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Man's faith has eroded so far that God has twisted the rules of reality to remind humanity not just of His power and justice, but His mercy, most of all. This book contains various short stories of both the faithless and faithful struggling in a time where the faith that God is doing this for your betterment is the only certain thing.
Erasure
of the True Self
Levi was a priest during the time that
all of these stories happened and he lost his faith in God since he thought
that God would never do these things to remind people of His justice and power.
He abandoned his vocation and lost an arm in the process as it fell off and
turned to ash. With the loss of his arm came the loss of his memory.
“Where am I? What am I doing in a place
like this?” he asked himself before leaving the monastery.
The chaos of the present time made unstable
and sinful people turn to violence. When God took what they had, they would
take back what that thought was rightfully theirs from the innocent. Levi saw
one person being robbed and he felt the push in his heart to do something.
“Why should I be bothered with them?
There’s nothing I can do.”
As he said this to himself, another
arm of his turned to ash. Levi continued to wander the world without a reason
until he stopped and realized this.
“What’s the point of living? There’s
no reason for me to continue on when there are others who can take my place?”
One of Levi’s legs then turned to
ash.
“Wait, who am I again? What am I?
What is my worth? Does it matter?”
His body then disappeared into ash.
Now, the only part of him that was left was his head that still managed to
live.
“Who decides what I’m worth? Who is
that person? Who is that living truth again? I see Him. Hello, how may I serve?”
Levi’s body was restored to him and
his memory was regained.
“Oh. I’m sorry that I thought that
I knew better than you. I’ll try not to make this happen again.”
This was the third time this week
that this happened to Levi and he would continue to do similar things like this
until the day he died and went to Heaven.
Extraordinary
Gift
Linda was a poor girl who lost
everything. She was a girl faithful to God and knew that whatever happened to
her, it was God who willed that this happened for a greater purpose. There weren’t
any guesses in her mind as to this purpose, but she trusted God nevertheless. A
rich man found her on the streets and offered her a warm place to live. He had tattoos
and an eyepatch as if he were an antagonist straight out of the movies. There
was a feeling in Linda’s stomach not to trust him, and yet, she went with him.
This feeling became justified as it
turned out that he was part of a mafia within the city and he tried to turn the
woman into one of his wives that he would sell for profit. Despite her weakness
and the man’s goons beating Linda into submission, she managed to escape with
two broken legs. She ran as fast as she could to the nearby police station for
help until the man caught up with her.
He told her, “Your strength is
admirable. There’s no use going to the police for help. They’re in my pockets
even if there are a couple good ones left who might help you. Tell me, do you
still reject my offer?”
Linda nodded her head.
The man then took a fork out of her
pocket and threw it to her.
“You have about a one-percent
chance of defending and getting yourself away from me if you use that fork.
Will you do it?”
Linda picked up the fork and tried
to make the best defensive stance that she could.
“Haha! I like you! You can come
back to me whenever you want and you’ll be treated with the utmost respect.”
Before walking away, Linda watched
the man walked away to make sure that he wasn’t going to pull anything. She
then walked towards a nearby church hoping that they would help her, however,
they made the excuse that they couldn’t because of how many people that they
were really helping. In truth, the church declined her because she didn’t look
like the other people who had a miraculous trait like the stories previously
told. Sure, she managed to walk with broken legs and a bruised and beaten body,
but this wasn’t enough for them. Because of this, they assumed that she was a
sinner who still had to be humbled and didn’t want to be around her when God
gave her next punishment.
Linda began to think this as well. She wasn’t a perfect person like everyone to be sure, however, she wasn’t like the other sinners who were stuck in their ways. Her doubts began to eat away at her mind until she looked up at the cross near the church to see the statue of Jesus gently smiling at her. In this, she found her answer. She was given the ability to suffer for others just as Jesus suffered for the sins of the world similar to those who had stigmata. People with the lesser ability to see God’s gifts won’t be able to see this, which is why she has it. Because of this, she suffered and did penance with joy as she now carried her cross with God.
Conflicts
in Love
Paul and Donna were a couple
married for years and like all couples, they sometimes fought over the most trivial
things. This fighting escalated to the point where they considered divorce. To
remind them that they are supposed to love and be together, God attached an invisible
and unbreakable line between them so they couldn’t leave each other’s side. This
irritated them and they hated that they were punished like this. Paul and Donna argued
and loathed each other more and more with each passing day and because of this,
the invisible line pulled them closer and closer to one another to remind them
of their lifelong bond.
