#savior saeran

No matter how much she cried and screamed for help, nobody would come. She was trapped in this room with no way out. Her messenger was useless and she could speak to nobody at all apart from Rika and... she didn't want to do that. She really didn't want that. Yet, these four walls were all she had and when the door opened for the first time in weeks, she found herself staring at the woman with golden curls.

She looked sympathetic for once and clicked her tongue as she took in how disheveled Lila had become. Rika sank down to her knees in front of the girl and rested a hand against her shoulders for a second as Lila trembled. As scared as she was, she had not been around another person in such a long time. It had been exactly as Rika had planned and to see her in such a place almost made her smile broadly.

It had been a child’s play, to say the least, like taking candy from a baby. Nothing more, and nothing less than that. All it took was a little yank of an arm behind one's head until they begged for mercy and lamented, pushing their limit for pain until they eventually cracked and had no choice but to submit and accept their fate. Sure, there was always a hint of trepidation and hesitancy from those who didn’t know what was good for them at first, but she was quick to break them of these awful habits.

It only took a bit of this, a dash a that, a sprinkle of such the right amount of applied pain, and when you wrapped it all up in a delicate bow, it was just right again. Saeran had been falling on a fool’s errand. Why would he ever think that he was made for the outside world? Certainly not, she knew him better than that.

He had not survived and flourished there, no, no.

He had spent his childhood miserable and lost until she had found him and taken him to the safety of the walls.

It had been the doing of that girl.

Whenever something seemingly started to go wrong in her divine plans the issue always led back to Lila. She had gotten in the way and caused far too much trouble to warrant any good feelings. A part of Rika wanted to throw her away and try again, but the kindness in her heart was too big for her to do such a thing like that.

Why ever should she throw any somebody who had the power to sway Saeran AND Ray?

That would be a waste of something that could provide far too much good in her quest to redeem him in the holy light that could only exist here in Magenta.

Self-reflection was important and Rika was glad she stopped for a moment to think about what would be best done to fix this mess.

She was surprised that the idea didn’t occur to her sooner. She could use her just as she used Saeran, just as she had used Ray.

Once Rika decided that her devil had given her the best path to follow, she went through with it. Ray had thought that he was going to be leaving for good, but, as a matter of fact, he would be sleeping for quite some time. Just as long as it would take to break the spirit of that pathetic princess.

It took time, of course.

It always took a bit of time and effort to figure out the best way to make someone crack. Lila had already been pushed to her limits by Saeran as he had spent weeks toying with her feelings and emotions for the sake of a thrill, and that left her in quite the vulnerable state.

She had thought that Saeran had finally abandoned her once and for all when he never came to find her after so wholeheartedly telling her in the dead of night that they would escape.

Oh, she feared that it had all been a cruel trick played on her expense. That he dangled her freedom and the freedom that she had wanted for him and Ray out on a string only to leave her gasping for air like fish out of water on the way to market… just to see how she would break.

Her heart was heavy and her tears were close to drying out after so long of being scared and alone.

The pitiful fact was—

Lila would not give up on that boy easily.

It was her fatal flaw, her hamartia, the one thing that left her vulnerable.

Even when the rest of the world had given up on her and she should have given up on belief and faith, she never let herself give up on the boy that had shown her so many feelings and experiences.  From the fondness that Ray had given her to the delicate hesitation that came from the nervous Saeran.

Rika could see it in those eyes of hers. The childish devotion that was tied to like an anchor sinking into the deep sea. She almost pitied Lila. She had seen that look in her own eyes at one time when she was a different person.

The fact that she had been broken and thrown about like a ragdoll was her fault, she should have known better than to love somebody. What did that feeling earn her? Nothing but torment and yelling and screaming and suffocating in a room to learn her lesson.

Love… hah…!

It’s such a shame that when you think you have that and the person judges you and casts you aside when you reveal your truest self. Love is powerful and it can ruin a person in a matter of seconds if matters get to that extent.

It’s daunting when someone looks upon you for the first time with such faith that you do not know what to do with yourself. Giving yourself to someone who does not know what that power and faith could give to them. This was something that Savior knew very well and she understood the devil in her Saeran.

