Bwahaha, part two of my insane story! And here is Axel's Somebody, Lae. What are you waiting for; start reading already!
People often take to the grave that which they can not give up. Their hopes and dreams, their fears…no one can leave those behind. Even if they have nothing else left.
Faith often controls people's lives. Especially those raised on it; take it away, and what have they left? Nothing of their own. Just an empty life…
Lae had been a part of the temple as long as he could remember. No one knew who his parents had been, or where he came from. But the One had plans for him, he knew that. The One had plans for everyone; he had known that since before being able to walk. One day, he was certain to be a good, strong servant to the One…
But not just yet. Since he was not born here, he was stuck with the job most people dreaded; cleaning servant. His duty was to sweep every inch of the temple, every single day, until he turned eighteen in a matter of months, and could be accepted as a member of the church. Like the souls of its people, the shrine had to also be clean for its lord. If Lae did well, he could start to learn from the holy books. The very thought excited him, having only heard the priests read from their pages.
He sighed, watching the sky as he leaned against his broom. Sometimes, he would watch the birds flying above, and wonder what life was like outside the temple. Did people know about the One out there too? Did the people look like the people here? Were there boys like him, cleaning day after day?
"Lae, get back to work!" Shouted a passerby. "After seventeen years, shouldn't the One have taught you not to slack off?" Lae automatically gripped the broom pole tightly, sweeping the floors faster and faster.
Soon, he thought to himself. Soon, he could learn about the One. About the outside world. All he needed was a little more time…
Lae knew it was bad to break rules. It was One's word that rules should never be broken, and a good priest never broke his rules. However, this was how the teen always spent his evenings, and no one exactly said that it was against the rules in the first place. While the others studied and prayed, he would sneak through the abandoned tunnels and shafts in the temple. He didn't always know where exactly he was heading at first, but he always made his way up to the roof. Up there, atop the temple, he could see the world.
In the pitch blackness of the current tunnel, all that could be seen of the youth was his hair, an almost fiery red in color. He had grown a lot since he had first found this tunnel, back when he was eight or nine. Lae practically had to slither around on his belly, crawling on his hands and knees, to get anywhere. (At least he was skinny enough to not get stuck, since they never had a large amount of food with meals.) While he was always a bit dirty after crawling so much, it was easy to fool anyone who asked. Of course he was dirty; he swept and cleaned all day, for crying out loud!
Emerald colored eyes widened in delight as they caught a glimpse of the sky; he was right in time for the sunset! The sky was painted in various tints of pink, red, orange and gold, reminding the teen of some of the tapestries hanging inside the prayer hall. Scrambling out of the shaft, Lae sat down on the highest point on the temple, fixated on the sky. He briefly wondered, as he always did, what would happen if he was caught, or if he fell down…
Hold on; what was that on the horizon? It looked like a giant black splotch. Lae was certain that it hadn't been there yesterday, or the day before. And it seemed to be crawling across the ground, like a swarm of locusts. But they weren't…they were…shadows that weren't attached to anyone?
"What the…" In his confusion, he accidentally let himself slip, sliding down the roof on his rump. With a desperate grab, he managed to catch the end of the shaft, and climb back in. He had to alert the others! Or did they already know of this? Was it normal? It couldn't be; the teen had never seen anything like it before! What was more, it just felt…wrong. It all felt wrong.
Slipping into the familiar, cramped tunnels, Lae began to crawl unknowingly toward the end of his life.
"Master Ai! Master Ai!!" The monks and priests barely glanced up as Lae burst into the sanctuary, his breaths escaping in rugged pants. Grand Master Ai paused in his reading of the scriptures, regarding the boy through gray, ancient eyes.
"Speak, servant."
"Master Ai," He began, trying to speak and catch his breath at the same time. "Master, there's something coming toward the temple! It's large and black, like a bunch of bugs, but they don't look like bugs that much, and they-"
"I know, servant." Lae was caught off guard; here he was, expecting them to either be surprised, or to question how exactly he saw these things. But…
"You know?"
"Indeed." The Grand Master didn't even move, except for his eyes that wandered back down to the Holy Scriptures. "We have sentries outside of the temple, to warn us of any possible problems. That way, we have time to pray to the One, and he can rid us of our enemies. Everyone in the temple has already prayed, so there is no need to worry." Of course, Lae himself hadn't prayed yet, but he was just a servant boy. He knew his words wouldn't matter yet. Not just yet.
Not even needing to be dismissed, the youth with hair like fire departed solemnly. Part of him felt like he should have known better, that they wouldn't have listened to him in the first place. Still, a second part of him had expected that he would have been the only one to notice, and by alerting everyone, saved the temple. He would have been a hero! Alas, he was not.
Still no use to the temple. Still no use to the One.
Wait, what was that noise? Off in the distance?
Screaming.
Lae had heard of screams before, but had never really heard one. The temple was usually quiet. This sound was heart-wrenching and horrid, grinding in his ears. It was pain, turned into a wretched punishment for all around, spreading misery. It sickened him.
Where was that screaming coming from? It sounded like it was near the main gates. Rushing as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him, he arrived at the gates. Several of the monks on watch duty were slaughtered, black and twisted forms taking their place. The shadows had arrived, swarming the ground, the walls, the sky…
"The darkness is here!" Lae wasn't sure who said that. Maybe he did. But he didn't stay in one spot; he turned tail and ran. Surely, there must be something more useful he could do. Something for Grand Master Ai, or a priest, or even the One. The prospect kept speeding through his head as he clambered into one of the shafts; the Shadows, he knew, would probably stick to the main part of the temple. More people there.
As he crawled, time seemed pain-stakingly slow. Voices reverberated through the building, crying for the One to intervene and save them. There was more screaming, and Lae could tell just from those voices, who was dying at each shriek.
"The One…shall be here soon…" Those were the last words of the Grand Master, followed by the sound of ripped flesh.
Where was the one? Why wasn't he saving his people? What was wrong here?
He wasn't even sure when or how, but Lae found an exit, one he had always known, but never used. It was the Chamber of One's Inferno, where an everlasting fire burned as part of their belief. All around the room were ornaments, old scriptures, and holy weapons. Something was beating against the door, and it wasn't hard to guess what.
He had to fight. Even if the One would not show its face, and stand up, he would.
The closest weapons to him were a pair of chakrams. He had never used them before, but he had seen the monks training enough to have a basic idea of how to use them.
The flames behind him licked at the ceiling, the same color as his bright scarlet hair.
Doors were thrust from their hinges, and a swarm of black crashed in. Lae stood firm, twirling the weapons in his hands, all alone.
He had always been alone.
"If I somehow get through this alive," Lae thought, "I'm leaving the temple. I'm going to actually live out my life, as best as I can. I promise."
These last coherent thoughts gave way to instinct, and he ran forward. The fire was soon extinguished, the only thing now matching Lae's hair being the blood he spilled on the ground.
In a sudden death, no one has time to let go. Feelings of remorse and regret still play a toll on their souls…
A Flurry of Dancing Flames continued on, forever reaching at a chance to actually live. He never succeeded.
Why'd I choose this? The chakrams, really. Monks used them; ever heard of Amaranth (I think that's how you spell his name) from Final Fantasy IX, where Vivi hails from? He's a monk, and has a side-weapon of charkrams. So there. And he has reddish hair too, but he's nothing like Axel, so he isn't Axel's somebody. I already wrote the chapter, so yeah. Not changing it.
Next up is my favorite member, Demyx! I love the little guy…so, expect him soonish!