Through Hell to Heaven: Chapter 2 – Learning to be a Helping Hand

Chapter 2 – Learning to be a Helping Hand

This floating city is certainly strange. It looks like the futuristic cities from the past, however, these are well preserved compared to those I’ve seen in the Americas that are in a lesser condition or complete ruin. Despite seeming more advanced than anything I’ve seen, these buildings are taken care of in a primitive way with people using tools and paint to upkeep the ancient buildings all of which appear to be churchlike in design. These people better have what I’m looking for to get the Pope’s help and defeat Priscilla or else I’ll kill them all. I’ve also never slept with a fish woman so that may be something worth experiencing on the way out or maybe I should take one with me on the way out.

“Distract him from his thoughts, Titus,” God says.

“What’s it like in the Americas, Leif? The Lord generally told me about Priscilla’s powers to bend people’s minds but didn’t go into much detail,” Fr. Titus says.

“She can distort your perception of reality to the point where you think you’re in control while not having the least bit. Her goal is to put the entire world under the same dream reality that Evander had it under,” I say.

“Evander? You mean the king of the elves and the oldest man alive?” Lucy asks.

I explain to the three what Priscilla told me about Evander, how he put the entire world under a dream reality to forcefully put it at peace and submit to God, how the dream was broken by an unlikely sinner, how we met, what I did to her, and that she’s trying to do the same.

Continuing, I say, “I thought I had her under my control, but she turned on me and ended up killing many of my friends, family, wives, and children, especially my newborn child that I had with her that she sacrificed to gain the power she has now.”

“That’s horrible!” Lucy says.

“I admit that I feel a bit sorry for you despite the torture you did to Priscilla. I don’t know why though,” Gerardus says.

“You have the virtue of sympathy for sinners. Well, if anything, be content in knowing that your infant child went to Limbo and will go to Heaven like your father probably is,” Fr. Titus says.

The thought of the fate of my family’s and friend’s souls enters my mind. My father said that my mother embraced God like he did and was sure she was in a better place. What about my other children? Are they in Heaven or whatever Limbo is? I don’t know why the thought is taking priority in my mind now of all times when I hardly cared about the afterlife not too long ago.

“I’ve always assumed that a better afterlife was taken or earned from the gods and goddesses. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what my father and mother did,” I say.

“Your father and mother earned Heaven insofar that they did what the Lord said and became justified through Him. They didn’t earn it through work but through love, faith, and dedication,” Fr. Titus says.

Now, thoughts of the afterlife and getting into Heaven won’t stop bothering me. I knew that allowing God into my mind was dangerous and would override what I knew to be true just as he did with my father. Before I was able to keep it at bay, but the more I learn, the more part of me wants to learn, to do what God says, and I don’t know why that part of me is there.

“What sort of poison do you put in your truth?” I say.

“Your heart was made by me, for me, and will soon be mine. My truth is no poison but is the cure by being pure truth that resonates with my creation,” God says.

“Sure, keep thinking that if it makes you happy. It’s still a long shot.”

While I’m preoccupied with my thoughts, I hardly realize that the three fishmen have taken me to a large cathedral that has statues of saints, people, and their God on spires most of which appear to be in good condition. Inside, Fr. Titus leads me to a place where I take off my damaged armor and am given a black shawl and armored skirt to wear. This place looks much like the more advanced churches I’ve raided in the Americas, however, the crowd gathering around a priest gets my attention. The priest who is at the center of the crowd is being given food, some kind of pretty sea plant, and statues. One statue of their mother, Mary, is given to the priest, slips from the priest’s hands, and shatters on the floor, silencing the crowd.

Something about the priest’s careless action and attitude about the statue being broken sets me off, for some reason and I don’t know why. Getting closer to the crowd and looking at the shattered statue, I see my mother's face replace the face of Mary and pick it up. Why does this bother me? I’ve smashed and burned dozens of images and statues that the Catholics consider holy, and it’s only now bothering me? It must be God’s influence again.

“Don’t worry about that thing, sir. It’s just a statue,” the priest says to me.

That’s strange. I don’t hear the voice of the man’s God in his.

“It should bother you! It’s a statue of the Blessed Mother and be cared for with the utmost love and respect,” Fr. Titus says as he hastily gathers the pieces.

“You worry too much about these things, brother. We have plenty of these statues and more being made every day.”

“You don’t worry enough, brother.”

Looking at the fat pig of a man disgusts me to no end. Is this truly one of your faithful, God?

“No, he isn’t. I don’t know this shell of a man and he is dead to me and his last chance to redeem himself was to pick up and repair the statue of my Blessed Mother. You may kill him to get the attention of the people of this city,” God says.

“With pleasure,” I say.

