This was written by Siriel, not me. I've gotten permission to post it here for archival purposes.
A beautiful moon.
Though this is only the beginning of the journey, my heart is unexpectedly moved. What I have lost, what remains, what has been defiled. It all makes me want to laugh. Who would have thought that the moon bathed crimson as though by bloodshed would be so beautiful? However, this exhilaration must be-
Euphoria at the completion of a grand accomplishment. On this night, under the silent gaze of the stars, ‘eternity’ has been completed. The battle that we have waged, the vicious struggle for power, has lost all meaning. All that is left is to enjoy the conclusion of this act before the curtain rises on another.
“I have not known you to smile so.”
Disinterested as always, are we? Yes, this detachment, pursuing the goal for itself, that is what I have lost. However, I think even you would enjoy the coming spectacle, will you not stay the night and witness the slaughter ‘til sunrise?
“I decline; though the method we have developed holds promise, it is not in my favour to battle both the agents and the princess as one.”
Hm, as you say, even with you by my side the chances of victory would be minimal. Thus, I shall face alone against all-comers, and this body will be torn and burnt to ashes.
“That result is your own doing. You have made too many enemies, past and present.”
No, you are mistaken there. I no longer have any enemies. My former colleagues who decry me as heresy, my new comrades who decry me as an upstart, and that woman who has discovered what it means to desire the death of another, not a one among them are my enemies. They are naught but distractions along the road, so it is only right to entertain myself of their presence.
“You do not intend to resist?”
On the contrary, it must be a bloodbath that will dye the sun in the color of our patron. The last stand of Michael Roa Valdamjong, burning away his life to drag many to the grave with him until he at last falls at great cost.
And then comes despair. I will not be able to enjoy the realization myself, so I had hoped that my sworn friend would take my place, but I understand your reticence. I suppose I must contend myself with that woman as the sole witness of this step.
Therefore, farewell professor. My friend who walks another path to the same destination, if ever again we meet, I will not be as I am now.
“Serpent.”
Oh? I thought you beyond the idle name-calling of the lesser among us. While there has been much deception to get this far, I no longer have need of the role of the tempter and deceiver.
“But you will shed your form and don another. Though they do not realize it yet, the name they shout as a rallying cry is also the reason why their endeavor is doomed to failure. It is a fitting epitaph.”
Ah, I see. As serpents are upon this Earth, so too I am to Akasha. I am honored to be named by one who holds the name of Chaos.
Then let us do away with further frivolities, the war cries are soon to be heard and there are preparations yet to be done for the festivities. Though our ending has yet to be written, I believe that you will soon see which of us will remain to bear the name of eternity.
His silent departure leaves the castle empty. The servants that I had gathered and those who thought I was a path to an empty, meaningless power have perished or fled already. Oh, Altrouge, if only I could have laughed as I wished at your outrage at my rebellion. You were never more than the opening act, an ephemeral entertainment until I met that woman again. Until tonight, when the princess finally comes.
A twinge of the heart is silenced without further notice, and the time has come to awaken the true defenders of the castle.
Twin sentinels of space and time rise, though you were old foes let us fight together tonight, even if only for an instant, let us be a bastion of eternity. As you fall you will rise once more, as strong as before but with the memories of past defeats. Grow and strengthen, standing walls of stones, earth and iron, may you be in the image of this ever-changing planet. Revolve around my form and protect, let us clash against them with all our might.
As we celebrate unending life, let us also acknowledge its all too brief beauty. Awaken, lightning and thunder, wrath of the gods that strike down men without mercy. Dance to your heart’s content in the moment allotted to you, then vanish with the lives of those who stood before you.
Come princess, the stage is set, the awakened fortress stands before you. Come to me, with might and glory, and witness the fall of those who came to fight alongside you. Spare them not a glance as they twitch and burn and scream, for they are nothing but decorations for tonight’s festivity.
I can see you at last, progressing though the castle, your advance unstoppable as my defenses crumble to dust at your feet. Faster now, only five of the agents remain. How pathetic, if that was all the power they had I shouldn’t have gone to such length to create the organization. Or perhaps, did you know, Narbareck? That none of them would return from this place alive. Yes, nothing less from my partner, you chose those whose death would not cripple the nascent group.
Another fall, but they are almost at my door; that woman’s advance is too great for my meager sorceries. Too quick, too soon, only you are allowed to face me. Let the Dead stop the interlopers. They are nothing more than mere puppets, but they are still the strongest, born of my blood. Of your blood.
My door shatters, steel charged with magic no match for the brute force of nature. Splendid, well done, excellent. My heart that should have been stone throbs as I applaud.
“It’s over, Roa. You’ll return what you took from me now.”
This is pleasure and bliss, revenge of the sweetest sort. Perfection has been spoilt by anger, outrage at my theft. Know this pain, princess, for it is my own! What should have remained noble and pure has been stained by you, so let there be nothing but hatred between us!
Nature bends to your will, but I’ll not allow this life to be claimed so easily. Four towers of stone surround this castle, three circles of chalk engraved in its foundation, together bind the individual I to this world. Even if I am torn apart and my life ripped away, I shall not fade!
What shall oppose you tonight is not the might of the strongest of vampires. Rather, let it be nothing but the hatred of one man. Michael Roa Valdamjong ends tonight, sing for him a farewell of agony and rage. Lightning torn asunder by your claws, my blood shed by your power, your ephemeral form ripped apart by magic only to be reformed. O princess, let us tarry no longer, rather enjoy ourselves all night long!
