...
Creak, Creak...
The steps of the duo echoed a little too loudly in the silent temple.
'Is this even a temple?, it feels more like a mansion...'
Creak, Creak...
Damen thought to herself as she ventured right behind Fuyi who guided her thought the hallways of the temple so she would be acquantace.
Creak, Creak...
"Remember this, as you enter the temple, you will have three paths. To the left are the bathrooms, and further ahead, the yard, to the right, the rooms, and beyond that, the kitchen, and in front—right where we are now—is the sanctuary"
Creak...shft!-..
Fuyi said as they stepped forward after sliding a Shoji.
They arrived at a grand-looking space enclosed by many shōji walls, the floor was covered in tatami mats that muffled every step and in the center stood a giant statue of a woman, she had long hair and was seated on a chair, a gentle smile on her face, a traditional umbrella rested above her head, and a statue of a lazy cat lay curled on her lap, she wore a light dress and tall boots.
Around the statue were four kōro—one at each corner of the room—exuding a flowery, sweet aroma.
Damen looked at the statue woman intently her eyes unfocused.
"t-that's..."
She stuttered, her mouth slightly open as she continued to gaze into the statue's brilliant eyes.
"yes, that's Anthabelle the goddess of Creation, among all the temples around the world the most close Description to her apparence is this one"
said Fuyi, interrupting her softly—his eyes held a strange glint as he spoke of the primordial goddess.
"so cool...is the first time ive seen a statue of her...in my village they only showed us images...i never thought i could see her in person.."
....tchuck, tchuck....
The quiet sound of Damen removing her sandals echoed faintly as she placed them neatly beside the shōji door, she stepped forward with trembling steps.
Tap, tap, tap.....fshh, tump...
she bowed slightly and kneeled before settling a seiza posture as then clapped her hands together.
"this is the last temple who remains of her statue, there's a saying this is the máxime form of existence since the others were destroyed by unnatural causes, but this one remains standing even after hundreds of years..."
She continued to talk, Fuyi observed her lightly before nodding hesitant—why hesitant?, well who cares.
With a sigh Fuyi shook his head slightly to stop thinking and then waited for Damen to finalize her prayer, as he stood thoughtfully beside the Shoji walls...
...
...
...
Tap, tap...
After the two walked away from the statue, Damen let out a long breath she hadn't even realized she was holding.
Shhh...Haaah...
The exhale broke the lingering tension in her chest, Fuyi turned his head slightly eyeing her curiosly.
"it was that overwhelming?"
Asked Fuyi in a soft, humble tone.
Damen nodded, eyes closed, a thin layer of sweat visible on her brow, they continued walking side by side, their steps muffled by the tatami.
Tap, tap...
"it was the first time i could pray with her figure in front of me...i somehow even stuttered when i was talking in my mind.."
She said embarrassed with a light blush, Fuyi smiled slightly.
"i was like that too the first time i went there"
Said Fuyi closing his eyes with a nostalgic air, Damen looked at him intently making him chuckle and say:
"My parents taught me about the Creator when I was just six. I visited her statue when I turned ten—the legal age to enter a temple.."
Damen frowned a bit.
"i don't know why that rule exist at all..."
Fuyi eyebrow twitched and he looked at her puzzled.
"you don't know?"
Tap, tap...
They turned to another corridor, footsteps echoing slightly in the temple polished wooden floor.
And then Fuyi began to talk, his eyes narrowed with a cold glint.
"there has been incidents since ancient times when children enter the temples, for some unknown reason they're able to connect with the divine state of the gods... and because of their low spiritual alignment, nearly all of them ended up... dead.."
With every word, Damen's eyes widened more and more, her mouth opened slightly in disbelief.
"w-wait, that was true!?, i thought it were just rumors i heard in the village!"
She felt a chill down her back.
But...there was a time, long ago when—
"It's true"
he said firmly, cutting the tensión in the air.
Creak...
They stopped besides the Section were a Wodden Letter near the top of the ceiling said rooms, Fuyi slid open a shōji door with a gentle motion.
Shhhk...
"Here's your room"
Damen looked at him carefully.
His brief silence before had felt too personal, not just someone who had read it in a book.
'does it mean?...'
"Damen!"
She snapped back to reality, Fuyi had raised an eyebrow as he looked at her concerned, the shōji door remained open, waiting.
"a-ah, sorry, i space out a lot..."
She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, a small bead of sweat rolled down her cheek.
Tchuck, tchuck...
She began removing her sandals just at the entrance, until Fuyi's voice made her pause.
"Don't forget—you'll need your servant uniform tomorrow, I'll bring it to you, and remember, we have school as well"
Damen then looked at Fuyi in disbelief
"Wait, you go to school too teacher?"
He smirked, clearly amused.
"So formal now? Since when did you start calling me teacher?"
He laughed lightly, then raised an eyebrow as she grew serious again.
"Teacher... as temple custodian... you still attend school?"
Fuyi's gaze shifted a little, he was clearly trying to read her intention.
"It's basic etiquette.....I mostly do it because I promised my parents I'd graduate, this is my final year... same as you, you're eighteen, right?"
Unknown to Fuyi, Damen had just exhaled sigh of relief in her mind....
'So glad... so glad I don't have to keep studying once I get a higher rank... That monster my friends warned me about... maths...'
Fuyi only shook his head.
"well then...i will be at the yard, call me if something happens, for now, you must be exhausted since you runned around the entire village and still had to dealt with me guiding you, rest well"
He bowed slightly and walked away.
