And on the third day... Sermon (Open)

Kogami was busy meditating as the place was getting ready. People kept coming to the unfinished church of Nyarlathotep. It was an abandoned opera house that was forced to stop development due to an accident. It was also convenient that there was a door nearby the opera house itself. With many of the cult followers, they tirelessly put in their money in time to renovating the place. It was unfinished but it was definitely clean, with plenty of seats and plenty of cult followers motioning their hands. There was also a donation box by each exit that a cult member took watch over. Kogami personally liked the location quite a bit , he had a small affinity for this place that he had not yet understood himself.   His life has now become an act, as he plays out the role of a lifetime. He plays out the role of a savior, and to lead his people to be free of sin.  Six pm hit and it was time for the sermon to begin, the curtains remained closed until everyone was seated and had their eyes on the stage.

*I am going to assume that everyone who is coming after this post has taken their seat, I am going to do a special performance that I would like you all to be here for.  *

The curtains opened up , the stage lights were still intact  and there was still power within the building. In his shadow form, Kogami’s voice was even more powerful than a mic, so he would be loud enough to be heard without it. “Good evening, and welcome to the very first sermon of the church of Nyarlathotep. As for the exact term that this religion should be labeled under, it is called Nyarlanity. Nyarlanity, followers of what is described as the very essence of the final hope for mankind.  For starters…” Kogami  claps his hands together and makes a slow bow towards the audience. “I would like to say… Namaste…it is a word that is used by yoga artists, but actually originated  from Nyarlathotep and his word. However, the credibility of the word is not in question, it is the meaning that remains the same, that remains important. The movement is a form of short meditation itself and also one of surrender when you bow your head, to surrender yourself to his love. To surrender such ideals that ties us to this world, our negative outlooks that separates us from unity, and acknowledge each other as fellow human beings, as his children.  When you say this word, the ideal mindset is one of peace, energy and respect. No matter what, it would do you no harm to keep the meaning of that word within you. Now then, to start off with the sermon, I will be playing a piece music that comes from the hymns of Nyarlathotep himself.  It is tradition, and I hope you will enjoy it. “

This old opera place also had an old piano  for use, and plenty of other instruments that would be useful later. But for now, Kogami would only have use for the piano.  There was also a camera crew attending the sermon, probably curious as to what this church was all about. It didn’t matter though, Kogami was honestly caught up in the moment. It was almost as if he was born to become the person that he was pretending to be at this moment, his hatred and anger was gone. “ I must apologize that I lack the voice for this specific hymm,  but I will be telling the story  nevertheless with this song. You must decide with your hearts, the image displayed with your very soul. “ Kogami then begins to play the piano,  as if his hands were entranced and mystically moved. It was a tune of overwhelming passion that was able to move even the coldest of hearts. When he was done,  he slowly gets up with his robes and turns to the audience. Namaste, I once again welcome you to the first sermon.”  There was  a loud clap all around for the beautiful piano performance, which only stood as the beginning.




The song Kogami Played-



P.S- Listen to the whole song before you reply, im sure you would feel something...or not XD

This was too...odd to pass up. Cyril Vaans would walk into the church of....Nyarlanity? That could perhaps be one of the sillier names to name a cult or religion. He didn't say that out loud, but he almost snickered when he heard one of the cult followers mention it out loud. It was a very old opera house that he had been to when he was much younger, practically a baby with his mother. It had now been practically converted to a church, which wouldn't have particularly upset him, but this cult kind of did. Why worship some Lovecraftian god that is hell bent on eliminating humanity and making all consciousness die off into madness? It utterly baffled him. Why did it interest him to know just cause he saw this....red, thing, a disguise perhaps? Well he knew why, the guy there clearly used a force not unknown to him to heal a boy, and the doctors he didn't want to believe had a reason to lie. That would be horrible. This had to be something. He passed by the entrance and stood at the back row, not giving donations, nor was he really sitting down, as it seemed as how many people would show up. He would give a woman a seat and stand behind the large row ready to see what the followers intended to do.

