Little Cherine Book 08 - BPost002
Mary had gone to visit, but was expected back soon (Jesus knew she was). He told her and went back to his reading of halakhah and other Jewish law which he would have to be able to apply someday as a rabbi.
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Rachel watched him and she found her imagination running riot, visions of him naked and making love to her running through her mind and affecting her body. Jesus was shocked but also curious. He could not have lived in a city with his powers and not felt the emoting of others around him as they had sex, but he’d never identified those sensations as having anything to do with him. His body responded and his curiosity grew. He ‘convinced’ Rachel that it was too hot to wear so many items and she stripped, finally standing before him nude. She was an attractive woman and when Jesus touched her breast, softly caressing it with amazement at how it felt, it was only natural that Rachel would initiate him in the pleasures of the flesh. Jesus nearly forgot to see to it that his mother did not return for hours. After that his mother went visiting more often and Rachel came over at least three to four times a week.
Months later, Jesus saw a woman of seventeen, married, who was pretty and he was attracted to her. What more natural than that he help her discover how she was attracted to him, despite the fact that she was happy with her husband and loved him.
Jesus was young enough that many other things mattered to him. He enjoyed meeting his friends to walk around town talking or going to play among the ruins or in the olive groves. He enjoyed reading and arguing with rabbis. He also liked to have time by himself for dreaming, so he did not go wild and use his powers to seduce every young woman he found attractive. He was careful to only seduce married woman, as he did not wish for any girl to be stoned because of him. He knew nobody could catch them having sex with him, but a young girl would have to explain the non existence of her virginity someday.
It was a popular sport among the young to follow any Roman soldier who walked alone after becoming intoxicated and when there were no other Romans close by, throw stones and jeer at him as he shouted threats. If they were chased, they knew all the secret ways of the city and almost always managed to get away.
When Jesus was still a toddler, a woman who befriended his mother would bring her son Elijah over to play with him. Though he was two years older than Jesus they became friends. Elijah knew about some of the powers Jesus had, but Jesus never confided his thoughts to him. Years later, the two of them were part of a group of boys who taunted a soldier and then ran away. Jesus and Elijah became separated. As Elijah ran around a corner he ran into some soldiers who had been waiting for them and though it was not intended, a startled soldier swung his sword and it bit deeply into Elijah’s ribs.
Jesus not only heard the scream of pain and terror, but also felt the injury and as he ran back he could feel his friend fading away. If Jesus had been older, he might not have thought he could do it. If he had been by his friend and had seen the wound, he might have given up. In many ways he was still a child, one who had grown up thinking he could do whatever he wanted and so, when he concentrated with all his will to force his friend to live, something reached out and healed Elijah. Not as the Cherinians of a different reality and age would, but all within seconds!
Jesus arrived to find the men standing over a blood soaked Elijah, who was still lying supine on the ground, in shock. Jesus screamed with rage and the men blacked out. When they came to, Jesus and Elijah were gone and they did not recall what had happened because a large part of their memories had been wiped. They were sent back to Rome after the local physicians admitted they did not know what could have caused their mass amnesia.
That was the last day of friendship Jesus was to know. From friend, Elijah became a devoted disciple, worshipping Jesus as a holy man. It was also the last Mary was to see of her son for nearly two years.
Jesus had calmly told his friend to stand up. They walked away without haste, as if the sight of blood was nothing to draw the attention of anyone. They had walked two blocks when Jesus took Elijah by the arm drawing him into a small side street. About fifty paces in they stopped. A slight haze formed before them and a man appeared.
The blond man stood still, watching them, perhaps waiting for signs of wonder or superstitious awe. Seeing neither in Jesus, he asked, “Do you understand me?”
“I do.”
“Good. I am from a distant land and my people are the Saxons. You were born with great powers, but you do not know how to focus them, our masters could feel you and they have ordered me to bring you to them for training.”
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“How do we go to them?”
“I’ll use the appropriate spell of course. What about him?”
Jesus answered without looking at his friend. “He shall come with.”
During those two years, Jesus learnt a lot, his powers refined and focussed, but he also learnt how to see magic and the energies it draws from. He was able to discern that though the Saxon sorcerers know many spells and words of power, they do not always link their spells to the source and this weakens the effects greatly. He was convinced it was because they did not realise the source of the power is a part of God. He saw no point to arguing, nor in attempting to teach them the truth, for they were not Jews.
