23 Chapter 23 - Horseman

"The world is ending, this you know. All throughout human history, the four horsemen have always brought great changes to the world for the better or for the worst, that doesn't matter. They are the harbingers that heralds the dawn of a new era. But as I said, they are forces that cannot be controlled. Either way the chances of war, famine, pestilence and death is an absolute certainty. The only thing mankind can do is to delay them but delaying the inevitable is merely prolonging the agony.

Angels and demons alike minister their gospels to the world. Where angels show you the light, we demons reveal the darkness within your souls. Whether you like it or not, humans are born with this two innate traits, opposites, the positive and the negative one. We merely observe, ultimately the choice lies on you and you alone. God gave mankind the power to choose, the power to think for himself, and this became your downfall, and I suspect is God's biggest regret.

For such power without being checked can destroy the balance that keeps the world afloat. Those who were born and are aware of this power, the power to think, have thought of ways to create and maintain power. In the end, self-preservation became the ultimate goal. Morals and ethics are just illusions to such men.

In the history of the world, there are only two kinds of people, the conqueror and the conquered. The conquistadors of old came upon those that they conquered and with them, the four horsemen, their presence spares no one in the battlefield. They do not recognize friend from foe, the young from the old, a king from the commoner. They thrive in chaos and when they are done, all that's left behind are corpses and remains of the old world. The ones to survive start again, trying to rectify the mistakes by those who perished but always they fail, always the responsibility of change falls to the four horsemen and the ones who calls upon them. This becomes the cycle of the world, a never-ending repeat of history.

But as time goes and the cycle continues to go on and on, ultimately it must reach a breaking point. An error, a flaw in the design and this is where you come into the picture. You and the three other horsemen. For the first time, the power of the four horsemen can be controlled and contained, an unforeseen event in the scheme of things.

You want to know what I plan to do with you. Very well.

You ask me if I plan to wage war against heaven. It cannot be avoided. Either way they will try to stop me from bringing forth the great change.

I plan to bring the end of this world, the apocalypse. I plan to bring a new era where people are not bound to beliefs that would hinder mankind's evolution. I plan to bring a new world where God does not exist. "

**

There was a long silence after that. Mephisto and Asmodeus seemed to be contemplating about Lucifer's plan. The latter looked more exhausted than ever. As for me, I could only think about where I come into this.

I remembered my parents, my grandparents, the people I've come into contact with, and Neo. When I was young and naive, I thought that the world was a sort of mirror. You project goodness and righteousness and it was reflected back at you but it wasn't like that. If you were good, that does not exclude you from the evils of the world. In fact it's quite the opposite, if you ever try to challenge the system created and manipulated by men whose only desire is to maintain power, you put yourself in danger and you are marked. Sooner or later, they catch up with you and you are drowned in the endless cacophony of mass media and propaganda.

I've seen it happen a thousand times. If there's one thing we've learned from history, it's that we never learn from it. The irony however is that those who did learn are doing the same thing that the ones before them have always done, they keep and maintain power to themselves. The weakness of men, highlighted in history books but most people ignore this. They read it in passing, understand the ideas but they never act upon it and this is what separates the powerful from the weak.

I think long and hard about the endless repetition in human history. Thesis, antithesis and synthesis. A system designed to separate the weak from the powerful. There seems to be no way out of it. Nothing that can break the cycle then I think of the possibilities, the voice of the legion, Death whispering in my ears, the need to consume life, the need to end the living, the ability to sow discord within the world. I was slowly lured by it, the seductive sway of Death's promise of power over the living. I continue to think about it and I could feel myself losing in the thought of it, the potential to wield the Grim Reaper himself, it was almost irresistable.

All three demons were looking at me, on their faces was recognition, they seemed to understand what I was thinking.

"I had thought that you would protest." Lucifer looked amused.

"I've listened and heard too many prayers asking for the same thing over and over again and nothing ever happens." I thought about Neo, how he never seemed to understand the ways of the world. "I've seen men born with innate goodness in them die for trying to spread a little compassion to the world. All my life I've asked for a purpose, some kind of meaning, something that would define me. I didn't find it at home, at school or in church. "

Mephisto spoke. "So you're accepting your fate?"

I looked at him and saw the melancholy in his eyes. "I'm tired of this world Mephisto. I'm tired of being weak all the time. I'm tired of hoping for change. I want to re-shape the world, even if I have to destroy it to do so."

"He's got guts." Asmodeus said to Lucifer who laughed.

"He understands and sees the future in my eyes, don't you Dante?" His eyes met mine and I wondered about the depths of Satan's eyes, wondered if there's something more to what he told me.

I nodded and without having to say anything, I have silently agreed to Lucifer's plan and the change he wants to bring to the world.

I've made my choice and the cards begin to shuffle.