Luna woke up very slowly.
It was a short, uncomfortable rest. The stone floor was rough and solid, giving him no comfort.
He slowly rose to his feet. Then the memories started flooding back in.
His eyes widened in alarm.
I shouldn't have gone here! Alicia, why couldn't you just stick with the plan?!
That danger I was feeling… it was from Zion!
This all felt so fishy… from the jump I knew it wasn't anything good.
But I trusted it because I trusted Zion.
He ran up the stairs, jumping through the open doorway.
The scenery had changed a lot. The church was damaged in areas. It looked like a fight had been going on.
But Lunan wasn't paying attention to that. Instead, he was looking for Alicia.
Her body lay beside Zion's, within a red, arcane circle. White wax candles of varying dark colors burned with no stability.
Six cultists remained, all in black robes. They chanted.
Their words felt silent yet loud, soft yet rough. Odd. Enchanting. Lunan felt his legs wanting to walk closer, but he didn't.
The smart thing to do… run out of this church. Pretend like it never happened.
"Great Malevolence, Eye of the Sun…"
"Rosebearer, Shepherd of Fish…"
"Take this humble offering, Emperor of Innocent Blood."
They chanted, repeatedly. Louder.
Lunan focused, looking for patterns in the ritual.
As they continued to chant, the red circle glowed brighter. The two corpses rose into the air, their limbs moving freely.
Seeing you like this, being betrayed in the same way you betrayed us. Zion, I feel a bit of sympathy. We were still friends, after all.
I guess that's what makes me different from you.
Isn't this what… Alicia was telling me about?
Lunan suddenly grew a resolve.
Whether they were alive or not.
He was not going to let two of his friends become the sacrifice of some evil god!
His steps grew faster.
The red circle grew even brighter. A light was starting to shoot out of it.
Quickly, he ran toward the sanctuary.
The red circle shot out a bright white light.
He vaulted over the railing, jumping right over the circle, at that same moment the light shot out.
His momentum knocked the floating bodies out of place, toward the side.
A burning warmth overcame him. Like standing in front of a fire.
No, standing inside the fire was a better way to describe it. The excruciating heat was unbearable.
Lunan was lucky enough to lose consciousness.
. .
.
"It— burns?"
Lunan's tightly closed eyes shot open.
He found himself in an open field.
A scenery of endless, long green grass. Each blade danced wildly as it was pushed by the nonexistent winds.
The sky was endless, as well. It had an orange hue, which was especially strange, considering that there was no sun present on the horizon.
"Why is that..?" Lunan wondered, carefully analyzing his surroundings.
"Because I am the sun!" a voice answered.
"You're supposed to be this… Rosebearer?" Lunan asked again with a little disappointment.
Standing in front of him with his arms at his side was what looked to be a spirit.
The spirit had a strange appearance. Lunan tried his hardest to perceive the spirit, but he couldn't. Like a constantly unfocused image. Except you don't know what the image is supposed to be. Paradoxical.
"I'm not the Rosebearer. And I don't know why you would be disappointed. And, who even— never mind that. The ritual you have attempted has interested me."
"Who are you, then?"
"I'm the strongest spirit you'll ever know."
"Yeah? Don't you think that you could've come a little earlier?-"
Thousands of spears, created out of the same white energy that the spirit in front of him was made out of, shot at Lunan.
They were all positioned in a way that he could not move at all.
"Do not speak so insolently. I'm giving you a chance to survive."
"… Can you even blame me? My friends are dead, and it's all my fault. And, how could I possibly survive?"
"The ritual that was performed… essentially ripped your spirit out of your body. It sent it straight up toward the 'Rosebearer'. But I grabbed your soul before it could reach whoever that is."
"What about my friends?!"
"To heal you… And you give yourself the power to defeat whoever used this ritual on you, I'll need their soul. Since I'm a 'spirit' That's how this contract works."
"You didn't even give them a choice?! I want you to use my soul to heal both of them! I don't care how much you have to stretch me apart so it fits."
"… Time works differently within this realm. I've already spoken to them. And they both agreed on the same thing."
"…"
Lunan teared up, silently.
"It's your choice. Let their souls wander away, or give them to me to create our contract."
Zion… Alicia.
"So where will they go?"
"I'll take the energy from their souls. But, they will reach the afterlife, eventually."
"Okay. Then let's do it."
Lunan stuck his hand out before the spirit in front of him could even do anything.
This made the spirit smile, a little surprised by his eagerness.
"Alright! I'll give you the ultimate power to defeat these hard-level bosses, then, after that, I'll give you a weaker cast."
"Strength. I wonder how Alicia and Zion felt… knowing I finally obtained it."
Did you guys laugh?
Hearing the contract.
"He would be really excited, huh?"
"I'm far too bored with life anyway. Maybe I'll settle down and watch Lunan."
Is that what you two said?
The spirit in front of him stuck his hand out. They shook on it.
. .
.
When Lunan woke up, he felt cold.
The roof of the church was blown off, along with most of the surrounding area being turned into rubble.
He lay between Zion and Alicia's lifeless bodies.
But he didn't want to move.
It felt so… strangely warm.
The police ruled it a cultist attack, and Lunan was put under questioning for a while. After the questioning was done, he was monitored as well.
They found him a normal person.
But after that day, Lunan changed.