Exorcism of the Hollow: Chapter 4 – Humility in the Shadows

Chapter 4 – Humility in the Shadows

“Alessio,” a spirit says, “Put down your sword and live in peace. I am an angel from Heaven, a messenger of your mother, and-”

“Shut up,” I say as I cut the spirit that ends up being a demon. Again.

This world is full of more demons than holy souls I swear. The demons sure do like to get on my nerves by bringing up my family and the worries in my mind. After failing so many times, you’d think they give up on bringing up these points, but they keep doing it. I guess it’s all they can attack in me. There’s nothing else that comes to my mind that would bother me as much except maybe for going after Marina, which they’ve also tried.

“Come on, Alessio! We’re going to be late for school!” Marina says before putting a piece of toast back into her mouth.

Oh yeah, school. Wait, why is that important at all?

“Are you really running to school with a piece of toast in your mouth?”

“Yeah. I saw it in those weird cartoon shows.”

“That doesn’t make it normal to do.”

“Makes sense since I can’t really eat. I just thought it would be interesting to try.”

“Tch.”

School goes by as boring as usual until I see Magnus. He’s been acting strangely the past few days ever since I started going out on daily demon hunts.

I turn to Marina and ask her, “Have you heard anything about Magnus?”

“No, not yet, which is extremely strange since we can find out the background information about anyone pretty easily. This could be explained by exorcists being busy with demons and helping the holy souls. My request could also be mixed up in Church politics, which is the worst thing to be messed up in.”

“That’s why I don’t bother with them.”

“You’ll have to if you want a chance of saving your soul and reuniting with your mom.”

“Getting me to go to confession and mass every week is enough work thank you very much.”

“It was a miracle that I could get you to even do that. Perhaps you’ll be able to do more like not getting into fights every week.”

“Heh, now that’s a habit I don’t think I’ll break.”

“What about getting your family to go?”

“Now, that’s a real stretch. I don’t think dad will go and Alex is out of the question.”

“They’ll have to eventually. You know how important it is for their soul.”

“We’ll get to that problem when we can.”

Magnus looks back at us and I look at him. He then smiles and looks forward. I can never understand him, but today I think I’ll get my answers. After school, I sneak away from Marina and follow Magus from a distance.

“You’re not very sneaky,” he says.

“You’re a sharp one, aren’t you? How did you know that I was following you so quickly?”

“First of all, you walk loudly, and second, I heard you talking about me in class, so it makes sense that you would follow me.”

“If you heard me talking about you, then explain yourself to me. We never formally introduced ourselves to one another.”

“There’s nothing about me you need to know.”

“Oh, I think I do,” I say while I take out my sword and my clothes transform. “Draw your sword, 'fellow exorcist'.”

“Heh, 'exorcist'. I am more than that,” he says as a full Chinese-looking mask forms on his face along with black gloves and boots, and long gray coat with black pants. “I am an Ombra.”

“A what?”

“Did Marina fail to tell you what that is? Let me show you how we’re different from typical exorcists.”

A blue sword of flame forms in his right hand while a sort of arm shield of blue flame forms on his left arm.

“You can do magic? I thought that was a pagan thing.”

“This isn’t magic. It is the result of true faith.”

Magnus attacks me and our blades clash. He really is fighting with some kind of magical manifestation of power. His skills are better than Marina’s guards and I can hardly scratch him even when I get him on the defensive.

“Get away from him, Alessio!” Marina says from behind me. “He’s too dangerous for you to face on your own!”

“I’m handling him pretty well,” I say.

“That’s because God hasn’t given me any powerful weapons to use against you. This is basically practicing gear,” Magnus says.

“So, God gives you the particular weapons?”

“It’s more than that. He gives me them when He deems it necessary. I can’t manifest these blessings and turn invisible to mortal eyes by myself like how you can. It’s only when God allows it. That’s why it’s called the result of true faith. It’s something that only an Ombra can manifest and can’t be handed down or done through ceremony like exorcists.”

“Aren’t you so special?”

“I am. Ombras are chosen by God’s will and are highly sought after by the exorcists since they don’t one when and where one will be born.”

“He’s part of a secret group of exorcists known for pride in their faith and immeasurable power, skill, and secrecy,” Marina explains as she gets closer with her transformed exorcist clothes on.

“And unlike you exorcists, the Ombra have full penitential masks on instead of half masks. Our identities don’t matter. The only thing that matters in life is that God’s will is done,” Magus says as he prepares himself to attack.

“Guards!”

Gale and Jonah appear and fight Magus. Magus actually holds his own against him as his flame sword now shoots flames and has a longer reach and his flame shield counters whoever hits it by exploding forward at the attacker.

“Your royal guards are no match for me, Princess Marina. You’ve been a spoiled brat ever since you were born and it doesn’t surprise me that you need your guards and Alessio to do the heavy lifting for you.”

“Shut up! You have no right to talk to her like that!” I say.

“Why? Is it because she’s royalty or because she’s made you her pet? It wouldn’t surprise me. Everyone at school thinks you’re in a relationship.”

