Morning Prayers [Zacharie]

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

It was funny to look at the sky, Vitale taught. When you’re having a good day, the sun was there, shining bright as if its mood was equally in high spirits, sharing your happiness. When you’re having a bad day…the sun was also there. Not sharing your happiness, but not sharing your sadness, frustration or melancholy either. It was just… there. No matter how good or bad you feel, or how shit of a day you’re having, the world doesn’t stop revolving just for you. In a way, realizing it felt lonelier…but on the other hand, the sunlight felt like a weird way of the nature to comfort you in your misery. Even if that misery is living as a slave in a desolated area by the hands of a supreme force you can’t compete with.

The other slaves with whom Vitale shared a hut were either taking a nap (you can never relax enough as to sleep) or tending to their affairs, forming their own alliances because shared misery is less misery to cope with. Vitale didn’t have anyone to do the same, but he didn’t mind them. They weren’t alone and that suffices. He closed his eyes, receiving the warm sunlight as a blessing, as his hands calmly made the sign of the cross with his right hand. “Lord, thank You for waking me up to a great new day. I'm grateful for the gift of life...”, he uttered silently as his lips continued to profess his morning prayers, just like he was taught. As vital as drinking water and eating food was being thankful, for being still able to do both.

There wasn’t much to do, as most days. His stomach had stopped roaring by now, used to starvation and his mind machinated desperate, silly ways of escaping, to which the hunger would dissipate. It’s hard to think when you’re hungry, and it’s hard to eat when you want to think hard. Even if he succeeded in creating a plan for himself, there were thousands of other slaves facing the same doom… He wouldn’t do such thing as to leave them behind. God guided his path to this camp for a purpose, and he would make sure to complete it with not a single soul left behind. All there was left was to walk around aimlessly, and even that would eventually grow into fruitless, tiresome endeavor.

There wasn’t much to do, as most days. And as day goes by, there wasn’t much to see either but even amidst the lack of physical and mental resources, the figure of a certain man would come to Vitale’s mind from time to time. Someone he had been spotting for a long while from afar, without exchanging a word. Just like now...what is that guy up to, he wondered?

Subject: Re: Morning Prayers [Zacharie] Mon May 10, 2021 7:55 pm

What a lousy start to the day. Zacharie's bones ached from the toil of yesterday. Being one of the more physically fit Slaves, of course he was sent to do the more demanding jobs, under the watchful eye of Lord Armaros. Typical. Of course, the rowdiest slave on this side of Camp Charrone needed a fucking guard dog. He couldn't go anywhere in this godforsaken shithole without that 'thing' hovering over him like some spook, always watching. Zacharie had caused enough trouble around the camp for everyone to know him by name. Zacharie Gagnon. The son of a Batilde, and one of two survivors from Vault Carnac, the Batilde Family's very own VIP Vault in what was now known as the Eclipse. The other was his younger sister, Madeline, who's fate remain unknown to him. He had told her to run. Run away as fast as she could, while he fought as bravely as he could to keep the demons at bay. Well, his efforts were not in vain, for she did escape, but at what cost?

Now he was stuck here, with a body that simply screamed for rest... nothing which he would get, no doubt. He felt Armaros' judging stare on the back of his neck every time he went to even sit down, or get something to drink. He hated it here. And he wasn't alone. So many people here suffered under the cruelty of Armaros and his lackeys.

The sound of metal falling onto solid rock reverberated across the campsite, followed by Zacharie's angry voice "Dude, what the fuck is your problem!?" He snarled at a fellow Slave, whom had bumped into him on his way to the work site, causing him to drop his precious flask. "Watch where the fuck you're going, shithead. Pth" He spat on the ground, before picking up the flask. Shit. What little water he had left had been spilled out on the ground. Guess he was going thirsty today. Oh well...

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

The sound of the metal flask colliding on some solid surface wouldn’t be enough to drag a lot of attention by itself. As common as that sound could be, it also could mean a lot of things. The roaring voice that yelled after, however, definitely had potential to captivate stares and make every single slave in the camp go silent.

“Oh-oh…”, Vitale grimaced. When he saw the bump between both guys, he could predict some fight would hatch from that and evolve into a physical clash. Luckily for the other slave, it didn’t. The man left with more hurry than if he had bumped into a demon, clearly scared for his own safety after he understood what he had done. As for the other… the one Vitale had been following for a while… Not exactly the best of opportunities but an opportunity he could manage, regardless.

