Ammer stands alone, his brother's lifeless body laying before him. Hundreds of people fly in every direction around him. The clang of sword against sword rings in his ears. Men and women shout and scream beside and beneath him. For a moment, every one of his senses is overwhelmed, but when Ammer lowered his eyes to his brother everything went still. The clanging and shouting ceased. The people disappeared. The field was empty apart from Ammer and Cree. "He died for nothing." The voice is so unexpected it makes Ammer jump. He turns away from his brother and focuses on the enormous creature behind him. The Destroyer. "No," Ammer knew he shouldn't be speaking to one so evil, but he had to defend his brother's honor. "The prophecy had to be fulfilled." "That's just it, young one, there never was a prophecy. It was all a lie." The Destroyer's voice is deep, dark, and unfriendly. "What do you mean?" Ammer's heart picks up speed. "The Creator lied to you, boy. There is no prophecy. Your brother gave his life for nothing. His death means nothing." "I don't believe you. The Creator would never lie." "That's precisely what he wants you to think." The Destroyer's enormous body stoops closer to Ammer. "My brother saved me," Ammer's voice breaks. "He gave his life for mine. That isn't nothing." He falls to the ground on his knees, his hands resting on Cree's broken body. Ammer lays his head on his brother's unmoving chest and clutches his shirt. Tears spring from his eyes and fall down his face. The Destroyer's voice and figure are gone. The men and women have returned, along with the deafening sounds of war.

As I kneeled down before the king I said my praises and looked up at him for the first time noticing how upset he was. Not long ago I was just an Orphaned boy living in the streets begging for food. when a man in a black cloak and two armed royal soldiers came to me,rambling about be the child of prophecy as he led me towards the castle I learned he was an old wizard named “laz”.

Looking to the right of me out of confusion as no one spoke to me,I saw him being exported by two soldiers. It was only then that king Davis spoke in a loud demanding voice with nothing but hate and anger, “ I called you here today because you have lied, last night one of my lances overheard Laz speaking to a disguised soldier of the enemy’s country!” With a shocked look I faced Laz only to think why? Why did the man who taught me how to access my mana core, why was he speaking to the enemy? With a blank expression Laz spoke low and without emotion interrupting the king, “My lord it is true I was speaking to the enemy.” With my heart dropping I jumped to my feet, “How can you do such a thing Laz?” My voice coming out weaker then I expected.

Not looking at me or the king he was silent for a moment, then he looked up to the king, “my lord forgive me, there was never a prophecy, it was all a lie.” I step forward with anger and confusion rattling my brain but before I reached Laz The King flashed in front of me unsheathed my sword and pointed it at Laz. “My lord!” I screamed before catching my tongue, looking at the royal soldiers and the king with fear creeping into me but no one moved. The King ignored me speaking to Laz instead “you’re someone I considered a friend, a childhood one at that, why did you lie?” Again Laz stayed silent. “you put my kingdom my people in a situation we can’t get out of! Why!?” He said nothing The king turned towards his throne, dropping my sword at his feet “lock him in the tower, do whatever it takes to get answers.” With a voice so cold and emotionless even the royal soldiers cringed at it. With the king walking away the room erupted into noise I couldn’t understand, no doubt the Nobles asking the king question I fell, sat kneeled on the floor unable to move.

“There was never a prophecy, it was all a lie” “What” I breathed out. My whole life was based around that prophecy. It was real. It had to be. “I know what your thinking” she continued. “We needed a way to train you, to get you away from your family” “My family must have been better than this” I spit back at her. “It wasn’t” she replied. “They were, are terrible people. Do you know how many they’ve killed to get their way. Anyone who blocks their path dies and you would have to” “No” I shake my head “your lying” “I assure you I am not. I’m sorry you had to learn this way, but it’s true. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and get over it. Move on. Even if the prophecy was real, it would have all ended at some point”

