The Church and Its Orbs - Strange Sickness
More The Church and Its Orbs. This is way in the future. Also, the country name of Odisino is subject to change, but I needed a name for it since apparently my brain wanted to write when they're in another nation entirely, heh.
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“That cloud looks like someone trying to lift an elephant that’s way too heavy,” Suzette says. Her bright blonde curls bounce as she speaks, and her honey brown eyes twinkle. Kai, Wren, Suzette, Brandon and I lie on blankets in Suzette’s backyard, trying to relax. After we rescued Kai and left Tevaren, everything’s been chaos -- I have trouble actually relaxing. This new country -- Odisino -- is so strange.
To distract myself, I squint up at the cloud -- it does, somehow, look like a person trying to lift an elephant that’s too heavy.
“That cloud looks like I’m gonna puke,” Kai moans. His light brown skin has a greenish tint -- he does not look well. Seeing him so obviously ill unnerves me. Kai’s a god -- they shouldn’t get sick.
At least, they don’t fall ill when they stay in a country with enough believers. As Kai explained to me, gods can’t easily travel to nations that don’t believe in them. The belief gives them power -- without it, they become physically weak and appear to be humans with serious illness.
Even though Kai claims he’s near enough to Tevaren that being in a irreligious country won’t kill him anytime soon, I worry anyway. He admitted that being away from believers could kill him eventually. The act of crossing into Odisino weakened both him and Brandon, and Kai’s ordeal had left him weak enough already.
Kai props himself up on one elbow, leans over and vomits onto the grass. At least he has the sense to throw up away from anybody else.
“Yikes, are you okay?” Suzette mutters, glancing over at him.
“I’m f-fine,” he mumbles as he collapses back onto his blanket. Sweat soaks Kai’s brow, his hair sticking to his forehead. He must have a different definition of “fine” than the rest of us because he looks anything but fine.
“Maybe you should rest inside,” Brandon murmurs, his voice quieter than usual. He’s sitting up. While he doesn’t look that much better than Kai does, at least he’s not green.
Wren seems to notice Brandon’s condition because she raises her eyebrow at him. “You don’t look much better,” she mutters. Her tone may be annoyed, but I hear worry for him underneath it.
Suzette narrows her eyes at the two of them. She doesn’t know what they are, but the look of suspicion on her face discomfits me. “You guys have been sick since, like, I’ve met you,” she says.
“Travel -- not so good,” Kai says. Looking at him sends a shiver down my spine, because he seems...faded, somehow. That doesn’t mean he’s actually dying -- right?
“Apparently not,” Suzette mutters. “Maybe some ginger tea would help. I think we should all go inside.”
“A-alright,” Brandon murmurs.
Wren and I both nod our agreement, and we all grab our blankets and head inside. Brandon walks slowly, as does Kai. In fact, Kai stumbles over the threshold and drops his blanket. I catch him before he hits the ground. My heart stops.
“Thanks,” he mumbles.
“Kai, are you alright?” I mutter, not yet letting him go.
“Gonna -- be fine. Can stand -- you can lemme go,” he says as he regains his footing
With considerable doubt, I let him go. He sways but remains standing. The others look on, all with worry on their faces.
We put the blankets in the dirty laundry hamper -- per Suzette’s mother’s instructions -- and go to the living room. Kai wastes no time collapsing on the couch, taking up the whole thing. Nobody tells him off for using up so much space, because he looks sick enough to need it.
“You should see a doctor, man,” Suzette mutters, shaking her head. “Before you drop dead or something.”
Kai’s eyes widen. “No -- no doctors. I’ll -- I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“You don’t look fine,” she says, one hand on her hip. “And it’s not like we can’t afford it.”
I almost wonder if he should see a doctor. His body’s mostly human -- would the doctors be able to tell that Kai hides something? Would they be able to help? I banish the thought, because the risk is just too great. Still, Kai’s eyes burn bright with fever, and I worry what will happen to him.
“I’m gonna go check his temperature and get some ibuprofen,” Suzette mutters. She disappears into another room, and I sigh with relief -- having her around makes the tension almost unbearable when Kai’s so sick.
Wren stands by Brandon’s chair. For that matter, Brandon doesn’t look so good, but at least he’s doing much better than Kai.
“Kai, you better not die,” Wren mutters.
“I’m not gonna die,” he mutters. “Immortal, remember?” He shivers enough I can see him do it.
“You’re immortal as long as you stay in the bounds of a believer country. Odisino is not a believer country,” I say, running my hands through my hair. I cut it, so I can’t twist my finger through it anymore.