Fr. Titus tells me to wait and then prays to God to get me to stop, but his God doesn’t listen and neither do I. I push my way through the crowds, grab the fat pig by the neck, chokeslam him to the floor, and then beat his face in until nothing remains of his skull besides bits and pieces. Everyone around me is scared with many in the crowd having run away.

“Calm down, everyone!” Fr. Titus says while shielding me from the guards of the Church such as Gerardus all of whom want to take a stab at me. “God has made this man, Leif, his instrument of justice. We can only pray for the soul of Fr. Facilis and we hope that he repented of his sins as he was being executed.”

The crowd somewhat calms down and the guards lower their weapons. That was a satisfying experience that felt right in a strange way. I need to feel it again!

“You will soon, but don’t let the feeling consume you and be the reason why you fight,” God says. “Titus. You must lead Leif to the leader of this city and explain to him the problem you’ve been having with pirates and the floating cities that have been taken over by bandits.”

“Y-yes, my Lord.”

While leading me to the leader of the city, the guards of the city stay next to me with their eyes never looking away from me for too long. Lucy is also with us and walks next to Gerardus who allows her to walk with us since she’s his friend. When I make it to a large cathedral, we find the leader of the fishmen here who has green and blue eyes, red hair, and is dressed in dark blue and black robes and is surrounded by priests and others who are well-dressed like him and sitting around a round table.

Butting into their meeting, Fr. Titus says, “Lord Ventus, here is a man that God wants you to see. He can also converse with the Lord like me and will play a part in saving us from a future disaster.”

Ventus gets up from his chair and looks up and down at me.

“Is there a reason why his hands are bloody?” he asks.

“He killed Fr. Facilis on God’s command,” Gerardus says.

“He was a lazy man who did more eating and sitting around than being a priest, but I wouldn’t say that he’s a man that needed to be killed. Is there some other proof that this man is sent by God?”

This man hardly has the voice of God in his. Are Lucy, Gerardus, and Titus your only true followers here?

“Tell Ventus I gave him the opportunity to save the world from Evander’s dream reality and he rejected it,” God says.

I repeat what God says to Ventus and Fr. Titus confirms what I said is true and clarifies to those what Evander’s dream was who don’t know it was him who put the world under his spell. Everyone looks at Ventus suspiciously while he tries not to look at him.

“Okay, I trust you. So, what’s this threat that this man was sent here to save us from?” Ventus asks.

Fr. Titus and I tell Ventus about how my ex-wife, Priscilla, wants to do the same as Evander and is currently taking control of the minds of people in the Americas and the threat of pirates and bandits on the sea that needs to be taken care of.

“I understand why we must be concerned about the pirates and bandits, but why should we concern ourselves with matters on land? We’ve been at relative peace compared to the constant wars and conflicts that happen on both sides of the planet and Priscilla doesn’t have enough power to control the entire world by the sound of it,” Ventus says.

“Because she will put the world under her spell if given enough time,” I say. “Besides, I thought you Catholics are supposed to care about your neighbors more than your comfort. It’s not like you’re struggling with your own problems here and the only problems there are we’re about to go solve.”

Ventus looks at the priests and men dressed like him who look back at him expectantly.

“You have a point, Leif. I must shamefully admit that. You can take a unit of troops and hunt down the criminals that sail these seas.”

Taking out a map, Ventus points to a general area where travelers and the fishmen have reported running into trouble. God talks to us and gives us a smaller area to search that we mark on our maps. I am trusted with a simple sword and shield by Fr. Titus, however, I deny using a shield in favor of using an axe in place of it. Along with the twenty soldiers Ventus sends with us, Gerardus and Fr. Titus tag along to lend their aid. To get to our destinations, the fishmen call large sea monsters from the depths who already have saddles on them and satchels to hold food, water, extra weapons, and medical supplies.

I’m hesitant at first to hop on the large fish, but since it’s my only choice, I get on and hold on for dear life as the fish continuously leaps in and out of the water. Gerardus explains to me while riding that they usually travel under the water since all fishmen can breathe underwater, so this in and out of the water is a concession made for me so I don’t drown. How thoughtful of them. By the time we reach the first location, which is a smaller city of wrecked ships, I throw up in the water because of the ride here, something that amuses Gerardus. I’ll have to beat him after this for that and for what he put me through on the way here. I slap myself a bit to get my mind focused.

Wanting to get on land and start the battle as soon as possible, I tell everyone to charge and they follow my command. I don’t have time to appreciate being on solid ground for long as I start cutting apart the bandits. It’s been too long since I’ve been in a battle like this and it feels like I’m satisfying a long-overdue itch. While cutting my way through the bandits, I notice they have crosses similar to the Catholics, which I only notice after impaling two of them through the head with one and appreciating my handiwork. The battle doesn’t last too long, a disappointment in my eyes.

