It was 47 days after the draft for the war against the so called beasts. The children were forcefully awakened using the Aegis level artifact of the hive. They were told that they are the last wall between the hive and those filthy beasts outside and they must stop them before those beasts killed everyone they loved inside the city. Children as young as 8 were forcefully taken from the low income families and trained to use guns and soul powers against the disgusting insects.
Each were put in groups according to their souls. Logistics, trench, artillery, air forces and scouts. Ones that died in the process of artifacts activation were turned into a mountain of flesh that was used as a soul generator for the army. They become one and their screams fueled their soul.
After two months of training they were sent to the frontline as meat shields. Among the trenches the south line was the worst at the start yet once the they managed to kill the Eternal Storm the line calmed down and the main focus became the west line and the Queen of Malice.
Children were sent there under the command of First Sergeant Sir Ricardo who was a man known for his great feat of taking down the Eternal Storm with the limited recourses he had. He wasn't pleased with the choices of the royal family that caused him to be left here.
In one of those lonely days he decided to send a letter to the king himself and wrote these important lines:
Your highness I understand that I am knowledgeable in this matter and know a lot yet I don't see the reason why someone like me isn't deployed to the west line to take care of that disgusting whore once and for all. Do you want your cousin to rot here with your failed experiments?
Three Sergeants were selected among the children and they were given absolute control over the part of their part of the trench as long as they followed the orders of the First Sergeant. Everything went fine until the recourses were directed to the west line and the first case of losing control happened among the experiments.
"How can they be so useless!"
Sergeant Aaron slammed his hand on his wooden table in fury. His young face was crumbled like the poem of a failed artist.
"We are all stuck in this hell hole yet we must do what is ordered to us with absolute obedience. We are supposed to stand tall for each other so that we all can see another day yet there are brats that have the audacity to hide their situation and lose control in the middle of the kitchen killing three of us!
He looked at Diarmuid and after a deep breathe, he walked towards him and pat his shoulder.
"I have been holding back all this time for the sake of so called humanity yet l get it now...humanity died the moment we changed, we aren't humans anymore we are expendable."
"Expendable?"
Aaron walked back towards his desk and lifted the notebook on top of it and opened it. It wasn't long before he found the page he has been searching for.
"Including you exactly 80. More will be sent because even that disgusting king knows that his creations are faulty. As my officer l only want one thing from you, to put every recourse in this army to good use. You are my arm Diarmuid."
"I understand..."
His voice held the slight pain of uncertainty yet he knew that everyone that weakened the line would cost them more. In the end they were no more than rats.
"But isn't there something we can do rather than..."
"No there isn't. The best we could do would be letting them shoot themselves and get transported to a field hospital well behind the line but even then that won't guarantee that these poor children won't control and kill others. They made us faulty and the moment we can't handle the pressure!"
He made a gesture like that of pulling the pin of a bomb and took his tongue out before smiling back at Diarmuid.
"Kill them if they show signs of trauma. They will either learn to leave their humanity behind or die for the ones that are still alive."
"I understand..."
Diarmuid left the shelter after hearing all this, such profanity! Such poisonous words. Such words should have never been said! How dare he say all those we are supposed to be comrades! A lot passed through his mind as he checked up on the storage bunker because he didn't want to return and let others see him like that, he had dignity and pride.
He went inside and sat on a crate before pulling his notebook out. He had a habit of sketching things when he felt the weight of everything pressing onto him. As he started sketching the empty crate infront of him he saw something under it's shadow. He slowly put the notebook down before dashing forward and stomping on it again and again, it was a rat.
"Comparing us to these filthy abominations!"
He stepped on the bloody corpse for one last time before taking a few steps back and lifting his hand to his head to play with his hair as a habit yet there was none to play with.
He looked at the rat once more before kicking it to a corner and then decided to check the crates to see if they lost too much to these disgusting things.
He opened and checked all of the crates one by one yet he wished that he didn't. There was only a crate left of those disgusting chocolates that smelled like butter more than anything, it was bitter and even Diarmuid who wasn't picky at all was avoiding it.
"Where are the meat? Where are the sausages! Do they expect us to fight like this? Nothing is left other than disgusting slop!"
He ran over to the sacks and untied the rope around the mouth before looking inside only to be disgusted by the sight.
