'In the beginning, there was one.
In a castle they lived, a castle up in the heavens. Their's was a station unparalleled and unbound. No concept could hold them down, for where they were, nothing else was. They were complete by the self.
Yet they coveted the company of another, a reality that bound them, and so they became multiple, from their completeness, were born incompletes.
Angels, they were named. Wings of white rose out their backs, supporting their form in the castle of the heavens. Each was given a purpose, a quality of the complete they inherited. Some were as wise as their creator, some as free, while others as strong.
They continued to birth angels, every concept, every thought, every idea they had, took shape and served their purpose, worlds were born, oceans were formed, mountains towered and rivers streamed down their slopes. They were satisfied by this kingdom they had built.
However a subtraction was imposed upon them every time they created an angel, what the angels received in their birth, their creator lost, and thus in furnishing the angels with their completeness, they too had lost much of what made them complete, therefore every angel carried the burden of compensating them for what they had lost, so that they would be complete even in their incompleteness, thus was the angels' role in serving their god. If the creator had lost a hand, then the angels would be their hands, if they lost an eye they would be their eyes, and so even though no longer were they the absolute being they once were, they would never come to feel the lack of their completeness… or so they had believed…
Liebert was the angel most free, and thus was he assigned with providing liberty to everyone, the castle stayed afloat since he permitted it, the angels could fly since he permitted it, he was freedom incarnate, and therefore was he tasked with bestowing that freedom to his creator.
Dedicated he was beyond compare, no matter what the creator wished for, he would permit it, for had he not, freedom would cease to exist.
Liebert's free spirit had captured the heart of another, the angel of happiness, Felicia, however she lacked the courage to grab hold of his hand, of the happiness she could have if she did.
Time passed the angels by as their kingdom and their bonds grew. The creator watched over their subjects with eyes affectionate.
On such a peaceful day, the creator opened their eyes to a truth. Among the angels, was one very odd.
A strangely inquisitive angel, Zyanos, he would come to them with questions bizarre. With so many angels created, what he represented they could no longer remember, that however was not of much consequence. What mattered was the question he had brought them this time.
"Oh great creator, I must enquire, are we really free?"
They thought the answer had been obvious, so to them that question had been perplexing, "Explain."
"Liebert is the one that grants us our freedom, he is the one who permits our endeavors, so is it not fair to say that we are chained by him? If we need to be given permission for everything we do, are we really free? I ask you, oh great one, is it not called freedom since we are freed from everything and everyone?"
They pondered on the question, and with a decision made, Liebert was summoned, he was to be stripped of his duty. Their completeness had been compromised, so in order to preserve it they took away Liebert's freedom.
With no purpose for his existence, Liebert ceased to be an angel, his wings disappeared, and unable to support his form in the sky castle, he fell, fell to the deepest depths of the sky.
Felicia could bear not to see Liebert leave, though stripped of his freeness that she had admired so, stripped he was not of her love, and thus she enquired, "What good is happiness if it is not earned by oneself?"
And just like that, she too, had her wings and her duty stripped off her person. She let go of the happiness she had been granted and braved her greatest of fears to grab hold of her own happiness.
Both of them fell, such was the fate of those that had lost all meaning, the fallen angels.
However, the tragedy that befell them was one which could have been avoided, if Liebert had wished so. The creator could have never taken back the freedom Liebert held, had he not permitted it, for the freedom to take away his own freedom was also in his hands at the time. So dedicated was he to his role, that he handed them the freedom to doom him to meaninglessness. In recognition of his devotion, The benevolent one blessed the both of them with mercy, a gentle landing awaited them, and the land accepted their arrival with arms open.
Although they had lost their purpose, they still had each other, so they lived and their love flourished. Their descendants would later go on to share in their pains, they would spend their lives writhing and struggling to find freedom, happiness and most significantly, meaning.
Such was the fate of those that had no meaning,
Such was the fate of humanity…'
"..."
Salvia closed the book in her hands and her recitation -if it could be called that- ended, "The end."
