The sun was high up in the clear-blue sky. Birds sang in the distance along with the soothing sound of the rustling tree leaves that surrounded the out-of-place stretch of asphalt that split the forest in two.
A young woman wearing a pure white habit lined with fold and embroidered with a golden saint's sigil followed the said stretch of road. Her white doll shoes making light and quick pattering sounds as she did so.
Her name is Rosseweisse one of the Saints of the world. Hailing from the city of Vatican, the seat of Roman Catholic Religion, she is one of the Great Saints as per the recognitions of most of humanity. But of course to her, whether she is a Great Saint or a Lesser one, she-or any of the others, generally do not care about it. For all of them, they all have the same duty; that is to be the Saints the Heavens have recognized them to be.
Now, as to why she was walking alone by the highway, it is because of a revelation she received months ago.
Right in the middle of St. Peter's Basilica, as she prayed for the continued peace of the world, golden light pierced through the windows and illuminated her. Recognizing the divine presence that suddenly appeared before her, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Waiting for the voice of the Heavens to speak.
'Head to Aeternitas...wait within the church of Lothargien and from there...a path made of ash shall be made which you shall follow.'
A voice better described as neither man nor woman, neither of human or machine, spoke.
Of course only she heard it as only the Saints could directly communicate with the Heavens that is why she merely informed her fellow clergymen and the Pope of the message and then she was off. Not wasting nor sparing any time to prepare for her journey as she simply went straight out of the Vatican without even informing her Guard who are supposed to accompany her whenever she leaves the city and coincidentally finds a nice cab driver who took her to the airport for free, meeting a foreign diplomat who was headed for Aeternitas who also happened to allow Rosseweisse to accompany them to Aternitas out of goodwill, and 12-hours later, they were in Aeternitas.
Landing in the Galandre International Airport, she met a few natives who gave her directions to the city of Lothargien and then she was off.
Her long walk took her 5 days. Along the way, she met many hikers and nature trekkers who shared their food with her every now and then until finally, she ends in her current location.
"Now then. The Heavens said that a church should be at the city of Lothargien...Hm?"
She notices a large signage that said;
'Lothargien 20km'
"20 k-m?"
Rosseweisse was bewildered. As someone who has been secluded within the Vatican since early childhood due to her status, she was quite ignorant of the matters concerning modern technicalities which is why she did not understand what the sign meant other than it said 'Lothargien'.
"Ah! So am I correct to assume that I am in Lothargien now?", she looked around and then sees a cobblestone path that connected to the highway and cutting through the forest. Curious, she followed the path and marveled at the scene she saw;
The light filtered through the dense treetops covering the surroundings in a calming viridian color. Birds and all-sorts of small animals flittered about across the path or up the trees. The forest floor was filled with an assortment of flora and never-before seen flowers of peculiar colors such as gradients of blue and red.
"This is really beautiful!", she exclaimed as she continued to follow the path.
Not long after, the path opens into a wide stone courtyard and on the other side, was a white building that clearly looked like a church.
"Ah. Is that the church they said I should wait in?", she concluded.
Never did it occur to her that she was mistaken but as there was no one to call her out for it, she would never know.
Feeling relief at 'reaching' her destination, she proceeds towards it and no sooner had she approached the doors, two nuns opened the them and were shocked to see Rosseweisse who just stood in the church's veranda.
"Good morning! My name is Rosseweisse and I have come from the Vatican in accordance to the will of Heavens.", she quickly introduced herself much to the surprise of the two nuns.
"Eh?! The Saintess Rosseweisse?!", the two nuns exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes. I am the Saint from the Vatican. May I please know your names?"
Completely oblivious to their reaction, she asks them for their names.
The nuns looked at each other in utter confusion but then they seemed to just wait for further instructions from the church's head priest before taking further action.
The nuns introduce themselves to Rosseweisse and ushered her inside before one of them quickly went further inside to call the head priest.
The clueless Rosseweisse innocently went inside the church and sat in one of the pews while the other nun went to the pantry and fetched her some food and drink. Not long after, the head priest appears and inquires Rosseweisse as to what her purpose for visiting was.
"I received a revelation from the Heavens. I was told to head to this church and wait for a sign of the path I shall follow next."
Her answer just confused the head priest because not only was the visit abrupt, Rosseweisse was all alone without her Guard. But as she is the Saint who is not allowed to lie, the head priest simply gave up asking as he understood that Saints are dutybound to follow the will of the Heavens unconditionally. Questioning it further may incur the wrath of the Heavens.