A moth flew out from inside the sack filled with flour. He swatted it with anger before kicking another sack. He grabbed his notebook and made a list of everything available. Two sacks of chickpeas, three sacks of rice, one sack of lentils and a sack of beans. Will the people here this wouldn't last this month for sure. It was only the 12th of the month.
Do they expect us to suffer. I have to talk to that snake and ask about what happened. There is no way we will see the end of month like this.
Before he could rush out he felt a pain in his chest. He couldn't breathe as if someone was holding his lungs with their hands. He started sweating as he fell on his knees while clutching his chest. He couldn't even move let alone go for the door. He could feel his own soul shattering as if shoving it to his face that this was all his fault.
He was feeling as if he was moments away from witnessing his own head explode from the pressure. It felt as if every drop of blood in his body was rushing into his head, he could hear his own heartbeat, his own soul screaming. His vision got blurry as he crawled towards the exit.
As his hand reached out towards the light he heard a voice he didn't expect, no a voice he wished he would never hear.
The siren echoed through the trench as everyone crouched down hoping that they won't be torn apart by the incoming fire. Siren had two variations with one for the artillery attacks and the other for the charges from the swarms of monsters.
At that moment he felt as if the pain dissappeared instantly, he was free at last. He got up covered in sweat and rushed out.
When he got out a huge spike landed behind him splattering muddy water all over as it landed inside the trench. It was like a harpoon designed to pierce through anything and never come off without causing the guts of the whale to gush out with the blood.
He rushed forward with his body unshakable by anything, even when those harpoons crashed down from the sky he continued running while shouting.
"To the walls! Everyone get as close as you can this is an order!"
As mud splashed with each of his steps he saw something weird ahead. A soldier was sitting on the ground covered in mud up to his waist. He was young, looked no older than 10. He had brown skin and thin eyebrows and a crumbled face. His hands were clenched into a fist and slammed into his head again and again as he screamed in agony. Tears were running down his face as he looked up and saw Diarmuid who was holding his helmet.
His cries became louder when he saw the helmet as if it was the source of all his suffering throughout the last months. Diarmuid tackled him towards the wall of the hole they called their reason of living. He forcefully put the helmet on his head before looking up in fear.
Like a rain of death they were coming down ready to end them all. He could survive this yes but nearly everyone that failed to use their soul in time would die for sure, even then most of their souls didn't have explosive power or even a physical form.
Diarmuid knew his power couldn't save the others even if he wanted to. They were going to die because of him.
The world went dark as a childish voice chanted the name that warped reality
"Veil of darkness cover the bride."
The voice of harpoons clashing into a barrier of sorts was heard by Diarmuid as he pulled back from the soldier and took a step back. Everything returned to normal before he could even figure things out.
"Carry the wounded back! The rest hold position!"
Aaron ordered around while holding a black piece of rag in his left palm. He rushed forward taking hurried steps with an almost ridiculous face on him. Diarmuid looked around to see those bone like structures that were thrown at them as harpoons. They had layers after layers making it harder to pull them out from the ground or their victims body. They were too big to be effective at killing humans and seemed to be made for armored millipede cars and steam tanks, such power of evolution.
"Disgusting sight right? They threw all this just to reveal their location. They will be dead in no time we just wait for the artillery support after this. They will all be..."
"Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhh.... Ahhhhhhh!"
Both of then looked to their left as the soldier on the ground screamed with a voice filled with agony before suddenly calming down.
"I feel so happy.."
Warm blood trickled down Diarmuid's face as the limb resembling that of a carapace went for he's head and pierced his left eye. Before he could even react to it things ended. The limb vent deeper and things went dark.
He opened his eyes in a new world, world of human psyche. Every soul was connected to this same place, world filled with colors that humans could never comprehend fully. It is as if every soul had a place here. With certain rituals, soul powers or the help of higher entities humans could reach this place. In this case he wasn't a visitor trying to learn more about it, he was a dead man.
Every time he took damage to his head he found himself here. He always knew he would come back yet he couldn't do anything but wait. It was a beautiful scene by any means. He was sitting on a beach, letting his eyes gaze upon the waves hitting his feet again and again. He savored the feeling of warm water hitting his feet, it was something he hasn't felt in real life for a long time.
"So this is what a beach looks like."
