Chapter 1 - Guilt
Prontera. A very large and bustling city filled with merchants and businessmen. It is the place to meet up with friends, host meetings and hold transactions. Residents of this grand city were at peace mainly because of two reasons: the Knights who protect the city, and the Priests who were the spiritual advisors of the citizens.
Dane is a regular acolyte in his teens, not like other acolytes who seem to be 'fit', he was a little bit slimmer than the others. He had blue eyes and short brown hair and he lived in a small house near the Prontera Inn. He knocked on their house's door, waiting for his cousin to open it. He was standing outside for ten minutes, but still, no one opened the door.
He kicked the door, and shouted "Why do you ALWAYS have to wait for me to kick the door? Why didn't you open it? You're so ! You've got every trait that everyone hates!"
But to his surprise, he was talking to no one because there, right in front of him, was his cousin lying down on the floor, with a knife stabbed right straight to his heart.
He quickly ran outside and left his dead cousin lying on a pool of his own blood. He went into the Sanctuary, the place where Priests and Acolytes rest, where new borns are baptized and where the departed ones are prayed for.
"Father, I need to confess something! I have sinned! Please, I really need your forgive—" his statement was cut short by Father Paul, the cardinal of Prontera.
"Calm down, son. Now.. what is it that you need to tell me?" he calmly told Dane.
"I.. I have killed.. I have killed my cousin, Father! Please forgive me! Please, I want to see him alive!" he exclaimed.
"Kindly pray three 'Our Father's. Then you shall be forgiven," the cardinal uttered.
So he did. After praying, he knocked on Father Paul's door.
"Come in, son," the cardinal said.
"Now, will you resurrect him? I want to see him, Father. I want to see him alive. I guess.. I guess he was triggered to kill himself by the words that I told him.."
"I'm terribly sorry, son, you can be forgiven, but his body will rest in peace. Forever."
Tears were falling down from his eyes when Father Paul told him that the sin that he had committed was not reversible. Nothing can be done to make his cousin feel pain. Nothing can be done to make his cousin feel happiness. Nothing…
Dane went out of the Sanctuary, disappointed and guilty.
"I could have killed myself rather than tell him that he was too weak to stand for himself.. that he was too dense that he could not feel what others feel.. that he was too apathetic that he was not even concerned about what was happening around him. He was the only 'family' that I had since my parents left me.." he murmured to himself.
He went home. He carried his cousin's body to their backyard. He dug, and buried his cousin's body.
He went into his small room. There, he looked at the bed that he used to share with his cousin. Beside their bed, was a small, wooden table. He noticed an envelope on top of the table. He opened it, and it contained a letter. It was addressed to him, and was written by Jun, his cousin.
Dear Dane, I
know, I haven't done any good deed to you. I have tried, but it
seems that everything that I have done was incomplete.. rather.. they
weren't enough to satisfy you. I am deeply sorry for not being able
to do the tasks you asked me, my dear cousin. But, all would be fine
after this, since you will no longer see me. There will be no more
eye sore in our little home. Even if you sometimes maltreat me, I
still care for you, for you were the only 'family' that I had.
Farewell, cousin, and I hope you'd always be on the right track. I
wish I had realized my mistakes earlier, but I think it's too
late. Your cousin,
Jun
His eyes were filled with guilt and anger at the same time.
"Why? Why did I ever have to say those things to you? They.. they weren't real.. I was just.. feeling jealous because everyone in the city likes you, but I think I was thinking different.." he said, as if he was talking to the piece of paper.
The next day, he went back to the Sanctuary.
"Father Paul, I have decided to go to Morroc to repent, and to think what can be done to repay my cousin for everything that he did to me."
"It's your choice, Dane. Good luck," Father Paul said, as he bade good bye to Dane.
He walked out of the city.. after a few hours, he saw himself in the quiet and humid Deserts of Sograt.
The wind blew his hair towards the opposite direction, his eyes were entered by particles of sand. But still, they were full of determination. Full of determination to revive his dead cousin.
"You'll live again, Jun.. just wait.. I will ask every Priest that I will meet to resurrect you.. but if no one could, I will strive to acquire the skills that will let you live in this world.. again.."