The Church of Isekai
Welcome to the Church of Isekai Part 1
"Welcome to the Church of Isekai" – the banner printed in big bold letters was hanging over the stage at the end of a sprawling lawn. Below it – a large square portrait h2d – "Robert and Tammy's wedding" with two happy youths hugging. A crowd dressed in their "Sunday Best" was moving between tables set up "À-LA FOURCHETTE" or as they called it "Ala Furshet" – let's not be too fancy ok?
"How do you do, Sir, my name it Steve. The young lady with the caterers suggested I ask you about this church" he addressed the read-headed Tammy's uncle. "Oh she did, didn't she… well little Alya knows me too well… And isn't that little anymore… he-he-he… OK … well… Nice to meet you Steve. I'm Mike. Mike Geiger… I'm in construction… Here's my card… So… about the church…"A middle-aged man thanked a uniformed girl receiving a plate with snacks and asked "can you explain what this church is about?". The girl refused – "Sorry I'm with the catering. I can't discuss anything other than food. I did come here as I was younger – we had lots of fun. But you can ask anyone in a fantasy costume or … see that read-headed man next to a woman in a green dress? He's Tammy's uncle and he likes talking to strangers.... A lot…". "Thank you," the man said thinking to himself about small towns with everyone knowing and annoying everyone else over the decades. That "A lot" sounded like it has in it many, many, many hours of repeated stories that the kids had to endure while being too polite to break him off. Just then the green-dressed lady seemed to have wandered off and the moment seemed perfect.
The story was long and rich on details. The way Steve remembered it was:
The man who runs it just calls it a "Church" – probably for accounting reasons. He showed up about… what was it.. about 20 years ago. Showed up and started working in a town's youth center. Somehow the kids of all ages loved him. Helped them with homework, told stories keeping the youngsters glued to their seats, took them to the woods, taught survival skills… Yeah like the boy scouts but more… Even taught them fencing and languages. He seems to know several – we took our daughter to Quebec, Canada and she did all the restaurant ordering in French! We went to Mexico and she spoke Spanish there! Oh no, we don't speak any of it at home. Somehow she picked it up at the youth center. Oh about the Church – he started it. He calls it "Isekai" – says it's Japanese for "Other Worlds". Apparently there are Japanese cartoons about kids getting transported into video games or fairy-tales. Yes, they watch some cartoons. Yes, and read "manga" – I think that's the word they used. Age-appropriate? Oh yes, we checked. He's not arguing about religion and doesn't mind people being protestants or Catholics or whatnot. He just calls it a Church because one needs to believe in those worlds and being able to travel between them – his line of reasoning is – when people have the same belief they come together in a church. No it's more than a "Manga Club" – remember all the outdoorsy stuff? In the summer he took the kids into the woods for 2 weeks at the time – they come back so happy. We had signed up our daughter for 3 sessions in a row and she still loved it. They gather right here and then go off into the woods – tents and stuff. Come back after a week, say hello to parents and off they go again. They have to dress up as elfs, dwarfs, knights, learn real fencing. We had a boy take a county trophy in it two years ago. Yes, small town, we all know these things.
Oh, sure, we do have regular churches – my family goes to a Presbyterian one, there are two catholic ones… there must be more… I'm sure there are all kinds – if not in our town then somewhere in driving distance. No, the pastors and ministers didn't come here for a joint protest – they do have "youth clubs" but there is no homework help and their afterschool program is just not fun comparing to this place. Sunday service – you drive the kids here after lunch on Sunday and you're free till 8pm – shopping, resting. They do the sermons but it's the kids who read them. They write essays about a life lesson from a cartoon they watched together in Japanese. Yes, in Japanese. I don't know if they really understand it – never took my kids to Japan. Sure, we do pay but it's not that expensive. Besides we do want this place to look nice. The "IsePope" … he-he-he … no he doesn't call himself that … doesn't have a Ferrari… I don't know what car he has but surely if he drove anything fancy we'd know. Strange, I don't think I ever saw him drive – he just shows up a your door if he has to talk to you. So yeah, he made a name for himself here. To my knowledge he doesn't want to branch out. The "Misses IsePope"? Yes, I think I've seen her but she's probably too shy – she rarely comes out. The kids say they all saw her during the Summer Outings but we don't like people prying into our lives and we let him have his privacy. Probably that's why he picked our town and isn't leaving – I think his lady doesn't like large crowds and in this town you never come across any place with more than 3 cars parked near it.