He never saw a beach before after all his parents were low end citizens, his mom was a whore that never cared about him and sold him at the first chance. His dad was a rapist that used his as a toy when mom was one service. Ever since he was young he was forced to take care of everything. Clean the house, cook the dinner, get the bath ready, buy groceries, take care of your dad he is drunk again, take care of that whore she still didn't leave her room.
He hated it all.
He always wished that he could stay here for eternity, laying on this sand with no responsibilities or authority. This was his biggest desire in this world, he didn't want anything. Not love, not power, not even a cloth on his body. He wanted nothing but freedom.
"So you woke up after all, got me stressed as you can guess. Thought this was the end for sure you know the bells are tolling for us after all. Now explain why you didn't kill him."
Diarmuid opened his eyes only to see himself sitting on a wooden chair and infront of him was Aaron. He had his hat off letting his blind curls swing around every time he stopped walking in circles to look at Diarmuid's face. His blue eyes were cloudy and he seemed to be in deep thoughts.
"How can l....he is just like us. I never knew that he would.."
"If l wasn't there he would have killed at least 4 brats before one of those rats managed to shoot it down. Even in that moment you should have pulled out your handgun and shot him."
Aaron leaned forward with the same absurd look on his face, did he enjoy all this? Diarmuid started sweating now because of fear caused by him but rather the fear of the words he was about to say.
"You let them die because of your selfish thoughts...will you take responsibility my dear officer Diarmuid?"
Diarmuid took a deep breath trying to calm himself before speaking.
"There must be another way...can't we just send them to field hospitals? They will be out of the trench so..."
Aaron started laughing in a humiliating way, his hands grabbed his thighs as he laughed again and again every time his laughter slowed down, not even letting it slow down. In the end he walked towards the wooden table and sat on it.
"Yeah such a good idea, bravo! You want to send ticking bombs into places where sick rats are getting taken care of. Such an ingenious idea!"
With an almost sad face that came to reality after the humiliation he spoke again trying to support his way of thinking.
"Wouldn't they get better? Their soul became more fragile because of the situation we are in. Yes the experiment gave us fragile souls but..."
"Will you take responsibility? If one of them loses control there and kills everyone around them will you take the responsibility? Will you have the courage to face it?
With each second he could feel his souls slowly cracking under the force. Blood dripped down onto his lap from his nose as Aaron looked at him with a sadistic smile.
"Are you ready to take the responsibility of your job? Will you take the responsibility of the corpses piling behind your choices?"
"Stop!"
"I saw your notebook too, what were you going to say? Have you ever heard of the concept of corruption? Before all those rice and other things reached here they have been turned into pocket money for the clever. They put little stones in the rice and stole the rest, they changed the chickpeas with lower quality ones, all the sausages were replaced with smaller ones after all higher ups knew that they were only given the number of them not the weight, they filled their pocket like that. No one cares about what happens here. In the end we will be left eating watered down porridge every day and things will only get worse. Again and again they will lose control and become monsters."
"I am begging you... stop."
Diarmuid covered his ears with his hands yet it was of no use. He could still hear Aaron speaking with his low and sharp voice. As tears fell down he could feel it, he was about to lose control. His body was changing and he could see his vision slowly becoming darker and darker as if he was about to go blind because of a reason that he couldn't understand.
"You don't have to take responsibility, I am here you know. Let me be your scapegoat, your black sheep. Let's save all we can and win this war. Don't you want to do it too? Let's become heroes of this faulty world"
Diarmuid looked up only to see Aaron with an exaggerated smile that no other could have. It was the smile of someone blind, blinded by his will so much so that even as a failed experiment of this faulty king his soul burned brighter than most other souls.
"What?"
Aaron hugged Diarmuid while still talking with his tongue that pierced his soul.
"Follow my orders and will make sure that no one will die because of a mistake. You will never be forced to take responsibility after all you did your best to save everyone. Let me be your will and save your from all the responsibilities put on your brittle shoulders."
Diarmuid's soul that was torn apart by his words leaked pus as it grew stronger once more. Between every crack pus leaked as the sea on that beautiful beach became no more than the mixture of pus and blood. His soul could have been the savior of them all rot with the words of the snake becoming nothing more than the shadow of the thing it once was.
"Huh what is it sir?"
The timid soldier looked at the person infront of him who looked at him with a solemn look, his eyes weren't looking at his but rather at something behind him. Before he could turn back the officer started talking.
