YOU SEAT YOURSELF AT THE PEWS & FIX YOUR ATTENTION ON THE MOON SHINING THROUGH A WINDOW ABOVE THE ALTAR.
AFTER LOSING YOURSELF IN ITS BEAUTY FOR A MOMENT,
YOU GLANCE TO YOUR HANDS.
YOUR EYES MEET THE GAZE OF SOMEONE ELSE.
IN SHOCK, YOU FLINCH BACK. YOUR HANDS ARE NOW YOUR OWN.
YOU QUICKLY GRASP AT THE ROSARY IN YOUR POCKET, BRINGING IT OUT TO REST ON YOUR LAP.
BREATHING IN & COMPOSING YOURSEF, YOUR GAZE FALLS TO
THE ALTAR AS YOU ARE TAKEN ABACK IN AWE.
The year is 20XX. In a small town somewhere in rural America lives a young man named Ren. He's of above average intelligence, but his life is mostly uneventful outside of college studies. He has some odd hobbies in exploring local abandoned buildings & researching the occult, but nothing that interferes with his ability to be a friendly & familiar face to all in his town. Unknown to him, however, that would all change. In a fit of impulsivity, Ren decided to take his occult studies to a new level.
In the dead of night on the brisk winter night of December 12th, he traveled alone to a nearby chapel. The light of a full moon bleeding through the windows at the altar, he positioned candles & an appropriate offer of raw meat around a symbol drawn on the ground in an attempt to appease to whatever he may contact. A sceptic by nature, he figured the most in store for him would be an eerie night out. That quickly changed.
By the end of the ritual, Ren had gained several new appendages. Wings; one being that of a bat, the other of a crow, & a halo. The paws on his legs had been exchanged for hooves, & his pupils shifted to those of a goat. Small horns budded from the top of his head, & seem to continue to grow in present day. He had come into contact with no entities during the ritual. Rather, a spiritual awakening stirred inside of him. He came out of it feeling enlightened & freed, as though a sort of hidden potential had been dwelling inside of him & he happened to find the key. He had never been bleedingly religious, but it felt like a divine gift. It felt like fate.
From the experience, Ren was also gifted the name "Arsene". His awakening ended with a momentary vision of seeing the name burning with a bright blue flame. While left with a multitude of questions, Arsene was not displeased with the results. He knew his life was about to change, but he felt no sense of dread. A knowing in him reassured the towns people would rejoice. Indeed, they did. Christianity was never what their chapel was built for. Pagan religion dominated the local belief systems, & the people received Arsene as a God. He was their messiah; while this bore great resposibility, Arsene accepted his role.
Outside of holding midnight mass on weekends & being harmlessly bothered in public with praise or requests for blessings & visions, Arsene's life continued on the same. Bizarre things began to happen in town & a great deal of other curious individuals seemed to enter his life. He had to deal with being a local celebrity & with new gifts & appendages, but he was still a student above all else. His studies into forensics continue, his life is simply now... more colorful. Close friends & familiars still refer to him as Ren, but any others know him as the deity of duality; life, death-- good, evil-- light, dark; & a being of great knowledge, justice, & luck, Arsene.
YOUR EYES BLINK OPEN. YOU ARE AT EASE.
