Just a quick one-shot to sate my readers in between clean-ups and major projects. I haven't really tried anything like that recently. Anyway, this'll be pretty short, but very sweet. Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill.

Vincent couldn't help but shake his head as he went over the sum total of the plan Claudia had written down. He had intended for Alessa, now known as Heather, to find the Seal of the Metatron and put a stop to her former friend, but it was clear that wasn't going to work. He'd have to find an alternate plan. This world had been too good to him, regardless of his religion. He wasn't about to see it destroyed, just to be rebuilt from nothing. After all, Claudia was a fool to buy into the ancient traditions. A god that could free people from immortality and give them seasons and change was clearly a god of chaos.

And the wars, diseases, and other forms of suffering Claudia said she wanted to free the world from were also forms of chaos, so she unknowingly undoing all the good the Order's god had done for this world. Besides, her logic that putting a god through pain and suffering would allow it to feel compassion was complete bullshit. After all, her father had put her through that same routine and she felt nothing but contempt for him. As he wondered about how to stop Claudia, he stumbled across a storybook in his notes. After reading through it, he smiled. He then went to place the book in Claudia's chambers.

Claudia was preparing to take the final steps towards her goal. She lamented that all the evil things she was about to do would bar her from paradise, but it was necessary for the world. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the book Vincent had left there. It was the same fairy tale she planned on leaving for Alessa, to destroy the Glutton that was meant to stall her long enough for Claudia to remove Harry Mason from the equation, the only obstacle to her plans. In fact this fairy tale perfectly mirrored that. However, Claudia was surprised to find that there were passages in the story that had been added. No... It looked more like the draft she possessed had things removed.

Instead of the third passage ending in "Happily Ever After", it continued to a forth passage: "At the banquet hall for the priestess, a messenger approached, telling the king of a plague in the village where the monster had been. When the king asked if it was a final curse from the monster, the messenger shook his head, stating that the plague had been going on for some time, since before the monster appeared. The king was rather shocked, and asked how the messenger knew of this. Apparently, several plague victims had stumbled into the city, making all aware of the presence of the terrible disease." This passage surprised Claudia, and made her wonder what it could mean.

Then there was a fifth passage: "Shortly after this message, a young woman entered the hall, carrying her deceased father. He was dressed as a guard, and it looked as though he had been run through with a blade. The woman then pointed at the priestess and demanded, 'Why did you kill my father?' This accusation stunned the room, and the king asked where she got this idea. The woman then asked, 'My father was the guard in charge of keeping people from entering or leaving the plague ridden village. Now thanks to her this plague will fill the whole kingdom.'" Claudia was shocked. She had always seen herself as the priestess in this tale. But could her actions truly lead to something so terrible?

She read the sixth passage: "The king made a formal inquiry and was shocked by the results. As it turned out, no one had seen the so-called monster in person, save the original messenger that brought it to his attention. They had only heard of the terrible things he had done. In reality, the woman's father had stood guard against the plague and sent the messenger to inform the king. But the priestess had intercepted him and convinced to say instead that a monster was attacking the village. The knights that had been sent out were not in fact dead, but had decided to stay within the village, fearing they would contaminate the kingdom." Claudia was surprised as she continued to read. Would it truly turn out that no one would understand her actions?

The final passage read thusly: "When the priestess headed out to face the non-existent monster, she did not truly go to the village at first. She instead waited for some time, then had a servant bring her to the castle as a corpse. There was no miracle, she simply waited until the tears of the people were shed. Then she approached the guard at the village and slew him with a simple knife. When the priestess was apprehended for her decent, she simply said, 'It was not right what had happened. Those people needed to be free.' 'Now that freedom may cost us the whole kingdom,' the king said, 'You shall thusly be burned as a witch for your crimes.' And thus was the priestess taken away." Claudia took in the whole of what she read, and a single tear fell from her eye.

Vincent was a little surprised by the outcome of his gambit, but it nonetheless worked to the world's advantage. Claudia, having realized the truth of the fairy tale, had committed suicide. Just to make sure Heather survived, he sent her a letter telling her about the good luck charm her father gave her and recommending she swallow it. Sure enough, the aglaophotis caused her body to reject the god growing inside her, which she promptly killed. If god was to be born to save the world, Vincent believed it would happen through fate, rather than the hand of man. After all, mankind could not be trusted to know what was good for its wellbeing. Smiling, he adjusted his glasses and kept checking his accounts.

The End

Maybe a bit longer than anticipated, but it basically gives a big reality check to Claudia. Read and review.