“We’re -- close to Tevaren,” Kai mutters.
Suzette returns, so I don’t have time to tell him “close” might not be good enough. She carries a bottle of pills and a thermometer.
“I’ve set it up. Just stick it under your tongue, okay?” Suzette kneels by the couch and hands the thermometer to Kai.
He squints at it. “Which end?”
I smack my forehead -- of course Kai’s never needed to take his temperature with a digital thermometer before. Wren smacks her own forehead -- Kai’s cluelessness would be funny, if it weren’t so suspicious and he weren’t so sick.
“What, you’ve never used one of these before?” Suzette mutters, raising an eyebrow. “Duh, the metal end that’s covered in the plastic wrap. Just push the red button and stick in under your tongue. Hold it there until it beeps.”
“Right…” Kai just sort of holds the thermometer in a loose grip and stares at it. His face flushes with his fever. After way too long, he presses the red button and sticks the device under his tongue. Everyone stares at him as he takes his temperature. Tension rattles the air, and I bite my lip as we wait.
The thermometer beeps and Kai removes it. He peers at it, his eyes both burning and unfocused. “110? That normal?” he murmurs.
110? That’s not humanly possible -- but Kai isn’t human. My stomach twists because Suzette will suspect something now. Maybe she’ll assume the thermometer just broke?
Suzette grabs the device rom Kai. Her eyes threaten to pop out of her head when she examines it. “Normal? That’s dead.”
“I’m not dead,” Kai says.
“I can see that. What the --?”
“-- maybe it’s broken?” I say, cutting her off.
“Are you some kind of alien? I saw on TV that aliens can get fevers of, like, 114 degrees Fahrenheit,” she says, pointing at Kai.
“Alien? Sure, let’s go with that. We’re totally here to -- invade Earth. Me and Brandon there,” Kai murmurs, gesturing at him.
Brandon flinches at his name, but he remains silent. What are we supposed to do now? If we can somehow convince Suzette they are aliens, that’ll actually be a more reasonable explanation. Odisinans aren’t fond of their neighbor country’s religion -- I don’t know that Suzette would want to host a pair of Tevarenese gods.
Suzette puts a hand on her hip. “Well, then, you’re the world’s most pathetic invading force,” she says.
Against reason, I hope she’ll drop it. We have no such luck, though -- Kai starts glowing. He flickers, his rainbow glow appearing and disappearing like a light bulb about to go out. Suzette stares, open-mouthed. We all stare. I know what that flickering means -- Kai is dyining.
“Kai, you might want to stop that,” Wren mutters, her arms crossed over her chest. Her voice shakes, belying her irritated manner -- she’s as distressed as I am.
“I...remember,” Suzette breathes.
What does she remember? I doubt she’s seen a dying god in her living room before.
“Wren, can you -- can you heal him?” I mutter, my heart thundering in my chest. I look at Suzette. “Get him a cloth and soak it in water. Maybe we can break this...fever,” I say to her, even if it’s not a remotely human fever.
“You know my healing only works on humans,” Wren says, her words rising in pitch as she speaks.
“He’s not an alien, is he? He’s a…” Suzette breathes. She runs off. Where’s she going?
“No -- point,” Kai croaks.
I kneel beside him and put a hand to his sweat-soaked forehead. It burns. Kai feels all wrong, too hot, yet...faded. With my hand on him, I feel the flickering. I can feel his dying.
Wren kneels next to me. Even Brandon -- who’s not in good shape himself -- gets off his chair and comes over to Kai.
Brandon grabs Kai’s hand, prompting the faintest of smiles from the other god. “You’re not going to die,” he hisses. “I can lend you my strength.”
“Too -- late. Don’t -- bother,” Kai mutters as his flickering grows even more rapid.
He gives off too much heat, so I remove my hand from his forehead. Brandon doesn’t let go of him. Suzette rushes into the room, a wet cloth in hand.
“Too -- late,” Kai repeats, looking at Suzette.
She just stares at him in disbelief. I stare at Kai, too, trying to exert my will and stop him from flickering away and...dying.
“Guess this -- is goodbye,” he says. He gazes right into Brandon’s eyes. “I -- love you.”
Brandon looks back at him with wide eyes, still not letting go of his hand. “I…” he says.
Kai glows a brilliant rainbow, the brightest yet today. It fills the whole room, bathing everyone in its color. The beauty of it takes my breath away, even as it horrifies me. All the colors -- they’re perfect, only they’re all wrong.
