⚠️ Warning: This chapter contains violent scenes and graphic descriptions. The author does not intend to be sensationalist or to upset the reader. These depictions are only a way to show the graphic events being narrated. Reader discretion is advised.
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Galton was far from Vermot when he began reflecting on the decisions he was making. The Cherub who always informed him about God's movements announced that the First Saint, the Saint of Fire, was already in Vermot, and that the second Saint, the Saint of Wind, was located in Germany.
We go back to the present: January 2, 1945.
Galton had a perspective of his own immortality, remembering the many names he had, but recalling the first of them: "Thiago."
To gain a better perspective, let us go back to the year 30 A.D.
A man named Thiago walked through the streets of Galilee. He carried the pride that always defined him and was just passing through, visiting a cousin who had just arrived. The square teemed with people.
Amid the bustle, a man spoke with the voice of a prophet of the law. His message fell like rain after a drought: nothing but words of wisdom. Thiago watched him. He seemed like a simple man, yet he heard what people said about him: they proclaimed that he was the Messiah.
Curiosity overtook him. What would the man called Messiah say? He listened as the man imposed a new law for the human heart: love your enemies, pray for those who persecute and slander you.
However, Thiago could not bear it. Indignation drove him to act impulsively, and he shouted toward the Nazarene:—"Hey, you! Yes, you!" —he shouted, pushing his way through— "Are you the man they call Messiah? Are you the one supposed to free us? Then why put on this whole show? Who do you think you are to proclaim yourself? You're a damn lunatic!"
The crowd held its breath.—"You're supposed to be the Son of the great Elohim (God), the one who will free us from the Romans, right?" —Thiago insisted— "Tell me, and tell us all, are you the Messiah? Tell us why you haven't struck them with plagues like Moses did in Egypt? Or why you haven't exterminated them like Elijah exterminated the priests of Baal?
So, are you going to free us from Roman tyranny, or is all this just nonsense: loving our enemies? Yes, and then what will you tell us, that we must kneel before their gods?"
Jesus did not respond with anger. He looked at him; it was a hard gaze, not out of spite, but because seeing him made the heart scream in response, as if the body were touching the ground of God.
Thiago fell to his knees. The voice that emerged from that calm man spoke truths that unsettled and, at the same time, broke the soul.
Jesus spoke:—"You do not know the Son of God, nor do you understand why He has come. And even if I revealed the greatest mysteries of Israel, you could not comprehend them. Because of your pride, your heart shuts; if you do not know the slavery of your own soul, how will you know what God frees you from?" —he said— "If you do not understand the work of the Saint, how can you demand justice if you do not know what justice is?
He who harbors anger in his heart is blinded by fear he cannot bear; and that anger drags many, even under my grace and blessing, they are lost in the end."
Humiliation did not calm Thiago; it enraged him even more. He left as best he could, with rage clinging to his chest. As he walked, people looked at him, and it only added to his shame.
He had no choice but to return home, lock the doors, and cover the windows.
He spent the afternoon in silence, repeating to himself that he had only had a bad day, trying to bury the image of the Nazarene, though he could not stop feeling the guilt and confusion that haunted him.
Once in the darkness of his home, he preferred to eat something light and then sleep. However, as soon as he lay down, he heard footsteps on the roof breaking the silence.
Thiago was involved in the illegal slave trade and networks of smuggling valuable goods —leather, wool, gold—; his connection to anti-Rome organizations had put him in the crosshairs of ruthless men.
By orders of their leaders, they attacked him to silence him and protect their operations. The shadow of death approached, and Thiago could only feel terror as he sensed what was coming.
Thiago looked into the darkness of his room, trying to identify the first shadow that would strike him. He felt his heart wanting to escape his chest, as if courage itself had a heartbeat.
The first man lunged at Thiago. He managed to hold his hands for a moment. While restraining one of the attackers, he felt the air leave his lungs and his flesh tear: a knife pierced his side.
A surge of survival coursed through his body. His legs pushed him out of the room and he rammed the one guarding the door. He staggered toward the farmlands. He looked back; the other men were not following.
He could only think of one thing: they weren't chasing him because they knew he wouldn't make it to ask for help. Blood poured from his ribs. And finally, he collapsed on the path.—"I don't want to die… Lord, save me," —he whispered, feeling life slipping away.
A shadow approached. Thiago, mouth full of blood, pleaded:—"Stay away, please. Don't kill me…"
But the shadow did not come to kill him. It leaned down and spoke with a voice that did not ask, but revealed:—"God knows the why of all things. He understands the purpose of the wounds you suffer. He reveals to men mysteries that the human heart cannot comprehend.
Otherwise, how would they even know such mysteries exist? How would they know who I am?"
"I am the one who is to come. The one who was from the beginning. And the one who endures through the ages. I am He whom they call the Source of Life."
—"Man, that wound you have… it is no longer there. And those who were chasing you… you no longer hear them."
Thiago thought he heard things that surpassed language. He noticed that the wound on his side no longer burned. The footsteps of the pursuers had vanished. A strange calm enveloped him.
Then the voice dictated what his path would be:—"Come with me. It is necessary to show you what God has called you for," —he said— "Those who see me, see a prophecy.
He who is among you is because he has spoken my name. My Father has seen you, Thiago, and He believes that a man like you could change the course of those who are not yet born. You will see forty-five lights; each one is a soul, a saint. You must find them. My Father will guide you. This will remain between you and me. Perhaps we will never meet again."
Thiago trembled, and his voice broke as he stammered apologies:—"Lord… wait… I didn't know who you were…"
—"Look," —Jesus replied— "There is more in the life of a single man than in that of thousands of kings."
Thiago closed his eyes, trying to contain the dizziness that overwhelmed him. When he opened them, the world had transformed.
A vast firmament exploded before him: millions of stars twinkled, and planets spun like fiery coins suspended in the void. The vision tore him from his body, as if his soul had detached, and deposited him in a strange jungle, where a heavy, humid wind smelled of freshly turned earth.
In an instant, he was far from Galilee, far from everything he knew.
Despite being chosen by God, Thiago carried in his chest the shadow of his own fall. The irony of a stubborn mind accompanied him, and echoes of the past resonated in every corner of his soul, reminding him of the sins he had committed and the voices that still whispered his mistakes.
The light of his calling did not lift the burden, but revealed it: even the chosen must bear their story.
Every shadow, every memory, every misstep intertwined with the destiny that had been granted to him.
And so, as the heavy jungle wind smelled of freshly turned earth, Thiago understood that being touched by the divine was not liberation, but a testament to the power and the burden that every soul carries when entrusted with a higher purpose.