrinks, I try not to visualise the box. Closing my eyes, I build the mental of the box with only what I can sense with the probe. It still feels smooth as glass.

“Focus smaller. Nothing is solid, there is a gap to be found in everything. The denser the shield, the smaller you need to become to find the gap. Once you have the gap you have found the weakness. Find the gap in the box.”

I narrowed the probe, making it smaller. I reduced the focus so there wasn’t a box, just an edge. I pushed in tight and there it was. A dimple, the tiniest fraction of the whole had a depression. I zoomed in tighter on this dip, a dip smaller than the troughs on a CD.

Inspiration hit me, I created another probe searching alongside the original, moving in closer I found another dip. I repeated the process until I had several probes all touching tiny faults in the barrier of the box. With the probes all in place I pushed, as I pushed I focused the tips to be smaller while still putting more of myself into the tips. I could feel the skin of the barrier parting, as it weakened I pushed in more probes. Then one of the probes pushed through, the physical box proved to be no impediment for me, I was already smaller than the gaps between the atoms.

With this I poured my awareness into the box allowing it to fix. Still I didn’t look just allowing my awareness to form a negative shape of the box’s interior. I looked at the shape my mind had taken.

“It is a cross, a silver cross with a roughly cast Christ hanging in his usual torment.”

I am rewarded with a smile, it almost looks genuine.

More time has passed than I realise, we break for lunch. In the afternoon there is another exercise. He provided me with a new box, a new puzzle. This time there is a pattern in the barrier, I must discern the pattern.

I follow what I learned that morning. I narrow the probes to find the gaps. Finding the gaps proves easier this time, but I can see no pattern, just a chaotic mess. I pull back, re-examine the problem. I am assuming the pattern is on the same level as the flaws in the shield. My thinking is flawed, that wouldn’t make sense. The flaws are a natural thing, the denser the barrier, the smaller the flaw. The pattern must be a deliberate thing, it wouldn’t be at the same level.

I enfold the whole box with my awareness. I subdivided the surface into probes, splitting them smaller and smaller. There was too many, I couldn’t focus on each one. My thoughts became overwhelmed by the number of them.

“Don’t try to control each probe, let it do its own job. Concentrate on the whole” More advice from the Friar.

I pull back, allow the probes to keep dividing, I follow the advice the Friar had given. When the probes find a gap it stops dividing. Most are long and then,  I see that some are shorter and wider. I withdraw the long probes, leaving just the shorter ones, I look at the pattern.

“It’s a fish. A fish symbol like you see on God-botherers cars.”

I receive another smile and another puzzle.

That evening I probe at the cell walls. There are multiple barriers, all meshed together. It would be difficult and time consuming to penetrate, but not impossible. I have less success on trying to find the tracker implant.

Chapter 27 - A choice to be made

This time I help myself to a cigarette, after lighting it I take a drag and hold my breath. I took that moment and delved into myself, extending the moment to give myself some extra time to think. We have come to it, do I jump on board the crazy express? Shall I follow this priest down his rabbit hole and kill this immortal man who seems to have a grudge against everyone and everything?

Killing someone wasn’t a problem for me, I’ve done that more than a few times now. The real question was did I want to get involved? The reality was that if I wanted to see the outside of the cell then I would have to play along. They would watch me closely, but in the outside world, things happen. An opportunity would arise.

I hold the smoke in my lungs for so long, I get a mild head rush when I breathe out again. I say “So you want me to kill this Lazarus for you.”

He nods, lighting another cigarette for himself.

“A man your people have been hunting for two thousand years. You’ve told me that they  managed to capture him once, but couldn’t kill him. The best they could do was brick him in a wall and all that did was piss him off even more. So my question to you is, how can I kill him? Can he even be harmed?”

I might start keeping count of those little smiles of his. I have to admit, they’re more than a little creepy.

“Lazarus is immortal, or at least very long-lived, but he’s not invulnerable. He will heal any damage he suffers remarkably quickly. Mundane weapons will hurt him, but not kill him.”

“Would a nuke kill him?”

That stumps him a little. “Are you serious?” He asks me incredulously.

“Of course I am. At Hiroshima and Nagasaki there were just shadows left for some of the victims, they were vaporised by the blast. I think it would be pretty difficult to heal from that.”

That wipes that annoying smile from his face..

