A True Heart's Test: Chapter 3 – Law Enforcement vs Assault

Chapter 3 – Law  Enforcement vs Assault

Our portal takes us to the entrance of a grand cathedral decorated with statues of serviles or angels. The statues of serviles on one side wear robes and hold a book in one hand and a shield in the other while the statues on the other side are wearing armor and hold swords in one hand and a weighing scale in the other hand. Two big crowds of people are gathering at the cathedral all of which seem to be nobility judging by their outfits. One group of these people almost seem to be wearing a type of light armor that’s colored crimson and black while the other one is dressed more elegantly in lighter colors of white, gold, and shades of light blue.

“Oh! I’m so glad that we managed to get here!” Eleazar says as he grabs my hand and hurries us into the cathedral.

“Why? Do you know what’s going on?” I ask.

“Two friends of mine are going to be crowned today. Let’s hurry!”

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that Eleazar got invited to this wedding since he’s done much for many nobles and Church leadership. The guards recognize Eleazar, don’t bother checking to see if we have an invitation like they do with the rest of the guests, and bring us to a special balcony to get a good view of what’s happening. Eventually, the ceremony begins and I follow Eleazar and everyone’s conduct so I can do what I’m supposed to and not stick out more than I already do. During the ceremony, I hear the names of Eleazar’s two friends that this ceremony is for, Prince Caleb and Princess Kyla.

Prince Caleb wears a suit of spiky crimson and black armor. In contrast, Princess Kyla wears a silky dress light blue and white dress. Both are crowned by an archbishop who blesses them and then hovers his hands over them.

“Prince Caleb and Princess Kyla, I charge you with protecting our home, the Kingdom of Simbiosi. Through your unity and the power of your hearts, you will serve the Absolute, truth and love itself, and do what’s best for your neighbors, your family, and strangers alike. Such will be your responsibility until your death,” the archbishop says.

After this, a normal mass is held. Being a noble restricts your life choices more than being a peasant like me. If I ran off and had a plan as to where, my parents and my boss can do really do nothing about it. It’s not illegal for a nobody like me to run away since I’m so replaceable. On the other hand, if a noble runs away, their families send their personal forces or the authorities to get them. It’s illegal, in most cases, for a noble to leave their given job because of their importance and they face harsh jail sentences once someone is available to replace them. There are even stories made about these kinds of nobles. One story I remember is about a princess who sought Our Lady of Sorrows to become holy.

Huh? Oh, the mass is over. I got too distracted in my thoughts to really pay attention to it. Anyways, Eleazar and I go to the celebration for the prince and princess and get to talk to them.

Eleazar hugs both of them and says, “I’m so glad that I made it to your ceremony.”

“We’re glad too,” Kyla says.

“It’s good to see you, so is this your girlfriend that you always talk about?” Caleb asks.

“I’m not his girlfriend! What are you telling people?!” I say to Eleazar.

“Nothing! I didn’t say that.”

“I’m just joking. He does always talk about you so I assume you were. My apologies.”

He should stop talking about me to everyone he meets. I’m already sick of it.

“So, why did the Absolute bring you here?” Kyla asks.

“Cornelia is supposed to witness certain events so that she can unlock her heart’s Absolute ability.”

“I’m hoping to get it soon so I can leave the life I currently live.”

“What kind of ability are you hoping to get?” Caleb asks.

“Something great, something amazing like transforming things, making things manifest, and stuff like that you know. An ability that stories are made of.”

“I get it. Having an amazing Heart Absolute ability is a blessing. We should know since we have one of the best as we can summon dragons,” Kyla says.

“I summon a better dragon though. It’s a red and black dragon that’s the embodiment of justice,” Caleb says.

“It’s not a better dragon. It’s just a complimentary dragon to mine, which is a light blue and white dragon that’s the embodiment of mercy.”

“Those do sound amazing. I definitely want something like that.”

