“For
the sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation;
but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” – 2 Corinthians 7:10
Chapter 2 – My Sacrifice
for All
The ruined city that Corleone has walked
into appears to have been through a war of some kind with defensive barriers in
the streets and torn propaganda littering the buildings and floors. Dried blood,
damaged armor, and broken weapon are also found scattered about. Parts of the
city and ground appear to be rotting as nature begins to be seeping through the
cracks with full trees grown in buildings. Statues of both religious and historical
figures have been broken and vandalized with faded writing on them. Strangely, there
are bonfires still burning in the city.
The Path of Saints leads Corleone
to the fire where a man comes out of the bonfire with flames bursting out of his
skin, eyes, mouth, and nose. This man breathes in agony as he looks around and
struggles to get his bearings. He catches sight of Corleone and crawls to him.
“You there! I recognize your armor
of that as a good knight! Please, you must help us! We are at war with another city.
This war is never-ending, and our assailants are still in the city as we speak,”
the burning man says.
A hand from the bonfire emerges and
tries to pull the burning man back in. Corleone severs the hand from the arm as
more start to emerge.
“Please protect me, good knight!”
The ruined city starts to come to
life as fighting begins to break out in the streets as the corpses of knights
and soldiers rise from underneath the ground to fight each other. Corleone
fights off whoever approaches him and the burning man as they seek shelter.
Despite moving in different directions, Corleone still manages to walk the Path
of Saints without diverging.
“There seems to be no safe place
anywhere,” the burning man says, “And this used to be such a safe place.
Perhaps if you defeat the enemy leader, the fighting will stop. Come on, let’s
go.”
Corleone follows the burning man and
protects him as they go after the hordes of enemies hoping to find the leader
among them. That is until the Path of Saints diverges and points Corleone in a
different direction and stops him from following the burning man.
Noticing that Corleone isn’t
following him, the burning man turns around and asks, “What’s the matter, good
knight? We’re behind enemy lines now so their commander must be somewhere around
here.”
Looking at the Path of Saints that
leads in another direction, Corleone shakes his head and follows it.
“Wait-huh?”
The burning man notices the golden
blood on Corleone’s boots as he runs away.
“That foreign knight walks the Path
of Saints! He walks the path of vanity!”
Most fighters from both sides seem
to concentrate on Corleone now as they mock him.
“Look at that fool,” one of them says.
“There are other important things
to worry about than penance.”
“Join my side and push back these
vile heathens.”
“No, join my side and push back
these insolent heretics.”
“He’s a traitor and should be
executed!”
“Leave that vain path and do
something better with your life!”
Soldiers and knights from both
sides try to stop Corleone by going after him. His burning sword manages to cut
through hordes of him and his thorny armor protects him from most blows, but
they get a couple hits in here and there. The horde becomes overwhelming to the
point where one soldier manages to cut Corleone’s head off. A thorny vine in
his neck reattaches his head to his body while allowing him to keep running as
if nothing happened, however, he still experiences the pain of decapitation. The
Path of Saints leads Corleone to the front of a large tower with no entrance with
all of them are collapsed. The path has never lead him to a place that hasn’t
been significant, so he stands his ground against the approaching horde of
soldiers and bloodthirsty citizens.
Now that he has a better look at the
horde, Corleone sees that the horde is one singular creature with thousands of
people attached to it. The creature morphs and shifts to get around the debris and
buildings in the city. People are fighting each other on it as if the creature
they’re a part of is nonexistent as their rage for their enemy blinds them to
what is happening around them. With his burning sword at the ready, Corleone tries
to deflect the oncoming sword attacks only to be launched up in the air and through
the tower’s walls. Satisfied that Corleone is out of the way, the two enemy
armies continue to fight each other.
Once he pulls himself together
after experiencing a new way to get to the place he needs to, Corleone walks
down the tower’s steps to find a cramped room with the Nail Cross of Penance
holding up the ceiling. The room becomes smaller and smaller the further Corleone
walks into it, so he goes to the cross and touches it.
He then hears a voice saying, “God
suffered a cross for all, and so you must deny yourself, pick up your cross,
and follow Him. If you wish to save your life, you will lose it, but if you
lose your life for His sake, you will find it.”
With this information in mind,
Corleone picks up the Nail Cross of Penance and begins to carry it across the
room. The cross is incredibly heavy and with good reason as carrying it also lifts
the ceiling up to reveal more of the room. It digs into Corleone’s shoulder and
back like a heavy blade that causes him to bleed and feel like his shoulder is
coming apart. This pain causes him to fall to one knee and remember an event
from the past.
“Get up and keep fighting, or do
you want to let your family down?!” an officer told him during a large scale
battle.
Corleone’s mind remembers a battle
he fought in to push back an invading army. He fought valiantly only to give up
and play dead after being crushed and stabbed so many times. This humiliating
memory gets him to pick himself up and keep moving, however, dealing with the
pain isn’t any easier. Because of this, he falls again. This time he remembers
coming home after the battle.
The enemy had a special torture
method that separated a person’s body into pieces so that their bodies had a
hard and painful time putting themselves together. Corleone’s failure and
cowardice let this happen and his king exiled him because of it. This shame
reminds and reinvigorates him to keep moving. The pain of carrying the cross becomes
easier, however, the crushing weight of it isn’t any easier. In fact, it seems
like the further in Corleone goes, the heavier the cross is. What was once his motivator
for continuing is quickly being forgotten as the pain of carrying the cross
puts itself at the forefront of his mind again.
Human weakness is susceptible to
sin and easily forgets the consequences of evil when misery and doubt consume
them. This misery and doubt make Corleone fall under the weight of the cross
for the third time. In his mind, he remembers the shame, guilt, and sadness of being
exiled. His failures as a soldier, father, and husband make him attempt to take
his life. He already knew that he wouldn’t die, but just like all humans, sin
blinds us of our ability to reason. A thorny vine grew out from his mouth, constricted
his throat, and blinded one of his eyes. All three of his past failures made
him consider walking the Path of Saints to complete the Three Indulgences and
Three Deaths. With all three reminders in his mind, Corleone gets on his feet
once again and makes one final push that gets him to the end of the room where
there is a water basin in a space of the wall that the lifted ceiling has
revealed. Just like before, Corleone dunks his head into the basin.
“Receive ye the second indulgence
for giving the second death, Corleone,” a voice says.
When he raises his head from the
water, Corleone feels a heavy weight on him. The Nail Cross of Penance falls to
the side as the ceiling falls on him, however, he is able to hold the ceiling
up with his own strength. This newfound strength lets him hold the ceiling up
and get to the other side of the room without falling once. As he exits the
room, he finds himself in a strange hilly town of spiraling towers, houses, and
castles. Knowing that this has to be the final place of his journey, he crosses
himself before continuing on.
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