Holy Darkness: Chapter 3 – A Home in the Ruins

“People will know that the end of the world is near when the City of Light that the one true apostle founded has fallen. The faithful are instructed to end their lives so that their souls may seek shelter in Heaven. Those who are untrusting of God’s protection must wander the Earth to inform the pitiful outsiders of what they know and bring as many to the truth as possible before it’s too late. Know that riches and good health are the signs of the faithful while suffering and poverty are signs of damnation. Do not accept any god who teaches the opposite.” – according to the Sacred Scriptures of Truth and Light

Chapter 3 – A Home in the Ruins

While Matteo is traveling through the ruins that his black roses have caused, he sees many poor people from the Exclusion Zone taking refuge in the ruins of the city. Some praise God and start to set up tables for a party. A group of people from the city approach these people and threaten them with weapons for celebrating the city’s fall. Matteo intervenes and as soon as he is seen, the attackers fire their weapons of light at him only for the light to be swallowed into Matteo’s darkness and his black roses and thorns to drag his attackers into the ground. Those who didn’t attack beg for mercy or run away.

Unsure of what to say to those who ask for mercy, God inspires Matteo to say, “Rise and sin no more. Be at peace because God knows the sincerity of your repentance.”

Hearing this fills these people with hope as they thank Matteo for telling them this. They then join those from the Exclusion Zone in preparing to celebrate. Matteo leaves the area before they ask him to join them. There are a couple other confrontations like this that Matteo comes across that he intervenes in before he makes it back home to find that everyone is already in the city making their home in it.

Matteo is happy to see this, however, God says, “They are mingling with dangerous people. We must separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“Who is who? Tell me who to get rid of it and it will happen,” Matteo says while being anxious to protect the people from his home.

“Appear to them, speak, and then you will see.”

Doing as God says, Matteo appears to the people from his home and those from the city. The people from the city cower in fear as they say that he is the Black Rose that they’ve been referring to. Matteo tries to tell them who he really is and the reason why he did everything that he’s done, but no one believes him as they think that he got his powers from the devil. Black thorns come up from the ground and take away everyone back into the ground.

“What…what happened?” Matteo asks.

“They weren’t willing to trust you despite the good that’s been done through you. All they saw was the destruction and thought that it was unjust,” God says.

“So, what’s going to happen to them?”

“They’re going to live on their own away from those who choose Me.”

“What are we going to do? Create our own Exclusion Zones?”

“It’s not going to be like how it was before. I will send people to change their minds and put them in a situation where their penance will attempt to open their minds.”

“If You say so. Tell me something that will make me sure that life will be better from here. We’ve destroyed an entire city of happy people who’ve either killed themselves or are living miserable lives now with only a few of them seeing the light in the darkness.”

“The City of Light no longer lives in a state of sin that damns millions of people to Hell. It’s better for people to live humble lives filled with struggles than for them to live comfortable sinful lives because those who sit in the comfort of their own sin will go to Hell while those who struggle will find their eternal rest in Me. None of the luxuries that the City of Light enjoyed could be saved because it all operated on sin, pride, and greed so they all had to be done away with. You know this to be true, which is one of the reasons why I chose you to be my servant to carry out My will.”

“Okay, okay. I understand.”

God instructs Matteo to go through the City of Light to separate the repentant from the sinful until he is told to visit one area of the city on the sea. Matteo goes to this location to find a single girl that looks to be his age looking out at the sea.

“Go to her and explain who you are. She will be your lifelong companion,” God instructs.

“She’ll accept me despite this look of mine?” Matteo asks.

“She will. Don’t be afraid of her or her opinion. You’ve come this far and is she really who you’re most afraid of?”

“No-no!”

Matteo approaches the girl and introduces himself. To his surprise, the girl is thankful for what he’s done and believes him.

“Can…can I see your face?” the girl asks.

“Let her take off your mask,” God says in Matteo’s head.

“You can.”

The girl slowly takes off Matteo’s mask and smiles as she says, “You look cute.”

Flustered, Matteo says, “I-I do? I thought the thorns in the mask would do a number on my face and eyes. It sure felt like they did.”

“It doesn’t look like it did that much damage. Look at your reflection in the water.”

Matteo looks in the water and sees that he has very few scratches around his eyes and cheeks. Thankful for this, he thanks God and apologizes for his doubts. He is then instructed to gather people to where he is as these people become the ones to build his new town. As he grows older, he becomes the ruler of the town on the sea. His black thorns help him fish for food for his home and new family. These thorns are also used to defend the town from attackers and help him build a defensive wall and bridges to the nearby islands and land. The town later becomes the biggest in the world and the one that people flock to once they hear that he was the one who God used to bring about the world changing events. He then begins to see a bright future ahead for humanity that God told him about as he lives his new life as the hero who brought light to the world through darkness.