No Saint Without a Past, No Sinner Without a Future: Chapter 2 – Memento Amare

Chapter 2 – Memento Amare

The areas in which Morto travels take little or none of his attention until he comes across a girl who is a skeleton like him. She watches as he traverses a nearby island with houses on them that is falling apart and how he calmly walks in her direction as the island behind him falls into nothing.

Morto looks at the girl and asks, “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

Still stunned but able to respond, the girl says, “No, I’m just sitting here to rest. I’ve come a long way on my journey to life.”

“Me too. Would you like me to give you a hand? I’m sure there’s a proper place to rest rather than these dangerous decaying forests.”

“So you do see danger.”

“Yes, I’m not blind.”

“You seem it. I saw you take a casual walk through that island that was falling apart.”

“I was walking faster than I looked. It was better than the tar pits I’ve walked through and graveyards of sinners. Those had real dangers in them. Anyways, do you need my help?”

The girl takes a good look at Morto to see if he’s injured while taking particular note of his head before responding, “If you can, I’d appreciate it. Where has God directed you towards?”

“I don’t know that actually.”

“You don’t know? I’m not sure if I want your help then. Are you sure you’re not following the directions of a devil or your imagination?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Hearing the confidence in Morto’s voice makes her want to believe him despite her mind telling her otherwise.

“Okay, well. Maybe God led you to me to help me on my journey to life. There’s a city nearby here that I need to get to that has something I need to find.”

“Do you know what that something is?”

“No, but I’m sure I’ll know what it is when I find it.”

“Alright. I’ll help you. My name is Morto. What’s yours?”

“Lux. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Morto helps Lux stand as they make their way to the nearby city. This city like most is made of the skeletal bodies of large animals, monsters, and giants. The people in this city buy and sell crops, cattle, books, and other goods. There are even weapon merchants that sell swords and spears made of the bones that are marketed as being made of dangerous beasts and trees that were hostile to all life.

Morto asks Lux, “I’ve heard that the giant skeletons are actually the skeletons of saints. Do you think that’s true?”

“It’d be weird if it is, but then again, we all live in something that’s dead like trees or animals. I’ve even seen people that wear the skin of still living animals as armor.”

“Whoa, that sounds cool in a messed up way.”

A skeleton near death collapses and their ashes are quickly cleaned up by people whose job it is to clean up the traces of the truly dead. Lux is startled by this and tries to shake it off while picking up her walking pace as she searches for whatever it is that she needs to find.

“Are you okay, Lux?”

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just that person’s death reminded me of why I’m on this journey to life.”

“What would that be?”

“It’s reminding me not to be like my friends who died early because they refused the call to life. They thought they had all the time in the world to answer their call because they were so young, but in reality, they only had a week to live before they were killed in an attack on the town. If they weren’t home or were at least repentant, then they would’ve lived.”

“That’s a shame. Do you think we’re close to where you need to be yet?”

“No, nothing is catching my attention in particular.”

“Maybe we should go to the church.”

“Ah, yes. It’s an obvious place to go to, but a place where I may find an answer nonetheless.”

Lux and Morto head to a nearby church. The inside of the church is decorated with skeletons dressed in the attire they died. Some skeletons appear to be praying while others hold up crosses and statues of important religious figures.

“The church in my town has skeletons like these. Do you think the saints and martyrs within them are still somewhat alive on Earth and in Heaven?” Morto asks.

“I don’t know. What I do know is that talking to them and showing them honor can grant you many blessings,” Lux answers.

“It’s always strange to me seeing a dead person like this. It’s like they’re still alive.”

“The bodies of those living in Heaven keep their bodies while the dead lose them entirely. A corrupted soul destroys a person’s body, which is why they so often fall apart and decay faster than the body of a living person. I think this might be the place where I’m supposed to be since it’s inspiring so many thoughts about life and death. Thank you for helping me find it, Morto.”

“You’re welcome, Lux. I hope to see you again soon.”

Lux continues looking around at the skeletons decorating the church then looks back where Morto was as if expecting him to stay. Instead, he’s back on his journey trying to find where God wants him to go. He walks in circles around the area near the church. A merchant that he passes several times takes note of him and stops him.

“Excuse me, boy, why are you walking around the town in circles? It’s not like you have any muscles on your bones to exercise,” the merchant says.