One night, they woke up and saw
that their bodies were pulled so close that they now shared a body. Paul and
Donna visited a doctor to see if he could fix this and he told them that this
rare condition, which was getting less and less rare with this treatment being given
to other people by God, was untreatable. The only cure was to fix their broken
relationship. They tried for hours to work out their problems and seemingly got
nowhere until they saw that their children were missing. They called out to
them and heard no response that is until they felt the tugging at their legs.
Neither of them understood what was tugging at them until they realized that it
was their children. This was then that they understood why their children were
invisible and why they couldn’t hear them. During their fights, they didn’t
bother with their children nor their feelings or thoughts. It’s as if they didn’t
exist.
Paul and Donna then vowed to take
care of their children and never ignore them again. This made their children
visible and able to speak again. Little by little, they managed to understand
each other better by letting the other talk and explain themselves better. This
along with the grace of God lead to them finally remembering why they married each
other and before they knew it, their bodies became separate again, however, this
is the closest they’ve felt to one another in a long time.
Guilty
Conscience
God bent the rules of reality so
that the worst of sinners confessed their evil deeds to get them humbled. This
happened in many ways with Patricia having one of the most unique ways of
confession. For each sin she committed, a copy of her head would grow on her face
or the back of her head and loudly confess what she did.
“I cheated on my best friend’s boyfriend
because he liked me more than her!”
“I took money from a sleeping
homeless person!”
“I refused to go to church on
Sunday!”
“I refuse to submit to the
teachings of God and His Church!”
“I hate people who I think are
better than me!”
“I put words in people’s mouth and
accuse them of what I think they’re saying!”
This would go on daily until she
fell asleep then picked up the next day. No doctor could help her nor could she
get the many heads to shut up. Duct tape didn’t work and trying to cut off the
heads only caused her pain without any bleeding to emphasize the fact that these
heads wouldn’t come off. By this time, she had lost her mind since so had
committed so many sins that her heads towered so high that they were as tall as
a tree. Patricia didn’t want to confess her sins to God because she hated Him
for doing this to her. Several priests tried to convince her to confess, but
she denied them. She then secluded herself to hide her shame.
While she hid, she argued with her
heads and used every excuse she could to justify her actions as being right so
they could stop making her feel guilty. This didn’t work as it added more heads
to her growing tree of heads as she was now being accused by her own heads of
making excuses for her actions and not being strong enough to confess them and
do penance. Because of this, Patricia finally went to a priest and honestly confessed
her sins. With each sin confessed, a head disappeared and because they kept talking,
she knew exactly what to say. Every extra head of hers disappeared by the end
of the confession and a heavy weight was lifted from her soul.
This freeing made her realize the gift that this punishment of hers really was and she submitted herself to God and became a better person as a result. Even though she continued to fall to sin every now and then as most people do, she got to confession as quickly as possible even though she never grew another head that accused her. Instead, roses grew on her head instead of hair that she cut and used to even eventually make a beautiful dress made of roses that reflected the beauty of her purified soul.
Intro
At a time when faith in God is at
an all-time low and people sell religion for fame and profit, God changed the
rules of reality to remind people of His power and who He is. The air became poisonous,
food made people hungry, water made people thirsty, and more. With no natural
solutions to help them, some lost the will to live while others turn to their
religion. Those who were a part of the true religion managed to return their lives
to normal while the others struggled to do so. After some time, a majority of
people submitted to the true religion, but at the same time, there are many who
still rebel against God even while having more than enough reason to submit to
the Truth.
Death
by Blasphemy
During one mass, a Satanist took
the Eucharist. He died of a heart attack in his car and his friend had to take
the bread from him. His friend also died of a heart attack on the steps of the
Satanic church and the person who took the bread to the altar died as well.
Despite all of this death associated with the Eucharist, the blasphemers still
conducted their ritual with fear in their hearts until they all died the same
way as the others. Fearing the Eucharist, many people chose to stay away from
it including believers until one boy was dared by his friends to go into the
Satanic church to retrieve it.
The motionless and white dead
bodies in the church shocked the boy, however, what shocked him the most was
the man standing near the altar. This man had scars all over his body that were
lightly bleeding as if he were in a recent fight.
“Are you okay?” the boy asked the
man.
“My children are hurting themselves
and each other. I must help them or else they’ll walk into their own destruction.
Will you bring me to them?”
“Okay. What do you need me to do?”
“Lend me your hand.”
Taking the man’s hand filled the
boy with peace and joy that he’s never felt before. The boy then helped the man
out of the church and into the streets. For some reason, the people that saw
the man were afraid. People died of fright while others bowed before the man
and confessed their wrongdoings. Wondering why this was happening, the boy looked
over to the man and was about to ask him a question until he saw that the man
wasn’t there. Instead, the boy saw that he was holding the Eucharist in his hand.
