Chapter 4: Fallen One

the person watching the news suddenly turned off the tv as he lay back on his couch.

"Man, here I am thinking of committing suicide now that father is gone instead of appreciating that mother and my siblings are still alive. My condolences to you Pope James, I hope you get through this too like you always have."

…

Pope James or rather James Rubert was adopted by Jack Rubert. Jack was a kind and honest man who was loved by the masses but that changed when he adopted James. Not because of their differences in skin colour but because of James's background. Jack found James In the slums of the Villages and decided to adopt him after growing fond of the kids. The public doesn't like people from the Villages and consider themselves superior to those from the Villages. The Villages are the most diverse in terms of humanity, one can find all human races in these places as those with the least talent and most useless abilities live here, that's why everyone looks down on them.

Jack Rubert took James in nonetheless even when his close friends and relatives advised him not to do so. He then announced to the whole continent that James would inherit his seat as the next Pope of the Holy Church. This caused a storm among the faithful but again, he didn't care and did what he wanted. Jack then raised James alone, taught him how to love care and respect others even when they didn't do the same for him. And thus the legend of James Rubert was born, the kindest man in the continent. James was so kind that even those who hated him couldn't help but love the guy, that's how kind he was.

When Jack passed away, James then inherited his position as the next Pope of the Holy Church and none were against this decision. James took the church to greater heights, to a point where religion wasn't something that separated people but united them. Where ones belief wasn't infringed upon by others but instead respected, even if it was evil. Crime rates decreased significantly, suicide rates decreased, poverty levels dropped. His influence on the continent was so great that serial killers and rapists handed themselves over to the Association Bureau to face the death sentence. They pleaded guilty to all their crimes and apologised sincerely to all those they'd harmed. When it was time for the execution, their last words were;

"I hope that with my actions, it shows Pope James that the little kindness he showed went a long way, to a point where it reached the hearts of the heartless, who killed and raped for the fun of it!"

Those were the exact words of everyone who was executed on that day. Their actions did indeed motivate Pope James as he helped anyone who needed help, his entire fortune went into helping others, especially children in the orphanages. When he became an adult, Pope James adopted many children from the orphanages and many of them are still being talked about to this day. When Pope James married Roxanne, he found out that he had an extremely low sperm count so he couldn't have kids but after hundreds of years of trying, he was finally blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, before he could even see her, before he could even hold her in his arms, she was taken away from him together with the love of his life.

Now, if harm befell such a person, a person who lived every second of their lives living for everyone except themselves but when it was time to finally live for themselves, they lost everything they were living for, wouldn't you pity them? Wouldn't you find your situation better than theirs? Wouldn't you appreciate what you still have instead of what you lost?

This is why everyone loved Pope James. This was why even though everyone lost a loved one, they still felt more sadness and pain for Pope James than themselves. The man who loved and was loved by everyone, the most faithful to the Holy Father and preached the word of the Lord, the man whose words could change the course of the current world system. If such a man were to suddenly go rogue, what would become of the world?

…

[FUUUCK!!!]

In a huge office, a crowd of people gathered in a huge circle like table. All of them were wearing black suits as they listened to the ramblings of a mad man as he cursed out loud but they didn't mind. To them, this was a totally different and new experience since the man in question has never shown his emotions, forever remaining stoic and serious.

[WHY?! WHY DIDN'T THE EXPLOSION OCCUR WHEN LADY ROXANNE WASN'T IN THE HOSPITAL?! SO MANY LIVES WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED BUT NOW… FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUUUCK!!!]

"Chairman Shawn, I don't think it's that bad, each hospital can house about twenty five million patients so approximately a little more than a hundred and fifty million people lost their lives. Our population has been slowly growing, we're now approaching the ten billion mark. Compared to the past, this is the smallest number of people we've ever lost. And about Lady Roxanne… I didn't think that even you Chairman had a thing for her, haha."