Back in Jerusalem he took to preaching that Jews should learn magic. The rabbis objected, saying that magic is evil. Jesus responded by claiming that magic is not evil, it is a part of the powers of God and is made available to mankind as a gift that can free them and bring life on Earth closer to the perfection of Eden. He explained that because the Jews who are descended from the Israelites are the chosen people, the powers of God will be for the good of all. He went on to express his opinions as facts, that all the other races cannot see the truth about the powers of God and they try to use magic for themselves, to set their own tribes above others. He gave as an example the Romans and their magi.
“They so much love their bodies that they think they own them. This led to them marrying the wisdom of the magi to their arts of war. It made their sword arm powerful and the Roman Empire has grown and spread like a dank fog over distant lands. And yet, I say to you, that one true user of magic from among our people could cripple the Roman giant and free our people.”
“What if the power existed among us, every Jew with the powers you say, do you claim that all Jews are equally good, that the powers would be used as our God would wish?”
“There are enough good men among us to control those who would use the powers for selfish or other evil purposes. Look at us as a people! Even during the times we were affluent, we did not form large armies nor try to build empires.”
He explained in detail how all gentiles see the power of magic as being an extension of their own abilities and because they think the powers are their own, they cannot connect directly to the source and only drew from the flames of power that dance liked those of a fire, never eternal, only available for moments, whereas a Jew using magic would draw his powers from the heart of God, as one would melt metal in the white hot heat of the heart of a fire and not from the flames.
“Should our people wish to use this gift from our God for conquest, then the source will be lost to us and we too will have to be satisfied with the outer flames, just like the Romans. Should anyone use the gift for evil purposes, so shall his own heart be blinded to the source. How can the power be called evil when it abhors evil?”
I only give a few of his arguments and choose those I think may be relevant to us. To go into details of his arguments with the rabbis, his quoting of the Talmud, would only be of interest to theologians and historians. Though Jesus was a good talker and won his arguments if you gave points as in a debate, the hearts of the rabbi were closed to him. They declared him a demon worshipper and warned the Romans that he is planning a revolution.
By now Jesus had a following that was counted in the thousands. He used his magic powers daily to heal the sick and ease the pains of poverty among the people. He was accepted as a prophet and the excommunication by the rabbis only made his true followers more fanatical. That the rabbis would proclaim someone who only did good a servant of evil convinced many that Jesus was right, the rabbis were only interested in accumulating wealth and maintaining their power over their own people, even at the cost of keeping their people under the Roman yoke.
Jesus warned Elijah, giving him command until he is free again and then stood up in public and denounced the rabbi, calling them traitors to their people and God. He did not try to escape as Roman soldiers surrounded him and he allowed them to lead him away.
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When he was brought to be judged he spoke to the Romans as their equal. He told them that he is going to free Israel and warned them they should prepare for their departure. His self-confidence was seen as arrogance and it enraged the Romans. He was sentenced to a whipping and then crucifixion. Jesus allowed them to position him for a public whipping with a smile. Try as hard as they could, even using their magicians to counter whatever spell he was using, they could not force the lashes to touch his skin. Throughout this his eyes stared at the Roman magicians, his look stern and unforgiving. Within hours everyone had heard how the Roman sorcerers had lost their powers and that Jesus could not be whipped. His followers disobeyed Elijah and ran amok, shouting with joy and taunting soldiers.
The Romans decided Jesus had to die immediately and they moved his crucifixion forward to the next day. Again, aware of the symbolism and the effect it would have on his people, Jesus allowed them to crucify him. Roman soldiers ringed the base of the cross so that his followers could not free him during the night. Jesus waited until the moon had set, which was at about ten o’clock in the evening.
The city went crazy. Jews ran in the streets pointing, some afraid, but many just filled with awe. High above the city so that all could see, Jesus hung on his cross, a glow surrounding him. After two hours the cross moved and people followed it. Above the place we know as the wailing wall, directly before the entrance to the temple that existed then, the cross penetrated the rock below it for about three feet. The glow died and everyone saw that Jesus no longer hung there.
Without one drop of blood being shed, the Romans gathered their possessions in a panic, as if they were being hunted by demons and returned to Rome.
