>> “It’s been a month. They have not come back at all. I keep checking, every day, just to make sure but there are simply no signs of them. Whatever my rescuer did…it seems permanent.”

“Wow,” Gina breathed. She absently touched her shoulder, where the flesh warbled with a very recent scar. DocProf had only been able to do so much, but even so, Gina didn’t know if she’d give the scar up or not, given the offer. Her kneejerk reaction was, yes, she’d want to rid of it. It was ugly scar and was tied to bad memories. Yet in the same regard, the young gargoyle couldn’t imagine being without it, now. She smiled and leaned back, brushing away the pensive.

“That’s really cool,” Gina sighed, “Such a stand-up thing for someone to do.”

>> “Whatever Sebastian did…I have to take him for it. I…I don’t know if I would be here if it were not for him. Sorry, the man who saved me, his name is Sebastian. And…I owe him so much…”

“Sebastian, huh?” Gina echoed, toying with a ringlet of hair. It would be a nice gesture, to do something in return for such a selfless act, “Maybe treat him to dinner? Or we could make him something... or are you in-contact with him?”

Gina realized that if some man healed you after an altercation, they probably wouldn’t keep in-touch with you, but on the slim chance that he had, it’d be nice for them to show their appreciation.

Gina began to relax again and so did Agnes. The young runaway was definitely feeling much better about her situation. She was worried that Gina was going to really freak out about the fact that she didn’t possess her scars anymore. And while her sister was very excited, it was a good kind of excited. That just made the situation all the better. Agnes had reached a real turning point in her life because of that man.

That is not to say that Agnes based everything on appearance. It was simply the fact that her parents had scarred her in such a way that she would never be able to forget what they had done to her. Mental scars, there was at least SOME hope of getting over it, of learning to live with it; but the scars that they had placed on her had been done in a most heinous manner. It was done simply for the fact of its cruelty and because she would never simply heal over or be able to ignore it. Some scars people can avoid looking at and eventually just forget it was there. What they did…they made sure it was never possible for her to forget.

But Sebastian wiped all that away. And that made her feel the best of all. She had a chance to really and truly live a normal life now…

>> “Sebastian, huh? Maybe treat him to dinner? Or we could make him something... or are you in-contact with him?”[/color]

Agnes shrugged a little as she sat back against the bench. The cool breeze of the afternoon felt comfortable as it wafted across the features of her face.

“I…know where he is. I haven’t spoken to him since the incident,” she replied as she turned her attention back to him. “It’s funny. He actually RUNS a mutant church in the city!” she said with a little bit of wonder. “He was explaining it to me and at first I thought he was just another fanatic trying to convert me, but a lot of what he said made sense.”

>> “I…know where he is. I haven’t spoken to him since the incident. It’s funny. He actually RUNS a mutant church in the city! He was explaining it to me and at first I thought he was just another fanatic trying to convert me, but a lot of what he said made sense.”

“A mutant church?” Gina echoed. Well, no wonder the guy had helped a girl like Agnes out! He was a pastor! Gina hadn’t been a particularly religious youth—in her elementary school years, church on Sunday had been a given, but with the Registration she became more of a twice-a-year girl, and only went to church on Easter and Christmas. It was difficult to attend church when you looked like something demonic.

“Fancy that,” Gina reiterated, “A mutant church. Have you gone to a service yet?”

It would be an interesting thing to see. Maybe she could tag along with Agnes sometime, make sure it was legitimate, and personally thank the kind man that had helped her sister. That is, if Agnes had attended anything. If not, then there was no harm, no foul.

>> “A mutant church?”[/color]

Agnes nodded enthusiastically. It really must have been odd to see the young runaway endorsing a church. After all, with her experience with organized religion, it was obvious that she really had nothing nice to say about them. It was because of religion and the fervor it can create in people that she had been scarred in the first place, that she had been separated from her brother, that she had nearly died not just once…but twice…

And yet here she was, actually with nothing bad to say about a church. That really must have been a first for the record books. Never did she ever think that she would be in this position and yet here she was.

Agnes rested back against the bench and looked out over the grassy lawns. A warm breeze had rustled through and shook her wings briefly. It really did feel good to feel the air passing over them. She could not wait to fly constantly for real…

>> “Fancy that…A mutant church. Have you gone to a service yet?”[/color]

She shook her head.

“No. I…I mean I respect the type of work that Sebastian is doing, ya know?” Agnes explained. “He said that we mutants can help in more ways than just, you know, fighting each other and defending ourselves. He says that by offering our hands to help that we can really make a difference in the world.” She sighed and meekly shrugged her shoulder. “What he says, his vision, it all sounds…just so wonderful. But…you know, I still have some misgivings. Religion and I…heh…we REALLY don’t mix well…”

Agnes placed her hand over her stomach where the scarring had been. It was gone now, forever, but she would always remember that it was there. Maybe her parents’ actions had not been as erased as she had hoped for…

>> “No. I…I mean I respect the type of work that Sebastian is doing, ya know? He said that we mutants can help in more ways than just, you know, fighting each other and defending ourselves. He says that by offering our hands to help that we can really make a difference in the world.”

Gina nodded her head slowly. Those sounded like some very wise words.

“Totally Zen,” Gina commented approvingly, stroking her chin.

>> “What he says, his vision, it all sounds…just so wonderful. But…you know, I still have some misgivings. Religion and I…heh…we REALLY don’t mix well…”

“Yeah, that’s understandable,” Gina agreed. Her inquiry had only been a matter of polite curiosity, even if it had been a stupid question. Of course Agnes hadn’t been to a service, not with how her parents had been such religious fanatics. Super-stupid topic. Gina cleared her throat and dug for a quick subject-change.

“You did well today,” Gina said to her sister, getting to her feet and lightly shouldering the taller of the two, “And that calls for celebration. My vote is for smoothies!”

Gina linked arms with her sister, and the two of them departed for a hard-earned reward.

End.