Warning: The religious beliefs/views expressed in this story are not the beliefs/views of the author. If you get offended easily, please don't read. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Apocalypse of John
The lights flickered compulsively in the small room as if trying to communicate through Morse code that their life would be ending soon. They were paid no attention to; there was nothing left to replace them. Once they dulled, their life winking out of existence, there would be no more light for the room and it would be swallowed by the darkness.
Dark paint was smeared all over the cracked walls, dried and streaked as if it had been painted long ago. It curved and snaked as it created various symbols of all different sizes. White chalk that had once been pristine was used to create a rather large oval upon the floor. Various symbols branched out inside, reaching their thin arms' out into the center.
In the center of the oval was a wooden chair that had seen better use. One of the legs was short, causing it to tilt slightly backward. Wood peeled back creating jagged edges that poked and prodded.
A man sat on this chair, hands tied tightly behind his back, the cloth appearing to be branded to his skin. It burned and ripped against his skin, welts and rashes littering the otherwise smooth surface. His legs were similarly tied to the legs of the chair, rendering him immovable.
His clothes were torn and ripped, blood speckled across creating a distorted painting upon the cloth. Chunks of his shirt were missing revealing pale skin that poked out beneath. The pant legs were torn at the knees and completely ripped off. Fresh and old blood streaked down his legs, creating wiry paths through the small hairs and imperfections in the skin.
A small bottle was placed over the top of the prisoners head, tilted in such a way that the lukewarm water would drop slowly onto his face. With each drop of the pristine liquid, it reached his face in a matter of seconds, contacting with his right temple. Immediately after the skin was touched smoke flitted into the air, a deep crevasse appearing where skin had once been, burning down to the tissue. The wound would slowly heal until the next drop came, filling the air with the smell of burnt skin.
Blood was stained into the skin on the mans' face, matting his thinning hair to his head. His lips were chapped and cracked, the moisture all but gone. His nose curved, creating a rakish look. Blood caked the inside of his nose, the flow of blood having long been stemmed.
His image screamed of a man who could have been a next door neighbor or the friendly workmate only a cubicle away. It screamed of a man imprisoned against his will and tortured. It screamed of pain and anguish and captivity.
His eyes showed a different story, however. His eyes that should be tormented and colored were soulless and black. There were no iris or sclera; there was only black filling the eyes; eternal and dark. It told a story of an ancient being who had done the tormenting and created the pain. It showed something that was not a man.
It chuckled softly, eyes glittering darkly in the dim light, occasional disappearing when the bulb went dark. Its' voice was smooth and rough; silky and ragged.
"Why don't I tell you a story to pass the time?" it queried, a smirk working its way upon the bloodied face. "I'm certainly not going anywhere."
The room shook, shaking the foundation. Dust flitted to and fro as it came loose from the ceiling and walls, cracked bits of plaster and insulation ripping free from their prison and fleeing into the air.
"And it appears you aren't going anywhere as well. Shall I start at the beginning?" It did not wait for an answer before it continued the story, its' whole body lighting up in glee, shuddering with delight at having an audience.
"Once upon a time, in a time long, long ago there were Beings. Great and terrible They were. Their power and knowledge were infinite. But in all Their wisdom and strength They longed for something more. And so, in Their loneliness, They created those like Them. But this story isn't about Them and Theirs. It is about Him and those He created.
"His first creation was the Birdies who in turn called Him Father. They adored Him and worshiped Him with all that they were. They followed His every command and whim, never questioning the orders. For those orders came from Him, and He was absolute.
"But Father wasn't satisfied. He didn't like the way the little Birdies came out. They were mindless and emotionless. They lacked the substance He desired. They had no free-will nor any desire for it. They were His completely, mind and soul.
"In His discontent, He created them. He called them unique; He called them His children; He called them perfect. He loved them and dotted on them and in return they loved Him. They were unlike the Birdies. They had free-will and they could create and be insolent. They had a mind to call their own.
"And in His love for them, He became blind to their betrayal. But the Birdies could see it. They could see them for what they really were: Worms. They wriggled around in the mud and dirt taking and taking until there was nothing left. Nothing could satisfy them and soon enough, the Birdies knew, Fathers' love would not satisfy them either.
"And as the Worms continued to grow and multiply, they fell and failed countless times. And so Father, in His deep love, appointed the Birdies as guardians. He told them to watch over His beloved Worms to insure their safety. He told them to bow down to them and obey them as if they were Him.
