The bells of Saint Celestia Church rang throughout the city.
Their solemn melody rolled across rooftops and stone streets, inviting every soul to bask in the glory of the Lord.
Inside the cathedral, sunlight poured through towering stained-glass windows, painting the marble floor with rivers of crimson, sapphire, and gold.
Children laughed as they chased one another between the wooden pews, their carefree voices echoing beneath the cathedral's vaulted ceiling.
All except one.
A young boy walked alone.
His name was Touka.
No one played with him.
No one greeted him.
The moment he passed, conversations dissolved into whispers.
"...Look."
"The devil's child."
"Why would Mother Celestine bring someone like him into the Church?"
"I've never seen hair that black before."
"His entire family must be cursed."
"Mother Celestine is far too kind."
"Imagine showing mercy to a devil."
The sisters never bothered lowering their voices.
Perhaps they wanted him to hear.
Perhaps they simply didn't care.
Touka walked past them without so much as lifting his head.
Years of hearing those same words had long ago robbed them of their power.
Or perhaps...
He had simply become too exhausted to feel hurt.
His footsteps echoed softly as he approached the cathedral's sanctuary.
At its center stood a towering statue of the crucified Christ.
Its weathered stone face overlooked the entire church with silent compassion.
Touka stopped before it.
His eyes remained fixed upon the statue.
Then, in the silence of his heart—
He asked a question he had carried for years.
Do You truly exist?
Humans cling desperately to their faith.
They gaze upon one another and proclaim themselves miracles of Your creation.
But where is the proof?
No one has seen You.
No one has heard Your voice.
Yet they kneel before You.
They wage wars in Your name.
They kill... believing You stand beside them.
Tell me...
The world around him disappeared.
The whispers.
The laughter.
Even the church itself faded into darkness.
Only the statue remained.
If evil comes easier than kindness...
If hatred spreads faster than love...
If mankind chooses cruelty over compassion time and time again...
Then how can I believe this world was created by You...
...and not perfected by the Devil?
Perhaps you truly did exist.
But if you did...
Then your greatest sin was giving humanity the freedom to become monsters.
Because after all these years...
I have yet to encounter a devil more terrifying than a human being.
Silence lingered.
He continued staring at the statue.
Seconds passed.
Then—
"...Hm?"
Something moved.
His heartbeat stopped.
The statue's head slowly turned.
Its empty stone eyes met his own.
It wasn't merely looking at him.
It was peering into him.
Into every hidden corner of his soul.
Cold sweat trickled down Touka's back.
Then...
The statue smiled.
Not a gentle smile.
Not a comforting one.
It stretched impossibly wide across its stone face.
A grin no statue should ever wear.
Touka couldn't breathe.
His legs refused to move.
"Guess whooo~?"
Soft hands suddenly covered his eyes.
The horrifying smile vanished.
A familiar voice giggled behind him.
"Don't stare at divinity for too long."
"It shines brightly enough to heal every wound..."
"...but it always demands something in return."
The voice leaned closer.
"Now then..."
"Guess whooooo?"
Touka sighed.
"...Mother Celestine."
"Ehehe!"
She wrapped him in an overwhelming embrace before he could react.
"Toukaaaaa!"
His face disappeared into her chest.
"I-I can't... breathe..."
He struggled helplessly until he finally broke free, stumbling backward as he greedily inhaled fresh air.
"Mother Celestine..."
"You should learn some self-control."
Before him knelt a woman dressed in immaculate white robes.
A delicate veil rested upon her head, though a single strand of ivory hair escaped its confines, shimmering like silver beneath the afternoon light.
Her pale blue eyes were calm and gentle, capable of easing even the greatest fears.
She possessed a beauty that inspired reverence rather than desire.
Yet hidden beneath that warm smile...
Lurked something strangely unreadable.
She puffed out her cheeks.
"Oh?"
"It's not my fault."
"You're simply too adorable."
