King's and the Decay They Inherit: Chapter 3 – One’s Sin, One’s Destruction

Chapter 3 – One’s Sin, One’s Destruction

Generations have passed since Gabriel’s father died and now, Aziel and Gabriel are men that are hundreds of years old. In concise terms, they are the great-great-great-great grandfathers to their newest grandchild who just call them great grandfather. They pillaged and conquered the Anathema region dry and have expanded the territories of their kingdoms and the territories they don’t own are either already owned by other kingdoms or under the control of other kingdoms that are under their servitude. Since there are seemingly no enemies to fight, the brother kingdoms, Benevolus and Fidelis, have additional sports, sparring, and other competitive events for bragging rights and who decides what happens with the kingdoms that serve them.

When Aziel wins, he loosens the penances on these kingdoms while Gabriel tightens the rules. This obviously divides them with Fidelis being considered more virtuous than Benevolus, and in turn, more people support Fidelis over Benevolus. Small riots and protests that sometimes erupt into violence have been happening all over the land because of Benevolus’ treatment of the kingdoms under it with some kings and queens begging Aziel to take action against his cousin rather than continue this back and forth of loosening and tightening the rule. One such king talks to him before Aziel and Gabriel’s next public sparring match.

“The lives of my people and the lives of others aren’t a prize that should be won by some stupid games. You should know better, Grand King Aziel,” the foreign king says

“I know that, but Gabriel doesn’t see it that way. Even after all these years, his father's death and destruction wrought in his house still weigh heavy on him because he lets it. The only thing I can do is humble him with defeat during our matches,” Aziel admits.

“A large part of me wants to not believe you, but you’re right. God help us all.”

“Be sure to be on your best behavior and remind the others to do the same. Those riots and protests that have been happening haven’t helped his view of you.”

“There isn’t much I can do about it when there’s so much unrest among the nations.”

“I understand. Just do your best and put your trust in God.”

Gabriel enters the room where the foreign king and Aziel are and says, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

“It’s nothing. Are you ready to lose again?”

“I should be asking you that since I’m ready to win. What do you think, sir? Who do you think will win?” Gabriel asks the foreign king.

“Um. Whoever God deems worthy of victory.”

“That’s a good way to say that I will win. Thank you.”

“I’ll be taking my leave then. Good day to you, grand kings.”

The foreign king leaves the two so he can get to his seat where his family is waiting for him.

“What did he want? He’s not another royal asking for more handouts, is he?” Gabriel asks.

“No,” Aziel says in a half-truth.

“Good because I’m tired of hearing it every time they see me. I’m sure you’re tired too because they go to you the most since you actually give those ungrateful snubs what they want.”

“Look, you already know what I’m going to say, so let’s get this fight over with to see who God deems to be right.”

“Yes, let’s see who’s right especially since this match will be different from the others.”

“Do you really want to use our normal weapons for this?”

“I do. It’s not like we can die from them.”

“But we still feel pain.”

“That’s no problem for me. I have endured more pain than you after all. Can you handle it?”

Not wanting to argue with Gabriel on this, Aziel says he can before the two go out to the arena to fight. The crowd is mixed with people who are cheering for their preferred king. More than half of everyone cheer for Aziel while fewer cheer for Gabriel. There are no children in the crowd because of the nature of the fight and there are many guards scattered among the crowd to control it in the event of a riot. The fight starts and Gabriel takes the advantage by being aggressive. He closes the gap between him and Aziel so that Aziel is unable to effectively use his spear. Seeing this, the crowd increasing becomes restless as they cheer louder for Aziel.

Aziel can hardly get any meaningful hits in until he takes a risk by directly taking a hit to the face. He gains a fair amount of distance because of this as he uses his spear to keep Gabriel at a distance while Gabriel is unable to get close to him. To end the fight, Aziel sticks his spear through Gabriel’s chest and pins him to the ground. This makes most of the crowd erupt in cheer. With the fight over, Aziel helps Gabriel up.

“Sorry if that was a bit much,” Aziel confesses.

“Ah, I would’ve done the same thing. At least I got to mess up that princely face of yours,” Gabriel jokingly says.

“Heh, and at least I got to mess up that gruff look on your face.”

“Congratulations, Grand King Aziel!” the announcer of the games says, “With that first act, the lead is secured for Fidelis, but will Benevolus come in to steal their thunder? Stick around to find out!”

Gabriel and Aziel head back to their families who were anxiously waiting for them as they berate them for the bloody match they just had. After that, they go watch the games together while back talking and gloating when their teams are winning as typical people do while watching sports. The number of games won is tied. Aziel and Gabriel watch the game with anticipation until one of their messengers comes to them with urgent news.

“The Flame of Cognizance is fading further still and shows no sign of improving,” the messenger says.

“That would explain the recent chaos in the kingdoms. What do you think we should do, Gabriel?”

“Nothing. We hold the line and continue with the festivities. It gives people something to distract themselves with while reminding them to focus on servitude to God, their kingdoms, and their families.”

“I think they’re more concerned about who’s going to win and the laws associated with that rather than those things.”

“Regardless, the Flame is kept alight by the faithful. We do what we can and let God handle the rest. Speaking about that look, who’s about to win.”

Benevolus takes the win for the last event resulting in his overall victory. A majority of the crowd isn’t pleased with this, and in some cases, results in the loss of their faith.

“Congratulations on your victory, cousin. May God grant you the grace you need to properly set the rules for the kingdoms under us.”

“Thank you. My firm hand will protect us, guide the blind, and punish the guilty. Come, let us go to the people so I can make my speech to them.”