“I have no idea whether it work or not and it is not an option. To kill him you need to make him mortal. To make him mortal you will need to find and destroy the miracle inside him.”

I should have expected something like that, that’s why they need me. “How do I do that?”

“The miracle is part of him, you need to get into his mind and find the miracle and destroy it completely.”

“Do you know this for sure? Or are you just guessing?”

“We are certain, we have dealt with similar cases in this way.”

“So why haven’t you done the same with Lazarus?”

“His mind is phenomenal. The power of it and its complexity is beyond what even our best people have ever gone against. Over the years he has turned his mind into a fortress, he’d have to be dead for his defences to be weak enough for one of us to get in.”

That gives me an idea, but I’ll keep it myself for now.

“There is another complication.” He continues. “The miracle is a divine thing. It can only be destroyed by a hand that has known evil.”

Two strikes for me.

“Ok, so you really need me to do this for you. And I’m willing to admit that it might be fun, but what do I get out of it?”

He’s been expecting this question.

“By helping us you’ll get the chance to see the world outside of these walls again. You’ll be supervised every step of the way of course, we’re not stupid. And of course, by helping us you’re also helping your immortal soul.”

I can’t believe he’s really going to try that line with me. I shake my head in wonder. “Friar, you are really going to have to do better than that. Seeing the outside world is a good start. But trying to feed me the forgiveness line just doesn’t cut it. I don’t believe in your God or his Heaven, so his forgiveness has no meaning for me.”

“I’m not even sure I even believe what you want me to do for you,”

There’s that fucking smile again and then it hits me. It was a test. With that realisation I gave him a little smile as well.  Well played sir.

“Good. If you’d suddenly converted I would have been more than a little suspicious. One day I hope you’ll see the light, but for now we have more important things. You’ll be doing a good thing. You’ll be saving the world and thus saving yourself.”

“Saving myself for what? To sit in this cell for the rest of my natural born? Do you know why I was in prison in the first place?”

“I do, you hurt a lot of people.”

“No, that’s why others wanted me in prison. I went there to die.”

If he smiles again I may have to cut his lips off.

“You didn’t go there to die. You went there to make a statement. If you wanted to die you would have let the police shoot you at the scene. Bang, all over. You wanted people to know you, to fear you. You wanted recognition.”

“I am not going to promise you things that I can’t deliver to get you to do this for us. I also know that I can’t appeal to your better nature. Not that you don’t have one, there is one buried under all that guilt, you just don’t realise that.”

I say nothing, there seems no point and let him continue.

“What I can promise you is that you’ll never get this chance again. Whether you like it or not you are here to stay. You have an opportunity here to spend a little time in the outside world again. You also have the chance to do something no-one else in the world can do. It’s true that the world won’t know what you did. But you will know, I will know, we will know. You’ll become part of the secret history of the world.”

A little flattery goes a long way, but I can’t make this easy for him. I’m going to do this, but I can’t  make it look too easy. The only power I have here is this choice and he’s worried that I can say no. That’s his fear right now, that I don’t care enough about anything to do this.

“I’ll think about it” I tell him.

He nods, stands up and tells me “You have tonight, in the morning you have to make the choice.” Hammond appears beside me and guides me back to my cell. As I leave I turn to the Friar and say to him. “Hey, if I say no, you can always try nuking him.”

I sleep well that night.

Chapter 26 - Stopping Armageddon

We took a break for lunch, Hammond brought in a tray of sandwiches, biscuits and a bottle of fruit juice. He and Friar Francis then left me alone with my thoughts while I ate. I heard the door lock after it had closed.

I chewed through the meal slowly, savouring the taste as I thought about what the Friar had told me. I’m not sure I believed what he had told me. It seemed more likely that Lazarus was a title that had been handed down through the ages. The history of the early church was fraught with rivalries. Perhaps Lazarus was the leader, or the inspiration for one of these early sects. They had been one of the many losers and had managed to sustain a grudge that had lasted throughout the centuries.

That did seem more logical, more acceptable. However it didn’t explain why they needed me to stop this person. Maybe this person was a Champion? That helped balance it a little, but even so, they still wouldn’t need me. I was still mortal and I assume the other Champions are the same, so a bullet to the head should finish the job.