That was why Saeran couldn’t bear to look at that poor thing in the eyes because her blind devotion terrified him to the brim. Something believing in him for once in his miserable life? In a way that his Savior did not? Oh, he could have never been ready for such a thing, not even Ray could handle a thing directed at himself.

Blind devotion can be such a beautiful thing. He was not ready to feel on the receiving end of those feelings, nor was he ready to do what needed to be done to use that power to the fullest level that he could. That was why he was led astray. It was why he had failed. It was why neither he nor Ray could do what she planned for them.

They misunderstood what true power was.

Rika realized that when she spoke to the broken doll for the first time, and she could see it reflected her eyes. She saw something that she could have never seen in the awful traitorous man that cast her aside like garbage when she revealed her true nature to him one fateful afternoon. Something that her devil relished and found sheer satisfaction from, deliciously so.

Devotion without any fears.

True… blind… devotion.

Lila may have been tired, and her body may have been very weak… but she refused to give up on Saeran or Ray. It put a wrench in the plans of paradise in the past but that did not mean that it couldn’t be useful. This level of belief was something that could be perfect. This should be used for better means, Rika knew.

Rika e could work with this, she could twist this narrative so wonderfully, she could benefit from this, most of all, paradise could benefit from this. The cogs and gears were turning in the back of her head as her devil whispered such beautiful darkness into her ears. Yes, yes, this was something that she could use to take them all down.

She could see why her dear, useless, pathetic, childish Saeran had fallen for Lila. She could also see why this nervous, terrified, shivering porcelain doll had sought out comfort from him.

“You miss him, don’t you? Poor thing, abandoned because he didn’t know what was good for him, right?” She cradles the poor girl’s face in her hands. Lila is listening to her every word because there was nothing else left for her to do. “It’s okay. You can be honest with me. I of all people know what it feels like to love someone who forsakes them.”

She had been locked tightly in this room for such a long time. Rika had made sure of that. After she had taken Saeran back into her bosom, she knew that he needed time to pray and repent for his clear misdeeds against paradise. His punishment would be to sit in a dark corner and take his elixir until his lungs burned and pleaded for the end. Lila, on the other hand, would be used as Rika saw fit and neither Saeran nor Ray would have a say in what happened to their pitiful toy. It was quite lovely to see the way the light left this girl’s eyes day by day by day. Saeran had promised that he would come back and that they would escape together, did he not?

When Lila had first pleaded with her after she hadn’t heard from Saeran that first day, begging to know if Saeran had been taken or not. Rika did not tell her the truth. Saeran is gone, no one can find him, I am afraid he must have run off and left you behind . It was for her own good. She had to learn that she could not take something that belonged to someone else.

How far was she willing to go for her belief in them?

“He just said he would come back. I believed him. No, I believe him, but he’s still not back and it's been so very long,” Her voice is quiet, so very quiet and tired.  “If he… if he left without me… that’s okay… right? As long as… as long as he’s safe, I don’t... It shouldn’t matter what happens to me, right? I just want Saeran to be safe.”

Lila started to shake her head at that notion that sprang into her head. Her dry eyes found the will to let a few tears go free despite how dehydrated she was. She choked back a heavy sob and held herself as tightly as she could.

It isn’t much comfort and she’s on the brink of losing it , and her feet are so close to the ledge that she’s mere seconds from falling.

That’s just what Rika wanted.

Rika nodded her head as if he understood those feelings and where she was coming from, her sharp eyes were softened on her form. “That’s alright. I get it. We both wanted the same thing for him, you know? I wanted Saeran to be safe, as well. But, he left me behind too.  Sure, our intentions were a little different but we both care about that poor boy, right?”

“Yeah,” Lila mumbled. “Let’s say that.”

She watched, and she waited. Rika could find no sign of attitude or ill-meaning in those words. Long ago, the girl would have fought with her for saying such a thing and pushed her away with such heated vigor. But it appeared as though that her will had been so thoroughly broken down that she didn’t or couldn’t fight anymore.

Good.

If they agreed, that made matters much easier to contend with.

