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Everyone dies, but when one is called to life by God, a person is obligated to answer the call lest they decay and fall apart. Morto is a boy called to life who instinctively follows God's call without clear direction or reason. He will come across many dangers on his journey to life as well as someone who will help him who is on her own journey to life.

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

Fides Aeternam: A Christmas Story

During one Christmas on a distant planet, Catholics were killing each other as the War in Heaven raged on. The Ecclesia and the Dogmatists were dug in their positions as they traded shots and casualties as neither side could get an advantage on the other. They fought for months until Christmas came around. Three soldiers, Reuben, Judah, and Benjamin, were gathered around the fire as the snow fell on the cold world.

“You'd think that they would put miniature heaters in these suits for how advanced they're supposed to be,” Reuben joked.

“If they can protect you from laser fire and explosions, then they’re just fine the way they are,” Judah said.

“No, Reuban is right though I think they should add something to inject joy into you so you aren’t always so serious,” Benjamin said with sarcasm.

Benjamin and Reuben laugh a bit while Judah’s face remained as solid as the ice. While he warmed up his hands, Judah saw men and women abandoning their positions with something in their hands.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Judah said as he took his gun ready to shoot who he assumed to be cowards.

Benjamin and Reuben took their guns with some other soldiers who watched their fellow soldiers walk to the enemy lines. Judah was about to take a shot before Benjamin put his hand on Judah’s shoulder.

“Wait, let’s see what’s happening,” Benjamin said.

“These people are betraying God and His Church. What else could they be doing?” Judah said.

“Maybe they’re pretending to surrender so they can surprise the enemy,” Reuben guesses.

“Those Dogmatists don’t take prisoners who don’t convert.”

“Or maybe they’re getting themselves killed so they can visit their family and friends in spirit. I don’t know.”

“That seems more likely.”

“Stop guessing, and let’s see what’s happening.”

“Sergeant Benjamin why aren’t you firing on those traitors?” a commissar said from behind him.

“Today’s Christmas, sir, so I’m not in the mood to assume the worst of those under my command nor do I want to take the lives even of a sinner. Let’s wait a moment more to see what they do.”

The Ecclesia soldiers watched as their fellow soldiers dropped their weapons in front of the Dogmatists on the other side and held up food, drink, and gifts like toys and games. They also held up crosses and a statue of Mary, which was held up by a man with a rosary in his hand. The Dogmatists looked at each other before waving them over while the Ecclesia soldiers waved over their friends in the trenches. Benjamin was the first to move before Judah pulled him down.

“Have you gone mad?” Judah said.

“No. Today is the day when I’ve come to my senses. You going to either come with me or shoot me in the back. It’s your choice. The same goes for the rest of you.”

Benjamin dropped his weapon and went to the Dogmatists with people behind him.

“Not you too, Reuban,” Judah said, “We don’t celebrate Christmas with traitors!”

“It’s a good thing that I’m going to be spending it with brothers and sisters in the faith, right? Come on.”

Reuban forced Judah to come with him as the Ecclesia and Dogmatists line intermix as they celebrated Christmas together. They drank and ate together with some consuming a bit too much. These people are taken to the confessors on the battlefield just in case they die in the next battle. Besides this, they enjoyed a Christmas mass together, games, and the only shooting that happens is a shooting competition and artillery and tank guns that went off like fireworks to celebrate the birth of Christ while ships danced in the air like angels blaring Christmas music and hymns sung by those below.

While this is happening, Judah kept to himself. There were Ecclesia and Dogmatist soldiers who stuck to their own while their friends tried to get them to talk to the other side. Judah couldn’t help but scoff at the people who he considered to be traitors and be stone faced as everyone around him was full of cheer.

Seeing this, Reuban said to Judah, “Christmas is a time of joy, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“And God wants us to always be in good spirits because of all He does for us. Am I wrong?”

“No, you aren’t.”

“So, what are you doing?”

“I don’t know.”

Looking through the crowds, Judah saw a lone man praying the rosary to a statue of Mary. He approached the man and appeared to be saying something to him. The next time that Benjamin and Reuban saw Judah he was praying the rosary with his friend then drinking and eating together. When Judah saw that he was being watched, the smile that he had faded as he turned his head in embarrassment. The entire day is a day of peace and the news of it is spread to the other lines of battle on other planets that celebrate Christmas like them, but this celebration only lasts until the next day.

