"Was it all worth it?" Sitting on the edge of his apartment building, Jeremy, with a can of beer and a cigarette, said with a sigh.
Thinking back to the days when he was a top student in his college with a history graduate degree, to becoming a second-rate graphic designer in a black service company. Life has not been very kind to him, and with his 7-year-old relationship breaking up, he is really thinking about all the choices in his life. Working in a company with a very low salary, unpaid overtime, no promotion, and in a city like London, where people who rob people in broad daylight are called landlords. Life has not been very kind to him.
Looking back, when he was in college, reading about famous historical figures like Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin I of Jerusalem, Saladin, and Nur-al-Din. Those were one of the happiest moments in his life. He was really fascinated with the history and culture of the church. Some people may be astonished to learn that many aspects of church culture were, in fact, derived from Greek and Roman pagan customs. He knows that the Crusades were primarily conducted to control the trade routes, but what fascinated him was how a knight from England, abandoning his home, his family, and his loved ones to go on a journey that far, to get a glimpse of the road to Jerusalem. When he meets that knight, what should he tell him? Should he tell him that "you are just a pawn between nobles and the rich", will he agree to that? He does not know. But he knows that he will ask him about his life, his aspirations, his dreams. But the sounds of honking, neighbors shouting, and the sight of 50 pounds in his bank account brought him back to reality.
Looking into the distance for one last time, "No... matter how hard life is, you have to live on," he said with a chuckle, took a big gulp of his beer, he took his phone to look at his girlfriend's last message, "you and I have different life goles. So, let's move on." yeah, like it was that easy. Sometimes Jeremy thinks he does not belong in this era; he thinks he should have gone back, gone back to the days of being a knight.
At that time, his phone buzzed with a light and a notification, [Do you really want that? Do you really want to go back to the days of old? ], [Yes/No], "What is this? Who has the time to prank people in the middle of the night? Why would I click on an unknown pop-up in the middle of the night? This is too weird." Jeremy is confused. This whole situation is too bizarre for him. After some thinking, he chose to close the notification and clicked on the 'NO' button, but the screen remained unchanged. It is still not closing down, he thought, 'what's happening? Why is it still not closing down?' He tried everything, from closing the screen to swiping it away, to switching it on and off, but nothing seemed to work. Now his heart starts to beat faster, and his breathing seems to become quicker. Jeremy tried everything, but nothing seemed to work. There is only the last option to click 'Yes'.
The only thing he remembered was a blinding white light coming from the phone.
When everything cleared again, and vision returned to his eyes, he saw something, he in his million dreams, he could never imagined.
He saw a stage and a cross on top of that. With that, he saw 20-30 people wearing priestly robes. The leader, looking man in his 50s with a hard face, high cheekbones, short beard, and a shaved head with a ring of hair. He has seen that heir in movies/TV-series, the usual priest in the historical drama have this heir.
Jeremy almost laughed out loud, seeing their heir style. "Which church has this heir style these days?"
He, on the other hand, was among 30 boys around 12-13 years old. "Why am I surrounded by 12-year-olds? Why is my height so small? And my hands...what's going on? Is it a dream?" the only thing he could think of to pinch his thigh. "ouch....It hurts? It's not a dream," he said in his mind with a tinge of dejection.
Jeremy still does not know where this is. The only thing he knows is that this is not his home.
"Welcome to Iona Abbey. I am Bramin, the Abbot of the monastery.
Your families have entrusted you to us, but your souls belong to God. You will learn to quiet your tongue, sharpen your mind, and open your heart. You will learn humility, for there is no path to God through pride. You will learn discipline, for the undisciplined heart cannot hold grace.
But it is your first day, so that we will start from tomorrow. Today you will abandon your secular ties, your clothes, your heir. You will learn about the rules of the monastery. Your Magister novitiorum (Novice Master) will guide you through this. Please follow his instructions, or you will be punished. dismiss." After saying all those things, all the kids made the cross prayer and said in unison, "We respectfully follow the holy teaching." I tried not to stick out, following the kids. The old abbot seems to be pleased with our response, with a tinge of a smile on his lips, said, "Amman."
Then a slender looking middle-aged man stood in front of the podium. Now he started to say "I am Jone. I will be your magister novitiorum in charge of your daily life in the abbey. You will follow me to abandon your secular ties, your clothes, and your heir today. I will be responsible for your daily teachings, prayer, and chant. Now then, follow me." As we all got up to follow him, the only thing that's going on in my still groggy mind is "what is going on."
5 minutes ago, I was still in my room, and now, I am following a bunch of kids and a middle-aged man to some unknown place.
This... this building is fully stone. Who builds a building fully from stones nowadays?
Is this some kind of cruel joke? No...I need to know what's going on.
Just as this thought goes through my mind. A hand padded my shoulder.
"James, I told you we would make it to Lona." As soon as I heard that voice, a thunder rang through my mind, and a name appeared like a flash, BEN.
It looks like Ben is a really close friend of mine. Now, if I can recall vaguely that Ben and I got into Lona Abbey together.
Cautiously, I said, "Ben!"
"You finally remember to call me. Am I that forgettable to you?" he said with exaggerated expression.
"You see, it's not like that, I am just duzzy in my mind, you see, we all are fasting since morning."
"Are you ok?" he said.
"It's nothing, it's just, you see, I can not remember the date today, can you tell me?"
"Something is really wrong with your head. It's June, 1167."
As seen as he heard the words, it was like a bomb went off inside his mind. He travelled back in time. like those online webnovels. He thought, "Why am I in a church, of all places?"
At that time, he did not know what journey he would have to go on.