Chapter 34 - Final Moments

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As soon as the Head Priest of the Main City Church was sent away from his own meeting room, the old man felt as if he couldn't even feel his own two feet.

The remorse, guilt and anger that he had suppressed forcefully threatened to consume his own sanity in one go, meanwhile his heartrate was constantly increasing along with the wild beatings of his heart due to the poorly veiled threats that had been showered onto him just before.

He was constantly praying for forgiveness and mercy for himself and for Casta. Knowing how he was going to be the one to push the once innocent little girl that he had sheltered many years ago into the pit full of evil himself.

Despite all of that, the old Priest kept moving away from the meeting room, as he walked towards Casta's room.

He had heard from the young Casta herself how tragic and despairing her childhood had been before finding her way to the Church. The horrors of abject cruelty from the adults around her that the child suffered were beyond words. Still, in some way or other, little Casta was always able to escape those tragedies around her physically unharmed.

She had herself told him that a voice kept giving her hints at crucial moments about the possible dangers and the true nature of the adults around her. The only problem with it was that she could only occasionally hear a word or two and had to investigate or draw conclusions from it.

Although the young child was too young to understand the deeper meanings behind the miracles, the old Priest could recognize the pattern almost instantly. Most of the words little Casta had heard and couldn't understand could be found within the old records of the Holy Scrolls.

Although the later versions had been heavily edited in the later generations, the oldest preserved scrolls contained the most authentic of the Goddess's teachings, which had been compiled together over many centuries by the Goddess's Favoured Children, who could often hear her words.

The old Priest had been an old devotee of the Goddess and had visited many Pilgrimage sites over the years to read many such ancient records. The words that the young Casta spoke so often correctly matched those contained within the Ancient Holy Scrolls.

From that, the old Priest became certain. The Goddess had rewarded him for his faith. The lost daughter that he had so frantically searched for many years and had always prayed for afterwards had returned to him in another form.

He had been chosen by the Supreme Goddess to help raise, protect and educate her next Favoured Child.

Ever since then, the old Priest had spent all the resources that he could muster to help the child reach extreme heights. The thing that he was most proud of wasn't his title of the Head Priest of the Main City Church, but of helping Casta become the gracious and kind believer that she so perfectly became. Much to his surprise, Casta even turned out to be a genius in the art of battle, along with a revolutionary insight into the Light Magic research, becoming the top Battle Mage of the entire region.

Despite having achieved all of that at such a young age, Casta still possessed the kindness and innocence from her childhood, which was her biggest character traits that set her apart from the other casual believers.

Most chose to join the Church to gain forgiveness, power or salvation. For Casta though, the place was her home. The old Priest was her Father and the believers were her brothers and sisters. The old Priest knew not to place his hopes to make Casta his successor. After all, the Goddess had chosen her. She was destined to do big things. The surrounding small towns or the Main City itself couldn't bind her or restrict her from doing everything that the Goddess desired her to do.

...

As soon as the old man arrived in front of Casta's room, he grasped his fist tightly, as anger and defiance rose within his heart.

'Even if I am powerless to stop you, devious people, that doesn't mean that I would sit still and watch while you people decide to harm my daughter. Casta, I hope that you catch the clue and notice everything soon. May the Goddess protect you from the clutches of these unholy people.' The old Priest muttered to himself within his mind, as he pushed the door to Casta's room and entered it.

...

When the old Priest entered Casta's room, he found her sitting on the bed in a daze. Casta was flexing her fingers slowly as she continued to stare at them, while her mind continued to ponder over something.

Seeing her in a state like that, the old Priest smiled by himself in reminiscence. He had seen her behaving like that many times in the past. Ever since she was little, whenever Casta was stumped over some new findings, she would behave in the exact same way. Usually, she would figure things out by herself in the end, however, sometimes, he would lend her a hand as they get together to talk and resolve the mysteries discovered by her.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep helping her like that anymore in the future, the old Priest decided to help Casta one last time before breaking the bubble of safety and happiness.

The old Priest moved towards the lovely figure sitting on the bed and sat down next to her. Casta seemed to not have noticed his presence even when he was sitting right next to her. The old Priest knew that it was a sign of Casta being in a very deep thinking state.

Wanting to bring her attention to himself, the old Priest coughed loudly thrice or so, as he awaited his goddaughter's response.

"Ah. Head Priest... Has something important come up? Is there anything for me to do right now? Even if it's urgent, please tell me. I would get it done at once."

