Chronicles of Myth Volume one: Twisted Daydreams

Episode five: Hangman

“You did what”! I dodged a fist of emerald, and leapt up; I landed on Nikolai’s fist and I kicked him in the head, the impact of my blow vibrated through my body and I grabbed by the torso, Nikolai repeatedly slammed me into the ground of the training room, I extended my arms into Nikolai’s stomach and they shattered on contact, “What kind of golem are you”? “I am a titan”! I was pummeled into the ground and was thrown across the room like a ragdoll, Nikolai used the earth underneath his feet and flew toward me like a rocket; I freed myself from the wall mold and rolled forward, I felt the back of my head sear from his rage as I dodged a wild straight that smashed the steel wall behind me; I wrapped my arms around his torso and smashed my knee into his torso, his armor chipped from the impact and Nikolai stepped back taking a deep breath. I took a running start and leapt forward a dropkick, I was grabbed by my feet and spun around before being slammed into the ring for the last time; he held his cleaver above my head, “I’m done”. The blade was staked into the ground an inch away from my right ear, my heart raced: so that’s the power he has, I’m lucky he’s on my side… hell we all are. I planted my fist into the ground and staggered to my feet one knee at a time, I walked out the room cracking my joints, with the kiss of defeat leaving a bitter taste in my mouth; I washed the taste with an iced coffee, Draco handed me a towel and sat down next to me: “You know what you’re doing”? I looked at Draco and smiled: “Not a clue”. “I get you’re the type of guy to take things as they come” he sighed, “We’re not human Draco; the way I see it, our humanity shouldn’t be the thing that kills us on the field”. “But we’re not on the field dumbass, we’re at home; I understand you want everyone at their peak strength… you of all people should know that strength is meaningless without discipline”. I felt my stomach turn over from his words, “That girl… Elaine… I saw her humanity burning in her eyes, just because we’re monsters doesn’t mean we have to act like it”. Draco left the room and headed back upstairs to the living room, Thane sat next to my left; “You here to nag me to”? I spat at him: “I appreciate what you did”. “Me and Ragnarok… hell even Louis, and Astoria agree with you; look at this way, you showed her how to set aside humanity and ethics to ensure survival, in my book… that isn’t a fuck up, it’s a good deed”. “Thane, can you tell me; what makes something right or wrong”. “You’re asking the wrong person, Ashton; honestly… morality isn’t cut and dry neither is life. I appreciate your choice, because you did as the situation requires. There is no good or evil, in those moments, it’s just you embracing choice you’re going to have to make for the good in the long run… You consider me evil, because of the atrocious things I’ve done; but we’ve all things we’re not proud of, but guess what we’re standing aren’t we”? “Everything no matter how insignificant has a purpose… everything is connected to a grander scheme, to make a bigger picture all of the pieces need to be in place”. “The butterfly effect”. I said, “Bingo, you’re smart enough to know that every event will lead to a greater purpose”. Thane looked at me with curiosity; “So I’ll leave it at this, choice or not… either way all things will be resolved, there is a caveat to this though, not everything may go the way you planned it… in this case we adapt and adjust… life is a series evolutionary phases, and I intend to see it through the very end”.