Knowing what happened, he kneeled down as it appeared that judgment day came
to this city block as those who refused to bow perished while those who did bow
were spared and filled with the same peace and joy that was in the boy.
A
Saving Admonishment
There was a very dishonest businessman
who used his company to manipulate the market and the government for the benefit
of himself and his own. He called a meeting with twenty of his supporters during
their lunch break because of recent events and because all his company and his allies’
resources were shown to be nonexistent in their records. The recordkeepers who
keep track of what they have said that they can’t see nor touch the wealth they
had while the owners could still see and touch them. At the meeting, no one could
come up with an explanation as to how this could be happening except for it
being God’s way of punishing them. They started suggesting that they accept
this loss and change their ways.
“Are you crazy? If God was the one
who did this to us, what makes you think that He’ll give us everything back
when we suck up to Him?”
“I’m not suggesting that we ‘suck
up’ to Him to get back what we lost. He gives and takes. I say we take the hint
and save our souls while we still have the chance.”
While this conversation was going
on the head of the company, took a bite of his burger, felt sick, then threw up
twenty roaches. Everyone was shocked by this and those who were thinking about submitting
to God ran out of the room and started praying. Feeling the need to get the
disgusting taste out of his mouth, the head of the company then drank his beer
and threw up sewage water as a result. If this wasn’t enough to put the fear of
God into everyone in the room, the burger that was once food was now the head
of a living cow that mooed for whatever reason. This scared everyone out of the
room as some people jumped out of the window and others prayed on their knees.
Hours passed and the head of the
company went home. He’s had to take a bus home because his car fell apart when
he started it. The problems don’t stop as the front door won’t open so he had
to break into his house. In his home, he tried going through what he should do
and couldn’t come up with an answer that satisfied him. Knowing that God would
want him to follow His ways he cursed God in a furious rage.
Putting a gun to his head, the man
said, “I refuse Your offer.”
The man pulled the trigger and the
bullet from the gun didn’t kill him. It didn’t even hurt no matter how many
times he shot himself. He thought of another way to kill himself and tried to
jump off his roof, but to his surprise, he didn’t fall. Even when he threw
himself to the ground, the man landed on thin air as if there were an invisible
floor. At this point, he lost his mind and thought back to when he was eating. This
makes him go back inside to eat and drink as he thought that his food and drink
would turn against him, however, nothing happened this time.
“I give up,” the man said in a
tired voice as he sat down, caught his breath, and collected his thoughts.
He had a few seconds of calm until
he choked on the air that he breathed. It was a painful experience that made
his life flash before his eyes. In his memories, he saw all the evil things
that he did and heard his excuses that he gave to make himself feel better.
“I used the money to take care of
my family. I used it to give my friends everything I could to show them how
much I appreciated them. I did many good things with my company and power.”
The voices in his head sickened his
stomach. Everything grew dark and he began to uselessly reach out as he called
out in his mind for help. Then a single hand reached out for him and he took
it. This hand lifted him up from the floor. He felt rejuvenated and better than
he’s ever felt before. With this one action, he knew what God was saying.
Despite his many refusals, God was still there and called out to him ready and
willing to save him. The man is filled with so much joy that he ran out of his
house and proclaimed God’s love and mercy in the streets. He went back to work,
confessed his crimes, and promised to give back everything and more to those he
wronged and took advantage of.
Nobody could believe what they were
hearing and seeing. Even though he looked the same as before, there was
something different about him that no one could put their finger on. As the man
got back home to sell and give most of his possessions away, he found a rotting
carcass that he assumed to be his old body. He took this body out and burned it
as a wretched sinner died today and a saint was born from him.
Redemption
Through Execution
There were two people convicted of
heinous crimes, Mason and Mia. Mason was guilty of murder, thievery, and other crimes
of lust. He would kill and steal from those who he felt deserved it and told
everyone that he didn’t regret it until the day of his execution. His guards
reported him confessed his sins to God on bloodied hands and knees as if he
were doing penance all night. At Mason’s execution, he continued to pray even
as the axe was being brought down on his head. Those who watched his execution
said that he appeared to be peaceful.
“How can this man with so many sins
staining his soul be so peaceful and trusting that God would save his life or
even his soul at this point?” one watcher said.
