I Burned a Church, Now What?

The ashes were stifling and pretty repressive on the lungs. I think I coughed some out at one point. "Hnngggrhh..." Hmm, what was that? I looked around for the sound and found nothing.

Huh, I shrugged, guess I'm hearing things now. 

"Hnnnggrrrrh..." 

"Okay, what the fuck, the hell you at, you moaning groaning twat?" A few groans later and I saw that it was coming from under my feet. Am I blind? 

"...What's up?" I said, how did I miss this shit? 

"D-Demon!" Okay, very hurtful, first of all. Second of all... uhm, fuck you? 

"...You do know I ain't a demon, right?" I really wasn't, I just had demon blood running through my body. Doesn't the Bible say not to judge or something like that? These guys clearly fell off the fuckin' rails. "I mean, mischievous, a little bratty, now a murderer and an arsonist, but I ain't a demon." 

Still don't know how I feel about those last two, especially the arson. I looked back at the burning church; it should be fine. Clear out all the shit that I broke and replace it. Not hard. I don't really see why some people love to burn things with fire, it's like an obsession with them. I'd much rather take murder. 

...This does not mean I'm going to start killing people, I promise. Maybe. 

I... I'm gonna take a walk. Clear my head and all that. "Later man," I said, now off on an adventure-- Liv was looking at me. "W-Why are out of bed," I asked, turns out she wasn't involved in the impromptu exorcism, but that meant she had cancer for real and, "What the fuck are you doing out bed?" I said, firmer this time.

How did she even get here, I made sure to teleport all the kids quite far away. "What did you do?" She asked. 

...Isn't it obvious? You have cancer, not blindness. "Nothing...?" I said, kinda like how you would if you're getting caught late at night, whipping up a storm of food then your parents find you. 

It was like that, now what to do? I'm sure I can do something to make her forget all this but that would most likely result in me breaking her mind entirely. I really need some fucking books on magic. Maybe, just maybe I could go to Zatanna or is it, Zatara? Whichever one of them was the chick. She was said to be one of the magicians with the most potential and, y'know, fishnets. 

"CAIN!" Oh, right, I really have an attention span problem, don't I? "What did you do?!" Uhm, where do I start... 

"Well, I was sleeping," I was not, "when two idiots thought it was a good idea to try and kidnap me and perform an exorcism on my pretty ass. So, you know, kinda what you'd expect from a bunch of priests and shit. Oh, and when they couldn't they tried to kill me, so I just returned the favor and here we are." Hmm, I don't know if I care that she sees this or to pity that she's been exposed to such a gruesome scene. 

Oh well, time to do what I do best, avoid the problem like a plague. "I'm gonna dip now, soooo, bye-bye." Employing one of the many great skills in my arsenal, I made do like absentee fathers and got the fuck outta there. 

Travelling to another dimension didn't go how I thought it would. Instead of going to a 'safe' place, I was pulled to a desert wasteland, there was one tree in the distance that was huge but dead. Next to it, a woman sat with what appeared to be a baby in her hands. 

Okay this just screams... uhm, memory powers help me. Aha! It screams Witcher, I do not see this going well for me. Well, time bite the bullet I guess, can't avoid it forever (even though I want to desperately). 

"Hello, creepy woman who gives out ominous prophecies, can you let me go?" Her name was Ithlinne or something like that. I think she was the one who gave out prophecies, I only watched the show and one of the elves said something about her and a white dress/cloak(?).

Silence. Silence persisted with her as I continued to bother her. I had a feeling she was just about done with my shit when she stood up, but I was wrong. all she did was just point away from me and further into the wasteland. 

Don't be the Wild Hunt. Don't be the Wild Hunt. 

...It was the fucking Wild Hunt. Seems like they're the ones who pulled me here, not good at all. Why are they here? They can't enter DC can they, because if they do, I'm calling hax. Dear Presence, keep these perverts the fuck away from me please. Amen. 

"Tell me Walker, do you know what they are? What they mean and represent?" She spoke, her voice sounding layered therefore giving off the impression that she was speaking through multiple voices. It was jarring. 