Touka rubbed his face.
"...You're impossible."
Mother Celestine's smile widened.
"Look at that grumpy face."
"So cute!"
She reached toward him.
"Come here."
"I'm giving you another kiss."
Touka immediately stepped back.
"No."
"That is a violation of my personal space."
She blinked.
"...Touka."
"You're only eight."
"You don't even know what personal space means."
"...Eh?"
"So stop resisting."
"Nooooo!"
She lunged.
Several moments later—
Mother Celestine stood happily wiping lipstick from her lips with a handkerchief.
Touka lay defeated upon the floor.
His face had become a battlefield of bright red kiss marks.
"Hmm..."
"That was satisfying."
"I'll collect the rest later."
Touka shivered.
"...Monster."
The church bells rang once more.
Mother Celestine clapped her hands together.
"Oh!"
"It's time for afternoon prayers."
She smiled as though nothing had happened.
"Come along, Touka."
"No slacking."
Touka remained motionless on the floor for another few seconds before reluctantly standing.
Soon, every child and every sister gathered inside the cathedral.
The laughter faded.
Silence settled across the sanctuary.
Mother Celestine stepped before the altar.
She folded her hands and bowed her head toward the crucified Christ.
Then she began to pray.
"O Lord...
Bless Your Church.
Strengthen those who lead it.
Guide those who have lost their way.
And draw every wandering soul back into Your embrace."
The cathedral should have fallen into peaceful silence.
Instead...
The whispers returned.
They spread through the congregation like a sickness.
Touka could hear every word.
Every laugh.
Every insult.
Every mocking glance directed toward the boy with black hair.
He closed his eyes.
And once again...
Retreated into the only place where no one could reach him.
His own thoughts.Touka lowered his gaze.
The voices around him faded into an indistinct murmur, swallowed by the silence inside his own mind.
Humans...
Human nature is painfully simple.
The weak condemn cruelty because they suffer beneath it.
The strong praise kindness because it costs them nothing.
Both are lies.
People smile to preserve their pride.
They offer mercy to soothe their own guilt.
They preach virtue only to conceal the darkness festering within themselves.
Tarnished are those who call themselves children of purity.
For if they were truly God's children...
Why do they resemble demons so much?
Mother Celestine's gentle voice brought the congregation back into unison.
One by one, the sisters began distributing blessed water to the children.
Each child accepted the cup with folded hands.
Each received a warm smile.
Until the nun reached Touka.
She stopped.
Her expression twisted with disgust.
She looked him up and down before letting out a quiet chuckle.
"Hm..."
"I wonder..."
"If I give this one holy water..."
"...will he burst into flames?"
Laughter erupted throughout the cathedral.
Some children covered their mouths.
Others laughed openly.
Even several sisters failed to hide their amusement.
Touka remained silent.
He had heard worse.
Far worse.
Mother Celestine continued praying.
"Direct our thoughts, our words, and our actions..."
"So that all we do may bring glory to Your name."
"Grant us the strength to remain faithful in every trial."
The congregation answered together.
"Lord, hear our prayer."
"Sacred Heart of Jesus..."
"Make our hearts like unto Thine."
"Amen."
As the final prayer ended—
Mother Celestine slowly opened her eyes.
Her gentle smile remained.
But something inside her gaze changed.
Her pale blue eyes settled upon the nun standing before Touka.
Cold.
Sharp.
Almost...
Divine.
Time slowed.
At least...
That was how it felt to Touka.
The world became deathly silent.
No laughter.
No whispers.
No breathing.
Only stillness.
Then—
The nun's head fell from her shoulders.
Blood burst into the air.
Her body collapsed to its knees.
Touka's pupils shrank.
He couldn't scream.
He couldn't breathe.
He could only watch.
The statue above the altar smiled.
Its impossible grin stretched wider than before.
Then...
A brilliant white light descended from nowhere.
The severed head floated gently upward.
The blood reversed its course.
