Chapter 13:  Zenogias Under Fire

 

 

 

 

     He found himself in the balcony-like structure again…but this time it seemed more like a courtyard.  In front of his was someone he now knew:  Ghaleon, and the sky, which was a purple swirl, was changing into the black of evil.

     “So, you’re the Musia’s champion,” Ghaleon spoke in a cold voice, “Just like a bad gil, you come back no matter what I do to be rid of you.”

     “I will not go anywhere until you and those on your side are vanquished…including the Dark Master,” Citan replied, fire burning in his now-black eyes.

     “So…you know the truth.  You got this far, I'll give you that.  However, those ladies behind you will ensure that I will win this...won't you?"

     He turned and saw what he now knew was the six Musias on a stage.  He recognized three of them now:  Eve, Elly and the one that looked like Yui, Dena.

     “What are you going to do…?” he asked.

     Dena did not reply to him, but spoke in a strong, authoritative voice for a few moments.  What she said, though, he could not later remember.

     She then looked at Eve and began to sing.

     This time, though…Citan suddenly was looking at himself…and saw the white begin to envelop his own body.

     Ghaleon shouted angrily, "No the target is me, not him, you simpletons!”

     The Zenogias native gasped as he watched himself change…the sword he wielded became longer, white things coming out of his back, his outfit completely changing, and his hair loose and consumed in white fire…

     Dena raised her arms to the sky and shouted, “Mitochondria…be free!”

     At that moment, even though he was outside of his body, the white light blinded him for a long time…then faded into black.

 

     He heard a heartbeat, but saw nothing but blackness.

     “What is going on…?  Why do I keep having this dream?” he asked.

     “Because you are the cona-trey,” he heard a woman reply.

     The voice’s owner became visible in front of him.  Unlike the other times, he did not recognize this person.

     This woman had long black hair and wore an outfit similar to the ones that the Musias wore in the reoccurring dream.

     “Who are you?” he asked.

     “Someone from ages past,” she replied, her voice urgent yet monotone, “I traveled alongside Althena and four others.”

     He nodded and said, “You’re a Musia.”

     “I was a Musia.  I passed on long ago.  But…you are the cona-trey, and your battle with the Dark Master’s messengers, Ghaleon and Ultimecia, is destined and unavoidable.”

     “What does this mean?”

     “You heard what Dulcinea said about that…”

     “All right, then a better question:  in the past times, what happened to the Musias?”

     She shook her head and said, “Sometimes, we all survived the battle…and sometimes one or more died.  It depends on the relationships.”

     “Relationships?”

     “Yes.  The song of Revelation, that you call Femmes Fatales, changes its target into their true form and lasts indefinitely…until the battle it is involved in is over.  However, as Dena told you, the song can also kill its singers.”

     “Yes.”

     “I do know that five of the current Musias have significant relationships that will permit them to survive.”

     “Which five?”

     “Julia has her husband and daughter…Victoria has her devotion towards my old friend, Philemon…Eve has her sister, Aya—“

     “Sister?!”

     The woman looked at him and said, “You did not know…Luna, or rather, Althena, has a young man named Alex…and as you know, Elly has Fei.”

     “Yes…but how do you know all of this?”

     “That matters not.  Citan, I must ask you something, and it is very important.  Do you harbor feelings for Dena?”

     “For Deindra?”

     “Yes, for the Musia of Earth.”

     He looked at the woman and replied, “When I first came to Earth, I thought I did…but that was because of her resemblance of my dead wife, Yui.  Time passed, though…”

     She nodded but prompted, “But?”

     “I do care about Deindra as a friend, yes, but feelings?” he replied and shook his head before adding, “I’m afraid not.”

     The woman’s expression became grave and she said, “…I see.”

     “What is wrong?”

     “Citan…I am sorry to tell you this…but Dena does have feelings towards you.”

     He blinked in surprise and said in a low voice, “How can she…for someone she met only a month before…?”

     She shook her head and replied, “It is not as rare as you think.  But…it does not matter now.  No matter how the battle with Ghaleon goes, that young woman will die.”

     The Musia saw a look of shock and sharp pain in his face.

     “Is there no way to save her?” he asked, his voice cracking for a second.

     She started to say something, but instead, she replied, “There is none now.  Although, as you yourself know, battles and war do not come without lives being sacrificed, and this will be no different.”

