Parallel: A Story Of Two Universes

1-Unknown

"Have you ever wondered where all that surrounds us came from? The plants, animals, and objects that make up our world must give you some sort of terror. Terror which stems from your lack of knowledge of their origins. We must know everything, we must understand everything. We cannot be content with ambiguity, because it scares us. But are you one of us? Do you fear this just as well? Or are you apathetic and disaffected by it? In such a case you're truly unique, I must say. All others I've met are infatuated with such questions and mysteries, to the point that it dictates the rules by which they lead their lives. It's called faith, and it's the only thing that makes the pain and fear subside. It works for most of us, and it's one of the things that sets us apart from other animals. But it seems not to have truly grasped you yet, am I correct?" The pale, old man smothered in black religious garments had finally finished speaking... for now at least. I continued to look toward the ground, I didn't care for a word of what he was saying, and he knew that just as well as I. That's what he does, that's what they all do. They don't care if you're interested, they don't care if the nonsense they're spewing will really help you, they just want to continue to jam the same old phrases down your throat, and though that may have gotten most people to blindly follow them, I'm not so easily convinced. "Yes. It doesn't interest me, and I see no reason why it should." I finally responded, just so he'd stop giving me that impatient glare. He waited for a few moments to gather his thoughts, probably preparing to regurgitate the propaganda I'd already heard a million times over. "Do you know why your mother gave you that name?" My head slowly tilted upwards to face him. He knows better than to mention her without a reason, so I indulged him a bit. "I'm not exactly sure, something to do with whatever she believed." He nodded and replied cautiously, so as not to anger me. "Yes, that's correct. She believed that anyone with that name would be able to get us out of all this misery. So she gave it to you because she believed you would live up to that legacy. But now she's forgone any semblance of hope for you and your faith, Hælend, and I have to be the one to strip you of your name entirely." I shook my head and gathered the courage to say all that which I had been thinking. "Go ahead, take it. I know I won't heal us all, that was nonsense from the beginning. You're all without any true knowledge of the world, you've all just retired to your bubble of belief, blocking out any fact. I'm so sick and tired of having to follow these malicious lies because I know that, even if I can't heal the world by whatever insane means you have all been hoping for, breaking out of this place and actually trying to be part of the world will be a whole hell of a lot more helpful." He sighed and began to give me a new glare, this one much angrier, and though that would normally scare me off and make me shut up, I had to keep going this time. "You asked me if what surrounds me perplexes and fascinates me as much as it does you and all of your followers, but the truth is that I know where it all came from. You may not have created it, but you've placed all of these people and things around in the exact order you wanted, in the exact order that pleases you most. You acted like a god to plan out this entire area, but I've seen the outside, and I know that it's all a premade LIE! And I won't rest until every poor person here, the fear of which you've exploited for your own fantasy, sees the outside too!" After this, he finally broke through his friendly façade. "ENOUGH! I have heard enough of these ridiculous fantasies. What we tell you is based on all that we have seen over thousands of years, while you merely spout claims of visions that cannot be proven. I don't want to hear any more of this, so I think we'll take you away and sort this out in a more... decisive way." He slowly stood up and made a fist while coming toward me. I knew exactly what was about to happen, so I backed away from him more and more urgently. I made it to the door of this dim, depressing office and attempted to open it up, but to no avail. "Did you really think I didn't anticipate this Hælend? I know you're delusional, and if I wish to now appease the overseer with my honesty, your mother didn't really tell me to strip you of your name... she told me to do whatever it takes to fix your insanity." He rushed towards me and grasped me as I attempted to get out through the window. I struggled desperately to escape his strong, charred hands and prevent them from knocking me unconscious, but I couldn't. He managed to hit me right in the head, knocking me to the floor, and the last thing I saw as my vision faded was that sadistic creep laughing at my misery. I knew that I wouldn't get out of this place easily, but for the sake of the Parallel, I had to stop them all.