Rika smiled, and tucked a stray hair from Lila’s face, “You must be wondering why I came to see you today after all this time. Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t mean to. There is much business to take care of and I can’t relegate everything out without Saeran here. I come to you with my proposition, my dear. Don’t look so down, princess. I won’t let you rot away here.”

Lila lifted her gaze from the ground and looked dead into Rika’s eyes. She was scared and hopeful but as much as she was craving safety, she was also nervous about listening to anything that Rika may have had. She was looking for a hidden meaning under those words but she would not find what she was looking for tonight.

The pitiful princess had no energy to fight back. She knew that she was a sitting duck and it would be better to submit then it would be to fight back. She didn’t reply to which Rika expected. It mattered not. What mattered now was that she said what needed to be said.

“What would you say if I told you that I had a way for you to be with Saeran?” She asked. “Would you be interested?”

Silence.

“Isn’t he gone ?”

“He’s never really gone,” Rika replied. “You must know that, my dear. As much as he wants to rebel against me, he knows that he can’t survive out there without me, or without you .”

“What does it matter? He clearly doesn’t want anything to do with me,” Lila muttered. Her voice was bitter, and it was lovely to hear such a sound for the first time. “It doesn’t seem to matter what I want. If he’s okay without me, then that’s okay. I won’t… let it bother me. He deserves to be happy. If he’s far away from this place, good. I'm as good as dead anyway. No matter what I do, he's not going to come back for me.”

Rika paid no mind to that fact, she only continues to speak her mind and let the words flow out one by one. “I assure you he isn’t happy at all, Lila. How could he be happy knowing he left behind his precious princess? I've been thinking... You just wanted to be able to be with him without anyone separating you. Isn’t that what you want?”

Lila looked down. She wasn’t saying but it was very obvious what she wanted. It had always been so clear and predictable to read her expressions. Like an open book that could tell no pathetic lies at all to anyone. She wanted him. She wanted to be with him.

“I realize… I may have acted hastily in my past decisions, and I regretfully may have made a few mistakes in my actions. I know you might be quite hesitant to trust me, but I’ve realized that to fix things I need to start with those that I have… well, hurt the most recently.”

“Sounds funny coming from, well, you,” Lila mumbled. Her bitter voice was exhausted and tired of fighting all the time. “All you’ve ever done to Ray and Saeran is hurt them. I don’t see why you would just… change.”

Rika chuckled. It was a soft, delicate sound. “I’ve changed, I promise you that. When Saeran… and I spoke before he left, I realized what I had been doing was rather extreme, and how badly I had hurt the two of you. He put it into perspective for me.”

“I love that boy like he’s my own… and I messed up. I only wanted to protect him,” She continued as she let go of Lila. ”I overreacted. I was scared of losing him. I didn’t know what else to do. I’m only human. We make mistakes. This place is supposed to be a paradise for those who have suffered, not a place where suffering occurs to people.”

Lila was quiet. Her eyes set on the ground.

Rika only watched as Lila fiddled with her hands on her lap and tried to think of a way to avoid this. She would find nothing, the Savior knew, and this was the right time to finally enact everything that she wanted. ”I should have been protecting both of you, and those precious feelings you shared from the start. I wanted to help, but my help wasn’t the right kind of help. So, I want to fix this. I want you to and my dear Saeran to be happy here. This could really be a place where those who have been hurt can come to seek comfort. But, I can’t do it alone. I need both of you. You both have shown me something I forgot long ago in the past. Will you give me the chance to fix it? I promise I will make things better if you do.

Rika's touch on Lila lingered, and her green eyes fluttered underneath thick eyelashes. "If not for me, for Saeran. I can’t stand that he may be sad or hurting. Doesn’t he deserve to be happy… don’t you deserve to be happy? Give me one chance to prove to you and Saeran that I can make amends."  

She could ignore Rika and shut her eyes. Yet, her will was so very tired. She was desperate, as much as she wanted to push back, there was no point in hiding things anymore. Saeran was seemingly gone from her reach and she would gain nothing out of biting back. She didn’t have anything to do. There was nothing but this and if she didn’t give Rika a chance, then she could be sitting here in this toy box until she took her final breath. At the very least, if she agreed to this, then she could see the outside world again. That was what Rika counted on and that was what she wanted from the start.

