Truth lies at the heart of every fable, though this one births a lie, and in its falsehood, the story twists beyond redemption, but a silent whisper of brutality. In this fable, we follow a god, one who has been sentenced for a sin not many know of.
To commence, I'll tell you one rule every being, no matter how powerful, must follow in Adune:
'Neither humans nor Erdlings are to not frolic as one with the winged creatures of light.'
That is the first cardinal rule of Coronach. The reason is simple, laughable even; One is to be worshipped and the others are to be worshippers.
However, that rule had one exception on the day of the solstice. The 21st of the 12th month heralds the trial of one of their beloved Supreme gods. A spectacle held in the highest realm of Coronach, 'Adune, the heavens,' as the humans call it.
Or 'the gates of hell', The Heretics hail it.
In the citadel of judgement, the glassed arena centered in the middle of their realm, are filled with hushed whispers and anticipation, the question and reason behind his holding within the dungeons is finally about to be answered.
"It's finally happening!" An enthusiastic archangel whispers to another. "How long has he been in questioning?"
"A decade." Their companion added, eyes unmoving from the steel doors set to let him in. "Today marks the tenth year since he was accused of a great untold sin."
"All spent tortured." Another injects coldly, causing the two archangels' heads to turn.
"Isn't he a follower of Carnage?" One leans in, muttering softly to the next.
The follower ignores their whispers. "Only an unfaithful heathen or heretic would withdraw their worship and devotion because of mere whispers of sin." He shoots a side eye at them.
They snicker. "whispers? Just look at what is happening right now."
"I will worship him even if he has sinned, but I guess, we are not the same.." He says sternly, facing back to the titanium doors set to let him in, leaving the two archangels to grimace at his outrageous remark.
"He's coming." His followers jolts upright as the door screeches open, alerting everyone to his appearance.
The sound of chains fills the hushed space; everyone unintentionally holding their breath as he enters. Gasps travels through the citadel as his frame emerges from the embrace of the shadows.
"His wings!" And angel gasps.
"Heavens..." A human groan.
"That's!" Someone flies up, eyes widening. "The Godwake blades."
Mumbles ensue as they all bear witness to his back, no longer sprouting six wings, only a open jagged wound riddled with miniature golden swords lodged into his raw flesh as if it's a pincushion.
"Godwake? Those small things?"
"Trust me, once conjoined, that blade can be as powerful as a celestial." Another states proudly. "Do you not know of those blades?"
"No"
"Humans." They roll their eyes. "Forged by the hands of the first God, able to seal or restrict any being's power, Supreme god or not, and if wielded correctly, it awakens anything that is dormant." They explain. "Right now, the blades are being used as a seal; hence the markings on his skin."
Eyes traveled down his dissolved appearance, long golden hair shrouding his figure, patches of skin showing through with shifting darkened symbols moving amidst old and new scars.
"Those are the engravings of all sorts of heavenly restrictions and seal incantations caused by those 'tiny blades'." The bystander concludes.
At one glance at his appearance, it leaves one question consuming their thoughts.
'What sin has this god committed?'
With each step towards the heart of the pearlescent judgment stand, the silence deepened. Eleven white pillars rise around him, each a different height, each bearing a god shrouded in veils of gray fog, formless, faceless, yet impossibly present; however, one seat remains empty…
His.
Carnage keeps his head down on the chains binding his hands, thoughts spiraling out of control until they are cut off by a voice. The voice.
"Carnage, Supreme deity of fables, sixth on the scale of gods, you are here to be judged." The voice trumpets through the citadel. "Before we proceed, is there anything you'd like to say that might improve your situation?"
A silence falls, all waiting for him to answer.
"I didn't…" he begins weakly. "do anything…" He finishes softly, anger rising and falling as he tries to recall what got him here, but it all remains lost.
"Is he speaking the truth?"
"That can't be true; just look at him, this level of punishment for nothing?"
"Yeah! Gods never lie! It's a sin!"
'Gods never lie…' Carnage thinks to himself, a scoff escaping dried lips.
"Lies are embedded in the foundation of this very system we live in! So what do you think?!" He shouts, raising his head, eyes widening in both rage and desperation. "Whatever my sin is, I'm being falsely accused! And if I'm not, it's not greater than what is being hidden from you!"
The crowd recoils, a collective breath hitching in their throats, yet the Supremes don't react, merely observing in silence.
"Unfortunately, what you have said is useless." The voice answers calmly. "Shall we continue?"
With a snap, golden energy accumulates in the air above his head, and from a shimmering radiance, a justice scale is formed out of pure gold.
Panic settles, as though he already knew the outcome of his trial. "I didn't do it!" Carnage yells. "I'm a god; why would I sin? Right!"
The voice overlooks his plea. "Carnage, sixth supreme god, you are being judged on a multitude of sins; however… one towers above them all."
'Don't tell me—'
"The First Blasphemy." The words echo through the hall like death itself.
"No…No…NO!" Carnage steps forward, but the chains hold him back. "I didn't! It's all lies!!"
"You dared to claim the heavens for yourself, seeking to stand as the sole god above all creation." The voice states.
"No way."
"This only happened once before."
"How could he!"
"He's a SINNER!"
'No, I cherished the other gods… They are my family.' Carnage spirals. 'I would never want to destroy them… would I? Would I!'
"Speak your truth and let the scale of justice weigh on your soul." It declares loudly, as the scale illuminates the space.
"I did do it!" Carnage shouts but halts.
'I didn't do it… What's happening to me?!'
"I wanted to vanquish the gods to take sole ownership of all in the multiverse." He continues, yet he doesn't want to; his mouth moves without his control.
'This isn't what I want to say! Stop!'