“It’s great to have, but you also bear an even greater responsibility to use it well. Believe it or not, I sometimes feel jealous for community service workers like you, so I could live a simple, humble, and quiet life.”

“I don’t feel that way, most of the time anyway. The only time I do is when I want to be left alone, not have so much responsibility hanging over my head, and people bothering me with things I already know.”

“You might actually get an ability that will help you in your current job. That’s what happens with most people and what happened with us. Our dragons help us deal mercy and justice just like we do on a daily basis.”

“I hope not. I’ll lose my mind if that’s the case.”

It better not happen. I don’t want one of those “you had your special power this whole time” sort of cases. I will go insane if it does. Both Eleazar and Kyla tell me about the honors of community service that I roll my eyes at.

“Our maids and butlers hold some of the highest honors in our family and are invited to our many dinners and celebrations. When they fall sick or are dying, they are given the best service we can offer and their families are compensated after their deaths,” Kyla explains.

Blah, blah, blah, I don't care. I don't even care if Kyla and Caleb offer me the chance to clean their castles and take care of their families. All I want is out of this job. For the rest of the celebration, I stay quiet and enjoy whatever kinds of exquisite foods they serve except for the healthier stuff.

“You have to eventually eat your greens and healthy foods,” Eleazar tells me.

With a mouth full of chicken and beef, I say, “Whatever.”

Back home, I eat enough mediocre foods and force myself to eat my greens and fruits. I'm going to enjoy all the meat I can while I'm here.

“She has the right idea,” Caleb says with his thumbs up towards me.

Kyla shakes her head in response. After dinner, people start to dance. Knowing what's going to happen, I try to get up and use going to the bathroom as an excuse to skip out on dancing, but Eleazar already knows I'm lying and drags me to the dance floor to dance with him, which embarrasses me to no end. Kyla drags Caleb to the dance floor to dance with us and he feels the same way I do. Eventually, the dancing ends, we have dessert, and the party ends. Caleb and Kyla allow us to rest in their castle which has a similar design to the cathedral we were at. Apparently, this place is usually used as a meeting place for both sides of the kingdom and the home of the newly appointed prince and princess who are meant to oversee both sides of it.

What doesn't surprise me is that Caleb and Kyla are married. On the other hand, what does surprise me is how they got this castle and their new responsibility. Their families had to raise up a single heir who would find someone on the other side of the kingdom to fall in love with. Assuming this happened, the couples would compete for the position Caleb and Kyla have now. The rest of the details are lost to me as I passively listen to them talk to Eleazar who probably already knows this. Well, at least they give me another reason not to feel jealous about nobles.

Tonight, Eleazar and I are given one of the guest rooms to sleep in, which is meant to fit around twenty or so people. I sleep on the other side of the room because I don’t want to be bothered as much by Eleazar’s snoring. When we used to have sleepovers, he would snore and keep me up for an hour before I fell asleep. At first, I thought it was funny until it quickly got old and annoying. In the morning, the castle’s servants wake us up and give us new clothes. Eleazar is given a clean pair of his uniform while I am given the same clothes that the servants are wearing. This pair of clothes is colored light blue and crimson with designs of golden flowers on them. Since these clothes are nicer than what I have, I wear them.

The servants then bring us to the luxurious dinner table that looks like it’s meant to fit at least fifty people. Here, the servants are eating with Kyla and Caleb and the table is filled with many kinds of breakfast meals such as plates full of pancakes and plates that have breakfast sandwiches with a side serving of potatoes. We are given seats by Kyla and Caleb who ask us how our rest was and how is the service here.

“The service is great and I slept well, at least until Cornelia started her snoring like she usually does,” Eleazar says.

“I do not snore,” I say.

“To be honest, I miss it. She did it all the time when we had sleepovers and I find it cute.”

“Shut up.”

“I know how you feel. Caleb does it all the time too,” Kyla says.

“Shut up. I do not snore,” Caleb argues.

“Anyways, what do you think you'll be doing to help Cornelia find her Heart Absolute ability today?”