But as the executioner cut Mason
with his axe, the blade got stuck in his neck. No blood came out and Mason didn’t
seem to be hurt as he was still in his state of peace. His executioners then
stabbed him with many sharp objects, shot him with different kinds of guns, and
even tried to burn him to death. None of these had any effect on Mason, in
fact, it changed him. Since the blades stuck were permanently in him along with the flames that burned him, he appeared to be a man dressed in
blades and fire, which intimidated everyone and got them to repent of their own
sins.
In this long list of oddities,
doctors checked to see if Mason was truly alive and they found that he was
still healthy and alive, and yet, he was immobile with his eyes closed and a
smile on his face. People began theorizing why this was with the most accepted theory
being that Mason’s soul was saved already and sent to Heaven since his body is incorruptible.
Mason’s body was then taken to a church
and encased in a glass tomb. His body is positioned in a way to make it look
like he is praying since it’s the only position that his body would move in.
Many people visit him to ask for his intercession.
The other criminal, Mia, was convicted
of prostitution and the possession and selling of illegal drugs, but when God showed
His control over the rules of reality she repented and her records were mysteriously
wiped clean. In addition, she appeared to be a completely different person, the
shady people she did business with completely forgot who she was, and she even
started her own farm and business. This was so strange to people even though
dozens of sinners were doing one-eighties in their personality out of fear of
God. There were still many people that were suspicious of her because of how
out of character she seemed. The blessings she received were judged to be too
much so they tried to get Mia arrested.
When the authorities saw Mia’s
blessings, they were amazed by what they saw and thought that there wasn’t a
reason for them to bother with her. The mobs then convinced them that she got
all these blessings through pagan magic. Through the evidence of her previous
beliefs and pressure, the authorities arrested Mia and were going to burn her
at the stake. She tried to prove that she was innocent, but no one would defend
her.
As the flames were consuming her, she
said, “Lord, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
At this moment, she didn’t burn nor
feel the intensity of the flames. Instead, the flames comforted her in a warm
embrace while those who refused to defend her and who sentenced her to death
burned. Knowing now that they did the wrong thing, they repented and the flames
were instantly extinguished from them though their skin continued to have burn
marks. Those who didn’t repent were burned to ash. Mia was released and declared
innocent and continues to this day to be a light for the community as a living
source of warmth and goodness. On top of this, her blessing from her execution
continued on as those who falsely accuse and spite her are burned until they
repent or burn to ash.
Chapter
3 – Buying Seconds
Five years have passed since Icarus
and his wife discovered the orbs that are able to float the ground. Atlas sits
on a balcony across from another balcony as he watches Teela in a dress talk to
other people at a party. He plays with a ring in his hand and hides it when
Teela looks over to him to wave and smile. He smiles and waves back before
Teela and the others rejoin the party. Atlas then goes back to thinking while
playing with the ring and looking out into the distance at the ground with large
chasms in it.
“Atlas, how come you aren’t joining
the party? It’s one of the few were allowed to have in these troubled times,”
Icarus says as he sits with him.
“You know me. I’d rather keep to
myself. It’s too much of a headache for me to be involved with the decisions
that decide the fate of the kingdom.”
“I know what you mean since it’s my
job. When are you finally going to tell Teela?”
“Tell her what?”
“I know that you have feelings for her.
I’ve known ever since you two became friends.”
“I think your job is getting to
your head.”
“That ring in your pocket says
differently.”
“O-okay.”
“It didn’t take me long to propose to
my wife. It did take long for us to be comfortable to have kids, but God provided
us this place and it happened. You know it can happen with you too.”
“Is this why you came out here to
bother me?”
“It’s one of the reasons. Another
is because I need you to get another orb-”
“Yet another orb. How many do we
need?”
“As many as we need to survive.”
“Well, look out there and see the
holes in the ground. This solution of yours will only work for so long.”
“What do you think we should do
then? Just let all of our hard work fall into nothing?”
“If God so wills it. We don’t even
know what these orbs are yet after all these years. We don’t know why they can
float mountains and houses, but can barely float people, animals, and trees. I
say we should stop relying on these orbs especially since so much conflict and
so many people have been hurt over it.”
“Do you want my children and your
future children to grow up in this world? Do you want them to go through the
same thing we did with our parents or did you forget that they even existed?”
“Tch.”
“Do you want them staying in a
place for what ten maybe five years in a place like we do before moving away?”
“Some places like this have stayed solid
for generations until now.”
“That’s beside the point. It’s a
hard life and a constant fear for all of humanity. Do you want everyone to live
like this?” The ground begins to shake as Icarus and Atlas watch as the perimeter
of the kingdom falls down while the rest of it manages to stay afloat. “Do you
see what I’m talking about?”