Even as their commanders told their soldiers to shoot at their enemy under the threat of death, both sides hesitated as they were afraid to kill their new friends and of offending God because they realized the useless fighting of the civil war. When the shooting did start, soldiers were firing randomly in the air with some soldiers shooting themselves and pretending as if it wasn’t self-inflicted so they wouldn’t have to fight.

“Come on! Charge the enemy lines!” Judah said in a noticeably shaky voice.

The look in his eyes told of the true intentions of his soul. Judah didn’t want to fight but forced himself to since he told himself that it was his duty. Since not many were fighting, he decided to charge forward and shoot the first Dogmatist that he came across. Something suddenly struck his heart as if his guardian angel was telling him something he couldn’t see. Inspecting the soldier, Judah saw that the man that he shot was his friend. In a panic, he called for a medic as he tried to keep his friend alive. Instead of a medic, a commissar came out to tell Judah to finish off his enemy and threatened to kill him if he refused.

Judah cried like a child as he said, “Spare him, please! Take my life instead but save him!”

The commissar then shot Judah and his friend, which made things clear to Benjamin who shot the commissar. He then commanded all the Ecclesia and Dogmatists forces on the planet to band together and fight against those who forced them to fight each other. In the end, many soldiers and even commanders disobeyed their orders and formed together. Knowing that their leaders would put them to death for their disobedience, they left the planet and disappeared with other soldiers like them. These soldiers didn’t come home until the civil war ended and the pope granted them pardon for their betrayal. The pope even congratulated them for their bravery and compassion for one another.

When humanity’s time in space ended, these Christmas soldiers were the ones on Earth who defended the Church against the alliance of empires, and it is said that this was the proof that they found favor in God’s eyes.

No Saint Without a Past, No Sinner Without a Future: Chapter 1 – Memento Vita

Chapter 1 – Memento Vita

During one night, Morto hears a voice in the night that wakes him up saying, “I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?”

Getting up, he answers the call, “I will go, Lord. If You lead me, I will hold Your people in my heart.”

He then goes back to sleep thinking that it was a dream, however, when he wakes up, the village mystic comes to his house and informs his parents that God has called Morto to life. The mystic tries to talk to Morto but doesn’t find him in his bed. Instead, the mystic finds Morto near the road he must take to be born. Morto stands motionless as if waiting for the voice to lead him as he said.

“What are you waiting for, Morto?” the mystic asks.

“I don’t know, sir. The Lord called out to me, but I don’t know what to do.”

“Part of you already does know what to do. Our belief is a belief of death. God kills men's sin so they may be brought to life while those who cling to sin die once then twice along with the world. So it is so it shall forever be. You must walk the path God has laid before you to be born.”

Looking back at his village, he sees the people who have been called to be born. These people who refused the call are rotting skeletons whose bones slowly turn to ash as their body decomposes and falls apart. He is a skeleton like them though his bones are strong. No one in his village has been born except for the mystic who has leathery skin that he has to restore every now and then to keep his humanity and to keep the skin on his skeleton. The village is a rotting and decomposing place where crops and livestock struggle to stay alive as the ashes from the people’s skeletons poison everything around them.

“You don’t think it was a dream, do you? Why would I be called out of everyone here?” Morto asks.

“God sees you in something that no one else here has. You aren’t as dead as everyone else here.”

“What about you? Why can’t you save us?”

“Well, you see-”

As the mystic puts his arm on Morto, it falls off. Seeing this, Morto heads off on the path God has put him on.

“I see now. I’ll be going off then,” Morto says while walking off.

The mystic puts his arm back on and smiles as he is confident that Morto will achieve his call. As Morto walks through the forest, he tries to ignore distant sounds of something that sounds inhuman and other sounds of distress. He eventually makes it to a bridge with a living cross at the top of an arch that towers over a gate.

This living cross says, “God has informed me that you will be passing through here. Listen to what I have to say and you will safely continue on your journey.”

“Aren’t you Saint Patior? I’ve heard about you before. What is it painful when you made your body into a cross?”

“It wasn’t as painful as the moment I learned the cost of my sins. This pain I suffer is comforting as it is my penance for the sins of the world and those who have yet to be fully born. Be thankful that your fate isn’t mine, but it will be terrible if you do not listen to what I have to say. The so-called Saint Aurum wanders the dead forest ahead of you. If he chases you, run back to me and I will take care of him.”

“Wasn’t Saint Aurum one of the most virtuous knights who rode on a unicorn and disappeared after he tried to erase his pride, which was the last only sin he struggled with?”

“Not everyone who answers God’s call will become a saint especially if they choose to walk the path in their own way. Do not be fooled by people who call themselves saints.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do as you say.”

