In random intersections of the streets, a man tightly hugs his little daughter and runs from all the chaos and monsters. It was all worse when He heard his little daughter’s crying and his exhausted body from all the running, as his appearance became a mess to the point it’s concerning. But it was not from the physical activity that made him like that, it’s because he just lost his wife earlier, he needs to make a choice back then to save his wife or his daughter, he can’t save them both, but his wife just smiles at him and entrusted him to take care of their daughter as her body got wrecked from the rubbles, that poor man is Gerard.
“Daddy…where's mommy?...I want to go with mommy…*sniff…my head hurts… so bad.” said the little girl, she is crying on Gerard’s embrace, Gerard pat her head and tried to calm her down by saying,
“Mommy went first, sweetie…we need to go to the church, there is a hospital there…to see mommy.” Said Gerard trying his hardest to not cry, as he can feel his daughter head which is bleeding, not only that, Gerard condition was worse, his back is full of scars, he tried to protect his daughter from the monsters and the rubbles falling over, his vision was spinning, but he can’t pass out now, he can’t let his daughter died, he already lost her wife, he can't forgive himself if he let that happened again.
The royal area was off limits, it was so brutal there, many police and the military shooting their arsenal weapons to clear the area, so the people were running to the church for protection to shelter them, the plaza and the area near it were protected by some Stella Ethereal Academy students, instructors and also the church members, thanks to the Watcher, Herlan Rewead who act as a bait to lure many monsters out from vicinity, the people can arrived to the church, but there are some who got trapped between rubbles and got chased by remaining monsters.
Suddenly, Gerard stops running as he breathing roughly, he stops because there is a big monster ahead blocking the path to the church, he bites his lips until it bleeds, because it’s the only path to the church and he need to pass that, can he do it?, his daughter’s life is in danger, and he is so desperate right now, that’s right, he is desperate. Sometimes humans tend to be desperate when life tries to take things that’s precious to them.
Shit…what should I do?…please god and goddess above…my daughter needs to be treated immediately!! Gerard minds went into many different scenarios, but from all of it, none were he made it alive, both his daughter and himself will get crushed by that big monster, he gulped his saliva trying to not cause the monster to notice his presence, unfortunately, seems like fate pulls a nasty joke to him, that big monster turn it head and look at Gerard, soon it makes a loud roar.
-*Growll!!*
Gerard look at the gruesome monster with its mouths full of sharp fangs in front of him with despair, his daughter screams and keeps shouting to him when she heard that deafening roar, Gerard stumble to the ground helplessly, he hugs his daughter tightly, then he bitterly laughs, I’m sorry dear, it seems I can’t protect our daughter…I’m a bad father…ha…hahaha…oh goddess…please save my daughter…
A sudden streak of light flash by, that light feels blinding and illuminating the night, Gerard miraculously catch the sight of that light, it was a divine sight, like his prayer just got answered, then he heard another deafening sound, but this time it’s not a roar but a sound of something piercing a thick flesh, Gerard don’t know what it was, but he saw that big monster suddenly had a big hole on its stomach then it drop dead, it look like someone pierce a hole on that ridiculous body. But who is it?, where is the person who did that?, Gerard didn’t see anything amiss other than the streak of light earlier, looking at his left and his right; he see nothing, then he saw that streak of light again, this time he felt that streak of light getting closer to him, it became a brilliant light silhouette, no, it’s...a person, a majestic person with her shining armor and her rapier, her lone wolf hair flutters when the wind brush past her, as Gerard look at that person who exclude a divinity, she is…
“Oh goddess!!…the goddess has descended…thank you!...oh thank you goddess!” Gerard keeps bowing his head to the person in front of him, no to the goddess of life and light in front of him, Seraphina, the goddess who didn't abandon her believers. Gerard felt grateful to her, but he needs to save his daughter life first, it seems the goddess is busy with fending off the monster, that made Gerard didn’t dare to make any more demands toward her, he should’ve been dead if it’s not for the goddess help earlier, then Gerard heard the goddess response, it was a short and simple one yet it made every cell of his body trembles in fear.
“You’re welcome.”
After hearing that short response, Gerard saw that light disappear, he bowed his head again to express his gratitude, then he ran to the hospital near the church ahead, his daughter groan in pain, she said,
“My..my head hurts daddy!!...it hurts…I don’t want to feel this pain…” Gerard immediately rubbed his daughter’s back and he said this to reassure his daughter, “Don’t worry, sweetie…all that pain will be gone in an instant…daddy just saw…the goddess earlier…she came to see you…so, promise me you will endure this a little longer okay?”
His daughter looks at Gerard face, then Gerard put on smiling face, seems like Gerard succeed to persuade her daughter, as she smiled too, it looks like she forgot her pain by looking at her daddy’s face, and she said, “heum, I promise…I hope the goddess came to see mommy too.”
“…Yeah…sweetie… I hope the goddess came to see mommy too.” Seems like what his daughter just said hit him hard, she didn’t know that her mother died just to save her, maybe earlier it’s not a goddess, maybe it’s her mother's soul who protected both of them.
Thank you dear…I promise, I will save our daughter’s life.
----------------------------------------
Silvie with her rapier on her right hand, pierce all the monsters that stands in her way, she saved many people from Stella Ethereal Academy area all the way to the Plaza, as they keep shouting, ‘Goddess’, ‘ Goddess has descended’, but Silvie can’t interact with them any longer, she can feel her internal organ starts bleeding, she can’t stop now, she needs to use this overwhelming power to save many people, Aganju told her the route for her to save more people in efficient way, Silvie didn’t know how Aganju is able to obtain all the information of the route of this complex area in short time, but it certainly really helpful so far, currently Silvie is heading to the plaza with a speed of light.
