~~~
This is the end; I saw it coming. It was expected, so it shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. It isn’t fair. But of course, life isn’t fair, it never has been, and it never will be. Maybe if they were there, I would have had the power to work harder and prevent this, but who will ever know. Maybe, I will find them once again; maybe, once I reach where ever I’m going. They left me, but it wasn’t their fault. They had no power over it. But I could have stopped it, I could have done more or worked harder. I really am weak, aren’t I. I am leaving the world because I couldn’t save myself or the others. I am a horrible soldier, I couldn’t save the kingdom, my home, my friends, not even my lover. I’m now going to be sent to the gates of Hell, or the fields of punishment; whatever it is, I deserve to rot and burn. Maybe worse. I should have done more to protect them. I should have been more!
I can see the glow starting to fade, and I feel myself descending. I am to meet my forever punishment, never to see my beloved again. I hope that they are happy wherever they are. I can feel my body, but cannot move. There is a man who is shrouded in shadows. Who is he? He grabs my arm, and I come to a stop in front of him. I can feel my body again. I see the souls of others around me, aimlessly wandering for eternity. I could only hope of such things. The man lifts up my chin and stares into my eyes, or more like staring into my soul, seeing my greatest desires and deepest thoughts. He smirks a little and grabs my hand drags me behind him. We walk down a hallway, on each side there are mountains of treasure and gold, there are beautiful people draped in gowns of silk and golden jewelry. I see all of it but none of it at the same time, their glamour dimmed by my gloom. The man turns down a corner. We arrive in a big room with white walls and a roof opening up to a bright light. I squint trying to see what’s up there, I can’t tell. The man stops in the middle of the room, letting go of my hand. I realize how hard I must have been holding on when the blood rushes back into it. I look around the room and don’t see anything; there are no plants, furniture, or wall hangings. My head turns back to the man; he is looking at me. A flicks on over a door on the opposite side of the room. The man heads toward it and I follow. the door opens into a courtroom like scene. I laugh inside my head, this is familiar, just like the last one I was in. There were no good memories there and I am sure no good ones will be here. At the front of the room, there is a man in the judge’s chair, he is similar to the man who brought me here, in the fact that he is shrouded in shadows, but there is more of an aura of power around him. There was a grinding sound as the door behind me closed, I walked forward once again following the man who led me here. The man in front held up his hand halting our movement.
“Sit,” he told us, his voice was loud and commanding. The man motioned to a pew in the front, and I took a seat at it. “You may leave,” said the man, I assumed he was talking to the other man seeing as he promptly left.
“You are dead, and as such you must come before the court of a god of the underworld, that is me, and your future will be determined through a look at your life. Any questions?” I shook my head, I couldn’t think of any relevant at least. The man, god, nodded and took out what looked to be a glass ball with fog on the inside.
There was a flash and suddenly I was in a field, my old I realized, I heard a cry from inside followed by harsh yelling that I guessed came from my father. I don’t know much about him other than he was extremely abusive. Also, that one night when he was really drunk, he killed my mother and almost killed me. The scene switched to in front of a grey stone building. There was a slight drizzle and it was dark even though it should have been near noon. This was when I was brought to the orphanage, I would spend the next few years here and hate every second of it.
Now we were inside, I was seventeen and my birthday was two weeks way. I remember this night very well. The head of the house, the headmistress. Came around the corner where I was sitting partially hidden, I was writing a letter. When I heard her coming, I stashed the paper and pencil behind me and stood, hoping to make it seem like I was just passing through. That was not the case, when I stood the headmistress saw what I was doing and grabbed the letter. She quickly read it and tore it into pieces, she hit me again and again. I thought that night was to be the worst of my life, and in a way it was. In the fact that I was a child and the damage scarred me for years afterward.
It was a bright snowy day now; I was in a park. But most importantly I was free, I turned eighteen the other day so I no longer had to stay at the orphanage. I was with one of the other kids; we were running around enjoying ourselves. Their birthday was today so we decided to meet up. Suddenly bells were ringing, which meant that everyone able should head over to the town center. We arrived there along with a bunch of others. A short while later, once more people had arrived, a small man came out with a scroll. It stated that there would be a conscription. He continued reading that they would be requiring all able-bodied men and women, fifteen and older, to go to the front lines and not bring anything.