“Fine. I’ll help you get another
stupid orb if it makes you feel better but mark my words when I say that God
will tear down this place if He feels like it, so you shouldn’t be relying on
those orbs all the time.”
“Thank you. I’ll be joining you on
this errand.”
“It’ll be the first time in a while
that you’ve done anything with me,” Icarus says as they walk through the castle,
“Why is your special presence needed?”
Icarus and Atlas descend the castle
via an elevator that is operated by a person slowly moving an orb away from the
elevator.
“My face and name are famous across
these lands and we’ll more likely get the orb if they see that I’m the one buying
it.”
“Why not just have an escort with
you instead of me?”
“It’s for old time’s sake. Besides,
most of our deals have gone through without a hitch. I don’t think anything
will go wrong with this one.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.”
“Hey, I’ve been right about a lot
of things so far.”
“Tch, sure. If you say so.”
Atlas and Icarus mount their horses
and go to the deal location. At this location is a large group of men and women
on horses with swords, shields, and bows with them. Atlas looks at Icarus who gives
him a reassuring smile before the negotiation begins.
“Good afternoon,” Icarus says to
the leader of the group.
“Good afternoon to you as well. The
messenger said that you would be coming with your friend as your only escort,
but I didn’t completely believe it, especially with how in demand they are.”
“This is my show of trust. What do
you say? Do we have a deal?”
“So, we give you the orb, and you
allow us sanctuary in your kingdom?”
“Yes, and the promise that you will
never have to fear the ground falling.”
“Really? With so many holes in your
land and so many people looking to take these orbs, are you sure that your home
is so safe?”
“I’m sure of it and that the fact
that it hasn’t fallen yet is proof of that.”
“I see. Well, I’ll put my faith in
you and in God with this blessing that He has given us.”
As the leader of the group gives
Icarus the orb, a separate unknown group attacks them. Atlas protects Icarus
who has the orb and runs away. When they escape the ambush, they find that the
large group that was meeting them is now reduced to a few people with everyone
else being dead.
“Do you still think it’s worth it
when stuff like this happens?” Atlas says.
“I do when so many more lives can
be saved. It’s like you say when the ground falls and people die. This is just
something we can’t help, so we have to deal with it.”
Atlas is about to say something but
is silenced by what Icarus says. Once he gets back home, he throws his things
aside and goes back to his balcony and playing with his ring. He then feels
like he needs guidance from God so he goes to a nearby church and feels the
ground shake along the way. Fearing the worst, he heads to where Icarus and Teela
are to see that they’re running towards the center tower of the kingdom.
“We have to leave!” Atlas says
while pulling on their arms.
“All of the orbs are collected at
the bottom of the tower! They’ll save us from this!”
Icarus runs ahead without another word.
“Teela? You know that God will get
what He wants because He has that right. We’ve been depending on these orbs too
much and it’s finally coming to bite us. Please. Leave with me.”
“No, it’s going to be fine. We have
to trust Icarus!”
“If I’m wrong, then we can come
back and we’ll have a laugh and-”
Parts of a building start coming
down and separate the two.
“Atlas! I’m going to join Icarus!
It’s closer and safer!”
“Wait! Don’t!”
Atlas fidgets with the ring in his
pocket thinking that it could change her mind, but the moment for it quickly
disappears as more rubble separates them and the distance between them
increases. The people running towards where Icarus is makes Atlas thinks he might
be wrong. That God might’ve gifted the orbs as a way to save them, however,
something tells him that he should leave the kingdom just in case and he rides
his horse and does so. By the time he reaches the outer walls, everything has
fallen down except for the inner part of the kingdom where Icarus and everyone
else is supposed to be. He gets down on his knees and thanks God then begins to
think about how he’s going to get a bridge to connect the floating island to
the rest of the land.
Using his binoculars, Atlas sees
that the floating island is crowded with people. Some even push others off in
the fear that they won’t be able to survive long on such a small island. It isn’t
long before the rest of the island begins to fall apart. Atlas gets on his
knees and prays that this stops. Unfortunately, his prayers aren’t answered in
the way he wants and the island falls to the abyss below.
“Icarus…Teela…I’m so sorry,” Atlas
says as he begins to cry.
He tries to pick himself up and use
his binoculars to see if anyone else survived. Atlas travels around the area
and finds that he is the only survivor.
Again, collapsing to his knees he
prays and says, “Why, God, have you stranded me like this? Why have you taken everything away from me? I know that you know better than me and I don’t deserve
the kindness you’ve shown me so far, but still? What do you want me to do? What
am I supposed to learn?”