She pierces and keeps piercing, she can see her rapier became dark crimson red as it gets coated with the monsters blood, but then, her body starts trembling and soon her shining armor with white long cape disperse into thin air, back to her red and black uniform, her lone wolf hair which is glowing earlier now the light has fading and it turned shorter. Silvie arrived at the Plaza, near the water fountain, a place that used to be full of many people now became like a graveyard with many carcasses, wrecked buildings and wrecked streets, the water fountain got contaminated with blood. Silvie sits at the water fountain edge trying to catch her breath, she can feel her beating heart that seems to want to explode, her vision starts to spinning, she coughs blood a few times, every time she inhales she felt like her lung getting stabbed with many invisible knifes, she looks at the night sky where there is a twin moon shining brightly at her, and she bite her lips trying to endure all the excruciating pain, she said,
“I…can’t…pass out…I need to save people more…whatever it takes…I didn’t want to experience that helplessness again!!”
Silvie tried to wash over her tired face with the contaminated water of the water fountain, soon her face became dirty with blood, but she didn’t care, she needed to keep moving forward, until she heard a person voice calling for help, she flinched her eyes when she heard this. A person…desperately calling for help, ignoring her weariness, Silvie drags her leg and moves just to save that person, she keeps repeating this phrase in her head while gritting her teeth, please don’t die please don’t die, I’m coming to save you.
Silvie supports her body with her rapier by using it like a cane to help her walk with her tired and injured body, then, Silvie spotted that person who is calling for help, it’s a young lady with shaggy mullet black hair, with her malnourished body, her lower body got trapped between rubbles, she desperately tried to move it but it was too heavy, she didn’t have the strength to move it, and her face was a mess and she keeps calling for help with her voice that’s gradually became weaker.
“H-help!! someone…I’m trapped…please, someone…oh goddess…” tears cascade down from her eyes, as she waves her hand to her surroundings, but none of person alive, they all died, but she can’t give up, she desperately clinging on a thin string of hope to live, her whole life was fucked up.
She was born because her master raped a slave which is her mother, her mother got killed when her master know she just gave a birth to her, she was five years old when she witnessed her mother getting killed in front of her while she hides herself in the wardrobe, she run away from that place, she ended up in the slums, eating the trash to survive, at first she can’t eat it but she didn’t have a choice, until she get used to it, resulting In her malnourished body, then on her 18th birthday, she got captured in slave hunting a couple of days ago, she got put up in slave auction, she saw how the moment they gave her a price tag, she felt her whole life and future got crumbled when suddenly a chaos happened and she took the opportunity to escape again, she ran away with all her guts, she swallowed her fears to escape from hell, unfortunately, it seems fate didn’t allowed her to leave yet, she got trapped between the rubbles, stopping her legs to run, as she can see her life ticks to end like a broken clock.
She let out a long sigh as she looks at the tower with a big clock, counting her final moment, her breathing became weaker, and her vision starts blurring, she is too tired to call for help this time, she helplessly lay her head to the ground, I- I don’t want to die… she thought, she didn’t had any warmth since she was born, the only warmth she feels is now on the brink of her death with all the flames surrounding her and her body trapped between the rubbles, when suddenly she heard a noise of metal getting scrapped on the ground, like a person tried to walk with a rapier by using it like a cane, a person is finally here, that metal scraping sound gave her an energy to keep alive, then she heard that metal scraping sound stop near her and she heard a person said,
“Please…don’t die… I’m here, I will save you.” That person's voice was weak and seemed like it’s coming from a 15-year-old young lady, then she heard that 15-year-old young lady tried to lift the rubbles which trapped her, she groaned in pain and then she screamed, she screamed because her arms broke as a popping sound came from it.
“AHHH!! *keogh…don’t worry…I’m still here…please wait, I’ll definitely save you, I promise." said that 15-year-old young lady, it was a reckless action, as the young lady who got trapped bitterly laugh and said,
“Haha…you…forget it, just abandon me and run away from here, maybe this is the goddess fate for me to die tonight, but still…thank you for coming to save me, my name is Nightingale, please write it on my tombstone.” Seems like that 15-year-old young lady ignored Nightingale, as she kept trying to lift the rubbles with one hand as her right hand broke, she said.
“My name is Silvie…no matter what happens I’ll definitely save you, if this is the goddess fate for you then, I’ll try to rewrite it, Nightingale, you’ll live tonight!!.” said Silvie, then she coughs blood again, but it didn’t stop her, she bites her lips to prevent from passing out, she is trying again to lift the rubbles trapping Nightingale, why she got so persistent to save me even though she is on the brink of dead?, she should abandon me and save herself first, it’s pointless!, you can’t lift that rubbles with just one hand, you need more than one hand to lift that rubbles, that’s what in Nightingale mind, when suddenly she heard two people getting closer, Nightingale widen her eyes, what Silvie said truly become true.
“Vee!! Please help me to lift these rubbles.” Said another young lady, then that rubbles got lifted by the efforts of a young man and that young lady, “Are you okay? OH, goddess you broke your arm.” That young lady with a guitar on her back is busy tending Silvie injury and Nightingale injury, she ripped her cloth to make a makeshift bandage. While the young man helped Nightingale to stand up.
“Thank you, all of you… thank you for saving me, especially you, Silvie, for not giving up on me.” Said Nightingale, strangely what Nightingale said made the young man who helped her stand up widen his eyes, it’s like he just remembered something, then he starts grabbing his head with both his hands.
“W-what…that name…why…*keogh*…I don’t remember…AAHH!!” That young man starts rolling on the ground, which makes the young lady with a guitar on her back panicked, she said,
“Vee!! What’s wrong?, Vee!!” Silvie and Nightingale saw how the young man rolling on the ground in great pain, his face started contorting and a black vendetta mask appeared on his face, the young man writhe in pain and agony, he kept grabbing his head while rolling on the ground.