My heart beats, my blood flows, joy upon my soul and incantations upon my lips. Though is it lowly before the glory of once-beholden eternity, this farce is not tasteless. Standing here before you, I feel as though I could defy the light in the sky as my friend did and go on like this for a blessed eternity.
It’s nothing more than a transitory state. All too soon the moonlight fades, my might is dwarfed by your righteous fury, claws digging through my chest to rip out my heart. Yet agony and fear do not come, because of the secret that none of you could grasp. To the end, you saw nothing but my transgression, while my own vision has begun to fade to black. But it will not be yours, never again. What I have made mine shall remain mine forever more.
Oh, how I wish I could see! Your confusion as you find what was stolen lacking from this frame, your rage as you question, and at last your despair as you realize my final deed! But perhaps not now. You may yet rationalize hope, that my magic is limited to this life, that I shall pass on but once more. Such folly.
Ah, perhaps, you too are all too…
The moon has faded behind the clouds.
This place is already coming to an end, streets running red with blood and paved with the beautiful ornaments called entrails. Although it was only a small village, it has blossomed into quite the art piece. Thank you, everyone, despite your lives being limited you proved to be excellent test subjects, I will record your gruesome and despairing faces for the rest of eternity. Oh, what’s that you say? You would have rather not suffered until you died? Hahaha, don’t be absurd!
What’s this? In this place filled with the dead where I planned to await her, someone else is approaching. I suppose this isn’t quite a masterpiece yet, so I could use some more mater – stop.
It’s you, my friend. If my count is correct, it’s been three hundred years since that fateful night. I suppose there was no doubt, but I still welcome the chance to see you once more.
“You have become quite extravagant, Serpent. In the past, you would have never indulged in such excess.”
You do not enjoy this beautiful still life scenery? Well, I suppose you were never much for the arts. However, you are mistaken. It’s not that I have changed, Chaos, my current self happened to have some artistic inclinations – painting this town red with their blood and decorating their houses with their own organs is nothing more than the current Roa’s pastime.
“You are losing, in other words. For your actions to be dictated by another’s will, the past four incarnations have not been kind to you.”
On the contrary, it is because the feelings are different each time that I can exist like this. A painting that has been completed is nothing more than a fancy decoration to be left in a museum. A true masterpiece is something that you continually add to, diluting the past with the present that then fades into the future. In this way, I will always be a being of the current day, ever-changing and never-ending.
“I cannot agree with that. If an eternal being were to change, it would be by taking from others; that is the way we all live our lives. But Serpent, rather than taking what others possess to add to your self, you bestow your will upon others – in doing so, you inevitably lose yourself.”
But by giving to others, I continue even if I fall. Those takers that you speak of will end once they are defeated; an existence that exists only as long as you do cannot be called eternal, since all things end eventually. After all, even you could not achieve the miracle called immortality.
“You may be correct in that my existence will end when my lives do, but that is still closer to the thesis of eternity. By your method, you have become a chronicle of humanity, doomed to fade once their story ends. We who have rejected humanity might fade when we fall, but by being ourselves we are capable of continuing in some form once humans are gone. Even if it is only for an instant, even if we fade a moment after the last does, that will still be the crowning of achievement.”
And that last life is the one who will be crowned with the title of eternity?
“Of course! The only thing deserving that name is one who endures by itself, that carries ‘life’ within itself, and that goes on by itself even after everything else is gone.”
That old argument, really, it seems we’ll never see eye to eye. However, that is interesting in itself. Let us make it a race, old friend.
“A race?”
For the two of us who grasp for eternity, there is nothing but time. I shall bet on the horse called a species as I record their history to its end, and you on the collective that exists within itself. If you still go on at the time of my last reincarnation, I shall acknowledge your eternity. However, should you end before then, you will have been nothing more than one of countless anomalies that appear in the journey called history.
“A meaningless wager, since we would both continue on until the very end regardless. Although it is said that competition is the basis of life, and so I cannot refuse such a challenge. Very well, Serpent, let us race to the end of the journey. An immortal being who holds unending lives, and a chronicle that is reborn without limit, let us see which one of these can bear the weight of time.”
That is right. Between an unchanging picture that faces wear with time, and an eternally continued work whose original shape is slowly lost amidst the additions, one of the two will have to yield while the other will continue on.
“I merely passed by to sate my curiosity, but this is interesting. I will continue to add to my strength, and grow as a collective. Even if my mind fades, I believe that the individual that I am will remain. You will continue to be reborn, and lose your individual existence, becoming nothing more than a line of human descent.
…Hmph, it is little wonder that we are rejected. We both walk down a lonely rod where no one else can walk, and neither of us who stands here today will be able to acknowledge that we have reached the end we desired. This wager of yours will not be acknowledged by the winner, no matter which one of us it is.”
Without a word of farewell for what will probably be our last meeting, my friend has departed.
Certainly, he is correct, even when I triumph I will find no joy in it, and the memory of the wager might have become corroded by then. However, that is of no importance. The fact that we have met here today has been recorded, and we will carry out our respective methods with our own selves as the proof. There is no need to taint something as beautiful as the accomplishment of eternity with the satisfaction of victory.
…Despite this knowledge, I am not content. This current state has already lasted longer than I had predicted, and with his departure I must face the obvious. The canvas has grown stale, and the sound of footsteps sticking to the ground by the spilled blood is no longer entertaining. This painting wasn’t a masterpiece either. Hurry, come to me. Let us once more make the world fade into a desperate struggle with our hatred. This life too must end with no regrets. Do not worry, I will neither run nor escape, the frustration and anger of always winning yet never obtaining anything is a fitting compensation for what you have taken from me, princess.
Originally Posted by Dullahan
Reply With Quote
