"Now choose; Will you serve god, or... will you reject god."
Finn's mind raced. The choice— whether to serve god, to reject god reverberated like a resounding gong, it ran through his mind like a chilly ice bath. He had three choices to that statement, but he was in a quandary— out of the three, the choice he wanted to make was to accept.
But he still had his mother and sister to look after, going after revenge while still having a family to look after was not the best choice he could make. So the most plausible option was—
'To ask for more time', Judge thought, Judge had seen it before— the hesitation of a man torn between duty and desire, loyalty to family, and thirst for revenge.
Finn had three choices. The first was to reject, while it was an option, he would never take it.
The second was accepting, while being the most probable, it was unlikely that he would take it, considering the fact that he had people to look after.
So, the most viable option was for him to ask for more time. But just accepting would ruin the image of him as the great observer, and he still needed the guy with a strong sense of revenge against the church of the god night.
Finn clenched his fists, Derek's blood-soaked image crept into his thoughts, his friend's body destroyed into pieces that were too grotesque to be real. Rage simmered beneath Finn's skin, pushing aside reason for just a moment. They killed him.
But then, he could hear his mother's soft cough in the back of his mind, a reminder of his responsibilities. Teresa's laugh echoed faintly, a harsh contrast to the stillness of the house. Could he truly leave them behind? The need to protect them gnawed at him.
"I... I need more time." He stammered, his voice barely above a whisper, not quite ready to commit. He had to find a way to ensure his family would be safe before he could even consider serving some masked stranger claiming to be a god's observer.
There it is, Judge thought with a smirk beneath his mask. Exactly as expected. Judge could have told him that serving god would not affect his family life, but he had another motive behind his actions.
While Finn could become a good weapon to be used against the church of Night, his family could get in between his decisions. So Judge had to get rid of all the obstacles, and turn Finn into a proper weapon.
Judge spoke after a deliberate pause, "Very well, I shall respect your choices." He walked forward, still holding the mask forward. "Keep the mask." He watched as Finn took the mask from his hand.
'Perfect, now for the final push.' Judge smirked behind his mask.
"The church of the god of night," Judge muttered, his voice was low but very audible. The weight of his words hung in the air.
"What?!" there came the surprised voice of Finn.
"They are the ones behind your friend's death," He said, tipping his dark hat that he quickly conjured up. "There will come a time when you need power... I will take my leave then."
Judge vanished into the darkness as Finn watched him in awe, confused. Suddenly, the entire world around him shifted, he felt dizzy, and before he could register what was happening, he woke up in his bed.
Suddenly, he heard a surprised voice. "Finn!" It was his cousin, Teresa, she was sitting beside his bed, cutting some fruits.
"Teresa? Wasn't I just ahh..." Finn clutched his head, it was hearing really badly.
"Take it easy Finn, you've been out for three days." She put away the tray on her lap to the small table nearby.
"Three days?" Finn was confused, but before he could get answers, he heard his mother's call from across the house. "Teresa, please come here for a second."
"Stay here Finn, you should not move around. I will be right back." She left after saying that.
He looked at his cousin who just hurried off with a thoughtful face, what would happen to them if he had gone? The thought dawned on him, he needed revenge, but he could not tie his life to it. He still had to look after his family, Teresa and his mother could not live without his support.
With a determined thought, he removed his blankets and got off of his bed. He did not know why he was back there, it might be that the observer of god played a trick on his mind to visit him in his sleep, he somehow felt relieved that he had not finished the beer he had saved for later.
Scanning the whole wooden room, his gaze fell upon a rather fancy wooden box that was tucked away in the distant corner. It was not too fancy, but it definitely did not belong in the place.
It was a deep reddish brown wooden box, it had metal edges that were painted white. The corners and the lock were both made of copper. The chest would sell for a good price if they were having a hard time, yet it was the only thing that was not poor inside his room.
He kneeled near the box and slowly unlocked it, as if it was a treasure he sought after and he finally got it after countless trials.
There was nothing but a sleek sword inside the box, it was long and white, without much design. There was a pink catalyst on the end of the handle, it lit up in a bright red color as he touched it.
Catalysts were extremely rare when it came to small villages , and they were absolutely not something someone poor like Finn could afford. The sword was his mother's, he took the sword out of the box and ran his hand on the surface of the white scabbard.
An old scene played in his mind, a time when his parents worked as mercenaries, a time when he was taught how to wield a sword. His mother and father used to fight over whether he would learn a sleek sword or a broad sword.