Thus Speak Prodigal
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Part II : The Search for True Love
Disclaimer : Usual
Chapter 11 : Power of Love
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(a)Between Christ and Prodigal
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The Prodigal stood cold and detached, as he faced one of the most powerful beings, who was surrounded by an aura of brilliance that he could only see the energy emitted by the light who formed his shape, but not the figure itself. It was known in the bible that even Moses could not see God because mortals do not have the power to withstand the light he emitted in the story of Exodus. But the Prodigal is an Endless, yet he also possessed a considerable amount of difficulty in seeing the being himself.
At this moment, the energy began to materialized in a person with a human form, and he was a robed man, with a sturdy beard, and flowing dark hair of a Jewish man. The man who was transformed from the original form of the God, emitted a spirit of peace and solace to the Prodigal. He was none other than the son of God, the Messiah who was destined to promise the second coming on Earth. He was Jesus Christ, who was told that he bore the sins of Mankind by being put on the cross, and resurrected three days later after his death.
"So, you have taken the human form of yourself, and should I address you as Christ?" the Prodigal smiled.
"Yes, Hope," said Christ as he walked forward to meet the Endless,"It was 2 millenia since we last met. Things have changed greatly."
"We are old friends, and only in this form, you would decrease the hatred in me for you in your state as God." said the Prodigal. "You should not address me as Hope, and call me Prodigal."
"Well, Prodigal," said Christ, as he transformed the surroundings of the place into a beautiful garden, endowed by the beauty which the flowers could reborn in spring. The shrubs and grass patches formed a beautiful lawn ahead the two godly beings. "Walk with me in the garden, old friend."
"My pleasure," said the Prodigal.
"Things have indeed changed, since my mortal death which I was destined."
"I do not understand you, you chose to die instead of letting me help you to deal with those people, and let Despair to break the hearts of your followers." said the vagabond, in a strong tone.
"It was meant to be that way. It was the Will of God, I am an example to show Mankind what their infallibilities are. They have suffered and they need to be guided."
"But things are not changing. The churches are broken in different denominations, the Crusades taken by the Vatican to march into the Holy land against the Muslims, and the corruption of ideals and the evangelism created by your followers." the Prodigal listed all the problems caused by the death of Christ.
"They have not learned, and that is why I have never returned. Because the war is dragged further on between Heaven and Hell." said Christ. "Many people keep thinking that I would come and relieve all the sufferings of Mankind again, and the story depicted by Revelations would happen, and the world would end in fire, and finally all the sinners burn in hell and all the non-sinners would live in Heaven. But they never understand that the coming of Christ is not something physical, it could be just that they could learn to love one another and not to be corrupted by their desires and lust over power to control, be it affairs of the heart, careers and other things in their lives."
"Well, the Bible is written by your followers and not by God." said the Prodigal as he smiled at his friend.
"Yes, and people loved to interpret books as if they mean everything. In truth, anything which words are set to label and define, loses the meaning or the context what the thing is actually. There is an inherent and intrinsic thing in the things the Universe works, and to put words and meanings to them, would degrade the context of these things. Nature is abstract, and so much for the efforts of Science and Philosophy. Once you start holding onto something which is attached with a word and meaning, it becomes useless. Such is the spirit of love. You can only experience love and give love, but you cannot define love."
"It takes a lifetime for many mortals to learn that. It took me eons to learn that." the prodigal sighed as nostalgia of the past came to his heart.
"Unfortunately, I see it coming that you would eventually suffer the disaster. You have broken one of the forbidden laws of the immortals : to fall in love with a mortal woman. Remember what I told you before I was to die in the cross." Christ made a glance at his old friend, who was willing to save him from the dangers which he was about to face by the betrayal of his 13th student, Judas. "Your destiny was with Ruona, and you know it, but you choose to break her heart, by entering into an affair with a mortal woman, Celette. You should be thankful that she forgives you and yet, forgive and forget is something that is beyond the trivialities of mortal behaviour, and not many mortals can do that."
"Yes, and I broke two women's hearts, and one died for me, and the other is now suffering for me." the Prodigal lowered his head. "I remember that in my duel with the Devil, he mentioned that Hell is a place where people could forgive themselves and take the eternal part of their lives, torturing themselves, being sad masocists because they could get over the guilt and the conscience. Similarly, Heaven is a place where you have totally given up the ego and admit your sins, such that you come to a place where the things you desire would come to you. It is like you cannot reach paradise, because you reject paradise. But in truth, I could not let Celette go. She was everything which I was looking for. To let her go was something which the mortal side of me that I could not let go. I am wrong to try to prove to the immortals that I am right, but ending proving myself wrong. Because of my remorse, I have realized my wrongs and came to my present state as a prodigal, abandoning all responsibilities and things which I once hold to. I was too egotistic and anthromorphic that I did not realize that I made so many blunders in my life."
"That is very surprising to hear from you, Prodigal. You are not like that in the past. You have finally admitted that you are wrong, that is so unlike you in the past. Both of us have made our mistakes in someway. My mistake is not to clarify what I have told my followers then."
