Far From Faith: Chapter 2 – Truth before Allegiance

Chapter 2 – Truth before Allegiance

A princess should be resolute and tempered. As the princess of the Orthodox Church, I must be all things that God approves of to lead my people with the help of the elder priests into a new age where we take our rightful place in the universe that the Catholics have taken from us. They drove us out from our homes, destroyed our history, murdered our families and friends, then dared to assert their dominance as a false church of Jesus Christ while acting as if we are just another heresy that came and went like the changing of the seasons. They didn’t completely destroy us as we have been living in these unknown regions of space with heretics and heathens in a mutual alliance that seeks to destroy that church of the anti-Christ. Our survival out here is proof that God is still with us. The fools that constantly plot against us do not know that our victory is already assured.

Currently, we are holding a feast as a way to cool down every one of all empires after a heated debate on who should own the planets within the main Milky Way Galaxy. So far, it is decided that the Protestants will own Saturn, Islamists will own Mars, the pagans will own Neptune, we will own Jupiter, and the Jews will own ur…ur…I’m not even going to think it because the name of the planet is still lewd in my mind. The ownership of the rest of the planets is up for grabs and unimportant compared to the ownership of Earth, which all empires want as if owning it means that your religion is truest of all. Honestly, these debates sicken me especially when civil wars break out because of them to change the ownership of planets. We should all be focusing on our primary enemy before fighting amongst each other.

What also sickens me is the disrespect the other empires have for God and us when they’re dining on the grounds of our castle. Even the Protestants are guilty of this when they scoff at our beautiful architecture and the statues of Jesus, Mary, and the saints because they think it’s too much at least and idolatry at worst. Just watching them eat among us makes me lose my appetite. I know we’re not all of the same religion and our core beliefs are different, but still. Show some respect or at least pretend to.

“Is something wrong, Delphine?” my father asks.

“You already know what is wrong,” I respond while trying not to sound bothered.

“And you already know what you must do. They will all learn the errors they have committed and either convert or be destroyed. Trust in God.”

“I am and always will.”

What I don’t always trust is your plans, father and mother. Most empires give their daughters and sons in marriage or prostitution as I think to ensure their continued support and friendship. All my sisters and are married to different princes while I have the choice to marry whoever I want in whatever empire I want since I’m the youngest. This tradition is honestly a mistake because of the conversions that happen. My sisters are already slipping into heresy and heathenism. I hardly recognize them because of their tacky outfits and mannerisms. It’s a good thing that we’re sitting so far from them on a balcony reserved for the leaders and royalty of the Orthodox empire while they sit below us where they belong.

Who is this now? A man in a fancy tuxedo adorned with various medals and Christian symbols arrives at the table and my parents greet him. I stand up and give a basic greeting and go back to eating and thinking.

“Do not mind her. My young princess is always thinking the big picture,” my father says.

As I should be doing. Our next meetings will be on the battle plans for the Milky Way galaxy and all the planets within it, especially Earth with that cursed statue of a pope that’s somehow didn’t break when a missile hit it and the people around it were safe. It couldn’t have been the hand of God or the intercession of that man that saved them. It had to be the devil defending his own.

“I would like to show you the power of the weapon I got for you,” the man says.

“Huh?” I say as this makes me listen to what they’re talking about.

“If you didn’t hear, this man is our mole in the Ecclesia. He’s a source of information and he has recently given us a copy of the plans for one of their experimental weapons.”

“A mole, experimental weapons. Father, I told you that we don’t need to use such dirty methods to achieve victory.”

“Well, this is one of the ways God has given us to achieve victory a little easier.”

We’re always depending on traitors and criminals to keep us informed on the Catholics when we should be relying on God and ourselves instead. Sure, I’ve agreed to certain courses of action, but I’ve always confessed them to a priest afterward just in case it was a sin. I’ve never felt comfortable with the shadowy things that we do and it’s another thing that makes me sick.