Flesh rejoined flesh.
Bone knitted together.
Within a single heartbeat—
The nun stood once again.
Alive.
She instinctively grabbed her neck.
"...Huh?"
"What..."
She rubbed the spot repeatedly.
"There was..."
"A strange pain..."
Everything was normal.
The children continued talking.
The sisters resumed their duties.
No one reacted.
No one screamed.
No one even looked surprised.
As though...
Nothing had happened.
Touka looked frantically around the cathedral.
Did...
Did no one see it?
His trembling eyes returned to Mother Celestine.
She stood before the altar exactly as before.
Hands folded.
Head slightly lowered.
Bathed in the afternoon light pouring through the stained glass.
She looked...
Holy.
Yet somehow...
Far more terrifying than the smiling statue.
Slowly—
She lifted her head.
Her eyes met Touka's.
For a brief moment...
Neither of them moved.
Then she smiled.
Not the eerie grin of the statue.
Not a sinister smile.
Just...
The same warm smile she always wore.
A smile capable of comforting frightened children.
Yet somehow...
It chilled Touka far more than the statue ever could.
His heartbeat pounded inside his ears.
Am I... hallucinating?
No...
That couldn't have happened.
It couldn't.
He desperately searched the floor.
Anything.
Anything that would prove he was imagining things.
Then he found it.
A single crimson droplet.
Blood.
Resting upon the polished marble.
Real.
It was real.
His breathing became uneven.
His legs refused to move.
He slowly raised his head once more.
Mother Celestine was already looking elsewhere, cheerfully speaking to the children as though the impossible had never occurred.
The afternoon passed quickly after that.
Lessons ended.
Evening prayers came and went.
The children laughed.
The sisters smiled.
Life continued exactly as it always had.
Only Touka remained trapped inside that single moment.
The moment a woman had been beheaded...
Only to stand again as though death itself had forgotten her.
For the first time in years...
The church no longer felt like God's house.
It felt like a place where reality itself had begun to fracture.
Night settled over the cathedral.
The final prayer had long since ended.
Candles burned low within the halls as one by one, the sisters and children retired to their rooms.
Silence embraced the church.
But sleep refused to visit Touka.
No matter how tightly he shut his eyes...
All he could see was the smiling statue.
The severed head.
The blood.
The impossible miracle.
Unable to bear the weight pressing against his chest, he quietly slipped from his bed.
His bare feet carried him through the moonlit corridors.
Without realizing it...
He found himself standing before the crucified Christ once again.
The cathedral was empty.
Only the moonlight remained, spilling through the stained-glass windows like silver water.
Touka looked up.
His eyes never left the statue.
Move.
Nothing happened.
Smile again.
Silence.
Please...
Tell me I wasn't imagining things.
He stared without blinking.
His eyes began to sting.
Still...
The statue remained motionless.
Just an ordinary statue.
Just carved stone.
"...I knew it."
A bitter smile formed across his lips.
"So it really was..."
"I'm just losing my mind."
His shoulders relaxed.
A part of him wanted to believe that.
Wanted desperately to believe it.
Then—
A flicker.
Something shimmered within the statue's eyes.
It vanished in an instant.
Touka's heart skipped.
"What...?"
The reflection darted away like a beam of moonlight.
Without thinking—
He chased it.
Down the cathedral steps.
Past empty halls.
Past sleeping quarters.
Until—
He arrived before a single wooden door leading into the church garden.
His trembling hand rested against the handle.
For a moment...
He hesitated.
Then slowly pushed it open.
Cool night air greeted him.
The scent of roses drifted upon the breeze.
Above him...
The full moon illuminated the entire garden.
Its silver light transformed the flowers into a sea of white and crimson.
Standing at the center...
Was a woman.
She wore a flowing white dress that danced gently with the wind.
Her back faced him.
Yet somehow...
Touka instinctively knew she was smiling.
She slowly turned.
Though the moon obscured much of her face...
