"You're really leaving this time," Luce broke the silence.
She had been sitting on her bed for quite a while now, with Sunny on his.
"GB said I don't have to stay imprisoned here," Sunny spurted, making Luce lower her head.
"It all that bad, staying here, right?" She looked at him, eyes shining with an undeniable wetness.
Sunny's mouth opened and closed, akin that of a fish, as he tried to speak, but no words came out.
"Is it true?" Halo and the others buried into the room, some panting lightly.
"You're actually leaving, like for good?"
Luce fidgeted.
"Yep, GB said so," Sunny announced.
"After all that effort to keep you here, do you really think they'll just let you go?" Asked Malcolm.
"If GB said so, who do you think is going to refuse? Unless the H'Ra SPUH descends himself," Halo commented.
"Exactly," Sunny beamed.
"Way to get excited about leaving your family."
Halo's words were sharp. Sunny's eyes noticed the quiet Luce. She was always there, for as long as he remembered, and now, with his departure, he was acting as if none of that ever mattered.
He had been always wished to get away from the sun religion, to escape the clutches of the elders. But these- the sons of the sun- they were his siblings, most especially Luce.
"I- I'll...visit."
"You won't, you hate this place too much."
And hate it, indeed he did. But did he hate it more than he loved them? The very people that had grown up with him, gotten punished with him, snuck out past bedtime with him, amongst other memories.
'If you do whatever you want and there's nobody is there to stop you from leaping off a cliff, are you free, or just alone?' Grand Bishop's words echoed in his head.
These were the people that would stop him from leaping off a cliff. But when you refuse to look, tight hands, too, can feel like chains. And a tight embrace can feel like you are tied up.
"Hey, a celebration is due! The elders are in a meeting with GB, who's to stop us from hitting town,hmm?"
And hit the town they did.
A day flies when it is your last, when you realise you want a second more with those you love. But it doesn't fly fast enough when you want to get away from captors that you detest ever so much.
I'm not sad, I'm leaving, I want this, Sunny thought to himself, waving out the window to the others. As the car rolled out, a calm breath gripped his lungs.
Freedom.
But still- he remembered his siblings. Soon he realised, it wasn't that he wanted to go back, its that he wanted to leave with them. Or at least, not to leave them there, with the elders.
Leaving a fire, only to leave your own blood kin burning in it- perhaps it was not too good a feeling.
"Well, are you ready for college?" The Grand Bishop asked, seated on the seat next to Sunny's.
Both Sunny's Primary and secondary education had been provided within the church grounds. Much as he hadn't undertaken any actual examination to qualify him for an intake in any college, the Grand Bishop somehow didn't even seem to acknowledge it as an obstacle.
"Yeah, of course."
"You're going to need this," The Grand Bishop said, handing a phone box to Sunny. "And I spoke to the elders, gave then the old whats-it! Told them nobody goes for you or they get that Markh special."
A smile tried forming on Sunny's face, but the emotion meter grew confused, shooting through maximums of different emotions much too quick.
Tears ran down Sunny's face, as if trying to escape the panicking systems that were Sunny's brain.
"You know, I got my call while in college," the Grand Bishop said after a moment.
Sunny said nothing. He wasn't planning on getting back to the Sun god. Even if he did get a calling, he wouldn't answer.
The process was seamless, within no time, Sunny was in, majoring in mathematics. He picked the first course he laid his eyes on, to make sure he really got in and didn't have to return to the church.
"Well, Sunny, we part ways here, my boy. Take care of yourself, you know how to reach me!" Grand Bishop Markh said his final words before leaving.
"Wait...You're one of those church girls!" Sean, Sunny's new roommate commented after a moment of watching Sunny unpack.
"Sons of the Sun, I was," Sunny emphasised on the 'was'. "And I'm not a girl."
"Wait-" Sean eyed him closer for a moment, before bursting into a laugh. "That's a fucking lie!"
Sunny's jaw twitched. This was a good day, maybe letting it get destroyed by a guy he had just met wasn't the best idea.
"Look, I just got here, don't start with me, boy," Sunny hissed.
"Whoa there, sister, don't...pray at me," Sean burst into another laugh.
Rude, very rude.
Sunny sighed. Still better than that accursed place. He could survive this.
"In stead of making dumb jokes, care to tell me about this school?"
"Well not many people pray, that's for one...most only call to gods when they're fucking..."
That was...a crazy statement. A very crazy one indeed.
But it was nice, if the influence of the sun religion was as little as Sean claimed it was, then he truly could leave all that behind him.
"So, Sunny, is it like a nickname or what?"
Sunny looked at him for a moment before answering.
"It's my name, not a nickname. "
"Weirdest name I've ever heard on a lady, but nevermind that, there's a party tonight, and you're coming."
Party.
Sunny had never been to an actual party before. A religious celebration perhaps.
"Or will you be too busy praying to the sun at night?" Sean's voice was flooded with sarcasm.
"Fuck you."
Sean raised his hands in mock surrender and leaned back.
"First of all, aren't you like, supposed to be a Saint? Second, you're cute, yeah, but I prefer them more..." Sean's hands traced the air, as if forming a feminine figure, his face contorting to a wicked grin, his tongue sticking out in the process.
Sean was weird, but he wasn't a hypocritical saint that pretended to be anyone than himself.
Sunny chuckled.
Yeah, he could survive here.