"Yes, they say that Time could change a person. In this case, Time has changed an Endless." The prodigal nodded his head. It was a moment where two old friends had come to look at their past and smiled to their own folly.
"Since you have already quelled the rebellion, my old friend, it is time for me to go to stop the anomaly with Lucifer Morningstar. I have to destroy it before it would affect Ruona." said the Prodigal, as he was about to go.
"Not yet," said Christ in a serious tone. "Before you leave, I have to let you see one more thing, something which you have desired since your fall."
"What do you want to show me?" said Prodigal,"I don't think that there is anything which can move me now other than Ruona. They say that Heaven is a paradise, where you can get what you desire. Humans do not realize the price of getting what they desired. They tried to covet more and more without being contented, and realized in the end that they lose more and more. The price to getting what you wanted, is getting what you once wanted. Nothing matters more to me than Runoa and my daughter."
"Yes, which is what I am about to show you. You have come to Heaven, and so, you should be showed something which you have desired deeply in your heart. There can only be one thing which can affect you other than Ruona and Valentine, your daughter." said Christ, as he looked at the Prodigal in a very stern smile.
"How did you know my daughter's name?" the Prodigal was surprised.
"Well, remember I am omnipotent. Mortals, do not understand that an omnipotent have his own version of reality. The atheists loved to throw the good and evil argument to my followers as a paradox. The fallacy which they committed is that they claimed that they know the minds of the omnipotent beings."
"Forget it, Jesus, your God has taken the most important thing from me once, and I hated him for that." said the Prodigal, and at this moment, he began to realize what Christ would want to show him in Heaven. "No, you are not going to show me that.."
"Yes, you realized finally what I am going to show you." Jesus said in a very deep manner.
"Hello, Rick," a melodious feminine voice came behind the Prodigal, and his heart beated very fast, and a drop of tear fell from his pair of eyes. Not many things could move his heart, yet there was one thing which he ever desired when he gave up on himself. It was the mortal woman he loved, Celette. He plucked up the courage and turned back to face the thing which he had longed for. He knew that this fateful meeting would changed him forever and it would be as hurting as before. And he just realized that the Devil has given him eternal hell to make him go to Heaven. It is an ironic situation for the Endless.
(b)The wait of a Lady
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Runoa was sitting by the window side as she glanced into the dark night sky, littered with shimmering spheres of light, which we called stars. Her heart was flowed with thoughts of her lover, the Prodigal. She was conjuring every word and thought she could to express her feelings. It would seem that a poem was beginning to fabricate in the heart of the Goddess of Love.
"Pray
From the faraway of the clear starry sky
A song of Nature of life can be heard
Spreading across the earth through the immense darkness for years of thousands
Finally it reached Earth
Close your eyes in the silent night
Pray your dream with your honest heart
Wish that someday your dream will come true
You cannot hold the time with your tiny head
After a long journey, Endless at the final destination, a smile awaits for you
Streaks of tears laments on
Cross your palm in the holy night
Pray your dream with your honest love
Sadness overwealms and ends with a final prayer
Once again, we looked into the sky staring at the glorious dawn."
She hoped that after the ordeal is over, she would be able to be with the Prodigal and they could live happily ever after like the fairy tales once spoken. But reality does not work like fairy tales.
Just at this moment, she was broken by the entrance of a 7 foot tall man. It was her faithful servant, Clone.
"My mistress," said Clone as he bowed to greet her mistress. Immediately, he reported to her mistress about the happenings of Faerie Land.
"Then we have to head to Hell immediately." Runoa said.
"No, you are not to leave otherwise you are putting yourself in dire danger, Ruona," a voice spoke and it was Death. "I cannot let you be in danger, otherwise, I could not account to Prodigal."
"He would understand, afterall, he would definitely agree to let me go and help her friends." said Ruona,"Tell him that I love him." She immediately disappeared with her servant, and left for her destination.
"Oh no, looks like I have to go and find the Prodigal," said Death as she shook her head. She conjured her powers to summon a gateway to Heaven immediately.
The door opened by Death led into the entrance of Heaven, where she saw both figures together with the guardian of the gate, St. Peter, who was standing guard. One of the figures was none other than the son of God, Jesus Christ. Another figure, who was kneeling down with a distressed look, was in black as he put both his hands covering his face. It seemed that he was totally distraught after a traumatic experience in Heaven.
"Oh no, what did you do to my brother?" Death stared at Christ.
"Welcome to Heaven, Death. Your brother has entered Heaven and seen what he desired to see all these while. I thank him from warning me against the danger of rebellion, but he did not know that it was the Devil's ploy to let him suffer Hell while in Heaven, because he has seen something which he has avoided for a long long time."
"You mean...," Death said, as she shook her head and sighed. All she could do was to walk forward and comfort her brother with her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Prodigal, don't give up like this. I know that you did not want to let it happen this way. You have already suffered for your misdeeds, and whatever retribution that has unleashed upon you should all end by now."
"I understand," Prodigal lifted his hand, and placed his hand over Death's hand on his shoulder. "Things are not meant to be, sometimes in our lives, we do not have a choice to what we want. There are two tragedies in life, one is not getting what you want and the other is getting it."