The dead forest that Morto enters is full of skeletal trees with trunks that are broken apart and filled with insects that feed on it and make it their home. It appears as if a battle happened in the forest because of how much is broken, however, that isn’t the case. A sound in this dead place gets Morto to turn to it as he finds a unicorn that approaches him.

“Aren’t you Saint Aurum’s unicorn? What are you doing here? Where’s your owner?” Morto says to it.

Once the unicorn gets closer to Morto, it tilts its head then violently shakes before the skeletal hands and feet of a man pop out of the unicorn. A head with an elongated spine comes out of the skeleton’s mouth and curiously looks at Morto as it circles him.

“Ah, you’re a rare sight. Your bones don’t rot or have clear signs of damage. Have you recently come to life or are you on the road to life now? Oh, but first, where are my manners? My name is Saint Aurum. What is yours?”

“My name is Morto, and I am on the road to life.”

“Where are you going specifically? A church? A town? A forest or a mountain?”

“I don’t know actually. God just got me up and gave me a direction to go in.”

“Simple directions for a simple boy. I’d say you were lost and a bit stupid, but no boy is stupid when he trusts God. Truly, it takes great faith to trust in such vague directions. It’s no wonder why your skeleton hardly has any decomposition on it.”

“Thank you for your compliments.”

“To be honest, I’m a little jealous. You’re in better condition than I was before I got my skin.”

“Why do you have a horse’s skin anyway?”

“Because I have been blessed for my virtue that is greater than most men.”

“That can’t be right. Man is made in the image of God. What could be better than looking human?”

“Are you doubting my virtue, boy?”

“No, I’m just saying what everything gets when they come to life. They become human not horse.”

“You are mocking me! I knew it!” Saint Aurum says as he attacks Morto with the horn on his head. “I am more than human! My virtue has allowed me to ascend beyond it!”

Morto starts running away as Saint Aurum chases him in a rage. In his attempt to slow the mad saint down, Morto snakes through the decaying trees only for the saint to tear through the trees as if they were made of simple wood. The bridge is in sight; however, Saint Aurum catches up to Morto and tosses him up in the air with his horn and sends him flying across the bride. Feeling nothing, Morto gets up and waits for Saint Patior to spring his trap.

“You’re nothing but bones, and yet, you aren’t damaged at all. What makes you so special?” Saint Aurum says before charging at Morto.

Saint Patior slams the gates down on Saint Aurum to crush him in two to bring an end to the mad saint.

“Poor soul, blinded by pride, I hope God grants you mercy,” Saint Patior says as Saint Aurum’s body turns to ash.

“Did he really wear the skin of his unicorn?” Morto asks.

“Yes, he did. He was dissatisfied with obtaining human skin after his many callings to life, so he tore off his humanity and wore the skin of his unicorn as a way of showing people his virtue, but he showed his insanity instead.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“Thank the Lord as well. You are safe to continue forward, and even though I do not know what dangers lie ahead of you, I can see that your future is bright.”

Saint Patior opens the gate and lets Morto through as he continues his journey to life undeterred and naive of what’s next for him.

A new remade cover is out!

Cover made by Fhundeart (on Twitter).

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Anita is a lonely housewife who deals with daily temptations since she tries her best to stay faithful to God and her husband, who is currently out at war. She will face various strange supernatural and psychological obstacles that test her faithfulness to see if she is truly a good person. Will these mind-bending horrors get her to mortally sin or will she stay in the state of grace till the end?

You didn't think that I wouldn't publish a paperback when the series is finished, did you?

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Where the holy and sinful meet there is war. 

Humanity's time in space comes to an explosive conclusion as the constant wars, violence, and sin can no longer go unpunished. The Catholic Church will explore the unknown regions of space and go through a civil war before they face their greatest challenge after they weakened themselves. This is the second collection about how faith informs a person's moral character and their actions as they make difficult decisions in a universe at war with itself. 

This collection includes; Unholy Terrors From Beyond, Far From Faith, War in the Divine Family, and Fides Aeternam: Stories, Prayers, and Lore with Behind the Story extras to list some of the thoughts and inspirations behind each story.

My 170th book is out today!

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Horror doesn't have to look scary to be scary

Collected in this book are short stories and even sentences that give the feeling of a horror story without giving the immediate appearance of horror. Some of these might even be something that you see in your own life as you haven't yet recognized the daily horrors that we all experience.

