The Devotion of The Sun

Chapter One

Damien wakes up to the feeling of the sun in his eyes. 'It's bright... brighter than normal I think...' he slowly sits up and notices something odd. 'Why is it so bright when it's so cloudy outside??' he gets up from his bed.

He hears a bottle break downstairs, which is followed by his father yelling at his mother. His sister jumps up from bed in a panic. He walks over to her bedside. "It's alright Alice, don't worry," he reassures her.

"They're at it again, aren't they?" Lucas asks.

"They are... it sounds like father is still drunk from last night..." Damien responds.

"Should we stay in our room for today, just until he... you know... calms down..." she says anxiously.

"I'll go out in a bit to get something for us to eat, once the yelling stops." he says, 'as the eldest, I should be the one to check on the situation and get them breakfast,' he covers Alice's ears as the yelling gets louder.

"Are you sure?" Lucas gazes at the bruises on his elder brother's arms.

"I am, after all they wouldn't dare hit me when we have to go to the temple this evening," Damien reassures him. "And even if they do hit me, it'll feel better in a day or two,"

However, his reassurance doesn't reassure either of them. "I'm going to go get dressed and brush my teeth," he says as the yelling stops.

Although this is their living situation, they are rather well off. Their father is a temple advisor and they are wealthier than most merchants in town. Damien gets up and goes through his closet. He grabs a tunic and some pants.

He winces as his brother opens the curtains, narrowing his eyes. "Is it me or is it far brighter than normal?"

"No? It's actually darker out than usual," Lucas responds confused.

"Odd," Damien says quietly as he walks into their bathroom. He changes into the long sleeve blue tunic and then brushes his teeth and his hair. He walks out and Alice goes in after him. "It's rather quiet down there now, isn't it?"

Lucas goes up to the door pressing his ear against it to confirm. "Yeah, I don't even hear them talking,"

"I'll go check," he opens the door and walks down the stairs slowly, before Lucas could argue.

He sees his father sitting down, "ugly little bastard," he hears him mutter. His mother glares for a second at Damien, before ignoring him. He sighs internally. He sees three small fresh bread rolls, he grabs them and heads back upstairs to the other two.

He walks in and closes the door behind himself. "Lucas is changing," Alice says as she takes a bread roll.

"They seem pretty calm now," he says. Lucas comes out of the bathroom and takes a roll. Damien then begins to eat his. "I'm going to visit the library, I promised Bella i'd be there today,"

"Ok, be safe," Lucas says.

"Don't worry, I will," he says before going back down again, he goes to the door, puts his shoes on. "I'll be back by 4," neither of his parents acknowledge him.

He notices the clock tower outside in town, 'ah, it's already 9:50, I'm very late,' he walks down the cobblestone path, to the pristine and beautiful library. He notices a brown eyed girl waiting for him at the entrance.

"Damien, I told you to be here by 9." She's clearly angry.

"I'm sorry Bella," he apologizes. Bella, his fiance by arranged marriage, is a very feisty girl.

"You better be sorry," she grabs his hand, dragging him inside. "Your lucky that you have a pretty face, I would have begged my parents far harder to break this engagement with you if you didn't,"

"So you like my face?" he jokes.

"Oh shut up," she leads him towards the back of the shop, "they got a new book shipment the other day so check them out with me," she brings him to a row of new books with varying topics. "I'm sure they have something new and interesting," The two look through the books, one catches his eye. It is a red bound book that looks at least 100 years old.

He reaches for the book, and opens it. 'Its words look... weird... but they are still fully legible.' he begins to read the odd book.

She looks over his shoulder. "What's that?" she asks. "It looks... unreadable. Like it's another language,"

"I can read it,"

"What do you mean you can read it? Prove it,"

"This first line says 'when the sun first rose, the goddess of nature began to gain consciousness, and this was the start of life'," he reads. She rolls her eyes.

"Liar,"

"I'm not lying," he sighs as he closes the book.

"You so are, it's complete gibberish," she crosses her arms.

"Well, I think I might borrow this book from the library then,"

"Yeah, and do what with it? Pretend to read it?" she asks mockingly.

"No, I'm going to actually read it, I'm being serious when I say that I can understand what it says," he smiles slightly.

She stares at him for a moment, still not necessarily believing him. "... whatever." She turns back to the books before searching for any fantasy stories. "Either way, you still have to pick another book so we can talk about it after we're done reading it,"

"I know, don't worry,"

.

.

.

"Blessings of the sun upon you," a priest says with a smile as they enter the temple. Alice holds Damien's hand tight. They all sit together, as the priest starts preaching about the sun god.

'My body feels hot, painfully hot...' he tries to ignore the pain spreading through his body.

"Without the solar god, Romeo, we would not live on this land, we would not exist. The sun's warmth brings on life, and is why our hearts are warm," the priest's words sound like nails on a chalkboard, Damien shuts his eyes trying to withstand the agony.

"The sun gives us kindness, it gives healing, delight, joy," his words begin to drown out to him.

'It feels like I shouldn't be here, I can't explain it, I feel like something bad has happened here...' Alice nudges him.

"You have to go up and get your blessing now, he said your name," she says as he opens his eyes.

'Damn it...' he nods, getting up. People watch with smiles as he walks down the middle of the aisle, before kneeling before the priest. He suddenly feels nauseous.

"May the sun lead you towards a life full of light and joy," he says as he blesses Damien, however it feels more like a curse to him. Everything after is just a blur, he returns to his seat, and soon they go home. The moment he's out his nausea goes away, but the burning doesn't leave him.