     At this, the strange woman faded away.

 

     “Wait, come back here--!”

     He heard himself say this as he sat up.

     Citan looked around and saw himself in the quarters that he had chosen on Conductor.

     “Another dream,” he murmured.

     However, the pain he felt did not fade.

     He went to a desk and touched a few switches.

     “Aya?” he called out after a moment.

     “Is something wrong, Citan?  You sound really upset,” he heard her ask.

     “Would you please come to my quarters for a moment or two?  I have some questions—about Eve.”

     “All right,” she said and shut her end off.

     He made sure that he was presentable and five minutes after the end of the communication, there was a beep in the room.

     “Come in,” he said.

     As expected, Aya came in, looking a bit worried.

     “What’s going on?” she asked.

     “Aya,” he asked her, “Why did you not mention that you are related to Eve?”

     She asked, suspicious, “Who told you?”

     He then explained the dream to the Evolution native.

     The LAPD officer nodded and replied, “Yes, it’s true…Eve is my sister.  When we were both children, my mother and sister, Maya, were in a fatal accident.  What I didn’t know then was that the liver cells inside Maya were being cultivated.  When a little girl named Melissa was in the hospital the same night, well…one of the doctors took Maya’s liver and put it into the second girl.”

     He said, “And the mitochondria with it.”

     “Yes.  I had surgery done on one of my eyes and Maya’s cornea was inserted…which Eve used to ‘trigger’ me when she awoke inside Melissa just a few months before.  Well, a few months ago where I come from, anyway.”

     “I see.  You mentioned that something happened in a city on your world.”

     “That’s right.  The kids from Persona saw the aftermath, but…Citan, you’re well versed in science, so you could probably make an educated guess as to what happened after Eve awoke.”

     He nodded and replied, “Spontaneous combustion, mass deaths…and probably an attempt at reproduction.”

     “Yes, an attempt that succeeded.  I was forced to destroy the results of that.”

     “I imagine it would be difficult to have to do that to something that was not only just born…but also, technically, to your own nephew, or niece.”

     Aya blinked and said, “I never thought about it that way, about it being my nephew, but you’re right.  It was.”

     “There is something else I want to ask you.”

     “What is it?”

     “Every time I have had this dream, about the battle with Ghaleon, Dena always shouts a statement I do not understand completely.”

     “What does she say?”

     “It is:  Mitochondria, be free.”

     Her eyes widened at this with shock.

     “According to Eve…the mitochondria have been trying to liberate themselves from their hosts for many millenia. “

     “Meaning humans.”

     “You got it.  A few times, they succeeded…and the two times I know about happened somewhat recently.  The first time in Japan, and the second time is when Eve awoke in Melissa.  Citan, what that statement means is that when the battle happens, your mitochondria will be freed by Dena and will completely take over.”

     The shock and pain returned to his face at this.

     “I will wind up…like Eve?”

     “I don’t know.  You might…and you might become something completely different from her.”

     He nodded and said in a low voice, “Now I know…now I know how Fei really felt when I told him about Id…”

     Aya shook her head, not pretending to understand what he was talking about.

     “How are Alex, Jessica and Nall settling in?” he asked her.

     “Andrea says they’re quick learners.  Alex and Nall are sharing quarters while Jessica has her own.”

     He nodded and said, “Dragons, worlds with magic…our worlds being games on Earth, Personas…a multiverse…months ago I would have denied that any of this existed.”

     “I think we all know the feeling.  We came from different points, but this mission of ours has already changed us all forever…and maybe our worlds along with us.”

     He looked at her pensively and unconsciously tapped his foot.

     “Aya, I must know,” he said firmly, “Eve is one of the six Musia.  Whether or not she will still cause the mitochondria to revolt or not is not the issue at the moment.  What is, though is if your relationship with her will cause a problem in the mission.”

     She looked right at him and replied, “Not at all, sir.  I was the one to exter—I mean to put an end to her plans for Evolution.  Saving her and the others from Ghaleon and Ultimecia comes first.”

     He nodded then added, “Correct.”

     “But what about Dena?  Citan, if what you told me is true, we’ll lose one of the Musias no matter what.”

     “Deindra’s life is irrelevant.”

     “That’s bull.  Put on the mask in front of others if you want, but stop lying to me and stop lying to yourself about her.”