The glow vanishes, leaving behind -- nothing.
Kai’s gone.
He’s dead.
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“That cloud looks like someone trying to lift an elephant that’s way too heavy,” Suzette says. Her bright blonde curls bounce as she speaks, and her honey brown eyes twinkle. Kai, Wren, Suzette, Brandon and I lie on blankets in Suzette’s backyard, trying to relax. After we rescued Kai and left Tevaren, everything’s been chaos -- I have trouble actually relaxing. This new country -- Odisino -- is so strange.
To distract myself, I squint up at the cloud -- it does, somehow, look like a person trying to lift an elephant that’s too heavy.
“That cloud looks like I’m gonna puke,” Kai moans. His light brown skin has a greenish tint -- he does not look well. Seeing him so obviously ill unnerves me. Kai’s a god -- they shouldn’t get sick.
At least, they don’t fall ill when they stay in a country with enough believers. As Kai explained to me, gods can’t easily travel to nations that don’t believe in them. The belief gives them power -- without it, they become physically weak and appear to be humans with serious illness.
Even though Kai claims he’s near enough to Tevaren that being in a irreligious country won’t kill him anytime soon, I worry anyway. He admitted that being away from believers could kill him eventually. The act of crossing into Odisino weakened both him and Brandon, and Kai’s ordeal had left him weak enough already.
Kai props himself up on one elbow, leans over and vomits onto the grass. At least he has the sense to throw up away from anybody else.
“Yikes, are you okay?” Suzette mutters, glancing over at him.
“I’m f-fine,” he mumbles as he collapses back onto his blanket. Sweat soaks Kai’s brow, his hair sticking to his forehead. He must have a different definition of “fine” than the rest of us because he looks anything but fine.
“Maybe you should rest inside,” Brandon murmurs, his voice quieter than usual. He’s sitting up. While he doesn’t look that much better than Kai does, at least he’s not green.
Wren seems to notice Brandon’s condition because she raises her eyebrow at him. “You don’t look much better,” she mutters. Her tone may be annoyed, but I hear worry for him underneath it.
Suzette narrows her eyes at the two of them. She doesn’t know what they are, but the look of suspicion on her face discomfits me. “You guys have been sick since, like, I’ve met you,” she says.
“Travel -- not so good,” Kai says. Looking at him sends a shiver down my spine, because he seems...faded, somehow. That doesn’t mean he’s actually dying -- right?
“Apparently not,” Suzette mutters. “Maybe some ginger tea would help. I think we should all go inside.”
“A-alright,” Brandon murmurs.
Wren and I both nod our agreement, and we all grab our blankets and head inside. Brandon walks slowly, as does Kai. In fact, Kai stumbles over the threshold and drops his blanket. I catch him before he hits the ground. My heart stops.
“Thanks,” he mumbles.
“Kai, are you alright?” I mutter, not yet letting him go.
“Gonna -- be fine. Can stand -- you can lemme go,” he says as he regains his footing
With considerable doubt, I let him go. He sways but remains standing. The others look on, all with worry on their faces.
We put the blankets in the dirty laundry hamper -- per Suzette’s mother’s instructions -- and go to the living room. Kai wastes no time collapsing on the couch, taking up the whole thing. Nobody tells him off for using up so much space, because he looks sick enough to need it.
“You should see a doctor, man,” Suzette mutters, shaking her head. “Before you drop dead or something.”
Kai’s eyes widen. “No -- no doctors. I’ll -- I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“You don’t look fine,” she says, one hand on her hip. “And it’s not like we can’t afford it.”
I almost wonder if he should see a doctor. His body’s mostly human -- would the doctors be able to tell that Kai hides something? Would they be able to help? I banish the thought, because the risk is just too great. Still, Kai’s eyes burn bright with fever, and I worry what will happen to him.
“I’m gonna go check his temperature and get some ibuprofen,” Suzette mutters. She disappears into another room, and I sigh with relief -- having her around makes the tension almost unbearable when Kai’s so sick.
Wren stands by Brandon’s chair. For that matter, Brandon doesn’t look so good, but at least he’s doing much better than Kai.
“Kai, you better not die,” Wren mutters.
“I’m not gonna die,” he mutters. “Immortal, remember?” He shivers enough I can see him do it.
“You’re immortal as long as you stay in the bounds of a believer country. Odisino is not a believer country,” I say, running my hands through my hair. I cut it, so I can’t twist my finger through it anymore.
“We’re -- close to Tevaren,” Kai mutters.