"I need someone to help me carry a box of ammunition outside. We should be ready for anything and we have been observing more movements every day."
"Yes sir!"
After a short salute they walked inside a bunker which was used as a storage room. When they entered inside officer pointed to a small crate before ordering.
"Help me lift that up."
"Yes...of course sir!"
He leaned down and after a few tries managed to lift one of the corners and put his hands under it. Before lifting he waited for a few seconds for him to come and lift from the other side yet.
"I am sorry...l really am."
Diarmuid looked at his left thumb which was bleeding. He touched it with his right hand and pulled it back as bloody strings formed between the two. Before the soldier could turn back the strings were already at his neck. Diarmuid put on leg on his back before pulling on the strings with his right and left hand on opposite directions. The soldier struggled left and right with both of his hands on his neck trying his best to to wriggle out of the hold yet in the end it was all futile. Translucent wings ripped apart his skin as he let out one animalistic cry before his body went limp.
"I was right wasn't I?"
Aaron walked inside with a sadistic smile on his face. He took a few steps before putting his elbow on Diarmuid's.
"Such a disturbing image. Poor boy thrown into the world of real men for the fantasy of a failed king only to die a death like this. Wish he wasn't a filthy monster, it is a shame he won't get a proper ceremony."
Aaron went past Diarmuid before lowering himself. He looked closely at the wings as if hoping to find something he didn't knew before. He touched them, tore small pieces and tasted it before spitting it out on the ground.
"Do you know why we can't eat the monsters outside? According to the orders sent to us by our superiors which was the last order l got from them that's why the telegraph bunker became my personal room. It was that we shall not eat the insects of this area because their meat is poisonous. Maybe it is a lie but well l don't want to take responsibility."
Aaron got up and took a few steps in a circle with his arms wide open as if he was waiting for a hug.
"You can feel the pleasure right? The feeling of knowing that everyone will be happy thanks to you, the weight on your shoulders is so light right now right?"
Aaron was wearing his usual green uniform and a leather holster which held his gun. His uniform was too large for him yet his knuckles were visible even with those sleeves. He had a white skin and green eyes that had a certain light inside them, they were charming and filled with excitement and joy. He smiled brightly feeling the pleasure of this moment, the feeling of being a hero.
Before him stood Diarmuid. He was wearing his green uniform drenched in mud and the blood that stuck to it as the wings tore the poor soldiers body apart. His fingers covered in wounds and the bloody strings that were his shattered existence were intertwined. His nails were no longer than a grain of rice. They were deformed and too short to protect anything, the adjacent skin was bitten off and all his fingertips were covered in scar tissue that never healed as he peeled the skin off every time he felt the weight. His face was filled with despair, the look of someone that failed it all yet in those eyes that leaked tears after tests was a twisted hope. Yeah in the end he was happy, happy to be able to help others. His trembling grey lips formed a slight smile.
"Carry it to the kitchen and help the chefs. Don't worry they won't object, they all owe me."
Aaron left while humming a childish song to himself. Diarmuid's eyes never met his and couldn't meet him even if he wanted to. His eyes were locked onto the bloodshot eyes of the soldier. They were filled with fear even in the last moments. It was his fault yet could he be blamed? He did it for the greater good thanks to his act more of the soldiers will live and less people will lose control, yet he couldn't accept it.
He got on his knees and slammed his fist onto the ground back and back until his knuckles painted the concrete floor crimson.
"I am sorry...I am begging you please."
He pulled the corpse to him. Those bloodshot eyes, that neck with the purple line around it. That fragile body covered in stitches after all the surgeries they went through for that experiment, the body that wasn't even human anymore was the most important thing for him at the moment. He pressed his head into his chest and begged with his hands clinging to the torn apart uniform.
"Please forgive me...I had to...I had to do that but l promise...everything will be alright. They won't feel hungry anymore. All thanks to your sacrifice...I did the right thing..."
He knew he was at fault yet he just begged hoping that the dead would come back and forgive him.
"Thank you for bringing it over."
The kitchen was pretty small mostly because food was cooked outside most of the times and only the preparations were made inside. There was a wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. A metal hook on the left of diarmuid and a few crates that had the knives and other equipments like saws on them.