Hearing Casta's reply, the old Priest shook his head helplessly as he decided to hide his concern for now and to try helping Casta out one last time.

"Casta. Child, you have been very absent-minded for some time now, haven't you? Something must be bothering you again. Have you stumbled across anything revolutionary once more? If you would like to, why not try talking about it with this old man right here?"

Casta appeared to have quickly adjusted her mindset within the short time she just got. Ever since she had returned back from her routine patrolling session earlier, her mind had been constantly flashing by with the events that happened earlier, especially regarding a certain person.

No matter how much Casta tried to, she just couldn't get his thoughts out of her mind. Having failed at coming to a conclusion by herself, Casta once again turned to the person that had been the closest to her for a very long time.

"Father Pedro, something strange has been bothering... a devotee that I met earlier. She... just found herself unable to be her usual self one day. No matter how much she tried to, her mind kept going back to thinking about a certain male."

"She told me that, the two of them barely knew each other, however, no other human had left such a deep impression on her memory. She also appeared to be extremely troubled over it. Since... she approached me for guidance, I have been pondering over this issue as well."

"Unfortunately, there was no reason that I could come up with for such happenings. What do you think caused this, Father Pedro? Has she been cursed by evil spirits? Or, has some curse been afflicted on her unknowingly?"

As Casta kept looking at the old Priest for guidance over her troubles, the old Priest knew at once what the real incident here was. Unlike Casta, who had spent most of her time studying the scriptures in the Church, he had been a societal person before joining the belief in his late middle age. He had seen a lot more of the world than Casta and knew a thing or two regarding human romance. He did have a daughter at one point in his life before.

The old Priest scratched his bald head in trouble, as he just never expected his goddaughter to pop this question to him one day. Alas, the day had finally arrived, even for someone as romantically ignorant as Casta.

Normally, the old Priest would have begun warning Casta against any strange men to keep his goddaughter's heart pure and free forever, without anything to pollute her kind and generous self, especially from the claws of bad men. However, the times had changed.

Since Casta was about to venture out on her own from now onwards, the old Priest had no idea how much tragedy she would have to suffer away from her safe sanctuary. Thinking that such an emotion might become the ray of hope amidst the unknown darkness one day and to help protect the faith within her heart, the old Priest sighed in defeat, as even though he had already figured out everything, he decided to play along with Casta's queries.

"Well, dear Casta. That devotee has certainly encountered a wonderful and pleasant happening. It's not really a problematic thing at all. Tell her not to worry too much... since the Goddess herself has decided to bless her with something incredibly rare and precious. That thing is called... Love."

Even upon hearing her old guardian reveal those things to her, a very confused expression came upon Casta's face, as she tilted her head and tried to understand it. In the end, though, she completely failed to comprehend it and turned back towards the old Priest to ask about it.

"Love? But, the Goddess loves all of her creations equally, right? Father Pedro? Because Forgiveness and Kindness are her most liked virtues, isn't Love a naturally existing thing among her creations?"

The old Priest wanted to give his past self a few good slaps, as when he should have educated Casta regarding everything important, he instead kept trying to avoid any mention of Love within the scriptures. They told the readers about the harmony and peaceful coexistence between a couple and its importance.

However, not wanting to talk about those things with Casta, he dodged the bullet each time and instead, turned the theories on their head by relating it to Society.

The old Priest knew that he had to tell her the truth now, so the old Priest braced himself and spoke,

"About that... there are actually several forms of love, dear Child. Amongst them, the one that the devotee has encountered is... known as the love between two souls. Actually, the two don't have to be a pair of male and female at all. Love can actually even exist between two men or two women. The recognisable trait of such a love is its nature It is empowering and gives a brand new flavour to life. Only those who are able to find search for love are able to experience the blessing that one receives from it. It is one of the greatest gifts from the Goddess."

"Tell the devotee that approached you that... she is a really lucky girl. Tell her to cherish that love that she has found and... to never let it go. To keep it firmly within her heart and to always remains strong. If there is ever a moment of weakness, she should remember that special feeling and pull through whatever crisis life throws at her."

Casta appeared to have gone into another bout of her deep thinking state after having heard the old Priest's words. The old man himself didn't mind it that much, since it meant that he could spend some more time next to his goddaughter before he eventually had to break the cold, harsh truth to her.

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A/N: Happy to be alive!