Suzette returns, so I don’t have time to tell him “close” might not be good enough. She carries a bottle of pills and a thermometer.
“I’ve set it up. Just stick it under your tongue, okay?” Suzette kneels by the couch and hands the thermometer to Kai.
He squints at it. “Which end?”
I smack my forehead -- of course Kai’s never needed to take his temperature with a digital thermometer before. Wren smacks her own forehead -- Kai’s cluelessness would be funny, if it weren’t so suspicious and he weren’t so sick.
“What, you’ve never used one of these before?” Suzette mutters, raising an eyebrow. “Duh, the metal end that’s covered in the plastic wrap. Just push the red button and stick in under your tongue. Hold it there until it beeps.”
“Right…” Kai just sort of holds the thermometer in a loose grip and stares at it. His face flushes with his fever. After way too long, he presses the red button and sticks the device under his tongue. Everyone stares at him as he takes his temperature. Tension rattles the air, and I bite my lip as we wait.
The thermometer beeps and Kai removes it. He peers at it, his eyes both burning and unfocused. “110? That normal?” he murmurs.
110? That’s not humanly possible -- but Kai isn’t human. My stomach twists because Suzette will suspect something now. Maybe she’ll assume the thermometer just broke?
Suzette grabs the device rom Kai. Her eyes threaten to pop out of her head when she examines it. “Normal? That’s dead.”
“I’m not dead,” Kai says.
“I can see that. What the --?”
“-- maybe it’s broken?” I say, cutting her off.
“Are you some kind of alien? I saw on TV that aliens can get fevers of, like, 114 degrees Fahrenheit,” she says, pointing at Kai.
“Alien? Sure, let’s go with that. We’re totally here to -- invade Earth. Me and Brandon there,” Kai murmurs, gesturing at him.
Brandon flinches at his name, but he remains silent. What are we supposed to do now? If we can somehow convince Suzette they are aliens, that’ll actually be a more reasonable explanation. Odisinans aren’t fond of their neighbor country’s religion -- I don’t know that Suzette would want to host a pair of Tevarenese gods.
Suzette puts a hand on her hip. “Well, then, you’re the world’s most pathetic invading force,” she says.
Against reason, I hope she’ll drop it. We have no such luck, though -- Kai starts glowing. He flickers, his rainbow glow appearing and disappearing like a light bulb about to go out. Suzette stares, open-mouthed. We all stare. I know what that flickering means -- Kai is dyining.
“Kai, you might want to stop that,” Wren mutters, her arms crossed over her chest. Her voice shakes, belying her irritated manner -- she’s as distressed as I am.
“I...remember,” Suzette breathes.
What does she remember? I doubt she’s seen a dying god in her living room before.
“Wren, can you -- can you heal him?” I mutter, my heart thundering in my chest. I look at Suzette. “Get him a cloth and soak it in water. Maybe we can break this...fever,” I say to her, even if it’s not a remotely human fever.
“You know my healing only works on humans,” Wren says, her words rising in pitch as she speaks.
“He’s not an alien, is he? He’s a…” Suzette breathes. She runs off. Where’s she going?
“No -- point,” Kai croaks.
I kneel beside him and put a hand to his sweat-soaked forehead. It burns. Kai feels all wrong, too hot, yet...faded. With my hand on him, I feel the flickering. I can feel his dying.
Wren kneels next to me. Even Brandon -- who’s not in good shape himself -- gets off his chair and comes over to Kai.
Brandon grabs Kai’s hand, prompting the faintest of smiles from the other god. “You’re not going to die,” he hisses. “I can lend you my strength.”
“Too -- late. Don’t -- bother,” Kai mutters as his flickering grows even more rapid.
He gives off too much heat, so I remove my hand from his forehead. Brandon doesn’t let go of him. Suzette rushes into the room, a wet cloth in hand.
“Too -- late,” Kai repeats, looking at Suzette.
She just stares at him in disbelief. I stare at Kai, too, trying to exert my will and stop him from flickering away and...dying.
“Guess this -- is goodbye,” he says. He gazes right into Brandon’s eyes. “I -- love you.”
Brandon looks back at him with wide eyes, still not letting go of his hand. “I…” he says.
Kai glows a brilliant rainbow, the brightest yet today. It fills the whole room, bathing everyone in its color. The beauty of it takes my breath away, even as it horrifies me. All the colors -- they’re perfect, only they’re all wrong.
The glow vanishes, leaving behind -- nothing.
Kai’s gone.
He’s dead.