“Good morning, my sweet boy. Are you coming with me to Throng today?” my mother asks me.

I walk into the kitchen where my mother and two little sisters are eating the breakfast my father is cooking. I sit down next to my mother after kissing her on her forehead.

“Yeah, I will come today,” I reply.

I always go to Throng with my mother to hide the fact that I don’t believe in any of this. Light and Darkness never existed, it’s just an excuse for people’s different behaviors. If someone does something bad, they could blame it on Darkness and say that they weren’t in control of their mind and body.

Mother nods her head with a pleasant smile. She is very pretty. I am the only one who looks like her with my straight brown hair and blue eyes. My little sisters look a lot like my father with their bright blonde hair and dark brown eyes.

After breakfast, I head out of the house with my mother. Father watches my little sisters since they are too young to go to Throng.

As we head to the Temple of Light, I hear a familiar voice call my name.

“Xavier, wait up!” Pierce says out of breath. Mother and I stop walking so he can catch up to us.

Pierce Coleman has been my best friend for as long as I remember. When we were babies, we lived in houses that were neighboring. Pierce moved away about ten years later because his mother died and his father couldn’t afford that kind of home anymore. We never stopped meeting up at the market where his dad tried his best to sell his flowers and plants.

“You going to Throng?” I ask.

“Yeah, my grandmother is sick again so father is taking care of her. I figured I would go and relay the message to them when I got back. Can I sit with you?” Pierce asks.

Pierce is in his questioning phase currently. He can’t tell if Light and Darkness truly existed or if it is how The Magnificent control their kingdoms.

I look over to my mother for approval. She stepped in to take care of Pierce when his dad was working extra hours to make enough money to buy food.

Mother smiles her gorgeous smile and says, “Of course, you can sit with us. You don’t even have to ask.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Walking into the Temple of Light always hurts my eyes. The big, glass-stained windows let in light which bounces off the golden statues of what people think Light looked like. On top of that, the white marble floor and walls are too…white. My eyes feel like they are going to pop out of my head every time I walk in here.

I groan as I sit down in a pew because my head is starting to throb. The pews are forest green but look almost black compared to all the white in here.

“Good morning everyone, may Light shine upon you,” the controller says.

“And also with you,” everyone replies.

The controller goes on about how Light was truly pure and that we have to help her reunite with her children as much as we can. I have a couple of problems with that. How can we, mortals, help a goddess reunite with her children? I don’t think these children exist. Triplets who look like a human but have the powers of a god, yeah right. I will believe it when I see it.

After our sermon about how great Light is and blah blah blah, the controller always has announcements and moments of silence for those who have turned to Darkness. Six people from our temple alone have turned. The controller claims he is afraid that our country will be the next one that Darkness takes over.

If there is supposed to be a balance of light and dark, good and evil, don’t we all have a little bit of darkness inside of us? When I asked my mother that when I was younger, I got grounded for three whole months. Father came to me a couple of hours after I asked the question and said that we all do have a little bit of darkness inside us. It’s what makes us mortals. He told me that I shouldn’t ask those kinds of questions in front of Mother and that I should go to the temple to make her happy. She is the only reason I go.

On our way out of the temple, Mother always tries to greet the controller.

“Good morning, Controller Gial,” Mother says.

“Good morning, Arya. Pierce, Xavier, it is good to see you this morning,” Controller Gial responds.

Mother and Controller Gial talk about the people who have decided to turn to Darkness.

“I fear there are more and more people every day giving into what Darkness is offering,” Controller Gial says.

“Is there anything we can do? I would love to do anything I can,” Mother says.

“Other than keeping your loyalty to Light, there is not much we can do. We could try and bring the mortals who have turned to Darkness back to Light, but we never had much luck with that. Arya, you are one of the most loyal followers of Light I have ever met. That is why I feel like I need to warn you.”

“About what?”

“I fear that Darkness is going to personally come for you or someone in your family. I would recommend you be more strict on getting your whole family to come to the temple.”

I roll my eyes. He has to be the biggest joke of them all. Lie to my mother and tell her she is in danger just so she can bring more people to his temple.

I give a silent chuckle.

Mother didn’t hear it but Controller Gial saw it. He turns toward me. “I fear you are in the most danger, Xavier. I sense you do not believe in Light or Darkness. This would make you very vulnerable to Darkness. He could persuade you that he is real and that you should follow him. He will tempt you with all of the things you have ever desired. Be careful Xavier, for you might be his next victim.”

I huff, fed up with everything, and shout, “I won’t be his next victim because he doesn’t exist!”