ML C8, P8- "Children Of Faith"

"Children Of Faith" is the eighth Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's eighth Chapter- "For Whom The Bell Tolls". It was released on 04.04.2020.
== Plot ==
Jared wants to see his wounded friend- John and support him throughout his recovery.
However, his plans are changed when he learns that the mayor of Paris is in danger, and is trapped in his residence.
Jared goes to save the man from a fate worse than death, knowing that it is a question of minutes in this matter.
Meanwhile, John wakes up and asks for his friend. When he's told that he's going to fight the monsters near the mayor's residence alone, he decides (with lots of regret) to let him be a solo hero for once and prays for his safety.
== Story ==
Jared and the soldier arrive at the residence.
That is when Jared realizes that the situation is much worse than he thought it would be.
Somehow, the monsters have destroyed the barricade (which was presumably built by the mayor's soldiers to protect him).
However, now the barricade is destroyed, the monsters are going to break down the front door soon and the mayor is in grave danger.
"There, sir."- The soldier says- "The monsters are close to breaking down the door."
Jared looks around for a while. Then he nods.
"Well, the situation is indeed very bad. But... where are the rest of the soldiers?"
The soldier shakes his head.
"Look around."- He says.
Jared does so and sees what has become of the soldiers.
Apparently, the soldiers managed to make one last stand trying to fight the humanoids. They fought valiantly and died defending the mayor from them.
"No... "- He says to himself- "Why? Why didn't I come here earlier? Why was I so slow to understand how dangerous this situation is right now?!"
It is more than clear that Jared blames himself for the soldiers' deaths, even though he didn't even have the chance to help them out. Nonetheless, this causes a great deal of sadness for the young hero.
The soldier notices Jared's sadness and nods.
"Yep. I am the only one left."
"But... what happened to the mayor?"
"I stayed with him. That's why I'm still alive. He told me to find you, so I came out of a secret passage and tried to evade the monsters."
"Unfortunately, some of them managed to detect me and sent most of their friends to chase me down, but I managed to trick them and escape. It was very hard, though."
"I appreciate your effort in trying to find me."- Jared says, smiling- "But now is not the time to talk. We must find the mayor and help him out."
The soldier nods.
"Come with me."
Jared and the soldier go to the east side of the mansion.
"Jab the loose brick three times and the passage will open."- He whispers to the young hero.
Jared does so. He jabs the loos brick three times and passage does indeed open for him.
When he turns around, he sees that the soldier is not the same as before.
"Thank you."- He says and turns into a ghost.
Then, he bows his head deeply and turns into a pile of stardust that slowly floats away, never to return again.
Jared looks up sadly as it does so, confused by what just happened.
"What?"- He says to himself- "He wasn't... real?"
Jared shakes his head in dismay and enters the residence through the passage.
Once he's in there, he inspects the location. He notices that he is in the kitchen of the residence, but is too distracted by the monsters trying to break in through the front door.
He looks around, trying to find if the mayor is hidden somewhere around there, but finds nothing.
At first, he decides to leave and fight the monsters. However, he is forced to stop when he hears a strange sound coming from nearby.
He hears a barely audible "Help! Help!" coming from nearby.
He opens the door that is leading to the bedroom and sees that the mayor is standing in the corner of the room, cowering in fear and holding a small dagger in his left hand.
"Mayo-- "
The mayor screams and swings his dagger around wildly as Jared tries to approach him.
"Mayor, calm down. It's me."
"Go away, you wretched fiends! Go away from my city! By the powers that I have been given, I command you to go away!"- The mayor yells, seemingly unaware that a friendly face is standing in front of him.
Jared notices that he's covered in the blood of the humanoids that he killed earlier. That's what makes him look like one of them.
Now it makes sense why they didn't detect him with their enhanced cognitive and smelling abilities.
"Don't come closer! I don't want to die. I don't want to die... "- The mayor yells and whispers to himself.
Jared takes a bucket of water from nearby and pours it on himself, washing the blood off his clothes.
The mayor finally sees that this is Jared- a person he can trust. That calms him.
A little bit.
"My goodness, Jared!"- He exclaims- "It's so good to see you!"