He saw the curtains lift, and a similar red man would appear talking into the mic. Again, the name 'Nyarlanity' would come up and he would put one of his hands to his mouth to prevent himself from snickering at the name. 'If the god's name is Nyarthalotep, why not just call it the Cult of Nyarthalotep?' he would think. Some other name perhaps, better than this thing? He would listen to the man's preaching of this god as he spoke, looking at it all. He kept his eyes fixated on the man, looking to see if any funny tricks happened. For the time being, he was not convinced of it all. However, that was partially denial, cause if what power was performed at the hospital was what he thought it was, this could be more than just a doomsayer saying silly nonsense.

He watched as the man, not changing yet, move to the piano and began to play a tune. As pretty as the tune was, it was a bit pretentious of the guy to start playing piano tunes for a cult, without having someone at least do it. He would watch as people would clap around him. He almost brought his hands together to give an obligatory soft, slow clap, but put his hands back down and stayed silent as the clapping went on. Nothing he said convinced him really. 'Worship the avatar of the Cosmic god that is a symbol of human degradation. Smart plan...' he would think in his head sarcastically.

Lorielle Rutherford was originally going to walk to this church being built, assuming it was a new building, so she could map it out, adding more to her mental map of Ueitawa. However, it turned out that it was the old opera house that used to be here long ago, which she had never been to, since opera, she might appreciate in another life, but she just never got into it now as she was. She was about to head back, until she noticed the large crowd surrounding and entering said church, which, probably wasn't unusual, but in Iwagodai? Not only that, it was some sort of cult, which is something that always fascinated her. To her, cults have always been full of psychopaths, but the sheer notion that many cults like these are under usually, a single person that has everyone under them, worshiping, blindly or not, was just fascinating to her. How does that even work? She loved the idea of being able to do that, whether it was because of her beliefs, or possibly some domination complex she may not know of, she eventually resigned to going inside for kicks to see what it was all about.

She learned it was for some god named Nyarthalotep. Interesting enough name, mostly because it was horror for her to try and pronounce that in her head so at least the god apart from apparently being the sunshine in this bleak world to the religion, was mysterious enough. She would walk inside moving near the back row, since seats were filling fast, and a certain boy would let her sit down. "Oh, thank you," she would say. This boy was quite the average looking kid, about her age as well. Nothing struck her much about him, except for his mismatched eyes, one being brown, the other being grey. 'Pretty....so weird...' she would think. She took a second or two to look and see before she heard some talk into a microphone up front and turned her head to it.

She saw a very frightening sight at first. It was this red, humanoid thing....person. He was talking into the microphone. Preaching something fierce. It was actually fairly interesting to listen to. Whether she believed in it or not, she absolutely admired this gentleman, taking it upon himself to join people under him for a religion that essentially makes us all equals and promotes peace. In fact, she would go so far as to say she was half-tempted to join it. She really enjoyed the speech, and the lovely song he had played for them. When the applause sounded, she clapped a bit too smiling at this red man. She turned and saw the boy wasn't clapping, which was a bit disappointing, that not everyone agreed that this idea of peace was nice, if that was his reasoning, but nonetheless, she would continue to listen to anything else he had to say, at least hearing him out before she would leave. She might not join, but with a decent peace of mind that some people are trying to do right.

The sermon continued with Kogami starting to explain his version of Nyarlathotep’s story. “ This goes back to the ancient Egyptian times. Nyarlathotep was a great pharaoh, but the recordings of his rule and existence was never truly acknowledged. This was because our world was within a time where things went on beyond our understanding, to put it more simply….dreamtime...” There was whispers around the crowd as Kogami continued once more. “Dreamtime is a sacred era in which ancestral totemic spirit beings created the world. Tometic spirits or….a totem is a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe, reminding them of their ancestry (or mythic past. Everything that exists in the world, had contained a soul. The human race of that time had contained a power to summon these tometic beings , and bending their power to our will. Nyarlathotep was also an example of a user who contained such a great power. He also cared for his people, perhaps you could say he gave more than the average length of royalty should allow. Nyarlathotep, provided a blessing towards human desire, and tirelessly worked for his people to be satisfied. The end of famine, a bountiful harvest, he used his tometic spirit to help perform all of these miracles. Continued use only made him stronger , and he became a tometic spirit , ascending to greater heights, with the determination to guide us on the right path with his amazing power. Those who were unable to achieve the power of the tometic spirits, was granted the power by Nyarlathotep himself, they became a prophet to spread his word. However….”