“I thought we keep following you since you already have yours and we were brought to you by the Absolute.”

“You won't be able to do that today since Caleb and I are already tasked with taking down the Kingdom of the Universale.”

“That is unless you can handle the danger,” Caleb adds.

“Why are you going after them?” I ask.

“They're heretics who have openly attacked and rebelled against our Church.”

“Still, why attack them? I've heard that their kingdom accepts people of all beliefs.”

“That's exactly the problem,” Caleb says, “They accept the conceited and all that is false thinking that what's true or not doesn't matter as long as you appear to be a good person. Truth and lies cannot coexist, especially in a society where the good of humanity means something different to different people. Love of one thing always leads to hatred of the opposite.”

I've heard of Caleb and Kyla's Kingdom of Simbiosi always going to war with defectors and supposed heretical kingdoms.

“Why not try to convince them to change? Why go to war?”

“War is what we're good at when people refuse to give us what is rightfully due. It's the reality of this world. Kingdoms and people are constantly at war for what's God of their hearts and only those who fight for the Absolute will have the final victory. Don't worry about the casualties. Our dragons will rightly judge the Universale, spare the innocent, and execute the guilty.”

He's not lying or exaggerating. There are always people fighting in this world for something they highly value. I still don't like that Caleb and Kyla will have to go after the Universale. I've heard they're such nice people and have Heart Absolute abilities. What does it matter if they're slightly wrong about their beliefs?

“Whatever the reason for this war is, Cornelia and I can join you. We already put ourselves in danger before coming here to witness a great man obtain his Heart Absolute ability and change someone else's heart in the process. If we're not meant to be there, the Absolute will let me make a portal to get us out of there,” Eleazar says.

“Okay. Stay behind us and out of danger as much as you can,” Kyla says.

“Or maybe they or at least Cornelia should be in more danger. It is the way that a lot of people get their ability. It's how we got it when we risked our lives to save each other and almost died in the process,” Caleb mentions.

“That's true, but I don't think she'll have to go through the same thing. She doesn't have the same responsibilities as us.”

“You don't know that. She may obtain some kind of amazing ability in battle.”

“You think that because you think of everything in terms of battles.”

“That's right because life is one constant battle against vices and our enemies.”

Again, Caleb is right and I hope he's correct about me getting an amazing ability in the coming battle. When we head out, I ride with Caleb while Eleazar rides with Kyla since the dragons can't really handle more than two people on them and Kyla doesn't mind me riding with Caleb who I like more. Eleazar creates a portal for us and we go through it to instantly get to where we need to be. We find ourselves a fair distance away from a city with large city walls and many castles within it, which makes it look like a city controlled by kings. The city is surrounded by damaged farmlands that look more like a forgotten warzone than anything resembling a quiet farm town. Further from the warzone are luscious fields that show the beauty that the warzone probably was.

While we fly to the city, I notice that we aren’t being fired upon, so I say to Caleb, “They aren’t attacking us. Maybe they want peace?”

“We do too, but they refuse it. If they aren’t going to fire the first shot, then we will,” Caleb says.

His and Kyla’s dragons start firing a barrage of red and blue fireballs respectively at the city that damage the walls, castles, and churches. This is when the inhabitants of the city send fireballs of their own at us and leads to us firing at them while advancing and dodging their counterattacks. We spin, roll, and fly in all kinds of ways to dodge the attacks, which also make me feel sick. As we fly over the city walls, the barrage stops.

“We wish to negotiate terms of surrender,” someone says from the balcony of one of the castles.

This person seems to be a noble because of their clothing though they are not too well dressed and there’s no sign of them being conceited. They don’t have a crown or any black shaped hole in their chest that would show regardless of their clothes. Caleb’s dragon bathes this person in its red fire that overwhelms their person to their knees but doesn’t burn them. In fact, their clothes don’t even burn off.

