Chapter
3 – Fading Pride to Nothing
The world is being drowned in a
constant rainstorm. Now I know why God has a group of people making an ark. As
for everyone else, the rich and powerful stay in their castles and act as if
nothing is happening while the lowly and poor struggle even more to get by and
find high places like mountains to settle in since many farms and low-income
areas have been ruined by the rain. In fact, the rain is so bad that some
places have to be accessed by boat now because of the constantly rising water
level. I don’t think I’ve missed the dry days more than I do now.
People are so afraid of the rain
now that they’re beginning to build their own arks and rafts to build
settlements on. Right now, I’m not too far from the ark made by the fellow worshippers
of my God, but for some reason, my God has made my body stay a fair distance away
from them. Since I’m not doing anything, I look at myself in the reflection of
the water and admire the cool black mask I have.
“I wonder why the design is the way
it is,” I wonder out loud.
“It’s a mask of shame that pays
reparation for your sins,” I hear my God say.
“Huh? What sin?”
“Notice the two mouths on it and
dull gold crown. These are representative of your two-faced personality.”
“What are You talking about? I’m
not a dishonest person.”
“You say you want to serve Me, but
do you do that because you love Me or because you want honor, fame, and to be
known as a legend?”
“I want to serve You. It’s the
right thing to do after all and is it so wrong to hope for some kind of reward
afterward?”
“Love is no debt. You serve someone
because you love them and the reward is the service itself. Everything that
comes after that is secondary and a result of the person loving you back.”
“The reward is secondary to me, I swear!”
The rain seems to get worse as lightning
and thunder fill the sky. Looking at the ground, I see that the water is noticeably
rising slowly. I try to move my legs toward the ark but find myself unable to
walk.
“What’s going on?!” I ask.
“You are to stay here and defend
the ark as the water rises. Behold what’s ahead of you,” my God says. In the
distance, I see hundreds of armed men and women charging this way. “You will be
defending against them. The so-called heroes that you’ve been bringing justice
to have made this battle easier for you.”
“What about my safety? Will I be
able to get on the ark after the battle? Can I even defeat so many enemies?”
“The ark contains my most faithful.
As for you, the waters of battle will clean your soul. We’ll see about the
salvation of your soul after.”
My body readies itself for battle
before charging at the approaching army. I guess there’s nothing more to be
said. The salvation of my soul was mentioned but nothing about the saving of my
life. Does that mean that this is where I die? Have I really been so sinful
that my God is throwing me at His enemies to battle them and dispose of me by
allowing me to drown out here? The intense battle I’m in distracts me from thinking
about this question for now but it still gnaws at my mind. Even seeing the many
heroes of renown and living legends isn’t enough to distract me from wanting to
think about saving my life.
As the battle continues and dozens
of people fall to the power of my God that is channeled through me, the water
steadily rises and before I know it, the water level is passed my hips.
Everyone is now wading through the water with some even choosing to ignore me
and just make a run for the ark even as I cut down those close to them one
after the other. I’m still a fair distance away from the ark and am tempted to
try to move myself towards it. At this point, I must’ve killed hundreds of people
and more are still coming, however, they are all slowed down by the water and
some of them are retreating. The waters themselves are starting to become
violent as large waves begin to form. They crash into the attackers and sweep
some away in their tide.
Now, I’m standing on top of the
water that was about to pass my neck. Looking back at the ark, I see that
it is beginning to rise with the waves and is being carried by it away from me.
My legs finally move towards it, however, dozens upon dozens of humongous waves
are coming at me. Thankfully, my arms use their power to cut their way through
them and my legs propel me into the air to fly through and over them. Everything
seems like it’s going to work out in the end until I stop flying and get caught
in the waves. Under the water, I see the people I was fighting against drowning
and being eaten by sea creatures and monsters that seem almost as big as the
ark and the biggest castles I’ve seen and that are as long as the walls that
protect the biggest cities. My legs propel me upwards and allow me to stand on
the water.
As I look around, I see that the
ark has disappeared, and have no clue where it can be. My legs are no longer
allowing me to fly or walk anywhere and I start to panic because of it. At
least the waters are beginning to calm down along with the storm. This comfort is soon shattered as I see something large below the waters rise to the
surface and then emerge. It causes the waves to ripple and seemingly makes the
storm resume its ragging. This creature is comprised of wings, a body with a hole
in its chest, and three heads with long serpent-like necks. One head seems to
be made of gold with golden teeth, gold skin, yellow eyes, and a golden crown. Another
head seems angelic with a halo around its head that has long flowing blonde
hair. Lastly, the third head seems the most human with beige skin, black hair,
and a gray crown. This last head reminds me the most of my own face because of
how similar it looks.
“Who are you?” I ask the creature.
They all say in one voice while pointing at me, “We are
the god that the men of the world bow down to. Many you have met and slain, who
were legends, and the children of angels and men were our faithful, and now,
only you remain on the earth besides those on the ark.”
“Your God has abandoned you but we
are still here,” the golden head says, “All the honored men are dead, their
legacies erased, the once great cities are rubble, and those who will find the rubble
will not recognize them as pieces of architecture and art without a healthy use
of their imagination. The manuscripts that detailed their stories are ruined
and no one will tell of their accomplishments. You, however, can be the richest
man alive and many will tell your story if you overtake the ark.”
“There’s not only that,” the
human-like face says, “Kill the men on the ark, take their women for yourself,
and your blood will be the blood of everyone who will survive the flood. You
will have an eternal legacy.”
“In addition,” the angelic face interjects,
“You will be known as the most virtuous man alive because you will hold the
most power in the world and will get to define what is right and wrong. Many
will make churches and statues in your honor and no god, not even your own,
will ever be worshipped as much as you will be.”
“How will you gain the power to do
this all you may be thinking?” all three heads say at once, “You will do this
by bowing down to us. This is the only way to become powerful, a legend like
you’ve always dreamed of. This is the only way to save your life.”
This is all too overwhelming.
“Decide. Time is short and you will
soon be swallowed by the waves if you don’t accept our offer.”
I don’t know what to do.
“Your God has abandoned you to die.
We are your only hope for salvation.”
I guess there’s only one thing to
do as there’s always been. I let my God have control over my body and my arms
move on their own to create a large wave that crushes both the creature and me.
As I descend down with it, the mask that couldn’t be removed from my face falls
off and sinks faster along with the creature. Both are swallowed by the
darkness of the abyss, but for some reason, I stop in place. In the blink of an
eye, I find myself in a garden that feels better to be in than the earth I was
once on, though I wouldn’t call it Heaven for some reason. This must be the
underworld.
Looking around me, I can for some
reason recognize people as being the virtuous servants of my God with two of
them being distinct since they were the first man and woman. These people
welcome and congratulate me for making it here. They explain that this is the
place where they must wait until our God comes for us to take us up to Heaven. I
guess I was worthy of being saved after all. I’m fine with waiting down here
knowing this though I do feel anxious to get to Heaven. In the end, I recognize
that saving my life and becoming a living legend was a vain and silly goal to
strive towards because the true goal of my life was to always serve my God and
make it to Heaven to be at His side forevermore.
The End
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