Saeran… Ray… she missed them.

She wondered how they were doing, and if they had gotten away from Magenta. Or if they were hiding out somewhere from this place. By what Rika was saying, it sounded like they could have been nearby or still in contact with this place. She needed to know. She needed to talk with him. She needed answers. She wanted to see him again, to see them again. She would do anything to feel his arms around her body again. Her heart ached without him.

Lila was just… tired.

She was tired of fighting and she was tired of seeing these four walls and nothing more around her at all hours. There was a window but that window was mocking her every time she looked at it with tired eyes. She was starting to lose her mind piece by piece. All she wanted was to be able to go back to the start. Saeran had been right when he said that this toy box was going to be the worst ever punishment that she could face. Now he was gone.

She wanted Saeran back. She wanted Ray back. But, they were gone and she could do nothing but cry and crawl at her arms. It hurt, it hurt a lot, and although that quiet voice in her head was telling her to run and to keep fighting back...she just submitted herself.

Lila submitted.

Her hesitation slowly wore away like a rope about to snap, then she nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll… trust you,” she finally cracked. "I'm so tired. I can't do this anymore... I just want the pain to stop... I don't want to be alone anymore... please... as long as he's okay... I want him to be okay..."

Rika clasped her hands together and smiled so broadly. Her hand brushed against the top of Lila’s head as she sat there like a very good girl. So quiet, so obedient. Even as Lila started to sob and cry like a pitiful child, she held the poor dear close as she planned the future for this precious thing. “I’m so happy to hear you say that. I promise you won’t regret this. You and Ray… you’ll be so happy together very soon. You'll never be alone again. I'll fix everything for you, Lila. You know that I'm always good at helping others find their perfect place. Don’t worry, I will show you the way to embrace your beautiful future ahead.”

It would hurt a little... but it was for their own good.

“Oh, dear, it looks like you need a bit of sprucing up before the prayer starts. Let’s just fix this up for you, Ray,” she patted down his hair and made sure to carefully tame those messy locks underneath her fingers. She then removed the few wrinkles from his garment. “There, now you’re looking like a real Savior.”

He was quiet. What was he supposed to say here? There was no point in opening his mouth and saying anything against his Savior. He was wearing his own variation of her ceremonial robes. She had made it for him, and he was… happy… to wear it.

She had insisted that he needed to make things official and although there was hesitance in his heart, he obeyed every word and order that she gave to him. He let her fiddle with him as if she were trying to ready a child for their first school photo the morning of. He was used to her doing that and fawning over him. He slowly nodded his head in response once it clicked for him that she was speaking to him.

“...Thank you, my Savior,” he said. He had no choice, otherwise. There had been no hope of escaping from Magenta, no matter what he did or how hard he tried to fight back against all he had ever known. Losing was inevitable.

Why had he thought that he would be able to do that? Neither he nor Saeran had expected to be captured when they tried to escape. Wait… was he even Ray? That name didn’t feel quite right but the other name didn’t feel right either. He wasn’t sure who he was anymore as she would call him whatever she saw fit. Was he Ray? Was he Saeran? Was he neither or was he both of them? He was becoming something new due to his Savior’s dedicated hands.

It mattered not who he was, or what name that everyone wanted to use to call him. He would respond to everything and anything as long as it meant that he was doing the right thing. The universe wanted him here, and everything always brought him back to her. If this was to be his existence, then he had to accept it from now on.

He didn’t dare think of those thoughts now.

Escape… fighting back … it all made him feel sick.

The only reason that he found the will to keep his body standing was that somebody was holding his hand. It was clammy and it was cold, but it was the touch of her hand that gave him the strength not to die on the spot. She had stayed locked up so tightly in that room waiting for someone to rescue her and she never gave up.

He could not die and leave her behind to suffer in this place. She was dedicated to him with every fiber of her soul, and he was dedicated to her being and her safety. Lila was holding onto his hand so tightly that it felt as though she would disappear if she didn’t hold onto him.

Times like this, his clarity would swim back to the forefront of his brain and he could recall what had happened to them. How he had spent weeks chained up in the dungeon with nothing but darkness and elixir to keep him company until he repeated the words that the true Savior wanted him to breathe into life.

