by Nicholas Lemieux
Destiny had called out to me with her alluring call and I would not ignore her. After having moulded the Light in my perfect image, with some valuable assistance from Kiara, everything was set in stone. For the first time since its conception, the world would finally be put in balance; everyone would see the Light and I would be heralded as a hero. To kick it all off, I decided a homecoming was in order.
In the years since my initiation, not much had changed to my home nation. It was still the same old decrepit Queen in charge and the same poverty-stricken towns and villages,. Who knew how many more had suffered and turned out exactly like me by this point? Within a few days of our arrival, the Light was successful in eradicating her rule. We toppled the walls of the so-called Great City. We tore down and set fire to every single statue and poster glorifying the Queen. We dealt with the Queen herself last after taking care of the rest of her family. It was therapeutic to say the least to draw out her last breath. My parents would finally rest well. Surrounded by the rubble of the Queen’s palace, we were acclaimed by its citizens who had received their first taste of freedom. It was a truly glorious day and I was convinced that this was only the beginning of our great works. Upon this rock I would build my Church and not even the powers of Hell would be enough to conquer it.
Over the next decade or so the Light continued to thrive as we pushed our campaign worldwide. We were so ecstatic and naive during those glory days, convinced we were invincible and that our revolutionary progress was unstoppable. Throughout our many conquests, we wiped out entire dynasties, erased lineages, delivered countless cities into the hands of their people. We also made deathly sure no innocents would come to harm during our crusades. After all, they were the ones we were out to save. Our only conflict was with their corrupt leaders.
Regrettably, our course of action sometimes required us to take the lives of children, specifically those of the leaders we had to take out. A tragic loss indeed but a necessary one. After all, what could’ve been a more pitiful way to go out than at the hands of some vengeful offspring I’d completely forgotten about? Besides, I had learned from Qatal’s mistakes. I determined I would not end up the spineless coward he was in the end.
Throughout all this, Kiara loyally remained at my side. She was a great warrior and her combustion powers were truly a force to be reckoned with in battle. Truth be told, she probably saved my life more times than I saved hers, a fact she would never let me live down. Above everyone else however, she was perhaps the only one who truly understood my vision to create a truly balanced world and was just as set on making it a reality. After all, she was the first person I had ever gifted true freedom to and she wanted the people of the world to experience that same wonderful sensation she felt when she emerged from the caverns and tasted fresh air for the first time in years. Until the day we parted ways, her loyalty never once wavered. Maybe if it had, she would’ve been better off in the end.
Whenever we weren’t liberating cities, I liked to spend my free time continuing my studies on the ever-elusive Void. With each new city we liberated, I would meditate for days, pining for that ancient ability, but it was to no avail. Most of my allies told me to give up, insisting that even if the Void was real, it would hardly be necessary to save humanity in light of the great progress we were making. But I never quit. I vowed that I would unlock it, no matter the cost.
Only now as I recall my conquests with the Light do I truly realise just how much of an arrogant fool I was then, naively assuming the change I was inflicting upon the world could not be stopped. I was genuinely convinced that the people would be grateful for the freedom they had been so generously rewarded with. The selfless acts we were performing for them would benefit them immensely in the long-run. So you can imagine the betrayal I felt when those feelings weren’t quite reciprocated.
Soon enough, the general opinion of the Light turned against us. Protests and riots opposing our campaigns were organised by the people we were trying to save. The worst of it came when they started calling me names. They painted me as a madman, a terrorist, a lunatic with twisted morals. They were scared of how much the world was changing, the inevitability of it all. The conceited boy I was then was inconsolable with rage. Could they not realise that this was the natural process, that they were shunning their own evolution all because they wanted things to always remain the same? They just couldn’t see it. With the benefit of hindsight now, I do admit that I can empathise with their unease. But what’s the point? It was all for nothing in the end.
Eventually, a new opponent arrived whom all my critics rallied behind. With the actions of the Light being made out to be nothing more than mere terrorist acts, the people started looking to her as a beacon of hope in this chaotic new world. They called her the Great Redeemer and she was a formidable foe, I’ll give her that much. One thing’s for certain, we started losing battles on a more frequent basis by the time she showed up. Cities we had conquered prior started slipping through our hands. Most despairing of all, we lost many good friends along the way. The Light was in serious danger of being snuffed out for good. All our hard work, everything we had been striving towards, my dream of a perfect world that had come so close to becoming reality, was rapidly unravelling.
Many of my peers started to lose hope, insisting the Light was now a lost cause, that I should just get out while I still could. But I would not cower like some mongrel pup. I would make my last stand, a showdown which would be celebrated throughout the ages, which would change the course of history as we knew it, leave me a legend like Prince Yashin and his quest for meaning.
