Story 4 – Rulers and Rule Enforcers
As customary before doing anything, my brother and I pray to God because doing anything without offering it to God is folly. After singing the Apostles' Creed, Our Father, Three Hail Marys, and a Glory Be, we sing the prayer song of our society.
“Let us pray. Oh God, who is the sole source of all authority and who puts kings on their thrones, help us use what you have given us so that we may use our positions to serve like how you served us. We pray,”
“Give us the wisdom to be your faithful pawns.”
“Let us be your instruments of power and authority.”
“So that thy will shall be done as it is in Heaven.”
“Help us to not drink the poisons of avarice, sloth, and vanity.”
“So that we do not disappoint you.”
“Protect us from being too zealous and too prideful.”
“To restrain our desires for power and materials.”
“Always be in our hearts, Oh Lord, who is truth and love itself.”
“Always and forever we shall love you.”
“St. Bellarmine, Defeater of Heresies.”
“Pray for us.”
“St. Constantine the Great, Sovereign who saved the persecuted.”
“Pray for us.”
“St. Balthild of Ascania, Patron of Widows and the Sick.”
“Pray for us.”
“Our Lady of Victory.”
“Pray for us.”
“Jesus Christ, Savior of all.”
“Pray for us.”
“Jesus Christ, Ruler of the Universe.”
“Pray for us.”
“Jesus Christ, Conqueror of Death.”
“Pray for us.”
“Use your aristocrats, kings, and queens as you see fit, Oh Lord, because we are nothing compared to you. Hold us close as we work in the roles you have given us.”
“Amen.”
“Are you ready, brother?”
“That’s an answer you already know, brother.”
“Then let’s do God’s work.”
We leave our home for another night in the bright city. Though everyone is out and about right now, we manage to stay hidden by going through the secret paths and alleyways. My brother and I used to go through these and memorize them as kids to get to places in the city faster. Our adventures in the city also counted as training since this is our territory that we must know the ins and outs of. This is our city and it’s the responsibility of my brother and me to protect the Church here.
My brother and I enter the shipyard where shipments come in to drop off their cargo. We find the area where we find what we’re looking for. It’s guarded by heathens who think they can slip their idols in our city. They’re supposed to be converting to the one true faith and instead, they’re soiling our planet and endangering their souls and the souls of everyone else. My brother and I knock out the heathens around the cargo from the shadows. We tie them to their idols and burn them with it. The fire burns faster than a normal one but shouldn’t spread to since it’s isolated. By the time the fire authorities get here, the idols and heathens should be nothing but ash.
“It’s a marvelous holy fire, brother.”
“Yes, brother. Unfortunately, we cannot stay to watch it and must move on to our other tasks.”
Even when we were young, my brother and I went after people we thought were causing trouble and making people sin. We’d get in trouble with our parents and were reminded that we’re not allowed to do vigilante justice. One time, we tore apart an entire high school party because the partiers were drinking too much and getting too frisky with one another. We were scolded again for not bringing this to the proper authorities but never punished in any way. It wasn’t our job yet to keep people on the straight and narrow path to Heaven until now.
Deals are being made among businesses to try to gain more “freedoms” so they can make more money. We’ll show them how vain their desires are. These businesses keep their money in the banks of the Church, but they also keep some for themselves in their own buildings. Their transactions and the amount of money they have on them are inspected every other month though there are a few underhanded ways around it. The security around the hidden stores of money is tighter than the security guarding the stores of money that are known about. My brother and I have our own underhanded way of getting to it as well.
We use the vents to get in and if we can’t use the vents, we use our IDs that make us show up as random employees on the system. Since the area ahead of us is constantly well-lit, we use our cloaks and masks special function, which disguises us as people who would work there. It still amazes me that our masks can mimic human faces so well. We flatten our hats and hidden them in our cloaks as we go into the next area of the vault. Once we get past security, we use our devices to make the security cameras here run on a timed loop before we burn the money. This fire doesn’t burn as fast as the previous one we set because we need its owner to see it. We melt the lock to the vault behind us as we leave, so no one can save the money if they happen to catch on to our actions.
After burning the money, we make our way to the elevators and take two to get to the top floor where the business meeting is being held.
“Excuse me, but can’t you see we’re having a meeting?” one of them says.
“Oh. We see,” my brother says before we change our outfits back to normal.
“Who-who are you two?”
“That’s none of your concern,” I say as we put our hats back on.
“But what is of your concern is your burning vault below this building,” my brother says as he shows them a projected video of the vault burning.
“Wha-”
My brother and I pull out our laser assault rifles from our sleeves and point them at everyone.
“Hey, hold on! Let’s talk about this,” another man says.
“We’re the only ones who are going to be talking,” I say.
“You are all supposed to be servants of the Church, but you act like the usurious Jews of the fake Israel. We wouldn’t have cared about your surplus of money if we knew you were using it for something good,” my brother says.
“The laws that restrain and give freedom to your businesses are fine as they are. If you have a problem with them, then make it known to the government, but don’t try to bribe your will into the law.”
“Play fairly in politics and business and we’ll leave you alone.”
“Refuse and your money won’t be the only thing that burns.”
“We pray that you’ll make the right decision.”
“Farewell and may God bless you.”
My brother and I take the elevator to the very top of the building and use another one of our cloaks special functions to glide to another building.
“Do you think they’ll listen to us, brother?”
“I hope so, brother. We would have to go after them if they don’t and so very few souls repent of their sins before we execute them.”
“We’ll put in a prayer request to the local churches then.”
“They already pray for both the servants and aristocrats.”
“Then we’ll send more requests and pray more ourselves until the problem goes away. Maybe we can do some charity or earn indulgences in addition to our prayers.”