Not really but I suppose you'll tell me through your mysterious and vaguely worded prophecies, aren't you?

And Walker? What is that, my last name? Cain Walker... I like it, it's got a nice ring to it. Alright, from now on, I'm Cain Walker. I definitely didn't do imaginary backflips now that I had a last name. Cain was fine, but I got a bit of shit from the other orphans for not having a last name, one they 'helpfully' inserted with their own opinion: Murderer.

Fuck off you measly ridden brats, whose parents didn't want them and dropped them off at an orphanage/church/cult? Oh, that's right, YOU! Ahem, sorry about that, it got away from me a little and I really should be focusing on the Wild Hunt right about now before they try and kill me. 

Speaking of which, "Hello friends, can I interest you in not trying to kill me on this fine, auspicious day?"

...

It went about as well as I hoped (didn't work in the slightest), so it's time for plan B: Escape. Shifting through to another dimension didn't work, like something was blocking me. That's not very good now is it.

Uh, plan C go! Coalescing magic throughout my entire body, permeating it, I ready myself for what I would look back on as one of the biggest fights of both my lives (provided I survive, of course). Okay Cain, you can do this.

Who's the man? I'm the man! Who's the man? I'm the man!

I didn't even last a minute. Talk about a fucking waste. 

***

Being dragged along the ground and brushing my teeth with dirt could not be fucking good for me. I was currently being hauled off to God knows where, by a bunch of what I'm assuming are fanatic fascists. So, that's my day so far, how's yours George? 

Damn I'm lonely, asking their fucking horses questions in my head showed just how starved I was of social interaction. I can't believe I'm starting to wish I was back beating the daylight savings out of priests. 

I sighed wistfully; I miss the good ol' day (as if it wasn't like 12 hours ago). 

"Toast your dilemma, baby.

It's only temporary, 

Don't be so messy headed,

I help you meditate." 

I sang, it wasn't good or bad, just average. It helped me focus a bit. I sang and sang as I thought of a way to get my ass out of a situation that I hadn't properly thought through. Taking the Elder Blood would definitely prove useful, but it would also obviously come with its own downsides.

In this case, the Wild Hunt. Now, I can break out of their grasp but what then, I'm drained from the church, my mind is aching, and I need to recharge my magic so to speak. My magic was similar to a pool, in the way that if I needed more power, I would have to either find or get an immense source of magic which would overflow that pool. 

Or I needed to do it the (debatably in the confines of my head) harder way, make the pool bigger. Forcibly expanding it to a size that I'd be satisfied with. A size that wouldn't empty or run dry, a big enough pool that no matter how much magic I used, I would still have more in reserve.

But until I can do that or find an immense source of magic I can drain, I gotta wait until I'm back to 100%. Then I can get the hell out of here. Wherever 'here' is called. 

"Even if you don't need me around,

Could I stay for a while, stay for a while,

Yeah~"

Okay, just have to tough it out until I'm charged. And then I'll make the most elaborate jailbreak ever conceived in history. You better watch out for that shit. But until then, nap time.

***

It was sometime later when Cain woke up, no longer was he eating dirt, now he was in a castle that was in ruins. Beaten, bruised and impaled bodies were spread all over. Some were even hanging from a rope, their eyes hollowed out.

It gave Cain the shivers, he didn't have a very good experience with things with no eyes. For good reason, of course. 

He was in a cell, one in the middle of all the carnage that enraptured him. Now in enemy territory, and slowly getting his power back, one thought occupied his mind. "Man, where the fuck am I?!" He exclaimed; the stench of death made his stomach churn in nausea. 

"Oh God," he gagged, "get that shit away from me." Anyone would feel the same, caged in the trenches as Cain would say.

One of the Wraiths of Mörhogg stood in front of the cell, watching him eerily. "That's not fuckin' creepy at all, pedophile." It was nice to see he was still making jokes, it showed that he was (relatively) fine-ish. 

"Come on, come on~." He drawled out, drumming a finger on the bars that held him, walking in a circle, "When the fuck are you done charging?" He asked his magic like it would give him an answer. 