The book she had been reading from, or pretending to be reading from was completely unrelated to what she had been reciting.
"You stopped me from saying it when I tried to interrupt you before but what was the point of having that book open the entire time you orated the story?"
"Whatever do you mean? Isn't that the most obvious thing to do?"
Luke was pissed off to no end by her know-it-all attitude, "Alright, it's obvious, I am just dumb."
"I don't understand why you're being so difficult, of course I'd stop you from distracting me when I'm reading."
"What? Isn't that book completely unrelated to that story you were telling."
"It is. What about it?"
"W-wait… You're not going to say you were reading that book and orating the story at the same time, are you?"
She just stared blankly at Luke with her head tilted to the side.
"Are you serious?"
Luke wiped the sweat that had formed at his forehead, "But then, the story you finished…"
"Ah, that's this one."
She pointed at the book she had been reading, "The one I was telling you isn't finished yet, if you'd like to hear the rest of it, I can continue…". Salvia closed her eyes before she continued, "However, is knowledge all that you were after? That's a very wasteful use of time I'd say."
"... and why is that?"
"What use is knowledge you don't know how to use? Knowledge whose significance you don't understand may as well be the contents of an untouched book."
"..."
"Wisdom, that's right. That is what you should be seeking. Knowledge holds no value unless you have the wisdom to use it. As such, a hundred pieces of knowledge may have less worth than a single piece of wisdom."
"So you wish to discuss the significance of what we just talked about."
"Indeed, however it's more of an interrogation than a discussion. I already have answers to any question you might have for me."
Her know-it-all attitude knew no bounds.
"Then I'll go ahead and pose my questions."
"Ask away."
"First of all, it feels a little strange that they would refer to this god as 'they' even though she was clearly female. Did they not know of her gender back then?"
"Perceptive, aren't we? I don't think this has anything to do with them knowing or not knowing however. Think about it, we are talking about a goddess here, she is supposed to be leagues above her creations, so it makes sense that they would not refer to her with a pronoun reserved for lower beings."
"I guess they wouldn't, however if she really is so great, then how would you explain her robbing Liebert of his purpose for her own selfish needs? She surely does not seem to be a do-gooder."
"Then let me ask you, is your definition of good, self sacrifice? Would you abandon your life for another without any second thoughts?"
"I wouldn't go that far…"
"That's how it is, good and evil have no clear bounds, they are constructs made by us lesser beings, the people of the past seemed to be against assigning such human values to their creator, nowadays though, people seem much more keen on giving her a form and making her human-like."
"So shouldn't the modern folks have some misgivings about her actions then?"
"Did you forget what I just said, good and evil are human constructs, as such they can be constructed to fit anyone's needs, as for her actions, people can always justify them by saying that she was the rightful owner of the freedom she had granted him, or that the freedom was part of herself so giving it away was akin to self sacrifice, they can construct all kinds of chop logic to support their claims, for their adherence to their god surpasses their adherence to morality. She does not need to do good, what she does becomes good."
"That's…"
"Dogma?"
The people of the past defended their beliefs by not questioning anything with the conclusion that the divine will is beyond human understanding, and now people justified said divine being's actions with their own narratives. No matter the day and age people always seem have some mechanism to protect their beliefs.
"People are born without purpose, and die without purpose, it is only natural for them to cling to something to give themselves that purpose, is it not young man?"
"You mean you don't believe in God's voice?"
"Well, let's just say I have my reasons for thinking so…"
Salvia twirled at her hair with a finger, "Even the headscape stuff I do is the same. None of it means anything by itself."
"Headscape… a conceptual realm separated from the reality we live in, a 'Menta' as compared to a 'Realta'. The world of thoughts where one is free to give their thoughts form, a place where words speak louder than actions. It connects people from all over Protea. If something like that can exist…"
"Our wish granter in heavens heard our call and created for us, a place where knowledge from all across the country could be shared, a place where thoughts hold more value than actions… That's the narrative the Coronarian church wishes to promote. That still does not prove it's the doing of some God however. Ancient texts documenting the art of reality molding have been discovered, and practitioners have actually proven it to be possible. Doubts have been cast on the church, theories that suggest that what the church does is essentially glorified reality molding. Of course this applies to all other wishes the church has supposedly been granted by 'God' too."