How he refused to do it over and over again for the sake of the woman that believed in him so strongly that she would withstand his verbal lashing as the struggle over what was truly strength rang heavy in the back of his head.  

Paradise…

Paradise existed .

It was in this place. He forced himself to believe it even though his numb body cried at him for allowing this to happen. Why else wouldn’t he be able to leave? Why else wouldn’t Lila be able to leave? Clearly, they were meant to be here. This was the only way that he and Lila could ever be together.

It was their only real option.

It was this, or endless days of solitude until they died. For her, he would do anything, and for him, she would do the same. Days… weeks… months… who knows how much time passed them by since they had tried to escape. The elixir and the training tended to blur the memory of those who were too far deep into it.

He had no idea how long it had been, or what exactly had been going on outside of what they were going through. Did it even matter? Nobody was going to save them and they couldn’t save themselves, so submitting to the numb and foggy haze of the elixir was the only thing that they had the option to choose.

He was numb all the time, now.

She was numb, too. Gone from her eyes was the light that had once glimmered and sparkled, the same eyes that had both fired him up and made him feel alive. The eyes that had made Ray fall into a state of hopeless infatuation and the eyes that made Saeran angry that they could stay so kind to a monster in front of her body.

There was a whisper of the old person inside of them but it would always be extinguished before she could crawl out of the darkness. Her light, fading in and out as her faith became warped into a twisted variation of itself. He would see it when she squeezed his hand in her own and prayed for salvation at his side.

“My Savior,” she sank to her knees in front of him. Those brown eyes were not like the ones that he had seen in her bedroom late in the night as they whispered their final goodbyes. No, in these eyes were a kind of devotion you would revere a God with. “I am gracious to be allowed in your presence once again. I know I led you astray, but she has shown me the error of my ways. I hope to be worthy enough to be near you in the future.”

Saeran could only look down at the girl in front of him with petrified eyes. What had happened? Lila was never like this. She was not supposed to be like this. Her face reminded him of Ray. How he longed to please others but he feared punishment. How he looked upon Lila as if she were a Goddess incarnate when she gave him her hand.

His breath began to quicken, and his head snapped up to look in the direction of Rika who had her hands placed delicately in front of herself as if she were innocent.

“What did you do?” he tried to demand, but his voice cracked and held no trace of the anger that had once fueled him. He sounded like a scared child again. He wanted to recoil from Lila’s touch but he had missed her so much that he couldn’t shake her hands from his body. “What did you do to her?!”

“I fixed her for you,” Rika told him with a smile. “You see, it finally occurred to me that paradise could really prosper with someone in charge that has a loyal follower that looks so sweet, so easily swayed are the masses when there is a pretty girl that believes so strongly in her faith. She won’t fight you ever again, and she’ll do any little thing you ask. She’s always been devoted to you.”

She took a few steps forward but not too close to break the illusion that the young girl had upon him. She gestured to Lila, “I realized my mistake when we spoke last, my dear Ray. It was wrong of me to let you play with the girl first. I’ve corrected all of her ugly light. She’ll never fight you or the whim of paradise ever again. Isn’t that what you wanted?

Saeran’s pulse began to accelerate as he looked back at Lila. It was true. She had been dressed up extra special by the Savior for him. Like a believer, but the colors were reversed. White, she was bathed in white like the angel that she had always been but this… this wasn’t right. This looked exactly as Ray had always envisioned.

Her clutching at him with blind devotion in her eyes, smiling, not putting up a fight, and staying as close to him as she could ever be. How they could spend every day in paradise like this, forever happy and safe from the pain of the world outside. Was this really what he wanted? Was this really what he wanted to do to Lila from the start?

It brought no happiness to his eyes.

Only fear and misery.

“My Savior,” Lila’s quiet voice spoke again. His vision snapped back onto her own and he was left looking at Lila with nowhere to go. She quivered, and tears began to flood her vision. “Aren’t you happy that we’re together again? I… I understand if you’re disappointed in me. I did so much wrong. I tried to ruin our paradise. Please, forgive me… I’ll do anything.”

