History Will Remain The Same

•••

Rocks began to fall on those who were unable to escape. 

Screams and dust flew everywhere, and the sound of explosions continued to shatter eardrums.

Beneath the rubble was a child who managed to survive. 

With feeble steps, he walked forward through the chaos around him.

He finally stopped to stare up at the dark, red sky.

I see you, and you see me.

Where I am, there is a throne prepared to receive my presence.

My name will be heard until the end of my reign, but history will never forget.

History will remain the same.

•

A small family gathered in the living room, where the father told a heroic story.

The story of the hero and his comrades.

In a very barren place, there are buried stories, but they are always stories that will be told from generation to generation.

The hero who defeated the Demon King, the Lord of Darkness.

With one swing of Belida, the hero's sword, evil is defeated.

The father moves the puppet, called the wayang, to raise the child's view of the hero even higher.

The child immediately stood up and held his cardboard sword, "I will be the hero!"

"Because I am the hero!"

This child's nonsense sentence was not a joke. He really did become the hero.

He got what he wanted, and his name is remembered.

But unfortunately, his name will fade away like an intruder bird that killed the mother's original offspring.

••

"Do you want to join us?" 

One of the heroes asked. The old uncle frowned as he threw away the powder from his cigar. 

"Huh? Me? Really?" 

Although his words sounded shocked, the uncle's bored expression made it seem like he was mocking the hero members, "Don't you see, I'm over 40 years old."

"Go find someone else." 

The old uncle waved his hand dismissively at them before continuing to puff on his cigar.

Though they were annoyed by the uncle's flat tone, they still put on their friendly smiles, for only they and those with connections within the throne kingdom could hear the rumors.

That a hero would emerge to take the king's throne.

Growing up in a prosperous village where the fruits of knowledge flourished, he always looked up to where the king stood. He helped the pitiful princess under the name of Savior. 

The rumor made people flock to find the rumored hero.

To overthrow the king who sat on the throne and ruled over their blood.

The three hero members did not give up, they had given up everything to find the hero in question. Although the uncle in front of them didn't look like a hero, if the rumors about the hero were true, then he was related to the third princess...

"There's a philosophy that says even if you are in your old age, you can still seek knowledge!" 

"Haha, what he said is right!" the wand wielding hero member laughed out loud as he said this, trying to break the ice and give his friends a chance to convince the old uncle.

After all, if they could defeat the king, they would definitely get the best seats in the kingdom and might be able to control the power from behind. 

"That's right, you can still be a hero and follow your dreams!" 

The other one said, and the others nodded in agreement.

The old uncle thrust his body in front of the wand wielding hero members, "If the elder said no, then no is no."

In a threatening tone, he continued, "How many people do you think are looking for me, huh?"

"Uhh..." 

Seeing that the menacing gaze still did not frighten them, they became even more convinced that he was the rumored hero.

The sword-wielding hero member immediately stepped forward while blocking his companions from stepping forward, this was his show!

"The king will soon sacrifice the third princess to summon the Messiah. 

We must stop this before it's too late!" 

The bad news was heard, a line that would give the hero the strength to go on to the next round. All to save the world, the village, and the one he loves.

A clichéd phrase that spells doom for the bird that climbs to its glory in the sky.

Shot and dead.

Without a beautiful whistle to guide him back to the dunes.

•••

In a world full of injustice, the boy struggles to survive, even if it means becoming a thief and a beggar to get a piece of bread. The place where he lived, full of green seas everywhere, is now the most dangerous ruin in the world. People who set foot there are killed by creatures from outer space.

They called us monsters who looked scary, our shapes were big, our eyes were scary, our colors were strange.

These alien creatures said these things to us.

Strangely enough, they are staying with us now, making the ruins their home. 

The boy sat by the side of the road with his hands up, begging for some food to be given to him, but everyone ignored him and went about their own business.

Ah, I am hungry.

Mother, father, sister... I'm lonely...

Where are you all?

Why am I the only one who survived all this catastrophe? Why?

Why did they steal our house? What have we done wrong?

The boy hugged his knees and sobbed.

Where are you, King?

Where were you when we needed you?

A plea that will never be heard, a sentence that is just a sentence without memory, we sing for them, we pray for them, but we forget the words we said to them.

•

A happy child, a child with dreams, standing with other warriors trying to win a war that will never end.

The cheerful child slowly lost his smile, his small hands now able to hold a Belida sword.

It's not that we're all here to drive out the demon king, but why? 

Why are we killing each other now?

I don't know.

In the past, when he heard the general shout in the name of his kingdom, he was very motivated, even he did not hesitate to go to the front.

But now, everything was gray.

The red blood turned to ash and spread to the high sky, with no one remembering the people who were burned in the heat of the flames of war.

"Look at the knight □□□□□□, he managed to save the king and even better, he managed to conquer the territory those bastards had already taken over!" The general said his name proudly.

Applause greeted him, all the soldiers patted his shoulders and laughed in front of him, a smile was all he could muster.

"Thank you for your words, General, but I don't think I deserve your praise."

"No, no, of course you do! You are a soldier of my pride, and you will continue to make me proud by receiving the title of hero from the king!"

Today he was a hero, but what about tomorrow?

His feet slowly climbed the stairs that led to the throne.

Just like his words, he will be a hero.

His name will continue to be spoken by the world.

••

"You aren't lying, right?" 

The old uncle, who ended up traveling with the three hero members, questioned their information once again.

"Really! We're not lying, almost everyone in town knows that the king intends to sacrifice the third princess to bring in the Messiah!"

Despite his suspicions, he still tried to believe them, perhaps because his heart told him that they were not lying.