The wedding – yes, Tammy, my niece, is a happy graduate of all of the programs this place offers, and so is Robert. Yes, high school sweethearts – how romantic is that! Yes, our town doesn't have a separate high school – we pool with 3 more towns and the kids drive there in the morning and drive home. Some have cars, some got parent transportation services he-he-he… Yes there's a bus but you have to request it and kids hate it – you missed it, you stay home, but if you come to the drop-off point early, you freeze or get wet… So Tammy is from our town and Robert from another and they did meet in high school. Tammy got him to come here – told him she's a top notch Healer and their party needs a Alchemist. He starting coming to this place and here they are – graduating from school, from this … khm … Church and joining for life. So sweet… Our little grown-ups… Their parents wanted them to wait up and not rush with the wedding, but they insisted. Oh, the sincerity of the young. They are both going to the same medical school in the Fall – she wants to be a Pediatrician and he wants to be a pharmaceutical scientist – to design new drugs. They got to use the grounds for the wedding for free, I hear, and the IsePope will be officiating. What do you mean he can't officiate – you don't have to be a priest to declare people married – anyone can apply for a license to do marriages in the State of Pennsylvania – not just clergy. The couple gets a marriage license from the town-hall and whoever got an officiating license stamps and dates it. Yes, a license everywhere …
Looking down Part 2
I was standing in the belfry of the Church looking down at the last-minute preparations and the people seemingly having a great time. A big day for me. 20 years… 20 years ago I came to this town and loved the place immediately. The woods of Northern Pennsylvania, the hills, the clean air, the calm gentleness of the place… and the people.... the most wonderful people you can imagine. Friendly, eager to help, working hard and valuing the creature comforts their work affords. People minding their own business, yet able to come together on occasions of joy or sorrow. People always keeping their smiles up and working hard to make their inner state match the facade. Soft on the outside, strong on the inside. It seems like a set of some romantic movie. It seems like a set of well-connected gears – everyone in the right place, everyone knows someone or at least someone's cousin through primary school or kids' sports or a dog park. It seems a single outsider can bring the whole place to a screeching halt. But I've managed to fit in despite being more than an outsider. I have come here from another World.
I think I was born in this World but in another country. I said "I think" because there is no way to be sure as it could be a similar World or maybe not. Surely one could just hop on a plane, fly to the old place and find out, but in all honesty – why bother? Would I run into a old version of myself? What if the Original Me had moved elsewhere? In that case me not meeting the Original Me will prove nothing. I've poked around a bit looking for traces of The Incident that started it all for me but found none in the old archives and newspapers. This seems to be opening a whole new can of worms – not only this could be a Similar World but also The Incident could have "replicated" me and others pulled into it or some Forces erased our existence from history or anything else. At this point I realized that the only can of worms I want to deal with is the one I buy at the lake where I sometimes go with a fishing rod to sit and contemplate.