The scene switched again, this time to one filled with blood, there were bodies of horses and people scattered around, some with arrow holes and others with bleeding sword wounds. This was our side, we were losing. It was not unexpected seeing as we were not as advanced in warfare as our enemies. I saw myself. It was horrifying, this was the side of me that I hated. The side that loved the bloodshed and thrill of battle. I killed so many, I sacrificed people on my side and used some as my pawns.
Once again, the scene switched, I was in a courtroom. Chained and muzzled like a dog, I sat in the front next to two others, only handcuffed, who seemed scared of me more than everyone else. They were deciding what to do with us. Out of the four thousand people on our side that originally entered the battle only three were left, my stomach churned at the thought. I heard the judge’s decision; we were to be sent to a work camp and stay there for life. It was generous seeing as we could have been excited on the spot or tortured to death.
The next scene was of the work camp. There were thirty people including me. I was carrying a large stack of wood so I couldn’t see where I was going very well. They bumped into me, my love. Oddly enough we hadn’t talked other than the occasional passing greeting. They apologized and helped me pick up the wood.
There was more flashing as the scenes flipped through memories of our interactions; they went from more awkward times, to when we started dating in secret. After some more passed one came to a rainy night, I sucked in a breath, I didn’t want to relive this. There was a scream, it came from the housing area. People ran outside wanting to see what was happening. People were being pulled out of their beds and dragged to the middle of the clearing. My eyes met theirs and I saw the fear. A man, the head guard, stood on a small platform, he yelled:
“These people didn’t work hard enough they will be an example to all of you what happens if you don’t meet the quota.” The words rang in my head as I registered what they meant. I leapt forward but some of the others in the crowd held me back. I screamed. The bows were drawn. I kicked the people holding me. They fired. I looked at their face for the last time, they smiled and mouthed something to me. The arrow went through their head. I finally got through the people holding me and ran towards them, I held their body in my arms and cried.
do what is best for you’
The others around left and I sat there surrounded by dead bodies. I remember sitting there until the bodies were collected and I was no longer allowed to stay there, I didn’t even fight.
The scene switched to what would have been a few months later. Only a few had died since then and a few more had been brought in. It was the middle of the night again, we were all brought to the clearing. The head guard read another proclamation.
“This camp is no longer considered efficient so you are all to be killed.” We all stood stunned. One of the guys started to run, they were shot after two steps. Then the rain of arrows fell.
I was suddenly brought back into the courtroom with the death god. I felt the tears on my face, but I didn’t wipe them off; I had no right to appear strong. The god stared at me, we just sat like that for a few minutes. Then he spoke,
“You should not feel ashamed of your actions, they were not weak and neither are you. Not many would have kept going after everything.” I nodded a thank you to his words. We sat for a while longer. Then he stood from his chair.
“You were an orphan than a knight than a slave. Throughout that you worked hard and never once stopped, that is an admirable quality. Due to such things, you will be entered into the underworld of heroes and you will stay there with others like you. Is there anything you would like to ask?”
“Do you know where they are?” I whispered.
“I do, they are in the underworld of commoners. I would like to make you a deal. Would you like to hear it?” I nodded looking up, ” you can stay with them in the underworld of slaves, seeing as that is the time that you were together. Is that a deal? Both you and them would be together forever.”
I thought about it, then their last words came to mind ‘do what is best for you’. Did they mean it, should I follow what they said, what do I do?” the words echoed in my, also if I wanted to be with them I would hurt them, a slave is worse than a commoner.
“No thank you,” I said. the words were quiet and choked in the large room. The death god smiled.
“You have passed,” he said. I looked at him confused. “You don’t wish to ruin other’s happiness for yours. They are already in the underworld of heroes; the deaths of all the people in your camp started a revolt and they are considered a heroic figure for being one of the first...
you can live forever with them in the afterlife.”