     Before anything further could be said, the intercom went off and Nate’s voice could be heard.

     “Captain Uzuki, Dulcinea reports that we are approaching Zenogias.”

     “Understood.  On my way,” he replied then shut the intercom off.  He turned to Aya and said in a no-nonsense tone, “We will discuss this later.”

 

***************

 

     Andrea sat in her chair at the communications board, looking between the planet that was beginning to fill the viewscreen and at Atlus nervously.

     Ellen sat in one of the other chairs and said to her, “We better start scanning for enemies.  Dulcinea, do you have any records as to what all life forms are on this planet?”

     “Affirmative, Ellen.”

     “Then scan the planet for foreign hostiles.”

     “Acknowledged.  Scanning now.”

     A couple of minutes later, the door to the bridge opened to admit Citan and Aya.  The former walked to his chair and ordered, “Dulcinea, scan the planet for foreign hostiles.”

     “Ellen has already given that order, Captain Uzuki,” the computer replied, “Foreign hostiles confirmed on the Ignas continent and the Aquavy Islands.”

     “What part of the Ignas continent?”

     “Checking…hostiles found in the Lahan and Aveh regions.”

     “Lahan--!” Andrea exclaimed.  She looked at Citan and said, “That place is just being rebuilt!”

     “It has been rebuilt,” he corrected her while not liking the fact that someone from another world knew his own as well as he did.

     “Your orders, Captain?”  Atlus asked.

     “Land the ship at Lahan and prepare for hand-to-hand combat,” he replied, “Atlus, Ellen, Andrea and Alex, you four find the Chief and look for survivors.  Aya, Chris and Nate, you are with me.  The rest of you stay here and protect the ship.  The last thing we need is for the hostiles to take it.”

     “Understood,” was the reply from everyone on the bridge.

 

     Billy shook his head as he and Fei left the village chief’s house.  The younger man, an albino, looked somewhat haggard and drawn, with his hair disheveled.

     “It seems as though everything’s gone downhill ever since the stranger arrived and took Elly…and killed—“ he started.

     “Don’t say it!  Doc’s still alive, he’s just not here,” Fei replied, “Midori and Chu-Chu went with that group I told you about to find him.”

     “I don’t know, Fei.  It sounds like a wild tale to me…but then again, I can’t really explain why the rash in new monsters or the man that arrived.  Let us pray that Midori and Chu-Chu will be all right…and that Elly will be safe.”

     “Oh, I have been, count on it.  I wanna be out wherever Doc and those two are, but what if these goons try to attack the planet?”

     Right then, Emeralda was hurrying up to the two of them at quite a speed, even for a nanomachine colony.  “Billy, Fei!  We have intruders!”

     Fei’s eyes narrowed as Billy’s own widened.  “I knew it,” the former said, “What kind are they?”

     “The new monsters have been spotted in Blackmoon Forest, heading this way.  A few of them from the mountains came down and are just outside the village.  Bart, Sigurd and Rico are fighting them off,” she replied.

     “Monsters?  We need to get there right away!” Billy exclaimed and started running off in that direction before Fei could stop him.

     The young man shook his head and Emeralda added, “I spotted something else on my way back here.”

     “What else could be here?”

     “A silver spacecraft landed between Blackmoon Forest and Lahan.  I didn’t have time to check it out though.”

     Fei groaned, “Just what we need…Billy’s right, things really are going downhill.  First, let’s help Bart and the others, then we can deal with the forest and the ship.”

     “Yes,” she simply replied and the two of them ran as fast as they could to the battle site.

 

     Citan shook his head mentally as he, Aya, Chris and Nate entered Lahan with the second group.

     Andrea looked about and saw that the village seemed intact…and also in a wide-eyed manner.  “This certainly looks different than in the game…” she said in a quiet tone.

     “The real thing always looks different,” he replied.

     Atlus looked about them and remarked, “It almost seems quiet.  I have a feeling the monsters aren’t here, at least yet.”

     At this, one of the villagers, a familiar young man with a strange, red hairstyle walked up to them.  “Doc Citan??  So you really are alive!”

     “What is going on, Dan?” the doctor asked.

     “We’re under attack!  Some new monsters came down the mountain and started attacking us.  Bart and the others took off for the edge of town to fight ‘em.  Plus, Emeralda said something about a bunch more in the forest—“

     “Atlus, take Dan with your group,” Citan ordered, “and see to the townsfolks’ safety.  The rest of us will assist in the battle near the mountain.”