It felt like he was living a nightmare and this nightmare was wrapping its hands around his throat minute by minute.

“I promise… I promise I’ll never fight you again. Whatever you want, ask for it from me and I will do it for you. I am here for your happiness… our happiness…. I understand now what you wanted for us and I promise I’ll never go against the will of paradise,” her voice was desperate. “Please, my Savior, stay with me. Let’s stop fighting against this. I want to make you happy... please... I understand if you wish to not see me after my actions. I know I was stupid... foolish. But, I'm better now. She helped me become the person you always wanted me to be. Aren't you happy? Please, don't look so sad... I thought you would be happy to see me. I don't— I don't understand."

Her voice was panicked, and the tears that coveted the corner of her vision was far too much for him. "I'm perfect now. We can be get together forever... like we always wanted if that's what you want from me. I'll do whatever you want. Please. Just say it... say something. If you don't wish to see me, tell me... I need to know... I need to know... please... please..."

“Yes, Ray,” his Savior echoed her words. “Stop fighting the truth. Aren’t you tired? Lila was so very tired of fighting it. So, she accepted paradise into her heart as you always craved. You wouldn’t want your precious follower to cry any more tears for you, do you? She’s already spilled so many. You’re hurting her by denying her dream of being with you. Isn't this what you always wanted? You wanted a pretty little follower that loved you blindly.”

The only thing that remained of this memory was the sounds of his own anguished screams.

If he suffered, she suffered.

At the very least… they had each other in this misery to hold onto. Saeran clutched her hand just as tightly when Lila held onto him. He could not bring himself to look at him because he knew if he saw her eyes, he would see the ghost of his mistakes. She would be looking at him as if he were her everything and desperate for his praise. What this truly what he had wanted? It mattered not now... this was what he had, and this is what he would live with until he died.

No escape from paradise.

The only choice was to accept it and embrace the devil. A part of him did not believe what he was being told but the smarter part of him knew that he could never fight against it, so he did what he knew best, submission to the absolute darkness.

Rika smiled at him. “You’ve done so well lately, my children. Both of you have finally found your true potential, and today is the day we share that glory with everyone. I can’t believe things have finally come together the way that they were always meant to. It took a while for this to come to fruition, but the fruit of your labors will benefit all the believers from here on out.”

Her vision slid to the side where the other important person for this paradise was. She reached out and brushed her fingers against Lila’s chin. “I’m just glad you could finally see our side of things, dear, after all that fighting and nonsense you spouted. You truly have become something lovely. Your loyalty is something to admire, isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course,” Lila whispered, a quiet voice trembling as she did. Saeran couldn't stop himself from looking at her as she gazed at Rika, like a frightened kitten. “I am happy in paradise. I have never been happier than I am when I am with my Savior. I wish others could see how happy we are and join us.”

If only he had been strong enough to protect her from the start.

But, he would be what she needed now as he had failed to do it in the past. No matter how much it hurts or stings... what she wanted, he would become it. Her Savior, her protector, her light, her soul, her everything. Saeran would not fail her again. If they were together, that was what mattered. They had this. This was the only option left for them to take. If they refused to comply, they would be separated and surely left to die in the dungeons alone.

He would not leave his Believer to suffer and rot alone.

Not again.

Never again.

“Your unwavering faith will help inspire those who resist the darkness onto the true path to salvation, once and for all. Paradise awaits so many under this new rule, I can’t wait to see how many we can save from misery,” Rika spoke with glee in her voice. She couldn’t wait to see how things would play out from now on, delightfully so. "The believers will see it, they will see with their own eyes just how strong paradise can be. It can bring together the darkest of hearts and show them their true potential."

Lila nodded and then looked back down to her feet, quiet and submissive once again. The only reason he knew that she was still with him was thanks to her fingers interlocked with his own. The numb feeling remained but the Savior and his Believer were ready.

It was only a matter of time now. Rika had taken a step back from her role as the Savior and quietly slid into the shadows behind her two precious children. She was using them for their own good. They understood that. The two of them would become the face of paradise and if anything were to go south, they would take the blame in her stead as she left to rebuild paradise all over again. The Savior, and his most loyal believer… a match made in paradise and no one could deny it.