With no immediate answer, Atlas
assumes what he has to do and tells the allies of the kingdom what happened to
them and even shows them to convince those who are in doubt. Once this is done,
he settles down in a small farm town and eventually falls in love with a woman
and marries her within a week. Throughout the rest of his life, he thinks that
the ground will fall down, but it doesn’t and the same farm town miraculously because
a prosperous city much like the kingdom he was in before. In his last breaths,
Atlas thanks God before joining Him and everyone he’s known in Heaven.
The End
Chapter
2 – Everything Eventually Falls
When Atlas wakes up, he does what
he planned to do and goes to daily mass, makes a sacrifice of charity, and goes
to meet up with Teela.
“Where’s Icarus and his wife?”
Atlas asks.
“They decided to go out somewhere
because Icarus’s wife found something that supposedly can stop our homes from
falling if that ever happens.”
“Sounds stupid. If God wants any
place to fall, it’ll fall no matter what.”
“They could be getting themselves
in danger. We should go help them.”
“I am not wasting my time with that
idiot. If he’s going to keep tempting God to end his life, then so be it.”
“How can you be so cold towards
them?”
“I’m not.”
“Then let’s go get them. Icarus’
wife told me where they went.”
“I told you. I’m not going.”
“Fine. I’ll help them myself.”
“No, you’re not. You’re going to
get yourself hurt like last time.”
“Then you better come with because I’m
going no matter what. Atlas, I don’t want to lose any more friends.”
“Fine, but things start getting dangerous,
I want you to listen to me instead of doing whatever you want.”
“Yes, sir.”
Teela rides with Atlas on his horse
and directs him to the place where Icarus and his wife are supposed to be. They
get to the location and find a cave within a mountain with rocks slightly
floating above the ground around it.
“Wow. No wonder why they wanted to
come here,” Teela says as she gets off the horse and examines the floating
rocks.
“Oh wow, rocks that slightly float
above the ground. It’s nothing impressive. How’s this supposed to save even a house
from falling?” Atlas says before the rocks and even the mountain itself float
up into the air.
Both Teela and Atlas stare at this
sight in amazement as Icarus and his wife leave the cave with a floating azure orb
in their hands.
“Icarus, what did you find? What is
that?” Atlas says.
“It’s the solution to our problems!
Atlas, we’ve found what will save humanity from the ground falling from under
us.”
Before Atlas and Teela get excited
the mountain and the ground around it falls from under it.
Atlas goes up to Icarus and says, “That’s
some solution you have.”
“Okay, so the orb has to stay in
the area in order for the place around it to stay afloat.”
“What even is it? How did you find
it?”
Icarus’ wife explains that, “I
found some old documents in ruins that talk about it and showed it’s location.
It’s apparently made by the people from the time when the ground first started
falling.”
“So, what is it? Is it a piece of
old advanced technology? Is it blessed by God or made by cultists because there
were a lot of unfaithful people back then?”
“It seems to have been made by
faithful people who wanted to save humanity from the disaster they suffered.
The most notable thing about this is that there are supposed to be more of them,
which means we can save a larger area.”
“What if God decides to cut off
every other place from the floating area? We’d be a floating island with no way
to get to safety and have to rely on what we have.”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that
and we’ll have solutions for it.”
“Yeah? Next, you’ll be telling me that
we’ll have flying wagons and horses.”
“We were thinking about that.”
“Whatever. Let’s go back home. We’re
supposed to be relaxing like we planned.”
While riding back, Icarus says to Atlas,
“I’m surprised that you came to see us.”
“Give Teela all the credit because
she was worried that would need our help. I was fine with letting you die if
you did get into trouble.”
“We both know that you would hate
yourself if you did let us die.”
“That thing better be worth it
because it’s hard to ride with it floating our horses.”
“It’s because they’re fighting it.
I’m sure we’ll find a way to better transport it.”
“Like what that flying horse idea?”
“You have to admit that it’s cool.”
“It kind of is.”
The four are shocked when they
arrive back home and see that the ground is falling down around it. Icarus gets
off his horse and uses the floating orb near the ground to save some of the houses
and people around it.
Once everyone is safe, Atlas goes
to him and says, “We can’t save this! You have to let it go!”
“No! We can save it! We just need
to repair it!”
“Do you think people will really
live in these floating crumbling buildings and walk on this floating ground?”
“…fine.”
Atlas helps Icarus get to safety
and lets the rest of their home falls down. The people of the town that
survived have many questions for Icarus and he answers some of them until he
tells them to be quiet for his important plan.
