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Jack washed his hands in the holy water- the hands that had blistered and charred and crumbled away as he pulled himself up from the fire and brimstone and crawled out of Hell. He had some- a lot- to repent for, and now that Dream was out of prison it seemed like the prime time to get to that. He was safe in New Manifoldland, he didn’t matter enough to be directly targeted by the mad man that had just escaped prison, but somehow he was always dragged into fights he swore he wouldn’t get involved in.
So here he was; washing the hands that were a physical testament to his sins in the only place seen as sacred on the server.
To be honest, a part of him expected for lightning to be cast down as he stepped into the Church of Prime. For statues to start crying, for the skies to turn red and for someone to go; “Sorry bud, you had your chance. You got out of Hell but it’s willing to wait for you.”
Instead he was met by an empty church and the sound of running water.
It was a nice day outside, at least Jack imagined that it was, it seemed that he had left his nerves in Hell. He had to rely on his communicator to tell him his vitals, to know when he accidentally burned himself while baking with Niki and if it was bad enough to need a healing potion. So while the sun was out and the skies were clear, it could be freezing and Jack would have no clue.
If Jack was once again honest with himself, he wasn’t sure why he got sent to Hell. If the promise that he would be worse than Schlatt was enough to get him sent there, than all the attempted murder that happened after he got out must send him pretty far down in the circles. What he remembered from his time there was a blur, he remembered pain, and how angry he was, he remembered that there were others there too. He remembered he didn’t want to go back.
Jack had a lot to make up for.
He made his way to the pews, rang the bell a couple of times, then sat down in the first row. It had been a while since he last went to church. He had a small alter in Manifoldland but that was destroyed when he blew up his house- probably another sin he had to repent for.
Prime, how can he make up for what he’s done? Jack had come to realize that it wasn’t his place to decide who lives and who dies, no matter what Tommy did to Jack he couldn’t kill him- even if he deserved it. So, maybe he’ll start small.
He bowed his head, “Prime, if you’re out there, if you’re willing to listen, I’m sorry.” There’s a lot to be sorry for, what am I sorry for?
“I’m sorry for destroying the walls on Schlatt’s first day. I hurt my friends when I did that and I should have stood by them. Uh- Amen.”
Jack stood up from the pews and returned to where the holy water fell. He stuck his hands in but shrunk back from the chill.
Wait
He put them back in, it was cold. Jack was feeling the cold.
At the base of the fountain, Jack Manifold fell to his knees and wept.