“They can think what they want.”

“That disguise also doesn’t work as you think, princess. Your age shows through and some even think that you’re a child predator in disguise.”

“Enough of this! Fight me!”

“What’s the use of it when God won’t let my power grow any further? Besides, the true test of an Ombra and an exorcist is how well they banish demons, so let’s go hunting.”

Magnus takes out a small statue of the Blessed Mother from his back pocket and crushes it. For some reason, I feel as if he insulted my own mother, and I don’t understand why.

“You idiot!” Marina says as she draws her sword, “Guards, go throughout the town and exorcise all the hostile demons. Tell the nearby exorcists what’s happening.”

“Yes, ma’am!” they say while running away.

“What did he do?” I ask.

“He committed a grievous act against God by destroying that statue of the Blessed Mother. Now, demons will become empowered and emboldened to attack. Watch out!” Marina says as she pushes me out of the way of an incoming attack.

That was a close call! I banish the demon that tried to get me and fight alongside Marina as many more begin to swarm us. Oh no, will these demons go after my family as well? The sounds of screaming start to fill the town. What is wrong with you, Magnus?!

“Everyone will be in danger because of him!” Marina says.

“Not so, princess. My power grows as we speak. Soon, all these demons will be banished. Watch!”

The flame weapons in Magnus’ arms burn brighter before they engulf his arms. He raises his arms to the sky and the fire from his arms bursts into the sky before blue fire starts raining down and homing into the demons around us until they are none left.

“Incredible…Alessio!” Marina says.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you know how dangerous that was for the entire town?!” I say as I approach Magnus with my sword pointed at him.

“Don’t mess with him, Alessio! You saw what he can do!”

“I don’t care!”

“You’re brave to fight me after seeing that. Brave, but stupid-”

“Shut up!” I say as I punch him in the gut.

His power has severely decreased after that flashy move. It’s even weaker than it was when we first fought as I put him on the defensive and he isn’t able to counter me. His blue flame sword is shorter and his blue flame shield is shorter.

“It looks like God wants you to lose this battle!” I point out.

“No, no! I’ll regain my power in a short while! Just you wait-”

After beating down his defenses, Magnus’ flame weapons break leaving him open for me to punch him in the face and knock him to the ground.

“Get up!” I say as I put my sword away, pick Magnus up and punch his face in a bit before kicking him away. “Get up! Do you think you’ll regain your magical power again? Do you really think you’ll win now?”

“I…I won’t lose to scum like you!”

“Strong words coming from a guy that can barely stand! Did you even think about the consequences of what you did before endangering the entire town? What about breaking that statue? Wasn’t doing that a mortal sin?”

“What I did was necessary so it wasn’t a sin, and yes, I did consider the safety of the town, but I knew that my power would keep everyone safe. Do you see any bodies anywhere?”

“Did you hear the screaming that came from nearby?”

“Whoever they are, they’re probably fine now.”

“Let’s check then shall we?” I say as I grab Magnus by the collar and drag him around the corner.

In my head, I hope that there’s no one here or that they’re farther away and safe, but my feeling is proved correct when I find the dead bodies of two high schoolers about my age around the corner.

I throw Magnus to the ground and say, “Do they look safe to you?! Huh?!”

“That’s…no! No!”

He limps to them and begins to cry over them.

“You knew them?”

“Yes! They were my only friends at school!”

You had friends? I’m glad I didn’t say that out loud.

“I don’t want to hear it. Just leave. You were right. You won our fight now just leave.”

“Magnus, I-”

“Leave him alone, Alessio,” Marina says, “He needs time alone to grieve just like you did with your mom.”

“…okay.”

Just moments ago I wanted nothing more than to hate Magnus and shove his face into how wrong he was in what he was doing, but after seeing his grief over his dead friends and regret for what he did…I don’t know. Remembering my family, I rush home to find them safe and sound. I’ve never been happier to get tackled by my dad as soon as I enter the house.

“Gotcha! You’re not on your guard like you usually are and you should be! Did you hear all that chaos outside?” my dad asks.

“Did you see what happened?” Alex adds.

“I heard what was happening, but it’s safe outside now. I’m glad you’re both safe,” I say.

They ask me what exactly happened and I tell them about fights that we’re breaking out between people for some reason and nothing more. If I told them what actually happened, they wouldn’t believe me. While trying to fall asleep, I can’t help but think of what to do to help Magnus. In the morning, I make an extra lunch and when I get to school, I see him with bandages on his face where I punched him.

“Hey,” I say to him.

“What do you want?” he asks.

“I made you lunch. Let’s eat together at lunchtime.”

“I don’t want it. I already have my-”

“Take it.”

“…fine.”

Turning around to Marina, she looks at me funny with a surprised smile like that of a proud parent.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing,” she says.

Lunchtime comes around and Marina and I sit with Magnus and no one else since we’re basically the weird kid’s table.

We eat without saying anything for a bit until Marina says, “How are you doing, Magnus?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for making the lunch for me, princess.”

