He saw the sky turn dark, and he heard the sound of thunder. A lightning bolt descended, striking nothing, and multiple streams of light, stretched out like veins on a leaf. The clouds were the canvas, and G.o.d used his brush, dipped in power, to paint.

Leo walked, and the rain began.

He saw rain fall vertically, not in a diagonal fas.h.i.+on. There was no wind to blow the rain off course. It fell straight—leaving no room for questions about its purpose. Leo thought, 'Is the rain a sign? Do the raindrops falling straight down represent G.o.d's desired path for each individual? But why does it have to be straight?' Leo thought this, because he struggled to walk straight.

Before him, he saw a muddy path, and further in the distance, he saw the silhouettes of seven large mountains. It wasn't the literal straight path he feared. It was the metaphorical path that haunted him.

He knew that Jesus gave him a mission, but to carry out that mission would mean the possibility of death, for both him and his adversaries. He thought, 'How can a good G.o.d order the death of his creation, even if they are his adversaries? And how can I bear the burden of their deaths, their blood on my soul?'

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'What is war,' Leo thought, 'How can I kill in the name of G.o.d? I killed others in the name of evil, in the name of Brimstone... but in the name of good, in the name of G.o.d, how can I?'

Then a opening in the sky appeared. The sun poured onto Leo, and the rain ceased to fall on his head; and a voice called out from the sky. It was from the Supreme Fairy, with the body of a giant serpent, and giant feather wings.

It said: "Child, you are like me. You are the nail of G.o.d, tearing down his enemies. Few in history are called to do this like King David—not because it is a n.o.ble calling, but because the blood of G.o.d's creation will fall upon your soul. King David was not allowed to build G.o.d's holy temple. Instead, his son Solomon did. David had too much blood on his hands to build the temple, so it is that those who kill, even in war, make themselves unfit to take part in G.o.d's holiness. That is why everyone else is called to love their enemies. G.o.d doesn't want his people to be burdened with the weight of another's soul."

"What hope is there for me then!?" said Leo, "If I kill G.o.d's enemies, will I not be unable to enter heaven, which is holy?"

Then, the opening in the sky opened wider, and Leo saw A figure shrouded in light, and only his spotless hands could be seen.

The figure, Jesus, said: "The blood of another can be washed by the shedding of my blood, once I die in a thousand in the future."

"But what of my soul!" Leo said.

"Beloved," Jesus said, "I will keep your soul in a place called Abraham's bosom. A thousand years from now, I will come and give those who love G.o.d a chance to accept me as their savior."

"Is-is, Rachel there?" Leo said.

"She is," Jesus said, "And so is Solomon and the children from Ahab's city and Hannah and her children and Deborah and Lappidoth and their children and all who love G.o.d."

Jesus finished by saying, "Now, who will go to defeat King Brimstone? Who will be my sword?"

"I will go," Leo said, "Send me."

"Let it be so," Jesus said, "But remember, G.o.d the Father works through and in you, do not mistake the power we give you for your own.

Kill only when necessary, and remember that G.o.d uses you to deliver the weak from the oppressor, and the fatherless from the plunderer, for what you do to the least of these, you do to me, the Christ."

"And remember this: 'YOU KILL IN DEFENSE OF THE WEAK, NOT TO a.s.sERT AN AGENDA!!!'"

Leo fell to the ground at the sound of the booming voice, and in the next instant, Jesus said, "Go, I love you."

Leo walked.

He walked through the rain.

He walked after the opening in the sky had closed.

He walked through the mud: but he walked with purpose. He saw the seven mountains in the distance. He remembered the oppressed. He remembered every vile deed Brimstone did to him. He remembered the villages Brimstone had enslaved. He remembered his own Father, who died trying to kill King Brimstone. He remembered the demons Ahab spread throughout the land. He remembered it all.

He remembered the innocent he killed under Ahab's orders. He remembered the children he made Fatherless, and the poor he oppressed just to avoid being killed by Brimstone.

'I was just a teenager...' Leo thought, 'But I have so much blood on my hands...'

Leo walked through the rain as I, the narrator, stopped following him for a moment. He disappeared into the rain drops. He needed his time alone, away from prying eyes.

Clouds seemed to swell in the distance, and they looked alive above me as well.