Chapter 149 - Xendros

The child Xendros grew up very lonely because of his ugliness.

The nuns and other orphans had detested him, but the current Bishop of Santimieda pitied the ugly child. He too, was born to not fit the standards, as he does not have smooth skin, but a scaly and flaky one. He was thrown away by the window of his parent's home, and luckily landed at a bed of roses outside. 

A poor merchant found him, but could not take care of this child himself. And so, he gave it away to the church.

The current Bishop, named by the nuns as Pontificus, had managed to maintain his skin to stop being ugly in their eyes. And yet he had never forgotten the reason why he was abandoned, and would not like children to experience a fate similar to him.

He had taken care of many 'ugly' children in the orphanage. He had experimented and studied many books from Faldenhorf on the art of 'Refiguration'. Refiguration is the art of changing the appearance of a broken object to an almost normal state, and when applied to people, it means that he fixes the appearance of those who are regarded as 'broken'.

For people with disabilities, he had created many concoctions to hid those. A large mole? Nothing a powder can't fix, and some paint. Light-colored hair? That will be very easy to dye, and only needs to be maintained every half year.

He had been so good at this refiguration that he was considered a miracle worker for beautifying these children to fit with society. He had earned the moniker, "Beautifying Priest".

In 800 years, he will be in the records as the saint of beauty himself, where people with children with less than the ideal appearance would pray for in order to let their child grow as beautiful, or for expectant mothers to hope that he fixes them while they're still in their womb to not worry about an ugly child.

Anyway, the Bishop Pontificus can save many children from further oppression with his skills, but...

The child Xendros is a whole matter entirely.

He is not an impossible case, no. The papers that the Bishop studied are not just about powders and paints. He can make on full-body skins from all kinds of mixed materials, which he can attach to the child's body, and touch up with a bit of powder to appear more natural. That way, the brown skin that is like that of fresh pine-nuts...

Would be as white as milk.

It would be unbearable to wear all the time, though. Especially during the summer heat. But there truly is no other solution left.

If Xendros goes outside, he had to wear this new skin over his own. It was itchy, and has an awful, rancid smell upon being applied that will dissimilate after 10 minutes or so. 

When the child asked the Father, "Why must I cover myself in this?"

The Father answers. "That is just how it is, son."

That is just how it is.

People must cover themselves. He must cover himself. There is no other explanation that would be as logical or rational. It is merely his way of life from now on.

Xendros grew up wanting to avoid going out as much as possible because of the skin he has to wear. And it's not just the skin too.....

His Father, Bishop Pontificus, would make a small gel which he would dye brown. Then, he would insert that gel over Xendros iris.

It would change his eye color, but it will make his sight foggier. He can barely see. Even when he wants to enjoy the sights outside, like the view of the wildflowers dancing on the breeze, or the birds singing in the sky....

That performance would just be best enjoyed by his window. In his bedroom.

He would rather be a locked-up monster, than a wolf forced to wear sheep clothing. it's all too troublesome.

Young Xendros spent most of his time reading books. Then, he wrote about the books he read in a journal. He also wrote how much he hates the skin and gel, and yet slowly comes to understand why his Father, the Bishop, most do it.

"I am a prisoner of my own volition. I would rather not go into the trouble of dressing up and covering up my ugly appearance, my ugly skin, and eyes...... It is too troublesome. It constantly reminds me of my ugliness, and I do not feel beautiful afterwards." He said to himself while writing in his journal.

He is very talkative when he is alone. He has read many holy books about the Holy Dragon Lord and the Draconic religion, as that is what the Santimieda Chapel has to offer after all. Sometimes, he would pretend that he is having tea with the angels and saints, and ask them about their day up in the heavens.

By Crescentian standards, this would make him a priest already. But being a priest in Ilvedia is no easy task compared to their neighboring kingdom.

There are many trials that must be transpired to attain priesthood. These are called the Segments. Like how the tail of a dragon has segments before you reach the scaly back, then all the way to the head.

It is a test of religious knowledge, piety, zeal, and belief. Not everyone can achieve it.