“I’m on my journey to life and this is the path God wants me to take.”

“He wants you to walk around the town in circles?”

“Has that what I’ve been doing?”

“Yes, you have. You must have great faith to walk around so blindly but remember that God granted you vision and a mind so use them to find what God is trying to draw your attention towards in this area.”

“I don’t know what that might be.”

“Walk around again and take note of whatever catches your interest then come back to me if you need help.”

Morto does this and comes back to the merchant.

“Hmm. I am walking the church that I last saw a girl I met.”

“Maybe you’re meant to be with her.”

“I just met her.”

“I don’t mean that you’re supposed to marry her now. Maybe she’s supposed to help you with something or maybe you’re supposed to help her. Go check on her.”

“Okay. Thanks for your help.”

Morto goes back to the church to find Lux silently sitting in a pew.

He goes over to her and asks, “How are you doing, Lux?”

“Oh, I’m fine, I guess. What are you doing here, Morto?”

“God has been leading me in circles and a nearby merchant told me to use my mind and vision to see what God is trying to show me. He then said to go to you since I’ve been walking around the area of the church.”

“I’m going in circles in my own way too. This feels like the right place and setting to be in, but when I asked the saint here, she told me to do whatever I thought was right before telling me that was quitting to go back to her previous life since she tired of being reborn and dying.”

“Maybe I’m your answer.”

“I don’t know. That doesn’t seem right. It’s too simple.”

“What’s wrong with simple?”

“Hmmm. I guess nothing. That’s probably why I’m so confused about where I should go and what I should do. I thought that being called by God results in big journeys and going to faraway and fantastical lands and grand cities like this one. Maybe my journey is as simple as finding you.”

“Still, if that’s true, where do we go next? I’m used to walking where God leads me, but when I met you, I just followed you.”

“That was the problem then. You followed me instead of following where God wanted you to go. You’re good at following the path that God wants you to walk, so lead on and I’ll follow.”

Lux stands up from the pews and stands near Morto. He stands around and waits for the feeling that he usually gets.

“I’m not feeling God lead me anywhere,” Morto says.

Lux takes Morto’s hand then says, “What about now?”

Morto now feels a feeling in his feet to move and he follows it. He looks at Lux and holds her hand as well. While walking through the city, a giant skeletal hand reaches out and drags down a castle before a battle ensues with civilians fighting each other. Lux wants to stop to help, but the spirit guiding Morto leads her away from the fighting.

“What’s wrong?” Morto asks.

“I want to help. Something big is going on here,” Lux says.

“What can you do? Do you think that God wants you to help?”

“…N-no. I don’t think there’s anything I can really do and I don’t think I’m meant to help.”

“Then we should keep going this way. We’d get ourselves killed if we stick around.”

“You’re right. Let’s go.”

Lux and Morto venture through the land wherever God guides them. Along the way, they come across a tall robed masked woman with long flowing hair who appears to have human skin.

The woman says, “Where are you two love birds going?”

“Wherever God is leading us,” Morto says.

“Would you like me to help you? You’re wandering in dangerous places.”

“My feet are guiding me away from you, so no thank you.”

“What is that supposed to mean? Can’t you see the skin on me? I am a saint. You should listen to me even if our paths diverge.”

“I don’t have to listen to everyone who calls themselves a saint.”

“Why you-don’t just keep walking while I’m talking to you!”

The woman becomes visibly frustrated as she follows the two.

“Do you think we should really listen to her? I mean look at her,” Lux says.

“Let’s just say that past experiences with people who call themselves saints then get easily frustrated haven’t been good.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Trust me.”

As the woman nears the two, her head is cut off and her robe reveals the many skulls that compose her body before she fades away. The person who cut her head off is a skeleton knight with armor made out of the steel skin of spiders.

“Thank you for distracting her so I could easily cut her down,” the knight says.

“Who was she?” Lux asks.

“She was a woman who was so convinced that her God-given beauty was a blessing that she wanted everyone to see it to give thanks to God for it, but her beauty faded and she didn’t get the attention of many people for the reasons she wanted. In her madness, she clothed herself with the skin of saints and skulls of admirers so that she would feel that someone was always admiring her. Thank you again, and safe travels.”

Undeterred by what happened, Morto continues to walk forward with Lux as if nothing happened at all. They then come across a large bottomless cavern that separates them from the other side. Not phased by what he sees, Morto walks forward until Lux stops him.

