NOVEL WEB Chapter 24: Harry Terria
POV: Harry Terria
There I was, stuck in this old and dirty shed again; Nothing had really changed since the last time, that shovel was still sitting there, broken as it is. My stomach was empty, a whole lot of empty; I knew that if I didn't get food soon, I'd die, Not that I ever thought that it wouldn't end like this. My family obviously did not want to spare me the slightest bit of bread. 'It would cost too much' they said, as if they didn't own an entire farm already.
I sighed again, I didn't want to die, I wanted to live; I wanted to live life to the fullest and be someone worth something, I'd do anything...
Out of pure despair, I tried to open the door once more, even though I knew it wouldn't open; They never forget to lock it. I tugged at the handle, not caring how much it hurt my hands; But, just as I was about to give up, something happened, a tidal wave of power surged through me and into the door. It unlocked.
I felt tired beyond anything, but I knew this was my only chance to survive, and I had to; If I didn't survive, would anyone even miss me? I wanted to be someone to remember, someone people would simply know about.
I rushed out of the shed and ran as fast as I could, well aware that I couldn't stop now. I ran long and hard, so long in fact, that I was beginning to reach the city center; The stone brick walls and wooden roof became smoother and more intricate, gold could even be found if one looked through the house's windows.
I continued running. I couldn't dare let myself get caught, especially not in the rich section of the city; Being put to death would be the least of the punishments inflicted. I ran still, not knowing where I was going or why, but needing to get out of there.
I suddenly became aware of a man walking ahead of me, clearly in his own thoughts and not seeing me; I quickly dashed into an alleyway to hide myself.
The man muttered a few phrases, only a few of which I could hear clearly enough, "-damn paperwork making me work so late, why did that dungeon have to appear right now... And a stolen divinity one too! Then there's the necromancy case too... and the mage that the army wants to hire, why would a mage go out to the north though? That's just ridiculous.-"
I wasn't able to hear anything further than that, but I was able to see a name embroidered in gold on the man's clothing, 'Antier Egos'. I don't know what a stolen divinity dungeon is, but I know that the church is against it and that's enough for me; After all, I had prayed many times to Terse, but no response had ever come back to me.
I waited a little while for the obviously rich -and tired- man to pass, and then continued on my way; I wasn't running anymore, the lack of energy finally hitting me. I have to find food and shelter, fast.
I looked around desperately, but at this late hour, nothing came to me. I continued wandering, hopping for a stray piece of bread left on the floor. I knew shelter would be impossible to find here, as rich as the people living here were; But they were so rich that maybe they didn't care about food as much.
I searched around for about an hour before truly giving up, I wasn't going to find anything. I decided to walk towards the church, hoping the people there would be nicer than their god? It took a bit of time to get there, but when I arrived I found out that they were worse; Terse just ignored me, his followers... well I'll just say that I have a few new bruises on me now.
I sat huddled in a corner while looking at the grand church, which was supposed to be a symbol of peace and liberation not being any better than my 'family'. I tore my eyes away, I couldn't find anything for me there anyway. But I then latched onto something else; A little building sitting right next to the church, it might've looked beautiful in a time long past, but now it was almost ruins.
I carefully made my way over to it, not wanting to get caught by the guards of the church. At the top of the entrance of the ruins sat a name for the building, 'Church of Certe, Goddess of Time.'
I didn't know who this 'Certe' was, but this goddess was obviously not liked by the church, her own church being in such ruins. I entered carefully, not wanting to trip over anything. Pieces of broken statues lay here and there; I could only imagine that they were once beautiful pieces of artwork. A few almost unbroken tables were present too, there even were some chairs!
At the back of the room stood a grand platform, obviously where offerings were to be put for the goddess. I sadly didn't have anything to give, but I knew a prayer would be appreciated.
And so I got to my knees in front of the platform and began praying, "Oh goddess, I thank you for the shelter your ancient church gives me now, I can only repay you with the few prayers that I have, And so I pray for you to give me food for me to survive another day."
POV: Certe
I was currently sitting on top of my human while he slept -it really was comfortable to be like this; I could almost fall asleep myself!
I got a perfect idea to make my human suffer right then and there. I could carve out more of the owned rune onto his body while I forced him to watch! It would be perfect- suddenly, a voice made itself heard to me, a prayer. It had been so long since I had received one that I stopped moving completely for a few moments. I was thankful for my ability to see within all of my churches as the one doing the prayer looked to be no more than eleven years old but looked terribly underfed. I simply had to give him food! Just this one prayer alone made me feel better than I had in centuries! His prayer was pretty basic, but I knew what the child meant. He was thanking me for giving him shelter in my 'church' and wanted food.
I simply had to help the one to be the first to give me a prayer in so long! I looked into the time on top of the altar, looking as far back as I could without taking too much of my power, and thanks to this place being my 'church' and right on top of the altar, I was able to bring to this time some bread and apples; It wasn't much, but it would do the child some good.
POV: Harry Terria
I opened my eyes not expecting anything to happen, Terse hadn't responded so why would this Certe do? But what I saw filled me with hope and gratitude, a whole loaf of bread and two apples, sitting right there on top of the platform. I took the gifts carefully and expressed my thanks to the statues with fervor; I was going to find a way to repay what that goddess had just done for me one day.
I ate my fill and slowly made my way over to the tallest of the statues left mostly undamaged, then I laid down on the floor in front of it and fell asleep, truly content and feeling the safest I'd ever had.