It was also true that this was a big deal to the Friar and the organisation that he represented. Big enough that they needed me, a not-quite-convicted killer to do the job for them. They had people like Hammond working for them, they didn’t need me for just the killing part. They needed my specialist talent.

I washed the sandwiches and the biscuit I had eaten down with the apple juice. They must have been watching me, as barely a minute later the door opened. The Friar entered, followed by Hammond who quickly cleared the remnants of my lunch from the table. The Friar sat opposite me and after placing an ash tray on the table, lit a cigarette and once again offered the packet to me.

This time I refused with a simple shake of the head. I began the conversation with a question, “So, how does Lazarus intend to kick start the Apocalypse?”

“For the Apocalypse to begin there are many events that must take place, a sequence that signifies that both sides are ready and willing to begin the final battle. There are various prophecies that provide a guide for each side for the events that they need to make happen.”

He finished his cigarette and ground it out in the ash tray. He then continued. “It’s an all or nothing play from Lazarus. If he pulls it off then it’s the end of everything as we know it and he gets the confrontation with Jesus that he is seeking.”

This puzzles me. “I’m seeing a flaw in his plan. His last confrontation with Jesus didn’t go so well. Why would this time be any different for him?”

“He’s taking advantage of what we could probably call a loophole. Each side’s prophecies are meant to be completed by an individual representing them. Once the prophecies are complete the person who completed event will gain a specific power. If Lazarus completes all of the events himself then he will gain all of these powers. With these powers he may be a match for Jesus Christ himself”

Now that is really interesting.

“It does however present us with an opportunity.”

I lean forwards and ask “How so?”

“Some of these events have to occur in specific locations. And some of these locations are in remote areas that are easily monitored.”

“I doubt that Lazarus would show up to one of these places in person.” I interrupt him.

“A year ago that would be the case. Now with most of his network dead or in secret prisons all over the Middle East he has few resources to call on. And some of these events require actions that couldn’t be trusted with strangers or mercenaries.”

“That sounds interesting.”

I’ve not seen that odd little smile of his for a while.

“Let’s me be clear, I am not going to give you details of how to start the Apocalypse or for you to have a chance for yourself to gain these powers. We want you to do a job for us. It is an important job, but some secrets will not share with you. We haven’t forgotten who you are and what you have done. We will tell you what you need to know and we will be closely monitoring you every step of the way. Do you understand?”

I take the chastisement with good grace. “I understand, but this is a new world you’ve brought me into. I need to know what makes this guy tick if I’m to hunt him and hill him for you. I need to know how to find him.”

“We don’t need you to find him, as I said, there are places he, or someone close will need to go. We have all of these under surveillance. We will track him from there. The problem we have is taking him down when we do track him down.”

“Ok, so have you spotted him yet? Has there been any activity at any of these mysterious places?”

“Not yet” He replies.

“What about the other events that he needs to make happen? Do you know if he has achieved any of them yet?”

He pauses for a moment, I’m guessing he is deciding whether I need to know, which answers the question for me.

“Never mind” I tell him. “He obviously has. So, the real question now is how close is he to completing the events?”

Again a little pause before he says “We don’t really know.”

And then it strikes me. “The other side, you don’t know what they need to do?”

“Not everything. We do have some contact with them, for diplomatic purposes. The Vatican and the Order has some of their prophecies in our libraries. They’re not complete, so we don’t have a full understanding of what events their side need to do.”

“Ok then, if we assume that he has completed most, if not all of their prophecies, then how close is he? He’ll leave the difficult ones for last, knowing that with fixed locations they’ll be traps. He’ll plan for that.”

There’s a look that flickers across his face, confession time. I savour the moment of irony.

“He has already completed one of the tasks at one of these locations. He managed to kill the team we had watching the church in question. He completed the sacrifice he needed to make. If has completed the prophecies of Lucifer then he has five events left to complete. We have teams at each location.”

I didn’t bother to hide the smirk. “Are these teams better than the one that got wiped out?”

“We’ve reinforced the teams, but no-one on the teams are capable of taking Lazarus on their own. That’s why we need you.”

And so we get down to it.

Chapter 25 - Scourge of the church

Friar Francis paused and lit another cigarettes, I lit one too. My cup of tea was only half drunk and was now cold. Hammond brought us both a fresh cup.  My breakfast plate was a mess of congealed egg and cigarette ash with butts standing haphazardly. I didn’t speak a word, we just enjoyed a brief smoke before he continued the story.