Tap... tap... tap...
His steps faded into the end of the corridor of the temple...
Damen watched his back as he left.
'...A temple custodian at the age of eighteen... What did he do to earn that position so young...?'
She thought but quickly shook her head, as if brushing off the sudden thought.
Shhhk...
Sliding the shōji door closed, she turned and let herself fall gently onto the bed.
Flump...
The quiet hum of the incense lingered in the air, and the faint scent of flowers from the sanctuary still clung to her sleeves.
...
...
...
Drip... drip... drip...
The sound of water dripping was so familiar...
Damen slowly opened her eyes again..she blinked—once, then twice, before her eyes widened, a fractured ceiling loomed above her, cracked and shadowed....
"that-...."
Her gaze darted around the room, heart beginning to race...
It was true!, she was back!, back in that place...
The four walls closed in on her like gravity itself—literally, forcing her body to sit upright without her will, still, unmoving, she clenched her eyes shut with a hiss, her entire body tense, she could feel her pulse pounding even in her pupils....
That had to hurt...
"why im here?...this is my old house....but....i was supossed to be at Clear-Sky village with Fuyi—i mean... Teacher.."
Before she could process her thoughts further, something touched her....
Hands.
Cold, invisible hands gripped her limbs, torso, neck—every part of her, holding her in place, she tried to look but the force pulling her down was too strong.
Groan...
She sighed, her body no longer hers, only able to move where gravity allowed.
Gravity....an omnipotent force of "nature", is a natural Law that everything in the galaxy has to follow, even stars....bright ones...
And right now, it was helping her move.
Awesome, in a twisted way.
If any scientist had witnessed this, they'd go mad with excitement—maybe even try to dissect her...
But "fortunately", there was no one like that left....not in this village.
This desolated village.
Whitout the need to see Damen knew how the state of her village was...Collapsed homes, thick layers of dust covering every corner of light, and the merciless sun—blazing and indifferent, illuminating the broken village to his core and life....everything...was crumbled down.
Or so Damen thought....as when everything was like this years ago, even as her village decayed from sandstorms and sun-fires that could ignite skin, she was chosen for a project....a prayer...yes a single one, some mysterious Men entered the village claiming themselves as followers of the crutch and they selected some children at the age of 9 to 10 to pray for the future of this village.
God..
What makes you think something or someone is worthy of such title?, when one saves you out of a hard time?, when it blesses you with great abilitys? Or when it makes you destinied to carry out a ridiculous thing such as the fate of humanity?.
To damen.... No god is worthy of her praise but the Lady of Creation, Anthabelle, who in a the project reached her hand with a smile to her and saved her from going back again to that broken and destroyed house...
Don't get her wrong, it was a metaphorical talk, Damen loves her family...even amidst loss and wreckage
Tap.... Tap...
And she also likes everyone in the village since even if they were in such crisis as a natural disaster...
Cryy~....
They were..
Damen gasped as her breath hitched.
Haa—.. Haa....
she realized the gravity hands stopped pulling and they slowly crawled up in a twisted way making her grit her teeth until they arrived at her eyes, they forcefully make her open them, but damen refused and shook her head defying the hands of gravity.
Cryyy~...
They were...."happy"...
CRYYYY~!!!...
Damen's eyes shot open—only to find an endless darkness staring back—
Then it swallowed her.
...
...
...
GASP!
Damen bolted upright in her futon, drenched in sweat..her breath came in ragged bursts, her hands shook as she clutched her arms and wrapped them around herself tightly.
Thump...
She collapsed back into the bed, trembling, a few tears slipping from her eyes.
"I forgot... I could still have Nightmares like that..."
She whispered to herself before exhaling shakily.
Eventually her breathing slowed.
She closed her eyes again, hoping for dreamless sleep....
...
Outside the paper-thin wall, a hand hovered near the shōji door.
Fuyi stood there, a warm towel in hand, his expression was unreadable, shadowed by the low light, for a moment, his hand hesitated—almost reaching for the door.
Then, silently, he turned and walked away with his head down.
...
In a dark cell...
If this could even be called a prison, it smelled more like death left to rot.
drip... drip... drip..
The echo of water dripping from somewhere above is repetitive, each drop slapping against stone with a soft splash, the stench was suffocating...urine, mold, rat poison—and the dry crust of old feces...amidst all that—
A man sat in the far corner, iron cuffs biting into his wrists and ankles.
His head hung low, neck limp, greasy blonde hair clung to his forehead damp with sweat or filth—it was impossible to tell but his chest rose and fell slowly.
Haa... hh…
A raspy breath rattled in his throat every now and then, his pants were nothing more than brown shreds, threadbare and brittle, torn from weeks of scraping against stone and being eaten away by humidity.
The skin on his feet was cracked, bruised in places that suggested he was dragged...
....
The silence was pierced suddenly by the groan of rusted iron.
Creeeak—KRANK!
The heavy door was pulled open, and the sound of boots clapping against the stone floor followed just as the door opened.
Clack...Clack...Clack...Clack.
Two guards entered, their presence making the cell feel even smaller, their armor clattered faintly with each step, metal brushing metal.
They stopped in front of the man's cage, a short pause.
"is it him?..."
Asked the left guard with a timid voice he had no apparence, no face, no skin just a void character meaning hes useless.
The other was
The other—just as faceless—nodded.
"Yeah..The one the villagers demanded for redemption.....if i remember his name was strange for someone of Cleinpu Village...it was.....
He squinted at the crumpled figure inside.
Moshazil?"