Parallel II: A New Ordinance

19-PARALLEL PURPOSES

The Parallel plane grew tumultuous with silent unrest, and the Keeper's gaze began to cut into me. "So, you've finally done it. You crossed that line..." He said, disappointed and disgusted. "Yes... But I've also finally done what needed to be done. I killed that bastard and at the expense of a mere shard." I replied, a bit of anger not phasing me at this point. "Oh, don't worry. You've cost me absolutely nothing," he said, walking around me to the previous site of Aquila's corpse, "In fact, you've really brought me a gift here." He grabbed the shards that lay in that monster's wake and held them tightly. I looked at him, perplexed, and was met with a wise smile as he started walking toward the Parallel. I followed along. "What exactly are you doing? And why has his body disappeared and turned to glass?! How is that even possible?" I began to ask, urgently, like a fly buzzing in his ear. "Well, you see, my child, there's more of a benefit to the end of these lives than you think. Not only do we protect the Parallel by stopping them... we heal it." He continued to walk along, a quaint smile painting his face as if he were gazing upon a glorious sunrise.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, to no answer. I tapped his shoulder, then asked again. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" I shouted out, but he simply kept going. After a few moments of light frustration, he randomly replied. "You're about to see." And soon enough, we reached the Parallel, which had a large and clear crack in it, one left by me. However, as I looked at it more thoroughly and with more regard for detail than the first time, I saw a variety of other cracks all over it, in places higher than any person I'd ever witnessed. He placed his hands full of shards up against the glass and it was somehow absorbed entirely by the Parallel. A great gathering of refractions began to move around the Parallel, all seemingly magnetised to the cracks and fractures within it, and as that beautiful light shined on them, some strange sort of healing process took place. I turned to the Keeper, and he made eye contact with me as a result. "Isn't it beautiful?" He asked, a glimmer in his eyes. However, in my eyes, something very different was happening here.

"Those other cracks... How did they get there?" I asked, concern blanketing me like discomfort at twilight. "Oh, they've formed over a long time, son. In fact, there were many more of these fractures before you came along... But thanks to you, we've made the Parallel look pristine once more." I looked right at him, realising what he was saying. "And... how have 'we' done that, exactly?" I asked, timidly. "As I said, all of those foes you've defeated, they have a very special use to us. Their horrible, corrupted minds, when sacrificed, can be used to heal the Parallel, isn't it magnificent?" He responded, still viewing the conversation through his lens. He couldn't see that I wasn't falling for his psychotic positive spin, I knew exactly what he was doing. "So... these cracks have formed over time?" I asked, and he nodded securely. "...And you've healed them with..." I trailed off, but he had no trouble finishing my sentence for me. "The blood of our opponents. See, now you're getting it." He gripped my shoulder and continued. "You see, we can't let the Parallel fall... Our universe and the other one... there has to be something protecting them from us, from people like your mother or Aquila, people who want to take and use them..." He became more dramatic and desperate to persuade me.

"So... If I weren't to kill them... To kill those wishing to destroy the Parallel, it would fall?" I asked, tears welling up in my eyes. "Of course, why else would I have reached out to your mother?!" I felt my heart sink. "So... All of this... Everything between her and I, everything with The Ordinance, The Order, all of this brutality... To keep the Parallel from falling apart? How can... How can you possibly justify that?!" I began to shout at him, angry and hyperventilating. "You don't understand yet, but as you serve me more, you'll come to realise that, without this, life may form in the second universe, they may wish to integrate with us, and humanity must be spared such a headache. You've already seen what some wish to have, these killers want to destroy them all and reap the benefit from it, we can't let that happen!" The hypocrisy was stunning. "Killers? You mean the killers YOU created? The killers YOU created to DESTROY and REAP from? To have ME kill so you can use their bodies to keep your barrier from falling? To stop nature from taking its course?!" A crazed anger started to sweep over me the more he spoke. "You're just not getting it. We can't afford to let the Parallel fall, it would mean... chaos." He trailed off, weakened by my anger. "Maybe if you hadn't lied... If you hadn't created this motive to kill and destroy in the first place... Then this chaos you're so afraid of wouldn't exist!" I screamed out, turning away from him and trying to contemplate what to do next.

