Rumors & Truth
The story thus far: The protagonist Gemma is a 16 year old who was kicked out of her world's Church for failing to make a ceremonial orb glow, despite thinking she would join the elite like the rest of her family. Gemma was declared a "no-soul" because the Church says people with non-glowing orbs literally have no souls. Gemma was also kicked out of her home and sent to live in a group home for no-souls. She recently attacked her sister, who was visiting her home on a charitable outing, for being fake and self-serving. She also just got invited to an anti-Church party by an ex-friend of her sister and had a dimension-hopping misadventure.
This section takes place a little bit after the previous six. The seven are kind of time-skips ahead of previous sections. They needed to be written, though.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14 (flashback - might not be canon), Part 15 (time-skip), Part 16 (time-skip), Part 17 (time-skip), Part 18 (time-skip), Part 19 (time-skip), Part 20 (time-skip)
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I was hanging out with Kelsey and Wren in my room, but I couldn't help thinking of the exploding light incident and hoping Brandon was okay. I also worried about what had transpired between him and Wren. We had been ordered home before much could happen, but I hadn't seen him during the next day of school.
Wren laughed. “You'll never believe what I heard. There's a rumor going around that the lights in your Dr. Francis' classroom exploded as an act of divine revenge because he was having an affair with a Lower Priests' wife.”
That pulled me from my thoughts. How disturbingly close to the truth it was! Still, the rumor mill had gotten it utterly wrong. I laughed myself “That is the stupidest rumor I have ever heard in my entire life.”
“I know!” Wren agreed. “If the gods even existed, which I'm pretty sure they don't, why would one of them do something as random as explode a bunch of light bulbs?”
Because Dr. Francis is an asshole?
Kelsey stared at Wren contemptuously. “Wren, the gods work in mysterious ways. And they do exist, though I think the Priestly affair is probably just another rumor. Still, the explosions were rather odd. I heard myself that the new kid got into an argument with Dr. Francis right before everything exploded. Charlotte something-or-other said the gods were angry at him for contradicting the fairy tale book.”
Charlotte's explanation might not be entirely inaccurate. Kelsey was, in fact, right about the “mysterious ways” but not for the reason she thought. I still wrinkled my nose in disgust because Charlotte was an unbearable suck-up who seemed to think she could make herself into a High Resonant by fawning over Dr. Francis.
I said, “Charlotte doesn't know what she's talking about.”
Wren was too curious. “Wait? Someone said the new kid exploded everything? You mean Brandon, right?”
Kelsey replied, “I think that's his name, but why is that important?”
Wren's eyes sparkled with something strange. “Maybe he knows something about what happened. He is the mysterious new kid from out of town, after all. Aren't new kids supposed to be full of drama and secrets?” She looked at me. “You were there, Gemma. Did you see anything strange?”
That caught me off guard, though I knew Wren was just joking. “Nothing strange, no. I was too busy being annoyed at how stupid the latest fairy tale was.”
Wren decided, “I'll message him and ask him if he knows anything. He gave me his contact info. I don't exactly believe in the gods, but wouldn't it be neat to know someone who was cool enough to piss one of them off?”
Kelsey actually rolled her eyes. “No, that wouldn't be cool. What is wrong with you?”
Wren protested, “Really? You're friends with Gemma, and she threw a Testing Orb at a priest. You don't think she's cool?”
Kelsey huffed, “Of course I think Gemma's cool. I can disapprove of someone's action and still think they're awesome. That said, liking someone just because they did something blasphemous is stupid.”
Why was I blushing? How damned inconvenient and random.
I said, “Well, anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to message Brandon.” He had given Wren his contact info?
She asked, “Why not?”
I answered, “Because essentially asking someone if they pissed off the gods is going to come across as rather rude, don't you think?”
While that was true, I cared less about Wren's potential rudeness and more about the possibility Brandon might say something and reveal himself.