I was expected to excel in school as a child and I did. Learning was easy and I did a lot of extra reading. As a result I often "knew" the way thing must go as they did in the novels but surprisingly they didn't do so in reality. You can read the entire bookcase of literature – from French History to legends of ancient Greece to Birdwatching Guides and still not know what to do when a class hyperactive jerk kicks you in a butt and runs away while his buddies burst out laughing. It only gets worse from there. The teachers make sure to notice nothing and the parents being a bit too bookish themselves lashed out at me when I got a "notice of bad behavior" after attempting to stand up for myself against the whole gang. NERD!!!! Yeah, that's me…
Things were supposed to take a turn for the better after the 8th grade. To continue in high school one needed to pass the State Exams which I did while most of the rowdy crowd didn't and were sent to trade schools to learn painting, plumbing, lathe operation and whatnot while the future doctors, engineers, teachers, literary critics and such were on their way to college among their equals who aren't moved to violence upon hearing words like "ambidextrous" and "superfluous"
I was home enjoying … you guessed it – another book. I have most of the summer ahead of me, next school year promises to actually be good… Maybe I'll do some biking tomorrow… RRRRRING… Our landline phone was loud and a bit scratchy. A call came from my school. I was required to show up tomorrow at 8am for a surprise excursion to a destination unknown but it's mandatory and there will be ice-cream there. Strange – they've never organized any bus trips and ice-cream is unheard of but I was at the school on-time. Even stranger – everyone, all 54 of us, have showed up exactly at 8am to see the bus pulling in. The driver told us to load up and be quick about it – the principal is waiting at the destination. I set by the window closer to the front of the bus and a girl set next to me. I knew her well – she was the tallest in the grade and was very shy. She also passed the State Exams and was going to start the 9th grade next Fall. Diana was her name. I was noticing the glances she was sometimes sending my way over the last school-year and with all the knowledge I got from romantic books, figured she must be interested in me because I'm also tall. Considering that girls mature earlier than boys, she probably thinks we'd make a cute couple. I've always avoided her – the books seem to suggest that it's either love or studies and I'd rather get a good grade than a girlfriend. Just like that – teenage absolutes. There is "love" or "non-involvement" – there is no "flirt" or "romantic interest" or even "friendship".
The bus started and we rolled through the familiar streets. Noisy teens for some reason were quickly quieting down and some even settling in the amazingly comfortable seats for a nap. By the time we rolled to a tunnel through the huge mountain everyone on the bus was fast asleep. For some reason I just surveyed everyone as I felt Diana's head resting on my shoulder. A girl's head calmly leaning on me – that sensation isn't something you can read about. It's just way too… real. As I was looking at her peaceful face I suddenly realized … our city doesn't have any mountains around it. NONE. No mountains, no tunnels especially without any other traffic and no lights on the walls and the ceiling. WHERE ARE WE? Why did everyone fall asleep so quickly? Why is the Principal "waiting for us at the destination" with all the teachers and no one is riding with us? This is a surprise trip indeed and I don't like surprises.
Emerald Cross Part 3
I was looking around and then back at Diana noticing how gentle and defenseless she looks. These long eyelashes, the gently freckled nose, the tiny emerald stud-earrings… Suddenly her eyes opened wide and she rapidly breathed in. Her head went to the back of the chair while I instantaneously noticed a small emerald cross pendant in the opening of her blouse. "A set" I thought for a second remembering a book on History of Jewelry I read last year. Then she looked at me with a plea in her eyes and her lips slightly parted. It was clear to me she is asking for a kiss – after all that's what the romance novels talk about, don't they? A maiden looks longingly, sets her lips up and the knight seals them with his before going off on a journey. I clearly had the theoretical backing but sometimes wondered – what do you do about the nose? With two people bringing their faces together, won't their noses collide and the lips never touch? I looked into those eyes and decided to risk it – I'll do it even if someone will tell my parents and they will yell at me for this. I bent over and several things happened at once. First, I've learned the answer to the "nose" conundrum – turns out when the heads are slightly tilted – by I'd estimate about 15 degrees – the nose touches the cheek of another person and is not in the way. Second – that cheek is soft and smells nice. Third – her lips are soft and are slowly moving slightly catching and releasing mine causing sensations not described or maybe just hinted at in books.
