A Devil by Any Other Name: Chapter 3 – Of Rights and Control

“Because I work hard, I should be given what I deserve. Because I feel right in my beliefs, I must live the way I want. Because I want the world to improve, it should follow my design.”

-motto of the worshippers of the Red Serpent

Chapter 3 – Of Rights and Control

 “Declan, sir. It’s done,” a manager of the businessman says.

“I knew it would. I paid good money for it too. Now, enjoy the party. It’s just getting started,” Declan says while filling his plate with food.

Much like the best influencers and strategists, Declan executes his plans in total safety with security never too far from him and staying in buildings that are well-protected and hard to break into. None of the people he sends to take care of his competitors can be traced back to him and even if they can, Declan has such a sparkling reputation that no one would believe he would harm a fly and people call him the “delicate ruby”. It also helps that he has many lawyers, reporters, and investigators who will make him look innocent in the courtroom, on the news, and by erasing the evidence, if necessary. His goal is simply to create a better world or at least a better world for himself and those he cares for, a common goal shared by everyone in power and who wants control over their world and life. Whether it’s through assassinations or ruining the reputation of another, there is nothing that Declan won’t do to get what he thinks he deserves.

“It was confirmed she was the only one, correct?” Declan asks his manager after the buffet dinner in his limo.

“Yes, and she passed painlessly and her death seemed to have been a result of her medical condition in her sleep, as you requested,” the manager confirms.

“Good, good.”

Unlike others, Declan is humanitarian in dealing with his competitors, to an extent. He is one of the few aware of the reality of his evil deeds and one of the even fewer who doesn’t call his evil deeds excusable. Declan first tries to befriend his enemies and give them reasons to work with them whether through bribery or extortion. If those don’t work, then he tries to ruin their reputation. After then and only then does he resort to hiring hitmen who will try to make their deaths appear as natural or accidental as possible and in the most painless of ways. It costs more, but to Declan, it’s worth it to honor his competitor. Because of his ways, when the Red Serpent, the dragon, descends upon him and the other influencers and leaders of the world during their secret ceremonies to receive its blessing in the secluded mountains of the east, he hardly gets its favor.

“You, Declan, are too soft to do what needs to be done. You must harden your heart and steel yourself if you want to help yourself and your loved ones,” the dragon says during one of his private prayer sessions.

“Tell me what I must do then,” he says.

“I am not a god though I give you blessings and you give me your devotion and sacrifices of wealth and blood. Do what your heart tells you because you are master over yourself. Do what you think is right and never doubt that you are.”

Declan has always been conflicted about this advice since doing what he’s wanted has always made him feel mixed, especially when he does evil things for his own greater good. He tries his best to only do evil things to those he considers evil and even when he does this, he feels empty. On his list of targets is a man who is said to be one that the serpents particularly favor, but unfortunately for Declan, he is unable to plan and hire an assassin before the man is able to receive the unique blessing from the serpents. One of his spies returns to him and reports what happened.

“The man was surprised that he had to sacrifice his family to obtain the blessing of the serpents and immediately regretted doing so afterward because he thought he could bring them back with his newly obtained power,” the spy says.

“Did the serpents mention that he could have this power to bring back the dead?” Declan asks.

“No, but they said they could give him great power and knowledge, so I’m assuming he thought he could have that. It was also hard to think while that ceremony was going on as if every bone and muscle in my body wanted to do as the serpents commanded. In fact, everyone who took part in it had to be restrained besides the priests. Much of what happened still feels like a hazy nightmare so I’m sorry that I can’t give you all the details.”

“I see. I won’t get that blessing from them then even if they say that I’ll be forfeiting all my possessions. What happened to him afterward?”

“He turned into a half-man, half-lizard freak, lost his mind, killed several of the priests with his bare hands, and then ran away. I have no idea where he is now, but we’ll find out. We won’t be able to miss a half-lizard man with eyes like that of a snake.”

