"TOGETHER, WE'LL BUILD IT AGAIN” - A FANTASY TALE OF ST. BENEDICT AND HIS SISTER, ST. SCHOLASTICA.

This story is part of a project we did at school after studying the importance of monasteries in the middle ages, the rule of St Benedict and monastic life, including the history of the Benedectine monasteries we have in our hometown, Subiaco. Divided in groups, one of our tasks was to write a story in English about monastic life,  set in the past, present or future,  with fantasy elements of our choice. 

The following story was written by Lucrezia Pelliccia with the help of Valerio Carpentieri, Marco Tozzi and Federico Mosetti. The illustrations were drawn by Lucrezia herself. The story is set in the past, the protagonists are Benedict and his sister Scholastica. It features demons, angels and dragons and ... we really hope you'll enjoy reading it!

"TOGETHER, WE'LL BUILD IT AGAIN”

Chapter 1

  "I HATE YOU! I'M LEAVING THIS PLACE" Scholastica said, turning her back on her brother to leave the new Monastery. Benedict remained silent, there was no point in stopping her.

From the deep hole of evil, The Devil felt the hate Scholastica was feeling towards Benedict, and he thought of a plan: making her an ally.

At the exit hallway there was a painting of Satan, made by an unknown pilgrim for Benedict's birthday a few days after the inauguration of the monastery.  Scholastica walked past it, she was used to sweeping the floor there on Sunday mornings and, apparently,  no one else replaced her, because the floor was visibly dusty.

«I could help you with that» a whisper could be heard in the small and cold hallway, she turned around, looking for the source and found herself facing a snake, peeking from a shiny portal that replaced the devil painting on the wall.

 «Just follow me, and you'll be better than your brother» it said, crawling towards her.  «Follow me», it hissed again, and she, unconsciously, did so, entering that weird portal.

When she entered, she felt dizzy, her body adapted to the hot temperature of the place. She looked around, seeing demons working and fighting with each other, dragons flying around and pools of boiling lava. Where was she?

Chapter 2

  Meanwhile, in the monastery,  it was night. The sun had set down and the monks had had their usual supper with bread and light wine. Benedict was in his hay bed, trying to sleep, but his mind was constantly going back to his sister: How was she? Where was she?

Rolling on the other side, he felt his eyelids getting heavier: he was tired from all his work and, finally, he fell asleep. But he had a dream, a lucid dream.

He was on his hay bed in his dream too, but there was a light source that was lighting the cave he was in. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. The light  was getting closer and brighter, when a figure appeared. Human figures, around 5'8",  with blond curls flowing like golden stripes and sparkling blue eyes, were looking at Benedict with a sweet smile on their pale porcelain face.

«Do not be afraid» a voice said, echoing in the cave.  «We bring you news, We’re here to help» Benedict couldn't help but admire them, unable to speak . «You have to get ready, something big is about to happen. An army will be a menace to you and your dearest ones, you have to fight» one of them warned him, getting closer to lay a hand on Benedict’s shoulder, their wings twitching and losing a few feathers.  «God will give you the strength to fight, to save her. Wake up, wake up, wake up».         

The voice echoed in Benedict's ears as he woke up, looking around as he breathed heavily. He was alone in his cave, but he didn't forget what the angels said to him. He had to braze himself and get ready.

 

Chapter 3

Scholastica was getting used to her skin becoming thicker, she had learnt a lot in just two days in hell: how to fly a dragon, some spells, she even found an army ready to fight against her brother! «I surely am stronger than him now», she told herself. In the last few days, since entering the portal,  she had been feeling weird, she had been acting quite the opposite respect to her usual behaviour, she assumed it was because of her distance from Benedict.

Benedict studied the Sacred Writings all over again.  After the dream, he  had been able to catch hidden meanings, as if he was reading a new book,  somewhat different from before,  like a detailed handbook of white magic. He was ready to everything: he assumed that Scholastica had to be saved from their common enemy, she was not an enemy herself.

He changed his usual routine based on the motto “pray and work”, in order to teach his monks what he had learnt while re-reading the sacred writings.   All  the monks thought he was losing his mind, even though it was just  for a split second. 

 

Chapter 4

 

On the third day after Scholastica and Benedict argued, the portal opened again. This time everyone noticed though, because it opened a giant crack on the Monastery's wall from which a giant dragon came out. Benedict and his followers were expecting a battle with a dragon, since it had been quoted in one of the texts Benedict found in the writings. What they weren't expecting was Scholastica on the dragon's neck, laughing maniacally.

Both sides fought for a while, using the kind of magic they had learnt the days before, until Benedict had a flashback on what the angel had said to him that night. «God will give you the strength to fight, to save her».  He had to save her,  not to fight her.

«Scholastica» he shouted, hoping that she could hear him. She stared at  him.  He had her attention now, so he went on: «I'm sorry, we shouldn't have argued». Her eyebrows narrowed. « It's my fault, please come back»,  he shouted, reaching out to her. In that moment, his hand started to glow and Scholastica felt like herself again,  kind and empathetic. She looked at him with a sad face, realizing what she had done to her brother and the monastery, but his hand was still held out towards her.

"We'll build it again, together", he smiled.

 That day and the days after, Scholastica and Benedict, with the help of the monks, repaired the monastery and managed to close the portal with a final spell from Benedict. They both got appointed Saints, as they fought and  rejected the Devil. They lived the rest of their days in their monasteries in  the small, quiet village of Subiaco.

by Lucrezia Pelliccia, Valerio Carpentieri, Marco Tozzi e Federico Mosetti (2sc)