Author's Note: I would like to thank
Black
Mage for his help with the vocabulary, without which this story would
not have been possible.
You open your eyes. You are in the Koopa barracks, and a Koopa Troopa is bending over you. "Hey, wake up," he says, with a worried expression on his face. "You've been sleeping for over twenty-three hours." You sit up in your bunk, face the side, and jump out.
You walk outside of the barracks. Outside, the sun is just rising above the horizion, conquering the Stygian darkness that spread throught the land. Stars twinkle out as the sun grows brighter and brighter in its path across the firmanent.
The land, however, is not so beautiful. Huge cracks in the ground separate pieces of rock into islands floating over an ever-deepening abyss. There is little plant life, and the few small shrubs that dare to thrive in this infernal wasteland are leafless and twisted.
As you are staring off into the distance, a cold, wrinkled hand grasps your shoulder and spins you around, leaving you face-to-face with the Koopa Commander. He barks out, "Private! Get out into the battlefield right now!" Not wanting to provoke any more trouble than you are already in, you quickly obey your orders and head out into the land.
However, your journey is short-lived. Almost immedately Mario bursts out of nowhere and shoots a fireball at you, but it seems to be without effect. You fall to the ground in surprise.
You are not sure if you are hurt or not. You feel absolutely nothing at all. Suddenly, you begin to convulse, and as your mouth opens in a silent scream, you hear a loud snapping as your back shatters from the sheer force of the spasms.
You awaken as if from sleep and look about you in bewilderment. Darkness surrounds you and it is only with difficulty that you are able to discern details. Walls of an unfamiliar coarse stone are spaced equidistantly to either side and behind, while a long corridor stretches in front, leading into impenetrable darkness.
Since the stone you are sitting on is cold and there are no doors, you stand up and begin walking into the darkness, which recedes slowly as you advance. Your footsteps echo ominously off the silent walls, but you don't sense evil ahead, only indifference to your presence. Walking quietly forward, for you feel that boisterousness would offend the mute dignity of this mysterious place, you begin to pass two murals; one on the wall to your right, and one on the wall to your left.
Both murals are woven of the finest thread imaginable, almost ethereal in nature. The beginning of both murals start by depicting the birth of someone, though whom isn't clear. In the one to the left, the mother is surrounded by friends and family as she gives birth to a glowing, serene baby. In the right one, the mother is giving birth in what appears to be a filthy alleyway. She is utterly alone and looks to be in anguish. The baby itself, when it appears, is mewling and crying in terror and fear.
Continuing along the corridor, the left-hand mural depicts scenes of a family in harmony, a simple but happy existence of honest work and pleasure in the details of life. The right-hand mural shows a street urchin, bereft of family, committing various petty crimes and forging tenuous relationships with the other denizens of the street.
The seemingly never-ending, and incredibly detailed, murals continue to amaze you with the fluidity of the figures, and you think you begin to see movements in them, out of the corners of your eyes. Likely it is your subconscious playing tricks on you, but so real do they seem that you stand in awe of the workmanship that must have gone into the formation of such works of art.
Your pace quickens a bit, eager as you are to see more of these fantastic tapestries. The left-hand mural now bestows glorious visions of the rise of a young Koopa to leadership in his community. Although he doesn't make an overt grab for power, he is a natural leader and is given the role by the community leaders. In the background, his parents look proudly on.
The right-hand mural, on the other hand, depicts a less sanguine scene. The young Koopa has begun committing more serious crimes, preying on the weak and growing in strength and wealth. He flits from friend to friend, taking what he can, and leaving husks behind. He begins to gain a reputation, and the populace fears him.
Lights now flare on the walls, and you are momentarily blinded. When your sight returns, you see that both murals have gone entirely blank. However, upon peering at them more closely, you see that scenes from both murals are intermingled on each one- woven so lightly as to be barely visible, even in the now well-lit corridor.
Suddenly, empyreal voices lift up around you in a chorus of baritone and soprano, mixing in minor, then major keys, vacillating between intelligibility and chaos. You get the impression they are praising someone or something, but the snatches of language you do detect and comprehend are not sufficient to impart understanding. You feel compelled by the music and swiftly walk further down the hall, until you come to a massive double door fashioned of what appears to be pure mithril.
At your tentative, probing touch, the
doors swing inwards on utterly silent hinges. As they do, the chorus abruptly
ceases its singing. A touch of nervousness invades your serenity, as you
detect an unimaginably powerful presence beyond the doorway. A booming
voice intones, "Child of Mine, enter and approach Me."
Knees trembling, you cautiously advance,
until you see a massive figure seated on an equally massive throne. Neck
craned backwards to see the face of the gigantic figure, you are struck
by the power that radiates from what you realize can only be DAD. He speaks
again, "Understand that I know you. I am aware of your most intimate thoughts,
your subconscious desires, and your darkest secrets. I can see your past,
your present, and your myriad possible futures. You cannot deceive me,
for I know your thoughts before you form them.
"You are here because your mortal body suffered grave harm and died before your soul's allotted time was up," booms DAD. "As you progressed down the corridor, you viewed dual murals, showing the two primal archetypes that mortals follow. Your life is a mixture of these two archetypes, and I have granted you the will to decide which to choose. Every decision you make, every thought you think impacts this and will help determine your path. I make no judgments, for I created the concepts of good and evil, order and chaos, and I thus transcend such distinctions. In you, they are all immanent.
"You have asked for salvation from your fate, for consideration from Me, " he utters with absolute implacability. "This I will give, though you will sacrifice a part of your soul in return." You fall to your knees in mute supplication. Tears build in your eyes as visions of your life flash before you. The presence of this incredible being- the Creator, the Prime Mover Unmoved- is too glorious and too terrible to bear. Longing to return to the material world, which is so much more hospitable to a mortal soul, you silently beg for a return to life, with all its joy and all its pain.
"Very well," responds DAD. With that, he stands, firmly lifts you onto his open, out-stretched palm, and raises you to eye level with him. Staring into his eyes- inscrutable black orbs that pierce the veil of your soul- you are overwhelmed and feel darkness begin to overtake your consciousness. Just as you pass into unconsciousness, a single word, softly uttered, shines clearly in your mind: "Grow." When you regain consciousness, you are confused about where you are and how you got here. Darkness surrounds you, save for a single candle. A look around tells you that you are in a rough cave, with a single table bearing the candle. An entrance, visible because it is slightly lighter than the rest of the shadow, beckons from across the cave. Sitting up from your supine position, you glance at your body and realize it is healed and whole once again. Still reeling in wonder from your experience, you quietly give thanks to DAD for the gift of life, and leave the cave.
The End
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