Suddenly, Silvie and Nightingale saw a black feather keeps falling down from above their head, and it keeps pouring on one specific spot, then a man wearing a peculiar long black coat, black trouser, a black cane and a long beak bird mask appeared along with black feathers, he is the Doctor, Jerrim, has arrived, with a light chuckle he said,
“Found you.”
----------------------------------------
Vilily, Silvie and Nightingale freeze on their spot when Jerrim suddenly appears, the three of them can tell that he is not a good person as his black coat was stained with fresh blood and his long beak bird mask too was tainted with blood.
Silvie widen her eyes, she remembers Kevin advice, it said to never engage with the member of The Sanctuary, and Silvie can tell that the person in front of her is the member of The Sanctuary, Silvie clicked her tongue because she is not in a state to fend him off, her right arm broken and her internal injury worsen when time keeps passing. Then a horrible thing happened, that strange man disappeared only to appear and grip Silvie’s neck then lift her up like a prey that got caught.
“I’m lucky that the goddess incarnation is here too and, oh my, she is injured, what would happen if I tightened my grip, hmm?”
Jerrim chuckles while his right hand starts gripping tightly Silvie’s neck, Silvie choked on the air, trying to breath, her right arm trying to release herself from Jerrim’s grip, she can feel her conscious slowly fade away every time Jerrim’s hand grips tightened, fortunately, before she could die from suffocating, Vilily slam Jerrim’s face with her guitar, as her guitar broke down by the impact, she threatened Jerrim who is dumbfounded by her sudden action which made him release his grip from Silvie and drop her, Vilily quickly save Silvie and keeps a distance from Jerrim.
“Funny…so, you want to anger me?, my master ordered me to kill both of you, I don’t know what you did to made him furious but, know that I will not give you mercy, I will kill you, as a doctor it hurts my heart, I didn’t give you any chance from now on, I will lock you up in a cage.”
Jerrim raised both his arms to the sky, suddenly his body turned into black feathers, all those feathers were scattered around the air. Silvie, Nightingale and Vilily can feel the surroundings start to crack and distort.
Then a giant bird cage mysteriously appeared only to trap them inside, all the black feathers turned into black chains and chained them up, they were trapped like a hanging keychain.
“Let’s dissect both of you first.” Jerrim appeared behind Vilily and Vendetta with his body that has two big black crow wings, Vilily’s face became pale when Jerrim hands touched the back of her head. Suddenly, something unimaginable happened to Vendetta when he saw Vilily is in danger, a majestic flaming robe enveloped his whole body, and that flaming robe became bigger, it’s big enough to enveloped Vilily, Silvie and Nightingale, that flaming robe burns the black chain and released all of them, Jerrim looks at Vendetta with disbelief.
“What…kind of monster…are you?” said Jerrim in shocked voice, Vendetta heads turned into flaming skull wearing vendetta black mask, he gestured to Vilily, Nightingale and Silvie to get away from here, as they keep a distance from Vendetta, he looks at the twin moon above his head and thought,
I… who am I?? why I am here??, my name… I think I once had a name… but why I can’t remember it?, those pain I felt earlier and those visions I saw… is that my memory?
Would you look at that, he starts wondering that something is wrong with him, but it was too late… you are a part of me now, your identity, your whole existence were mine, why did you look at me with those expressions?, it all because you were blinded by your desire, your greed, your puny ambitions. There is no turning back, my plan has just begun the moment you picked that mask…enjoy the greatest regret in your life.
The black vendetta mask on his face starts to crack and it broke down into many pieces, as a young man face with messy black hair, black pupil eyes got revealed, the flames on his head fade away, he cover his face with both of his hands, then a long bloodied pointy horns appeared on his forehead, he writhe in pain again, because he just saw a face of a god, a vast and sudden silence among the noisy heavens… he just listened to one sided conversations, he shouldn’t overheard.
Vendetta, he vomited a lot of blood all of the sudden, his face contorts into something strange, a male sheep’s face. Jerrim who saw this can’t believe what he just saw…there is just one explanation about what happened to that young man, he is cursed, something related to identity…it's a mask of existence. The real mask of existence is here, Jerrim trembles when he realizes this, his mind went crazy.
Jerrim blinks and appears near Vilily and then he pierces her heart, grabbing the heart then eating it, the birdcage he evoked earlier cost him to lose his sanity entirely. Silvie got terrified, her whole-body trembles, it all happened too fast, the person in front of her is not a human…it’s the Devil, Jerrim laugh out loud like a maniac who lost his mind, then he starts moving closer to Silvie, Nightingale got captured by Jerrim’s right hand. When Jerrim wants to grip Silvie’s neck, Vendetta lunge at him like an animal at incredible speed and shoot two flaming flintlocks into his inside through his long beak bird mask by forcefully shove it up, a blast of flame explodes inside Jerrim’s throat, Silvie catch a sight of Vendetta’s face amidst the flames explosion which made her widen her eyes, Jerrim died horribly with his head got completely blown off, it was so brutal that Jerrim didn’t get a chance to fight back.
“NO….no no no no Vily!!," Vendetta move closer to Vilily dead body, he is too late, he can’t save a person, he just had to do one fucking job and he failed miserably, he tried to pump up the hole on Vilily chest, what is he doing?, the heart isn’t there anymore. He stops his hand and he stumble back on the ground, all the things on his visions starts to change into grey colorless, as Vilily’s memories surge into his mind, he see what Vilily view of this world, a grey colorless when suddenly she met him, the only color in her life, it was said that love can make you blind but actually it was the opposite, it makes you able to see a color of a person deep inside, a color of their genuine soul.