He explains that, “With this and
many more of these orbs, we can save not only ourselves but the rest of
humanity. We must find the rest and learn how to make them so that this threat
of the earth falling from underneath us and losing our homes will be completely
erased.”
“But where we will find a new home?”
“I think the best place to go is
the kingdom with the lush farmland. Why wouldn’t they accept us with this in
our position and the best warriors and knowhow in making weapons?”
The people talk amongst themselves for a bit until they decide to go with Icarus’ plan. Atlas and Icarus lead their people to the kingdom of lush farmland and reach an agreement with its people to accept them with their offerings and the orb. Days and days pass by as Icarus gets the most knowledgeable and wise people in the land to help him with the orbs as word quickly spreads about it. More orbs are gathered and hope rises for the survival of humanity, but at the same time, tensions and conflict begin to rise over who controls the orbs and if they’ll be useful in the long term.
Chapter
1 – Ruins of Legacy
In the not so distant past of this
world, humanity was said to be advanced in technology and wealth. There were
towers said to have been made of gold, platinum, diamonds, and other valuable
materials. Each person could live up to two hundred years and have their own
land in the seemingly never-ending vast expanse that is the world we live in.
There were hardly any poor people in the world and those who were poor were never
far away from a person or organization that could help them. The people of this
time built up beautiful churches and statues in honor of God who they attributed
as the reason for their wealth and happiness, however, after a few generations
passed, they forgot about God and began engaging in all manner of debauchery
and evil.
Another three generations passed
and humanity had become almost entirely corrupt. As a result, God punished
humanity by making the ground fall out from under them. The once glorious towers
they erected were destroyed in mere moments. In the chaos, the only people who
escaped were the ones who carried few possessions with them while those who
tried to take as much as they could fell with civilization. Nothing could save
those who fell into the endless void in the world as millions of lives and
hundreds of years of research and technological advancement were lost. Those who
still genuinely worshiped God were saved along with some sinners who
prioritized their lives over their possessions.
Humanity learned from its mistakes,
but this wasn’t the end as they soon forgot the price of valuing their
possessions over God and indulging in sin. Because of this, the ground will
fall underneath a kingdom, nation, town, or wherever civilization or a group of
people may be and erase everything they’ve done so they can start again and
remember God who gives and takes away. Both the just and sinful can suffer this
cataclysmic event, although the just will continue on their way to start again
while those who are stuck in sin will eventually fall and disappear into nothing.
The tale of humanity’s fall is retold and the lessons retaught in various ways
so humanity can learn from their mistakes and prevent the world from falling
under them. In this world, two friends, Atlas and Icarus, are wandering the world
not too far from their homes as they search for new allies and resources. The
two young men ride around on their horses for hours until they take their break
at a place where a forest and desert meet.
As one looks out into the forest
while the other looks out into the desert, Icarus says, “Do you think there’s
an edge to the world or do you think that it’s all a circle? Atlas?”
“I don’t know. It’s not that important
as far as I know.”
“Why not?”
“Haven’t you heard the stories about
how people have traveled the world and haven’t been able to reach the end or
never got back?”
“Maybe the people who reached the
end fell off because they got to the place where the old kingdoms fell into the
abyss.”
“They’d have to go pretty far if that’s
the case.”
“Why aren’t you worried about the
possibility of that happening?”
“Because what you’re saying is just
a guess and because anything could happen at this point. We could reach a point
where God is content with us and the ground won’t fall out from under us anymore.
Maybe the ground will rise in places where it fell. The ground could fall out
from all around us and there wouldn’t be a thing we could do about it. Such is the
Divine Providence that we joyfully and willingly submit ourselves to.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t
worry?”
“I’m not the only one saying it. It’s
something that we are constantly reminded of. What’s the point of worrying anyway?”
“Because I have people I care
about. I know you do too because I’m one of them.”
“If you say you are.”
“What? I’m not?”
“I’m kidding.”
“Take this seriously, Atlas.”
“I am. That’s why I trust God and
do what I think He wants me to do. It’s all we can do.”
“I think there’s more we can do.
There’s some other option that God has given us, but we haven’t seen it yet.”
“Tell me when you find it. We should
get going before it gets dark.”
Atlas and Icarus keep moving until
they come across the ruins of a kingdom. Most of it has fallen into the abyss
while some of it lays in ruins. Icarus looks into the dark abyss and imagines
the bottom with people screaming for help. This nightmarish image in his head
captivates him until Atlas shakes him awake from it.
“Staring at it isn’t going to make
it go away,” Atlas says.
“I know, I know. Why do you think
the ruins of this kingdom are here? Usually, buildings and castles fall backward,
not forwards,” Icarus notes.
