Emental: the Series [Work in progress]

Part 37: Don't shun me

"Alright Ken, where to?" Danny asked, slumping over his already packed duffle bag that Sui supplied them. Ken slung his red backpack over his shoulder and turned to Leela.

"Would you happen to know of any places we can get some information? Like a Library or..." Ken paused. Leela thought for a few seconds smiled sheepishly.

"There's a place nearby that might be of some help." She replied. Ken raised and eyebrow. She led Danny and Ken down the treehouse exit and pointed into town.

"I'll take you there." She said.

High up in the air, on the Hellific Dragon, Necrosse stood, puzzled by what Zaneth was presenting him.

"Another new Hellific?" He asked. Zaneth nodded gleefully.

"I made it using the same inspiration from the Hellific entombed the museum back in Karic." Necrosse exhaled loudly.

"Not those again. I'm pretty sure the disease is scary enough with you in it." Zaneth bowed femininely and presented a massive mask. It had several large sharp teeth and was easily bigger than Necrosse's midsection.

"I know I'm the one deploying this disease, but that thing gives me the creeps... and more than the you have ever given me." Necrosse remarked in awe. The mask suddenly opened it's mouth and roared in a almost gaseous tone. It's bellow caught Necrosse off guard, causing him to stumble off the edge of the dragon. Zaneth scrambled to the dragon's side and peered down.

"Don't worry, I'll get you!" He called down. Two black wings sprouted from his back as he dove off the dragon. Zaneth rocketed down towards Necrosse who was mid-fall. With a single swift swoop, Zaneth grabbed Necrosse by his waist and vigorously flapped back up towards the Hellific Dragon, which waited for them in mid air. Necrosse squirmed out of Zaneth's grip, onto the Dragon's back.

"Since when could you fly!?" He exclaimed. Zaneth pulled himself onto the Dragon's back and retracted his wings.

"I've always been able to fly. Think of me as a 'grand hive-mind' for the Hellific."

"Well I can definitely imagine that, but what I'm concerned about is what made you think it would be strategically required to summon a giant freaking dragon when you could just carry me where we need to be!"

Zaneth laughed.

"I needed to keep my work separate from my fun." He said joyfully.

"Uh, Leela, what is this?" Danny asked, an obvious tone of annoyance in his voice. Leela had brought them to a large stone building with stained glass windows and large wooden doors. Around them were a couple houses and a large dirt path with long green grass around said houses. Leela turned to Danny with a blank expression.

"It's a church, genius." She replied coldly. Ken and Izzi, who the latter was sitting on Danny's shoulder, snickered mockingly. Before Danny could get anything else out, Ken interjected into the conversation.

"How about you just sit out here and we'll take a look? Sound good? Good." He said, grasping Leela's hand and pulling her inside, leaving Danny and Izzi outside. Izzi turned to Danny.

"What do you have against churches?"

"If it wasn't for religion, I'm positive we would have advanced technology. That, and their hatred towards magic and ementals really irks me." Izzi nodded in agreement.

"I can agree, their discrimination is quite a pain. But some humans are just really..." Izzi paused.

"Stupid?" Danny said. Izzi shook her head.

"No, that's mean. They're just in denial, that's all."

Inside the church, there were several hard, wooden, benches with bibles in the pockets in front of them. They were all lined and faced towards the far end, which held a large statue of a bearded man and a cross. Ken and Leela looked around for someone to speak to. Leela cupped her hands to call out, but Ken shushed her.

"Don't attract any Hellific if there are any." He said. Leela nodded and the two of them crept towards the statue. Just as they passed the last bench that sat in the front row, Ken spotted a priest sitting hunched over with his hands together, mid prayer. He was dressed in a white priest's robe and had grey hair. He was quite old and wrinkly. Ken tapped his shoulder, to which he jolted up and stared at Ken.

"Two young souls looking for the acceptance of the lord?" He assumed. Ken went to shake his head but the priest grasped Ken's shoulders with an excited expression. "God would be very appreciative to have two young-lings willing to devote their lives to him!" He exclaimed. Ken sheepishly and slowly pryed the priest's hands off his shoulder.

"We're not here for that." He said. The priest put his hands down and smiled cheerily.

"Oh, then what can I do for you two?" He asked.

"We need some information on historical events. Say... the Emental Stones?" Ken said. The priest's face twitched slightly at the sound of Ken saying 'Emental Stones.'

"What do you want with those blasphemous objects?" He asked. Ken turned to Leela with a blank stare.

"Yeah I just realized. Why look for information about Emental Stones in a place that hates ementals?" Ken asked her. Leela shrugged. The priest jumped back into the conversation.

"Well, I do have some information for historical purposes. Mainly to deter teachings of evil and heresy." Ken chuckled awkwardly.

"Can we see those documents?" Ken asked. The priest raised an eyebrow at him.

"And why would someone like yourself want to know about them?"

The church doors suddenly burst open. Danny with Izzi on his head stormed down the center of the room towards the priest. Danny approached the priest until his face was almost touching his.

"Because, headline: the great plague is upon us and everyone will die." Danny said. Ken grabbed Danny and pulled him away from the priest. However, Danny shook off Ken's grip and turned back to the priest. "Oh, by the way. I brought a present. What do you think of some aliens?" He asked sarcastically, stepping aside and revealing 2 Hellific stumbling down the center aisle. The priest gave Danny a skeptical look.

"You expect me to believe those are aliens?"

Danny plucked Izzi off his head and handed her to Ken. Danny then turned around just as the two Hellific reached out to grab him. He evaded the first Hellific and then thrust his hand into the other's chest, shocking it and causing it to fall to the ground motionless. He then grabbed the other Hellific by the scruff of it's neck and held it to the priest. The Hellific snarled inhumanly at him, trying to infect him. The priest backed away and pulled a metal cross from his pocket and held it to the Hellific.

"How dare you bring such monsters onto hallowed ground!"

"That metal thing isn't going to stop them. But I'll show you something that will." Danny threw the Hellific away into the aisle. It immediately stood up and charged at Danny. He pointed out his index and middle finger, a massive lightning bolt shot from his hand and hit the Hellific in it's face. The Hellific fell to the ground and became motionless. Danny turned around to the priest, which had a horrified look on his face.

"Information please." Danny said. The priest nodded and turned towards a wooden door behind the statue. Ken and Leela both stared at Danny with shocked expressions.

"I think you went a little overboard, Danny." Ken remarked. 

"Sometimes, you need to go overboard to get your point across, because some people are just not willing to see it otherwise." Danny said, almost sounding poetic.