"And at that exact moment, the first seed of doubt spread into the ranks of the Birdies. They couldn't help but wonder why Father made them bow down to these Worms -these, these maggots! They were impure and disloyal and they betrayed Father time after time. They used His love and devotion toward them to their advantage. They used and abused His love for them. The Worms were truly unworthy."
The man cocked his head, eyes flashing dangerously. The smirk it wore so candidly on its' face was now gone, its' lips forming a snarl, teeth barred. "Can you even begin to understand what that would feel like? Worms were better than them. Worms! In all aspects inferior." He let out a soft huff, his eyes slowly reaching towards the deepening crack in the ceiling. "But can you believe that the Birdies actually obeyed their Fathers' wishes. So stupid and ignorant."
"But one wasn't." Its' eyes returned, the black swirling and twisting as a manic grin spread across its' face. "He wouldn't just lie down and bow to those cretins! He was much too powerful and beautiful. Oh! He was so beautiful! No other could compare to his strength and beauty. His love for Father was boundless and pure. And with this infinite love, he approached Father and told him that only He truly held his love and devotion."
"And do you know what Father said?" A deep growl escaped its' throat. "He made no excuses nor did he give any explanations. He simply told this beautiful Bird to bow down, because He commanded it. Can you believe that? So blinded He was by the Worms, that He forgot His first creations! The pure ones! The only reason He created those Worms was because He longed for a being with free-will like Himself. Now that the Birdies could express those emotions, He no longer wanted them to have such thoughts! Ha! The irony.
"And so the first disobedience came from this Bird, who refused to love anyone but Him. This Bird preached to the other Birdies about their Father and how their love should only be given to Him, not those filthy Worms! The more he preached, the more the Birdies saw his reasoning until there was an army that rose up against Fathers' orders. They called to their Father asking him to understand. And in return, Father did not reconsider is actions. No. He gathered those still loyal to His wishes and pitted them against one another. Brother against brother. Sister against sister. And all those rebel Birdies were trying to do was gain back His attention. They were begging for His love and He refused to give it.
"And these lovely Birdies whose only crime was wanting to be loved by their Father, lost the fight and were condemned. Father tore their purity from them and cast them down to suffer for eternity below the Worms. The beautiful Bird that had stood up for his kind was stripped and shoved into a cage to be forever sealed. The Bird was to never see the light again; to never feel His warmth and love. The Bird was cast into eternal damnation. All for loving Him.
"And so the Birdies left continued to follow His orders in fear of being cast down like their fellow brethren. They stayed like that for centuries, watching the Worms grow. They watched them commit treason and genocide. They watched them destroy one another and laugh as they did so. And they watched. And they watched." It closed its' eyes. "Until one day, Father finally saw the Worms for what they were. He saw what they were doing to one another. The monstrosities they committed. And in the end, they all begged to be forgiven no matter what their sin. They wanted their Heaven without working for it. And in the smog and bitterness that was their hearts, He realized what He had created and what He had done, and in His sorrow, He left. He left."
It laughed hysterically, the sound coming from deep within its' dry throat. Spittle sprayed across as it indulged itself. "Can you believe that? All that work and all that creating and He just up and left them all! No wonder they all lost it!" Finally, as if realizing it still had an audience, it returned to its' previous position, a sparkle of light flashing in its' darkened eyes. "But I'm getting ahead of myself.
"At first everything was fine. The Birdies stuck to what they did best: look after the Worms and guard them. But as the years went on and Father was nowhere to be found, they started to become lost. It was becoming harder for them to understand why the Worms destroyed and killed each other and their precious land. It was becoming harder to keep them under control. But they held on to the belief that Father was coming back and everything would be fine. Mind you, these were the Birdies that He created to be mindless and emotionless.
"But soon, the Superior Birdies realized that He would not be coming back and descent quickly flared, spreading like wild fire amongst these Superiors. He was gone and was not coming back. The Worms were so vast and so destructive and had cast His love aside so thoughtlessly. Of course, they realized, it was the Worms who had made Father run." It laughed. "It was the Worms that made their Father love them less. It was all the Worms.
"And do you know what they did? They looked to their fallen Bird, the one that they scorned so readily only centuries before. That Bird was now their salvation: their solution. They created a plan so ingenious and so devious you would have thought it came from a Demon! But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.
"For you see, when the Bird and his fellow Birdies were cast down below the Worms, another place was created: Hell. This was a place where evil and horrible delicious Wormy souls came after death to be tortured endlessly for eternity. But something went wrong. There was a chasm that opened into the Worms' plane of existence and every once in a while, a damned soul would escape. But these souls were almost unrecognizable by then. Torn into and slashed until they became something entirely different: they became the Spawns. They were a whole new race that followed the Bird wreaking havoc upon the Worms' world all in the Birds' name. For to them, the Bird was their father and they loved him unconditionally.