I would enter the Void.
Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche
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| (source: Wiki Commons) |
In the years since my initiation, not much had changed to my home nation. It was still the same old decrepit Queen in charge and the same poverty-stricken towns and villages,. Who knew how many more had suffered and turned out exactly like me by this point? Within a few days of our arrival, the Light was successful in eradicating her rule. We toppled the walls of the so-called Great City. We tore down and set fire to every single statue and poster glorifying the Queen. We dealt with the Queen herself last after taking care of the rest of her family. It was therapeutic to say the least to draw out her last breath. My parents would finally rest well. Surrounded by the rubble of the Queen’s palace, we were acclaimed by its citizens who had received their first taste of freedom. It was a truly glorious day and I was convinced that this was only the beginning of our great works. Upon this rock I would build my Church and not even the powers of Hell would be enough to conquer it.
Over the next decade or so the Light continued to thrive as we pushed our campaign worldwide. We were so ecstatic and naive during those glory days, convinced we were invincible and that our revolutionary progress was unstoppable. Throughout our many conquests, we wiped out entire dynasties, erased lineages, delivered countless cities into the hands of their people. We also made deathly sure no innocents would come to harm during our crusades. After all, they were the ones we were out to save. Our only conflict was with their corrupt leaders.
Regrettably, our course of action sometimes required us to take the lives of children, specifically those of the leaders we had to take out. A tragic loss indeed but a necessary one. After all, what could’ve been a more pitiful way to go out than at the hands of some vengeful offspring I’d completely forgotten about? Besides, I had learned from Qatal’s mistakes. I determined I would not end up the spineless coward he was in the end.
Throughout all this, Kiara loyally remained at my side. She was a great warrior and her combustion powers were truly a force to be reckoned with in battle. Truth be told, she probably saved my life more times than I saved hers, a fact she would never let me live down. Above everyone else however, she was perhaps the only one who truly understood my vision to create a truly balanced world and was just as set on making it a reality. After all, she was the first person I had ever gifted true freedom to and she wanted the people of the world to experience that same wonderful sensation she felt when she emerged from the caverns and tasted fresh air for the first time in years. Until the day we parted ways, her loyalty never once wavered. Maybe if it had, she would’ve been better off in the end.
Whenever we weren’t liberating cities, I liked to spend my free time continuing my studies on the ever-elusive Void. With each new city we liberated, I would meditate for days, pining for that ancient ability, but it was to no avail. Most of my allies told me to give up, insisting that even if the Void was real, it would hardly be necessary to save humanity in light of the great progress we were making. But I never quit. I vowed that I would unlock it, no matter the cost.
Only now as I recall my conquests with the Light do I truly realise just how much of an arrogant fool I was then, naively assuming the change I was inflicting upon the world could not be stopped. I was genuinely convinced that the people would be grateful for the freedom they had been so generously rewarded with. The selfless acts we were performing for them would benefit them immensely in the long-run. So you can imagine the betrayal I felt when those feelings weren’t quite reciprocated.
Soon enough, the general opinion of the Light turned against us. Protests and riots opposing our campaigns were organised by the people we were trying to save. The worst of it came when they started calling me names. They painted me as a madman, a terrorist, a lunatic with twisted morals. They were scared of how much the world was changing, the inevitability of it all. The conceited boy I was then was inconsolable with rage. Could they not realise that this was the natural process, that they were shunning their own evolution all because they wanted things to always remain the same? They just couldn’t see it. With the benefit of hindsight now, I do admit that I can empathise with their unease. But what’s the point? It was all for nothing in the end.
Eventually, a new opponent arrived whom all my critics rallied behind. With the actions of the Light being made out to be nothing more than mere terrorist acts, the people started looking to her as a beacon of hope in this chaotic new world. They called her the Great Redeemer and she was a formidable foe, I’ll give her that much. One thing’s for certain, we started losing battles on a more frequent basis by the time she showed up. Cities we had conquered prior started slipping through our hands. Most despairing of all, we lost many good friends along the way. The Light was in serious danger of being snuffed out for good. All our hard work, everything we had been striving towards, my dream of a perfect world that had come so close to becoming reality, was rapidly unravelling.
Many of my peers started to lose hope, insisting the Light was now a lost cause, that I should just get out while I still could. But I would not cower like some mongrel pup. I would make my last stand, a showdown which would be celebrated throughout the ages, which would change the course of history as we knew it, leave me a legend like Prince Yashin and his quest for meaning.
I would enter the Void.
Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche
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