Diarmuid lifted the body and placed it in the table. They were alone there. Cook looked older than most around Aaron's age maybe 13 or 14. He had a tall slender figure and high cheekbones alongside brown eyes. He wasn't wearing an uniform but rather just a shirt, pants and an apron. His eyes felt empty almost as if they didn't see anything even if he wanted them to. He didn't say anything before touching the corpse with his left hand. A yellow bright light covered the room before disappearing like it never appeared.
"It is safe to eat."
He went to the crates and stopped for a while to decide and then grabbed a knife from there before looking back at Diarmuid. He was sitting on the ground hugging himself while mumbling something to himself as if it was a mantra. Maybe it was pity he felt towards this person that let him disobey Aaron.
"You don't have to stay. Please go."
Diarmuid looked up after hearing those emotionless calm and slow words. He didn't even reject and just got up and left. It was already dark outside and while he was walking, trying to get the doubts out of his head.
"I am really sorry for the things my brother did sir."
Before him stood a soldier relative to his age. Both tried lifting his arm for a salute but gave up midway through. Before Diarmuid could explain anything he spoke again.
"Sergeant told us what happened....I never expected that the insects could shapeshift into us...I am sorry sir l couldn't even see the difference. I am sorry!"
Diarmuid wanted to stop him yet he knew that if he told him the reality things would only get worse so he listened to the pain in his throat and stayed silent.
"I am really happy that your soul lets you find them easily..thank you sir! Thank you for saving us"
"It is alright..."
"Sir did you hear it as well? We have some fresh meat today. They said a farmer was kind enough to send us some meat to eat. Humanity is still alive huh... Sorry did l speak too much? I am sorry sir l should get going..sir?"
Before his eyes Diarmuid covered his mouth with a look of disgust for a second before vomiting on the ground. The soldier looked at Diarmuid before shouting thinking that something must be terribly wrong. Medics arrived and carried him to a bunker that was used as an infirmary.
Months passed and more and more of then died by the hands of him. For the life of everyone. One must die for ten to survive, ten must die for hundred to survive, hundred must die for thousand and it must continue like that. Human history is the history of sacrifice. With every corpse the beach smelled worse. Coprses covered that once beautiful beach, the smell of rotten became the new constant. He shot himself again and again after every life he took hoping that one day lead can save him from this yet every time he found himself on the beach. With a shovel in his hand he buried every and each one of them deep down into that beautiful beach. In his eyes that beach was still the one he desired. In every death he carved their name on his body. He didn't want them to be forgotten by everyone. The list grew as more of them came. He killed more and more until that day that mutilated his soul, ruptured jt and left nothing behind but a hollow child.
"Diarmuid have you ever had a puppet? A marionette?"
Diarmuid didn't even say anything. There was no reason to answer. No matter what he said he was going to continue his rant. He was the type that never cared about that and Diarmuid didn't care about that either. Orders were orders and following them made him feel good.
"You hold the strings and let them dance, I had one that looked like a fool and one that looked like a king. I made the fool tell the king stories every day and when they got bland king killed the fool and got a new one. Ever since that time l knew more than l mist about this world."
Aaron turned back and smiled at Diarmuid before bowing before him.
"We are fools in this world and kings are there to replace us. We are the fun in their life, their cheese and wine, their young maiden. I am in this world to replace the kings, become the true hope. Hey Diarmuid what is the meaning of life? What is the worst disease? What is the whip of the poor? Which name does those grown ups still remember after all this? Sorry talking too much right?"
Before talking more he left with a smirk on his face. It was obvious what he was asking for.
He slammed his bayonet into her back and back until she stopped moving. He couldn't even cry now after all that happened, all that he sacrificed, all that he killed he was out of tears. He looked at the corpse on the ground before a small chuckle escaped his lips. He did it, he finally saved someone from the hands of this cruel world.
I am tired of you yapping so can you please stop telling me this disgusting story! This Diarmuid is not my Diarmuid anymore so I couldn't care less.
Unlike you l love every Diarmuid more than l love myself yet l can't force you.
Two years passed since that moment. More died and more came. The eternal loop of suffering went on but something was different that day, it was the day of assault. It was the day that this slothful war was going to end.
"Today is the day we will end these disgusting insects pitiful lives. We have been here suffering in this hole covered in mud as they killed our friends, brothers, sisters, our family! We watched as they devoured our family, rip their skin and act like them to hide among us...to kill us wearing the skin off our beloved. How dare they!"