In the time until Jesus ascended into Heaven Lazarus begged him for forgiveness. He pleaded for Jesus to take him with him. His pleas were to no avail, he would have to suffer his punishment and await Jesus’ return for the final judgement.

After the ascension Lazarus tried to continue to work with the other disciples in spreading the gospel. They refused to work alongside him knowing that he had been condemned by their Messiah.

Ostracized Lazarus began to fade into the background and spent more time at home, hiding himself away with his sisters and their families. As the years passed by and they began to grow old. Not knowing of Jesus’ judgement, everyone remarked at how blessed Lazarus was to retain his youth. It was a bitter compliment.

Eventually his sisters died, he still had not aged a day, but they both withered away, wrinkled and feeble. Over the years the congratulations of blessings had twisted as his circle of friends and family dwindled. Now he could hear whispers of fear. He had become a fair faced monster, a youth that never aged. He was unnatural and unwelcome.

The mutterings drove him from his home, now an empty sad place anyway. For three hundred years no-one really knows where he went, or how he spent his time. There are rumours that he visited with mystics in the East, at first to seek a way to end his suffering. When this quest failed, he later sought to develop powers that make him the threat he is today.

Friar Francis interrupts his story, saying that this is what made Lazarus so dangerous. As a mortal he was charismatic and full of vigour, but still just a mortal. There’s only so much that can be learned in our short lives. In thirty lifetimes he has gathered a vast wealth of knowledge and has developed his powers to a remarkable level, beyond that even of the Champions in some aspects.

Lazarus doesn’t come back into the notice of the world for three hundred years. It is no coincidence that he makes his appearance in the Middle East and Europe around the time the Catholic Church became fully formed.

Those years had desolated his soul. He had found nothing that could destroy the miracle inside him. . He saw the fledgling church and hated it. He hated what it represented and he hated everything. From that moment on he dedicated his existence to the destruction of the church.

At first his attacks were relatively minor, he would stir up locals against the new church and its priests. He then took to murdering isolated members of the church, the more important the better. His existence and actions were an embarrassment for the early church, his resurrection was too famous an act to hide, so that was kept in the gospels, but all other mention of his work with Jesus was expunged.

For a while Lazarus maintained his identity, but it made him too much of a target. Wherever he appeared the church would react quickly. He found himself being hunted, a few times he was caught. Of course he could not be killed, but on one occasion he was bricked into the walls of a church for thirty years. He finally managed to escape this prison when some of his network managed to locate him. Thirty years bricked up in the darkness, every day the hunger and thirst fuelled his hatred.

Those long years trapped in a wall, with just the muffled prayers and sounds of the despised mass for company gave him the time to think. He changed how he operated and began to work through others more and travelled more widely. Wherever the church’s missionaries travelled he would follow, he would work with the local religions, to help them resist. He had some successes, but even with a growing network he couldn’t stop the tide of Christianity pouring across Europe.

His first real success came with the followers of another youthful religion. He joined forces with some of the more energetic followers of Islam, helping them in their initial invasion of the Holy Land. The response from the Vatican and the European kings was the Crusades. This resulted in a terrible war that lasted for three hundred years and saw the Christians driven from the Holy Land.

This was a major defeat for the Vatican, Lazarus tried to capitalize on it by pushing his allies into invading Europe. Unfortunately for him the leaders of the Muslim forces saw no advantage to this. They had defeated the crusading armies only after many battles and at great cost. To take the war to Europe, especially to strike at the heart of the church would cost too much. They risked losing everything they had so recently won.

Again Lazarus adapted and tried something different, this time he tried to create schisms within the church. All over Europe he provided funds and support for heresies, most were quickly crushed through brutal action from the church. Some survived, but none were strong enough to weaken the church.

For centuries he continued this guerrilla campaign using any means to strike at the church. While he was able to cause many casualties, he has never managed to match the success of the crusades defeat. Lazarus continued to develop his abilities and to grow his international network. Occasionally the Inquisition of the order were able to track him down, although they have not managed to capture him again.