"You have to leave now, my brother," said Death,"There are other imperative things which you need to do. The Devil has lured Time, Mayar and Runoa to Hell, and they are in great danger now. It seems to me that the anomaly is captured by the Devil and he would use it to destroy the order of the Universe."
"I know, and I have to fight this battle," said the Prodigal,"I have lost Celette once, and I cannot lose Ruona now." He stood up and faced Christ who nodded his head. There was that shimmering confidence back in the Prodigal that he could conquer all things because there was Hope.
"Well, you should be involved to stop that S.A.Tan as you are partly responsible why he was let loose on Earth, since it was your misdeed to let Lucifer Morningstar to roam free." Death said in anger, as she was never happy with the way how God handled the affairs of Mankind.
"Death, there is a certain order to why things are as they are. Mankind had left the Garden of Eden, because they had lost their path by listening to the Devil. Heaven would not attempt to intervene in the affairs of Man, because only Man possess the power to fight against the Devil." Christ replied in a powerful manner, that Death could feel the power of God emitting towards her.
"I don't care about your cosmic picture of omnipotence, God," said Death,"It would be my job to close up the end of this universe. I am older than you in any respect. Stop being abstract and petty about the past, and do something about it. Since you say that Heaven should not bother about Mankind, then why did you go in the form of Jesus Christ? Why do you have to give them hope and despair at the same day? You want to leave your followers to suffer for your own egotistic beliefs. Go ahead. I quit talking to someone like you. Prodigal, let's go." Death knew that Christ would not want to answer her.
The Prodigal left with Death to hell for the 2nd time, because there is a final battle to be fought there. Christ smiled as he saw the disappearance of the two Endless.
"My lord, pardon me to ask the question, are you sure that they can defeat Lucifer Morningstar?" St. Peter asked as he was in doubt why Christ has not decided to intervene.
"Yes, they would be able to. I have faith in Prodigal. I guess, that in the end, Prodigal would find his path back, eventually no matter what the outcome of this battle is." said Christ as he turned back and entered into Heaven.
(c)Valentine
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In the depths of Hell, the daughter of Runoa and Prodigal was trapped in a crystal shell along with a small troll who had tried to barge into Hell for his cure. The troll was once the most handsome among the elves, and his name is Kallen. Valentine was in a very bad shape, as she was losing her existence as time gets along. She was not able to summon her powers to break free.
"Are you alright, Valentine?" Kallen asked, as he tried to cover the shivering Endless with his cloak. Despite the magic has taken away the beauty in a man, but not the good heart which is within him. Even the most handsome person in the world could have a black heart, but not in this one, as he had seen both spectrum of good and evil.
"I am fine," Valentine replied, as she was covered by the cloak. Her lips were dried up, and her face was pale white. She was in the midst of losing her existence, because of her father's battle with the Devil. "Thank you, Kallen."
"You came back to stop your parents from dying, but what would happen to the future if you are eradicated of your existence?" the three foot troll asked.
"Then there would be no true love. My mother was the manifestation of Love, and her destiny was to be with my father Hope. However, my father was once a haughty man, and fell in love with a mortal woman named Celette. In the process, he offended Devestation who plotted with the Devil to destroy him. This battle in Hell would be either end with my existence being destroyed or not."
"Well, your father is the Prodigal, and his former manifestation was Hope. Why did he abandoned his realm?" asked Kallen with curiousity.
"In the beginning, the Endless beginning with Fate and Death first entered the Universe, Hope and Love came, with Devestation and Desire, and followed by War and Time, and Nature and finally the panthenon of gods came. Many realms are made and Earth is one of the cosmic conjunction points to the Universe."
"Then how would the outcome of the battle lead to?" Kallen realized that it was not a simple matter.
"If the Devil succeeded in killing my mother, True love ceased to exist and he would win over the final battle against God. My god-uncle told me that even if we would win this battle and I manage to exist, there would be a price to pay and he would not reveal to me.."
"So, it is not a win-win situation." Kallen was surprised that neither outcomes would mean an optimistic situation.
"But if I would be born, it means that there is a hope in the future. We can only preserve the past to ensure our future." Valentine replied as she coughed.
"Are you alright, Valentine?" asked the troll.
"I am fine. Thank you for the cloak." she was grateful for the troll's help
"You are welcome," said Kallen in a graceful tone, even his voice has turned hoarse after his transformation.
"Hmm, I think I can help you to transform back with my remaining powers." Valentine coughed, as she lifted her right hand and touched Kallen's forehead.
"No, you would die, Valentine." Kallen understood the scale of Valentine's sacrifice.
"I would be fine, just concentrate," Valentine closed her eyes as she placed her fingers on the troll's forehead, and a glow of light was transforming the troll. She was perspiring. Her hopes to recover, was for her father and mother to truimph in this battle.
Meanwhile at the gates of Hell, a cosmic battle was about to begin. Torrants, Mayar, Ruona and Cluon had already come to the realm to seek the rescue for Valentine and to close the anomaly.
[to be continued]
[This message has been edited by prodigal (edited 08 March 2000).]