“See? I have submitted myself to your fire and have come out unscathed. It proves my innocence. Now, if you will, please meet us on the ground to talk. We don’t want to continue this war.”

Caleb and Kyla look at each other.

“Okay, we’ll do it,” Kyla says.

We land on the ground where we meet many others who look like the noble all of which are modestly dressed. Again, Caleb's dragon breathes fire on these people and again they are unaffected by it, but everything around them, on the other hand, catches fire and is put out by the people around us.

“Do you not yet see that we are innocent?” one of the people asks.

“It appears to be so. Prove it with your formal surrender and what penance you will do to pay for your crimes against the Church and Simbiosi,” Caleb says.

“We have done nothing wrong.”

“Oh yeah? That battlefield outside of your walls and the many you have injured say otherwise.”

“We were defending ourselves!”

“I don't believe heretics who preach against the Church and make us look like liars.”

“We don't believe you are liars. We just think you're mistaken.”

“Enough! Clearly, you don't want to surrender or repent of your sins. If my dragon won't burn you, then perhaps Kyla's will." Caleb motions to Kyla and she reluctantly nods back and her dragon breathes its fire on the people in front of us leading to the same result. "Huh? A bunch of fireproof fellas, aren't you?”

“We aren't! We know that those flames burn the guilty and no suit of armor is strong enough to resist it.”

“Then it's some kind of conceited magic.”

“Look at us. We wear no crowns or clothe ourselves in kingly clothes. In fact, our hearts have their Absolute ability.”

“Prove it.”

Two people step up from the group and two dragons manifest beside them that appear to be just like the dragons Caleb and Kyla have. They are surprised by this and speak to each other in whispers that I can't hear. I'm just as concerned as they are. It's not common for those on the side of the Absolute to fight each other, but when it does, it historically ends in stalemates, and many innocent people dead. It could also be that the Universale are actually faking their Heart Absolute abilities and their innocence through some kind of conceited ability though I don't think this is the case.

“Forget it. We came here to punish your rebellion and since you aren't going to surrender, then you will die,” Caleb says as he takes out his spear and shield from his back.

He and his dragon charge at the two who have dragons. In response, they have their dragons breathe their fire on him and his. As Kyla moves to aid Caleb with her hammers and dragon, we get to cover. The other two dragons manage to push back Kyla, Caleb, and their dragons and even singe them with their fire. Undeterred by this, Kyla and Caleb fight on and manage to get in close to their enemies. Even the dragons fight together, though it seems like no side is winning.

“We should do something,” I say.

“Like what? I'm trying to make a portal but can't.”

“No, don't make a portal. Maybe my Heart Absolute ability will kick in soon.”

Come on! Here's another chance for me to do something and it's still not coming out! Am I supposed to be learning something from this? If so, I don't see what it is just like the other time. Eventually, Kyla and Caleb are pushed back and seem to be on the edge of defeat. They get on their dragons and try to fight their enemies this way, which causes their enemies to do the same. This results in both sides taking flight and having them fight with their dragons in the sky. Some of the buildings are hit as a result of them exchanging fire blasts and debris fall down to where we are. The guards of the city protect us and the civilians before getting us to smaller buildings that they've made into shelters for fights like this, but it doesn’t last long as both Caleb’s and Kyla’s dragons crash with them on it into the shelter.

Everyone in the shelter who isn’t injured scatters while Eleazar and I pick ourselves up to check on Caleb and Kyla who are pretty banged up. Caleb’s spikey armor is heavily damaged with the spikes missing, his left shoulder piece broken, and many places on his armor are damaged and burned. Meanwhile, Kyla’s light armor which was once as white as snow is now dirtied and ruined with no trace of light blue or white left in it.

“Caleb! Kyla! Are you alright?” Eleazar says.

“Yeah, I’m fine enough to fight,” Caleb says as he struggles to hold his spear and broken shield.

“No, you’re not. We should find a place to hide and then plan out our next attack,” Kyla says.

“Eleazar. Let the Absolute decide through your portals.”