"Reality Molding…"
"It's exactly as it sounds, molding reality into whatever we wish for it to be."
"But what purpose would the church have in lying like that?"
"Obviously so they can maintain absolute authority, no one would go against them if they believed that all the miracles were being performed by some god. That is also probably why they have deemed reality molding to be a blasphemous and forbidden art."
"You should pick your words more carefully, statements like that could get you into a lot of trouble."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, I can protect my hide just fine."
"If you say so…"
They chatted away until they were satisfied and then with their discussion concluded, Luke left the library. The sun was now lower in the horizon but it was still morning. As he walked through the square, a familiar voice greeted his ears, it was however a voice he had wished not to hear again, Paul continued to perform on the footpath as Luke passed him by, one could have sworn that he had noticed Luke and yet he gave no such indication and before long he had faded back into the crowd.
Luke heaved a sigh of relief. Today was apparently a big day, or so he had heard from the locals. Not only was there a church gathering to be held, but also an exhibition at the museum, to celebrate Merkington's rich culture, Luke decided to drop by the museum to check out the event.
As he walked past an alley, a bunch of mixed and muffled voices flowed into his ears. A drop of sweat formed at his temples as a feeling of foreboding gripped at him. With his nerves on edge, he walked into the darkness of the alleyway. The voices increased in intensity as he inched ever closer, soon he was able to make out the voices of two men, and a single woman. The woman's voice cracked and seemed much more agitated however, Luke could get a gist of what was going on in there.
"P-please I have no money, l-let me go, I beg you…"
"Come now, what I see in front of me now is at least worth a hundred holy benects."
"N-no, you aren't going to… a-are you?"
"You can rest assured, we will find a good master for you."
"No, don't touch me. Somebody! Help!"
"No one's coming here, even if they hear you."
"Are you sure about that?"
A sharp hissing sound cut through their assault, and they were stopped in their tracks, Luke's knife stayed lodged into the wall beside them, even though it was made of stone, the knife had dug into it in one fell swoop.
The assailants turned around, ready to pounce at Luke, but before they could do anything, they were on the floor, Luke had hit them with the butt of his knives with such force that they had been knocked unconscious.
Luke turned to the woman, "Are you alright?"
She looked back at Luke with agitated bewilderment in her eyes, "W-why?"
"What's wrong?"
"Why did you save me?"
"Well, was it uncalled for?"
"That's not it… but you're not him, why would you go and save someone."
"What do you me-", Luke jumped back before he could get the chance to finish his sentence.
A sword stuck out from the ground where he had once stood.
The woman looked up, Luke followed her line of sight and noticed the silhouette of a person, standing on the roof of an adjacent building.
An angry male voice rings out, "You have got some nerve."
From his voice and stature, Luke could surmise that he was middle aged.
Luke drew a weapon and raised it at the mystery man, "Are you with these hooligans?"
But there was no longer anyone standing at the spot.
"How dare you interfere with my work!"
Luke narrowly avoided being slashed by the man's sword as he jumped back in surprise. The man had covered the distance within a blink of an eye.
He had a black mask covering his face, and he was adorned in fancy clothes one wouldn't expect an adult to wear, a white cape hung from his back, both elegant and ridiculous.
The woman's voice dropped as she looked at Luke, "That's why I told you, you shouldn't have intervened."
The man cast a sidelong glance towards the woman and then towards Luke, "This town needs but one saviour, and that is me."
With that the man drew an arc in the air, as elegant as an experienced painter's brush stroke, "It is by our mother's decree that I perform my duties."
Luke jumped back as he attached his knives to the rooftop of a building and was pulled back. In response the man took to painting the skies as he pounced with superhuman strength, "and yet you insist on taking that away!"