“Hey”, he headed over to where Zacharie was, his tone a bit cautious with the sudden approach. “I got water. Not much, just a little bit… you want some?”

Subject: Re: Morning Prayers [Zacharie] Tue May 11, 2021 8:28 pm

Zacharie stopped when spoken to, his brow furrowed with annoyance. "Yeah? What you want?" He snapped back, still irate, and thus snapped back harsher than he intended to. Today was just not his day huh? As good as a bit of water sounded right about now, but Zacharie wasn't one to just accept hand-me-downs from others. "It's your water. Keep it. I don't need it." He said, looking away. He did, just not at the moment. And him drinking some of this strangers water meant that they'd have less. Just didn't seem fair to him. He was raised better than this. "Don't waste it on me."

He kept walking, still in moderate pain from yesterday. He'd most likely regret declining the offer, but for now, that water was better spent elsewhere. He'd be fine... even in the volcanic regions of the Eclipse. Zacharie just didn't like having to rely on others, didn't want to be that burden which holds people back.

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

Frankly, Vitale expected a rejection right from the start. He has been observing this guy for a while and he knew Zacharie was the type that keeps to himself and does things at his own pace. The slaves shared a bit of information about the others, be it in order to form a sense of alliance and try to survive together, be it for the purest sense of gossiping, something so intrinsic to human nature not even the apocalypse could erase. As a target for gossips, he knew this better than anyone. That’s how Vitale discovered this guy’s name and, judging from the way the other slave moved, knew he was up for something way bigger than them, something that caused some physical pain.

“Listen…”, he uttered in a lower tone than before, easily catching up with him side by side, careful glances to the rest of the camp checking if both would happen to be under other slaves’ scrutiny. Only a few did pay attention to the duo, but they quickly tended to their own affairs shortly after. “For real, you can have it… I can get more for myself later, no big deal…”

Subject: Re: Morning Prayers [Zacharie] Wed May 12, 2021 6:25 pm

"...You really don't have to do this, you know..." Zacharie grimaced, but not outright saying no. They took this risk willingly. To still refuse would dishonour them both. "Fine. If you insist." He took the offered bottle and took a swig from it. Refreshing, even though it had that unpleasant, sulphur-y taste to it. No matter how many times one filtered the water, that unsavoury sulphurous taste just wouldn't go away. "...Thanks." A faint smile spread across the man's lips as he returned the flask. "Keep the rest to yourself."

Zacharie felt the iron gaze of Armaros fall on him again. "Just... don't bother with me again. I'll just end up causing you trouble."

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

“Yeah, I know”, Vitale responded simply, with a satisfied smile once Zacharie got less defensive. Despite being quite adamant about walking alone, it was a good thing his biological necessities made him lower his guard a little bit.

“What kind of trouble could be worse than this? Only if I get killed”, he cracked a chuckle, taking back his small bottle of water with some unpretentious confidence, almost as if he was completely sure such fate wouldn’t befall upon them. Truth be told, they made it out alive this far, and Vitale was certain his God had everything to do with it. “Seriously, we don’t have to be friends if you don’t want to, that’s quite crap… But hey, we’re both here and we’re trying to survive. Better to do it together than alone, yeah?”

Subject: Re: Morning Prayers [Zacharie] Sat May 15, 2021 1:32 pm

"Honestly? I think for a lot of us, death would be a blessing." A hollow chuckle escaped Zacharie's lips. Life as a slave was horrible, and what's worse was that the demons themselves prevented people from taking the easy way out. Left to live out the rest of eternity as a Shadow, a mass of pure instinct and emotion... Not a pleasant way to go. He had seen many of his fellow slaves end up meeting such a fate, and... while he hated it here, Zacharie was not desperate enough to be free that he'd be willing to sacrifice what little he had left of his human autonomy.

"We do what we can, I suppose. Though... I'd rather just leave. Escape from this shithole. Wouldn't that be something? To live life like you please?" Even if it was just a pipe dream, maybe one day... He'd find a way out of here.