     “We’re on it!” Atlus replied and his team, as well as Dan, quickly went in another direction.

     Aya quickly made sure her gun was loaded while the others double-checked their own physical (and spiritual) weapons.

     “We’re ready,” Chris announced.

     “Good.  Let us get going.”

 

     Fei swore under his breath as he winced from the attacks.

     In front of him were several monsters that he had never seen before.  Some of them looked like a type of imp, some others were rather large birds, and still more had the look of a giant mouth with long, green and numerous tentacles instead of where a body would normally be.  A couple of times, the latter type had blown out a type of dark cloud that caused the combatants (and some of the other monsters) to have problems breathing normally.

     “Ugh…never heard of a monster with such bad morning breath,” Bart managed to say after a couple of these attacks.

     “Same here, but we can’t let them get to the village,” Fei replied as he managed to take down one of the imp-types using the martial arts he had been taught years before.

     “You’re tellin’ me!” Bart retorted as he used a whip on one of the nasty-mouths, as he called the large monster with the odorous attack.  The creature simple roared and used one of the many reed-like sprouts around the mouth to squirt a yellow substance.

     The substance made him yelp as it hit him in the leg and began to burn through the clothing.

     Billy fired off a round of shots at the monster, aiming at the mouth.  Strangely, though, this caused only at little bit of injury…and for the creature to get mad enough to spray the liquid on his arms.

      Emeralda seemingly appeared from nowhere, growled and suddenly charged at the monster, split into half into it and came back out, in one piece and behind the creature.

     The nasty-mouth, though, was not in such a shape.  It fell apart, dissolving in some parts, split in others.

     The young nanomachine colony, though, winced in pain.

     “Acid from the enemy has caused damage,” she reported as she started attacking another, this one being a large orange and white mask, with a less drastic attack, “Will be unable to do that against them more than once until repairs are complete.”

     “Don’t you just hate fighting the totally unknown?” Sigurd growled as he attacked another of the imps with his own weapon, a type of energy whip, “At least with the Wels and Solaris, we knew what we were dealing with.”

     Behind them, they heard faint talking, and then heard a young man shout a single word.  In the midst of the battle, what was said wasn’t made clear.

     What was plain, though, was the fact that a couple of the nasty-mouths suddenly ignited and burned away into nothingness within a few seconds.

     A second later, the sound of a loud gunfire tore through the air as bullets from somewhere behind them pierced a few of the imp-types as well as shattered the orange-and-white mask that had started to attack Emeralda from the back.

     “It seems as though we have arrived in plenty of time,” Bart and the others heard a /very/ familiar voice behind them, “Need a hand?”

     Sigurd turned around and was very surprised to see someone that had been gone for over a month and, by some, declared dead.  Also with him were a woman in quite the unusual outfit and a pair of young men in a type of uniform.  Above one of the latter was a strange, translucent being that had shot the destroying fire.

     “Certainly, Hyuga!  Let’s take these monsters down and talk later,” he shouted and began attacking again.

     One of the uniformed boys, who had very-short blonde hair and a blue neck garment, charged towards one of the large birds and attacked with an aerial slash while the other one, a purple-haired fighter, gestured towards another of the nasty-mouths and shouted again.

     This time, the statement could be clearly heard, “Persona!”

     The being above the boy’s head moved forwards a couple of steps.  A bright flash appeared from its fists and a half-second later, one of the larger monsters burnt to ashes.

     “Who are these guys?” Bart asked as he saw the newcomers burning and slashing the monsters with a type of ease.  He attacked one of the imps with the whip, wrapping it around the creature’s neck in an attempt to choke it.

     “Later!” Fei replied and attacked the large bird that one of the newcomers had jumped into the air to strike at.

     Citan drew his own weapon and began to attack another of the large birds, while the blonde-haired woman began to gather energy within herself.  A couple of second later, she took aim with her gun and fired at the same monster.  The bullet that seemed to be made out of pure energy and the doctor’s sword strike connected at the same time.

     Although the creature shrieked as it fell to the ground, she blinked and wobbled a little for a couple of seconds.

     At this, Emeralda fished out an item in her pack and threw it to the strange woman.  “Drink this, it will restore your energy,” she explained.