"I'm sorry if that's a rude awakening for you, but it's the truth. And, like I said, as you get used to working for me, you'll grow to-" I snapped back around. "I AM DONE! I AM DONE WORKING FOR YOU, YOU UNDERSTAND?! This is it... I will no longer do your bidding, will no longer kill in your name. If you put a stop to all of this, if you let the Parallel fall and the second universe become part of this world, then I'll just go on my way... And we'll never need to speak again." I looked up at this man, this scumbag I had idolised, and felt nothing but contempt and regret. "Fine. Just step through that threshold and you'll be able to go back." I turned to see a fracture in nonexistent glass, with the promise of Troy, John, of all the others behind it. I walked up to it, glad to finally be in the reach of an end to all of this. Perhaps not the most pleasant one, but I was by no means expecting such. However, as I came within mere inches of the threshold, it disappeared right before my eyes. "I'm sorry, but you're too important to let leave." He cried out. As I turned to face him, I saw a broken man with tears streaming down his face. "You know, you were always like a son to me... I just can't let this be over... I know you'll find it in your heart to forgive me..." I couldn't believe this pathetic display. "Nonsense. I was never like your son. I was your greatest weapon in a war between belligerents unknowing, and you did nothing but USE me!" I snapped back, but it was too late. "You'll forgive me, son. But first I just need to... Remove all of these distractions from you." The space around us began to transform. I could see Troy, John, and the others, celebrating within a local town saloon. There was an inkling of darkness as I looked at Troy. I walked up to him, seeing him slumped over whilst the others remained cheerful. "TROY?!" I shouted out, an ember of joy within me. He turned around to face me and smirked lightly... Was it finally over?

He began to switch his gaze over to my side, where I soon enough saw John walk right by and embrace Troy, trying to comfort him. This picture of sadness at my absence... An unfamiliar sight. "Listen to me... You may think they care about you... But the truth is, I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER HELPED YOU FIGHT, THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS YOUR TRUE PURPOSE, DO NOT FORGET THAT!" He raised his hands up high as the space around us began to transform. We were now outside of the building where, at a beautiful dusk, a lone car began to drive down that dirt road. I looked closer to see that it was none other than a car full of Order members. "They will never forgive you for his death... Your fight isn't over." Said the Keeper, and then he slammed his hands together. A loud clap echoed out through the Parallel and the situation I was seeing began to speed up, as if he were manipulating time itself. The car began racing down the dirt, before a group of about 4 men stepped out of it, armed to the teeth with guns and bottles, just like the one we had used before. They all started walking toward the building where the group was in unison, lighting the cloth atop the bottle on fire. Each threw one of the bottles, which crashed into the building. The wooden saloon burst into flames and the men wasted no time before setting themselves up at the front and back of the building. As the crowds of people rushed out of the building, the cultists unleashed fire, causing a horde of corpses to topple over themselves at both exits. The faces of horror and fear contorted with urgency as they attempted to run away, but no one was spared. The men, women, and children of that building were mowed down with no emotion but pure, targeted anger, and as I gazed at the mass graves in front of the building, I soon saw something that painted the deepest sorrow across my face. Fabio, Sven, John, and Troy, all of them lay there. Just another couple of casualties in a massive pile, all of what made them who they were stripped away by a couple of bullets.

Eventually, the shots stopped ringing out and the speed of everything became normal once more. I could hear every footstep of the Keeper approaching me like another bullet being fired, and as his hand slithered onto my shoulder, the tears began to tear across my face harder than ever before. "Now you'll never leave me." He whispered into my ear, and then I turned around to find myself in front of the raging fire, seeing what both of us had wrought. The wind blew in my hair and I knew that this was now a true, horrifying reality, one that left me with nothing.

THE END

Written By WalterTGB

Produced By S.L. Pravil

Cover By Prince