Many light particles come out from Vendetta’s body trying to heal Vilily, but it was futile for Vilily. Some of Silvie and Nightingale wounds got healed thanks to that light particles, suddenly one tiny hand appeared from above and then touch Vendetta’s forehead, another memory surged into his mind, memory of a man who lost something, his identity as a normal human, that day he lost his right to live, he became a monster. He picked a mirror to see his face reflection which was full of tiny tentacles and maggots on the left side. Vendetta writhe in pain, covering his face with his hands, then on his back four giant tentacles comes out from there, it was gigantic to the point that its tip touches the sky, the moment it came out, it starts rampaging, Vendetta tried to hold his four giant tentacles by pointing it up to the sky, unbeknownst to him, that gesture angered an abomination being at the top of the white marble palace at the top of the hill.
-*Growwll
A loud roar reverberated throughout Welsterven, all the people saw two things that night, four giant tentacles that pointing to the sky and an abomination being destroying the white palace, two things that they shouldn’t see, two things that feels like god’s wrath towards them, that night all the people in Welsterven didn’t dare to look up as they closed their eyes or look at the ground, while prostrating to the goddess or curling like a ball, they all want one thing, that all of these to end, these nightmare to end.
That abomination being suddenly starts to do something about its giant body, it wants to jump off to the place where that four giant tentacles coming from, the plaza where there is water fountain, that’s the place.
The abomination being wanted to crush those four giant tentacles, to show its dominance, it’s power with its humongous body that reached 2.717ft tall, and a body of disgusting meat that keeps falling like raindrop. Then…it… jumped from the top of the hill, plenty people saw the terrifying sight of it, it’s body enveloped the whole Welsterven, it completely block the twin moon and the night sky, as people screams and prayed to their goddess with desperation, even Silvie can’t move her feet, she just sit there staring blankly at the abomination being that is above her head slowly falling down to her, she could get plummeted down like a kneaded flour to make donut.
A total silence, seems like all the people of Welsterven accepted their fate, Aganju got exhausted as his left body turned into an volcanic ash, he can’t stop that abomination being, with nothing he could do, he just laugh out loud while laying down on the wrecked street, Velvet shoots at the abomination being with her sniper but it was to no avail, her hands trembles, it was not something she could kill, it’s not a normal monster, it was akin to god, only the higher being could kill that abomination being, Velvet closed her eyes accepting her fate, all the people…they all closed their eyes, accepting the worst, accepting their fate, getting crushed by that abomination being.
Only one individual that didn’t close his eyes, that individual didn’t have a name, he didn’t have it anymore, he lost himself at midnight where the twin moon shines brightly. He is not a human anymore at this point, with four giant tentacles on his back, his face which is a male sheep face with long bloodied pointy horns, a majestic long flame robe enveloping his body, that individual let out his screams to challenge the abomination being above his head that slowly falling down.
To challenge a being akin to god, he refused to accept his fate, he had enough of this fate entrapping him, entrapping him in a circle, a circle of comedy called life. He is the greatest comedian I’ve ever known, because of him, I woke up, I can see all of these, oh right a comedian needs a name, well he once had it, his name was…Conny.
-*Crack
-*BOOM.
A deafening clash reverberated through Welsterven, Conny hold the abomination being with his four giant tentacles, half of Welsterven got destroyed by the wave pressure impact, especially the water fountain, it got destroyed as the contaminated water burst to the sky, the water burst creates a small rain around the area, a rain of blood.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
That abomination being bent down to eat Conny with its large mouth full of fangs, two flaming flintlock pistols conjured on Conny’s hand to greets the abomination being’s large mouth, he aims at the abomination being throat, Conny got swallowed into its inside mouth, but then, a powerful blast occurred on the abomination being mouth, that abomination being writhe in pain, another explosion occurred inside its mouth, that abomination being open its mouth to the sky, then a giant flames burst forth from its inside, that giant flames is Conny, he became a fire wrath, his four giant tentacles went into the abomination being’s inside trying to make a mess there.
The abomination being experienced a great pain, its inside all got destroyed by Conny’s four giant tentacles, moreover, his four giant tentacles pierce through the abomination being which resulting in four holes on its body, then seems like it can’t bear all the pain, that abomination being fell down on the ground helplessly, dirt and debris flies from its fall. Conny climbed to the abomination being body, and then he started doing consecutive punches to the abomination being body, while his four giant tentacles tried to rip it more like tearing a long paper.
Silvie open her eyes only to see the abomination being getting beaten down by a terrifying individual, but Silvie seems to know who is that individual, earlier she saw a long bloodied pointy horn which reminds her of something, but when she wants to remember what it was, Nightingale suddenly interrupted her, Nightingale’s face turned pale, she keeps tugging Silvie’s sleeve and pleads to her,
“We…we need to get out from here…. run…Silvie…those two…is not something a human can handle…those two…those two are akin to god…” Silvie saw the terrifying individual at the top of the abomination’s body keep punching it, his punching was a blast of fire every time it got into contact with the abomination being flesh. Without much option, Silvie and Nightingale run away from the water plaza, but Silvie can’t shake off her feelings when she looks at that terrifying individual, it likes something is bothering her, now it’s not the time, she needs to evacuate first, then she will answer what’s that thing that’s bothering her.
-*Growwll!!*
A loud roar reverberated through the air, the sounds of an abomination being getting pulverized, as its body got torn up into many pieces with four giant tentacles heavily slamming down the lower body after tearing it. Conny looks at the abomination being that’s on the brink of death, he didn’t utter a word the whole time, it looks like he vents all his rage into this abomination being, he keeps punching it until that abomination is truly dead. It’s really dead…an abomination with a gigantic body of 2.717ft tall, and a body of disgusting meat that keeps falling like raindrops. Conny just killed a being akin to god, but he didn’t feel elated nor proud, he felt…empty.
His appearance changes back to normal tan-skinned young man with messy black hair, black pupil eyes and a thin body, his four giant tentacles disappeared, his loved one too got disappeared, he knew that life was meant to end, but he is not ready to see her end that fast, he can’t do anything to protect her, even though he had these surreal and magical abilities, he did nothing…Conny look at the twin moon that shine brightly perfectly aligned above his head with unfocused eyes, and then, he wonders, what if… out there… somewhere in a faraway place, there exists a power to revive the dead. Conny regained a little bit of will to live again, he is now living for one purpose to seek for a power beyond mortal, a power close to the heavens, a power that is akin to god.