Luke managed to bend his body at the right time to evade the attack, "What are you talking about? Saviour?"
"Indeed."
His sword painted the sky in it's trails as he gave chase.
Slash.
"I am the champion of the people."
Slash.
"The savior of this town."
Slash.
"The hero of Merkington!"
His swordplay was impressive but not good enough to defeat Luke and yet Luke could barely keep up with him. Luke was more of a ranged attacker against close combat specialists like him, but what gave him the edge over Luke was his superhuman strength and speed, he could bridge the gap between them without breaking a sweat and outmaneuver Luke who was using hooked chains to move faster and out of range.
Luke defended against his slashes with a knife in one hand as he was pulled away by the hooked chain in the other, "Why would a hero like you be attacking innocent people?"
"Are you perhaps an outsider?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"That must be why you fail to understand…"
Instantly the hero was in front of Luke, and the trail running beside him had it's trajectory set on Luke, "The responsibility that comes with saving someone!"
Luke defended with both his knives but the sword managed to scratch his right hand.
"Gh…!"
Luke was in a very precarious position as he tried to flee, "Responsibility?"
"You are but a passing tourist, how do you plan on paying for reparations if the path of salvation you show the people ends up beckoning their doom?"
The slashing continued ceaselessly, as the man charged Luke, "You would not be there to save them then, would you!?"
Luke landed on a nearby building, the hero did the same as he stared at Luke with contempt in his eyes, "You should know better than to interfere in matters concerning other towns. Irresponsible does not begin to describe your faults."
"What… What has any of that got to do with saving a person from a bunch of thugs, how would that lead to anything bad?"
The man's face had temporarily regained it's composure but those words reignited the anger in him, "You still fail to understand!? You imbecile! Irresponsible people like you are the most dangerous, they ought to be eliminated, it is my duty as this town's hero to see to that!"
With that the 'hero' jumped at Luke and their chase resumed.
"What gives you the right to take justice into your own hands!"
"I could ask you the same thing though."
"I have been granted this position by the one who presides over justice herself, we are not the same!"
"That's…"
"Justice is not so light a thing that it can be served on mere whims! It takes time, patience, and impeccable judgement to see it to it's conclusion. You hold neither the right, nor the means to serve it!"
"..."
"Yet you insist on wantonly trampling over the foundations of right and wrong, all to fuel your twisted hero complex!"
As Luke grappled with those words a cry for help rang out from another nearby alleyway, under normal circumstances Luke would have gone there at once, but now he was not so sure, was it truly his place to be doing any of this? He could not come to a conclusion. The hero turned his head towards the direction the cry had come from, "You're lucky this time, but I will hunt you down for sure."
With that the hero disappeared with a leap.
Luke sat himself onto the roof of a building, legs dangling. Was any of what the hero said true? He found himself wondering. Was he really such an irresponsible person? Was it wrong of him to meddle with the lives of others? The hero from before was the law and justice of the town, it was his duty to deal with situations like that. As such people like Luke who knew not of what justice was in the town's eyes, butting into his work probably only made things further complicated for him. Even though such thoughts ate at Luke, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was a little wrong about the whole arrangement that was this town, and so a conclusion he could not reach.
"So, we just gotta mug the first person that passes through here?"
Voices from the alleyway under him, drew Luke's attention downwards, there stood two burly men with similar attires as the two guys from before.
"That's the idea, though this time, It think we don't need to succeed, the act of robbing someone itself is the mission."
"The heck are you talking about? What's the point in robbing anyone then? What's the boss thinking?"
"Well, I didn't want to lay it out like this but… this is kind of a decoy mission."
"You mean… we are bait? For that hero or whatever?"
"It seems like that, the boss has ordered way too many muggings within the town today, all of them leading away from the museum. I can only imagine that he is planning one thing."
"N-No way, you must be looking too much into it."
"I can only hope that you are right. Wouldn't want to be bait for that guy."
