The Radiance

The north eastern winds blew with signs of impeding danger, and it grew stronger, swifter. Bells of the sovereign churches were heard ringing in tune of the earth's natural beat. Leaves glided freely, hastily, as the barren town was of filled with utmost poverty, people who were desperate to devour anything edible, or non-edible. Melodic, soulful singing of the choirs charmed the sins of the people.

"God, please save us!" A scruffy man with long, untidy hair screamed. He was full of sin, and so was his family, and everyone else. They were people of guilt, and light did not shine over them, for they were not forgiven by the outside world.

"We shall only burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, and no more shall be said." An elderly person has spoken. Their sins were never explained, but its radiance spread throughout the living world.

And only one did not sin as much as other sinners, but was accused of.

"You knew the world will not be the same, and yet you ran, far far away."

"Remember this, you are now a sinner, and you will always be one."

Those words scintillated inside the girl's heart, which was as fragile as a pearl, as pure as diamond. She did not commit guilt, yet people did not believe her. She resumed her running, as she had to get far, far away from the town of sin. Her dark, long yet smooth hair glided along the chilling wind, as she swam in the smokes of what would be an arson attack by the people of sin.

"I can't... No! I am innocent!!" She comforted herself, as she hastened her pace. Her eyes were then, soaked in sparkling tears. Tears which she did not create, and instead was forced onto her, and the tears did not worth her.

Her tears were wiped away by the polluted wind. And soon she was lost in the beating storm, only to appear again two hundred meters away, in a destroyed building. She cleaned her smooth face with the brown cloth which she wrapped onto her shoulders beforehand. She broke down, this time she couldn't control it.

The Bridge of Mercy was burned by people of her town, and she was to blame. Deaths of nearly a hundred people just happened, and thousands were severely injured.

"Don't apologize, I'm losing what I don't deserve..."

***

As he wandered into the forest in hope for some adventure, he seemed to notice a trail of smoke in the skies east of him, as if the skies were suffocating.

And thus he ran, he knew he had to help the people, as he was the general of an army, and he needed to show courage, to establish a pattern for his soldiers to follow.

He threw his camping bag at a rampaging tiger, just so that it wouldn't get in his way. But the tiger ran after him, even with its head drenched in its own blood.

"Try to catch up, mother****er!"

He gave up on being chased, and thus halted immediately. He lifted his bodybuilder's hand into the air, and gave the raging tiger a fierce, merciless, powerful punch full of vigor. The tiger died instantly. He was inhuman.

And then he was a girl, the same one who ran away from her town. She was with minimum sin, and he knew that.

"Sir... You are strong..." Her eyes dazed onto the man's bloodshot cyan pupils. Her hands clenched together, as if begging for hope or mercy.

"Can you... help me?" Her voice rang his heart, as he knew this girl was without much sin, but was from a place full of sin. She needed help. A lot of it.

"Of course, young lady. May I know your na-" Before he could finish, he felt a sudden warmness, a feeling he had never experienced before. The girl embraced him with the most comfortable action ever- his first hug. It was so tight he could barely breathe, but the fact of having someone trust him is more than enough to compensate that.

"Please, sir... Do not resent me, do not hate me, for I am innocent." She has spoken with such worried voice, as if chaos will arrive any moment.

And it did.

***

He crawled forward, dark red blood gushing out of the burst veins in his arms, his clothes were torn beyond recognition. He gasped, panted, coughed blood and went through the seven circles of hell before even able to move another inch.

And he saw her, sobbing pitifully in a shady corner, just forty-five degrees to the right of him. He mustered all his inner strength and stood up. Without reluctance, he ran forward before surrendering to his injuries and pummeled the rocky ground below.

"I am... so useless... sob.." The girl covered her eyes with both hands, as if she did not want the guy to see her fragility.

"It was a bomb, young lady."

"I know, and it was all because of me..." She replied while using both hands to adjust her fringes to the side, allowing clear view of her dark brown eyes.

"Always remember, the weight of the world will give you the strength to go." He said with a smirk on his tranquil face. His bent his back slightly while stretching his right hand forward, only wishing for his loved one to forget the past, and embrace the future.

"Bu-But... I will only cause... trouble. And I d-d-don't... wanna hurt you!" She was in a total dilemma, as she was a wanted person. But his eyes were without a tinge of sorrow or regret, just a glimmer of hope.

"I..." As she tried to continue, he wrapped both of his muscular arms around her fragile body, eliminating the inner demons and conflicts within her soul. He brought her to his chest, holding onto her even tighter than before.

"I will have no regrets, I promise."

***

Three years passed, and it went mostly well, with the girl leaving her town of sin and residing with the man, in a wooden house far, far away. In the town of En Agloria.

"Yawn~" She rubbed her eyes oh-too-casually, as she turned her body right and got out from the master bed. She went to the living room and simply fell on the sofa, as lazily as always.

"Ah, I wish he doesn't have to work, I'm bored all day." She took a sip from her cup of coffee before resumed her lazing.

"GET THE **** OUT!" Suddenly, three men in black broke down the house's weak wooden door, rushed in and nabbed her. She was given no mercy.

"Let... go of me!" She bit the hand of one of the men, which resulted in a loud, screeching scream. She delivered a forceful punch to his face, which broke his skull into several pieces. As he fell back, she spun a full circle to deliver a swift flying kick to the face of another man.

"Just die, sinner!" The remaining man pressed a button on his arm, instantly resulting in a huge explosion which set the wooden house on a raging inferno. The man, well obviously, perished. But the girl did not, as her strength of purity forbid her from dying.

"GAH!!"

"Somebody... HELP ME!!"

"Ugh..."

An hour passed, and she was still trapped inside the flames of hell. She would die at any moment, but she persisted. She was still a fine young lady, and had a lot to do on her waiting list.

"I... couldn't..." She laid on the detritus-filled ground, her limbs scorched by the heat and rendered unusable.  Her eyes were of pure sorrow, but this time she resisted her tears, for she did not want to feel weak. But she was born in a town of sin, and she was destined to face death in the hands of sin, it was only a natural cycle.

She lost the will to live.

She gave up.

She...

"And if you were to give up this easily, then you really are a sinner, darling." A voice was heard, right in front of her. But she could not decipher the shadow as the smoke was drowning the figure. But she was definite it was that someone.

That special someone...

"Heh. I just wish the oceans will bleed for ya, sweetheart. Cause you are worth more than I ever am." The shadow disappeared, and another explosion was noticed, replacing the mysterious shadow.

"NOOO!!!" She stood up while negating the pain she suffered for too long, her right arm trying to stop the profuse bleeding of her left shoulder. She shook her head in disbelief before running towards the source.

"Please, God... HELP US!!" Her eyes were filled with liquid of utter despair, as she ignored all obstacles while diving into the fiery remains of the explosion.

She found the meaning of life, what she lived for. And it was robbed from her.

***

The melodic sounds of piano played through the calm, tranquil atmosphere. Birds were heard chirping without any sign of calamity.

*Ding~* Her smooth, small fingers pressed down on the piano's keys without much force. She soon tuned them to a famous piece by Beethoven. Full of emotions she had, she only lacked one- happiness.

"Sob..." She stopped playing and placed both her palms onto her face, smothering them from the outside world. She couldn't understand why, and probably never will.

"Am I really worth sacrificing for?"

Just then she felt a hug from behind. The house was locked, so no thieves or kidnappers may enter. And the fact that she was forgotten as a girl from the sinful town crossed the fact that she might be hunted again.

She did not believe. She refused to believe.

 She smiled, for the first time.