Over the next three decades, Jesus taught those who wished to learn about the power. Travellers brought stories of a people to the East who had amazing powers of magic and Jesus, growing curious, left. He spent eight years in India, travelling throughout the country learning. From there he went to Tibet where he was welcomed, their own mages having followed his growth by means of magic. They spoke of one mage with unbelievable powers who lives in China.
“If he is the master, then he must have knowledge I do not have.”
Someone should write of the eleven years he spent in China, for that was where Jesus learnt how to enter his own mind and find ways of releasing new powers never seen before.
Jesus was about to leave, having decided it was time for him to return to his own people. The night before he left, his tutor cast a spell to see the future of his beloved pupil. Aghast he watched future events unfold and afterwards he spent a long time gazing out into the darkness. He knew the chances of him succeeding were slim and if Jesus managed to sense him in time to protect himself, the powers he released would search him out and he would die.
Jesus stood over his body, troubled by the death of his teacher. He knew he was a good man, so why had he tried to kill him? He used a spell that summoned his spirit. His tutor refused to divulge his reasons, warning him only of the darkness in his own soul.
The sad irony is that by his Chinese tutor trying to kill Jesus, he brought about the future he’d foreseen. Jesus had not only respected him, but also grown to love him for his purity and wisdom. He did more to change the way Jesus thought about Jews and the rest of the people all over the world than anyone else did. To find that the man he admired wanted to kill him had shattered something within him. It was not something he could easily get over and instead of returning home directly, he travelled the slow human way, on foot or by horse. He stopped at a hundred places and spoke to people, easing their pains while he learnt about the human heart. He arrived in Jerusalem a changed man. He no longer believed that the good in man will rule.
He arrived to find Israel ruled by Thomas the One-Eyed, Son of Jesus. Elijah had fought the man when he claimed the right to rule Israel in the name of Jesus his father, and now lived as a crippled beggar, his mind half destroyed. Jesus cloaked himself so that none would sense him and sat in the taverns listening to the talk. He learnt of the cruelties of this supposed son of his, the small group of powerful magicians he surrounded himself with and the licence they had to use their powers for the good of their king and themselves.
For three days he sat within the olive grove, staring at his cross that still stood, thinking and allowing his thoughts and insights to change him. With a greed he had never felt before he searched out powers within himself and the kings magicians felt him. They did not know who he was and perceived a growing threat to themselves and banded together to destroy him. The energies they unleashed destroyed the olive groves, but as the smoke and dust settled, everyone saw Jesus still sitting unharmed. Without moving he reached out and stopped the hearts of those who had attacked him.
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People began to whisper, someone started the story that this was Jesus himself come back, and as he walked the streets of Jerusalem they pulled back, making way for him. He arrived at the palace and all the magical defences of decades were torn asunder in one split second. Out of the debris walked Thomas.
“Stranger, you have come to meet your doom at the hands of the son of Jesus?”
“On what basis do you claim kinship to Jesus?”
“The answer to that I will give only to my father.”
“Then answer me now!”
Jesus uncloaked himself and everyone felt his power pulsating, covering the whole city. Aghast the king stared at him. He had been preparing within his mind his most powerful spell to kill the stranger and he felt it being drained of all potency. With the courage of desperation he walked over to Jesus.
“You are Jesus, my father?”
“I am Jesus, Son of the One True God. Prove your claim.”
Thomas knelt before him and taking his hand placed it on his head. “Enter my mind father and see for yourself.”
With contemptuous disregard for any possible danger, Jesus did so. He saw a woman he had never met, knowing her to be mother of the man before him, and watched her tell her child throughout the years of his father Jesus. Able to see deeper than the boy had, Jesus realised the mother feared that the powers of her son would destroy him, so she claimed a congress that never occurred between them, letting all of Jerusalem know that her son is his son. The intentions Jesus had of killing Thomas were softening as he saw the man had only believed his mother and was not responsible for his mistaken beliefs. Then he saw the man, a young man of seventeen, kill his mother in a senseless fit of rage. Without a word, Jesus severed the cord, freeing the soul and the lifeless body fell at his feet.
Elijah was restored and he spent the next few decades at the side of Jesus. He was the only man Jesus trusted and he took the time to help Elijah learn to release his own limited powers.