The head priest then asks one of the nuns to prepare one of the spare rooms of the church for the lodging of Rosseweisse. The other nun was then ordered to procure more supplies for the pantry and left immediately. Left with only the head priest for company, Rosseweisse proceeded to make small talk and soon after, the sun had started to set and the loud rumble of the rainclouds echoed inside the church.
"Strange, the weather was nice this morning.", Rosseweisse muttered to herself.
"Milady, please follow me to the kitchen. You must still be hungry after your long journey, one of the nuns has already prepared dinner so let us be off.", the priest gestured for her to follow.
"Very well.", Rosseweisse agreed and followed the head priest.
After dinner, she was led by one of the nuns into one of the spare rooms which was surprisingly well-furnished with a simple bed and nightstand with a lamp, a set of drawers on one side of the walls and window with beautiful view of the forest beyond.
"Please do not hesitate to call for us if you need anything Milady. We shall do our utmost to provide for you during your stay.", said the nun.
"Thank you for your kindness. I shall do so if the need arises.", Rosseweisse thanks the nun who then leaves after a slight bow and closing the door behind her.
Rosseweisse heaved a sigh of relief and then approached the window. She opened one side of the curtains and looked at the nightsky.
The moon could not be seen due to the rather thick clouds that covered the night sky and the songs of the birds was replaced by the cacophony of insects in the forest. She could feel the chilly breeze and the small sprinkle of rain caress her cheeks bringing with it the smell of the damp forest which helped her relax.
"I wonder...why was I suddenly asked to come here?"
Yes. She thought it was a little strange to receive such an abrupt revelation. Normally, she receives such a thing only in times of great need. This new one was so abrupt and so vague that she has a hard time understanding what the Heavens meant for her to do.
"'a path made of ash shall be made which you shall follow'...this land seems peaceful enough. I wonder, would there be chaos in the near future which I will have to follow?"
She muttered to herself before waving it the curious thought off her mind and proceeding to lie on the bed to sleep.
Not long after she had closed her eyes and fallen asleep, she saw a vision of a young man carrying a black sword and was staring up towards the sky.
She could not see the young man's face, only the back of his head and the sleek long black hair that seemed to sway with the silent wind.
The young man silently stood there before her eyes and she was trying to figure out what the young man was doing, the sound of a water drop echoed in her mind and then she hears the following words,
'Let the ash in the wind guide you...'
Right after that, the young man suddenly turns around but Rosseweisse could only see his eyes;
They were pitch black. Not just irises, but even the whites of the young man's eyes were black.
It somehow terrified Rosseweisse and it sure did not help when the young man suddenly said,
'Wake up fool. Death is before you!'
The words caused her enough shock that she opened her eyes and was forced wide awake only to find no respite as she suddenly finds herself at gunpoint.
"What..."
Still reeling from the shock of her nightmarish vision, she timidly looks up and sees a man a little past his prime wearing a black trenchcoat and pointing a gun to her face. Outside the window, she could see and hear the downpour of the rain more intense than before she went to bed.
"Who are you?"
Rosseweisse asks.
The old man sighs, "You should have stayed asleep young lady.", he pulls down the hammer of the gun, "I have no name to give you as for why I am here, I am here to kill you."
Rosseweisse's eyes widened in surprise and before she could even properly process her thoughts, the old man had a metal bar sprout out of his mouth provoking a spray of blood that miraculously missed Rosseweisse.
"Ack!", the old man's body twitched and he dropped his gun before finally his eyes rolled up and he took his last breath.
Rosseweisse could not believe what just happened again and then another confusing person appeared,
"Dammit. Does this mean, I'm stuck here with these cultists?", a grimacing young man drenched from head to toe was grumbling while wiping his bloodied hands on his jacket. He then turns his attention to the shocked Rosseweisse, "What you looking at you fool?", he asked with a scowl.
"Who are you?!"
"Why the hell should I tell you? Now get off your ass! We're getting out of here."
"Eh?!"
Rosseweisse couldn't keep up and could only stutter as she replied.
"Jeez! Stay here then! I'll go kill those bastards in the main hall first."
"Eh?! Why?!"
At Rosseweisse's reaction, the young man stopped and then faced her with a face of incredulity,
"Isn't it goddamned obvious? I'm here to save you! Nitiwit!"
This is how the two met in the church that both of them was not supposed to go to but ended up in due to the whims of fate.