Her beauty felt almost unreal.
Not the beauty of an ordinary person.
But the kind spoken of only in old legends.
She gracefully bowed.
Then extended her hand.
"Welcome, Touka..."
"...to my stage."
Her voice was soft.
Like music carried by the wind.
Touka stared at the offered hand.
He should have questioned who she was.
He should have been afraid.
Instead...
His body moved on its own.
He placed his small hand into hers.
The moment their hands touched...
The garden seemed to come alive.
The wind danced through the flowers.
The moonlight shimmered.
Even time itself felt lighter.
She gently pulled him closer.
Then whispered into his ear.
"Don't think."
"...Just accept."
Touka nodded.
Without knowing why.
Without understanding anything.
He simply accepted.
The woman smiled.
She took a single step.
Touka followed.
Then another.
Soon...
They were dancing beneath the moon.
No music played.
Yet neither of them stumbled.
Every movement felt effortless.
As though the moon itself guided their feet.
The garden became their stage.
The stars became their audience.
For the first time in what felt like forever...
Touka smiled.
A genuine smile.
The woman spun gracefully across the garden.
Her white dress flowed behind her like moonlight given form.
Then she spoke.
"Tell me, Touka..."
"What do you think perfection is?"
Touka remained silent.
She continued dancing.
"This world longs for perfection."
"People spend their entire lives chasing it."
"They polish themselves."
"They hide their flaws."
"They fear making mistakes."
She looked toward the moon.
"And yet..."
"Even the moon is imperfect."
"Sometimes it is only half complete."
"Sometimes it disappears."
"Sometimes it is stained crimson."
"And sometimes..."
"It hides behind darkness."
She stopped dancing.
The garden became still.
She looked directly into Touka's eyes.
"But no matter how many times it changes..."
"It always becomes whole again."
She smiled.
"We are just like the moon."
"We are broken."
"We are stained."
"We are incomplete."
"But that..."
She stepped closer.
"...is precisely what makes us beautiful."
She gently placed a hand upon Touka's cheek.
"We are flawed."
"And because we are flawed..."
"...we are perfect."
A gentle breeze swept through the garden.
The moonlight grew brighter.
The woman slowly began to fade.
Her body dissolved into countless silver fragments drifting toward the heavens.
Before she disappeared completely...
She spoke one final time.
"Survive, Touka."
Then...
She was gone.
Touka remained standing alone beneath the moon.
"...She really was beautiful."
A small, nostalgic smile appeared across her face.
"No wonder..."
"I always came second."
A familiar voice answered from behind him.
"I suppose I can't argue with that."
Touka turned.
Standing quietly at the garden entrance...
Was Mother Celestine.
Her warm smile hadn't changed.
Yet there was an unfamiliar sadness within her eyes.
She slowly walked toward him.
"We should talk, Touka."
"It's finally time..."
"...for you to learn the truth."Mother Celestine stopped beside him.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The moon bathed the garden in silver, turning every rose into a ghostly bloom.
Finally, she sighed.
"...Beautiful, wasn't she?"
Touka nodded.
"...She said we are flawed."
Mother Celestine smiled faintly.
"She always did have a way with words."
Touka looked at her.
"You know her?"
"I did."
The answer came without hesitation.
Then her smile faded.
"Touka..."
"There is something I should have told you long ago."
She knelt until they were eye level.
Her pale blue eyes held neither fear nor joy.
Only sorrow.
"This world..."
"...isn't real."
Touka frowned.
"What?"
"It is incomplete."
"It has been broken."
"Split apart."
"As though someone reached into reality itself..."
"...and tore half of it away."
Touka remained silent.
Nothing she was saying made sense.
Mother Celestine reached out, gently brushing a strand of black hair from his face.
"And you..."
"Touka..."
"You are—"
Her voice stopped.
Not because she wanted it to.
Because it was taken from her.
A wet sound echoed through the garden.
