"There once was a man, and his name was Auryuon. Where
he came from, that is a mystery. Some say he was born among slaves, fed and raised by no
one worth remembering. Some say he was a disgraced noble, for no other man would ever bear the
moniker of "The Mad Executor." Some say he was not a man at all, but a creature from
those flickering moments that madmen see in their dreams. Some say he never even existed,
and was born not as a being, but as an idea: That even the Golden Lords can fall like any other
man. And yet, all who know his name will agree upon one thing. Those who listened to his words
would never remain the same. Know this; none are ever exempt from sin. Not monsters, not
animals, not even our own kin. With monstrosities borne from our faults that lie within; thick
with misery and revulsion, we forge them into an iron skin. We are the Ouroboros, and from
their shadow and sin, we begin." That bastard finally admitted his folly with
4 simple words. Fool.
Nothing more than a love-stricken fool. Who else would be blind enough to ignore our
fading Empire, crumbling under its own weight? Our mistakes with Infestation? Our potential
extinction by the Sentients? I would live and die through a thousand lifetimes
if it meant I could stand before him just once. Just once, and only once.....SO I COULD
CUT HIS THROAT MYSELF! What purpose drives his putrid soul? Love?
...pathetic. Whatever "love" he feels is nothing more than
a false passion, else why does he look upon his own people with eyes of scorn?
Many times I've been locked away from the world within a golden prison. Many times I've
grappled with the chasms of my own mind. No matter how much pain I hold within me, no
matter how many burdens I bear, I never let anything slip away, for the love I carry for
my fellow kind is always greater. And yet he does not reciprocate that false
love he bears for that woman to anyone else but himself.
Arrogance. That is why we will all know oblivion soon enough.
We clothe our demons in sin and arm them with our anguish, force them to fight a war that
was caused by our ignorance, and shower them with false honors and glory.
Children. Untold numbers of children, all wearing suits of armor forged from the flames
of our desperation and self-indulgence, to fight a war that was never even theirs.
And yet we expect them to deliver us from our grisly fate.
We are plagued with arrogance and it will be the end of us.
Our past mistakes have forged our current present which will build our future demise.
I have seen the very nature of the faults which define us, and there is but one constant: Our sin. But what can I do? What CAN I do?
....nothing. In the grand scale of the cosmos, we are but
a single speck of sand, and all we can do is scream and attempt to convince ourselves
that we are not insignificant. But it doesn't matter.
The gods are watching, but they will not intervene, for this is what we deserve. And yet, the
very same men, women, and children that look upon me and speak my name with fear and reverence
do so with eyes of mockery. But it doesn't matter.
I have walked across a world that wishes to snuff our Empire from existence, knowing
with every step along my journey that I will not die, for so long as my name escapes the
lips of any man, woman, or child, I cannot be wounded, as I have made peace with death.
But it doesn't matter. Those who rule over the heavens look down
at us with disgust and contempt: for how else would you greet those who have become....tainted, by
our gluttony for eternal authority? Infected, by our own wrath from the darkest corners
of our consciousness? Poisoned, by our envy of the gods that deny
us? Afflicted, by the sloth of our past, future,
and present? Contaminated, by the greed that runs deep
within our hearts and souls? Polluted, by pride based on lies which built
our collapsing reality? Defiled, by lust that maddens our pursuit
of power like a rabid animal chasing hunger? How would anyone greet any filth like us?
I... I do not know, for I lost my sanity long ago, and yet, I do not look for it, for it has
not bothered to look for me. How do we see ourselves differently than others
see us? Why do our impressions of ourselves sometimes
end up like so much shattered glass? The reflections in our souls show
us the truths we can't escape. They show me the lies we've believed, the pain I've endured.
I see all the people we've used, betrayed, and hurt. I close my eyes against them, but
they won't go away. Not only do the reflections show the pain I've
endured, but the pain we've inflicted as well. Flinching away from all this, I take a step back.
I don't want to remember, but these reflections, these reflections of our past won't let me be.
How hard I'd tried to build up these walls, years it took. And now, it only takes a few moments to
break them down again. These reflections quickly crumble my walls, exposing the pain, making
old wounds raw once more. I'm screaming in my head. "Make it stop! Make it stop..."
But it doesn't matter. We've reached a point where lies come easier than the truth. And the truth was, that we were not liars, but we would do anything to avoid divine
punishment, even if it meant consorting with sin. But it doesn't matter. My soul has dried and cracked, hardened to
the core. My heart has bled dry, shedding itself of all
life. My spirit has withered into a small dry stump
of nothing. My courage has collapsed and shed into a million
pieces. My will has fled and left me feeling worthless
and useless. My joy has become no more than a distant memory of better times. These things, these drastic things, these
horrible times! I have made myself discouraged and downtrodden. What can I do? What can I
say? What things can I do? My love of life has hunkered down in dismay
and is crying. My free spirit has fallen prey to heavy chains of doom.
And yet... and yet... I saw God staring back at me in the mirror, with the face of a child
but the soul of a demon. Epiphany came over me.
The gods would not be the ones to punish us. The children were.
At that moment, I smiled and whispered my last words: "And with a beautiful smile, I look to the
stars, understanding that for you, the future is worthwhile, despite bearing innumerable scars."