Conny got up and tidied himself up, he looked like a mess, but his determination showed in his eyes tell no lies. He drags his own feet to walk while gritting his teeth until it bleeds, a sudden tiredness hits his body which makes him become sluggish. Conny ended up in some rundown building, fortunately there was an intact room. He entered it and passed out on the floor the moment he closed the room’s door. He heard a voice even though there was no one else beside him in this small room.
“So, you are alive kid, I’m glad, you are always welcome in The Scotsman.”
The last thing Conny saw was a portrait painting picture of young king Edward IV, its mouth moving. Conny feels like he is in a dream, yeah, he hopes that tonight is a dream, a long dream that he wished he could wake up.
----------------------------------------
Amidst the chaos and flames, a jet black haired long man-bun style gentleman wearing a suit, a monocle on his right eye and black gloves on his hand, walks leisurely to the white marble palace at the top of the hill that’s in ruins now. A smirk appeared on the gentleman’s face, his plan moving according to his envisions, he got his revenge on all the bastards that killed his father that day. He did it, using everything he had, everything he knew, the man who sacrificed everything to gain one thing, justice. He is the judge, the one who understood the law, Antonio del Sanctuary, no, Antonio Devlyn.
He threads his path carefully to the top, as he looks at the fallen military soldier's dead body, their war uniform soaked with their blood. The road to the top was slippery because of the blood pouring down like a waterfall, the foul stench of rotting organs of the dead body greets Antonio’s nostril, but he didn’t mind it, since he get used to it a long time ago when he is doing many experiments, he took step by step ascending to the top.
Finally, he arrived at the top of the hill, on this place where one could oversee all the Welsterven area, a place that was once a symbol of power, but now it’s not existed anymore. Antonio looks at the empty throne ahead, among the rubbles and dead bodies of the soldiers, giving an ominous feeling as the twin moon perfectly aligned above the empty throne. Antonio walks slowly to the throne as he can feel his life memories flash by in front of his eyes, when his father died everything seems to be falling apart, his mother died the next day after his father's funeral, the people tried to kill everyone related to Dr. Benedict Devlyn. Antonio survived the ordeal thanks to Benjamin patronage. He didn’t shed a tear; his heart was boiling in rage. To kill those bastards that mess with him, those sickening rude motherfuckers called aristocrats, he swore to eradicate them all. Using his intelligence, he searches every option, learns everything even if it's forbidden knowledge, doing many experiments, until he is no longer a mortal, he becomes a demigod. That’s who he truly was in the beginning, He is a noble, a savant and a descendant of a legend, He is an extraordinary young man, a prodigy in higher society.
Now it all seems irrelevant to him, because today, at post-midnight 03 AM, 17 February 1819, he became the new king, he won the election for the new king. Antonio sit down at the throne, and on his forehead a red crown made out of flesh, dripping with blood appeared, resting both his hands on the arms rest of the throne, he looks at the rubbles and the dead bodies in front of him, then one of the wooden spear that is laying on the floor turned into a wooden watering can, that watering can spill the water inside to the floor, the spilled water showed a reflection of an old man, and then he appeared while bowing his head to Antonio who is looking at him from the throne, he has a face full of wrinkles, his long white hair, and a clear blue-sky eyes, he said,
“Long live the king, I, Benjamin, greet your majesty, the all-knowing sovereign of Welsterven, Antonio Devlyn.”
Antonio smiled when he saw the person in front of him, he is the one who helped him the most, he is also one of the people that dedicated himself to try his theory, a hypothesis of the real tiers of Divinity, the person in front of him successfully tricked all the boomer in the church, as he gained the position of Pope, he once was an abbot of the church of the goddess Seraphina until Antonio convince him to join his side by constantly giving him his wisdom, Antonio really gave him the revelation he is been searching his whole life, and he became a Pope, Pope Benjamin, a demigod of illusion, thanks to Antonio teaching, he thinks of Antonio as a messiah.
“Holy father, Pope Benjamin, it’s all thanks to you, the one who protected me when the nobles wanted me dead, allowed me to express my gratitude.” Antonio bow his head to Pope Benjamin, he chuckles lightly when he saw Antonio’s humility, he said,
“The pleasure is all mine, the truth is I’m the one who should be expressing my gratitude because you didn’t hold a grudge of me, that day I took your left arm as a noble deed to stabilize my position in the Church, by saving Herlan Rewead, the grandson of Holy king, Lucis Rewead.” Antonio looks at his left arm, it was true that Pope Benjamin took his left arm, he can vividly feel what it feels even today, he rubs his left arm and said,
“It’s alright, one of my experiments failed, and my left arm took the impact of it. I had no choice but to sever it, but then that opportunity came, both you and I, we didn’t suffer any losses.” Pope Benjamin let out a sigh of relief, Antonio rest his chin on his right hand then tapping the left armrest throne with his left finger which made a monotonous tone and then he said,
“Herlan got killed, this will trigger the holy kingdom, we can blame Alexander, the good-for-nothing prince of Welsterven saying that he is committing an ancient forbidden ritual to help him became a king only to failed miserably and the whole Welsterven plunge into the chaos he made, this way I can legalize my coronation, and I am a noble, so the people of Welsterven didn’t have any rejection either, my next plan is to unite the whole continent and created a united nation, giving all the people no matter what their race, a place, I will create a utopia, I will create heavens, only then I will ascend to become the true god, and obtain the power beyond mortal, a power close to the heavens, a power that is akin to god, to gain authority over life and death.” Antonio explains his plan to Pope Benjamin, then the Little boy appeared with two flesh wings on his back, on his right hand is the head of Alexander dripping with blood, he threw Alexander's head to the throne. Antonio caught it with ease, a wide grin appeared on his face.