Luke found this information to be critical, it was likely that the hero was unaware of the situation considering he was trying to stop every mugging around town without regard for the bigger picture. Luke got up, he had to do something, but his ascent into the town's skies was interrupted by some sort of commotion. Looking down at the people walking the streets, he doubted whether time had stopped , for all of them stood still, staring at the sky in amazement as they whispered among themselves.
Following their gaze, Luke turned to the heavens. From behind massive clouds, peered an even more massive figure, golden hair flowing through the skies, skin so fair it almost seemed to be giving off light. There was only one to whom such descriptions would fit, the goddess of all that is had personally made an appearance, putting all doubts regarding her existence to rest.
"Listen well my subjects, for your creator speaks."
Awestruck eyes glued themselves onto the sky, some teary while others opened wide. In the face of their God, they were reduced to muteness.
"Yours is a land of angels, untainted by the meaninglessness of the fallen. Land where every individual has a purpose, none sired without reason, and yet…"
The goddess slowly shook her head, "Yet that sanctity that you pride yourselves over is being defiled as we speak… Hear children, a reason to live is not unlike life itself, it can be birthed or lost forever depending on how you treat it, so like a life, it is meant to be protected with all the urgency one can muster, and so too should you protect it, for devils of ruin are among us, set on ridding you all of your very reason for being."
The people, though shocked by this news, maintained absolute silence in the goddess's presence, awaiting her next words, which she generously provided them with, "The chalice of gold that stood on hallowed ground has already been removed from it's rightful place. The time is dire, and so I ask of you, find the perpetrator. No more should you tolerate devils that disguise themselves as angels! Only upon their deaths shall your lives thrive."
--- --- ---
The divine intervention was being heard all across town, even from the other side of town where Jack now stood. It was a town plaza, several other people stood around him, as they listened intently to their creator's words. Even though he was disguised in the town's garb, this was still a cause for much concern. He had to hide himself immediately, thinking that he stepped into a nearby alleyway. Hiding from the eyes of the public.
"Hey kid."
A gruff voice rang out in the dark of the alley. Jack turned to face it only to be met by a huge hand reaching out for him. With all the desperation he could muster, he swatted away the hand, but in the process the hood covering his head came undone.
"Wait, aren't ya!?"
Jack realizing that his cover had been blown, planted a fist into the guy's face, knocking him unconscious instantly. Heaving a sigh of relief, he stepped deeper into the alleyway. How did he get into all this mess in the first place? He wondered. For some delusion of his to take him over so completely that he decided to enter the one place he should have always avoided, was this what an eldest son should be doing, his decision making skills made him doubt the father who decided to make him the next family head. His life was now in danger due to his carelessness, the townsfolk were bound to be cautious after such a big announcement, searching everywhere for a 'devil', and though he wasn't the one who had stolen the golden chalice, he would definitely not be spared if found.
As he pondered on what he should do next, sharp pain suddenly shot up his hand, as he flinched back, his eyes fell to his feet, where an arrow was implanted into the ground, right next to his feet. His hand bled, it too must have been scraped by said arrow.
"Wh-what?"
Had he been found out? He swung around with his sword at the ready, but there was no one in sight.
With no one around him at the ground level, only one place was left to be checked, up above. As he turned his head up, he sharpened his senses for the arrival of a second attack, the brightness of the sun would surely render him blind for a moment, the enemy would not wish to miss the opportunity that chink in his defenses presented them, so he turned his head up with his eyes shut and his ears sharp. Yet no attack came, not even any sound. He opened his eyes slowly, but they were met with no such resistance that he would have to squint, instead his eyes widened. The heavens were blocked by wings, pale and wide, ensuring that none of it's warm radiance would ever reach him again.
"Divine judgement shall be upon you soon. Resist not, mortal."
An arrow flew Jack's way at tremendous speeds, he jumped back in terror, quite unlike the refined manner in which he usually carried himself, even years of training could not have prepared him for what stood in front of him at that very moment.
It was right out of some fantasy, some myth that none had ever laid eyes upon until now, yet there it stood with white wings spanning the skies, and white robes that gave off a saintly aura, a being born with a reason, an angel!