He got on the trench and looked down upon them while walking with perfect posture and rhythm. A god among humans walked on that trench, someone higher, someone better, someone unbound by it all. His vision is perfect, unbiased, undisturbed, perfect. The being that stood before those rats and marionettes was a being higher than them. His eyes were filled with something those lowly beings could never understand. It wasn't hope or despair but rather it was passion, love. Eternal and primordial love towards all that is his own. Determination that is sharper than all blades there is, he stood over them like a heavenly figure, a saint that is far above them.
Diarmuid looked at the ground with blank meaningless eyes that held nothing inside. He couldn't think, understand or even listen anymore. He had to do his best, he had to follow his orders. He was the one that made them prisoners in their own body, he must think for them now, eat for them, talk to others for them, all their movements and their entire life is his. He shouldn't eat without making sure he made them all eat, he shouldn't think before he thought for them all, he shouldn't see before seeing for them first. He can live without eating, drinking, sleeping, dreaming if it means that everyone will feel good. His soul won't let him die no matter how long he starves so why not live for them?
At that moment he looked heavenly, his anger, his sadness, his determination. Everything about his was higher than all there is. Like a mural that came to life. His blond hair swung left and right with the wind, his uniform was still clean even in hell hole. The heavenly figure shouted once more billion everyone with morale and hope.
"They shall feel the same pain we went through! Let us enter their nests, their caves and kill the root of this evil! We shall burn them all and leave nothing but ashes behind of those ugly pests! Get ready!"
Whispers were heard among the crowd, whispers of those rats and puppets talking to each other telling themselves how they will be the ones to end it all and return back home. The whispers of despair coming from the ones that stayed alive here for more than a month were silenced by the enthusiasm of the newcomers that were about to run to their end. Puppets and rats chambered their bullets as the messiah lifted his sabre to the sky while holding his pocket watch with his other hand.
"Charge!"
"Charge!"
"Charge!"
With screams they climbed from the trench followed by the artillery shells landing. Quiet whistle was heard as the shells were welcomed by the brown soil colored by blood. Nothing exploded, nothing happened.
Colorful gasses of all types of colors were released into the air covering the smell of corpses. Beasts screamed, covered in the primal fear of unknown they charged forward leaving their advantageous high ground losing their longer range advantage.
Insects more similar to that of ants were the first ones to rush forward all the way. They had hard shells the bullets could hardly pierce let alone leave any damage worth mentioning. They had 6 legs that they used to either move or to kill weak prey that wasn't worth a bite. They moved in a triangle form as if they were no more than mindless beasts.
"Stand ground!"
All of them stopped and lifted their rifles in a hurry. With fear in their hearts that scraped away their soul they waited for the order of their messiah.
"Shoot their abdomen my dear soldier! Leave nothing behind but corpses of these disgusting pests!"
He pulled out his semi automatic handgun before shooting his entire magazine causing the insect that was leading to fall down and shmtart rolling forward before stopping infront of him. They got on their knees and took position. Every one of them scared or not cycled the bolt again and again until all of those dirty beasts fell on the ground, wriggling like maggots before staying as still as the night.
"Look at these disgusting beasts! They shall fall like our brothers and sisters and became nothing more than fertilizer on this beautiful soil of our kingdom!"
It rained down
"Aaarghh!"
Diarmuid screamed before falling on his knees. His hands roamed around his body, his nails dug into his skin yet it didn't go away. Before his eyes one by one they all died. They were ripped apart, torn apart like the love letter of a maiden.
His eyes could hardly see it's movements. With every movement of that monster his pain got worse. Severed spine, shattered ribs, ripped off arm, broken skull, shattered pelvis. He could feel every part of his body getting ripped off by the monster infront of him. Every one of their mouth let out a cry, no he cried in pain. One by one he died over and over, getting ripped apart by the claws of a beast he couldn't even see properly.
Essence of life rained down. Blood covered the monster before him.
They all died. With each death his fragile soul ruptured even more. Pus leaked out and in the end it all ended. Nothing was left.