“Princess Delphine, I hope I will earn your trust with a show of the experimental weapon that will help us destroy the hypocritical Catholics,” the mole says.

“Oh really? Where are you going to show it to me and on what?”

“I’m going to show it to you here and on the people you hate the most.”

The mole nods before the gates close around the balcony and the people below. Screens appear on the gates that show us the confusion among everyone before green explosives come from above before the upper level is shut. These explosives kill very few people, but it releases a green gas that makes people die a horrible death as their blood seeps out of their skin and their bodies slowly decay and fall apart. Looking at my sisters, their husbands, and other Orthodox brethren die this way makes me forget everything that I found questionable and traitorous and wish they were unaffected by the acidic gas by a miracle. I've scolded at them like a disapproving parent for most of my life. Now, they are dead, and I wish I had told them that I did it all because I love them. Please, Lord, grant them peace in Heaven.

The people around me clap their hands after my father praises the mole to break up the deafening silence. Just hearing how good this can be for the alliance of empires is probably the most aggravating thing that I’ve ever heard. Who is this man? Is he even my father? How can he talk like this after letting his children die?

“Shut up!” I yell at the top of my lungs to silence everyone in the room. With everyone quiet, I say, “How could you let this happen? You killed so many of our people, your own family, for what?! A show of power? For the greater good? What excuse do you possibly have for this massacre?!”

My father slaps me then says, “You do not understand the sacrifices I have to make so that God’s will shall be done and for the Orthodox church to reign in its rightful place. Those who aren’t fully committed to the Orthodox church are not our allies. They are only our pawns that will eventually be thrown away if they do not submit to God and us. I thought you would understand this more than your sisters.”

“You’re just like the Catholics.”

I run off to my room as my parents stay behind to continue their party. How can they continue to act as if nothing happened? Do you really think this monstrous weapon will help us establish our dominance? What about the other empires? Do they know about this? Surely, they wouldn’t approve of the sacrifice of their people for a weapon’s test. I open my communications device to find that it has no signal so I can’t tell everyone what happened. They’ve done this experiment in secret, but how are they going to explain it to the other empires? Are they going to blame the Catholics for this? It could be easy to.

Turning on my personal security devices that let me see cameras in the castle, I listen in on the conversations that are happening at the party. My suspicions are confirmed as my father and the mole talk about blaming the Catholics for this attack and for them to use this weapon against them. As much as I hate the Catholics, I can’t let this happen. This weapon is too terrible to be used against anyone and…wait, what is happening to the dead? The ground beneath them has dissolved while they appear to be coming to life. They shuffle up the stairs while excreting acid that melts everything around them except for themselves.

When the people at the party see them, they panic as they try to fight them off only for some to be melted by acid or killed by the walking corpses. This is my chance to leave and tell everyone what happened. After that, I have to get out of here. I can’t stay in this alliance of hypocrites anymore. Once I change into a more comfortable set of clothes, I quickly leave the castle and use my robotic horse to ride to the nearby communications tower.

While traveling, I see that the ground has turned greener and the vegetation and trees are rapidly dying. What is this weapon? Nevermind that for now. At the communications tower, I find a few guards posted around it.

Going up to them, I say, “As your princess, I demand that you let me reactivate communications in this sector!”

“I’m sorry, princess, but we have strict orders from your parents to-”

The ground falls from under them as they fall into a boiling pit of acid under the ground. This weapon is destroying the planet! Quickly going into the communications room and turning on the power, I tell everyone across the planet what happened and who I am, so they trust me. I’m sure they don’t need to know my identity as the planet is dying around them as they tell me that they’re seeing the same thing I am. Along with the ground falling out from under them and buildings coming down, I hear reports of the native creatures of this world attacking everyone including their own with acidic blood coming out of their body just like the corpses back at the castle.

