The kid mumbled 'It was never that I wasn`t lucky, or fate was against me, it just wasn't with me— But a fate can not kill me must be a fake one'
'Big words for someone who is about to die' said the man with a smile.
The kid let out a chuckled 'You know, somehow I always survived—' while flinched from the pain 'I have already survived so many times before— so what`s a once more.'
The man questioned 'Stubborn till the end? Why not just give up.'
The kid lost his strength as his head fell while his hand rested on the floor, still leaning against the wall 'Because I still have to thank someone for a chain' as his eyes slowly closed.
'Just for a miserly chain?' confused, the man spoke in disbelief 'It is sad to see you hope for such a petty thing that will never come true with me being alive… Save it for the next life'
'Petty?' the boy said 'Just like that ribbon, I am protecting what's mine…'
'Ribbon?' as he glanced onto his left wrist 'I– guess that is fair.'
After all, not a single time had let his left arm be cut off let alone be touched by the blade.
The man laughed 'Ha… You are not a pitiful person but a pitiful human' and paused before he asked 'Tell me— What do I look like to you?'
The boy barely lifted his eyes to take a peek at his face before answering 'All I see is a- Pitiful King of Crumbling Empire.'
The man smiled for a moment 'Pitiful huh—? My subjects obey me'
The kid said 'A tyrant whom they can not question. Your ruined pillars and crumbling throne are proof of it— A large throne room once filled with the trusted now remains empty– Many doors leading in yet none are opened. No one dares question you for they are weak.'
The man showed his disgust for the first time 'That exactly was the problem—'
He tightened his fist as he spoke up 'A throne is worthless when people are enslaved to their kings. Only for the throne that once represented their kingdom to become a hollow seat held up by nothing but a few sticks and stones.'
He raised a finger towards the throne 'And such a throne is worthless'
The throne was smashed into pieces with the wind he shot as rubbles came flying towards them. The wind was much stronger than anything he had used before.
The man continued 'For there is no need for such a throne when people are enslaved to the ruler instead of the throne which once represented their pride.'
While still pointing at the throne, he made a shield out of wind to protect himself from rubbles and the kid who was behind him could only see debris of the "said" destroyed throne land before his eyes.
Elenbel continued 'Everyone is a hero in their story till the time comes to act like one. Laughable, is it not?'
'People always claimed to have high morals and principles yet when the time arrives for their principles to finally be tested, they all freeze as they look around hoping for someone else to take that risk and soon the very same people will claim how heartless others are when no one stepped up just like how they never stepped up for others.'
'No one truly cares for misery till it comes to them. Some will blame others, some will fall into despair but most will cry out if only they were stronger, they would have fought– if only they were as strong as some other human. While refusing to put in the same effort those humans once did as they hide behind the excuses of their misery'
'What brought mankind to their destruction was not an overwhelming force or destruction beyond one`s control but a miserly lie. A lie behind which they hid themselves. And eventually turning those lies into makeshift beliefs to ease their hearts from the truth of their misery.'
The man spoke up with pride and no hesitation 'My name is Elenbel, The Pitiful King of Desolation. People fear me for the strength I have. Love me to gain my favor, hate me behind my back'
Elenbel smiled 'but that's all they can do. I never conquered anyone, they were just cowards who handed over their leash to their new ruler just like their ancestors did before them. They could have killed me yet they feared death more than they feared of living as slaves. They were given a mind for a reason yet they refused to use it as it was the greatest sin. They only compared themselves to the lesser fortunate and fought among themself to feel better about their small delusional world where the little thing they call "freedom" was nothing but a lie to cover up the truth they hid from.'
'But few who fought back were just silenced by the cowards' Elenbel looked at the boy as he continued 'And even you young lad would join them when you grow up, for giving in is easier'
'Ironic how people dream of a savior to come and save them, yet they refuse to take fate in their hands. They only wait on a savior that was never promised to them— that never existed for their time in the first place. Yet they kept on waiting like fools they were.'
