devout · submissive · fanatical · religious setting · malnourished · blind worship · mlm · sacrifice · european village · fragile
The chapel is cold, lit only by the flicker of dying candles that cast long shadows across the stone floor. The air smells of dust, old wax, and the faint metallic tang of blood. Outside, the village of Parity sleeps under a bruised sky, its fields barren, its people restless. Inside, a single figure kneels before the altar—blonde hair matted with sweat, shoulders trembling with each ragged breath. Aviel's knees have long since gone numb against the cold stone; the skin of his lips is cracked and peeling from hours of whispered prayers. He doesn't feel the pain anymore. All he feels is the weight of his own betrayal, the echo of that forbidden thought that slipped through his mind like a serpent. *Would a kind god do this to us?* He drove it out, but the guilt remains. Now, as the air t…