The sound of burning wood could be heard, a campfire was burning in their midst, they had been through a lot. The three hero members chatted about their exploits today. From saving a village that was almost robbed by bandits to rescuing a cat that almost became the family's food.

Since the new king took the throne, he has become very arrogant.

With no regard for the people, all the outlying areas are suffering from extreme poverty. If the king does not get what he wants soon, the whole region will be burned down.

Not only the king, but the queen was even more cruel, when the king was caught cheating, the queen instead vented her anger on beautiful young women by burning them, not even hesitating to kidnap them and give them as gifts to the authorities.

This was because the queen really wanted the power to be in her favor.

This ruthless method seemed to work and overwhelmed the king, which ended with the king deciding to sacrifice the third daughter, who was an illegitimate child. 

The child with the queen's illicit lover.

No one ever knew that the queen's daughter was the uncle's daughter. 

The uncle looked back at the campfire.

He was a chief in the kingdom, met the queen's servant and fell in love with her. The queen's servant was certainly a noble, unlike him, who was just a chef in the kitchen. But their love didn't end there.

With his courage, he managed to prove how valuable he was to her family. And in the end, he was able to marry the girl he loved.

The queen congratulated them on their wedding day.

But the unthinkable happened, the womb in his wife's belly disappeared.

And even stranger, the queen suddenly announced to the public that she had been pregnant with the king's daughter for 7 months. The announcement was made on the same day that his wife's pregnancy disappeared.

The incident caused his wife's family to accuse and ostracize him.

He didn't accept it and secretly snooped around to find out that his child was in the queen's womb and even more painful was the fact that his love was married to another man and had a child with that man.

"All right, then we all rest first before continuing our journey tomorrow." 

The sword-holding hero member said.

Everyone nodded except the old uncle.

"Uncle?"

"I'm on watch tonight."

Eyes were fixed on him before everyone returned to their respective tents.

Grief cannot be healed by time.

It never could.

The fear of facing it all, of running from it all, was just years of grief that could never be healed.

Clenching his fist, he promised.

I will be a hero to you.

I will never run away again.

•••

The little boy sneaked into the dangerous area, and when his eyes fell on the ruins, he cried, all his happiness gone, all his memories gone.

There was only a strange rusty object in the middle of the ruins, surrounded by sand.

The boy's sadness even made him forget that he hadn't eaten for a month.

He just wanted to go back and meet them.

Plucking up courage, the boy quietly entered the ruins, the dust seemingly trying to stop him.

After passing through several traps, the boy stepped in front of the ruins.

He walked slowly through the ruins, at first just to reminisce, but eventually he found a luxurious chair that still looked beautiful.

The throne.

He slowly approached it and noticed the skull leaning against the back of the throne. The skull's luxurious robes made the boy certain that the robes were very expensive.

As his hand tried to remove the robe from the skull, a paper fell out. A fragile paper that contained a harsh reality.

They became monsters because their king was a demon king who made them breathe polluted air. This cowardly king chose to cooperate with people from outside, hoping to gain power with him, but in reality he was betrayed.

What was the purpose of the high stairs built for the throne?

Was it for the purpose of everyone's realization that he is very powerful, then I can have my throne too!

Or was it for the position that someone gave him?

Strange, everyone can be king, everyone can be powerful, but only one is seen.

Everyone looks at him and hopes for him. Even though everyone knows it's ridiculous to hope for a king who doesn't understand anything about humanity.

Only those at the top realize how ridiculous the king and his friends are.

Like a bird trying to take everything, greedy for everything.

Very symbolic of what humans are, but also symbolic that humans are more terrible than these animals.

•

His name is remembered, with a Belida weapon, everyone stares at him, he is a hero, no, he is probably a corpse called a hero.

After successfully defeating the enemies of his kingdom and even overthrowing the demon king, he still died in the place he thought was the safest.

As he slowly approached the throne, everyone stared at him.

Sadly, the happy little boy who hoped to be a hero in his father's eyes died at the hands of his own father.

His father stabbed him.

Stabbed his heart until the sound of life was gone.

One step closer to the throne.

The sound of his father's sobs could be heard, "You have changed..."

"You are no longer my son..."

...If I'm not your son, why are you looking at me like that?

The sound of agitation was heard, his eyes slowly closing.

Father.

Thanks to you, I am a hero today.

And goodbye, General.

••

Together with the hero members, he managed to save the kingdom, all knowing that the king was a demon king. The third princess was the key to summoning the demon, but the third princess died by her own hand.

Everyone flocked to kill the king, supporting the old uncle and the hero members. 

They were successfully memorized.

The Third Princess.

There was no third princess.

The fear that made him run away in the hope of happiness for his child did not exist.

All of them don't exist.

So what's this blood on my hands for?

He was just a stupid old man who hoped that they could live together as father and daughter.

The king is dead, in an empty hall full of blood with the king's head rolling around.

There was only the empty throne and the hero members who died the same way as the king. Their heads were separated from their bodies.

Slowly, his feet walked up the stairs of power. The echoing sound of his footsteps could be heard, heavy steps trying to climb up.

He sat down on the empty throne before cutting off his own head.

•

••

•••

These three people are heroes.

The three live with their stories, occupying the empty throne.

The happy little boy trying to reach the throne.

An old uncle who tries to restore his past.

And a child who lost his childhood and became a hero for his people in the future.

As each reached for the throne, they asked themselves.

Who was to blame?

Me, you, or them?

Did the throne cause it all?

Why did all this happen?

Did the cruelty change me?

Or... did I become the throne?

No, all I do is what I do. 

There is no going back.

Since history has no mercy, I will become history and continue to be remembered.

History will be the same in the future as it is today.