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

Vitale listened and listened, and yet he could understand the sentiment but not really feel it. Having lived life akin to slavery since his mother died, doing questionable choices with his own body in order to survive, he saw no real difference being submitted to a human than to a demon, except for the supernatural powers the latter possesses to make torture and pain one degree higher than humans do. Still, he could sympathize with Zacharie. He also wanted to live, in the purest sense of the word.

“God had enough mercy to allow us to live till this moment. May He still be merciful”, Vitale uttered, more to himself than to Zacharie. He didn’t smile, one hand holding firmly his crux. When speaking about the plans of God, he was dead serious. Of course Vitale couldn’t say yet God has been speaking to him in person (if one could even use such word to refer to the Creator), but he was completely sure that camp was not the end of them. It was one ordeal, of many upon now. “You too have been through some shit, so did I… But if those fucking monsters wanted us dead, they could have done it so! Whatever it is, they need you alive, they need US alive! So as long as we’re alive and kicking, there’s always a chance. Got it?…”

Subject: Re: Morning Prayers [Zacharie] Thu May 20, 2021 10:13 am

"Doesn't sound particularly merciful to me, letting his people remain slaves under a tyrant like Oryx." Zacharie remained unconvinced. His family had never been particularly pious to begin with, and since the Fall, even less so. If there was indeed a god, they had abandoned humanity a long time ago. Everywhere he went, being in the Eclipse itself, or otherwise, Humanity struggled to survive. If his mothers stories were to be believed, mankind used to be so much more than this. Zacharie wanted to believe his mothers words, but after seeing the Desolation above... it was difficult to believe those halcyon days was naught more but a fairy tale, told to Vault-Dwelling kids, to instill hope that salvation was something we'd yet to find.

"That's one way of looking at it, I suppose. Oryx needs us for something..." Zacharie looked off in the distance. "Why some of us are kept alive... I don't quite understand it. Shouldn't they just kill us before we eventually rebel and try to wrestle ourselves out? I've wanted to flee for a while now, but people fail to see reason. We cannot stay here. I refuse to stay here." His eyes met with Dominique's for a brief moment. "It's frustrating to see, that people would rather stay subservient to the demons over dying. At least then, whatever use they have for us would go, wouldn't it?"

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

“Yeah yeah, I get what you say, but... I don’t blame them. We’re just humans, we are flawed by nature. Some of us would rather just, you know, lay low, do whatever is told in order to stay alive… It just means they value life, and life’s the most precious gift the Lord has given us…”, Vitale glanced around again, trying to tone down the volume of his voice at the same time keeping track of who might be listening to their conversation. “Listen, I wanna flee too, free ourselves, free these people if I can. They’ve lost the hope maybe, but they haven’t lost the will to live. Just like… us! They don’t get the will to try and think about a way out but I do. We do! Sucks that I can’t do shit alone… and can’t count on them either. Can I count on you at least? What do you say?”

Subject: Re: Morning Prayers [Zacharie] Sat May 29, 2021 2:20 pm

"Hmph..." Zacharie huffed, glancing over at Armaros off in the distance. Could he hear them? "Life, a gift... right." He didn't really view his own existence as a gift from God or whatever. What he had seen... felt, and experienced felt more like a curse to him. Being trapped, with nowhere to go. But perhaps there was some truth to what he was saying. "Well, if they don't do anything, then it falls onto us, don't it?" Zacharie sighed, crossing his arms. It felt at least good to know someone else at least saw things his way. They couldn't stay there. "Can't be helped, I guess. See if you can get any others on board. The two of us can't do much without support."

He had talked with a few of the other slaves here and there before, and he didn't have much luck. Though, to be fair, Zacharie wasn't exactly the most inspirational man on the planet. Maybe Dominique would have some better luck. "I'm game if we get the support we need. Just keep it on the downlow. If Armaros, or any of his cronies hear word of this, then our plan's already shot to hell."

Posts : 94 Join date : 2016-06-05

“Don’t worry. Been looking at these people for years by now, I know well enough who I can count with and who I can’t”, Vitale smiled, satisfied with this newfound alliance. However, he was not oblivious to Zacharie’s uneasiness, briefly glancing to their surroundings in search of what could possibly represent a menace to their safety. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up. You know where to find me”

With nothing further to add, Vitale would turn his back to his tent, unless stopped by Zacharie.

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