“What is it?” Morto asks.

“Don’t you see the large hole in front of us?” Lux says.

“Yes, but my feet are leading me forward so maybe there’s an invisible bridge we aren’t seeing.”

“An invisible bridge…” Lux says out loud as if the thought of an invisible bridge is so absurd that it had to leave her mouth so she could get rid of it.

Lux cautiously walks forward with Morto and stops walking near the edge just in time to catch Morto before he falls into the endless darkness. She lifts him up back on the ground.

“I knew that was a bad idea,” Lux says.

“How do you think we should get to the other side then?”

Lux looks around and sees a bridge on the far right side. They use this bridge to continue on their journey. They walk and walk for miles until they finally reach Morto’s village that appears strangely empty. The air feels lighter than usual and the crops and animals seem relatively healthy despite there being less of them than he remembers. The village mystic walks out of the small church and is gladdened to see Morto’s return.

“You’ve come back and with a girl! How was the journey, Morto?” the mystic says.

“It was alright. Nothing out of the ordinary happened,” Morto answers while Lux gives him a strange look.

“Nothing out of the ordinary?” Lux asks.

“Everything that we’ve seen happened in the stories I was told as a kid, so nothing really surprised me.”

“You believed those fairy tales were real?”

“Fiction can be truer than reality you know. What we saw proves it.”

“I guess I can’t argue with you there.”

A villager with a decomposing skeleton is limping around until the ground gives weigh under him. He manages to hold onto the ground as he tries to lift himself up. Lux instinctively goes to his aid as well as Morto until he has the feeling to go back. He does so confusingly just as a giant skeletal hand reaches out from under the ground to drag the decomposing villager into the endless darkness below. Other villagers come out to see what happened along with people that Morto remembers fondly.

Looking at their decomposing bodies tells Morto what fate is about to befall them. He shakes as if trying to resist the spirit that has been guiding him. Seeing this, Lux holds Morto to keep him still as he watches the villagers he knew disappear into the air. The ground around his village then begins to crumble as people take whatever they can carry with them as they escape. Very few escape and the ones that fail to escape were either over-encumbered by the things they were carrying or their decaying bodies couldn’t let them move fast enough.

Morto and Lux stand at the edge of the abyss where Morto’s home once was as they look out at it for different reasons. Lux feels bad for Morto’s loss while Morto is confused. The village mystic looks at Morto and puts his hand on Morto’s shoulder.

“It’s time to go to make a home somewhere else, Morto,” he says, “Lead on.”

Morto feels something pushing him in a direction though he doesn’t follow it.

Noticing this, Lux asks, “Are you okay, Morto?”

“I don’t know. I thought that at the end of my journey, my home would be saved, but now it’s gone.”

“Your journey isn’t over and your home isn’t gone,” the village mystic says, “Your home is where these people are and you can save them by leading us to where God wants them to be.”

“Why me? I’m just a sinner like everyone else. I blindly walk with the vague suspicion that God wants me to be going in a specific direction and get myself into danger that I could avoid if I thought for a second about where I’m going.”

“But you trust God unlike everyone else here. Can you really say that you’re not special? That you’re just a foolish boy? That there’s no purpose for you?”

Lux adds, “We’ve made it this far in your journey so why are you stopping now? You’ve shown me not to always trust my eyes and my own judgment about what I should be doing, so go on and show us the way and we’ll follow.”

Morto feels a bit better after being encouraged and leads them where he feels the spirit within him guide him. After a little while, Morto leads his village to Lux’s village. Without even realizing it, Morto and Lux have regained their humanity with skin on their bodies and clothing made of bears. As Lux and Morto admire their new appearance, their villages introduce themselves to one another, which includes Lux’s parents and Morto’s parents talking to each other about their children.

“We did it, Morto. We’ve come back to life,” Lux says.

“For now. You saw that even saints fall.”

“But we’ll get back up. Our rebirth is proof of that, isn’t it? How long were you dead?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t keeping track.”

“Well, I was dead for a while and didn’t think I would ever come back to life. God hasn’t let us down yet. Why would He now?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“So, lead on. Let’s see what places He takes us to next.”

Morto and Lux firmly hold each other’s hands as they go to Lux’s home for a new life together.

The End