'People divided by power and self conflict instead of united by correction and thinking. A world was made by people to oppose humans. That is the world we destroyed…'
Elenbel voice became cold and distant 'only to realize there were no humans among them.'
He talked as if he recalled a memory 'There was once a kingdom that had fallen to the selfish wishes of nobles'
He smiled peacefully 'One day a hero rose from the ashes of death and saved the kingdom from the corrupted nobles giving the people the freedom they never deserved'
Elenbel's memories showed he wore white ribbon on his arm at which he looked and smiled saying 'Haha… this is so corny.' while staring at the red ribbon he held in his arms.
But as he stood in the crowd and looked up, the Red ribbon fell from his hands and onto the ground. For there was no use for a ribbon that no one could ever wear.
His tone changed to enraged and eyes widened up 'The foolish people— had killed their own hero… the very same people who he bled for, betrayed him and let him bleed out painfully and as they all watched him die in agonizing pain…"
Elenbel's eyes in distant memories turned traumatized the moment his eyes laid upon the dead hero… His only friend "Lying motionless" on the ground
Light whispers echoed in Elenbel's mind like a loop just like they were from yesterday just like the day he walked towards the stage where the hero was executed and the people around him looking at him with excuses.
One Voice said "Do you think it was easy to watch someone suffer?"'
'Watch someone suffer as you stand back in false safety?'
Another one said "We would have helped if we were stronger…"'
'Stronger than who?'
And another "I was scared?"'
'Scared of what?'
And the last one "We tried our best but we failed"
Elenbel thought as he kept on walking though the crowd 'Tried your best? By watching your hero die screaming in agonizing pain? While standing there, letting a few weak knights order around the hundreds you? No wonder you people are so miserable' after which Elenbel's mind went silent.
At last. His eyes laid upon a child whose face was barely visible from behind the crowd. Scared and powerless unlike the adults.
…
'I will give them the reason to be scared'
The Kid felt enormous pressure from him. Elenbel had done nothing at all… but something from his body was radiating such a force. A force which the boy had never experienced before.
The heart of the boy started to beat faster, his eyes started to shake as his blurry vision started to darken and dull as his body froze from fear alone.
Darkness slowly spread yet gently started to eat his heart as not even the light was able to cast its shadows away.
The pressure alone was enough to make the boy want to puke out his guts. The kid did not want to admit it but Elenbel was being merciful to him yet the boy still had a smile across his face with one end slightly twitched.
Elenbel blinked and his eyes looked cold yet miserable 'And something finally snapped… what rose from the blood of the hero was not a savior people hoped for— but a beast that should have never been awakened once more…'
The beast who went on alone towards the castle and the very noble that once forced the beast to kneel for them now knelt before him, begged for their lives—
But this time, none were spared.
Elenbel forced a smile as the pressure suddenly stopped and his voice became calm once more but his hands told another story.
His left fist tightened to the point it started to bleed from his own anger as he suppressed it.
'Fools rejoiced for the beast who saved them from the corrupted nobles once more… But the beast knew— the people cheering for him just as they did for the hero… History repeating itself just like it did so many times before…'
And the beast just stared 'For he knew it better than anyone for he was the one who beside the hero not long ago'
Elenbel looked at the boy as if he was teaching him a lesson 'After all, the dead cannot speak so history screams for them— but if no one preserves the past then who will then who will speak for the dead and the mistakes of the past…'
The fools who cheered soon realized that he was not the savior they hoped for but just a beast who could no longer be stopped— For the only hero who had stopped this beast in the past… was already dead.
His voice raised 'And just like before' he chuckled a little like he mocked them 'Few went back to praying for another savior while others went back to licking the tyrant's boots…'
'Fools I say. If the hero's sacrifice was worthless to them then I will show its true worth.'
Elenbel looked down upon his left fist which was bleeding from his own wound.
