Gold of The Black Sheep.

Chapter 5: Requiem of Echoes

"Hurts, it really hurts. Stop, why? What did I do that was so wrong? When?" Bell asked himself as he slowly opened his eyes.

The boy gazed at distance itself, yet he felt some soundness in the now dimming familiarity of the stars. The vibrant nature of this once heavenly lit canvas had withered, to this, a desolate extent. The stars merely flickered, and the darkness of eternity was cold with sorrow. But Bell said nothing, he merely floated in a feeling of self-pity and regret.

"How very pitiful you have become. But that is to be expected from someone of your current station." A voice echoed vividly, as the stars burst in vibrant flares and eternity boiled. Bell remained stagnant again and gazed at the new lights illuminating his eyes.

"It's you again, no, you're not the same as before you seem different, even though I cannot see you."

"Well at least your observation seems to have heightened, to some degree since last you were here. Perhaps you haven't degraded beyond salvation."

"I can't move. Where am I? And who are you?" Bell asked.
A brief silence befalls the space.
"You are everywhere, and you are everything Freedom."

He listens to the voice tremble through him. And sighs heavily at the answer. "I'm in my own mind I take it. You won't tell me who you are?" Bell asks.
"Who I am is of no importance, I am my own everything, my own everywhere, for myself and those who belong to who I am."

He closes his eyes and sighs deeply.

"I know not what you mean, what do you want from me?"
The voice scoffs. "You shut your eyes when you only see in one direction, just as you walk through life thinking only a solitary path exists. You are inconsiderate, but what should I expect."
He opens his eyes and clenches his teeth in frustration.
"What is your point in telling me this." He asks bluntly.

"Watch your tone boy."
"Don't call me BOY! You have no right."

"I will do as I please. As the bearded man said you gave up before even starting."
The lights echoed and flared in torment upon hearing this. Bells eyes widened, and his heart ached at the thought.

"H How can. How can I trust you? Your lying, show me proof!" He wailed in anger at her prophecy. He's breathing became erratic shallow.
"You're the one who's lying, you're lying to yourself Bell. Look around you. You know I speak the truth, these flames, their anger, their bitterness and guilt. Are not directed towards me. Accept that you have done nothing up to this point, that you have made no progress towards yourself. Towards whom you really are." The voice echoed and the flaming lights calmed, and weeping enveloped all of existence.

He was shocked by her statement and did as he always was instructed to in these times. Breathed and reflected. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes again.

"I... don't know what to think. What to believe, who to believe in. Feathers has no God. I can't rely on my faith. Did I really have any to begin with? When it comes down to it, is there really faith without a God?"
He thinks to himself.
"Can I even do anything on my own?"
" 'You have made no progress towards yourself.' What did. What does that mean? I've made progress, haven't I? Feathers will spread our beliefs amongst people in Orderon or time to come. I've learned and grown just as Father Timothy instructed, so why...?" He thinks.
After some time as he continued floating amongst his own stars and thoughts the lights gleamed and burst forth again. Bell felt his hands and feet move, his chest could expand, and his joints felt weightless. He slowly stood up and marveled at the sight of the lights. He smiled at the sight.
"So, you have undergone your revelation, Bell?" The voice echoed again more politely.

He closed his eyes for a moment then screamed with all his strength and frustration. The tremor made the lights fluctuate but after he finished, they gleamed a bright glow again.
"Yes, I think I understand. Though I'm not sure about one thing." He asked.
"My you are a dull one aren't you, what else do you need enlightenment for?"

Bell chuckled at her statement.
"It appears I am. Why would a Goddess like you, help me gain the will to pursue my own path?" He asked as he kneeled and held his hands together.
"What makes you assume I am a Goddess?"
"To be honest, Your benevolence shines as far as this constructed eternity. Yet it has a, motherly charm to it. The kind I see from our followers that happen to be mothers. Apologies if I offended your eminence by comparing you to a mere mortal station."

"I see, what a, very, interesting comparison Bell. But alas young one. My warning still stands, they will die as I have seen. What will you do I wonder." She echoed.
Bell took a deep breath and smiled.

"Whatever I wish Goddess." He said with a lingering fear in his heart.