Rodentia Adventures

CHAPTER 20: DARKNESS AND LIGHT

"He was horribly burned, barely able to breathe, and clearly in terrible pain. That was when he, the man that I loved more than anything else in this world, broke my heart with his final words: 'Did everyone get out safely?'. I told him yes, and then, despite his obvious agony, he actually smiled, closed his eyes, and would never open them again." 

She wiped away tears with the back of her heavy paw. The kitten had never seen his mother cry before. 

"That's what morality does to you. It will take everything from you, and in the end, leave you grateful for the opportunity to destroy yourself, all for the sake of creating a better world which you won't even be alive to see. What's the point? It isn't his death that I mourn, as everyone dies eventually. In truth, he was lost to me long before that." 

"Mama..." 

The larger feline pressed her paw pad to the kittens cheek. "You have to promise me that that will never happen to you. That you'll stay vigilant against the horrible plague known as morality. That you will never, ever forget that you and only you are the only thing in this world that matters, and that other people, myself included, are either tools to use or obstacles to be overcome." 

"I won't forget, mama, I promise! I'll be the most selfish cat ever! I'll take whatever I want and I won't let anyone ever stop me!" he smiled up at her. 

"I know you will, my beautiful Midnight. I know you will." 

<3~

The dark lord had been planning for his encounter with Jerin and her allies for days now. He had thought that he was ready for anything: for her to be strong and defiant, silent and stoic, even, as disappointing as it would have been, terrified and cowardly. He had anticipated almost every possible reaction, except for this one: this stupid little creature who had convinced herself that this cheap hamster cage was some sort of divine training ground, had actually admired him. Not the sort of admiration which came from respect for a worthy opponent, nor the sort which came from fear of a deadly foe, but rather the kind that came from genuinely liking a creature. 

Exactly why this had come to be was difficult to say. Mice in general tended to revere the dark lords. They saw them as powerful, beautiful and living at the sides of the Makers, the supreme beings that they strived to emulate above all else. Similarly, Jerin wasn't a hateful creature at heart. Even her quest for vengeance was more driven by anger at herself and her own weakness, an anger which had largely faded when she was able to look the dark lord in the eyes and stand tall in the face of inevitable death. Beyond that, there was a certain measure of common sense. Sure, an imaginative youth might fantasize about being the brave dragon slaying hero, but that doesn't change the fact that such youths similarly fantasized about having a dragon, the creatures which breathed death and destroyed cities, as a best friend. 

She also found the creatures plans thrilling, prodding him to go into detail about the final battleground which he had set up. Midnight was happy to oblige, of course. He was very much proud of it, after all. It was a completely deserted house, filled with fiends and assorted barriers and traps set up, all leading to the final showdown, where he would have her parents held prisoner. She didn't approve of this at first, but after a little explaining she had to agree that it was a necessary step in order to raise the stakes of the conflict. He was going to draw out the fight, and in time shroud everything in blackness, forcing them to depend on the glow of his eyes reflecting off of the metal of her sword to guide them. Then, just when they finally started to gain the advantage, the dark lord would reveal his true form... his dramatic rebirth as Neo-Midnight, where, in truth, he wouldn't have become any more powerful or looked any different, but he would have changed up his fighting style a little, and cloaked himself in the black distortion effect which he had demonstrated during his first attack on Jerin's village, a power which he had never found a proper opportunity to utilize since then. Ultimately, just showmanship, but showmanship is incredibly important. The mouse, of course, readily agreed.