“I don’t know. My best guess is
that it acts as a reminder of God’s providence for the people who lived here.”
“Do you think that the people that
lived here come back to honor their dead?”
“Most likely. It would explain the
lack of supplies and valuables here and the stones with names on them.” The
ground starts to shake as they talk. “We have to go!”
Atlas and Icarus make their way through
the rubble of the kingdom until Icarus stops to grab a gravestone. It isn’t
until Atlas gets near his horse does he notice that Icarus is lagging behind.
The ruins of the decimated kingdom fall to the abyss while Icarus is barely outrunning
the falling ground.
“Atlas!”
“Of all the things to save…”
As the ground falls under Icarus,
he throws the gravestone ahead of him so he can leap forward and hold onto the
ground with both hands. Atlas helps him up as they look out at the abyss behind
them where the ruins once were.
“Thanks.”
Atlas hits Icarus on the head before
saying, “Was that really worth it? What was so special about that one
gravestone that you had to risk your life to save it?”
“It’s special to the person who
left it here so at least they’ll have something to remember their loved one by.”
“And everyone else will have to make
new gravestones. Next time let the dead bury their dead or you’ll end up like
them. We should go.”
Icarus sets up the gravestone and leaves
the area with Atlas. They get back to their home. Their town is comprised of a large
building made of stone in the center with other buildings scattered around it.
There are lookout towers around the gates of the town and a fairly high wall surrounding
it. When Icarus and Atlas go to the center building to report their findings,
they almost interrupt a debate between the elders of the town.
“We can’t live like this. The land
we live on isn’t farmable no matter what kind of seeds we use, we don’t have
any cattle, and our trading partners have quite literally fallen away from us.”
“But staying here gives us access
to the nearby mines so we can make our weapons, which are the only valuables
that we use to trade beside our own soldiers. Moving away means that we will
not have a claim to it and other people might take it from us.”
“Fine, but isn’t there any way to
move to better land or get our partners to trade more? Our people barely have
enough to live on and our storage is quickly depleting.”
“Not without risking our most valuable
asset. Our partners are struggling more than we are so they’re not likely to
let us share their land.”
“Hoarders. Their land is lush with
miles and miles of farmable land and it isn’t enough for them?”
“They have more people to feed.”
“And we have people of our own.
Atlas, Icarus. Have you found anything or anyone willing to work with us?”
“We haven’t yet, sir. We’ve only
found the ruins of another kingdom,” Atlas says.
“God help us all then.”
“We’ve been in this area for over a
year and we’re still alive. There’s no reason to lose hope.”
“Atlas is right. Ladies and
gentlemen, I think it is time to end this looping conversation and do what we can
about them. Dismissed.”
Atlas and Icarus give their report,
get their payment of a meager supply of food and water, and go their separate
ways. Atlas then runs into his best friend, Teela.
“It’s about time that you got back,”
she says with a smile, “What did you find out there?”
“Nothing much other than the ruins
of a kingdom.”
“That’s interesting and rare to
find. What did you bring back for me?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? When will you bring me
something? Icarus is always bringing his wife something.”
“There was nothing at the ruins. If
Icarus brought home something, it would be a gravestone. He tried to save one
and it almost got him killed.”
“You know how sentimental he can
be. At least you’re always there to save him.”
“I know, but still. I wished he
just didn’t worry as much.”
“And I wished you worried more.”
“Worry can lead to paranoia and is
the opposite of faith, so no. I think I ‘worry’ enough.”
“You know what I mean. So, you have
the day off. What are we going to do tomorrow?”
“Go to daily mass, make my
sacrifice, then pass the time with Icarus, his wife, and you. I can’t think of
a better day.”
“How come you always have to go to
daily mass and make sacrifices? You could use that time to get extra sleep.”
“Daily masses and sacrifices are
proven to make it less likely that God will make the ground fall from under us.
Besides, daily mass is only thirty minutes and food given to charity is a
sacrifice well spent. It’s not like there’s anything else that I want to trade
my payment with.”
“You could trade it for something
for me.”
“Sure.”
“Do you promise?”
“I don’t make promises that I don’t
keep.”
“That’s one good thing about your
no-nonsense attitude. I’ll be eagerly awaiting my ‘surprise’ gift.”
“Tch, sure.”
Teela hugs Atlas goodbye as he goes back home to rest for the day. While he sleeps, he has a dream about the ground falling beneath him. Everyone he knows falls down. Besides himself, very few people from the town survive. He awakes and thanks God that the dream was just a dream and prays for mercy for his town and other places then goes back to sleep.