“I’ve been trying to make them. Maybe now they’ll work.”

A portal does end up appearing in front of us that we all go into. It puts us somewhere in an empty abandoned church that’s in a not too crowded part of the city. Both Caleb’s and Kyla’s dragons disappear in a flash of light as they sit down to rest. Caleb punches the floor.

“What wrong?” Kyla asks.

“I thought we would easily win! We have our Heart Absolute abilities after all and we serve the truth, right? So, why didn’t we win like we did the other times? What did we do wrong?” Caleb says.

“I don’t know. This church that the Absolute brought us to may have an answer.”

“I think that it shows us that we were right. This place used to be dedicated to the Absolute judging from the torn artworks and broken statues. What are we missing?”

“Maybe we’re meant to think that the church isn’t right about everything and a change in thinking may be in order. This church is abandoned after all,” I suggest.

“How could you suggest that? We’re fighting against an enemy whose beliefs contradict a need for truth since they accept all beliefs without care if those beliefs contradict one another, if they’re based in historical and theological fact, and if they’re reasonable.”

“Maybe the Absolute is trying to show us that you’re missing a part of the truth,” Eleazar suggests.

“How so?” Kyla asks.

“This church does have signs of the worship of the Absolute present, but most of it is gone or torn down. Just like it, Caleb is talking all about your victories rather than the victories that the Absolute gave you. It is because of the Absolute that you have these abilities and they don’t always guarantee you victory. Think about it like the job of an artist, writer, or any other job. You aren't perfect at the job, to begin with, and even when you're good at it, there's always room for improvement. I mean we aren't perfect people in our personalities either and we need the daily help of the Absolute to become who we're meant to be.”

“He's got a point,” Caleb admits, “I do always resort to violence first and then ask questions later, but I do it because I want to protect the ones I love and establish peace as quickly as I can.”

“Peace is hard fought and won. It's a lesson I struggle to learn too since my family and I try to negotiate and covert our enemies sometimes to no avail. A firm, correcting, and loving hand is required in those cases.”

“And when there's a chance of conversion and possibility to lessen the bloodshed, we have to restrain ourselves.”

Something about Caleb and Kyla changes. It's like what happened to Lionel, but different though I just like before, I can't tell what it is. The two of them summon their dragons and allow us to ride with them to the primary castle in the center of the city. Here, we approach the main gate and its many guards that defend it. Okay, what are you two going to do now?

“Prince Caleb and Princess Kyla of the Kingdom of Simbiosi, have you finally come to negotiate terms of peace?” a guard says.

Many more guards gather around us, the nobles in the castle gather at the windows and the other two who could summon dragons appear and guard the gate. Caleb and Kyla look at each other and then hold each other's hands. Now, something's really different about them. I can feel it and it looks like everyone around us can too judging from their reactions.

“We have come to bring both mercy and justice,” Caleb and Kyla say in unison, “Both are part of a whole as we are with the Absolute and each other. The two are made into one flesh. Mercy and justice are nothing more than the Judgment of the Absolute.”

Both of their dragons combine into a singular massive dragon. It's colored crimson, light blue, white, and black, has eight arms, four wings, and has other aspects of the dragons that make it up such as spiky horns and shield-like wings. The dragon roars before firing a blast of gold and black fire into the sky. A few seconds pass before the sky darkens and fire begins to rain from the sky. This fire homes in onto people and burns them with its flames. It exposes some as being conceited such as the two guards who had dragons under their control.

The dragon then breathes its fire into the ground to expose a large creature beneath it that begins to rise from the ground. This causes massive damage to the city and buildings to collapse. What's even stranger about all this is that certain people are caught by the black tendrils of whatever is beneath here and sucked into it. Eleazar and I struggle to keep our balance until he's able to make us a portal and get us out of the city. His portal brings us far away from the city, but still close enough to see what's going on.