Kogami cleared his throat, he wondered how believable this was so far. “ Nyarlathotep once said “The butterfly of calamity is upon us”, the envoker of free will towards idle minds to defile our land. Those who did not want to accept Nyarlathotep’s love and compassion went at war with him. It was all sparked off by an idea of a beautiful butterfly, who convinced that they had something to prove by killing the prophets, by defiling the believers, a mindless rebellion that attracted tometic spirits akin to their nature. These tometic spirits was the personification of our souls, what we would become if we was to ascend that high…our potential. This was none other than a rise, the beginning of the great battle that the butterfly of calamity started against our wise and gentle pharaoh…. The great Persona war, mystical powers at work…where both sides were pushed to a standstill. So then, our god had a plan. He instead created a place that would further our purpose and stop this battle. He created a place that co-existed as heaven …where he would weigh the sins of their souls, and open the door to paradise to those that were worthy. This continued on, for all fighting only seeks eternity. His love was real… and because he loved them… he gave his life… so that all may enter his created heaven.. to only reform again upon the appearance of the butterfly of calamity … The false Shepard, and the sheep who follow his will under his influence. “

Kogami then looks all around the church. " So i appear before you, to tell the tale of the final hope. And to help you, to help save you, for there is only so few of me.... and so many led astray. And no matter how much my appearence looks compared to others... I AM YOUR EQUAL... i am human... that has took on this form through the will of our god... so that i may help you....... do not be afraid of me... for i am your friend.... and so is our father... who considers us his children.

He almost laughed when this man started to go down the history of Nyarthalotep. Maybe he doesn't remember when and where the being Nyarthalotep was conceived in fiction. Oh yeah, sure, he looked like a pharaoh, but he also spread propaganda to the masses, and essentially horrified everyone he came across. He spoke in different languages, lied, deceived, all for the sake of spreading madness among humanity. Nyarthalotep himself was not human, and in that regard, this man would be correct, as he was a sort of god. He would disguise himself as one, hence the pharaoh look. He liked the mythology that the author of this made, but he would never join it. As for tometic spirits, he didn't particularly know anything regarding specific totems in Lovecraft's work, maybe he would have to read more, but he was quite sure that wasn't involved. But he had already torn into this religion enough, and as unbelievable as it was to him, he would sit back and listen some more.

'The butterfly of calamity...' he would think to himself. He didn't know what to think at that, nor could he fathom how butterflies could be calamitous, or threatening. He was fairly interested to see the thread of logic behind the butterfly being a sort of symbol for bad things? And he then explained the beautiful butterfly would convince the enemies to rise against them. '...Yeah, that could work. Beauty is often a dangerous temptress after all...' he thought. Decent enough reason, as he was practically dissecting his religion down like he was critiquing a movie or something. However, when he said "Persona War" he suddenly grew a bit two-faced. On the inside he was thinking very hard about that. Is he seriously saying that in the context that I think he is saying? He is talking about tomes and them being the personification of souls, and he knew very clearly his own Persona, Aurai, was what his soul was made of essentially. Maybe he needed to stop being paranoid, but he remembered running into Kogami Shibuya and he did the same thing, and there was no way he didn't just say it to say it. On the other hand he almost started to laugh, and even chuckled a bit, which in a room of relatively quiet people, was a bit loud and probably was not missed. It was just, so silly a name to say. He tried quickly to get himself together, cause it was actually a bit of an issue. 'Persona War.....? So silly....but then, does he mean what he says?' he thought. His mind would continue to jumble with different ideas on what might be the actual case here. He had to figure out something from this whether it was just a red herring or not.