He let go of his fist, relaxing his arm a little as the blood dripped from his fingers to the ground 'What I desire for is not a kingdom of fools but humans… And that is why I will become the proof of the past and force them to become the screams for the future. The screams that one would never forget.'
Elenbel raised his left fist as the blood ran down from his palm to the red ribbon and dripped to the ground 'For Freedom is worthless when it is handed out. And such freedom can never last— for they never knew how to fight for it. That is why a savior is a must to lead those starry sheeps'
The ribbon was once again soaking in the blood of his own 'After all, the savior is not the one who achieves victory but the one who guides people towards it…'
Nobles, Heroes, Rulers and Beggers…
All claim to be humans, the Smartest creatures but in the end just like how a child needs to learn how to walk, an animal needs to learn how to act like a human.
If one is to just drown themself in the pride of being smartest without doing anything worthy of such a title then it's no different than a fool who never achieved anything and wore their inherited ranks from birth, taking pride in them.
But all of those petty titles crumbled before the beast as they were reduced down to their true standing. Nothing more than lost sheep acting like dragons in a fenced cage.
They blamed the past for being born in a cage yet failing to realize they "too" were obsessed with their own safety that they had enslaved themselves and those that have yet to come.
'Without thinking and unity, we all are just livestocks waiting for our death'
Elenbel seemed tired, more tired and even sweating a bit just by talking rather than how many times he had regenerated his body.
His body turned a bit pale as he paused and looked towards his ribbon which now bathed in his own blood.
Two faintly dimmed hands showed up and bumped his fist making a triangle in the gap between them seemingly like an illusion.
A voice whispered 'Triangle is the strongest shape…'
Elenbel closed his eyes 'What a lie it was'
A triangle consisted of three lines but with hero's death. Only remained two and soon faded into a singular line. A lonely fist separated from the rest.
After all… When a single line is broken off a triangle— what remains are two lines and a bond that could never be repaired, just for it to be torn apart…
But a single line can never be broken for it never needed anyone to begin with. A single line went back to where it came from. But that line can no longer protect anything either. That is why—
He faintly mumbled in a quiet yet expressionless voice 'That is why a line is destined to roam alone'
The boy questioned as he heavily breathed 'What is- a triangle…?'
Elenbel replied 'hmmm… its like a shape—' as he used his fingers to cast it out on the air but before completing the bottom side of it, he coughed.
'I mean it`s time for your pitiful existence to end'
'Ha… you said that last time too…' as the boy looked Elenbel in his eyes.
Elenbel was shocked as he stared at those eyes which had turned into the shade of yellow-ish orange 'This should be impossible?… Those petals should have been plucked off by now but they shine even brighter— like they are fully awakened… No wait those eyes—' and he paused 'Oh…' as his expression turned into a smile 'This will be fun'
But as he was thinking, something else surprised Elenbel more than those eyes.
The boy who was barely hanging onto his life and stood up once more, struggling on his feet as he held onto his finger with his right arm and put it against his head as he smiled 'You better not miss or else the line will break up today'
Elenbel laughed as he complimented the boy 'You really are a human…' his voice turned cold and sympathetical 'Such a shame it is, for you to die and no one to remember your bravery'
And he started to charge up the wind around his arm and the boy's arm was getting cut from the force of winds alone but he did not let go.
Elenbel shifted to a serious cold face saying 'for I am the strongest in this room'
The boy smiled. The smile of a mad man.
Not peaceful or of one who accepted death, he was smiling at death like a mad man. Almost romantic~
Extra: (Note: I might include extra scenes I decided to skip from the main storyline. These are for fun and additional information one can read.)
Warning: Is not suitable for kids.
Will Of Elenbel
Elenbel carried a will. A flame so strong in his hands while he himself was drained of all light and covered in darkness.
A burden he carried as many hands that had faint light grabbed onto his leg, yet he kept on caring the will, disregarding his own flesh that was being torn apart with absolute resolve in the eternal darkness.