 Despite all the awry things of today, it was rather nice; taking my family out for dinner in the city. We sat around the table of my favorite steakhouse, Lex offered grace for our meal and I heard a gunshot outside, my life ended with a bullet to the heart. I flew out of the chair and slammed into the ground, how did the day go so wrong; I lay on the ground in a my pool of my blood, surrounded by my friends; as they realized what had happen their shock changed to sorrow, they all had tears of sadness slide down their faces, Nikolai held me in his arms; he closed my eyes, I heard Thane’s voice as placed two coins on my eyelids. Everything faded to black. Destiny, above all things shows us how vulnerable we are; despite our strength, we are still mortal and held back by emotion; I regret asking Elaine to do that; to abandon her identity, but that is the only way to survive. We all have embraced our pain in one way or another, in turn we’ve seared our consciences; to no longer hear the voice of morality is liberating, but at the same time; it’s disparaging to know that you can no longer tell between right or wrong. In our youth we seek to abandon that part of ourselves because we see it as unneeded restraints, but actually it’s a warning that clearly shows what happens when you stray from your path; morality is doing what is right regardless what you’re told, obedience is doing what you’re told whether it’s right. All men and women take orders, whether they want to or not; the harsh truth is we’re slaves to another, but we fool ourselves into these doing things under the guise of nobler things such as love, peace, or respect; to begin with I wanted a team of warriors who could let go everything when it comes down to the wire, but I know that’s impossible. No matter what may humanity do, no matter what we may do to close ourselves from the world; some emotion will always crawl back in and manifest itself inside of us. That is what I hate about being a fae, it’s also the reason I am still alive and well (correction I’m dead now). I am a man not a machine, I shouldn’t treat my friends this way; they didn’t ask to be a fae neither did I; we may not be human but humanity is something all mortals share… the ability to show compassion and mercy, to see past skepticism and cynicism; to have faith in one another and never forsake each other, ever. Where did my beliefs go, where did I lose them, where did I go wrong. I was never a religious person, nor do I think I ever will be; but right now I want to drop on my knees and beg whatever God is out there for forgiveness, I am a sinner I am not going to doubt that… but I need to change, I don’t expect a miracle… but please give me another shot at life. I felt a thump in my chest, I could breathe again and my hearing came back: I heard the anguished cries of my friends as I felt myself rocking down the halls of a clinic, the rooms of an ER swung open and I was placed into careful hands, I was carried by warm arms, set down onto a cold table I opened my eyes and Reico looked at me as I stared at him square in the eye from the operating table, he cupped his face and sighed through his fingers; we were in the operating room, and he stood speechless as I did the impossible; I was embraced by him, I felt his tears on my shoulder: “You gave us quite a scare”… he heaved out. “Please don’t do that again”, he pulled back and I saw my blood soak through his white coat; I put my hand over the wound and sighed in relief, as I didn’t find a gaping hole; I pulled out the syringe of poison in my pectoral. “You’re going to be okay, buddy”… for a brief moment I lost consciousness, I laid back down: “Excuse me… I’m going to pass out now”.  Reico injected the antidote into my body, and saved me from dying twice in the same night, I heard sighs of relief as I faded back into sleep. I drew what would’ve been my last breath, if it weren’t for the miracle of resuscitation; my consciousness drifted off.  I was back in the memorial with all my friends, I looked at the ceiling from the hardwood floor; “Jesus Christ… Ashton you okay”. Lex said to me as he helped me to my feet he wore a pair of boxer shorts and red sports jersey, Reico looked at me from the counter; still dressed in his clothes from the clinic; “Yeah”, I felt my chest ache from the impact of the .50 caliber, “Fuck that hurts”. I was put in an easy chair and I looked at the patched up hole in the wall... Ragnarok, stood in front of me with a beer in his hand, he was dressed in a thin black sweater and loose black jeans; he sat down the chair in front of me: “I didn’t come back to see you die”, he playfully punched me in the shoulder; “you’re one lucky bastard”, Nikolai said with a hearty laugh; he said from the bar counter, he walked up to us and smiled at me: “I’m sorry for earlier… I’d just lost it for a minute”. He said looking away from me, “Yeah me too, we’re cool”? “Ashton, I’m happy we didn’t lose you… but please don’t do that again”. He said sternly, Reico changed back into a pressed white suit and opened the door; the rest of my dysfunctional came in the room; but something felt wrong, seeing my friends after almost dying I should’ve been happy… I sensed the pall that hung over the room, it wasn’t a gathering for our reunion… this was a ceremony for my departure. Reico broke the news: “I’m afraid inform you, that our dearest friend can no longer go back to the world of the living anymore”. Reico looked at me with a friendly smile, “At least for the moment… he needs to rest, unfortunately he’ll only be dead for just a week and I’ll send him back home”. Reico closed off the space between us and them: “You’re friends had an interesting way of convincing of me to send you back”. “Trial by combat”? “They have to beat me in a one on one duel, while fighting at their peak, whichever party has the most wins is the victor ”. “You’re going to kill them”. I protested, “But on the contrary… I’ve been longing to let everything loose”. “You’re going to be our spectator, I hope you enjoy the show… I intend to play for keeps, you’re far too valuable to lose, and when this is over I will make you mine”. “My family, I have faith they’ll beat you”. Reico looked at them: “Let’s put that to the test… and Ashton, feel free to jump in at any time”.