Lorielle sat back relaxed, listening to this man run down the history of Nyarthalotep. She found it a bit fascinating this story, of how he was some Egyptian pharaoh who was this kind being. Though what really caught her off guard was the fact he would mention totems, and tribes, which to her knowledge, were not a thing common in Egypt. While tribes were not restricted to only a few places in Africa, she was fairly sure Egypt had a sort of hierarchy in the same way Rome had one, and using those words seemed a bit out of place. She could not really say much on it, cause she knows little of the subject anyway. She would continue to listen, not particularly buying it, but she was never truly religious anyway, as to her, religion is just morality disguised as some sort of story, which also results in many people arguing over which one is correct. She would probably admit she has a sort of pressure to be non-religious as to avoid that conflict.

She would continue to listen, and soon hear a bit of a laugh from behind her. When he turned, he saw the same boy with multi-colored eyes was laughing a bit. She probably wouldn't be so noticing of it if people were talking, and maybe people didn't, but he was right behind her, and she could clearly hear him. She would frown and put a finger in front of her mouth, being silent. Lorielle would gauge the boy's reaction before turning to listen, albeit on a less concentrated. She didn't blame him too much, cause he had the right reaction when the person mentioned a "Persona War". She had no idea what that even meant, and it was a bit silly to think of. She would continue to listen to it all, intending to see the boy who had laughed, maybe he might have known something she didn't, or go see the red man about this sort of religion. It would all depend on what sounds like a better idea by the end of this.

“And with the grace of the good word that I share, there is also skeptical individuals about religion in general. Realists perhaps, those who see only what is in front of them. The thinking pattern that blinds them from their potential, not even trying to contemplate about seeing what lies beyond. They follow the logic of what you cannot see, does not exist them. Germs exist, but we cannot see them through normal means. Complicated equipment is always involved in the medical field. But that is beside the point…” Kogami looks around the crowd, spotting two people that he wasn’t expecting to see. The four eyed annoyance with his hero friend, and lori. However, he maintained his composure and continued. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the tomes themselves, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. The spiritual beings, the self-sufficient who existed since the beginning, and the personified creations that manifest of our very soul. And we were once closer to this ability long before, through our god, we can attain this once more. Through our god, we can finally enter heaven and say goodbye to our world attachments. Through our god! We can achieve ascension!! They all clapped as the sermon made its close, some of the people got to the stage and touched Koga. “Hes real, it doesn’t feel like a costume at all. “The members of the cult immediately stepped in and kept them away from kogami. Plenty of people made a donation, he was not sure about the result, but he tried his best to sound convincing. There was a small book they were also selling called the word of Nyra out in the front. Something that they could read and encourage them to come and believe in him, and acknowledge him as the final hope. Koga stood there as he looked around, the cult members were busy doing crowd control as the opera house was getting cleared out. As they took care of the donations, koga remained in his shadow form, as if he was thinking.

When Cyril saw the woman he let sit down look at him with a motion to hush, he would be quiet. He guessed it probably would be a better thing to do, than just essentially call out his religion for what it really is. A big misnomer. He originally was seriously considering going up and asking his logic. Honestly, he wasn't going to really be rude about it, that would only cause tension. And he didn't know the person. And it may or may not be a red herring in whatever he likes to call his "investigation" anyway. With that thought in mind, he would slowly walk out after everyone else who had walked out or went to the book on the table he saw, leaving the area around him empty, save for the girl. He almost wanted to talk to the girl, but maybe he would see her another day. He turned to the door, and walked outside to the way home to the dorms. It was in the afternoon, and he remembered there would be a full moon tonight.

((EXIT))

Lorielle would soon decide to stand and join the people who walked to the red man. He felt real? It almost sounded scripted, but she wasn't going to touch him to prove them wrong. Either way, the sermon was a fascinating thing. If it didn't sway her, it did interest her. She would join the people shortly after they all started to leave. She noticed the boy left too. A shame, as his eyes seemed to catch her own, and would not go out of her memory. She would look at this book trying to check the design and see what was in it, not really looking at the red man.