Accident (from Horror in All but Appearance)

You’re a hard-working parent like you should be. You work from nine-to-five to make what you need for your family. Your spouse works hard as well and you only see them in the morning and at night since you work in separate places. The job you have leaves you exhausted every day and wanting a better job or at least a better paycheck for what it does to you. Despite all the hardship, it’s worth it. You do it for God, for your spouse, your parents, your friends, and last but not least, your daughter.

Your daughter always manages to make it worth it for you as the reality of her situation doesn’t faze her since this is all she knows. She appreciates her possessions and her family more than normal children because you’ve taught her well and sent her to a decent school. Seeing her smile is enough to lift your spirits back up to play with her after a hard day of work, however, repetition can make things dull and you begin to feel less and less energized by her smile and high spirits. In the future, she might not be this energetic and positive, and despite knowing this, you stop playing with her and just rest your weary body. This rest does make you feel more awake, but your spirits are still down.

The life that you live continues to drain you until one day you snap. Without realizing it, you harshly smack your daughter into the wall so hard that it leaves a dent in it and your daughter lies unconscious on the floor. What you’ve done hits you like a truck as you call an ambulance for her since she isn’t waking up. What have you done? Why couldn’t you control yourself? Why didn’t you? What are you going to tell your spouse? Are you going the lie to them and tell them it was an accident and she just fell down the steps and hit her head on the wall? You told that lie to the people in the hospital, so why not, but still.

What will your daughter think? She’ll know the truth assuming the damage to her head assuming it isn’t too serious. You may have lost the love she’s had for you in one way or another. The bill that the hospital gives you means that you’ll have to work more for a time to pay it off, but that’s not your primary concern, and money and work will no longer bother you for a time being. Instead, you watch out for the enemy within, which was the greatest threat to your daughter’s life for a moment.

One Sin (from Horror in All but Appearance)

A man has just sinned, and he doesn’t know the severity of it. It only takes one mortal sin for you to be damned to Hell for all eternity, so he quickly heads out to the nearest church that has confessions available. Even if he did commit a venial sin, his soul is still at risk since venial sins weaken one’s soul so that mortal sins seem more excusable for them to commit. He’s been good about keeping away from near occasions of sin and staying away from all sins in general, but everyone slips every now and then because of human weakness.

While getting to church, he refuses to help and give money to people who ask for it and ignores repeat calls from the people he knows. The only thing on his mind is getting to confession. Nothing else matters. Not even the people around him. Not even himself who he’s starved as a self-imposed penance, however, this has temporarily stopped him as he throws up on the steps of the church. After pulling himself up and walking on his own vomit, he continues into the church.

To his dismay, he finds a long line for confession. People kneel and sit in pews in the line as they wait for their turn. Agitated, but accepting, the man kneels in the pew and goes over his sins while asking Our Lady of Sorrows and his guardian angel to tell him his sins. His recent actions along with the ones he’s forgotten. Hearing this makes him make up excuses for his actions then humble himself and take responsibility only to repeat the process for every sin. Before he knows it, the people who were behind him are ahead of him with some even received absolution. The priest then announces from the confessional that confessions are done for now since mass is going to be said soon.

This sends the man in a panic as it seems like God has closed the doors of His mercy to him. The man walks outside blinded by his thoughts and accidentally walks into traffic and is hit by a car. As he dies, he remembers his worst sin of all. Not having faith in God. This faithlessness caused him to disregard others, himself, and now without a chance to confess his sins, he can only hope that God will have mercy on him and the fires of Purgatory aren’t as painful as they’re said to be.

The lore book for Fides Aeternam is out today!

Download this book for free on Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1059473

This collection contains the stories of future saints, the summary of Fides Aeternam's timeline, prayers, and lore from the Fides Aeternam series for those who are interested in this Catholic science-fiction series where a person's faith is always tested in a universe at war with itself.

Other lore bits of Fides Aeternam

Papal Palaces

• These palaces are placed on planets of importance for the pope’s visit and the bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and guards that he travels with
• These palaces also double as cathedrals for daily worship and usually contain some memento from a saint
• It is theorized by the enemies of the Ecclesia that these palaces could stand and become mechs that could defend the planet. Because of this, they constructed their own weaponized mechs. When the Ecclesia heard this rumor, they decided to make their theory true not only because they wanted these large mechs for defensive purposes, but also because their child-like imaginations were sparked by the prospect of weaponized cathedrals and churches. This project was only finished in the Milky Way Galaxy before they were forced to be used

 