Pope Benjamin nodded his head after hearing Antonio's next plan, it was meticulously crafted, an anti-fool plan. Then he too revealed his next plan to Antonio the real reason he is back from the holy kingdom, because he just got a mission, from a child who happened to be a seer, a child whose curiosity is too much he paid the price of prying into the future and past, so he can’t aging, the holy kingdom called him Saint Present, he told Pope Benjamin that the goddess incarnation will be at Welsterven, that’s how Pope Benjamin immediately knew the identity of the goddess incarnation, Pope Benjamin mission is to monitor the goddess incarnation and then guide her after graduation to holy kingdom, to become the apostle of the goddess.
“Well then, it’s now time to move to the next plan…Little Boy, where is Jerrim?” Antonio asked Little boy about Jerrim’s whereabout, but little boy shake his head and shrug his shoulder, saying he doesn’t know anything about him, Antonio ponders for a moment, could it be Jerrim was killed by abomination being fall impact, well Antonio couldn’t care less, his plan still succeed in the end. He wasn't aware of the fact that there could be an individual killing Jerrim, someday he will pay a heavy price for ignoring that fact, yeah, a heavy price indeed, someday, in a far-away future.
----------------------------------------
17 February 1819, Wednesday, morning.
A morning that was supposed to be full of hope for a brand-new day, now, it’s full of people looking lost and lethargic, this morning turned into a mourning. There are a lot of funerals being held at the church, thousands of new gravestones being engraved. On that many gravestones, in one particular spot, a white young lady stood in front of the gravestone, that white young lady is Silvie, with plaster on her broken right arm and bandages on her head. Looking down at the gravestone which has a name Herlan Rewead engraved on it, earlier Velvet swore to herself that she will become the watcher following Herlan’s path, to guide and make sure all the people safe from all the nightmare, then she left Silvie alone. Unlike Velvet, Silvie, she doesn’t know what to do anymore, she felt lost and…empty, all the things that happened last night and that night is a tragedy, a cold wind brush past her wolf hair, she looks at the cloudy dark sky and thought,
Ah…it’s gonna rain soon.
Silvie put the vanilla flower at Herlan’s tomb, then she moved to the tomb beside Herlan, it was a tomb of Timothy and the orphanage staff and children, after putting all the vanilla flower at each of the tombs, Silvie moved to one specific spot, it was at the corner of the graveyard, that’s where her family’s tomb is, putting the vanilla flower at her mom’s tomb, dad’s tomb and…her brother’s tomb.
Conny…when Silvie read her brother’s name suddenly she remembered what she just witnessed last night, like a flashback, she saw one individual who got turned into human sheep, that long bloodied pointy horns reminded her of what happened that night to her brother.
Silvie widen her eyes, a loud thunder voice occurred when Silvie made an assumption, then a heavy rain poured down, Silvie got drenched, but she still in a trance of thinking the possibilities of her brother’s alive or not, a picture of Morgan Jester suddenly cross her mind, then a person who turned into human sheep last night, they all appeared 2 weeks and a couple of days after her brother dead, it can’t be a coincidence right?, and when the first day on academy, Velvet told Silvie how Timothy came up with a story of a hero… a hero named Conny, and Morgan Jester know that story, he shouldn’t know unless he is related to Timothy or he is Conny, because that’s something her brother would say if he is playing hero with Silvie, he couldn’t come up with other name other than his real name, could it be that her brother is able to forge his identity?, a peculiar case explained in the Divinity book where an item can change your identity…the name of that item is the mask of existence, but it can't be true, because it’s an item that was almost like a myth, there is no illustration or description in the Divinity book.
Silvie trembles, as her body gets drenched with rain, she looks at her brother’s tomb, where a name Conny is engraved on it. Maybe, Silvie is right, she lowered her head and muttered to herself,
“My brother is alive.”
Another loud thunder occurred, it’s glaring sound reverberated through air, as Silvie seems to realize something, the thing that’s bothering her is this fact, the fact that her brother is still alive the whole time and he is so close to Silvie yet felt so far away from her, how come she didn’t notice it?, really, she was a fool, now she didn’t know where to search for her brother’s where about, she regrets it, she bites her lips, if only she realize it sooner, now it was too late, she can’t do anything again, she runs from the graveyard to a place where she saw that human sheep last night, the water fountain.
----------------------------------------
Inside the room, the room was small and crude, there was a portrait painting picture of young king Edward IV on the top of the pillows. Conny open his eyes, all the things he saw lost all the color, what he sees now is grey colorless world he suffers from a rare condition he gained, called Monochromacy (achromatopsia), suddenly he heard a voice coming from the portrait painting picture,
“You’re finally awake kid, last night was hell, my main body, the hotel was destroyed, fortunately I transferred my consciousness into this painting and I survived the ordeal.”
Conny sits at one of the chairs and look at the painting that was moving, he lower his head and said,
“Owner… is there…a power to revive the dead?”
Conny’s word made the painting of king Edward IV shocked, it’s canvas trembles, and it said,
“There is…but it was an ancient power…probably a shaman in a certain tribe knew about it…a power called necromancy…forget about it kid, it didn’t revive the dead, it brought undead to this world, it was forbidden by the Holy Kingdom law.”
Silence descend the room, Conny now know where his destination next, to search for a shaman in certain tribe, but he can’t do anything alone, he know it the moment he became helpless when he is confronted with many enemies, he needs to gather allies, then an idea pop up in his mind, to create a troupe and travelled the world, to search for knowledge and to search for the truth of this world, he looks at the painting in front of him and said,
“Owner… will you join me? I think it’s better to see the world than rotting alone in this depressing room, don’t you want to know the power to become a human again?” a grin appeared on Conny’s face as he watch the painting seems to be considering to join Conny, he was right, the owner, The Scotsman, dreamed of being a human again, The Scotsman wanted to die as a human not as an expensive art item, he decided, he wants to join Conny in his adventure.