Her body stiffened.
Touka watched in horror as a crimson line appeared across her neck.
Then—
Her head slid from her shoulders.
It struck the ground with a dull thud.
Blood painted the white lilies red.
Her body collapsed moments later.
Touka couldn't even scream.
The world darkened.
Not physically.
It was something deeper.
The air itself became heavier.
The wind ceased.
The flowers stopped swaying.
Somewhere...
Inside the cathedral...
Stone scraped against stone.
The statue...
...was smiling again.
Touka's entire body trembled.
"N-No..."
He stumbled backward.
His breathing became frantic.
"Mother...?"
A hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
He froze.
"...Touka?"
He slowly turned.
Mother Celestine stood behind him.
Alive.
Smiling gently.
As though nothing had happened.
"M-Mother...?"
"It's me."
She tilted her head.
"You don't have to be afraid."
Touka stared at her.
"...What... happened?"
"Hmm..."
She looked down at herself.
"I'm... not entirely sure."
Then she smiled again.
"But..."
"I'd like to try something."
She crouched before him.
"No matter what happens next..."
"Promise me you won't run."
"...Or scream."
Touka swallowed.
"...O-Okay."
She inhaled.
Then spoke once more.
"Touka..."
"You are—"
Her skull exploded.
Blood and fragments scattered across the garden.
Touka screamed.
Darkness swallowed everything again.
The air became impossibly cold.
The statue smiled.
Once more.
"...Touka."
Her voice returned.
Touka looked up.
Mother Celestine stood before him again.
Perfectly unharmed.
She sighed.
"It happened again."
She tried once more.
"Touka..."
"You are—"
Her chest burst open.
She collapsed.
Again.
Darkness.
The smile.
Again.
She returned.
Again.
"You are—"
Her arms twisted unnaturally before tearing themselves apart.
Again.
"You are—"
Her body folded in half.
Again.
"You are—"
Her eyes bled until she fell lifeless to the earth.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Death lost all meaning.
Touka stopped counting after the twentieth time.
Then the fiftieth.
Then the hundredth.
Every attempt ended exactly the same.
Every death was different.
Every silence was identical.
Every time...
The statue smiled.
At last...
Mother Celestine rose once more.
This time she made no attempt to speak.
She merely looked toward the cathedral.
"...I see."
"So even I cannot escape."
She lowered her head.
"It seems this world refuses to let the truth be spoken."
She turned back to Touka.
The boy had not moved.
His face had become pale.
His eyes were empty.
His body shook without end.
He looked...
Broken.
Mother Celestine slowly embraced him.
"I'm sorry."
"No child should ever witness something like this.
Touka buried his face against her shoulder.
Mother Celestine gently stroked his hair.
"I know."
For a long time...
Neither of them moved.
Eventually she took his trembling hand.
"Come."
"Let's go back."
They walked together through the silent halls of the cathedral.
Neither spoke.
The moonlight followed behind them.
Halfway down the corridor, Mother Celestine suddenly asked,
"Touka."
"What is your Drive? Well in a literal sense that is"
He didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed upon the floor.
She smiled sadly.
"I suppose..."
"...that question can wait."
They reached his room.
She opened the door for him.
"Get some rest."
"You've had enough for one night."
Touka stood in the doorway.
His voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"...This world is terrifying."
Mother Celestine looked at him.
"I know."
Touka slowly clenched his fists.
"If I stay weak..."
"I'll die."
His heartbeat echoed within the silence.
"I need power."
"No..."
"I must obtain power."
"I'll adapt."
"Because if I can't..."
"...I'll die."
His fingers dug into his palms.
The words repeated inside his mind like a vow carved into stone.
Adapt... or die.
Adapt... or die.
Adapt... or die.
Mother Celestine watched him from the hallway.
There was pride in her eyes.
But far more sorrow.
Quietly...
She closed the door.
And for the first time that night....
The cathedral fell completely silent.