"Your sin is to have crossed the walls that confined you. Harbinger of disaster, accept punishment and be laid to rest."
An arrow was shot, it descended, it multiplied itself into numerous arrows and rained down upon Jack.
Dodging was no longer an option, there were too many arrows for that, Jack planted his feet onto the ground firmly, then released a flurry of slashes so quick it could not be traced by the eyes, and as the barrage had ended, he stood there unharmed, staring the angel down with a more resolute expression.
"Admirable, your skill with that blade is admirable indeed, and yet still why do you hold no cause for being? Is that not enough to qualify for a purpose? Know that the way of the swords is an honorable path, there is no shame in treading it."
In response Jack only eyed his enemy without lowering the weapon.
"It would seem that communications have failed. Very well, my purpose for being here is your execution anyway."
Jack ran as fast as he could, out of the alleyway and into the streets, the angel, sure enough gave chase. Flying over the building, it was hardly a challenge for him to follow Jack as he took winding paths. Arrows flew his way, and he narrowly dodged and deflected them each time.
Jack regretted deciding to leave his sanctuary, but now there was no turning back, it was already far too late for that. It had always been like this, his delusions had always gotten the better of him, he wondered how he had forgotten that. Even after the disaster, he remembered people coming to his mansion, but even they turned out to not be real. It was the weakness in his heart that led to the birth of such pleasant delusions.
As he ran down another alley, a silhouette of another person came into view, but before long the wings on that person's back spread, revealing the identity of said 'person', it was the same angel that had been chasing him, but was he not giving chase from behind Jack, either way Jack needed to escape so he turned around with all his might, the path behind him should have been clear, and yet there stood the same angel, walking towards him. Jack turned around again and the angel was still there, blocking the path. He could only reach one conclusion, that there were two of them…
"Every angel holds an attribute that defines them, mine just happens to be this. Behold, before you stands the angel of the multiple, Anekke."
Jack looked around fervently but was unable to find any way of escape. Was this it? Was this all that his life had amounted to? Wasting away alone, unable to find a single reason to live, unable to form any connections with other people…
"Why do you struggle so, mortal? As far as I am aware you lack any reason to resist death, you don't have anything tying you down to this world, and yet you insist on not leaving it's grounds."
The angel was right, it hit Jack. There was no reason for him to be running away, he had nothing, and precisely because of that he could leave this world without any lingering attachments, was he not being granted the most fortunate death by this divine being? Yet he resisted it, and why was that? Because he was drawn in by the promise of life, by the potential for a better future, it was that weakness in his heart that drove him to run, the same weakness that had birthed those delusions. Delusions that showed him the false possibility of a life worth living. The source of disasters that he was, he had the duty to keep said disasters at bay, that was why he had been isolated in the ruins back then, and was he not running away from that duty due to his weakness?
Jack dropped the sword he was holding.
Anekke cocked his head, "Is this the end of your resistance?"
"That is correct. I have nothing to live for, it was foolish of me to resist anyway. I lived on only to see my responsibilities through to their conclusion."
"Then do you not wish to do so anymore?"
"That conclusion is already upon us, sir Anekke. Now that I have carelessly entered the town, the tragedy has a chance of repeating itself, I must die to prevent something like that from ever happening again, it is my duty to die for this town, for the sake of those that hold meaning."
"Admirable to the end… May I have your name mortal?"
"Jack… Jack Lysanias Eustache."
"I shall remember that name. It was an honor to have met you, may you find peace."
Jack steeled himself, and closed his eyes, numerous arrows were shot his way. He was being overpowered by a longing for life, but a silent pride blossomed in his heart, pride for the fact that he was able to overcome the weaknesses within him. That pride made him feel that he had finally achieved something, that his death and therefore his life had meant something. In that moment, Jack was fulfilled and he could die without regrets.
"..."
But death did not come, and when he opened his eyes, there was no one there, not even any arrows, not behind him, not in front of him. He was alone and very much alive.
"A… delusion…"
Jack fell to his knees.