     She nodded her thanks and opened it.  It seemed to have a strange, pleasant smell, almost like roses…although when she drank the liquid, it had a rather sour taste.  A few second later, though, she felt much more energized, and in a shorter time than it normally took to recharge after using the Energy Shot.

     Behind the crowd of thinning monsters, a very familiar demi-human began to issue kicks and body-slams into the remaining imps and a couple of the masks.

     “What took you so long, Rico?” Sigurd admonished as he finished the imp that Bart had tried to choke, with the opposite results.

     “Hah!  Had another crowd comin’ in from just behind me,” a deep, growling voice retorted as he tore into the enemies that remained, “Didn’t want you guys to have all the fun.”

     “Certainly sounds like something you would do,” Citan spoke as he sheathed his sword and motioned for everyone else to stand down.

     Fei relaxed and looked over at the motley crew that had arrived…then asked, “Is that really you, doc?”

     The doctor raised an eyebrow and replied, “Yes, it is me.  Did you think that I was deceased or something?”

     This made the young man sputter for a couple of moments before he could exclaim, “Did I think you were—Citan, you disappeared into that weird gate!  Of course most of them thought you were dead!”

     “Wait a minute, Fei,” Rico growled, “He doesn’t smell right,” and trounced up to him, loudly sniffing.  He then peered right at him.

     “Doesn’t smell right?” Bart asked, “Of course that’s Citan…isn’t it?”

     “Then how come this man’s eye color is completely wrong?  The doc’s got brown eyes, and whoever this is has black peepers!”

     This caused the others to talk amongst themselves, although already a couple of them looked a bit suspicious.

     “That can be explained.  A few…incidents have happened between when I left Zenogias and coming back here,” Citan began to calmly explain.

     “How can we be sure you’re really Citan?” the demi-human retorted with a snarl and crouched as though he might attack.

     “You even take one swipe at Captain Uzuki and you’ll regret it,” Nate warned as he moved in front of the Zenogian doctor, readying his sword for combat, “You have no concept as to what’s happened in the past month outside of this little world.”

     Chris and Aya took up battle positions to their leader’s left and right.

     Citan shook his head, saying in a tone that brooked no argument, “Aya, Chris, Nate, stand down at once.”

     A bit reluctantly, the three lowered their weapons and Nate moved to the left a bit, but it was evident they were still tensed as though to defend at even the slightest motion of attack.

     Bart’s eyes widened as he saw and heard the exchange between them.  “What the---Captain Uzuki?  What’s with this, anyway?”

     Emeralda stepped quietly between the two groups and spoke, “I will determine the authenticity of the person before me.  While I conduct a physical examination using some of myself, I will ask you a pair of questions that only I, Fei and the true Citan Uzuki will know the correct answer to.  If I find the answers to be false, you will be exterminated.  However, if they are correct, we will know that you are who you say you are.  Do you accept?”

     At this, Aya and Nate began to object, while Chris and Citan looked at each other for a long moment.  The younger man nodded, understanding just how much depended on this examination.

     “I accept,” Citan replied calmly.

     The green-haired girl then closed the distance between the two and took Citan’s hands in her own.  He could already feel under his skin nanomachines entering his body with the intent of examining him.  As this was going on, she said, “If you pass, they will be removed.  Question one, on the morning that Elhaym Van Houten disappeared, where did you find a small group, and who was in said group?”

     Citan thought for a moment.  Even though it was only a month ago, it feels as though a lot more time has passed.  He then replied, “The group I found that morning was close to the workshop, sitting on the grass in a circle.  The ones there were Elly, Fei, Emeralda, Midori and Chu-Chu.”

     “What were we talking about while in that circle when you found us?”

     “You were talking about a particular dream that I, Elly and Midori all had continuously, although Midori’s dream was somewhat different, it was of a scene in a type of courtyard.  I faced Ghaleon and Elly was one of six women in an unusual uniform.”

     “Now, what exactly happened right after Ghaleon knocked out Elhaym?”

     His eyes seemed haunted as he answered, “We tried to fight him.  Fei was knocked backwards by a fireball.  You were surprised at the fact that it could be used without ether, then a second fireball set Chu-Chu’s fur on fire.  He then grabbed Elly and opened a vortex before going through it.”

     Emeralda looked deeply into his now-obsidian black eyes and asked, “What did you do when he went through?”