This lack of meaningful progress was a source of great frustration for Lazarus and in recent times his strategy changed again. Instead of hit and run he would strike directly at the heart of the church. His plan was to detonate a nuclear device at the Vatican during the Easter service. This would destroy Vatican City and the spiritual heart of the church. It would also devastate most of Rome and would likely cause a new war in the Middle East.

Using his own network and contacts with various terrorist groups he arranged to have a nuclear device stolen in Pakistan. For security the devices are split into component pieces, to steal them would take almost all of his network’s resources.

The Syrian defence intelligence agency caught wind of the plot through their own contacts in the terrorist groups that was helping to transport and steal the weapon. While relations between Syria and the West and the Vatican in particular aren’t exactly cordial, it wasn’t in their interests to see a nuke go off in the middle of Rome. They passed the information onto Mossad through intermediaries. Mossad and the order managed to intercept the weapon and in the process captured or killed a large number of Lazarus’ network. Lazarus himself managed to escape the operation.

Once again the church had managed to wound Lazarus’ operations. In fact it was a major victory. Unfortunately Lazarus has shifted his strategy in response. He knows that his curse will be lifted when Jesus returns to Earth for the final judgement. To make that happen, he needs to trigger the Apocalypse.

Chapter 24 - A man reborn

Lazarus? You mean guy from the bible? The man Jesus resurrected from the dead? He’s still alive and you want me to kill him? I find it hard to accept that I even have to ask these questions. Returning to my cell suddenly seems like a tempting option.

Friar Francis doesn’t smile this time, his face wears a frown as he plays with the wooden cross that hangs around his neck. He nods in answer to my questions.

How can he still be alive? How is that possible? That would make him over two thousand years old. A thought strikes me, now there is a real power.

Again the Friar nods.

And you’re trying to tell me that this person, raised from the dead by Jesus himself is a threat to the church? That doesn’t make any sense, the bible doesn’t even hint that Lazarus was an enemy of Christ. Why would he raise him from the dead if that were the case?

Friar Francis nods again and sighs. Not all truths are revealed in the bible. There are some truths that must remain secret, for the good of all.

I see. What I don’t see is how this could have been kept secret for all this time.

Revealing the truth wasn’t in the church’s interest, or in Lazarus’. His purpose wasn’t, isn’t to seek fame, but the destruction of the church.

He lights another cigarette, I do the same. My throat is a little raw, but the cigarette seems the only sensible thing in this room right now. Hammond appears out of nowhere and places two cups of tea on the table before fading into the background once again.

To understand I must hear the story from the beginning.

Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus who lived in Bethany, a small town near Jerusalem.  He was also an active follower and one of the first disciples when Jesus first began his ministry. He usually travelled with Jesus, but he had been called home for some emergency. It isn’t clear what happened, some stories say that Lazarus was taken ill with a fever, others that he was involved in some altercation in which he had been gravely wounded.

His sisters Mary and Martha feared that he would die soon, so they called for Jesus to come as quickly as he could.  Despite their urgent messages, it was two days before he started towards Bethany.

When he finally arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus encountered Martha as he arrived in the town. She lamented with him that he is too late and tells him that his close friend is dead. Arriving at the home of Lazarus, they meet Mary who is beside herself with grief. Beset with sorrow himself, he wept with the two sisters.

They took him to the tomb where Lazarus was laid to rest, here they found a large crowd, also mourning his  death. There was much agitation and the sisters protested as Jesus rolls the great stone away from the tomb. He raised his arms to Heaven and with tears still in his eyes prayed to God Almighty. Then in a firm voice he looks into the gloom of the tomb and called for Lazarus to come forth.

To the amazement of the gathered mourners there was movement inside the tomb. There was also an echoing moan that some said was leaden with despair. When Lazarus came into view there was much rejoicing and some fell to their knees, praising God and Jesus as his messenger. Jesus instructed the sisters to remove the grave linens and to let him be clothed as a living man, not as the dead.

After this Lazarus resumed his travels with Jesus, working with him to bring the Gospel wherever they went. Unknown to Jesus was that Lazarus carried a terrible desire in his heart. He had seen Heaven, more than that he had dwelt there. In the four days that passed for his grief stricken friends and family, he had been taken into the bosom of God.

Surrounded by a splendour only dreamt of here on Earth, he lived with the saints and the angels. He talked with the prophets of his people, heard their wisdom with his own ears. He sang with the choirs, praising the most holy, his voice at one with the blessed masses. Those four days were an eternity in paradise.