As the kings make their way to the stage where Gabriel can make his speech, a violent riot has already broken out.

“Aziel, use your flame to make them listen to me,” Gabriel requests.

“Try actually giving your speech first. Me forcing them to listen probably won’t make us look well to those unaffected.”

“Right.”

Gabriel tries to give his speech, but the noise from the riots is so loud that no one, even Gabriel can hear himself talk. Both he and the rioters become so infuriated that people start throwing rotten fruit and even sharp objects at him. Aziel finally uses his golden flame to quell the riot before Gabriel can kill them all by himself. The kings read the souls of the rioters and come to their own conclusions.

“They shall all be publicly executed,” Gabriel judges.

“No, they should be jailed for a short period of time,” Aziel contradicts.

“Jailed?! Do you think that throwing blades at a king is properly punished by a slap on the wrist?”

“Look at their souls again. They weren’t doing this with a clear mind. They were affected by the Flame’s fading.”

“Then they’ll go to Purgatory after their deaths.”

“Stop! I won’t let you do this. There are children among them.”

“I am the one that God has deemed to be worthy of making these decisions. Stop me and I will consider you to be my enemy.”

“No, Gabriel!”

Gabriel raises his mace to crush those in front of him. He then quickly brings it down but is stopped halfway by Aziel’s spear.

“I said stop!” Aziel says as he tries to use his golden flame.

“Your weak temptation cannot control my will!” Gabriel says as he uses his red flame to power himself up.

“Get these people out of here!”

“Don’t you let any of the traitors escape alive!”

Aziel’s guards take the rioters away while Gabriel’s guards try to prevent them as the two grand kings fight each other. What ends up happening is a bloody slaughter as both sides kill each other with no survivors other than the two seemingly immortal kings and those not involved in the fight. In addition to this, supporters of Aziel who see their chance to separate themselves from the grip of Gabriel fight back against his supporters and this ends in a conflict as well with many dead as a result. After hours of fighting, the kings have nearly stripped each other’s flesh off their bodies as they appear to be corpses with fire emanating from them.

“Enough!” Aziel says.

“Do you admit defeat?!” Gabriel says as he tries to continue the fight.

“Look around us! Our people lie dead around us and we appear to be more dead than alive.”

“That is the reward of your treachery. I can see it on your soul.”

“You are just imagining it!”

Reinforcements come in as both sides clash among the king’s fight, and seeing as how no one will win, Aziel uses the chaos to slip away before ordering his men to retreat. Gabriel continues his hunt for his cousin as he chases him on his horse and with his army. Aziel doesn’t get far until Gabriel’s forces catch up to him but at the same time, Aziel’s supporters come in with whatever forces they had nearby to support him. News of their fight reaches the ears of their families who boldly got out to battle for their respective great grandfathers. They meet each other on the field of battle and fight to the death. Aziel watches Gabriel’s family kill his own, which sends him into a rage as he only sees who killed them but not who they were. After he takes his revenge, he realizes who he’s killed and falls to his knees in grief as he clutches the body of one of his great grandchildren that he killed.

Gabriel sees this and charges towards Aziel while knocking over and smashing anyone in his way. The grand kings then clash again and again, uselessly stab and strike each other to no effect. They keep fighting out of anger until they start to use the full effect of their flames. This results in an explosion that leaves a crater across the land as if a mountain fell out of the sky. No one survives this explosion except for those who already escaped the area. Because of the messengers that survived, the battle between Benevolus and Fidelis continues for generations until both kingdoms turn each other to dust.

The end of time comes as the final bell tolls. Aziel and Gabriel rise from the still blood-soaked ashes of their graves surrounded by the ruins of their kingdoms. These two grand kings are nothing but black skeletons now and their royal robes and crowns are decayed and ruined by time and battle. With the battle happening seemingly centuries ago, the cousins aren’t angered at the sight of one another.

Aziel approaches Gabriel and says, “This is the result of our sin, cousin. I am sorry for killing our family.”

“No, your sin is not as great as mine. I was blinded by my feelings to protect my family. God allowed me to watch what happened after we died and I was horrified,” Gabriel confesses, “I am sorry.”

“I’ve seen what lead up to this point as well. It is the end of time and the last mercy God gave us is to look at our ruin.”

“There’s no use feeling bad about it. It’s not like an act of penance will repair the damage we did since the final bell tolled. Tell me, can you still read my soul? Is it stained with sin?”

“It is, but your soul still shines with grace. What of mine?”

“It’s the same as mine. We were blinded by our emotions and the fading of the Flame of Cognizance, so I guess our salvation is still assured despite our horrible sins, and this is our Purgatory-like punishment until the last day is done.”

“Glory be to God for His mercy.”

“Hey, since there’s really nothing for us to do, why don’t we spar again for old time’s sake?”

“And risk another explosion because of the clashing of our flames?”

“We’ve fought before and it’s only happened once probably because of our sin. Come on. There’s no harm in it now that our fates are sealed.”

“Hmm. Okay, but are you sure do you want to fight with that rusted broken joke of a weapon?”

“I could ask the same of you. This is my family’s heirloom. It will serve me until it is dust, and when it’s dust, I will use my fists until they are dust as well. What say you?”

“I say the same. Let’s see who wins before the world ends.”

Aziel and Gabriel fight as they did in the days when they were young. All the power and riches they had are like the ashes and ruins among them, which is the end result of all earthly power and riches. The only thing they have left is their familial bond and state of their soul, the real treasures that matter to God while all else is meaningless.

 

The End