As the centuries passed, Elijah was very careful to keep blocked his growing unease at the way Jesus had changed and was changing. The sensitive boy he had befriended was now turning into a hard and cynical man who more and more spoke of having to take over the world so as to force everyone to be good.
When men know something is possible, they strive to achieve it. Jesus flaunted his powers and men thirsted to become as powerful as him and, God willing, surpass him. Magicians in distant countries were warned by their own powers of the growing threat named Jesus and they banded together, forcing their own minds to open and grow.
Jesus was two hundred and thirty one years old when he sensed that if he did not take action he would someday be outnumbered and destroyed by the new magicians, some of them being men he had trained a long time ago. He attacked a group in a country we now call Lebanon, shattering their magical defences, wounding many, but only killing two - and the war began.
The Lebanese mages were not strong enough to resist him on their own, but as had been agreed, numerous groups of mages from all over the world joined them. As the decades and then the centuries went by, both parties found that by their powers being honed continually they were growing stronger. After fifteen hundred years it became obvious that Jesus was growing faster than them, only by an almost unnoticeable difference, but as time went by, they knew he would continue to leave them behind until the day came when he would destroy them. Their only hope was that a new mage would be born with powers that would augment theirs to the point where they could kill Jesus first.
Before the war escalated, during the early centuries, many men from different countries continued to visit, wishing to learn from Jesus. If he saw they were good men he taught them. To Jesus, the intentions of the practitioner of magic were not of a philosophical nature. To him they directly influenced the strength of the magicians, so he would spend many hours discussing the values of morals, ethics and the difference between the good emotions and those that are evil.
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These men took back with them a philosophy that grew to be known as a religion, named after Jesus. They declared themselves to be the followers of the Son of God. The new powers they returned with convinced normal people that Jesus is truly who he claims to be and they worshipped him and his Father. When their own mages turned against Jesus and later went to war with him, they (the mages) saw that they should not convince their followers that Jesus is not the Son of God, so instead said that they fought not the Son of God, but the human side of him that has submitted to the temptations of fallen angels. They claimed they wished to purify him again.
Civilisation and technology advanced rapidly. Since Jesus had a quick mind that enjoys learning new truths, such as those of nature, he encouraged and helped those who were changing life for all men. Then, from the land of the Saxons came a young man searching out Jesus. After fifteen hundred years of battling, Jesus was not easily accessible anymore. He had built himself a home far out in the desert and had fortified it not only with stone, but also with spells. William hired himself a vehicle and flew to within a few kilometres of the castle. He landed on the hot sands and walked towards the castle until he could feel the warning prickling of the spells. He put up an awning to shade him from the direct rays of the sun and spent his days calmly sitting there, waiting for Jesus to sense him and grant him an audience.
Jesus saw the young man leave after a week and told himself that he does not have what it takes. The next day the young man was back. He followed this routine for three months; staying a week, leaving to buy provisions and water and returning again. It amused Jesus that the young man was that determined, but did not cause himself unnecessary suffering. He decided to talk to him so as to get rid of him.
“Why have you not stayed here when your water finished so as to impress me through your suffering?”
“My Lord, I follow your teachings. Since my body is a gift from your Father, would I not have angered you if I had made it suffer without reason?”
Jesus chuckled within his mind. “You are here to ask me to teach you how to tap your powers? Give me one reason why I should, since you know that my older pupils are at war with me?”
“I have no interest in the powers for their own sake. I find myself questioning things like time, space, the universe, and if I want some answers I will need to grow in my abilities.”
Jesus could sense him and he felt he was being told the truth - as truth was perceived at the moment by the young man, Jesus realised.
“What if I agreed to teach you, would you swear allegiance and be my ally?”
“If I asked that I do not, that I be allowed to remain neutral, belonging to neither side, would you refuse to teach me?”
His words opened a whole new world of ideas for Jesus to consider, so he returned to his castle. The next morning he allowed the young man to enter.
“These are the terms, for you and those who will follow you. You will vow to remain neutral, neither using powers nor your minds and bodies in any way to take sides. The knowledge you gain will be used for the good of all humanity. What I teach you, you are not allowed to teach others. You agree that if you do not honour our agreement in full, you are subject to whatever punishment I see fit, even to the extent of taking your life.”