"And so, the Birdies used these Spawns' to their advantage. Both wanted the Bird to rise again and destroy the Worms. So a deal was made - how ironic is that! - and set into place. Three Spawns' were chosen to start the plan: Yellow, Red, and Martyr. Yellows' job was the most involved one. He was to infect a multitude of baby Worms with his blood." It paused laughing lightly. "Don't give me that look now, I know what I'm talking about.
"So, do you know what that did? The mixing of human and demon blood? It gave them powers beyond imagination; it gave them powers of the Spawns. But it was so hard to find the right mixture and the right family. It took generation after generation of experiments to determine the exact amount of demon blood to initially infect the baby Worms with. And in this long experimenting period, the Birdies got restless and angry. They wanted their revolution now. And in their hurry, they made mistakes that would come back to haunt them. But the Spawns, oh the Spawns. If they were anything, it was patient. They took their time plotting and planning everything to perfection. And oh was it perfect.
"Their experiments finally reached its climax and the perfect family was found. The Birdies had interfered and brought the Worms together to create the perfect union; the perfect children. Others were still infected by Yellow, but it was this family that was followed closely for they were the Worms; they were the Sword and King. The seeds were finally planted and they waited. Oh, how they waited. Very impatiently might I add. There were very nearly several times when the plan was almost botched! But it came through in the end." It gave a once over to the room. "Obviously it did."
"And so Sword and King were caught in a web that was being controlled by the Spawns and Birdies all to achieve the goal of complete annihilation. Yellow marched them all the way to Devils Gate." It paused, lightly rolling its eyes. "No, that isn't a thing. Devils Gate is a real place. It's the place where the chasm is the weakest, allowing full access between the Spawns and Worms. But the catch was only a Worm could open it. A Worm with Spawn blood as it was. And in the end, it wasn't King who opened the door but a back-up plan that had been created by Yellow. And the Gate opened and Hell was unleashed upon Earth.
"But the Gate did not stay open long. King and Sword found a way to close the Gate and Yellow was killed in the process. Yes, killed. Of course you can kill us. It's just a matter of figuring out how. Anyway, I think we're getting a bit off track. So the Gate was closed and Yellow was gone, reduced to ash. But it was all according to plan. Oh yes, even Yellow's death followed the Spawns plan. For even though Yellow was dead and the Gate was closed, Martyr had escaped into the land of the Wormies from the depth of Hell. And life was good.
"It was Reds time now to take over. Approaching King and Sword carefully and meticulously, for as I said before, Spawns patient. Red stuck by them even when threatened, whispering false truths and hope; whispering lies. Red manipulated until there wasn't anything more to do but wait for King's ties to be broken. Red didn't have to wait long as, soon enough, Sword was cast down into Hell. The righteous man had fallen into Hell." It gave a demure sigh. "You couldn't even imagine to understand the pure, unadulterated joy we felt when we heard this. Oh, it brought tears to my eyes; to all of our eyes.
"What? Why you ask? For the prophecy says quite plainly that when a righteous man spills blood in Hell, well, that's when the first seal breaks. And Sword, you see, was that righteous man. And boy did he spill blood. Oh, did he spill blood. He was quite a pro." It cocked its head to the side. "Oh, I suppose I haven't fully explained what these 'seals' are have I? No, I suppose not. I'm sure you can guess now, but back then the Worms didn't know nor understand. The seals were what kept the Bird locked in its cage. Sixty-six of them were in our way to release him. It wasn't that we couldn't just break them arbitrarily. After all, there were over 300 seals in existence. It was more that the first and last seals were so particular it was aggravating. But with the first seal broken we could do as we pleased and break whatever seals we came across.
"And with Sword gone, Red finally had King's attention and finally, finally, the rest of the plan would reach fruition. Red would work with King while the Spawns destroyed the seals systematically. But this, you see, is where the plan between the Birdies and Spawns divided. You see the Spawns couldn't care less about the Sword, and in fact, would have very much liked to keep him down there in Hell. For he was not needed to make their plans come true. But the Birdies had a different idea of how it was supposed to go down. They wanted the Sword to be resurrected, for the Sword was not only destined to break the first seal, but to also become host to the Superior Bird."