“Let me know when you find him and tell me what he does. Make sure that he doesn’t know you’re following him and who sent you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Some time passes and Declan gets reports of the same man who turned half lizard tearing down shrines, sanctuaries, and places of power for the serpents, and with every report, Declan feels as if a chain is being removed from his mind as the influence of the serpents is lessened on the earth. He thinks more clearly and eventually comes to the conclusion that he should no longer serve them and do what they say but doesn’t know what to do yet. At first, he tries to go about business as usual pretending as if he’s still on their side, however, this grows harder and harder for him to do as the reality of serving wicked gods weighs heavier on his mind with each act done in their name and for their benefit. One night he secludes himself in his house, gets on his knees, and prays out to whoever can help him. He continuously prays like this for days until his pleas are finally answered when he least expects it.

While he and the other leaders of influence are in the secluded mountains to give sacrifice to the dragon and receive its blessing, the power goes out. During the confusion, he comes across the half-lizard man standing in his room in the shadows hardly illuminated by the moonlight. It’s as if he manifested himself from the shadows like a ghost. Before he can say anything, the man locks the door behind Declan and puts one hand over his mouth and another around his throat.

“Don’t scream or make this harder than it has to be,” the man says. Declan shakes his head to agree with him. “Good, now-”

“I know who you are! I’ll help you in whatever way you want. Please, just get me out of this!” Declan quickly says.

“How do you know me?”

“I’ve had my spies watch you but not interfere with what you were doing.”

“Really? So, I was being spied on. These abilities are still foreign to me. Why do you want to help me?”

“Because I’m done with this life of serving serpents and pretending to be their slave. I’m done doing both good and evil for myself and them.” It’s then that Declan wonders if he’s done anything good in his life and pauses to consider it and nervously struggles to think of one truly good deed as if he is being judged in a courtroom. “Have I ever done anything good?”

“It’s not too late. You can make up for what you’ve done by helping me get to the top of the mountain so I can dethrone the dragon. Now, hold still.” The man takes a needle out of his pocket and takes some of Delcan’s blood. “Thank you. Now, you can leave.”

“What? That was it?”

“Yeah. I needed your blood for the machine to access the top floor.”

“I know that, but shouldn’t I do more to make up for what I’ve done?”

“I’ve thought that very thing too. The truth is that there’s no such thing as doing enough to make up for the sins of our past. What we must do is confess our wrongs every time we sin and dedicate our lives to make things right.”

“So, that’s it then? Okay…okay. I figured the cost of my redemption would be my life. I’ll distract everyone while you head to the top.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I mean that you should live the rest of your life doing the right thing.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Ask the Message. Pray to it. It’ll show you the truth. That’s how I changed.”

“Given that you did change and that my prayers were answered today, I’ll believe you.”

“Take care of yourself, your family, and loved ones, and seek the messengers. May the Message fill you with the truth.”

After letting Declan go, the man makes his way through the darkness and panic and makes it to the top of the mountain, which is heavily guarded. Seeing that there’s no way around the guards, the man uses his superhuman strength to tear through them and suffers no injury even though he is shot by their guns and stabbed by their swords. The man then goes up to the bloodied gold dragonhead near the door to the mountaintop that has not opened yet since it has only been lightly sprayed by blood. It is only after the man feeds the dragonhead the blood of Declan does the door open. Looking back at the dead guards and his own hands, he silently prays for their souls and that he never has to kill again. He was hoping that the chaos would draw them away from the door and patrol the halls like the other guards, but his previous actions of dethroning the eel and the maggot must’ve made security extra tight around the dragon.

Leaving his regrets behind him, the man continues to the mountaintop where the dragon is already waiting for him. The golden light of the dragon makes the man feel as if a halo is forming around his head. Feelings of pride and happiness begin to fill him and make him feel like the king of the world and proud of every action he’s taken.

“All hail the greatest hero of our times, slayer of gods, conqueror of serpents and temptations,” the dragon says.

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear your flattery, devil!” the man says as he struggles to approach the dragon to deliver the bronze serpent to it.

“Devil? Now, that’s a word I haven’t heard in a while. There are no devils here. Only gods and men.”