“What if you decide to use the knowledge I bring to your own advantage?”
“If the knowledge was freely available, you cannot be held responsible. As I use it, so are the others free to.”
As they sparred, agreeing details, Jesus was fascinated. He found that he liked the man he now knew as William. Jesus wondered how William will react when he realises he has broken their agreement within the first months, without anyone being at fault.
The day the centuries old war came to a climax arrived far sooner than Jesus anticipated.
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“There cannot be one universal time! I believe that time originated at the centre of our universe and as the galaxies were created, spewing out suns from their centres, time was created again and again, a time stream that uniquely belongs to each galaxy. What I need to know is, will the time of each galaxy be subjugated to the more powerful time stream of the universe? That is not all. I think that the creation of the universe was such a powerful event that it created a number of time streams of its own and in each, galaxies were formed, invisible to us because of them belonging to a different universal time.”
“What facts have given birth to these ideas? Or are they just the wild children of your undisciplined imagination?”
“All new knowledge grows from minds that are capable of imagining impossible things. First you have to wonder, so that then you can question.”
“What kind of spell could help prove or disprove your theories?”
“I suppose there is no spell that could take me to the centre of our galaxy?”
“Give me your hand.” Jesus smiled. “Perhaps you came here as the weapon of my enemies after all, come to tempt me to impossibilities so that I overreach myself and die?”
“Send me on my own.”
“How would I protect you from here? Even I have not got so much power to waste.”
His enemies rejoiced when they felt Jesus leave Earth. This was not the first time he had done so and they knew there was a possibility he would be gone for years, giving them time to recover and grow stronger.
Jesus could not carry much more than just William, so though the view was astounding and they did learn a lot, they were neither able to prove nor disprove William’s theories.
Elijah found no comfort in his beautiful surroundings. He was pacing up and down within the garden at the centre of the castle. The sound of birds and the waterfall seemed to murmur words in his mind, some urging him on and others warning him in trills of fear of what he could expect if things go wrong.
As with many men who have lost their religion, Elijah had grown fanatical in his hatred of Jesus. He felt that Jesus has betrayed his adoring belief in him as the Son of God by turning into an uncaring tyrant who no longer care about mankind. He has to stop this war so that good mages can concentrate on relieving the poor and the sick of their suffering. In his mind he had constructed a Utopia that could never be achieved, but he could not see that. All he could see was that he had to betray Jesus and since the role of traitor never sits easy on anybody, he convinced himself that what he is about to do would be as the Jesus of their early friendship would have wanted; that Jesus would have hated and despised what he has grown into.
He contacted the mages and told them of what he plans. He will use the spells of Jesus himself to block his return into the castle. Even if only for seconds, Jesus is bound to concentrate on trying to break through the spells and he will be vulnerable to an attack. The magi met to discuss it.
“I don’t think there is much that needs to be said about the man himself. Almost every one of us has been taught by Jesus and we came to understand that Elijah is a simple man with little learning and no wisdom, despite Jesus trying to teach him.
The plan of Elijah would be doomed to failure, for Jesus is not stupid and has never let down his guard in almost two thousand years, if it were not for the fact that the traitor is Elijah. The effort of breaking through his own spells will not distract him, but the matter of his betrayal will. We have nothing to lose by agreeing to his plan. Either way we win. If we do not succeed in blocking all his powers, we will have robbed him of his only companion. He will then truly be alone and that will make him weaker.”
“You think so David? I fear what you say. A Jesus turned inwards or gone insane would be a nightmare this world will never recover from.”
“All the more reason for us to attack, for he has lost his companion already. Now that Elijah has spoken to us, do you think Jesus will not know he has been betrayed the moment he senses him? Do you believe that Elijah is capable of hiding his hatred anymore? Once such emotions are acknowledged, they cannot be buried again. If what you fear is a possibility, then it is even more urgent that we succeed.”
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“I vote against our attacking him. We stand to lose too much. Now that we are so close to bringing in new allies it would be foolish of us to attack. It is no secret that every time we attack him, he manages to pick up from our weakest members some of their thoughts. That would be a catastrophe I dread considering.”