Xendros studied and studied to prepare himself for attempting priesthood in his 15th year. He read all the holy books and mastered every story of saints and the Holy Dragon Lord.

He was inspired by his story the most. Abandoning his mortal shell, and finding his spirit, soaring through the sky as a magnificent beast. He wanted to be like that as well.

No longer a prisoner of choice, but a free man out of his own will.

Once he was ordained on his 15the year, he requested something of Bishop Pontificus.

"Father, I beseech you with something. Something that I have been thinking about for a long while." He said with his head hanging down, white-face and brown-eyed.

"Yes, child?"

"Now that I have become the servant of the Holy Dragon Lord, I don't want to preach about self-acceptance and attainment of spiritual bliss without practicing it myself. Father.... I am asking you....." He looked up with much earnesty, that his purple eyes almost burned a hole on the brown mucky gel covering it. "I ask you to let me show my true self, in body and in the soul, out in the open."

Bishop Pontificus was worried, but this new priest kissed his ring in assurance.

"Father, let them throw sticks and stones at me. Let them smite me with their tongues and their actions be detrimental, but you must not take my freedom and flight away. I, as a follower of a dragon, shall be brave and undeterred as a dragon." Xendros declared.

He walked up the altar, and made a bow. He proclaimed, with much solemnity. "My dear friend, please accept me in all I am, in this mortal form that your Father has given me, and my Father wants to hide from me and from the world."

He peeled off the skin of his face!

He was now him. Bare. Unsightly. 

Happy.

Free.

The itch was gone. He presented himself as a young man with dark skin, eyes reminiscent of the twilight sky. He was the night that many feared. He was the night that may find mysterious and misunderstands. He may not be pleasing to look at.....

But he will let them see his true pure spirit. 

Xendros is beautiful.

He knows that his god thinks so. His Father also thinks so. It is just the world that needs to understand.

During his first mass, everyone's mouth was agape, and could not believe their eyes. An ugly man was the priest presiding that evening. He calmly presented his sermon despite the whispers, and delivered his homily about abandoning pretenses and world inhibitions with much vigor.

He noticed an old man with a cane crying by the side.

That old man..... He had seen him many times.

He always attends the mass. He was a noble of some sort, and people say he had lost his mind. The nuns and other vicars in the Santimieda Chapel had warned the children not to approach that man, and just pray for his broken mind and spirit to be better again. 

But Xendros, since he was a young boy, felt like the man isn't insane. He always looks anxious, with wide eyes, like he was looking for something, and was scared he lost it forever.

Several times, he said hellos and simple greetings. The man greeted back in perfect manner, not like someone who had lost their wits about them at all.

They never exchanged names.

When Xendors saw him crying, he felt like crying as well too. Because this man...

Is not crying because of sorrow.

He was crying of joy.

For all eh years he waited and waited, he found what he was looking for.

And what he was looking for..... was safe and sound. Exactly where he wants it to be, in the state he want it to be.

He was beyond relieved, so much that he shook from the bliss of it all.

Xendros attended this man's funeral. He was the priest who presided over it. Open the man's death,and on his final confession, he learned of his name.

His name is Xenephon. He has a wife and child, but his wife died, and he left his child behind. He said in his final breath....

"I am happy with how my child has been these days."

"And what is your child's name?"

The man smiled. Shook his head, and went to sleep. For eternity.

But Xendros already knows the answer.

He prayed for this old man's soul to achieve peace and eternal happiness.

Once to the people who attended the funeral was a friend of the man. A youth who had just reached adulthood. He gazed as his friend was buried....

"I wonder if he had found his son. Poor old Xenophon. My father even promised to look for him once, you know?" The man smiled at him, gazing at him eye to eye when he speaks. "The King values his service a lot, and felt guilty of his wife's death at the hands of his own men. You understand how it is, don't you, Brother Xendros?"

"Yes." Xendros nodded.

The man scrutinized him, gazing deeply into his purple eyes. "Do you, really? Or do you have hidden regrets?"

The eyes of that man gazing at him so deeply seem to know everything.

Those deep blue eyes.