The man called Chairman Shawn listened to one of his colleagues speak, not disturbing the man until he finished talking. Chairman is the current leader of the Association Bureau, he's a man of a few words, so few that the number of times others had heard him speaking can be counted on both hands. He's a handsome middle aged man with a great sense of justice who follows instructions by the book and nothing but the book.

After the man finished speaking, he looked at everyone in the room with his piercing gaze, his face growing redder by the second as though he was embarrassed. Those who knew him well knew that this was far from the truth, in fact, he was fuming with rage.

[You guys are usually smart but what happened today?! Did you lose your minds after losing your loved ones in the explosion?! Do you fucking think I have the time to be lusting after women, a respectable, married woman like Lady Roxanne to boot! Since you're getting it, let me make it clear. Pope James lost his wife and his newborn daughter in the explosion.]

"A true tragedy."

"I hope Pope James gets through this too."

"Man, Pope James is such a good man, why does he suffer so much."

"If I were him, I would have long killed myself."

The colleagues suddenly started chatting about how good Pope James or how much he has suffered in life but can still genuinely smile, some even spoke about past experiences they've had with the Pope. Seeing this, Chairman Shawn was even more enraged.

[Enough! Don't you imbeciles fucking get it! The greatest threat to humanity is none other than Pope James himself. With the influence he has, it would literally take him a wave of his hand to shift the current bala… you know what, forget it. Meeting adjourned!] said Chairman Shawn. He then closed his eyes as he waited for everyone to leave before planning for the future.

Since he had his eyes closed, he failed to realise the dark cloud above his colleagues heads as it quickly dissipated into the air. After leaving, everyones eyes regained their clarity but as soon as that happened, they were ambushed by a splitting headache and they quickly forgot about the meeting and went home.

"Carol, before you leave, please take these files with you and leave them at my office and…" Shawn held two microchips as he quickly called Carol but when he saw her, he swore that she somewhat looked different than she did back in the meeting but he didn't know what exactly was different about her. Carol took the two microchips and left.

…

In a dimly lit room, a black bald man wearing only his underwear was in a kneeling position as the candlelight could only illuminate his face. His eyes full of sadness and despair but his eyes still had a little bit of hope in them, hope that everything would be fine as long as he had faith in the Lord he believed in. He then closed his eyes and prayed.

"Holy Father, your lost little lamb kneels before you today not to seek for answers nor to ask for anything from you. I kneel before you today to tell you that my faith in you is dwindling as the darkness tries to devour me. My heart is filled with evil thoughts and I fear that I might succumb to the darker side of myself that I didn't even know existed. I kneel before you Holy Father because I now have doubts, I don't doubt your existence but the plan you have for me.

For centuries, you've taken from me. Every one of my children you've taken, all one thousand children that I raised with love and care you've taken. And now, you've even taken the two gifts that you blessed me with, gone, burned to death as though sinners who committed heinous acts!"

As Pope James continued to pray, he didn't realise how the darkness was slowly embracing him, pulling him closer towards it and only thing stopping the darkness from completely devouring him was the candlelight illuminating his innocent face.

"Everyday of my life, I've only asked you for one thing and one thing only, to protect those whom I cherish dearly. But everyday I wake up, another life is lost, a person is sick, a child is missing, someone died of an overdose and the list goes on and on. Now Holy Father, I've had enough of your trials and tribulations, I now want proof whether or not you care about us as the Holy Book states. Give me a sign that you're watching us and I'll forever be your humble servant, if not then you leave me no choice… I shall become your eternal nemesis, Childe Of Darkness!"

At this point in time, the candlelight could no longer illuminate the entirety of Pope James's face as half of it was already hidden in the dark. Pope James then waited for an answer, we waited for a sign that at least the one he believed in was watching from the heavens above. He truly hoped that the Holy Father was watching them as he clearly knew that he definitely wasn't watching over them.

