Fred Six:
I don't like this one bit, by Qurom! Dealing with my wizard brother and that friend of his who turned out to be some sort of dragon was bad enough. Even now, I don't think I entirely trust him, although I try to accept him. He's a wizard now, though, and I'll never understand wizards, and even I tend to fear what I don't understand. I forgive him for his sexual escapades, though. Radamanthus only knows what I was like at that age... and at least it makes him seem more human. Then, there was that Aqualarian warrior-woman under the curse. I'd never seen an Aqualarian in person before, only heard of them by repute. Our nations have not had a lot of contact over the years. I've certainly never dealt with a woman like her before, and I admit, I rather like her. I couldn't imagine actually marrying her, though. But still, I was already finding that this quest had taken a bit of a turn for the strange. But then... then, we vanished from the world, pulled into this... pyramid-like thing, by a strange masked being who frightens me a bit somehow, but to whom I feel an odd sort of connection, which makes him even more unnerving... And then people started telling me about other universes, some of which had been destroyed. I'd dismiss the whole thing as madness, if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes. And then, Jarlath's friend turns out to be this sort of dragon, and I'm told about a war across universes and that Astra's curse carries some kind of power, and then we're told that the structure we're in is a vehicle and also a woman, and sent to a city that maintains the integrity of the universe to repair it/her... This is getting far too strange for me. I feel nothing at all. What I'm going through no longer registers. I don't know if I'll be able to hold my sanity together in the face of whatever it it we're going though. I honestly wonder if my mind was made to comprehend this. Fred Five: I do not trust these people who've imprisoned us, myself. They seem too brutal to be true honorable warriors. A knight is not just a man who kills and wears armor. He is bound by a code that is his very lifeblood. Knights must be true to their word, never turn their back on those in need, never refuse a challenge to their honor, and never harm the defenceless. Some used to say that women should be protected at all costs, but that was before we knew heathen Aqualaria, a great queendom where the men were beaten down and oppressed by women warriors twice as savage as the Vetiri who harry our borders. We underestimated them because they were women, and learned that women could be every bit as strong and savage as men. We made peace with them and allied against the common threat of the Riek Tetriloni, but we came to distrust women who were too independent. There were exceptions, of course, but for them there was always tension. Princess Exotica is admired by many, she is feared and mocked by many as well, often by the same people. She was even accused of being a witch. No one ever made a direct accusation, of course, but for any other member of the royal family, even whispers would be punished. I am with Astra now, the lovely and the valiant. I admit, to my shame, that even I feel some unease towards her, yet I admire her as well, for her bravery and her compassion. She is not a great warrior alone, but a great ruler as well, who cares much for her people. I remember very strongly the pain in her eyes when her city had been razed by those blasphemous demons, the Elementals. That moment looms so large I almost cannot comprehend it. The city was too large a mass of death for me to care. It is only recently that I fully comprehended what had happened. But what I felt from the beginning was Astra's pain at the destruction of a city that was almost part of her... I swear by our Lord that somehow, I will make them pay to what they did to Themiscyra! And to her... They were victims of the wicked demons they unknowingly worshipped as gods. The true God swore that He would never destroy humanity. The rainbow, which shines in the sky after a storm, was the sign of His covenant. Yet it seems that Man's end is near now. Perhaps this great struggle in which we are engaged is a prelude to the battle which will be fought on the Last Day. I have seen so much loss and pain since I have undertaken this quest. It matters not, for I am a true knight, and a knight who does not do his duty is nothing. I can only take hope in the promise of God that He would not bring day and night to an end. And if the Last Trump is truly at hand, the promise that the Lord will take His children to something better.
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9/26/2003 7:50:04 PM
Extending Enabled
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