Wren disagreed, “It's not rude if it's a compliment. I mean to ask 'did you piss off a god?' in a nice way. Besides, I hardly got to speak with him before the fire drill ended. Damn, did that goodbye suck.”
I had my face in my palm at the time and had tuned out because my brain broke at their inappropriate flirting. I hadn't noticed how much their goodbye did or didn't suck.
Kelsey contemplated Wren's statement. “I suppose coming from you, 'did you piss off a god?' would be a compliment. Still, I agree with Gemma: that is not appropriate.”
“Thank you!” I said gratefully.
* * * * * * * * *
Wren didn't quite listen to my advice, and the three of us found ourselves at Dean Marins' house having afternoon tea and cookies. We all sat at the dining room table: me, Samantha, the dean, Felicia, Brandon, Wren and Kelsey.
Felicia exclaimed, “Don't have too much tea, Brandon. You remember what happened last time. You were bouncing off the walls like a deranged puppy.”
Wren asked, “Caffeine sensitivity, huh?”
Brandon was paying far more attention to Wren than his tea. “Yeah,” he said. “Family thing.”
Felicia had a ridiculously knowing grin. “I wonder if they're all like that.”
Kelsey thought about it. “Well, such things are genetic.”
Wren said, “I wonder if the genes for caffeine sensitivity are connected to the genes for being ridiculously pretty.”
Brandon turned red, and Felicia started giggling madly. I shared a look with Kelsey that said “What on Earth is wrong with everybody?”
Kelsey scoffed, “I'm not sure those are even on the same chromosome, Wren.”
Wren ignored her. “Anyway, I didn't come here just because Brandon has pretty DNA. I'm curious about something.”
Oh no, Wren. Don't go there, please.
She went there. “You know how the lights in Gemma's classroom exploded, right? There's been weird rumors, blaming everything from an affair to sketchy electrical wiring. The oddest rumor, however, involves Brandon himself. Some chick named Charlotte said he actually got one of the gods angry enough to explode the lights because he argued with his teacher over the Book of Church Fairy Tales.”
Speaking of explosions, the tension in the room exploded by a factor of several billion.
Dean Marins admonished, “Wren...”
She ignored that, too. “What exactly did you do that someone thought you might have actually pissed off a god?” She paused. “Don't worry, I'm not judging you, like, at all. Just curious.”
He explained, “I got into an argument with my teacher over the fairy tale book.”
Wren wondered, “That piss off the gods because you said their stories were stupid?”
Dean Marins tried to insert herself into the conversation again. “Wren, we shouldn't use such language. There are children here.”
Felicia huffed, “I'm thirteen! I'm not a child.”
Brandon started shaking again, “I didn't say the story we did in class was stupid, though it was. I said it was inaccurate.”
Wren laughed. “You called an official Church document inaccurate?”
“Yes.”
She exclaimed, “That's fucking awesome.”
Dean Marins looked shocked. “Language, please!”
Wren had to ask, “Say, why did you call it inaccurate, anyway? And, I'm not saying I believe in the gods, because I don't, but it is pretty funny that you indirectly told off the Church and things literally exploded.”
Brandon mumbled, “Well, um...”
She continued, “You have to have a reason for doing that, yeah? I mean, if you called something inaccurate, you must have a more accurate version of events in mind. What, did you say 'it's inaccurate because the gods don't exist?'”
Brandon said, “Let's go with that. That is definitely what I said, and I most certainly didn't tell Dr. Francis the part in the story about all no-souls being killed on sight should they enter the divine realm was factually incorrect.”
Wren's eyes widened. “You did what now? I'm all for challenging fictional fairy tales, but why would you say that in particular?”
This was heading in a very, very dangerous direction. I tried to deflect things. “This tea is delicious!”
Dean Marins seemed to pick up on what I was trying to do. “Why thank you, Gemma. Samantha here made this blend herself.”
Wren wasn't taking the bait. She said, “So, come on, why'd you say it?”
