Chapter 52:

Verse 52: "The Freedom He Sought"

The Great Priest is an Atheist?!

I woke up on the hard wooden floor.
“What the–?” I heard someone say.
“It would appear that the ritual did not function ath I expected it to.”
I forced myself to stand up as quickly as I could and ran towards the door of the archwizards’ meeting room.
“W-wait, what are you doing?!” I heard Griffith say, shocked. “We need to know what happened–”
I shoved past him and bolted out the door, doing my best not to give them any time to cast spells on me. As I leapt down the stairs and ran through the first floor of the building, I passed by the three archwizards who had decided not to participate in the ritual. They were at the threshold of the front door, arguing about something.
“Excuse me!” I said loudly as I shoved past them and escaped the building. The three of them jumped, though Justine recognized me and pointed me out to the other two. I didn’t stop to hear what they had to say.
“Vivian! Vivian Hartlieb!” I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted as I slipped past the guards who were stationed around the building. I heard the guard who had opposed me shout an order to chase me down, but I kept running.
I realized that I might never find her by my own strength.
“God! Please! Help me find Vivian!” I yelled as I kept running. As I made my loud prayer, hundreds of people heard and turned to look at me. Some faces were angry, others bewildered, and some pleasantly surprised.
Behind me, I heard the sound of guards trying to shove through the crowd and catch up to me, but they weren’t close at all.
I passed by a bunch of stalls and booths as I ran and tumbled through the streets of Kuzges. Vendors and merchants shouted at me and called me names, but I didn’t care. I nearly ran into Elisa and Niels as they examined a booth full of gems and jewels.
“Wait, Shinko?!” Niels said as I sprinted past him.
“Huh?” Elisa exclaimed as she caught sight of me.
“I’m sorry for being such a jerk! I’ll explain later!” I screamed over my shoulder. Before I heard their replies, I took advantage of an opening in the crowd in front of me and dashed into it.
I was now in a more secluded part of the city, but there were still dozens of merchants. They were all settled around an old, abandoned church.
The crowd was thick, though right next to the church there was a space that no one filled.
My heart began to pound louder as I ran straight towards the church. When I stood directly before its boarded up doors, I heard the crowd gathered around it begin to murmur. I tried to open the doors, and as I did, the crowd began to shout.
I couldn’t force it open, so I ran around the church, looking for an alternative entrance.
One of the windows wasn’t boarded up.
Without hesitation, I jumped through it, shoulder first, and landed on the floor inside the church. I heard a familiar shriek as I landed.
I could feel some blood leaving my body, yet I forced myself to stand up and look towards the source of the shriek.
I made eye contact with Vivian.
She didn’t move. She stood in front of the old pulpit of the church, silhouetted by light pouring in through the stained glass window far above her.
“S-Shinko?! You’re bleeding! What are you doing here?! How did you even find me?!”
My feet felt light as I ran towards her, blood pouring from my left shoulder and from a scar on my face as I approached her and made eye contact.
“I’m free, Vivian!”
Her eyes widened as she took in what I said.
Once I was only a few steps away, she closed the distance and held me close.
For a moment, it felt like everything was frozen in time.
She pulled away slightly, just enough to look at me directly while still being close.
Her beautiful blue eyes shone like sapphires.
And when she smiled, it was absolutely radiant.