Sunlight graced the limestone building below it. Wandering clouds tried their best to blot out its blinding rays, but even then they still managed to puncture the thick veil. The smell of petrichor permeated the air, a sign of impending rain. People gathered around, several of them pressed against the white walls of the limestone. Twin stone lions stood guard, their ferocious canines on full display. Intricate patterns marred the buildings, in a language forgotten to the public, but whose meaning was etched into all.
"For God"
The warm, white halls of the Cathedral shone, its windows refracting the light like a prism, bleaching the already empty interior with more colourless rays, tiny specks of dust visible through their piercing beams. At its center stood a marble statue of a God, its alabaster luster all the more radiant, spotlit by irradiating luminescence. It was here where a pale young boy, no older than eighteen, was being dragged, kicking and screaming out of these sacred chambers, his long hair flowing like a polluted river along the pristine wood floor, creaking and echoing under all their weight.
The light seemed to glow brighter near him, their radiance showcasing a hint of colour. Four men, each of whom were undoubtedly much mightier and heavier, dragged him along the smooth surface, hurriedly dispersing as they let go of him, beads of sweat trickling down their burly bodies, as if their instincts screamed of danger.
"You scum! That was my Sainthood! My sacrifice! How dare you pieces of trash condemn that innocent girl in my stead!"
His aggression, however, was not directed at the men, but instead at an old, haggard trio, donning nebulous blue capes and giving him a blank stare. After crossing the entrance, or more aptly, tossed across it, the grand wooden doors of the main headquarters of the Church slammed in front of him. A moment later, a loud announcement rang across the territory of the Church, a raspy voice ringing across the vast space the Church occupied.
"Saint Virt has been stripped of his position by the Balance, Priestess Sid has been chosen by the Balance in his place."
The speakers rang again, this time addressed by a deep, authoritative voice.
"In addition, for his behaviour and lack of belief, we will excommunicate ex-Saint Virt starting now, all of his belongings should be collected by himself or burnt by dawn."
'So, they plan on exiling me to keep this secret…'
The inhabitants of the Church were indeed very prone to Virt's mischievous acts, however, close to none of them actually thought that any punishment would be handed down due to his status. They wanted everyone to believe all was well, that the Balance had simply chosen a more suitable candidate other than the mysterious boy who had usually taken part in pranks and tomfoolery.
Surrounding onlookers who witnessed the ungraceful kicking out, and subsequent excommunication, of Virt had varied reactions. His closest comrades simply stared, eyes wide in disbelief, some with their mouths hanging, others still with their faces pressed against the tinted windows of the Cathedral–one could almost see the drool coming from their open mouths. Virt chuckled at the moronic sight, finding some solace in the humorous way his party members were acting.
Other passersby simply acted as if nothing had happened, as if one of the highest ranking Church members had not been so unceremoniously kicked out just mere moments ago. Worst still, no one could even mutter a single word to him due to his current status. He simply picked himself up, dusted the dirt off of his long leather pants and walked toward his barracks.
On his way there, he stumbled upon the person on everyone's minds.
Her long red hair flowed gently in the wind, her freckles dotting her high cheekbones. Her scarlet lips were dry and cracked, much like everyone else's. Her white dress billowed in the wind, betraying the fact she had been on an off day today, away from her Priestess duties and recovering her Mana after an exhaustive day yesterday, where she had braved the Fire Gods' fury.
'Like a lamb to a slaughter'
Virt let out a defeated sigh. It broke his heart, really, to see his saviour being sent to a meaningless death. How long had it been since then? Five years?
Five years he had walked the Path of Virtue, unrelenting in his studies and his practices, having healed the most people in recent memory, Virt shot up the ranks at the speed of light.
It was then the Balance spoke to him, and him alone, whispering sweet prayers of Sainthood.
All that came crashing down on this day, his position stripped and status revoked.
Someone else, albeit worthy, was chosen over him, influenced not for the good of the world, but politics and the higher-ups.
Someone else would become a being blessed by the people.
Someone else would be condemned by the Balance.
They had tried to convince everyone that all was well, but they could not change the truth.
The truth was much worse.
It was oh so much worse.
***
In all honesty, the world had gone to shit.
Over the past decade, the Balance, a fundamental axiom of the universe, started malfunctioning, and with it, the sanity of the Gods.
At first, it was minute. Small prayers went unanswered, their pleads lost in the ever growing sea of wishes. Then, the animals went wild. Bears came out of hibernation early, boars consistently left their territories, rabies exploded with unprecedented growth.
Finally, the disasters erupted, literally and figuratively, in both magnitude and frequency. The tide receded, only to crash back with a vengeance, volcanoes erupted, the smoke plume towering above the mountains, blotting out the sun. Ashes mixed with the rain, the deadly sulfur plummeting down like miniature spears.
The screams of the millions reached the gods.
The screams of the millions who were sentenced to damnation.
The screams of the millions were answered…
With the screams of the gods.
Prayers, after all, could not be answered by the insane.
And just like that, the world churned, the world cracked,
The world shattered.
And from that shatter, came the Others.
They came from neither heaven nor hell, neither earth nor space, but from where the gods went to weep, to rot,
To scream.
Of course, this was all unbeknownst to the average person.
But Virt knew.
And so did the Elders.
The gods were insane, the Saint could no longer Ascend due to the malfunctioning balance, and someone had to cover this up.
And so, Sid was selected as the sacrificial lamb.
Killed to prevent panic from spreading, to prevent the knowledge of Ascension failing.
And with Virt exiled, he would most likely be killed too, no doubt.
***
A few minutes later, Priestess Sid–soon to be Saint Sid–strode into the familiar halls of the Cathedral, the gaze of the three men going straight through her.
"Priestess Sid, it has been such a long time. Come, we have much to discuss."
Had she been perceptive enough, she would have noticed them looking not at her, but the doors behind her, unwilling to meet her auburn eyes.
As if hiding something.
But she didn't notice.
And so, Sid stepped forward, through the red light of the blood-tinted windows of the Cathedral.