This was a paradise that Rika could stand behind. She would show the world what true darkness was and how real love was. This would show that traitor and his leeches. This would prove to that horrible man that all of her whims were for good.

V would regret the day that he fought against Rika’s darkness.

She was going to show them all through these two and their idyllic love.

Her hands rested against their shoulders briefly, “Now, it’s time for you to grant them the witness of your presence.”

“Oh, he’s here!” Rika watched as Saeran took his seat on the poppet in front of everyone and all the believers watched with fascination.

The murmurs began to quiet down as he raised his hand to silence them, and Lila took her place at his side. Her hands politely poised in front of herself as she smiled at the crowd. Her eyes did not meet that smile  but it mattered not. All that mattered was that the world could see how much she believed in that boy, and she would not abandon him.

Saeran began to speak, and those words captivated the crowd with ease. He had always been such a good boy. He had learned very well in the past. “Poor souls who seek salvation, the eternal paradise awaits you here at Magenta. The outside world is a pit of defilement. We must cleanse the corrupted world, and that is why our pasts are scourged with darkness. Darkness and light will always be with us. We will all soon become the light of salvation.”

“Liar, you’re not the real Savior!” a believer spoke up from the back of the room as he rose from his seat and pointed at him, ”We want the real Savior! Why isn’t anybody saying anything about this? Are you just acting like she doesn’t exist? Where did the Savior go?!”

Lila’s eyes trained on the sound of the voice. She shook her head at him as if sighing at a small child who was throwing a tantrum, “There is no Savior but the one that you see before you,” her voice was gentle and her tone was direct. All those who saw her knew that she lived and breathed those words.

“That isn’t the Savior!” the man lashed back at the two in front of the room, both Lila and Saeran as they stood amongst the sea of people. “He’s just the errand boy of the real Savior! A crybaby that does not know what to do! He’s done nothing for me! This man is not the woman who saved me and I refuse to accept this! Why aren’t any of you talking about this?!”

“He wishes to save all those who suffer in the cruel outside world. He saved me when no one else would.  I would be out there lost, hurting, suffering, miserable if he had not found me and shown me the light,” Lila stood her ground as she spoke. ”He only wants to save all of us, and I have witnessed it myself time and time again. My Savior is a just man who has always been here for the lonely and weak. Why would you ever insinuate that there has ever been anyone but my Savior?”

Rika pursed her lips from her spot in the shadows as she watched her children enact their paradise upon them all. She knew that there may be trouble from those who didn’t know any better. But, they could be taken care of with ease, no worries at all.

Nobody would fight the law of paradise.

Those that did would be rightly punished and born anew in the blazing fire of Mint Eye. “Security? Take away that traitor,” she said, quietly.

“Because that man is not my Savior!” the believer spat. He started to march forward to prove once and for all that Saeran was not the real Savior. However, before he could even get close to reach the poppet, he was held back by the guards. That unruly believer was removed from the room in the blink of an eye. It had to be done.

Saeran showed that he felt bad for that poor believer, but he continued with his word.

As he should do, the calmness in the center of the storm was the sign and mark of a very strong leader in the middle of a wildfire. He nodded, and looked back among the faces of the believers,  “I do not fear change. I do not fear blame. We only seek to look ahead and build a paradise for all. I only wish to deliver the words of salvation to all.”

Rika could see as a glimmer of the old Saeran peeked through but disappeared just as soon as it had arisen when Lila pressed her hand against his shoulder to steady him. “The authorities, the everyday society, culture, and media, they all seek us out. That means they agree we’re right. The Mint Eye has never been more powerful, and we will be even more powerful tomorrow. We will bring salvation to every corner of the world.”

“You have seen it yourselves, come to us and we will protect you from any more pain, that is the paradise we create for ourselves. Have faith in my Savior, our Savior, for tomorrow, our power grows its hold,” Lila said. Her voice was stronger than it had been moments prior and it couldn’t have been better than this. “For eternal paradise.”

“For eternal paradise,” Saeran echoed. His weary expression gave nothing to the sea of people in front of them but Rika knew that he had finally submitted, once and for all, to his fate as the Savior and his fate with Lila at his side as he had always wanted.