“I didn’t make it. Alessio did.”

“That’s surprising. Did you make him do it?”

“No, he just did it on his own.”

“It’s because I felt bad for you,” I point out.

“I don’t need your pity. I’m fine.”

“I don’t believe you. I know you’re hurting and that you feel guilty. It’s okay to talk to us. We’re all fighting for the same cause or at least the same enemies.”

“What made you want to start being friendly with me? When I first started trying to talk to you, you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“That’s because you called me the interracial kid.”

“No, I asked if you were the kid that people were calling interracial and that it was stupid that they were making fun of you for that, but you cut me off when you heard interracial. Whatever the case is, I tried to be friends with you since I heard that you saw demons and spirits like I did. I wanted someone to talk to about this and you were the only one that I knew that had similar experiences to me.”

“I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s water under the bridge.”

“So, are you two going to be friends now?”

“No,” Magnus and I say in unison in response to Marina’s question.

She giggles in response as if she doesn’t believe us.

“What I want is a rematch,” Magus states.

“We can do that if I need to humble you again. In fact, we can do it after school.”

“I would love to fight especially since there’s a rivalry between the Ombra and the exorcists. The exorcists love to say how humble and faithful they are because of how many of them are there that do their deeds seen only by God and Heaven, but really, it’s the Ombra who are humbler. We don’t have royalty among our ranks nor ranks at all. We are all who we’re supposed to be before God. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Okay, okay enough about them. For being so humble, you do like tooting your own horn. Are we going to fight or not?”

“Only when God wills it or will allow it. I told you before that my blessings don’t manifest unless He wills it.”

“So, I just have to keep following you around until they do?”

“I’d rather you not hang around me at all and just let it happen when we’re both out on the hunt.”

“I’m on the hunt almost every single night, so I look forward to it happening soon.”

“Me too, just be wary of the other exorcists. They’ll definitely discriminate against you because of your mother.”

“Why’s that?”

“What? You don’t know? You didn’t tell him yet, princess?”

“I don’t know who she is,” Marina says.

“If that’s true, then your request to get her identity must really be lost in exorcist’s waste bin. It’s a shame that the politics within the exorcists messes up so much. I’ve known your mom’s identity and history as an exorcist ever since the exorcists found me and recruited me into the Ombra. She was-”

“I don’t want to know,” I say before clarifying, “It doesn’t matter who she was and me knowing won’t change anything.”

Magnus gives me a curious look before saying, “Okay, if you say so. Anyways, don’t take my warning as a sign of friendship. Just consider us rivals.”

I don’t see how that doesn’t make us friends in some way, but okay. After a normal day of school, Marina and I exorcise the town of some demons before heading back home.

“Man, this is starting to get boring. When are we going to fight some interesting demons?” I ask Marina.

“Don’t say that because you don’t know what you’re asking for. Besides, it would be more ‘interesting’ if you’d do more than try to cut every spirit that we come across.”

“Hey, it’s the easiest way to see if they’re a demon or not and the demons seem to know it’s what we’re doing now so now they just attack us rather than pretending to be angels or holy souls.”

“Yeah, but the more violent we are, the more aggressive the demons are towards other people. It’s why I try to use prayers, holy water, and other holy objects first.”

“Shouldn’t we just make the normal exorcists who don’t have the same blessings as we do deal with them then?”

“No, because it’s still our responsibility and we still exorcise demons better than they do.”

“You got that part right at least.”

The day comes to a close after dinner and sitting in bed. As I’m trying to fall asleep, Marina sits by my bedside.

“What’s up?” I ask her.

“That was a really nice thing that you did for Magnus today. I’m proud of you.”

“Okay, mom. It was nothing. We’re still going to eventually fight.”

Marina giggles before hugging me.

“You’ve changed a lot since we first met.”

“What? All that changed was that I’m going to church and confession now. There’s nothing else that’s changed because I don’t need to change-what-hey!” She gives me a hug. “Okay, cougar. Now, get to your bed before my dad and sis get the wrong idea.”

“Does it really bother you that I’m hugging you or are you just afraid of what your family will think?”

“No, your hugs don’t bother me.”

“I wish the exorcists were more like the Ombra where there’s no royal class and everyone is equal.”

“Being a princess is too much for you?”

“Kind of, yes. Every victory is expected and every defeat is ten times worse because I’m expected to exceed. I can’t wait for the day that I just sit down and relax all day.”

“Sounds boring.”

“To you maybe, but I enjoy the simple pleasure of just living. There’s nothing like resting in a forest or a grass field or bed of flowers.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you really helped Magnus today with his problem whether you know it or not and I thought that maybe opening up to you would make you help me the same. Maybe I was just hoping in vain.”

“No, I’m here if you need me. If you need to talk, just talk and if you need to hug it out, then I’m here,” I say as I hold her tighter.

“Thank you. Hugging it out sounds good.”

A few minutes pass and Marina passes out on me. I’d say something about it, but I don’t mind. Goodnight, princess. I hope your dream of being lazy all day comes true.