This is God’s judgment on us all for being such hypocrites and for what we’ve done against Him. I need to get out of here. The communications tower starts to fall apart so I run out of the building only to watch a large serpent come out of the ground. It doesn’t have any skin and its face and arms all appear uncannily human. Getting back on my horse as it runs away, I try to outrun the giant ground tunneling serpent as the ground falls apart around me. The serpent spits out acid and tries to catch me as it leaps out of the ground and back in it like a giant sea creature.

I’m so close to the castle now so I quickly get off my horse only for him to be eaten by the serpent while I barely manage to get inside. Running up to the landing platform, I see that most of the ships are gone except for the mole’s ship while others are getting ready to leave. I recognize it as such since it’s a ship type made only by the Catholics. Where are my parents and the mole if the ship is still here? Looking around the platform, I see them trying to get in a ship with others only to be denied along with a bunch of other people. I go by myself to the mole’s ship and start it up. It’s better if I leave these people to their God’s justice.

While leaving the landing platform, I watch as my parents, the mole, and others waving at me beckoning me to return to pick them up. They are then consumed by the ground tunneling serpent as the entire castle melts into the planet. I’m not going to join the others who are escaping so I warp the ship to an isolated location. This series of events is too much for me. Praying to God helps me ease my mind, but I’m still shaken by it all.

I want to end my life since everyone I’ve known is dead and that alliance of empires won’t help restore the Orthodox church to its original glory. In fact, it might be the last death nail in its coffin. Sitting around here in the void of space isn’t going to help me nor is it what God probably wants me to do, so I look through the mole’s ship to find information on the experimental weapon. It turns out that the weapon was deemed too inhumane to use by the Catholics even though it was developed during the age of Infinitus Anathema or the Great Extermination as I know it. That’s surprising though it doesn’t clear the Catholics of the blood of billions of people they killed in their crusade.

Digging a bit deeper through the ship, I find that the cameras in the castle were linked to this ship so that the ship could record the effects of the weapon. I also find records of my parent’s dealings with the mole and how they were fine killing their own people and children for the Orthodox church and God. I’m sure the Catholics would love the information on this ship especially since it tells of a system of moles within their empire that feed information to the alliance of empires. Since it’s the only place I can go, I warp to the Catholic controlled planet that once held the ancestral home of my parents.

It's just as great as my parents told me in their stories. I only wish that my sisters were alive to see this. With the communications device on the ship, I tell the authorities who I am and what I have. They meet me and go over the information I give them.

“God bless you for everything you’ve given us, Princess Delphine. With this, we should be able to root out a good number of traitors,” a guard says.

“That’s assuming the bishops and royalty will stop playing around and act serious for once,” another guard comments.

“Don’t listen to him. Something has to happen with this information despite the gridlock happening in the empire right now.”

“So, what are you going to do with me now that I’ve given you what you need? Execute me? Force me to convert?”

The guards look confused at me.

“Huh? No. Our treatment of non-Catholics has improved over the years and is one of the things that’s being disputed right now. You’re blessed to have chosen this planet to land on since we’re welcoming to non-Catholics. You said that your family owned a castle on this planet?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we can arrange something for you for your service.”

The guards bring me to a ruler on the planet. We talk about what I can do to earn my place on the planetary government, and we come to an agreement after an hour long talk. I will live alongside the people who currently live in my family’s castle, have a role in deciding the politics of the Catholic empire just like I was as a princess of the Orthodox church, and also be taught by priests and converters on the truths of Catholicism. Despite my being against conversion, I agree to be taught their teachings. Maybe there is truth in Catholicism if they own all of the known universe while the other empires were driven out.

The family I am currently living with in my family’s castle aren’t bad people. They are actually quite pleasant and accepting of me and want to hear all about my life in the unknown regions of space. On top of this, they show me collections of art that my family had including paintings of past generations. I can get used to this life especially since there are some pretty boys in this family that I could marry. After everything is said and done, I would say that is the start of a brand new and good life.

In the span of two days, my entire life has unexpectedly changed. God has delivered me from the corruption of my family and their equally corrupted allies and put me into a better place. For this, I will thank Him even more through my prayers and actions.