While Gerardus and his fellow soldiers free the slaves from their chains and the civilians peer from their windows and doors, I ask Fr. Titus, “So, who are these people? Exiled family and friends?”

“You could say that,” Fr. Titus says. “The majority of fishmen want to stay out of conflicts, especially since that’s what our ancestors wanted to do after crashlanding in the oceans as a result of the battle that ended humanity’s futuristic age. That didn’t stop people from breaking from the main kingdoms and establishing their own civilizations such as this one. Not all of them are bad or hostile towards us, but many are as a result of being corrupted by the politics and conflicts happening on land.”

“I understand their perspective.”

“But it didn’t make you into a good person. A man like you only proves what we think.”

“Maybe, but the world isn’t going to be peaceful if you ignore the conflicts going on in it and seclude yourself, and you’re never going to avoid all conflict and violence by keeping your head down and yourselves indifferent to it all.”

“Eh, you do have a point. We do exile revolutionaries who try to start civil wars, criminals, and the like who disturb the peace. Still, we shouldn’t overextend ourselves by being involved in the world’s conflicts when they don’t affect us.”

“And yet, they affect you now and you may have been better off with a foot in it, so you were ready to face the threat. You may have even been able to stop Evander from putting the world under his dream reality if you had involved yourselves in the world’s issues. Your God seems to think so since he has us taking care of these bandits.”

“It’s too late to wonder what could have been and there’s no use for it. Let’s finish what we must do so we can back home as soon as we can. I'm already tired of this violence.”

I’m far from tired of it. The soldiers, Gerardus, Fr. Titus, and I ambush pirates who are either piloting ships or riding on sea monsters and liberate other cities of floating ships until nighttime when God says that we’ve done enough and it’s time to go back. When we arrive back to where we came from, we see Lucy, Ventus, and a few others waiting for us. They congratulate us on our victory, give us breakfast since it’s morning, and not much else is said.

“What? No big celebration or thanks?” I ask.

“Violence isn’t celebrated here, even if it’s necessary,” Gerardus says.

“I’d hate to live with people like you. I don’t know how you live such boring lives.”

“Because we’re able to enjoy the simple things and don’t have a need to constantly fight like savages like you.”

“A savage like me can talk to and hear the voice of your God while you can’t, and he has a special purpose for me, unlike you.”

Gerardus looks mad at me but continues eating and doesn’t talk to me for the rest of the day.

“Where to now?” I ask God.

“You don’t have to go anywhere. Rest for now,” God says.

“Rest? I can’t be wasting my time resting while Priscilla takes over the Americas.”

“I’m slowing her down as we speak, so don’t worry. Take a break for the rest of the day.”

Tch. As if I’ll do that. I walk around the city until I find the docks where several ships are docked for those who are unable to control fish as the fishmen do. Before I can even set foot on any of them, the entire city shifts and shakes until the whale monster with tendrils coming out of its eyes and body emerges from the ocean and stares me down with the eye in its mouth.

“Do you want to fight for real now? I’ll gladly accept!” I say to it.

“Leif! I’ve been wondering where you were. What did you do to make that beast emerge?” Fr. Titus asks.

“I didn’t do anything! It has some kind of vendetta against me since it’s been bothering me for the past two days. Your God is to blame for it showing up.”

“Then do whatever God says. Trust me when I say that a beast like this is unkillable.”

I have a stare-down with the whale’s mouth-eye for a few seconds before backing off and agreeing to not leave the city. When I do, the whale goes back into the ocean and disappears into its depths.

“What is that thing anyway?” I ask.

“A whale infected by what we call a quasi-parasite from the deepest depths of the ocean. The ancient records of the ship tell of these parasites that once consumed, take over the fish’s body, but don’t kill it. In fact, the parasite makes it evolve, in a sense, making it capable of regenerating fatal wounds and flying in the air, according to some reports.”

“Interesting. I’m glad nothing like it exists on land. Are humans capable of being infected by the parasite?”

“Not as far as we know since the parasite is indestructible and there are no known cases of it infecting anyone. We simply see the parasite as an allegory and reminder of what happens when we consume our Lord in the Eucharist. When we do, we become more powerful and give him more control over us.”

“That’s not an appealing thought whatsoever.”

“Give it time once you’ve fully committed yourself to him. You’ll find that it’s everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“If you say so.”

I then ask Fr. Titus where I can rest and I’m given a place in his convent, a small simple room with a bed, closet, and scenic view of the city from my window. As I lay down, it doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep since I’ve been through so much and it’s nice to rest in a place that doesn’t constantly rock back and forth all the time.