“Damn right kid, so be it, I’ll join you…what’s the name of your troupe?” said The Scotsman, a name is important after all if you want to create something. Conny ponders for a while, trying to come up with a name. William's words come to his mind. We humans live a life with sorrow and happiness like two sides of a coin…but no one in this world wants sorrow… everyone needs a comedy in their life doesn't it? A concept of gathering everyone in a troupe and treating them like a family as they will hold their hands to face all the misery and laugh together, like forming a circle… Conny got it, he said,
“The name will be…A Circle of the Divine Comedians Troupe, because everyone needs a comedy in their life so they can leave this cruel world with more happiness than sadness.”
The Scotsman laughed when Conny said that word, well he is not wrong, it’s better to live in comedy than in tragedy because you can laugh out loud at the world as much as you want. Then the door to the room opened up, there, a man with a thick mining rope on his right hand, drenched clothes, his brown hair was a mess, his eyes seemed unfocused, his face clearly revealed his bone line, that man is Gerard, he looked at Conny and bitterly laughed.
“Oh… hahaha, shit, I didn’t know this room was occupied, I’m sorry sir, I will look for a new place then.” Conny gets up from his chair and approaches Gerard and he touches Gerard's shoulders.
“Sir…don’t end your life like that, it’s not worth it, you need to live for your love-.”
-*Bam
It was a solid punch, Gerard fist greets Conny’s left cheek, Gerard punches Conny’s left check because of the ridiculous thing he just said, live for your loved one? Well shit, his wife and his daughter died in front of him, he was too late to save his daughter, and now this motherfucker said some motivation bullshit blatantly like a mindless idiot, Gerard got enraged his eyes bulging and his veins bulging too on his forehead, then he shouts.
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT I JUST WITNESSED? AND WHAT KIND OF SHITTY THINGS THAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT TO ME?!!, MY WIFE GOT CRUSHED BY THE RUBBLES AND MY DAUGHTER CAN’T BE SAVED, DON’T TRY TO TELL ME TO KEEP ON LIVING, BECAUSE I LOST EVERYTHING I HAD, EVERYTHING!!, FUCK MY LIFE!!, I’D RATHER HANG MYSELF THAN TO LIVE HAUNTED BY THE NIGHTMARES!!.” Gerard’s chest heaved up and down, looking at Conny who spit his broken teeth by that punch, Conny can’t help but laugh at what Gerard did, there is a saying that don’t ever mess with a man who got nothing to lose, because he will do anything to get that one thing, that’s right Gerard is desperate right now, Conny needs to convince him to join into his troupe. He brushes off his hair and hold it upward with his right hand, then he grips Gerard throat forcefully which caught off Gerard, as Gerard saw his body being lifted by Conny, Conny shouted back at Gerard,
“YOU LOST EVERYTHING YOU HAD? WELL SHIT I DO TOO, DON’T THINK THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO SUFFERED THE MOST!, WHY DON’T YOU TRY TO DO SOMETHING, I DON’T KNOW, TRY TO REVIVE THEM OR KILL THE PERSON WHO DO THIS TO YOU, WHY DON’T YOU DO SOMETHING?!, PATHETIC BITCH!”
-*Bam
Conny throw his punch to Gerard’s left check, as Gerard wobbles and drop to the ground, looking at Conny with eyes full of hatred, as he grits his teeth and shout,
“I’LL KILL YOU!! BASTARD!!” Conny grinned and do nothing as he receives that punch to his face, his nose bleeds thanks to that punch, but he just laughs it off like it was nothing, and even mock Gerard by saying,
“SEE!! IT’S BETTER TO DO SOMETHING, THAN HANG YOURSELF UP, TRY KILL ME IF YOU CAN, YOU DON’T MIND IF I HIT YOU BACK DIDN’T YOU?, BECAUSE IT’S NO FUN IF I’M BEING PASSIVE.”
Conny and Gerard engage in a brutal fist fight, Gerard fist connected to Conny’s left eye. Conny fist connected to Gerard’s left eye, it seems he is intentionally copying what he did to him which made him furious, the Scotsman spectate the whole thing with excited expression, it’s been a while since he saw a fight between a man after all.
The two of them…no the three of them, since the Scotsman is in the room too, got lots of time and finally both Gerard and Conny stopped, both of them got beaten up so badly that their whole face swollen up, Conny laugh again, this whole beating seems to freshen him up, like he just forgot what fucked up things he saw last night, Gerard too seems to be in same condition as Conny, all the punch and the kick seems to woke him up, the man in front of him was batshit crazy but maybe that craziness is the requirement to keep on living In this cruel, twisted, fucked up world, he extends his right hand to Gerard and said,
“Why don’t you join my troupe sir, maybe we will do a lot of exciting things together, what do you say?”
Gerard became silent and he looks at that hand, the hand of the madman, maybe he is not a human, how come he can laugh when he experienced the loss of his loved one, Gerard looks at that hand that wants to make a deal with him, a deal with the devil, but he didn’t care, his life isn’t worth it anymore, he didn’t care if the person in front of him is the devil or not, he just want to live a life until his heart stop beating, he grab Conny hand and shake it with a grin, today he just joined to the troupe, not knowing it will make him into something beyond his imagination.
“What’s your name sir?” asked Conny, strangely both of them quickly became friends while earlier both of them punched each other’s face with killing intention.
“Gerard…I’m Gerard, look I don’t care what kind of being you are, but I will not give my life for you.”
Conny tilted his head, what kind of bullshit Gerard just said, Conny is not a devil or a vampire that will suck his life, he just nods his head to Gerard, he picked up the Scotsman and introduce it to Gerard,
“This is the first member of the troupe, the owner, the Scotsman, you better pay your respect to the Scotsman.” Conny proudly showed the portrait painting picture of young king Edward IV to Gerard.