And he was torn from this joy. Like a baby expelled from the womb he screamed his rage at the world he was forced back into.

Lazarus knew that this was wrong and he felt shame for this desire within him. Jesus had performed a miracle and this miracle brought believers to Christ’s cause. And in this he felt some satisfaction, after all he had devoted his life to Jesus and his teachings.

He travelled with Jesus for some months before they returned to Bethany and his family, together they celebrated with a meal, six days before Passover. After the meal he sat alone with Jesus and finally confessed the feeling, the loss he had felt every day since his resurrection. Jesus took his hand and said that God had a plan for everyone. That God’s love had no limit, no boundary, even on earth it was still there if he would just accept it. He tried to comfort Lazarus by saying that in time he would be back in Heaven and they would all be there together. He just had to follow the word.

Lazarus tried to take comfort from these words, knowing that he was part of God’s plan. But the words were hollow, just like he had empty since his return.

A few days later was the Last Supper, here was the last time before the crucifixion that Jesus and his disciples were all together. Lazarus sat next to Jesus, but he could not engage with his closest of friends. He felt apart from them. He watched as Judas slipped out to earn his silver. He heard, but did not listen as Jesus bade them all farewell and predicted the denial of Peter. Much like Judas he slipped away before the meal had ended.

On the day of the crucifixion he followed the procession, watched as the crowd, encouraged by the Roman guards heckled and abused his Messiah. But it was only his own loss that he felt. Halfway to the hill where he would be executed, Jesus stopped by a shoe-makers shop. The cross was heavy, almost too heavy to bear. He knew he was soon to die. In this moment of weakness he turned to his friend looking for support.

Lazarus begged Jesus to allow him to join him, to ascend to Heaven together. Jesus, showing his human side felt anger at Lazarus’ presumption and said to him “As I witnessed your resurrection, so you must witness mine. Only then can we be joined in Heaven together.” And with that, he shouldered the cross, the cross that was weighed not only with his impending doom, but with the sins of the world. And he climbed the hill.

Feeling only despair and denying the faith that remained within him turned away from Jesus, refusing to witness the death that would bring salvation to all. As many men do in their times of weakness he turned to wine to ease his torment. He spent many days in a stupor, complaining bitterly to those that would listen of his woes.

He finally sought out the other disciples and to his shock saw that Jesus was alive, that he too had been resurrected. The crowd of apostles parted as he stumbled towards Jesus, stinking of wine and shame. Jesus looked at him sternly. “I required one thing from you. I commanded you to witness my resurrection as I witnessed yours and together we would open the gates of Heaven. You denied me, ignored me and now you are condemned to walk the Earth until I return for the second time for the final judgement.”

Lazarus fell on to his knees before Jesus and wept.

Chapter 23 - We are the champions

I feel refreshed when I wake up. I’m hungry, but feeling better than I have since I was brought here. I relieve myself into the plastic pot, it feels wrong holding the container you have to piss into. The splash onto the hand holding the pot and the smell right under your nose is not the most pleasant thing to have first thing in the morning. Still, the feeling of relief once my bladder is drained makes up for it.  After replacing the lid I lie back on the bed and ponder what little information the Friar gave me yesterday.

It seems obvious to me that he wants me to do something, the mention of redemption hints that there is something I can do to earn their forgiveness. If not his forgiveness then  maybe from their God. Forgiveness as a concept has no real meaning for me, I would assume that one would have to feel guilt first.

The only other thing I can infer is that if they need me to do whatever it is they want, then that means they need my specialist talents. Maybe there’s someone else like me out there they need me to deal with. Fuck forgiveness, but a challenge, now that would be interesting.

I’ve lain there for maybe an hour before the door opens and Hammond motions me to empty the piss-pot. After emptying it I wash my hands and face and then follow him into the other room. The Friar is sat waiting for me, and a cooked breakfast is set out on the table, he invites me to eat. So I do and most delicious it is too. There is sausage, bacon, a couple of fried eggs and some baked beans, all washed down with a cup of sweet tea. When I’m finished, I lean back in the chair, satisfied.