"It's the same for me, sir."- Jared responds and shakes his hand- "But now is not the time for simple, casual talk. We have to do something about the monsters outside. But first, we have to get you out of here and place you somewhere where you will be actually safe."
The mayor shakes his head.
"No, Jared. I can't come with you. Not while my soldiers are still fighting out there!"
Jared's sadness returns when the mayor mentions the soldiers outside.
The mayor notices this and raises his eyebrow.
"Is everything okay with them?"- He asks Jared.
The boy wonders what to tell the mayor- whether he will tell him the truth or not.
However, he decides to lie about them, just so he can carry him to safety without much trouble.
"Don't worry about them, mayor."- He says- "Me and the soldier met the soldiers on our way to your residence. They said that they're going to defend the city hall from the monsters and told us to get you there."
The mayor nods.
"But... where's the soldier? He was so brave to come here and protect me personally. But now he's not."
Jared sighs.
"Well, the soldier, uhh... he went back to the city hall with the other soldier. He is... waiting for you there."
The mayor's eyes light up with excitement.
"Well, let's go then!"
Jared shakes his head.
"I agree, but we need to handle this situation."- He says and points at the window.
The two of them look outside and see that the monsters are still trying to break through the front door. Although they are now less than before Jared tried to enter.
"I have a plan, but you need to outside and back away from the house so I can get on with it. There is a passage in the kitchen. Go through it and you will find yourself near the eastern end of the residence. Once you're done with that, back away. A lot."
The mayor nods and goes outside. 
Jared makes sure that he is at a safe distance away from the residence and pulls an item out of his pocket.
It's a magical stone that generates holy fire- a gift given to him by his father when he woke up from his slumber not too long ago.
He lights it up with one of his matches and places it on the ground near the front door.
Once he's done, he opens the front door and lets the monsters in while he leaves and carefully closes the door behind them.
The white flame engulfs the house and burns the monsters down.
The mayor screams as he watches the flames spread more and more.
"Don't worry, mayor."- Jared says- "The flames will go away in a few moments and your house will look the same afterwards. Trust me."
The mayor nods and watches as the flames die down after a few moments. 
He enters the house and looks around. Everything is pretty much the same. Except for the humanoids who were in there.
Now, there is nothing left of them. No corpses. No weapons.
Nothing.
"I've gotta be honest with you, Jared."- The mayor says- "I am more amazed by what just happened in my house than the fact that a dozen monsters were just outside a few moments ago."
Jared nods.
"You will get used to it, mayor. Eventually."
"I'm sure I will. Now let's go. My soldiers are awaiting my return."
Jared and the mayor walk toward the city hall.
The mayor walks proudly on the streets, seemingly unaware of what is happening around him.
Jared looks around sadly, seeing survivors who are fighting for their lives against an army of seemingly endless humanoids. And he is unable to help them out due to his duty to protect the mayor and take him to the city hall safely.
Just when they're near the city hall, Jared notices a priest struggling against a band of goblins who are about to kill him.
He tries to get the mayor's attention.
"Mayor! Mayor, there is... "
The mayor turns around, looks at the priest and shakes his head.
"I know that you want to help him, Jared, but it is too late now. This is survival of the fittest and everyone has to fight for themselves. And this person was unable to do so, so he has to-- "
"Never say never!"- Jared says and leaves the mayor to save the man from the monsters.
"Wait! Jared! What about me?"- The mayor says.
Jared shakes his head.
"Mayor, I hate to say it, but you're not the most important person in the world! There are people around here that I still have to protect. You're not the only one."
"You know what I do best- to "Protect and serve" !"
The mayor becomes terrified. He looks around and fails to notice an ogre approaching him.
Jared finally kills the last goblin and saves the man from them.
"Thank you so much, my righteous child! I am forever grateful for what you have done now!"- The priest says and shakes his savior's hand.
Jared smiles.
"It is my pleasure to help out, sir. Please stay out of danger next time, if you can avoid it."
The priest smiles and nods.
That's when Jared hears the mayor's scream. The man tries to get away from an ogre and enter the city hall, but is unsuccessful due to his overall speed.
The ogre easily catches up to him and grabs him by the shirt, ready to kill him.