((Sorry for my lack of detail. I had a creativity shortage during this post. XD))

“Now then….” Kogami went towards the back exist and changes back into his usual human appearance when he didn’t see anyone round. He then makes a u turn to go around the front entrance and whispers in the ear of one of the cult members. The cult member nodded his head and then lets kogami in, as e proceeds is way over to Lori. “Yo, some mind trip huh?” Kogami says this with a wave and a slight smile on is face, but kept his usual snarky attitude. “ I wouldn’t think of you much as a woman with faith, did you enjoy the sermon?” Kogami was looking around, he had a small book In his hand, looking around the area as if this was a new scene for him as well. “To be honest with you, I am here to pay my respects and all that good stuff.Wouldn't consider myself much of a saint, on top of the fact that I don’t have anything to live for really… “ Kogami then takes one of the opera seats and puts his feet up. “Then again, I'm just a miserable pice of shit… ehh” Kogami then shrugs an opens up the small book of nyra.

She would not notice the red man leaving, as she was looking at the odd book. It was a crimson red, and she would not move to grab it. Really, she jumped a bit when she heard a semi-familiar voice behind him. He would turn to see that boy.....his name. It was almost two months since she saw...."Kogami, right?" she would say. She would not particularly show him kindness, considering last time they met he tried to bait her down an alleyway, which may have been not as bad as she had thought at the time. So she didn't want to show him any kind of animosity either, give him a second chance. "Yeah, philosophical enough. You could say it was up my ally as far as morality goes," she said giving a small smile. Maybe the boy wasn't all that bad,though she didn't even think he was that bad at first. Just an oddball.

She chuckled at first. "You have only met me once. Surely I didn't give much away about myself given the time we had, unless you stalked me," she joked. "Nonetheless, the sermon was certainly interesting. I like what they were for. I just wish that they didn't need an excuse that it was a religion to talk of these morals. I mean, everyone being on the same wavelength, working to the same ideal, and pushing every human being up instead of a select few is something I would enjoy seeing. But, I am not too sure how I feel about the religious aspect of it. I am not normally very religious at all. I have just never found anything to prove religion," she said. She would probably call herself an atheist if she had to categorize herself in religion. She has just never found proof that there is religion. Religion is founded behind morals, so why need gods and goddesses as an excuse to talk of these morals?

The thoughts would go through her head until Kogami would turn his head to look around. The opera house itself, that was now a church did actually look nice. That was the reason why she was here after all; to map it out, this sermon just caught her eye. But something he said did confuse her. "Pay your respects? Do you owe someone here or something?" she asked. She would watch him open the book whether he explained himself or not and poke his forehead. "Stop being so glum. That will never help," she said looking at the book he was looking at with a bit of curiosity.

“I guess you’re right, but people have a tendency to feel this way once they enter a church. It’s a little different than other churches, there is a lot of things that can’t be faked you know. I saw the news as well, it was pretty amazing don’t you agree?” Koga then starts reading from the book itself. “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” Koga then points at lori. “Do you see that, a tale being told of new beginnings. Once you start reading this book, you start getting hooked on his words. The first thing that you wonder once you start believing is doubt. Doubt that everything you been told beforehand was a lie about this world, doubt that everything you doing up to this point was wrong. Then you start to regret everything, That’s the truth around the current feeling I have right now, regret of the most part. But…” Kogami then stands back up and stops close to Lori, he then gives off a big smile. “ I am glad that I came here today. There was a lot that I learned, and I finally have something else to believe in. Before, just living my life as a usual delinquent, I finally have some hope. I guess this was why they named that god as the “Final Hope” as to what it means, is it the last thing we can ever hope for? Have we reached the point in life that all we can hope for is our salvation? How do you truly feel about it, is this something you would want to be apart of?”