It stopped to stare at a particularly flaky part of the wall. "Do you really want to know what their plan was? Would you believe that the Birdies had the Worms best interest at heart?" A snort. "I think not. Their dream was to pit the Superior Bird against the Bird in a bloody final battle that would decimate the world and the Worms leaving only a handful of them behind. And with that handful, there would be so called paradise where the Birdies reigned supreme. But I digress.
"So, just like in the Birdies plan, the Sword was resurrected by a lower Birdie, just a Hatchling. Hardly anything but a foot soldier. It certainly put a kick in the Spawns plans, but they had planned for just about everything." Its' eyes narrowed, its' lips pursed in anger. "But something went wrong. Not with our side, mind you, but with the Birdies. For you see, not all the Birdies knew of the special plan being unfolded. Surely not all of the Birdies held the same ideals and would certainly rise up against their superiors. So, of course, it was one little insignificant Hatchling that almost destroyed both plans and spared the world." A huff. "It was such a pain. To know that all we worked for was almost taken away from us because of one unseen, stupid, little variable. And I mean all gone. Poof."
It sighed and leaned back in its chair as if it could possible get comfortable. "You see, that Hatchling was assigned to watch over Sword after the little Hell stint. What the Superiors did not foresee was the effect Sword and King had upon the Hatchling and the effect the Hatchling had upon the Sword and King. It wasn't enough at first. The seals were still breaking as they should, one by one like little Domino pieces. No foreseeable affect was seen until the breaking of the last seal.
"Which brings me to Martyr's involvement. You might think that Martyr didn't have much of a role to play, but oh it was an important one. Martyr was the one to be the menacing force, the force that they all strove to defeat at any and all costs. The Sword and King were led to believe that Martyr's death would stop the Bird from rising. And so Martyr drove King to Red and created a chasm between Sword and King. The two brothers were split by their different beliefs on how to defeat the Martyr. And eventually, if you can believe our exceedingly good luck, it led to the complete separation of the two. Each went their different direction, pushed away by, ironically, one another. It couldn't have worked out any better.
"But the problem was that the Sword was slowly converting the Hatchling." It rolled its eyes. "Yes, the Wormie was now converting a little Birdie. The Hatchling, who had been devout in following orders until then, was now starting to doubt those same ones. The Hatchling was starting to follow the Sword. And when that time came when the King went to defeat Martyr, the Sword begged the Hatchling to help; and help the Hatchling did.
"Thankfully, it was already too late. King and Red found Martyr and, using the abilities Yellow had given him, the King destroyed Martyr, thus breaking the final seal. For the final seal was when the corrupted destroyed the first Worm corrupted. That blood from the first corrupted Worm spread across that final seal and – BOOM!" It started to laugh manically. "The Bird was free. Oh what a glorious moment that was. All over the world the Spawns stopped and trembled with excitement. Our heads raised and we spoke as one: Father has returned."
The blissful look it had upon its' face was soon replaced with a frown. "That's when the Hatchlings' meddling came in. For you see, the King was supposed to be there when the Bird rose so that the Bird could quickly take the one true host. But the Hatchling actually managed to get the Sword to the King in time and they somehow fled before the Bird could fully arise. And they killed Red." The frown deepened, eyes staring distantly as if lost in thought. "What?" The eyes snapped back to attention, amused confusion dancing across the deep void of blackness. "I know you have to know about hosts. Especially in this day and age. But, you see, the Superior and the Bird had only one true host. Sure, others could be well enough hosts, but those Worms wouldn't last long before burning up by the glorious light that was them. It was quite annoying that King wasn't there to become host to the Bird. Instead, the Bird had to take up precious time to find a substitute host so that our work could be continued.
"At this point, everything seemed to fall apart." It scowled angrily, glaring at nothing in particular. "The Birdies couldn't do anything until Sword agreed to be Superiors host, and the Bird couldn't reach full potential until King agreed to be host. All the while Hatchling teamed up with Sword and King to try and find a way to defeat the Bird and save the Worms. Everything you see, was on a sort of stand still."
"And so we waited, and waited." A heavy sigh. "And waited. We tried to push them towards the right path, but all our pushing seemed to make them go the opposite direction. So we patiently waited, silently causing havoc in rural parts of the world. Not only that, but we had to dodge and duck every time the trio decided to take their third option for a spin. Options like shooting the Bird in the head with a gun." A pause. "Yeah, I know. I don't know what idiot came up with that idea. But they did come up with a good one after some pretty horrid ones.
"You see, while the trio was trying to find a way to save the Worms, the Spawns and the Bird were busy resurrecting the Horsemen. No, that isn't a witty nick name. They were the Horsemen. They were glorious and played such wonderful games. And on their finger was a ring that boosted their powers and kept them there in this plane because, you see, they were never meant to walk amongst us; well, except Death. But Death is a whole other story. However, those rings had a horrible secret. If all of them were joined and a very special sentence was uttered, it had the ability to open one of the cages."