"I miss having a phone..." He said petulantly, like it was something to mourn over. "Okay, can you stop staring dude? Can't you go be a pedo somewhere else, please-- ooh, there we go~, full tank. Only took like what," he thought for a few seconds, "16 hours?" 

Locking eyes with the Wraith, magic flared within his body, a static-like field sparked from it and enveloped him. Sparks of electricity danced between his fingers as he changed the way his magic, converting his previous green flames to a crackling yellow, the cell exploded open.

The Wraith flew from where it stood, a plume of smoke following it, trailing through the air. It took a bit of damage from Cain's attack, but not enough for it to be out of commission and nowhere near dying. 

"That's the spot." He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "Oi," he called out to his captors, now all together, "You fucked around, boys. Time to find out." Lighting struck the ground as it always did, fast, hard and within the blink of an eye.

Striking one of them with a punch infused by earth magic, Cain winced at the durability they had. His hand was bleeding profusely but Demon Blood was already healing him, prompting him to hit it again.

The two others weren't idle either, calling for their mounts, they circled him and hit him with their weapons. Cain's skin cracked from the attacks like he was a doll, most likely an effect of their weapons or magic, possibly both. 

The first one that Cain attacked was back in action, fighting head-to-head with him, not willing to let him go unpunished. Getting knocked back; Cain gathered as much magic as he could and put it in one attack.

He missed when he shot it, not even aiming at the Wild Hunt and it took off to the sky. There was... something about seeing the attack in the sky that made it feel ominous. Despite its bright color, the enormous size looked anything but strong. Anything but destructive.

As it got further away Cain's beating came closer and closer. Even with the healing properties of Demon Blood, he still suffered an extensive amount of damage which would've likely killed most people.

His eyes shone crazily, lighting up from his brown eye color to a blood red. One of the Wraiths had put their hand through his stomach; spitting out blobs of blood Cain grasped its arm and in a Herculean effort of strength tore it off.

It was unsettling when he smiled, holding the arm like it was a toy. He brought the arm that wasn't holding the dismembered limb in front of him, his pointer finger lighting up. With a flex of magic, he sent spikes of earth magic into their bodies, holding them in place.

Their surroundings got brighter and brighter, looking up Cain smiled. His attack from before coming to kill his enemies. "HAHAHAHA! Suck shit you stuck up CU--" The miniature sun hit the ground softly, the heat seared Cain's skin. It blew them all up to Kingdom Come. 

***

I groaned under the rubble, you just had to do something stupid didn't you Cain? Eh, worth it, if that was as badass as it felt I'm happy. Pushing the rubble off me, it hit the ground with a dull thud. 

Ow, ow, ow. I think I got a piece of a Wraith in my fucking body, that can't be good, not one bit. "Phew... okay, just gotta pull it out. Alright," I breathed again bracing myself, "three, two-- ARGGH SHIT!" 

Why didn't I just go on one, I think I'm gonna be fucking sick. Pulling the rest of its sharp helmet out of my side was the most painful thing I think I've ever experienced in my life. Aw well, Demon Blood was chosen for a reason, clutch healing come in clutch please.

And it did, albeit slowly. Watching my skin heal was... well it was pretty damn cool. And kinda eww-y, I'm not going to lie. Okay, I got up from sitting down, now I think it's time to get the fuck out of this shit hole.

The tingle went up my spine once more when I looked at the woman in the far expanse of the desert, I think she was weeping. Eh, I shrugged, not going there anytime soon. Time to get out of dodge. 

Shifting back to DC was great, the oppressive air that constricted my lungs was finally gone and I could breathe again. It felt fucking great. Looking around for where I was, I was stunned when I saw the Chrysler Building. 

The overarching metal skyscraper left me with a sense of awe. I was in New York, okay I've gotta see this place when the nightlife is at its peak. I wiped the water from my eyes as I truly allowed myself to relax. It'd been a long day.

And the thought just hit me; I'm broke, 12-years-old, homeless and got one question on my mind: Now what?