"Sorry, sir. I've got to help him."- Jared says and hurries to save the mayor from the monster.
The priest smiles as he watches Jared fight valiantly against the huge beast all by himself.
"If only there were more people like him, this world would be much safer."- He says to himself.
Jared manages to kill the ogre, albeit with lots of difficulty.
The mayor lets out a sigh of relief.
"Why did you do that?!"- He screams at Jared.
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"Mayor, you know that my duty is to protect all of the citizens of our big, big city. And you're the one who has to know it the most."
The priest approaches the two and pats the mayor on the shoulder.
"Mayor, don't blame the child for being the hero this godforsaken city needs. Instead, try to motivate him. Be more respectful towards his decisions."
The mayor thinks about this.
"You know what, priest? You're right. Jared has saved our lives many times and I have to show my respect to our hero."
He shakes Jared's hand.
"I'm sorry for being so hostile earlier, Jared. I hope you didn't take it seriously. I just... wanted to make you feel more motivated."
"You sure did, mayor."- Jared says and smiles.
He turns to the priest.
"So, you are a priest?"
The priest nods.
"Of course. I am the one chosen by the God to guide our people towards the right path."
"Yes. I understand."- He says, clearly unimpressed. For now.
"My mother is very injured and she needs help. Do you mind if I carry her here, so you can heal her?'
The priest nods.
"I cannot guarantee full healing to your mother's body, but I promise that I will try, at the very least."
Jared nods and goes to get his mother.
The three of them, along with Commander Jones take her to the city hall and place her on the mayor's sofa.
"Mom, you shouldn't worry anymore. The priest will heal you and you will be fine very soon."
Seiko smiles.
"Thank you, son. Good job on finding him."
Jared smiles and holds his mother's hand for a while.
"You said that you had faith in me, mom. Do you still have it?"
Seiko nods, smiles and kisses her son's hand.
"It's all about faith, honey. My faith ain't never been stronger."
"Up until now, I prayed for your safety. I had faith that you would succeed. And look at you now! You did so much to save the city, to keep its residents safe from the monsters that are roaming the streets. And I'm sure that you succeed in that very soon. Just... don't lose your own faith, honey. Your faith in saving this world. Saving its residents. And saving me."
Jared nods.
"My faith is as strong as yours, mom. And I've never lost it. It has been burning like a fire in my heart ever since I was born. And it hasn't stopped burning. Nothing can put it down."
He turns to the priest.
"Could you please check her condition out, please?"
The priest nods and inspects Seiko's wound.
"It is pretty severe, but it is nothing that I cannot handle. It will take quite a while to heal, though."
"Would you mind, Jared?"
Jared nods.
"We will leave you to perform the procedures."
The priest nods and begins casting several healing spells on the wound.
Jared and the mayor sit in the waiting hall.
"So, Jared. I see that my soldiers aren't here right now. Could you please tell me what happened to them.
Jared sweats as he realizes that he has to tell the mayor what really happened to the soldiers.
Meanwhile, John opens his eyes and looks around.
He realizes that he is in a tent.
"Where... am I?"- He wonders aloud.
The medic enters the tent and sees that he is awake.
"Ah! I see that you're awake. Welcome back!"- He says.
However, John doesn't seem to notice him.
"Must find my friend. Must. Find. Jared."- He says weakly as he tries to get up.
However, he only succeeds in falling off the bed.
The medic shakes his head.
"And it seems like you are not ready to help your friend yet."
He helps him get back on the bed.
"Wait. What happened to Jared."
"The kid is out there, fighting the monsters around the mayor's residence, trying to save him from them."
"Well, I hope that he succeeds."
The medic nods and smiles.
"We all do, buddy. But all we can do now is watch as he takes them down. Or the other way around. While I heal your wounds so you can help him later."
John nods.
"Very well then."
He lies to the side of the bed and closes his eyes as the medic treats his wounds, silently praying for the safety of his friend and the city.
== Trivia ==
* Seiko's words to her son- Jared ("It's all about faith, honey. My faith ain't never been stronger.") are a reference to Hershel Greene in The Walking Dead comic series where he says the same words to his daughter- Maggie.