Chapter
2 – Anything for Holiness
As Rina continues on her journey,
she wonders about her family. She left without telling them that she would pursue
the rumors of Our Lady since they already disapproved of her going out. They
said that they were just rumors and nothing more especially since it’s been
passed down through Sacred Tradition that Our Lady ascended into Heaven body
and soul not long after the flood of blood.
“I’ll prove you wrong, dear mother
and father. I’ll come back a saint and daughter that you are proud of,” Rina
says to herself.
Her eyes are then drawn to the
rotten black spots on her body, and is almost brought to tears by the reminders
of her failures.
“This is going to be different. I
know it is. This isn’t me being impatient. I’ve been waiting for something like
this and it’s finally come to me,” she says.
“Do not worry, dear pure soul,” a half
dark red, half light red forest dweller covered in leaves says.
“You startled me. Who are you?”
“A sign that points pure travelers
to the Lady. You are going in the right direction. Again, you shouldn’t worry. The
decisions that you made while you were on your royal throne immensely helped
this land.”
“It has? I hadn’t heard much about
the consequences of the things that my family trusted with and the only thing I
heard was from whispers that didn’t sound too good. When I brought the whispers
to my family’s attention, they told me to not worry, to learn from them,
continue my studies, and that I wouldn’t be making any decisions for a while.”
“Your family was wise in telling
you not to worry, but I’m not sure about the wisdom in not letting you make any
more decisions. You helped the poor and instituted valuable places of learning
both in your kingdom and in this land. No one else is as charitable as you.”
“That’s because most kingdoms are
too busy fighting each other or giving gifts to another while also backstabbing
them in other ways.”
“This is a world soaked in blood
after all to the point that I don’t think that anyone knows what normal air
smells like. Regardless, continue on your way because you will meet the Lady
soon.”
“Thank you.”
Continuing on her way, Rina finds a
clearing in the forest where there are small lakes surrounded by a sea of
different kinds of wildlife. This wildlife is colored light red with
different various symbols and designs on their bodies that add to their beauty
as if they were individually tattooed and handcrafted by an artist. In this
entire area, Rina is the darkest being and a bit of jealousy and grief fill her
before she lets it go and continues heading in the direction of the moon. The
animals around her run away as if frightened by her presence, which brings back
her sorrowful feelings. There are only a few animals left and these animals
seem strange to Rina. Not because they haven’t run, but because of how stiff
they move in comparison to the others.
The reason for this is quickly
revealed as four sinners take off the animal skin and ambush Rina along with
another two sinners who come out of the lake. These sinners transform their
bodies into weapons while also appearing to become more demonic and inhuman. Short
swords manifest from Rina’s body as two swords of blood come out from her to
protect her from the front while one manifests to protect her back. For defense,
two small round shields form on her arms. Despite these blessings, Rina still
feels that she may die since she is unable to form more swords and a shield for
her back as she wants.
It doesn’t help that one of the
sinners says, “Is that all you can manifest with your grace, princess? You must
not be as pure as people claim.”
“Shut up and get out of my way!”
Rina responds.
She slashes at her attackers with
her floating sword until she decapitates one of them.
“I thought you were merciful. What happened
to the princess that forgave the debt the prisoners that she thought gave a
good confession?” another sinner says.
“The only way you’ll receive mercy
from me is when you’ll get out of my way!”
Rina then manages to kill another
by driving two swords into their chest and then kills another by aggressively
going after them with three swords at once and cutting them into pieces. Seeing
as how they’re in real danger now, the remaining three attack her in unison,
but since there are only three, Rina’s three swords can focus on them as if
each is wielded by an individual fighter. Soon after, her enemies are defeated
one after the other. Her weapons of blood and grace then go back into her body
as she sits on the ground and looks in her reflection in one of the many lakes.
“It’s okay. I’m nothing like them,”
she says to herself.
To restore her self-confidence, she
reminds herself that she isn’t as sinful as these sinners she’s killed and that
she still has a chance to become better. She remembers her teachers telling her
how the most depraved sinners wear the skin of animals since it only gives a
mental sense of warmth while lightening the red on your skin naturally adapts
to both heat and cold. This was during a lecture about penitents who keep their
souls as pure as possible and sometimes wear leaves to hide the rot on their
skin. Rina looks at her skin to see that she doesn’t have many light red spots and the
few black spots that she has seems to have grown larger. She wonders why this is since she thinks
that she hasn’t sinned to the best of her knowledge. Looking back into the
lake, she sees her reflection warp until it no longer reflects her movements
and looks to have a life of its own. It even seems to be purer than her as doesn’t
seem to have any trace of red in it.
“That’s right. You aren’t like the
others. Few have reached this place in search of the Lady,” her reflection
says.
“Who are you?”
“I am a reflection of your soul. As
you can see, you are purer than your mortal eyes can comprehend.”
“But I thought that the body
reflects the soul?”
“Not these waters. These waters have
been blessed by the Lady that isn’t too far from here. That is why so many
animals gather and why so many sinners try to ensnare people to prevent them from
reaching the Lady. Speaking of her, she is eagerly waiting for you. Don’t keep
her waiting.”
“I won’t! Thank you so much!”
While heading towards the moon,
Rina confidently continues forward unaware of the evil forces still watching
her. Their plans have been unaffected by her actions and will soon be put into
action.
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