Suddenly a jolt pain hit me through my whole body. I've felt electric shocks before, when I've attempted to repair domestic appliances. No matter how good the guide is, wrapping insulation tape over wires with frayed casings, is something you end up learning by experience. The pain subsided quickly, lingering in the eyes for a while. As I was still trying to open them, I heard Diana's voice: "Thank you… I got what I wanted… For a while now… My first kiss… from you… Thank you… Sorry…" I finally was able to open my eyes and saw her still sitting in the chair with her head hanging back into the aisle between the seats. Somehow I knew – she was gone. One arm was hanging into the aisle, another – still held onto a large purse on her knees. I could see her mouth still parted and her eyes now frozen, looking into something beyond the limits of the living.
Then I saw a text floating before me "Necromancer – Initialized. Level – 1" followed by some indicators which I didn't care about at that point. I looked back at her and saw several texts appearing – the emerald pendant now was marked "Energy store – level 10, filled – 0" the earring was an"Energy store – level 1, Filled – 0" the purse got a "Sub-dimensional storage – level 20, filled – 0" and the next label actually made me tear-up – it was floating over the poor girl's head reading "Corpse – Fresh". I reached out with my hand under her neck and carefully brought her over to the center of the seat, upright with hands on her knees. Then I closed her eyes and mouth and did what the books always have their characters do in cases like these – I've kissed her on the forehead. A text message appeared – "Necro Energy collected" and I heard "Do me a favor, before I go, can you get a handkerchief from my purse and wipe the lipstick smudge from my cheek?" I turned and saw a shadowy outline of Diane floating next to me with a label "Ghost – Fresh". "Yes, Sure… Of cause…" I was not sure about taking the purse as her hands were laying over it, so I've opened it up as little as I could trying to find the handkerchief but not succeeding. "It should be deeper and to your right," the Ghost have suggested. As I have realized that my attempts to cause the smallest disturbance aren't working out, I've removed the clasps, and opened the purse entirely. That moment her fingers touched the inside of the purse and the body disappeared. The text floating over the bag now read "Sub-dimensional storage – level 20, filled – 1". Diana smiled, "I wanted to be with you and now it seems I will – you can carry me around anywhere you go. Thanks for the kiss. Was it good?" I've smiled back – "The best of all the kisses I've ever had". She smiled again – "First time too?" – I nodded – "You know me well…" She moved like sighing – "I wish I could stay but I gotta go… We all do – see?" I looked around and saw ghosts floating all over the bus. Seems like everyone who was waiting for the bus just recently, was now labeled "Ghost – Fresh". A few seemed shocked suspended over their bodies, several chatted in small groups and a ghost of one of the class jerks was chasing a ghost of a girl around. Suddenly a Cloud appeared in the front of the bus and the ghosts started slowly moving toward it. I've turned toward Diana and she looked me in the eyes, smiled, turned around and rushed toward the Cloud cutting our goodbyes. I jumped up, stretched my hand toward her and screamed, "Don't go, Come back to me!" and surprisingly something caught her right before she touched the Cloud, brought back to me and then smashed right into me. "Oy! What happened?" I've heard her voice inside my head but I really didn't know what to answer. Instead I stretchedout both hands and commanded in the most sure voice I could muster, "All of you – Stop! Come to me!" and they did. One by one they were entering my body and settling inside it starting their conversations. Then a text floated before my eyes – "Not enough Ghost Hosting capacity on Level 1 – do you want to advance?" Who wouldn't, right? "Advancing to Level 2 requires 100 energy units, Level 3 – 300 units, Level 5 – 1000 units, Level 7 – 3000 units"
I had to act quickly – I guess Level 7 is the most capacity and I won't lose any of my classmates if I can help it. Why? Because that's what heroes do in the books! So the answer is simple – Level 7, here we go! The upgrade process kicked in at the same time as the souls were being pulled in and the same pain that I felt at the time of "initialization" came back. This time I was able to open my eyes and saw "energy indicator" in the red and very close to ZERO. Where do I get energy? I jumped up and remembered I got some when I kissed Diana on the forehead. I could barely move or even think but I had to climb out of the seat and across the aisle. Two bodies – two girls – best friends. Kiss one, put her fingers into the "Sub-dimensional storage" purse – she disappears, kiss the next, guide her fingers into the purse – she follows