“The only kind of gods here are self-proclaimed and the men are slaves.”

“You are right, but you are above them all. No one has done what you’ve done in centuries. You deserve to dictate what’s right and wrong, how nature works, and what the fabric of reality contains like a true god above all.”

“I deserve no such thing. I am just a man who gives into temptation just like every man, and I strive to be better than what I am just like every man should.”

Now the bronze serpent leaps from the man and bites the dragon. Despite its small size, the serpent’s body seems to stretch indefinitely and reaches the dragon in an instant. The dragon screams in pain and the force of its scream is enough to blow the snow off the mountain and cause an avalanche. It then tries to bite off the serpent, but only breaks its teeth and pains itself further. Meanwhile, the serpent’s bite causes the dragon to turn from red and gold to brown and rusty. In a desperate attempt to get it off the dragon flies up to the sky, however, the serpent doesn’t let go and wraps the other end of its body around the man’s arm to take him with it.

As the man flies upward, he feels the gravity shift as if he is falling rather than ascending. He closes his eyes as the feeling intensifies until he feels it suddenly lift. When he opens his eyes, he sees that he’s in a golden array of clouds. In front of him, the dragon is being brought back into the body of a towering white hydra via a part of it taking it back in, which is strange to him since he had not seen the white part of the hydra attached to it. Still, the two bodies connect naturally suggesting that the part of the dragon’s body connecting it to the hydra was always there and just invisible to his eyes and mortal mind. The man can see the bodies of the maggot and the eel trying to reform themselves on the body of the hydra. Additionally, he can see other serpents on the hydra such as vipers, cobras, basilisks, nagas, worms, men becoming serpents, and many others, and a snake at the center that is crowned with golden light.

In one voice, the serpents say, “Glory to you, man above men. You are worthy of becoming one of us. Take your rightful place among us and rule the world as a god.”

“No, I’m not! I am only worthy of what the Message says I am worthy of,” the man responds as his mind is being attacked by intense temptations.

“Who else has done what you have? Look upon us. Every other person who has become lizard-like as you immediately bent their knee and submitted their consciousness to us. You, on the other hand, have been defiant, and through it, victorious over the eel, maggot, and dragon. What do you call a being that slays gods other than a greater god? A supreme god?”

“I am no god! I am a man! I don’t have the right to decide what’s right and wrong.”

“If you join us, you will. You will have worshippers, power over the earth, and everything you could possibly want such as a family to keep happy.” The man breaks free his frozen legs and moves forward with the bronze snake still on his arm. He moves his hand as if trying to control it and make it destroy the hydra, however, it doesn’t move. “The Message won’t help you. It’s nothing without you as it is proving now. The truth is that you are the reason you are here. Everything you’ve done is a result of your own power and not that of a small serpent that is inferior to us.”

“No, no, you’re wrong. I have done nothing. Everything good I’ve done was the Message working through me. Everything evil I’ve done is the result of my own will. Without it, I’m nothing, and with it, I am blessed to be its tool. I am a man, not a god. You are no god either. Behold who the true God is.”

The bronze serpent comes to life, stretches itself, and tears through the heads of the hydra as if its head were a sharp blade. It chops off the head of every serpent until it comes to the snake at the center and bites its head off before vomiting it out. Once the hydra is dead, the golden clouds become dark and disappear beneath the man. Meanwhile, the hydra’s body decomposes and turns to ash as it falls to the ground. As the man falls, he closes his eyes and accepts an impending death while at peace that he’s made up for everything he’s done, however, he’s surprised to wake up on the ground as if he were napping there this entire time.

Finding himself outside of a city, he looks out at it and wonders what he’s supposed to do now. The bronze serpent crawls out of the man’s bandages and points toward the city to answer his question. He laughs and then breathes in and out.

“Okay, let’s get back to work. There’s still more to make right. I am your messenger. Lead on and let me know where the truth needs to be delivered next,” the man says to the serpent as it guides him forward to his next destination.

 

The End