What’s before us now is even more insane than everything that’s going on. A black mass of faces and mini arms rises from the ground and levitates through some unknown means. Caleb and Kyla’s new dragon flies around this massive being and I can hardly see them on it.

In an echoing mass of male and female voices, the being says, “You have your Absolute, your truth and we have ours. This is its manifestation as a result of our unification and all our hearts combined. This is our True Absolute. Make peace with our god now or face its judgment.”

Caleb’s and Kyla’s voices ring out as one as well and respond, “There are no multiple truths. Only one. Let the Absolute’s judgment come upon you to deliver both mercy and justice.”

Both Caleb and Kyla’s dragon fly around the being breathing fire around it to destroy it as its many faces and arms lung out to try to stop them. I feel so small compared to everything around me as if I shrunk to the size of an ant. I’ve heard of people using their Heart Absolute abilities together as one to make a new power, but I didn’t imagine it would be like this. It makes me think about what my Heart Absolute ability will look like and what I’m supposed to learn from this. Maybe it’s that I should remember that the Absolute is the source of my Heart Absolute ability and I won’t be perfect even with it? The first part of it goes without saying since the ability is called a Heart Absolute ability after all, but the second part is harder to find relevant.

So what if I won’t be instantly perfect? I’ll have my Heart Absolute ability, my life will change for the better, and things will progressively get better from there. I imagine that I’ll be like Caleb and Kyla. Right now, they’ve just finished off the being that is crumbling to the ground in burning pieces. They’ve gone from achievement to achievement with probably more in the future. Eleazar cheers for their victory and I put my hand in his face so he doesn’t hug me in excitement.

“Aren’t you happy for them?” Eleazar asks.

“Sure. Just portal them and us out of here. They probably want to go home and celebrate their victory,” I say.

After agreeing with me, we meet up with Caleb and Kyla and portal back home to find everyone overjoyed at the news of our victory. It is then that their dragon becomes two separate dragons again, which doesn’t bother them too much since they’ll probably be able to use it again. A victory celebration like the one we were at the other day is held the next day and Eleazar and I attend it or rather Eleazar forces me to attend it since he doesn’t want to portal us out to our next destination. At the celebration, much praise is said for Caleb and Kyla who are allowed to speak after they receive their gifts from the nobles of Simbiosi and Church leaders.

“Our victory may have been won, but we still have a long road ahead,” Kyla says as she starts off her speech, “The world is a violent place. Having mercy on criminals and sinners is the preferred option to deal with these people since we are all flawed, but sometimes justice must be satiated.”

“But even then, justice is mercy because it stops a person from ruining themselves further and makes them see the error of their ways. Every sin and evil deed is supposed to be rewarded with the soul’s death and bodily death, and yet, hardly anyone is struck down where they stand immediately after they sin. No matter how much we improve and get strong, we still have room for improvement and it’s in that space that the Absolute continues to inspire us and mold us into who we are meant to become.”

Caleb and Kyla then say with one voice, “Through the trials and hardships of life, we will overcome our faults. Together with our hearts beating as one, we will become truly ourselves and establish peace in the world through mercy and justice.”

Their speech receives the applause of everyone in the hall. The celebration goes on for the entire night and exhausts me to the point where I don't feel like I have the strength to continue for the next day. I wish Eleazar didn't make me dance so much and try all the food. Stupid idiot. Eventually, after breakfast the next day, we say our goodbyes and leave.

"You're in a rush," Eleazar says.

"Yes, I am. Now, make a portal," I say.

"Didn't you enjoy your time here?"

"Eleazar, please, the next place we are going to will give me the last piece of the puzzle that I need to obtain my heart's Absolute ability. Can we hurry up?!"

"Okay, okay. Someone didn't get enough sleep."

If he wasn't my only way to get where I need to go, I'd punch him in the face. I'm surprised that I haven't done it after so many years. Finally, he makes a portal that I immediately go through. Now, I'll get the last thing I need to unlock my Heart Absolute ability, and then I'll truly become who I'm meant to be and start a new and better life.