her friend. Energy indicator popped slightly above ZERO but is going down again. I need to move to the next seats. The eyes aren't seeing well – tears running down, pain in the entire body, learning for the first time what "head-splitting headache" means. Moving on. One row back. Locating the head by touch, kissing it, can't find the fingers to put into the bag, trying to put the bag over the head – worked, the body is inside. The next body in the window seat – too painful to bend down to kiss; located the head, putting my palm on the forehead as if feeling the fever, making a kissing sound with my lips – worked! I got the energy, the bag got another one of my poor classmates. Keep moving. PAIN.... Felt around, found the next body, not looking for the forehead – I think it's the elbow. Trying to do the kissing / through the straw sucking movement with my lips – WORKED – I got the energy in and it was used up almost immediately. Bringing over the "bottomless bag" – worked again. Next row – the pain got even worse, as the toothache joined in with the mega-migraine. Keep moving. Keep moving… I can't miss anyone. Next row. Feel around, find the body, suck the energy, bag the body. Don't think who was it, don't recall names, group projects, answering homework questions. Keep moving. "CLICK" in the ears, floating text before the eyes visible even with my eyes closed – "Level 2". Now I notice more souls are entering me – can't stop can't re-access, can't ponder. "Level 7" was selected and something tells me if I can't gather enough energy to make it all the way there, the upgrade process will eat me up inside and all of the souls including mine will go toward the Cloud. Keep moving. Suddenly I notice I don't need to feel around for bodies in the seats – I seem to feel a direction, I extend my palm there and suck in the energy. I just follow it with a bag transfer. Next row, Next row.. This one doesn't feel the same. I got just a little bit of energy and the bag doesn't allow it inside. OK, skipping it. Next row, Next row… Again a strange "specimen" – getting a bit of energy and moving on. "CLICK" – "Level 3". More souls getting in, pain is slightly less horrible – either I'm learning how to work around it – just like the Shaolin monks I've read about – or Levels bring some kind of resistance. With my eyes still closed now, I see the little dark energy balls floating above the seats and some are starting to move toward the Cloud. I stretch my hands: "Get over here!" and some obey flowing into me – "CLICK!" – "Level 4". I see some of the balls still getting sucked into the Cloud and with a new-found self-confidence I demand "GET OVER HERE!" – they obey. Every single one. "CLICK!" – "Level 5". I can actually open my eyes and quickly go from through the bus putting all of the bodies into the bag. The Ghosts are not seen – either they are all inside me or some gotten into the Cloud. I'll figure it out later. Finding several bodies that I wasn't able to put into the bag. Looking at one – the boy was number one in sports – tall, muscular, smart and not a jerk at all. His name was Dimitry. I'm looking at him and noticing that there is no "Corpse" text hanging over him. There are 9 people left out of 54 – I can't see them breathing but they are not recognized as dead so I'm leaving them alone. The "energy indicator" shows up again – about a fifth and falling. I need energy… Darn… Should have picked "promotion to Level 5" but somehow I'm sure it wasn't a wrong choice. Probably whoever is in-charge of this whole thing is giving out a "beginner special" – I just suspect that going from Level to Level would take a lot more than 3000 units to reach the Seventh. Still where do I get the energy? Looking around – there's the Cloud, still hanging… Waiting for me, aren't you? With all the pain I just went through? I wonder if it collected the "Pain" energy the way I gather the "Necro". You'd like me to drop down and burn up inside while you mop up the souls including mine, wouldn't you? YOU! Just hanging there, probably smirking at me… I stretch out my hands at the Cloud – "GET IN HERE!". The Cloud seems shocked as it starts moving toward me and then trying to break off. I'm seeing my energy level slowly going up and the Cloud trying to move out of the bus. The tunnel is still dark around us – I spread my hands and keeping in mind the tunnel and the darkness outside I command with never-before felt surety – "GET IN HERE!". The energy flows in. I get a "Level 6" notification and the bus shakes. I think the Tunnel or someone controlling it is upset and hurt – it probably has been transporting these busses in a calm and orderly fashion for a while and suddenly the tiger shark has swallowed a small blender that's hurting it inside. It can't be that way. It was never that way. Food can't object to being eaten. The bus accelerates, the Cloud shrinks and hides and I walk over to the one person I've overlooked so far – the bus driver.