Andrianos cleared his throat to speak and they all fell silent out of respect. Andrianos, a Greek, was the first man Jesus taught and though he uses his powers to stay young looking, there is a weariness in him that makes him feel old to them. Being a man disposed towards philosophical thoughts, the ages spent fighting instead of achieving his dreams have worn him down. Despite their show of respect, it did not prevent most of them from shutting their minds to him even before he spoke, for his opinions are well known and not one of them agree with him.
“My point of view is well known so I will not bother warning you again about the results I foresee.” As old men do, he then went on to warn them again, as if by sheer repetition he could force his ideas to take root within their minds. “Jesus has never used all his powers to rid the world of us, for he sees our conflict as helping to create a balance that works in favour of mankind. Every religion teaches us the same thing, you cannot have a god without a devil. By bringing in the others you hope to win. Let us say that I am wrong, that Jesus does not unleash powers against us we had never imagined and we win. What then? How long before we, as a group, break up into factions and go to war against each other?” He shrugged. “I suggest we contact Jesus and warn him of Elijah’s actions. We should tell him that we fight a clean battle because of our beliefs and will not be party to betrayals and treachery.” He gave a cynical smile. “It will also stop him from ever agreeing to such a proposal should anyone here decide to betray us in the future.”
They were all too emotionally caught up in the excitement of winning for them to heed his advice.
Jesus caught them by surprise. The instant he arrived and felt the block on his home he disappeared. William appeared in Jerusalem, a dazed and confused young man. They soon saw he did not know what had happened.
At the apex of their concentration, as they spread their powers over the whole planet in search of Jesus, he suddenly appeared amidst them. Like a raging fire his powers touched their minds and blocked them. His eyes grim, Jesus stared at the terrified men around him. Suddenly he seemed to relax and smiled. Andrianos felt his mind released, but he only stared back at Jesus, his face white with shock and despair.
“You are the only worthy opponent. Do you know why? Because these fools think that having powers proves they are intelligent.” Jesus laughed, as if confiding in Andrianos. “Perhaps it is because they have powers they do not consider it necessary to think?”
“What happens now?”
“That is up to you. I never expected you to be foolish enough to fall for my trick. My plan was to allow you all to become distracted so that I could break through your guard.”
“But we felt Elijah! He was betraying you.”
“Yes, I will find it difficult to convince him that he was not acting out of his own beliefs.”
Andrianos was the only one who understood. “That would be wise of you.”
“Tell me about these new allies. I care not for names, what I want to know is, how did you learn about them?”
“The shadow realities? It was more by accident than anything else. The weather was bad and I craved some sunshine. I materialised at a tropical beach. While there I fell to daydreaming and wondered whether it would be possible to travel through time in my body. I decided it was probably impossible so I thought, what if there is a reality where I could. Once I had thought of other realities being possible, I imagined a world where there would be someone serving an iced drink on the beach and used the powers we have for jumping to other places and found myself elsewhere. It is the closest I’ve ever come to having a heart attack.”
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“The Jesus of that world is truly that evil?”
“Because of him their world is behind ours by more than a thousand years, the people use their powers to fight each other and for other evil purposes.” His lips twitched. “So much for your theory that our powers cannot be used for evil.”
“My old friend, when did I say that? I only recall claiming that no one can use the heart of the power for evil. Did you find any so powerful on that world that they proved me wrong?”
“No.”
“And you thought to use those evil children to augment your powers? I will leave your friends as they are for two days while I deal with Elijah. Tell them to use this time to think for once.”
“What is the point Jesus? They will not have the courage to fight you again, you made the mistake of showing how powerful you are.”
“I will teach you how to protect yourself so that I cannot use the same method to break though your guard.” He smiled at them. “Are you not, after all, my pupils?” Andrianos laughed.
Jesus entered his home as if no spells existed. Elijah trembled, knowing Jesus would not be forgiving, that his life had come to an end.
“I am hungry. Shall we eat?”
“But…”
“Later. I have not eaten for days. Let us share a good bottle of wine as we eat and we can talk later.”
The food felt like a rock in Elijah’s stomach. Jesus stood up. “Shall we walk in the garden while we talk?”
“You have killed them? I cannot feel them anymore, only one, I think, is left.”
“Andrianos. Remember him? I think he was my favourite student. He used to have a good sense of humour.” He smiled at Elijah. “I’m pleased to tell you that he has not lost it.”