“Good idea. Let’s do that tomorrow. For now, we have a couple more tasks to be done.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Heaven is a man’s ultimate goal. His existence is fulfilled in serving God heart and soul. Everyone who is alive has the chance of getting to Heaven, even the most sinful people. We all have a limited amount of time that blows away like the dust in the wind. Some have their time cut short by their sins. Speaking about cutting short, we’ve arrived at our next location.
We’re looking for a certain politician who is looking to making changes similar to the businessman except for politicians like him. Only the higher-level clergy such as cardinals, bishops, archbishops, and the pope are allowed to act as politicians in addition to their roles as clergy. There are politicians in the government that aren’t clergy that control smaller territories and have less power. This man, who we’re going after, is trying to increase his power along with the power of those who agree with him. He’s throwing a party where he will try to convince even more people to agree and join his cause. Centuries ago, when religion became secondary to politics, it resulted in a degenerate society where most people acted as their own gods and popes. That’s not going to happen again as long as we live.
The man we’re looking for has already done his big speech. He should be going to his room to privately check the results of who gave their yes to support him. We catch him halfway there where no one else is close to.
“We would like to give you our yes or no on our support,” I say as my brother and I exit the darkness.
“Who-wait. I remember seeing that symbol, your outfits, and masks.”
“Then you know why we’re here.”
“What? What am I doing wrong? I’m just trying to get the rights I deserve from the Church.”
“What rights? You only get the rights you deserve not the ones you feel that you’re owed.”
“Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll stop this.”
My training in detecting lies tells me there’s a good chance he is.
“I can tell you’re lying. The way you’re acting and your tone of voice give you away.”
“That’s because I still don’t believe that I don’t have the rights you’re talking about. I can suspend the voting and my support until-”
My brother and I cut the man’s chest with our blades.
“Repent! Now!” we both say.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” I say.
The man soils himself out of fear.
“I…I will. I’ll cancel the event and everything.”
We make sure he changes his clothes then does as he says as he repents on his knees in public much to the shock of everyone.
“He really has the fear of God in him now, brother.”
“That or just the fear of us. I hope his associates and him have learned their lesson, brother.”
“I think it’s time we go back home for the night. We’ve done a lot already and we need our rest for what God wants us to do tomorrow.”
“All right, brother.”
Along the way back home, we come across a celebrity of sorts who is known to have his hands in business and politics despite just being a person people want to hear the opinions of. He does a lot to make sure the Church is rich in resources, but he doesn’t always use the right methods.
“What do you think, brother? Should we go after him?”
“I think we should. This is a golden opportunity that God has given us.”
We follow him into a darkened building where we confront him.
“I know who you are, brothers Israel and Ishmael,” the celebrity says.
“Oh? Is that supposed to mean something for us?” my brother says.
“I know of the Society of St. Bellarmine, but not a lot of it. It’s a story told to the aristocrats of the Church to keep them in line.”
“The stories turned out to be true, didn’t they?”
“Aren’t you acting outside of your authority?”
“We are the authorities. Our positions allow us to do whatever we want as long as God approves of it, of course.”
“Why don’t you make other people do your jobs?”
“In our roles, we are servants of God. This shouldn’t be anything new if you know who we are.”
“I know you’re aristocrats who hold power and sway in the Church. You were born and raised to serve devoutly God.”
“As everyone should be.”
“Then why are you after me?”
“Because you don’t support the Church ethically. Sin done with good intentions is still evil.”
“I have the support of people in the Church.”
“We will get to them in time to repent of their sins. You hurt more than you help when you sin.”
“My deeds bear good fruit such as these.” Four people come out of the darkness and surround us. “I knew the society would come after me one day, so I bought some protection.”
“Do you really think these people will protect you from the rewards of your sins?”
“God will punish me if I am sinful and all I have received are rewards.”
“We are your punishment.”
My brother uses his chains to trip up the people behind him then cuts them down with his sword while I use my laser to guns to quickly eliminate the foes behind me. The celebrity is obviously in shock at how fast we dispatched his help.
“Where are the rest of them?” he says under his breath before getting his answer.
More bodies fall to the ground behind us as more of the society has appeared.
“It’s a wonderful night to be out, isn’t it Israel and Ishmael?” one of the society’s members says.
“It’s always a wonderful night to do as God wills.”
“How did you manage that?” the celebrity asks in a shaky voice.
“Our cybernetics allow us to carry a lot of useful tools on us.”
“No, I mean bring the others here! I thought you worked on your own orders.”
“We are ordered by God. It’s just a blessing that God brought us together. Now, about your punishment…”
“Okay, I give up! I’ll cut off the contacts and destroy the contracts I’ve made with other people if it is sinful. Just tell me what I have to do!”
He’s obviously afraid, but he appears to be truthfully repentant.
“What do you think, brother? I think he’s telling the truth.”
“I think so too. We’ll tell you what you should do, but first…”
My brother heats up his sword.
“Wa-wait! I thought you were going to spare me!”
“We are. This is just part of your penance.”
My brother then cuts the celebrity with the hot blade, but not fatally.
“Remember that wound next time you sin. Remember especially the Holy Wounds of Christ and His Sacred Blood that was shed for us.”
“I...I will.”
After showing him what to do, we leave the celebrity in peace. He truly appears to be a changed man and we see it even more so on the news the next day when he publicly talks about repentance and the costs of sin. It is our duty to help people get to Heaven, and I think we’ve just helped save many more souls.
The End
The World is a Thorn by Demon Hunter is another song I can relate to these stories. I'm a big fan of Demon Hunter, if you couldn't tell by now, and will probably relate another of their songs on another story.
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