Black Suns and Golden Moons

• These black suns and golden moons are only found in the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Black suns are known to make people feel a cold warmth while the golden moons give a warm chill and because of this, people are known to act more irrational and irritable
• The golden moons are in the place where the sun is in the Milky Way Galaxy while the black suns are in the place where the Earth’s moon is just as an example
• The galaxies that these moons and suns are found in typically have the most hostile animals, poisonous plant life, and uninhabitable planets
• It is theorized that God put limits on the number of galaxies that humanity can inhabit because of the effects of these suns and moons

 

"Alien" Animals

• As humanity knows, there is no life in the universe more intelligent other than it save for angels, demons, and God
• The animals found on far galaxies are like those found on Earth. Some are gentle creatures while others are hostile and have to be exterminated if the planet is to be colonized then there are those in between that are only hostile when threatened or disturbed
• There are also “alien” animals that survive in space and fly around it. These animals are known to be peaceful, only consume asteroids, and have exterior skin that is thicker than asteroids
• Squads in the unknown regions also report living planets or living beings that are the size of planets. These living planets are either hostile or peaceful and are sometimes worshipped by pagans

 

Purgatorial States

• When the Ecclesia burns a world with their most powerful weapon, all life ceases to exist on it for a time before life rises from the ashes. The Ecclesia then repopulates it with animals with other planets, builds its own settlement on it, or turns it into a city world

 

Types of planets

• City world – Planets comprised of buildings built on top of each other with very few natural areas. These are centers of trade, politics, and learning though the lowest depths of these cities are notorious for their crime
• Underwater planets – Planets that are mostly comprised of ocean with very few landmasses. People like living in underwater cities for the aesthetic of it despite the dangers of the underwater creatures
• Prison planets – These planets are nearly uninhabitable because of their unpredictable weather patterns, but because of the weather and the resources at these planets, prisoners are brought here to work out their penance
• Living worlds – These worlds are living beings and rarely found in the unknown regions of space. They are either dangerous or passive creatures that aimlessly float in space. All the living worlds found so far have little to no resources that can be scavenged from them and appear to only be shows of God’s creativity and power
• Dead worlds – These worlds are ravaged by war to the point where nothing can be scavenged from it nor can there be any kind of civilization to build on it because of varying factors such as; the atmosphere, hostile weather, poisonous air, unstable ground, etc.
• Resource worlds – Most if not all of this world can be used as a place to gather vast quantities of resources unlike most normal worlds.  People from different galaxies will migrate to this world for the abundance of jobs and profitable opportunities that await them
• Feudal worlds – Normal planets with Earth-like resources are made into feudal worlds, which is somewhere between a city world and what would be considered normal centuries ago with towns and smaller cities that don’t completely cover the world. A majority of worlds are feudal worlds in the universe. They contain resources, opportunities for trade, work, and relaxation

 

Language and Cultures

• Unlike the cultures of days of old on Earth, people identify with the religion they are a part of. The cultures of old have long since been forgotten due to time, the age of secularism, and the age of the future. Planets do have their own cultures and even have more specific cultures based on the region of the planets, but they are all a variant of a cultural part of their religion
• The primary languages spoken is English with each empire having its own special language. For example, the Ecclesia speak Latin, the Orthodox speak Greek, the Jewish speak Hebrew, etc.

 

Life spans

• The typical person can live up to one-hundred and fifty years, however, people with access to the latest in medical technology can live up to two hundred years, maybe thousands of years if they enhance their body with cybernetics

 

David vs Saul Act

• In the event that the current king or ruler of an Ecclesia held planet is found unfit for his job, the people of the planet or the ruling clergy will raise up someone to take their place. These two people will fight with swords, guns, fists, or whatever weapon they are both proficient in. If the original ruler wins, they continue to rule until their next major failure. If the challenger wins, they take the place of the ruler. If it’s a draw, the pope will decide who receives the role since all rulers submit to the pope
• This act was inspired by the events of the first short civil war in the Ecclesia’s early years to give the people a way and reminder that they get the ruler they deserve
• If the fight between the ruler and the challenger is discovered to be rigged in either’s favor, then the one who rigged it is jailed for a penance of ten years with no bail in servitude to the one they wronged

 

Politics

• The rulers of all planets within a galaxy decide how they are to conduct galaxy-wide politics and business with the approval of the ruling clergy
• Some galaxies have differing ways of business and politics similar to that of Earth’s old countries
• Each planet has its own military force to defend themselves
• All authorities of the Ecclesia submit to the pope
• The upper clergy have been known to be susceptible to corruption and bribery like all with the power to rule over a nearly uncountable number of people
• The Ecclesia’s political system is inspired by the monarchies of old, but updated to fit the age of the future