Hrm. Okay, this is just a short little vignette I came up with. Not connected to anything. Thanks go to DeadEye and AJ who told me that yes, this was good as it was, and all others who looked it over.
Divinity Repealed
by Timesprite
The sun had set long ago but the overcast sky glowed a faint orange,
a color she always associated with snow. And indeed, soft white flakes
were swirling in the chill breeze dancing to and fro before joining the
thickening blanket on the ground. Church bells rang out over head,
heavy, reverberating in the crisp air. Cramming her hands further down
in the pockets of her winter coat, Domino hurried up the stone steps of
the church.
The interior was warm and sparsely lit, the
building all but empty. She supposed not many people would bother with
a midnight mass during an incoming snowstorm. In truth, she didn't know
why she'd come here, other than the empty feeling in her chest that
had woken her from sleep and compelled her to brave the weather. Taking
a seat in the last pew, she tried to thaw her frozen fingers.
She'd never been a religious person. Her life had left very little room
for faith, and she preferred to rely on her own recourses rather than waiting
around for 'divine intervention.' Needless to say, she'd never felt the
need to 'chat' with God. And yet, here she was, sitting in a darkened church
at midnight when she could have been at home in bed with Nate sleeping
like a log beside her. Instead she was sitting here staring at the huge
up-lit crucifix that hung in the alcove behind the altar. Stared at it
as if it could offer her some answers.
The rare occasions she'd been in churches
before this, she'd felt uncomfortable. As if she were somehow tainting
the place with her own lack of faith. Most everyone had things they believed
in, be it a religion or a principal, even Nathan had his Askani philosophy.
She'd never had anything to believe in, and she'd never thought
much about it. Which is why late night bouts of soul searching got so infuriating,
she supposed. It was hard to find meaning when you didn't know what you
were looking for.
Justification, she supposed. It would be nice to have someone to answer
her question, to make it all make sense. She leaned back and stared up
at the ceiling.
"Well?" Her voice seemed loud in the silent room. "There's got to be
some
reason, right? If You're omnipotent and all." She smiled wryly. "Or is
everything just amusement to You? Cheap entertainment." She wondered if
it was polite to start accusing a deity you'd never said two words to before
in your life. She wanted answers. "It'd be nice," she continued softly,
wondering if she were really just using this as an excuse to talk to herself.
"to know why. Just once. Explain something to me, anything. Let me know
why You thought I needed half my life erased, or my life stolen out from
under my feet." She sighed. "Pick one."
With her eyes closed, memories flooded over
her. So many things she'd try to push away over the years, knowing that
what was done could not be repaired. Let the numbing realization that here
was no cosmic rationale for it all wash over her. She let out a shaky sigh
and opened her eyes. "No, huh? Didn't think so. Thanks for nothing, anyway."
She climbed to her feet and walked out of the church, pausing to light
a candle before she walked out onto the snow covered street.
----
She pulled the blankets around her, soft and warm after the cold of the night air. Beside her, Nathan stirred, reaching out for her. His fingers traced the line of her collarbone lightly. "Where'd you go?" His voice broke the silence, a low rumble from the darkness beside her.
"Looking for something," she replied quietly, sliding closer to let him put an arm around her waist.
"Did you find it?"
"No."