192 Though The Heavens May Fall (2/2)

Reed had done nothing wrong. He had not stolen the book, despite what the bookshop owner claimed to the city guards. The truth was that he had bought it with his hard-earned money before he had been arrested and falsely charged for theft.

Beaten and tossed into a cell for an extended weekend of ”reflection for his sins” — for the sin of theft and the even heavier sin of deceit — Reed was treated to his first taste of what would later become a semi-frequent experience from then on.

That was when it had begun to grow — the rage and despair in his heart.

”I can still remember it even now; the scornful, egotistic expressions on their faces as they told him he needed more faith, that I needed let go of my sinful habits and become a model citizen and a man of god like them. Every time I heard that disgusting, paternalistic tone in the voices, I felt like I was going to explode in fury, but...”

He quickly learned that speaking out and rebelling would only lead to greater suffering.

Memories, all of them immensely painful, flooded across Iliai. They were Reed what he had locked away when he arrived in Mulia.

What he did not want to see... because they would prove he was not worthy of the power he had been given. But now, they were on for show to everyone to see.

Even now, he still bore the old scars he gained during his life as a mortal. Though his immortal body naturally repaired such blemishes after he became Chosen, he brought them back after the events of the Twilight War in an effort to remember his true roots.

...And eventually, the fear set itself inside his heart and ruled him. Kept him down, buried in a sea of despair, and wretched escapism until he found himself near death and then... whisked away to another world.

Given another chance, Reed swore to himself that he'd live up to his ideals and achieve something truly great like the fairy tale heroes that he used to find inspiration from, but...

”I realize now, after much introspection, that I had become the very thing I hated so much. For a brief moment, I turned into the same fiends who professed themselves angels in a Heaven made of lies.

The circumstances are indeed different here in this precisely maintained paradise, but the essence of corruption is still the same in the end. This is what I have deemed to be my greatest failure. And this is the reason why I will have no say what you will decide for us.”

More than ever, honesty was required. It was necessary that the people of Mulia understand him if they were to trust him in the coming days. Reed had to make sure that they understood his intentions if he was to ease their fear of him... and what he could do.

That was the most important takeaway of the day — that he had decided to walk amongst them as himself, and not above them like they might've feared.

With this task completed, all that was left for him to do was to ask the important questions.

”I have told you what you needed to know. What has been kept from you has now been brought out into the light. All that remains... is what you would have me do.

You and your ancestors have been wronged. By me and by many people, just like you, who got lost. They fell into a prison of fear, greed, and pride in the face of total despair. They escaped into their own fantasies, unable to handle the responsibility they had been charged with.

They saw beings they thought Gods fail them and abandon them. Without guidance — someone or something to show them the right way — they fell into a neverending spiral of... mistakes that have accumulated up to the present day. ”

Reed's voice echoed across Iliai, undisturbed as a hundred million people silently listened to him.

”For this, I have stripped them of the power they once wielded. They are now no different than you right now. These people are ready to be judged, if you see fit but I ask you to carefully consider this proposition. I have been extremely critical of their many faults and have not given due attention to the good they have done.

Not all of them are immersed in sin. There have been many who have lived and died as Chosen, believing themselves a force for good. They have fought and spent their lives rebuilding, protecting, and inspiring others, mortal and immortal, to follow their path.

This not a black-and-white issue. It is more complex than that and will require more than inflamed hearts full of anger and a desire for retribution. You must see them for everything they are and not just what you do not like. I will not tolerate a witch hunt.  We are not mindless, barbaric savages with a thirst for blood...

I ask you; what do you think is the correct course of action?

How will you decide who is to be punished and who is to be forgiven?

And what will you have me do?  Although I can move the mountains for you and hold up your skies, I cannot tell you what to do from here on out. But I can support you.

No matter what you choose with your newfound freedom, I will be there to lend you my power. I sincerely believe that there is nothing we cannot accomplish united as one people. The possibilities are endless if we unite, I can assure you... but you must choose this path for yourselves.”

Fate would have once forced him to decide this all on his own. It would have made him Chosen in the truest sense of the world, forcing him to determine the fate of a world he was but a foreigner in.

But not anymore. Fate itself had been surpassed by something new.

Today, everyone would be Chosen. They would choose their own futures.

There was a great and deafening silence for a very long time as many reflected on what they had learned but eventually... it gave way when the first person spoke aloud. This person had found his answer.

...And then, a second person followed suit soon after, to be joined by a third.

By the time the fifth person had spoken, the chain reaction had already become too large to stop.

Reed listened to their voices and then... he set forth as they willed him to act.

The Eventide of Faith had finally reached its natural end and the old world would join it in the grave.

The hour of genesis had come to Mulia at its darkest hour, for better or worse. No could tell either way...

The Gods and myths of yore would be shed to make way for what was to come. Nothing would be spared.

Rebirth awaited all; for both saints and sinners, fools and wise men.

For this was the will of Mulia and Reed would see it through...

To the end.