Friar Francis hasn’t spoken a word while I was eating and when I have finished produces a packet of cigarettes from his robes. He lights one and then offers me the packet. I don’t normally smoke, not tobacco at any rate, but today I’m feeling indulgent. The smoke is harsh at first when I inhale, I almost choke, but I manage to suppress the cough and then just enjoy the acrid taste.

He begins the conversation by reminding me of the mission of his order, of how they protect the church and the wider world from people with unusual abilities.

People like me?

There it is again, that little smile. No, not quite like me he says. There are two kinds of people with power, those who are born with it and those who develop it. Anybody who takes the time and has the discipline can develop abilities, it’s not easy and takes years of devotion, but it can be learned.

I assume I was born with it, after all my mother never taught me anything about it. I pause for a moment, it’s been a very long time since I have thought about my mother.

He nods, but more in understanding than confirmation. There are those that are born with the gift,  such people are rare and they have the natural ability to apply their mind to affect the world around them. Even though they are born with the natural ability to extend their mind beyond the confines of their body, it still takes training and effort to develop those powers.

Rarer still are the Champions. Only one Champion is born in each generation. Their power is immense, even without training they can bend those around them to their will. They are capable of feats unmatched by those with years of devoted training.

This time he nods in confirmation.

The Champions have existed as long as the church has existed, probably even longer. They each have a purpose, a destiny beyond that of a normal man. They exist for one purpose, the Celestial Conflict. For many years, the church and the opposition have searched out these Champions, to add them to their cause. Even without training they are capable of great deeds.

Although in recent years, with the smaller numbers of the faithful some Champions have gone unfound by either side and grow to develop their talents without guidance. Individuals like me.

Hold on, let’s back-up a bit. The Celestial Conflict? I ask.

Everyone knows the tale of the Eternal War. The war that was started by Lucifer’s sin of pride and defiance of God. The war that began long before mankind even existed.  The war that tore the Heavenly Host in two saw Heaven turned into a battlefield until the Archangel Michael, as commander of God’s armies cast Lucifer and his legions into Hell..

The war that spread to the Earth after its creation, when Eve was tempted by Lucifer in the guise of a serpent. When she and her husband Adam gave into that temptation, they caused the fall of man. Here on Earth the war has continued throughout history and will continue to do so until the End of Days. The Apocalypse.

Well I’ve always known that people believe this stuff, but I’ve never met anyone who really believed it. I can’t see into his mind, but his very bearing I can see that he accepts what he has told me as fact. I don’t really know what to say, this is beyond anything I have ever experienced. I have seen many things, but nothing to indicate this eternal struggle happening on our world. My natural inclination is to mock him, to challenge these ridiculous beliefs. Instead I just ask, what has this to with me?

Throughout history the Champions are raised by one side or the other, battling good or evil to help bring the end times and the final battle. As a Champion I must choose a side.

I’m a little confused, I don’t see any choice. I am imprisoned, the only choice I have is forced upon me.

I’m favoured with that strange smile again. There is always a choice, you can choose to fight beside us. You can choose to return to your cell.

As I say, that’s not really a choice at all, but maybe there’s a choice within a choice. What is it you want me to do? To battle the Devil and all his minions? I can’t help but smile myself as I ask the question. It all seems to fanciful.

No, not Satan, or even his minions. Not yet. The church has a more immediate foe that needs to be dealt with.

That doesn’t make sense, you have just  told me of this great war, a war that has lasted longer than history. The war that Champions are born to fight, what foe is greater than that?

He lights another cigarette, I join him.  He asks me if I remember the cold war. Here was two great superpowers, each with enough firepower to annihilate all of mankind if they ever went to war. Heaven and Hell is in a similar predicament. Since the first battle they have skirmished for longer than the universe has existed, when the final battle comes, it will be one of annihilation. One side will win, the other be completely destroyed. Neither side is in a hurry to see that happen, so the war continues, but each side is careful not to push too far, to not trigger the Apocalypse.

As with the Cold War it wasn’t Russia that was the most dangerous to America. It was the believer’s, the fanatics that just wanted to see the other side destroyed and didn’t care if they died with them.

Like terrorists? I ask.

Indeed, he replies. We have faced a terrorist of our own for nearly two thousand years. A fanatic who will do anything to destroy the church. It’s not the Devil we want you to fight. We need you to kill one of Jesus’ greatest disciples, the very man he himself had raised from the dead.

We need you to kill Lazarus of Bethany.