trans_9 | Your faith was strong but you needed proof

Inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before the Stone of Anointing, Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, knelt. "Ave Maria, gratia plena..." He continued the Hail Mary softly. He tried to focus solely on God but other thoughts intruded.

Daimon missed the fight over the Yeerk creature but he heard about what happened. He was not pleased, not at all. He knew what his next sermon would be but he had not the strength to even attempt to string together his thoughts for it. After all, what could the Son of Satan say about murder? But then what could the Son of Satan say about God?

What was this desire to serve the Lord in ministry? Sacrilegious or devout? He wished that there was someone, anyone, who could take his place but there was no one. And if no one else could serve the Lord then perhaps...

Perhaps he had an exaggerated view of his own importance.

Daimon closed his eyes and prayed. He prayed for the well being and enlightenment of all on this ship. He prayed for deliverance. But most of all, he prayed for strength. The strength to lead and guide, as Father Gosset once guided him. The strength to resist and subdue his dark soul. The strength to follow the Lord.

"Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto..."

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The Church was one of the few places in the city Gauron hadn't actually taken the time to explore yet, though perhaps it was time to correct that; noticing Daimon inside, kneeling before the altar, he slipped inside, taking a seat a few rows of pews back from the front of the chapel.

Gauron probably would've ignored Daimon if they weren't on the same team, but he supposed he should get acquainted with him at some point. "So is this where you come to bemoan your god having deserted you?" he asks, once Daimon seems to be finished. Probably not the best note to start on, but from his limited experience with Christians, they tend to be particularly strange about their faith - best to get it out in the open, because it's probably going to end up coming back around to this at some point.

"Sicut erat in princip-" Daimon stopped speaking and stood, turning about to look at Gauron, eyes narrowed. "God has deserted no one. Why did you interrupt me?"

"Sorry - it sounded like you were done." He shrugs. "I heard your last attempt at a sermon didn't go over too well - but at least you tried, right?"

God's servant indeed, Son of Satan.

"How generous of you to inform me."

"It must be pretty difficult to be objective enough about something so personal to get other people onboard, in a place like this." He shrugs again. "You know there are probably people here from universes where your religion can be disproved, or at least from worlds where religion's caused so many wars that it's a point of pride for sane people to stay the hell away from it."

"The thought had not occurred to me." Daimon said simply.

God was all powerful and all knowing, how could he not have created all these worlds? How could his existence ever be disproven?

"Maybe that's why it didn't go over too well." He stands up. "You're not the only one here who's secure in their beliefs. Try starting from a more common ground next time - the Ten Commandments, or something. I doubt there's anyone here who wouldn't agree with the moral spirit of those."

"The moral of Job's story is applicable to all. It is not my fault if-" But no, it was his fault if they did not understand him, wasn't it? It was since he pretended to be a minister. He never should have attempted it. He, of all people, should never have...

"I will take that into consideration."

"I'm not actually familiar with the story of Job." Maybe he'll go ahead and throw Daimon a bone. "If you don't need to get back to your prayers immediately, and you're not going to hold the fact that I missed your sermon against me, maybe you could explain it?"

Daimon proceeded to explain to Gauron the story of Job. It was a rather lengthy explanation, far more so than it should be.

"Now do you understand?"

"I can definitely see why that didn't go over so well. Even with the explanation, to someone outside the faith, it still sounds a lot like, 'God can make you his bitch at any time, for reasons completely beyond your comprehension, but maybe if you lie back and take it for long enough, things will get better.' And that's not what anyone wants to hear in a situation like this. Doesn't the Bible have some stories about people who are outmatched and screwed over by circumstances beyond their control that don't have anything to do with God making petty wagers with Satan, who still kick ass and take names because of their faith in God?" He'd always assumed that was probably most of what was in the Old Testament, but maybe he'd been wrong.

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

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