When we were getting on the bus, the driver looked like a man in his forties sloppily dressed with a growing beer belly. What I saw now making my way to him was a large figure in a hooded robe that was hiding his face. I approached and closed my eyes noticing a large ball of energy on the seat. For some reason I felt confident yanking that robe off and what I saw underneath was a large bone laying on the seat and nothing else. The coat was basically suspended in the air on the energy emanating from that bone. My energy indicator was going really close to ZERO and I knew I might as well take all the risks. So with the bone in my hands I felt the energy and ordered it to enter me. The energy flooded in. The robe fell onto the seat and I picked it up and put it on. For some reason it felt right to do so. I got behind the steering wheel of the bus and closed my eyes. OK, now – let me look around. So… I got this Necromancer power. There were 54 of us, 9 are still on the seats in some kind of a non-dead state. My "Sub-dimensional storage" purse reads now "level 20, filled – 44" – everybody's body is accounted for. "Everybody, go, get your body," I hummed and then added "Offer gold or threaten force, I will not release your corpse". My life-impaired audience responded with dead silence… Looking inside myself (I can't explain it better – that's exactly what it is) I saw these souls floating around. There were also 44 but some – probably those who got in first – were shiny and active actually talking to each other while several – probably the later arrivals – seemed paler with a few basically a barely visible outline. I've focused on one of them and a text came up "De-energized soul" with several options available near it including "re-energize". Definitely not now – I'm still draining that "driver illusion" bone and sucking in power from the tunnel, but the upgrade process is consuming the energy as fast. The pain I've felt at the beginning subsided a lot, it went from an incapacitating to a level of a bee sting – where I can walk around and react to things reasonably.
Somehow my temporary resident souls realized I'm looking at them and turned their faces to me. A girl whom we all knew as a rather difficult person looked me in the eye and stated "You have touched me inappropriately. I'll tell the principal, the teachers and I'll file a complaint!". As everyone else stared at her, the soul of the class short jerk jumped up and screamed – "Yes, Yes, he did, I saw it!!!" with so much excitement that I think if he still had his body he'd probably wet his pants. After all dogs sometimes do it and at this time I was pondering if he was meant to be an angry chihuahua and became a human by mistake. Yes, an old me would have gone pale and shaky and would probably even be convinced to turn over lunch money to prevent the accusations from reaching the school authorities and my parents. So there was a long silence. They were looking at me waiting to shake and squirm… I didn't. The silence continued… and continued… and continued… Until the Short Jerk lost interest and ran off to pester people around him and another girl probably thinking I can't hear them whispered to the first one – "What are you doing? You know he did no such thing and if it wasn't for him, you'd go into the Cloud and your body would rot. Besides how are you going to file anything – you are inside of him and chances are there are no principals or teachers where we're going". The first one replied – "Don't spoil my game – I don't need to file anything, I need him to apologize. When he does, I'll forgive him but he'd be afraid of me. I can get him to buy me dinners and stuff and then I'd bring him to marry me". Another girl listening to this wondered, "Marry him? He's a nerd! Look at how he's treated in class! He's a pushover – your relatives will laugh at you and him!". "That's why I want him," stated the first, "I'll do anything I want with him and he'll be polite and never hit me and never leave me and my kids. I don't want to bring my kids up alone like my Mom. I'll even be a good wife and I'll teach our kids not to be pushovers".