“Why do you speak to me like this? You know what I planned and how I feel about you.”
Jesus put his hands on his shoulders. “Do you think I could bear the pain of losing my only friend without fighting to win him back? Will you listen to me with an open mind so that we clear all that is misunderstood between us? I promise to listen to you also and mend my ways if you show me I have erred.”
“I have spent so many centuries hating you, how is it you did not feel me?”
“I felt you. Elijah, tell me, when did I lose your friendship? Was it when you began to hate me?”
“It must be so.”
“Then you do not know. Elijah, I lost my friend the day I saved him from the Roman soldier.”
“How can you say that! I loved you!!”
“No. You no longer loved me as a friend. You thought of me as a god and forgot that I was human, that I needed a friend.”
Elijah thought about it. It was so hard to recall what he had felt and thought so long ago, but enough remained for him to see that Jesus was right. “I was not the only one who changed. You changed and cast aside all the dreams you had of making this a good world where suffering has been banished.”
“Not entirely true my old friend. It is important we both change and grow all the time. Why were Adam and Eve sent out of the Garden of Eden?”
“Huh? Because they disobeyed God.”
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“No. Because they became human beings. As long as they could not think for themselves and were as the beasts, innocently enjoying without questioning, they were in paradise. Once they questioned and thought for themselves, their world metamorphosed from a paradise into the world we live in. This was and is the Garden of Eden my friend. However, if we wish to be allowed to make our own choices, then we have to make the best of this world as it is. Not even God our Father can allow us to think for ourselves and yet keep us all happy. It is our job to see that men learn to achieve the potential God gave them and then whatever suffering there is will be like the sour lemon juice we put on our food to give it flavour.”
They spent hours talking, went to sleep and spoke again the next day. Jesus explained whatever Elijah had not understood and when he was satisfied he had done all he could, he said, “Elijah, it is up to you now. Think on all we have said. Think back to our early days, think then of the centuries of anger and hatred and understand yourself. If after that you can find one golden drop of love for me survives within your heart, come back to me and be my friend, for I need you.”
Elijah felt the power return from afar and knew Jesus had released the magicians. He looked at Jesus, who asked with a grin, “Shall we continue with our war?”
“I do not think they will have the courage to attack you for a long time.”
“That does not matter. What is important is that they use this experience to spur them on to learning and thinking more deeply.” Jesus would have felt affronted had anyone told him he is not the cynical man he thinks he is; not believing in the possibility of an utopia, but he still remains, in some ways, an idealist, a dreamer.
Jesus visited his first alternate reality. He saw much that distressed him, but he was wise enough to watch only, trying to learn from the mistakes of others. He was shocked to arrive in a world without magic and he spent more time there, trying to understand what had gone wrong. He saw that his alter was mainly responsible. He jumped to another magic-less reality and discovered that again his alter was responsible. He went to many Christian churches of a variety of denominations, but saw the same errors being compounded again and again. He retired to his castle and stayed there without leaving for a number of years.
Jesus found himself spending more time in the void. It attracted him only because it was the one place his mind felt absolutely clear, rid of the body and able to concentrate purely on thought. It was here that he opened new doors within his mind and began to feel a distant power growing. He realised that it was not coming from within himself and not from the void. He theorised it must be coming from a higher plane and concentrated on breaking through. He was not successful, so he returned to travelling to alternate realities in search of knowledge, hoping the door to the higher planes of existence has been discovered in one of them.
Jesus got a message from Andrianos asking him to immediately visit the alternate reality they had found allies in, sending with the message a time-guide for choosing his time of arrival. Since Andrianos did it openly and with the full knowledge of the other mages, Jesus decided he better go.
He found it difficult to control his dampening. With spells and the power of his will he managed to watch without betraying himself as the Teller family (the only one he paid attention to was Cherine) arrived and he listened to Alexander as he talked, outlining his plans for Cherine. He did not interfere, for his sudden appearance in full power on the planet would warn his alter. It was more important that he learn for now. He could not resist casting a secret spell that caused Alexander to lose his virility, for he sensed that if Alexander has his way sexually with her, it will dim the light that she is meant to become.
