Blessed Messiah and the Tower of AI

Prologue

'It's so... hot...'

A small, teal-haired girl falls to her knees as the sun relentlessly beats against her frail body. She crumples to the ground, a cheek pressed against the dirt, scorching her skin that she's sure will leave blisters. She attempts to pick herself up, but the fatigue she'd built from sprinting for only a couple minutes prevented her from moving; she couldn't maintain the balance to stay up for more than three seconds.

She collapses, yet manages to fall on her back so that she's facing stomach-up to the sky. She's squinting at the sun, panting while her arms are sprawled out to the sides as if forming a T.

The land is barren. Or at least, she assumes it's barren after experiencing the most horrendous thing in her life. Her home- half of her village- set aflame by a force she can't even bear to imagine. After the fire began engulfing her house in red, she was petrified. Her legs trembled as she stared into the house of flames, unable to take her eyes off. But once she did, the first thing she did was run. Run like there was no tomorrow because she feared she wouldn't live to see it if she stayed. Although, she didn't make it far with the sun depriving her of her energy.

She rolls herself over to one side, trying to curl herself up into a ball to get comfy- maybe if she tried going with her gut to survive, the world might take pity on her. Except it spares no mercy when she begins to see double. Everything's spinning and her vision's slowly starting to grow fuzzy that her initial reaction is to shut her eyes tight, and pray that this is all a dream.

And by the time she hears footsteps, she's already convinced she's hallucinating.

"Guys, over here!" a masculine voice calls from a distance.

'It's not real, it's not real, it's not real... go away...' she repeatedly thinks to herself.

"Oh my gosh," a female voice utters, gasping. "She's not dead is she?"

"No, Ia, of course she's not dead," a squeakier voice responds in a rather obvious tone.

She hears more footsteps, growing louder as she can predict they're heading her direction. She doesn't flinch when the noises stop and she knows something- someone is looming over her.

"Excuse me, are you okay?"

It's that same masculine voice from before; she can't tell if he's a threat or if he's absolute danger to her. However, she couldn't deny the fact that he sounded concerned for her well-being. She gradually flutters her eyes open and to her relief, her surroundings have stopped spinning. She finally regains the ability to sit on her knees, glancing at the group now gathered around her.

"Huh?" the word falls from her lips.

Nine other children have their eyes on the tealette; pure smiles spread across their worried faces. She turns to the person standing in front of her, a boy with messy blue hair who seems to be in his teens.

"You're from the village, aren't you? " He bends down to meet her eye level, "The one just nearby that... that..." The sentence dies on his tongue before he look away.

She catches the pained look in his eyes, and she starts to wonder: 'Has he gone through the same situation...?'

"... nearly burned to the ground," a pink-haired female continues, rubbing her arm uncomfortably.

The rest of the group is silent.

'Are they all from the village?'

It would only make sense that they've experienced the same tragedy as her. And if it's true, she couldn't be more empathetic. Without a doubt, she understands they wouldn't want to discuss the matter, but if they were only finding her now, there was the chance they stuck around to watch what happened to the rest of the village.

"I am-" she rapidly nods her head, "I'm from the village. My house... it went up in flames. I was so scared, I couldn't move, and then... I ran."

"So you don't know..." a brunette mutters to herself. She shakes it off and says unhesitatingly, loud and clear, "About half the houses are in shambles and everyone else; dead. The ten of us are the only survivors."

The tealette is left trembling and tears are forming in the corners of her eyes. "So only us children...? What... what caused this?"

"The Divine Punishment," a tall, purple-haired man averts his gaze to the ground. "Our parents thought they could defy God, were given a 'Divine Punishment,' and were killed. Illness, accident, anonymous fire- they're gone."

That word- "gone"- resounds in her mind, a continuous loop that's making her feel breathless. That means her mother is... dead? She'd been hoping her mother fled to safety or had taken shelter without her, but knowing that she hadn't? Well, that man has no proof- sure the village had a fire, but there wasn't a way to ensure that everyone but them are gone-

Suddenly, she slaps a hand over her mouth. Tears trickle down her cheeks as she fondly recalls her father passing from a sudden illness days prior. If what she's being told is true, that had to be his Divine Punishment, and the fire must've been the remainder of the villagers'.

(But the punishment never reached the innocent...)

The blue-haired boy wipes her teardrops with a single finger and gets back on his feet. "The village has four houses left standing and the nine of us here are planning to live together in one of them." He outstretches a hand to her, and everyone else follows his lead.

"We'll continue to live even with this tragedy," a greenette smiles. "Care to join us?"

"In sickness and in health," a pair of blond twins begin, "we share joy and pain."

She blinks and rubs her eyes with the back of her hands. Her face is dusted over in red, and despite all that she's been through, it seems like this was her only option.

She lifts up her head and places her hand on his.