Before him stood the beast that killed them all. Behind it were more than a hundred corpses. It was like a beetle standing on two legs. It's legs were thich covered in exoskeleton plated like armor. It had two arms hugging it's body with huge claws on them. It had a huge abdomen compared to it's torso which was also covered in that scaled exoskeleton. It's torso was as big as a steam tank used in other lines and it's scales were translucent. Inside that torso you could see small tiny lights in complete unison. Little stars and planets roamed inside the despicable beast.
Stars clashing with each other, planets roaming around their star, the slow yet infinite expansion. The beautiful sight wasn't in an orderly manner but rather it was in an unnatural state. Stars dissappeared and became a cloud of gas before turning back into stars or planets. Everything existed, dissappeared and existed yet again. An eternal loop in the shape of infinity drawn by those otherworldly shapes.
It had a head similar to that of a centipede with huge mandibles like that of an ant and thich antennas like that of a centipede. It took one more step and it all ended.
"Veil! Cover the bride!"
Blood rained down once more.
"Wha..."
He could feel strings trying to fix something on his head. He was probably attacked before he could even react and thrown around like a rag doll, now he was laying on the ground unable to do anything. One of his eyes couldn't see and words couldn't come out from his mouth even when he tried to. He couldn't move his legs or his arms no matter how much he tried. He could hear the sound of the beast breathing deeply yet calmly.
His eyes darted around in panic and fear yet he couldn't see it.He could feel the earth shake beneath that monster with each of it's steps yet he couldn't see it, he couldn't escape let alone fight. With tears in his eyes he waited for his end unable to accept this cruel reality. He opened his mouth to shout yet nothing came out. He will die like everyone he tried to save with his twisted belief, he will share the same fate. In the end he could feel it, armored feet slowly pressed on his head. Strings came lose causing blood to gush out and slowly run down his face.
Nothing was heard.
Not a scream.
Not a lament.
Not a requiem.
Diarmuid died like they all did.
Silent as the night.
He woke up in the same beach that was once beautiful.
It became a disgusting, blasphemous place when he left it all behind.
His ambition, desire, pride, glory, logic.
All of these were left behind for a false hope.
He wanted to run away.
This wasn't the place once he loved anymore, it was disgusting, it was far away from all it desired.
He ran away with his eyes closed, naked, unbound by all yet covered in filth.
Yet he couldn't.
He screamed in pain before falling down. He clutched his abdomen before looking up.
How could he forget the face of the one that he killed first, the one that became the beginning holding a rifle.
"Why...why did all this happen! What did l do to deserve all this!"
More came.
They stabbed the selfish kid with their bayonets, pinning him to the ground as he screamed in pain.
"Why! I did all l could! Was my dream too much to ask for! Was happiness too much to ask for!...oh.."
He stopped. Cries of pain stopped, nothing was left to say. It was obvious after all.
"I just...wanted to be happy. Having no responsibilities wasn't happiness...it was rejection."
"Your dream was just too childish, naive and selfish. You were promised a false hope and you took it without even thinking and now you are suffering the consequences."
Before him stood a figure he never saw before. A girl with short brown hair, brown eyes that were low almost as if she felt sad witnessing all this. She was wearing a modest brown dress without anything eye catching like an earing or a bracelet.
Who was she?
I don't want to spoil the story just wait for a bit sis.
"You are wrong...l just wanted to save them..."
"You just wanted to save yourself that's all."
"How would you know! That was my only option...I am sure it was.."
"Of course l know it. I am the person that loves you after all. You don't trust me don't you? Well go ahead then follow this path of destruction, both self and selfless destruction."
Reality warped as he stood up.
Beast looked at the broken, crooked figure infront of it before looking up with all four of his arms open.
Pus rained down from the sky. Painting the world in an ugly yellow.
"If we become one...no one will dare to hurt us...we will live happily every after as a true family. Let us become a careless marionette as the family that we are!"
The world changed, they were on that filthy beach that smelled like corpses and nothing more.
At that instant all the corpses were pulled towards him creating a mountain of corpses from hundreds of poor children that will never reach adulthood all because of greed and gluttony, all because of selfishness and false belief.
All the corpses screamed In an animalistic manner, it wasn't a cry for help or a scream of rage but rather it was a requiem. It was a requiem for all that was lost.
Following the animalistic requiem strings rained down from the sky like divine intervention. They lashed out on the mountain, cutting limb after limb like a saw. They tied around them and ripped the limbs apart but nothing came out. They were all puppets in this huge stage after all.
