"The soul is your true self," the voice of an eager fanatic filled my ears, echoing through the large cathedral.
"Accept the truth and ascend!" several voices responded with the same eagerness.
Lying on the cold, stone platform, I stared up at the intricate black ceiling.
I was naked, save for the plain white shorts I wore for the ritual.
How'd I end up here?
"The spirit is the source of your strength!" He was louder this time.
"Grow your strength and ascend!"
Glancing at the flickering flames placed on pedestals around me, I couldn't help but wonder if they chose green flames to set up the mood, or if it had some deeper meaning.
"The body is but a vessel to exist in this realm!"
"Reject the vessel and ascend!"
I couldn't help but smile slightly.
These guys sounded too eager as they responded.
I glanced at the nearest heathen. I remembered this young man, barely twenty, yet his devotion to the organization gave him high gains.
His voice was the loudest in my ears.
Right beside him was another I recognized. This fool disfigured his face to prove his rejection of the flesh.
Below the Dais, the one leading the ceremony stood with an old tome, reading their 'ancient cryptic notes.'
They claim to have existed for thousands of years, but it was obvious these heathens had read too many books and watched too many movies to reach this level of insanity.
..and yet, here I am.
After twelve years in the organization, I'd finally been selected for promotion...Or ascension, as they called it.
It was a ridiculous ceremony either way
One voice drew my attention. It was a strange one, quiet and dull, unlike the eager voices surrounding me.
I looked for the source and saw one of them, a smaller one who didn't seem eager to recite.
His eyes seemed dead.
Suicidal.
I couldn't help but smile, wondering how I would sketch him in his last moments, thinking of what he would say before he left to depart from this world permanently.
My role in this organization started as a memory archivist.
Before I joined them, I already had this job, sketching the dead, writing memorials, interviewing grieving families as I did what I could to preserve their short existence.
As the only one who did this, I came to learn lots of secrets. And some people came to me to leave their memories before taking their own lives.
At first, I tried to persuade them, but after learning the truth about so many people, I let go of my thoughts on deciding how people choose their lives.
I can tell what kind of person you are from a brief interaction, and I can also tell if you want to live or not.
I wanted to do the same, but who would retain my memory?
I'd just be discarded by the organization, and someone would learn to replace me.
No family or friends...how pitiful.
"Only through destruction can the soul become pure!"
The final shout ushered in a deadly silence.
No one uttered a sound, and I lay there waiting.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Footsteps...
I didn't need to turn, already knowing these footsteps belonged to one of the upper echelons, and I could already imagine the gazes these fanatics had as they looked at him.
I smirked to myself.
After this ceremony, I would be one of the upper echelons, only to be feared and respected.
But I couldn't help but wonder...Since I joined this organization, I've seen some who ascended, but I never saw even their shadow after that.
Were they sent to another location or...
The footsteps stopped beside, and I could feel the eyes on me.
With my eyes closed, I waited for whatever they would do.
Just get this over with already.
For a few minutes, the silence pervaded, then suddenly there was a gust of wind.
My skin was covered in goosebumps, and I felt an uncomfortable force.
I opened my eyes, but the whole room was dark; all the lights had gone out.
What?
"Only through destruction can the soul become pure!"
This voice was new and feminine, but it held some sort of authority that frightened me for some reason.
"You shall reject the body to ascend, yet you do not accept our ways!"
I paled instantly, knowing she was referring to me. She knew I mocked their beliefs and practices.
I'm fucked.
I wanted to move, but my body remained still, as if a thousand elephants were weighing on me. I couldn't even breathe.
"For your indolence, you shall die!"
"Reject the truth and descend!" They responded again, but I could feel a new emotion in their voices-hatred and disgust.
I was afraid.
Something cold touched my chest, sharp too.
My heart beat uncontrollably. "Wait, I don't want to die."
"Hahahaha!"
Laughter exploded above me. She found my plea amusing.
The others chuckled, and I could imagine the gaze in their eyes.
Don't...
But it was too late.
The sharp object was pushed into my chest slowly,
"This will be your end," she hissed.
But before the pain I expected bloomed, before the death I knew awaited me came, the ground trembled.
She paused. "What? But he's not worthy."
Boom!
A loud sound exploded above us. It was like thunder, and unlike thunder.
The tremors became more violent, and I could hear parts of the building collapsing.
We were all confused.
Suddenly, the weight I felt earlier disappeared, and I sat up, but before I could even move, a bright explosion of light blinded me.