“The gods and goddesses are not relics chiseled in stone. Whisper their names, and you will find what time has not forgotten.”
― Nathaniel Connors
“Hey, can we hang out at your house?” a twelve-year-old Nick had asked his new friend. Ryan shook his head. “Why do you always say no?” Nick wondered aloud.
“It…it’s my parents.” the other boy said, rubbing one arm. “They… well, they can be pretty strict, and don’t always like my friends.”
“What? Were they, like, bad kids or something?” Nick said, picking up a basketball and took a shot. There wasn’t much else to do while they waited on Rick and Ned.
Ryan shook his head. “It’s not that. They’re just… really religious, you know? So if I bring over a kid that isn’t religious or doesn’t know anything about the Bible, they consider that bad, and don’t want me to hang out with them.”
“So… I’d just have to know some Jesus stuff to h ang out with you?” Nick asked.
“It’d help, I think.”
“So…like…why are your parents so religious, anyway?” Nick asked as he thought about something.
“I’m guessing it’s because my Dad was a chaplain while he was in the Marine Corps.” Ryan said, taking a turn at shooting a basket.
“What’s that?”
“Kinda like a priest.” Ryan replied with a sigh.
“Okay…no hanging out at your house for a while. I’ll do some studying first!” he said enthusiastically.
Ryan just stared. “Why?”
“We’re friends, aren’t we? I don’t wanna lose my newest friend just because his parents are weird.” Nick said as he smiled.
“Oh. Okay.” Ryan said, in awe of his new friend…this kid he’d just met a couple of months previous.
It wasn’t too long after that when Rick and Ned showed up, and Ryan soon forgot the conversation. After that day, Nick began his trek into theology.
First, he used the internet, heading to YouTube to find videos and a basic rundown of the religion. Finding it weirdly fascinating in a ‘is this crap for real?’ kind of way, he worked at it like he was researching a paper for school. It was hard, as he kept falling down rabbit holes. It started with the basics of Christianity, but then he learned about the different branches, and learned there were other belief systems out there, and looked into those a little, deciding on a few to do more research on later down the road.
It was a lot for a twelve-year-old to handle. But, he felt like he understood it enough that he could use it to make a good impression on Ryan’s family and stay friends with him. Eventually, he met the Walkers. It was an intimidating experience for him. The house itself was frighteningly clean, for starters, feeling more like something to show off than live in.
Ryan’s mother, Amanda, quiz him about his own family, and his father, Adam, dove more into his character. It took some convincing, but eventually they were satisfied, even telling Ryan when they thought Nick was out of earshot “Finally, you meet a decent child to be your friend.” and then left the boys to entertain themselves.
It wasn’t until Nick had turned fifteen and was confused about a lot of things, not the least of which was his sexuality, that he went back down that rabbit hole, stumbling across Wicca and paganism along the way. They seemed pretty chill, and a lot more accepting of other beliefs he’d read about, so he decided to look and see if there was anything local around he could check out. This is how he eventually came across Sin City Witches, a pagan group that was super welcoming and friendly.
This began a journey of self-discovery for him, and the people there helped him learn it was okay to be who he was. He made it a regular habit to drop by, and made sure to participate in the festivals when he could. He even found the deities who called to him via guided meditation, and learned how to make offerings to them and follow what they asked of him.
Ryan wasn’t too sure at first, but he eventually saw Nick wasn’t becoming a monster like his father always claimed pagans were, and went to great lengths to get Nick a gift for his birthday one year – a pentacle necklace. Something he still has to this day.