Limbs were fixed,were hung by a thread. Torso of those who were no more than dried up puppets were lifted up to the sky alongside their head. They were lifted up towards the sky by those heavenly strings while they still sang the requiem of anything other than loneliness, they had a true family.
All the arms were held up by s single string connected to their respective torso and the same went for the legs. In the end what was left was a true singing puppet that lamented it all.
Beast launched forward with it's feet digging deep into the sand with each step. One after another it punched the air with all it's arms again and again as if knowing getting close would be his end.
Air that was pushed forward with each punch struck the puppet with full force and rushed the torso of all those small puppets and they caught fire the moment of impact. Air molecules collided with the puppets causing them to catch fire.
The requiem never stopped. Right arm of the puppet was lowered by the heavenly forces before slamming on the beach.
Strings aligned like a grid and slammed down on the earth, melting the sand with the friction and ripping the beast and thousands of insects behind in the battlefield apart and melting it's flesh and exoskeleton. The beast regenerated at an insane rate, each ripped off part regenerated the burned tissue letting it heal as if nothing happened.
The beast slammed it's feet to the ground before leaning back. It was ready to burn it all if it meant that it could win. This wasn't a fight that could last long, it's regeneration would reach the limit in one more attack and it's exoskeleton was just useless in this case. It was all or never and it's instincts refused to tell it to run away.
With a sudden movement it opened it's jaw letting the blinding light escape itself. With the power of hundreds of stars the beam pierced the puppet, melting nearly all of it with a clear and direct hit. All the little puppets melted while singing that beautiful requiem. The beam pierced the clouds and the world returned back to normal. The rain stopped and the sand dissappeared. The puppet well and the ground with the heavenly strings holding it up all burned down.
The beast rushed forward to land the killing blow. But before it can reach the puppet it all ended. The beast was torn into thousands of parts before it could react, melted into a mass of meat beyond recognition.
The molten puppet tried getting back and and recover using the strings yet he didn't have the power to heal them. His family was dead yet again.
He remembered that moment when he stood outside his parents room while holding a kitchen knife in his hand.
In the last months everything was fine. His dad has changed into a new and nice person. Mom stopped selling her body once the debts were paid, they both changed.
Disgusting he thought to himself.
How dare they act like nothing happened he said to himself.
How dare they act like l had no dignity he thought to himself.
He ripped apart that blasphemous family portrait with his own two hands. Was it an act of revenge? Was it an act of protecting honor? What would a kid know about revenge? What would a kid know about pride and honor? He killed them out of jealousy. He killed them because he was jealous of how they could be happy after all they did and all that happened.
The puppet looked up towards the sky. The moon was beautiful that night. Everything ended that night, Diarmuid died and a shell remained. It was so quiet in the front as if nothing happened. The smell of burning skin and fat covered this grand stage as it came closer to the final act.
Before the puppets eyes a figure appeared, a fake messiah.
Puppet screamed in an animalistic manner before kicking the ground, sending waves after waves of strings faster than light itself that burned through everything there is yet he dodged them all. His movements were simplistic yet almost elegant, they were perfected movements. Before the puppet could react he was before his eyes with a huge smile on his face.
"I love you Diarmuid!"
He lifted his hand, stabbed a syringe into Diarmuid's eyes and it all went dark.
"You know Diarmuid l love you."
"I love a lot about you really!"
"You are a true human Diarmuid! Selfish, real, true. Someone that is ready to sacrifice it all for himself."
"They are no more than fakes Diarmuid. They are rats below the true humans, predators that will step on them to climb the ladders one by one towards the sky."
"They were there to step on and you did that just like me! You were like a predator in my palm ready to follow my commands. You didn't even do it out if your idiocy but rather for you own gain, with your own volition. "
"Do you remember the questions l asked you?"
"They remember their enemies name, despair is the whip of the slave that knows it can't escape, worst disease out there is hope and the meaning of life freedom."
"We were given relatively good amount of drugs to fight against the loss of control yet l hid them all and became the despair. I named their enemy and became their hope that promised them an end. I will become the freedom too!"
"I will be the freedom of this worthless world and give everyone the true freedom. I will save you too my dear Diarmuid."
"Let us become the the foundations of the world beyond this hell, true creators of the paradise!"