"Now I know what you must be thinking: one of the cages? Yes, there are numerous cages located all over the world. However, there are only a handful that have the size necessary to hold something as powerful as the Bird." It leaned forward in the chair, the wood protesting loudly. "Now, can you guess what the little trio's idea was? Yes, it was to gather the rings and reopen the cage. I'm not sure exactly how they were planning on getting the Bird back down. After all, it's not like you could distract the Bird and then push him when he wasn't looking.
"But that's hardly of any consequence now. So they took off to find the rings. It was a harrowing ordeal for all of us. The Horsemen were getting taken down one by one. The Birdies were being just plain ridiculous with how forceful they were becoming and the King was still refusing to be the Birds host. It wasn't for like of trying, mind you. But the trio came together so perfectly that they fed off each others hope." It spat the last word as if merely speaking the word would make it physically ill. "They kept each other going and stopped the King and Sword from becoming hosts."
It let out a long, suffering sigh. "It was so annoying. But in the end, patience and stupidity won. Our patience; their stupidity. I don't know if it was a part of a 'plan' or they had just finally given in, but in the end, King consented of his own free will. It was a beautiful moment. We all stopped what we were doing to just bask in the Birds' glory as raw power enveloped the world. Our Father had reached his final potential. Our patience had paid off and soon the world would be ours.
"Everything seemed to snap into place after that, like pieces to a puzzle that we finally had the picture too. We no longer had to worry about the Birdies. So impatient they were that they had pushed the Sword too far. There was no way Sword would allow them to take him, body and soul.
"Hell was closed soon after that. The Bird no longer had any reason to keep it open. The Earth was his now. All the damned souls were released upon the Earth, some even attempting to rise to the ranks of Heaven." A snort. "And you can bet that Heaven didn't like that one bit. Nope. In an instant Heaven was shut down like a bad amusement park and the Birdies fled the scorched Earth and returned to their glass castle in the sky. They abandoned the Earth and fled to their safety to watch as it burned."
It shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "Now souls are curious things. Each soul has more power than one of your nuclear reactors. Powerful stuff, you know. The more intense the person, the more powerful the souls. And all these babies suddenly had no place to go. No Hell to take them and turn them and no Heaven to give them their internal bliss. There was only Earth."
It paused, staring intensely. "Haven't you wondered where all those monsters came from? They certainly didn't exist before. No, they were created by the souls. Sometimes a wandering soul would touch one of our kind or some of the others and if they are compatible, they join as one and a whole new creature is created. Sometimes the soul is so powerful, the wanting to exist so intense that it will mutate until it creates something completely new and unique. But they can never get back their understanding and mind. It was lost long ago when their body perished. And then sometimes the soul disappears into the land, the Earth tearing and ripping at it until there is nothing left and it is completely absorbed."
A chunk of the ceiling fell off to the side causing it to jump slightly. It looked nervously around for a moment before returning back to its' original position. Its' posture, however, was still tense. "But, again, that's another story for another time and it appears our time here is coming to a close. What you need to know; what I need to tell you is that there is no more room for hope for any of us. Your kind will soon be eradicated and all traces of your existence will disappear into the tainted wind. And our kind," it let out a soft breath, "our kind will march for our father until there is nothing left to fight against. And when that happens, there will be no need for us anymore."
A sad look spread across its' face, a stark contrast to the smug expression that had been worn so candidly. "Would you believe that our Father loves us unconditionally and thinks of us as his children? Well, it turns out he is no better a father than his own. We are merely tools to him; a means to reach his ultimate goal. Some of us have figured it out but still others are marching along to his song to allow him to reach his ultimate goal. But we know, the select few of us, that once we have fulfilled our purpose, we will be eradicated just like you. There is no room for us in his new world."
A thunderous noise boomed from outside and the room shook once more, small and large chunks of plaster falling to the ground. "It looks like they're here." Nervous eyes flitted around the room. "Thank you for listening to my story and it's a shame that you won't be able to regale it to another. But I don't suppose that it'll do much good anymore. It's far too late to rally the troops and it's far too late to dream. In this Godless universe there is only pain and suffering with no hope of death for relief."
A door that had been all but invisible through the duration of the story shook and shuddered under an unknown force. "It appears your story is coming to an end. Either way, I will see you again in this wasteland of the damned."
"I wonder what creature your soul will become."