Brandon stammered, “J-just because.”
Wren gave him a suspicious look. “No way was that 'just because.' Randomly killing no-souls for being no-souls is exactly the sort of thing the gods would do if they existed.”
He nearly shouted, “It is not!”
Wren arched an eyebrow. “Oh, and how would you know?”
I worried something else might explode. Quite possibly my brain.
Voice tight, he said, “I would...just know.”
The room seemed to shrink to just the two of them, with the air crackling around their tense conversation. My heart sped up as I listened.
Wren scoffed, “'Just know?' How exactly would you 'just know?' It's not like you've been to the divine realm, have you? The place is fictional, created by a Church who manufactured no-souls so we would have someone to hate. Why wouldn't their fictional deities hate no-souls, too?”
Brandon's breathing was shallow and his words tumbled out in strangled gasps. “Because that simply isn't how it works. You would be right about the no-souls being a manufactured group to hate, but I do not hate them nor would I kill any no-soul trespassers on sight. I didn't certain kill Gemma when she accidentally came through a portal to my home, so don't you say we're all homicidal bigots.”
Oh. Shit.
At first, his outburst makes no sense to Wren and I almost think we can get through without spilling his secrets. Wren sits there with a stunned and confused expression on her face. Kelsey looks just as baffled, while everyone else, myself included, has frozen in horror. If Brandon's speech didn't indicate something was wrong, our reactions surely did. I was the first to recover.
I said into the silence, “Maybe Brandon is just tired from starting a new school.”
Wren didn't buy it. “Tiredness wouldn't cause that outburst. Starting a new school wouldn't make someone so specifically angry. It wouldn't make him say such odd things, as if...as if he were...”
She had trouble wrapping her mind around it.“As if he were really a god.” Unfortunately, she turned her attention to me, a question clear upon her face. “Gemma...is what Brandon said true? Did you go to the divine realm? Is...is it real? Don't you dare lie to me.”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to lie so badly, but I couldn't do it, not with the way Wren stared at me like she wouldn't believe any lie I offered. I sighed. “You wouldn't believe me if I lied, would you?”
Wren shook her head.
I took a deep breath. “It's true. The divine realm is real. Brandon is a god.”
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written for 500themes prompt #58 - "The Power of Goodbye"
This section takes place a little bit after the previous six. The seven are kind of time-skips ahead of previous sections. They needed to be written, though.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14 (flashback - might not be canon), Part 15 (time-skip), Part 16 (time-skip), Part 17 (time-skip), Part 18 (time-skip), Part 19 (time-skip), Part 20 (time-skip)
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I was hanging out with Kelsey and Wren in my room, but I couldn't help thinking of the exploding light incident and hoping Brandon was okay. I also worried about what had transpired between him and Wren. We had been ordered home before much could happen, but I hadn't seen him during the next day of school.
Wren laughed. “You'll never believe what I heard. There's a rumor going around that the lights in your Dr. Francis' classroom exploded as an act of divine revenge because he was having an affair with a Lower Priests' wife.”
That pulled me from my thoughts. How disturbingly close to the truth it was! Still, the rumor mill had gotten it utterly wrong. I laughed myself “That is the stupidest rumor I have ever heard in my entire life.”
“I know!” Wren agreed. “If the gods even existed, which I'm pretty sure they don't, why would one of them do something as random as explode a bunch of light bulbs?”
Because Dr. Francis is an asshole?
Kelsey stared at Wren contemptuously. “Wren, the gods work in mysterious ways. And they do exist, though I think the Priestly affair is probably just another rumor. Still, the explosions were rather odd. I heard myself that the new kid got into an argument with Dr. Francis right before everything exploded. Charlotte something-or-other said the gods were angry at him for contradicting the fairy tale book.”
Charlotte's explanation might not be entirely inaccurate. Kelsey was, in fact, right about the “mysterious ways” but not for the reason she thought. I still wrinkled my nose in disgust because Charlotte was an unbearable suck-up who seemed to think she could make herself into a High Resonant by fawning over Dr. Francis.