He followed Robert to the void. This truly was a day for shocks! He stared around him at Freddie, amazed that all this can exist in the void. His estimation of Robert quickly changed when he sensed that Freddie was actually a part of Robert. He decided against showing himself so that he learn more about them. He stayed in Freddie and travelled with them, listening and learning. He watched as Robert returned for Cherine, convinced he will lose the battle with Alexander. When his alter interfered and the girls returned to Freddie, he decided he must learn more about Cherine and stayed.
Early on he became curious when he saw the family run into the room where Sam was typing at a machine. He watched the conversation taking place on the page and listened to the thoughts and verbal comments of the girls. He did not dare try to hear the thoughts of Cherine and Robert at this time, they just might be powerful enough to sense him despite his spells. Again he nearly lost his ability to dampen himself when he learnt about the person Sam was writing to. It took him days to come to terms with the fact that Arthur really exists.
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Son of God!! It was a bitter pill learning about Arthur and it destroyed his belief in a God existing who was also his father. He got a computer and tried to get the diary to show up on his screen, but despite using every spell he could think of, he was not successful. He saw only one alternative left to him and returning, stole Alexander’s computer. He read all of the diary and waited for more to be written. Nothing! Not even what he had seen on the screen when Sam sat writing. He realised, partly by deduction and partly from what was said in the diary, that it needed an Allan to write, the words did not just appear by themselves.
He did not realise it, but he needed to feel good about himself, to regain his confidence, so he went to an alternate reality, also returning in time, where his alternate was a weak magician with hardly any powers. This Jesus still lived in a village and worked as a carpenter. He had not had any children, had not even married and at fifty seven years old was alone and lonely. For the pleasure of hearing their laughter he would sit in the main square early evenings and make simple magic for the children.
Jesus wondered why he was drawn to the past in this alternate reality. Could it be that he was automatically drawn to the time his alters live in and this one would not live long? The Romans were still in charge, but their discipline had broken down and the Jews were suffering. For this, Jesus blamed the local Jesus. He felt that he was as he was because he was lazy and he decided to teach him a lesson.
Within one day Rome lost all their sorcerers, none left even for healing. He changed his appearance so that he looked like his local alter and forced the Romans to move out of Israel. When rabbis talked to him he gave his name and the village he came from.
He was waiting when the rabbis and other Jewish leaders came to talk with his alter. They asked of the first person they met where they could find Jesus, the saviour of Israel. The man looked puzzled.
“We have a Jesus here, but he cannot be the one you search for. He is a carpenter and simpleminded ever since a Roman hit him on the head with the flat of his blade when he was a child.” Reluctantly he showed them where Jesus was when they insisted.
While the rabbis tried talking to a very confused and frightened Jesus, Jesus raged throughout Rome, destroying everything they had built. He did not deliberately kill anyone, but then neither did he protect those who were in the buildings and over four hundred men, women and children died that day. He appeared at the Senate and demanded they surrender to him. Terrified they did so, naming him Ruler of the Roman Empire, which in their minds, made him also ruler of the whole world.
When he returned, the rabbis and their party had left and Jesus had hidden himself in his home, trembling from the shocks of that day. Jesus used a spell to repair the damage to his brain and made him younger again. The shock of seeing himself change made him run out of his house screaming and when he collapsed he became catatonic, unable to handle the changes in his world. Jesus appeared before the villagers and picking up the young looking Jesus, took him back to his reality.
“I am sorry, I do not think there is any way we can bring him back. Repairing the damage to his brain did not alter the person he has been his whole life and he is cowering deep within his mind just like a terrified child.” Angrily he sent the physicians away.
One of those little ironies of life. Jesus stayed home, refusing to see anyone, guilt tearing at him. The thought did cross his mind that he should ask Robert to help, but then he recalled that he is now a friend of the evil Jesus, the one who gave his people powers and then abandoned them, forsaking his responsibilities towards his people just for the sake of peace of mind. That alternate, he told himself, had no excuse, no soldier turned his brains to jelly. Just as he decided to go after him and make him pay, Elijah came to him.
“I have been stupid, do you forgive me?”
“I have no time for this now! Elijah, you certainly know how to choose your moments!” He gave a bitter laugh. “Anyway, you will not want me as a friend after I’ve done what I plan to.”
“What is that?”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)21st January, 2020
- posted: 21st January, 2020
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