     Citan replied, “At the time I was not thinking clearly and going by impulse, I must admit.  With sword still drawn, I shouted, ‘Oh no you don’t!” and jumped into the portal.  When I awoke, I was on Earth.”

     The man then mentally held his breath as he waited for what action Emeralda would take.

     After a couple of long minutes, he felt something leaving his body, possibly the nanomachines.

     Emeralda released his hands and said, “Although there have been some extensive changes to his physical and mental makeup, this truly is Citan Uzuki.”

     Everyone relaxed, including Chris, Nate and Aya, who put their weapons away.

     “Sorry, Citan,” Bart said a bit sheepishly, “We all thought you were dead, especially when you disappeared into thin air.  A month later, Fei called us all to Lahan with a tale that a group of kids and a woman in a strange garb had arrived looking for women with the power to affect everything by singing…and the guy and gal that had nabbed them.  He added that the next morning, Chu-Chu and Midori snuck off with them, vanishing in thin air.”

     Chris frowned, “We were in that group.”  He looked right at Fei and added, “And so was Aya.  Remember us now?”

     “I sure do.”  He then asked, “Doc…just what happened to you within the past month?”

     “Let us find the others first.  There is more room on the spaceship, so I will tell you everything that has happened on board the Conductor.”

     Emeralda’s eyes widened, and she knew everyone else’s did.  She asked, rather surprised, “The silver spacecraft near the Blackmoon Forest is under your ownership?”

     Right then, a black-haired woman wearing an outfit somewhat similar to Aya’s ran up to the large group.

     “Captain Uzuki,” she called out, “There’s been a message from the Conductor.”

     He nodded, “What happened, Andrea?”

     The newcomer, Andrea, replied, “Dulcinea reported detecting that the forest to the south of us was infested with the alien hostiles that were in this area.  Those monsters are headed in this direction.”

     “Crud!  More of those heavyweights?” Bart exclaimed, “If Citan’s group hadn’t shown up when they did, we might not have survived this battle.  Just look at them!”  he then moved off in a direction so the woman could see.

     She walked up to the monster corpses and examined them.

     “Imps…Harpiais…a few of the Deadly Sin masks…Ugh…!  These other ones really stink when they die…what in the world are Malboros doing in a world like this?”

     “Malboros?” Sigurd asked her.

     “Yeah.  Big plants with only a large mouth, acid-filled sprouts, tentacles for legs and a very nasty attack called Bad Breath.”

     “Acid---!  That—“  Citan then turned to one of the uniformed ones, “Nate, use your healing Persona on Billy and Bart.  They’re the blue-frocked albino and the one-eyed blonde man.”

     “Right!”  The young man with a blue necktie-type cloth hurried over to the group and immediately summoned one of the Persona that he was using.

     “How does she know what those monsters are?” Sigurd asked Citan quickly, eyeing the young woman.

     That can be discussed on the ship as well.”  He then turned to the same woman and added, “Andrea, you said that the alien hostiles were headed this way, although your tone does not sound urgent.”

     “That’s because shortly after they were detected, Dulcinea told us of a ‘little trick’ that would hold them off.  Mark and Midori told her to do whatever it was.”  She adds in an appreciative tone, “She went and surrounded the area, that is—Lahan, the mountain to the north and as far south as Conductor in a force shield.  It’s a stopgap measure, she said, until something more permanent can be done about them.”

     Citan nodded, “Not bad at all.  Gather the others in your team and return to the ship.  We will all be there shortly.”

     “Yes, sir!” Andrea replied and quickly took off for the vessel.

     The group from Zenogias watched the entire conversation between the two, then Bart said quietly to Citan, “Man…you’ve sure got one helluva lot of explaining to do.”

     “Mind if I come along?” a young male voice said from behind them.

     Everyone turned to see a young man with white hair and blue-green eyes, wearing the yellow and blue vest, yellow gloves and boots and black bodysuit.

     “You!” Andrea exclaimed, “You were on Earth.  The volunteer worker.”

     “Yes, I recognize you now,” Citan agreed, “Albeit with different clothing.”

     “That was a cover,” the young man replied, “I was brought here after the concert.  Beautiful event, by the way.”

     “Just who the hell are you?” Bart asked, always to the point.

     The young man replied, “Yeshua.  But please, I go by chaos.”