I said, “Charlotte doesn't know what she's talking about.”
Wren was too curious. “Wait? Someone said the new kid exploded everything? You mean Brandon, right?”
Kelsey replied, “I think that's his name, but why is that important?”
Wren's eyes sparkled with something strange. “Maybe he knows something about what happened. He is the mysterious new kid from out of town, after all. Aren't new kids supposed to be full of drama and secrets?” She looked at me. “You were there, Gemma. Did you see anything strange?”
That caught me off guard, though I knew Wren was just joking. “Nothing strange, no. I was too busy being annoyed at how stupid the latest fairy tale was.”
Wren decided, “I'll message him and ask him if he knows anything. He gave me his contact info. I don't exactly believe in the gods, but wouldn't it be neat to know someone who was cool enough to piss one of them off?”
Kelsey actually rolled her eyes. “No, that wouldn't be cool. What is wrong with you?”
Wren protested, “Really? You're friends with Gemma, and she threw a Testing Orb at a priest. You don't think she's cool?”
Kelsey huffed, “Of course I think Gemma's cool. I can disapprove of someone's action and still think they're awesome. That said, liking someone just because they did something blasphemous is stupid.”
Why was I blushing? How damned inconvenient and random.
I said, “Well, anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to message Brandon.” He had given Wren his contact info?
She asked, “Why not?”
I answered, “Because essentially asking someone if they pissed off the gods is going to come across as rather rude, don't you think?”
While that was true, I cared less about Wren's potential rudeness and more about the possibility Brandon might say something and reveal himself.
Wren disagreed, “It's not rude if it's a compliment. I mean to ask 'did you piss off a god?' in a nice way. Besides, I hardly got to speak with him before the fire drill ended. Damn, did that goodbye suck.”
I had my face in my palm at the time and had tuned out because my brain broke at their inappropriate flirting. I hadn't noticed how much their goodbye did or didn't suck.
Kelsey contemplated Wren's statement. “I suppose coming from you, 'did you piss off a god?' would be a compliment. Still, I agree with Gemma: that is not appropriate.”
“Thank you!” I said gratefully.
* * * * * * * * *
Wren didn't quite listen to my advice, and the three of us found ourselves at Dean Marins' house having afternoon tea and cookies. We all sat at the dining room table: me, Samantha, the dean, Felicia, Brandon, Wren and Kelsey.
Felicia exclaimed, “Don't have too much tea, Brandon. You remember what happened last time. You were bouncing off the walls like a deranged puppy.”
Wren asked, “Caffeine sensitivity, huh?”
Brandon was paying far more attention to Wren than his tea. “Yeah,” he said. “Family thing.”
Felicia had a ridiculously knowing grin. “I wonder if they're all like that.”
Kelsey thought about it. “Well, such things are genetic.”
Wren said, “I wonder if the genes for caffeine sensitivity are connected to the genes for being ridiculously pretty.”
Brandon turned red, and Felicia started giggling madly. I shared a look with Kelsey that said “What on Earth is wrong with everybody?”
Kelsey scoffed, “I'm not sure those are even on the same chromosome, Wren.”
Wren ignored her. “Anyway, I didn't come here just because Brandon has pretty DNA. I'm curious about something.”
Oh no, Wren. Don't go there, please.
She went there. “You know how the lights in Gemma's classroom exploded, right? There's been weird rumors, blaming everything from an affair to sketchy electrical wiring. The oddest rumor, however, involves Brandon himself. Some chick named Charlotte said he actually got one of the gods angry enough to explode the lights because he argued with his teacher over the Book of Church Fairy Tales.”
Speaking of explosions, the tension in the room exploded by a factor of several billion.
Dean Marins admonished, “Wren...”
She ignored that, too. “What exactly did you do that someone thought you might have actually pissed off a god?” She paused. “Don't worry, I'm not judging you, like, at all. Just curious.”