“Nice to meet you sir Gerard, please take care of me.” Gerard widened his eyes, the painting…it moved and talked like a person… just what kind of troupe is this?, he should’ve guessed the moment he looks at the crazy person in front of him, then Conny suggest a thing by saying,
“Since it will be full of people joining the troupe, I suggest that we create an alias, my alias is The Jester.”
“My alias is The Human, kid.” Said the Scotsman, Conny nod his head, and then he said,
“Is it because you want to be a human, Owner??”
“Damn right, kid.”
“I see, then how about your alias, sir Gerard?
Gerard pondered for a moment trying to come up with a name and then he finally got it, he said.
“My alias is The Driver. That’s my job in the past, riding horse carriage and I know how to ride those steam-powered machines.”
Conny smiled, it’s completed, the troupe was established, he even got himself a driver to travel a long journey ahead. Suddenly he remembered something, he needed to bid goodbye to this kingdom, to his old self, after he left this kingdom the person named Conny would truly disappear.
“Driver, take the human with you and wait for me at the outer gate of Welsterven, I need to be at one place to send my farewell.”
Gerard looks at Conny’s face as his face slowly contorts into a golden Jester mask and a long red robe enveloped his body, then he leaves him as he treads his path under the heavy rain. Gerard widened his eyes, that was not normal, a human can’t transform like that, Gerard was right, the person in front of him is a devil.
----------------------------------------
Conny arrived at the wrecked water fountain, he stands there looking at the water fountain pipes that are bursting with torrent of water, so many things happened here, now he remembered it all, he gained his lost memories, but he lost what’s important to him. That's life for you, all living beings need to sacrifice one thing to gain something.
Conny conjured something, a guitar appeared on his hands, under the drizzling rain he started strumming his guitar. Suddenly, a white person with plaster cast on her broken right arm and bandages on her forehead arrived, she is Silvie, she looks exhausted and her whole body got drenched, she looks at a peculiar person wearing golden Jester mask and a long red robe strumming a guitar under the drizzling rain, a loud thunder occurred, the flash and the glare of thunder didn’t bother that person at all, then he starts singing,
Heum~ heum~ heum~
Na~na~na~
The endless passage of time… carrying one presence…
A familiar presence that I knew well~ but I can’t put it in a sentence…
Looking at the boundless sea~ once again to reminiscence~
Silvie heard that person's voice starts shaking, but he didn’t have any intention to stop singing, his fingers still strumming the guitar strings in a nice and slow rhyme that made a crisp sound coming from it.
Your dazzling smile~ and your kindness that made me head over the heels~
But why I can’t tell you … all my conflicted feelings~
Silvie noticed that peculiar person is looking at her, then the guitar sound is becoming slower and slower again, and then, all of the sudden he is fastening the tempo, his finger strums the guitar with faster speed than before, the sounds of continuous harmony of melody comes out from it, while that person sing this word with faster pronunciation and loud voice almost like he is screaming.
When you keep struggling~
When you feel all of this feel suffocating~
When you know deep inside you feel nothing~
When you know that life is full of suffering~
When you grow old and starts forgetting~
And that person went back to the first tempo, the nice, slow, and soothing sounds, his finger strums the guitar string in slower tempo again.
Please don’t give up~
Please keep your head up~
There are many things you forgot.
Being here sitting on this water fountain beside me~
So please my lovely dear…remember me~
That person bows his head to Silvie for listening, then, that person approaches her with a guitar on his hands, and that person stops in front of Silvie. Silvie looks at the person in front of her, that golden jester mask clarifies the whole thing, she knows who this person is, but it seems her words got stuck in her tongue, she can’t mutter a single word, tears starts pouring on her eyes, fortunately the drizzling rain hides her tears. Suddenly, that person does something to his guitar, and the guitar on his hands earlier turned into a bouquet of vanilla flowers, the flowers which resemble Silvie, and that person gave the bouquet while saying one word to Silvie, a word that seems heavy to her, a word that sting her heart.
“…I’m sorry.”
After saying that, the person wearing a golden jester mask turns his body and walks in the opposite direction, to the outer gate of Welsterven. Silvie looks at the bouquet of vanilla flowers in her hands with bitter feeling, that person is her brother, the one who is always there to humor her and made sure Silvie happy even though he was tired, even though he got hurt, and now she will be departed with her brother forever, memories of her brother flash by like a record, like an album picture in her mind.
Both of them need to walk on their own path now. She always wants to say one thing to her brother, she turns her head and shouts to the person who was walking to the outer gate of Welsterven.
“THANK YOU, I PROMISE I WILL NOT CRYING AGAIN, I PROMISE I WILL NOT BECAME A CRYBABY, I WILL LIVE HAPPILY, THANK YOU…MY BROTHER…CONNY!”
That person waves his hand when he heard Silvie’s word, and he gradually became distant and disappear along with the sudden heavy rain, Silvie smiled a little when she saw that, now she found a new purpose in this life, it’s to become stronger, to protect all the people she knew, just like what her brother always did, a hero, a symbol of justice and hope.
As the rain finally stopped and the bright sunlight warmed up the lands, marking the end of the rain and also the mourning of the people, as they needed to keep living on. Maybe one day hope will appear just like that bright sun, because no matter how cruel and despairing how lives treat humans, there will always be a moment to appreciate and be grateful and say thank you for everything.
Many meetings and departures happened in life, as stories too many are being written new, and another one must come to an end. But this is not the ending, this is merely a prologue, the new beginning of a certain person, a certain troupe, as their name will resonate through lands and heavens…and eventually reach me, as I am the representation of the end. A comedians troupe that dares to challenge the god and goddess in this world, and their name is…
-End.