He looks around, trying to find the cause of it, until he pauses, seeing it, heart dropping instantly. The faintest trails of puppetmancy magic are coming from each of the Supreme gods, all transferring into his body through thin strings of magic.
'Magic! They're using it on…me? But why!' His head pivots to the crowd, but nobody sees it. 'Gods shouldn't be capable of using magic!'
Inch by inch, the judgment scale tilts to the side of guilty.
"I want the gods to fall and the heavens to become my own." He finally finishes, and the faces of disgust, hatred, and fear all spread across the crowd.
'It's over…' He utters, crashing to his knees in utter helplessness. "I'm…over."
The golden light illuminating from the scale switches to blood red as it stops at its final verdict.
Guilty.
"How could they?" He weakly lifts his head to the gods, sitting upon their thrones; now it's as if he can see their judgmental gaze peering at him beyond the veil. "I thought we were…family."
"Guilty!" The voice announces. "Carnage, your sins have been proven. By decree of the three leading deities, punishment shall now be exacted. Third-ranked deity, pronounce the first punishment."
"Carnage. I strip you of your power and title as a Supreme god and the holder of the book of fables."
Carnage's eyes flare wide as the pain hits suddenly and violently, burning through him like a raging fire. He collapses to his knees while the golden swords drive deeper, burrowing into his flesh.
From his chest, a golden book pushes its way out, spilling a brilliant light across the citadel as the smaller blades dig straight into his soul. His screams, pure, unfiltered agony, echo through the vast halls, yet not one face shows even a trace of remorse.
"Second-ranked deity, please declare your punishment."
'Spare me, please.' Carnage bows his head, crimson tears of blood trickling from his eyes. 'I can't take it.'
"I, second god of the heavenly realm, erase his god's name from the tongue of man; his worship shall be forbidden, and memory of him will fade with each century."
"Oh my." A bystander mutters.
"What? Miss Clara?"
"After one is turned into a god, their power and soul are never the same. A god is to be worshiped, to be remembered; that is what powers their celestial artifact; if not, gradually, their memory fades, and a soul without memory becomes a null, a wandering spirit, without a purpose, and as the natural laws of the cosmos state, a soul without purpose is nothing; they are to be absorbed by the void and forgotten, however…"
Carnage slams his fist onto the stand, cracking it upon impact as a sliver of energy trickles through the seal. "All I've been is nice to everyone, doing my duty as a god, and this is how I'm being repaid!" He clenches his jaw, teeth grinding. "I can't… I won't accept this!"
"There was once a god who defied those laws, his tale becoming one to remember."
"The tale of a fallen god." Miss Clara's student answers. "The god that vanished."
"Correct." Miss Clara Augustin nods. "If one's desire is strong enough, and their divine body has obtained enough energy from their celestial artifact to sustain itself, even they can bend the laws of the universe and conquer heaven." She concludes.
.
.
"First-ranked god of the heavenly realm. May you please present your final decree upon the soul of Carnage?"
"Hell," they declare instantly. "I sentence the former god to the burning infernos of hell."
"What?"
Everything, everyone, stills; the citadel lies in such silence that not even the beat of a heart dares to make itself known.
"Then it's done, Carnage, former god of the heavens, father of stories, holder of the universe's fables and secrets, you are sentenced to hell." The floor beneath his feet ignites with a red satanic circle, and blue hellfire rises, engulfing his body.
"Noo!!"
The blue flames lick his skin, agony surging through him, the pain beyond screaming, his voice cracking, broken by the weight of torment.
"AHH!"
The crowd only watches, a sense of relief lifting off their shoulders, as though justice itself had taken form in the fire. The gods sat in quiet; in the eyes of others, it's how they have always been, but to him, it's a mockery.
A mockery of his name, of the worth he once held in their eyes, yet worse than mockery, it was a betrayal.
"How could you do this?! I was, no, I am your equal!" Carnage roars, his voice hoarse with pain, directed to the gods.
"And you!" He snaps his head to the crowd, flames coiling up his neck, claiming his scarred skin. "I am a god—YOUR GOD!" he bellowed, twisting against his restraints.
"It's revolting how he still thinks we worship him."
"Looks like the mask is crumbling."
"Father of stories, well, this story would go down in history!" Someone chuckles.
"I'll get my revenge…" His pain contorts into laughter that bounces off the walls. "None would be left alive."
His blood boils.
Carnage wiped out entire colonies and whole history of species, turning them into myths and legends. Soiled the names of former gods and hid the truth of their rise, all because they threatened the good of their rule, but now, he'll no longer follow those rules; he'll no longer hide them.
He promises sin in its most unforgivable form until he makes his way back to Adune.
"I'll bring forth every lie you made me convert into fables our kin have nightmares about." He shouts, no longer at the gods but at everyone residing in the hall. "You think this is peace? A life worth living? Then you're wrong! It's a hell ruled with smiles!! You'll find out the truth!"
Grief merges with anger, becoming something bitter; memories of the tranquil period as a beloved god flash in his mind.
'None of it was true… Can I call that tranquil, or a mask that hid the truth?' He questions every aspect of his time as a god. 'The smiles, the praise, the love… ALL LIES!'
"I'M THE GOD OF FABLES AND YOU'LL HEAR MY NAME ONCE MORE! I'LL BRING UPON YOUR END, IN A GREAT MASSACRE!! This isn't just words; it's your prophecy! You will not last long; your oligarchy will crumble into ruin," he snarled, eyes wild, spittle flying from his lips. "I'll be your end!…" he repeats with a final scream, throat torn, voice booming through the citadel like a curse.
Until… it doesn't… his warnings become mere whispers of the past, foretold in the tale of fabled fallen gods 'created' by the new god of fables.