She understood him. But..."It is nice to be able to be under a sort of established ideal, so conflict would be unheard of. Having religion behind it smacks a bit of cowardice. To me, religion is only good for getting people into mindless zombies with no free will of their own," she said. She felt argumentative, and she may have upset the ones that may have heard her claim, despite her not being loud. But it was true. Religion's biggest histories was when people were fighting and killing for it. If she had an idea for a world, it would not be putting everyone under a single religion, it'd be under a single ideal. Religion always stirs conflict, because no one in history will ever find one religion, but morals are easier to shape than religions. If everyone was under the same morality, life could be easier, and we could all work for the same thing, instead of the same thing that people dress as others, as that would only bring strife and conflict.

She would return her face to his looking confused. She hardly watched television already, good luck trying to get her to know any kind of news involving a cult she just discovered this very day. "Sorry, I haven't seen the news lately. I actually just found this place today and noticed the sermon," she said. She had no reason to lie or fluff it up. She wanted to see the church and she did. She did notice however Kogami reading from the book itself, and to be honest, she tuned it out, cause now she was thinking of the architecture. Honestly, the place looked lovely. However she was a bit dumbfounded the way he pointed at her. She almost felt a bit sorry for judging the guy as he was when she first met him, but he certainly seems into this religion despite him only here to "pay his respects".

When he smiled, she tilted her head giving her own sort of half-smile. 'So he is part of the cult...maybe he was going to take me down the alley for one of his meetings...' the thought almost made her giggle, but she held it in the back of her head. "Well, once I see proof of a god, I will see about your little religion. And even then I may not join as a follower. Maybe you should hang with me more often, that way you won't have an opinion stuck to you. I mean, if you think you have proof of it fine, but I don't. And I would never use religion to do it," she said. She might have come off a bit rude the way she put it, and that thought made her frown a bit. "Sorry if I am a bit mean. Religion is just not my thing. Promote morality because it is right, not because it is what a god said. But who knows? We will see," she said. She gave a sincere smile. Maybe this guy was not too too bad. At least, not in a place populated with possible witnesses.

“Alright and what would you do if I was to provide you with truth? If seeing the man in person didn’t convince you, if the constant media attention didn’t convince you, what exactly would it take to do so? Ill tell you, it’ll have to become something else. Something to the most extreme, something that would enlighten you. It would have to be a move worth pondering over, right? Ehhh?” Kogami then had a sadistic smile on his face. “ So how about it? Want to see what heaven really looks like?” It was like time stopped for a moment as he said these words. It was a small question that Kogami wasn’t going to pester her about.

She would think on his ominous question. 'Did he have proof...? Does he even intend to show me...?' she thought. The idea of a god who could grant power to control one's soul to fight surely made a good story. But was he bluffing? Possibly, actually, probably. Her argumentative mind would probably think this until seen otherwise. "Media attention means nothing. So many fake or overblown things get unneeded media attention. But nonetheless...." she would look at his creepy smile. Still the odd duck, but in a strange way, she enjoyed the fun way he seemed to take things, and thus, gave a smile back. "I would want to be shown this ability. I want undeniable proof these miracles can happen, and this god existed. If you show me that, I will believe it. But..." she would pause. Would she still join the cult even if she did have proof? Even if she knew it existed, would it be right to preach the religion and be part of the cult? Believing in the god is one thing, believing what it teaches is another, but preaching what the god teaches, is completely different.

"I would still not join. If I believed that is one thing. Morality comes from humanity. And morality can come from religion as well, but the difference is that religion can cause conflict. Morality can be changed. Religion can't. If this god could help change the morals of the people without the need for religion, then the cult is pointless to me, and everyone except those who want an excuse to believe what they believe," she would argue. This boy was certainly interesting, if nothing else. She would soon think. Maybe he will be a fun excuse to come here than thought before..."I am going to start coming here more often. Maybe we will run into each other again," she said smiling. She would give a sly wink at him; was it a flirt? Was she interesting to her? Or was she curious? The answer was yes. "See you around Kogami. Maybe I will see "heaven" like you say," she said before slowly walking out of the church. 'A heaven...? My own personal heaven would be nice....' she would think on her way home.

((EXIT))