He explained, “I got into an argument with my teacher over the fairy tale book.”
Wren wondered, “That piss off the gods because you said their stories were stupid?”
Dean Marins tried to insert herself into the conversation again. “Wren, we shouldn't use such language. There are children here.”
Felicia huffed, “I'm thirteen! I'm not a child.”
Brandon started shaking again, “I didn't say the story we did in class was stupid, though it was. I said it was inaccurate.”
Wren laughed. “You called an official Church document inaccurate?”
“Yes.”
She exclaimed, “That's fucking awesome.”
Dean Marins looked shocked. “Language, please!”
Wren had to ask, “Say, why did you call it inaccurate, anyway? And, I'm not saying I believe in the gods, because I don't, but it is pretty funny that you indirectly told off the Church and things literally exploded.”
Brandon mumbled, “Well, um...”
She continued, “You have to have a reason for doing that, yeah? I mean, if you called something inaccurate, you must have a more accurate version of events in mind. What, did you say 'it's inaccurate because the gods don't exist?'”
Brandon said, “Let's go with that. That is definitely what I said, and I most certainly didn't tell Dr. Francis the part in the story about all no-souls being killed on sight should they enter the divine realm was factually incorrect.”
Wren's eyes widened. “You did what now? I'm all for challenging fictional fairy tales, but why would you say that in particular?”
This was heading in a very, very dangerous direction. I tried to deflect things. “This tea is delicious!”
Dean Marins seemed to pick up on what I was trying to do. “Why thank you, Gemma. Samantha here made this blend herself.”
Wren wasn't taking the bait. She said, “So, come on, why'd you say it?”
Brandon stammered, “J-just because.”
Wren gave him a suspicious look. “No way was that 'just because.' Randomly killing no-souls for being no-souls is exactly the sort of thing the gods would do if they existed.”
He nearly shouted, “It is not!”
Wren arched an eyebrow. “Oh, and how would you know?”
I worried something else might explode. Quite possibly my brain.
Voice tight, he said, “I would...just know.”
The room seemed to shrink to just the two of them, with the air crackling around their tense conversation. My heart sped up as I listened.
Wren scoffed, “'Just know?' How exactly would you 'just know?' It's not like you've been to the divine realm, have you? The place is fictional, created by a Church who manufactured no-souls so we would have someone to hate. Why wouldn't their fictional deities hate no-souls, too?”
Brandon's breathing was shallow and his words tumbled out in strangled gasps. “Because that simply isn't how it works. You would be right about the no-souls being a manufactured group to hate, but I do not hate them nor would I kill any no-soul trespassers on sight. I didn't certain kill Gemma when she accidentally came through a portal to my home, so don't you say we're all homicidal bigots.”
Oh. Shit.
At first, his outburst makes no sense to Wren and I almost think we can get through without spilling his secrets. Wren sits there with a stunned and confused expression on her face. Kelsey looks just as baffled, while everyone else, myself included, has frozen in horror. If Brandon's speech didn't indicate something was wrong, our reactions surely did. I was the first to recover.
I said into the silence, “Maybe Brandon is just tired from starting a new school.”
Wren didn't buy it. “Tiredness wouldn't cause that outburst. Starting a new school wouldn't make someone so specifically angry. It wouldn't make him say such odd things, as if...as if he were...”
She had trouble wrapping her mind around it.“As if he were really a god.” Unfortunately, she turned her attention to me, a question clear upon her face. “Gemma...is what Brandon said true? Did you go to the divine realm? Is...is it real? Don't you dare lie to me.”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to lie so badly, but I couldn't do it, not with the way Wren stared at me like she wouldn't believe any lie I offered. I sighed. “You wouldn't believe me if I lied, would you?”
Wren shook her head.
I took a deep breath. “It's true. The divine realm is real. Brandon is a god.”
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written for 500themes prompt #58 - "The Power of Goodbye"