…

Somewhere in a blindingly bright palace, the place was so bright that night didn't exist here as only light could exist. Deep within the palace, a being sat majestically on his throne, his aura one of light and purity as an even more blinding light than the one illuminating everything outside embodied his entire existence, hiding his surely dazzling appearance.

{My Lord, one of your faithful servants requests an audience. A guardian who watches over the Human Farm and has offered us a bountiful harvest every season. She says it's very urgent.} A golden winged man suddenly appeared before the being on the throne as he knelt and reported the news.

{Bring her in.}

{Yes, My Lord!}

A few moments later, the golden winged man came back with an absolutely stunning woman, her entire being was also glowing but compared to the golden winged man, it was like a firefly competing against the moon. And against the being on the throne, it was incomparable.

This woman had three pairs of white feathered wings on her back tinged with a hue of gold, blond hair finer than silk and wore a white robe. Her golden eyes filled with infatuation and reverence for the being on the throne, even though she couldn't see his appearance. She knelt in front of this being and waited for her chance to speak.

{Mhm, you're the child I've entrusted to watch over the Human Race from the Mortal Realms in a planet I believe used to be called Blue Planet or Earth. With the authority I've given you, you shouldn't be having problems in the Mortal Realms so what seems to be the problem?}

[Heavenly Father, one of your faithful lambs requests for proof that you've been watching him throughout his journey since he started believing in you. He is number one on one of the Holy Book, the Holy Childe Books and is given the title of Holy Saint. He has done a great job in gaining us followers as ninety nine percent of his race is under the Holy Light. We've also gathered massive amounts of Faith due to him alone but… he is on the verge of d-defecting. I fear that…]

{ Enough. I've heard enough of your nonsense. No matter how many followers or how much Faith he's accumulated for us, it doesn't give him the right to get special treatment. It's insulting enough that he's doubting my existence but to actually go as far to want me to prove anything to him is punishable by death countless times over. Since when did a mere Mortal dare to order me around. If he wants to defect to the dark side, let him and after that, bestow upon him and his followers Judgment Day!}

[But Heavenly Father..!!!]

{Your time is up! You may excuse yourself.}

{Yes, Heavenly Father.]

…

Back in Pope James's cottage, he waited for quite a while but nothing happened. Not the flickering of the candlelight, no sound from little creatures, no sudden phone call, nothing. Pope James then opened his eyes which were now completely black, from his expression, one could tell just how greatly disappointed he was but this disappointment didn't last long as a seed of hatred was born from it and planted itself in his heart. It then germinated and became a little sprout and from a sprout, it grew into a small tree but its growth didn't stop there.

Outside, dark clouds condensed as a storm was brewing and started to rain.

"I see… so all these years I've been serving a liar. I've wasted many years of my life praying to someone who didn't give two shits about me! Many of my children died serving you, died preaching your word and spreading your name and this is how you repay them. My wife, my daughter died an inhumane death and you did nothing and still expect me to believe in you. Since there's no place for me in your light then I shall seek refuge in darkness… I shall be your worst enemy!"

Right after saying that, the candle was engulfed by darkness as it was quickly extinguished. Outside, heavy rain poured down, drowning all the sounds being made but a few could still hear the sound of a man screaming in pain and agony.

BOOOOOM!!!

A pillar of darkness shot through the skies, turning the clouds another shade darker and turning the heavy rain into a heavy storm. The dark clouds spread out across not just this one city but all six cities were experiencing a heavy storm. And once all six cities were engulfed in darkness, a silhouette of a massive bird resembling a black crow could be seen, looming over the entire human continent.

[Within the city, within the continent, within the world, within the stars, the cosmos and the universe! As it has been and always will be… Darkness shall forever reign supreme!]

A feint whisper that sounded like a lullaby sounded in every humans ear, causing those who were sleeping to suddenly have nightmares and those awake to hallucinate about their deepest and darkest fears.