Everyone aims for something in their life, a goal, a person, an achievement, but in this world everyone has the same goal. Our scene is set in the small room of a 19 year old girl waking up in her collage dorm room…. “10 o’clock! No I can’t be late again!” Said a very panicked Elizabeth. She sprung up out of bed and rushed to her 10 o’clock world history class only to realize half way there that she was still in her butterfly pajamas, she rushed back to her room and started digging through her laundry. “What a lovely day!” Said Elizabeth’s roommate Lana who had just come back from her first class. “Splendid” replied Elizabeth as she pulled on her usual grey hoodie. “Ya know Lizzy, you should really look into an alarm clock.” Said Lana. “ not right now Lana” replied Elizabeth. Elizabeth finally arrived at her class, her as usual 15 minutes late. “ your late, again” said Mr Banes spotting her trying to sneak to her seat Elizabeth didn’t say a word and headed to her seat. “ ok class, I trust you have each completed the reading I assigned to you for the quiz tomorrow, but for today I have invited a very special guest speaker Mrs perfection from the university of blah blah blah she will be talking to us about the history of how our society developed the world religion! “Well thank you mr Banes!” replied Mrs perfection. Mrs perfection had a strikingly bubbly person always showing happy expressions so it was no surprise when she began speaking with passion and belief. “since the very beginning of time man has known the empty spaces that where bestowed open us through our common sense, our very psyche has shown us this lacking… this need for fulfillment. but it wasn’t until anwir pseudonym, in the 15th century, the savior of our world, was shown what it was. He was chosen to see because he had made for himself a successful life. He was shown by a cosmic being, who in the scrolls is referenced as “Abaddon” we are not exactly sure the appearance of this being, but according to the scrolls it was tall and beautiful, it had large wings feathered with thorns and thistles, it had glowing white eyes all over its body and was hot with fire, it’s head was crowned with black vines and gold, it was white and red with black over its face it was wearing a draping silk scarf that was blacker than black, and bright, its skin appeared to be made of stones. It told anwir pseudonym the very meaning of human kind, according to the scrolls anwir spent 250 years in a time loop with abaddon, and it told anwir all of the knowledge of the world, and so anwir put it in writing, and this writing is what we follow today. These scrolls have detailed direction of how to live life, but throughout each page it says again, and again, in different forms how the meaning of life is success, and succes is money, and money is happiness. Abaddon gave us a gift, the knowledge of how to live a full life, And that is the prophecy that has proven to be true for millenniums.” Mrs perfection walked off the platform with her head immediately dropping as the last word had left her mouth. All the class gathered their things and went about their days with blank expression. “This is the way life is, this was the foundation of human life!” Elisabeth tried to convince herself, which she had been trying to do ever since she had first heard of this revolution, but she felt like the only one in this world who didn’t believe it. Elizabeth was taught growing up, in fact everyone was taught, that there is no one to pray to and no one to hear you, so it’s no surprise that nobody ever prayed. their churches consisted of statues of anwir and Abaddon, and the scrolls that anwir wrote. But Elizabeth had come to a place where there was no hope, no joy, in life all that you could feel, was dependent on your success, everyone must go to college, get a degree, and find work, and if you didn’t you where seen as a waste of life. With these thoughts motivating her, with all of her emotions displayed before whoever she was told was not listening, Elizabeth prayed, she prayed so hard she broke a sweat, she told whatever she was praying to the deepest disparity in her heart, when she was finished she felt like she was floating, she felt freed for the first time, so she took a silent moment in this place… then she opened her eyes and, snap! She was in a white room with fluffy peach clouds all around, vibrant trees filled with fruit and green leaves, waterfalls, clear waterfalls, the air smelled like fresh flowers and honey but subtle it felt like cotton was touching her body, and all she saw was what she hadn’t seen. and so she looked forward and saw coming toward her a huge being glowing with love and freedom, all she felt from it was love, love for her surrounding, overwhelming love, when it drew closer she felt warmth, not physically but in a way that was indescribable, it’s voice was soft and powerful it sounded like the breeze of the ocean, the being sat down on a cloud and told Elizabeth all the truths the hearts of man had been missing for centuries, so Elizabeth wrote it all down. it felt as if she had been up with the being for near moments, but when she looked at her writing she saw it was 1200 full pages, then the being got up and turned away and told her “be the truth teller” Elizabeth was too full of completeness that she couldn’t bear to say anything more than “what should I address you as” “Yeshua” the being replied, then he was gone. Elizabeth opened her eyes for what felt like the first time, and silence. it felt as if she where looking at herself from her soul floating above her. and in that moment she knew that abaddon had lied and the prophecy was false, but she had no anger, just hope. she looked down and saw the book Yeshua had told her to write, in the “book filled with the truth,”which is what it would later be called, where she wrote her name, was now written as “Alethea” which in Greek means “truth teller” so she went everywhere screaming holding the book above her head “THIS IS THE TRUTH” and eventually she got it published and for a reason that was only understood by Elizabeth, everyone knew it to be true, so then people prayed to Yeshua and lived their life’s fulfilled, free, and according to the laws of the book which where pure and good, and people no longer aimed for perfection, they all imbraced that they where imperfect, there was still pain, but now they could turn to Yeshua who’s spirit comforted them. and the hearts of man where full for the first time in history. 2000 years later: in the college of truth: “good morning class!” Said mr. wite “today I have a special guest speaker on how or world developed the book filled with truth” “well thank you mr. wite, my name is miss Alethea…”

“There was never a prophecy,it was all a lie.” The voice of the god who ruled all life was filled with anger and sorrow. He was sad that everything had gone wrong at such a young age. But no matter his grief, it would be impossible to let his true emotions show because he is always watching over everything. He has seen what could happen in a mere blink of an eye. He turned, looking at the small figure lying in a pool of her own blood, and she smiled as if knowing exactly what was about to come next. She knew this was how she was going to die. He smiled thinking of how he will punish the person who had hurt her, but it wasn't until much later he realised something was very off, it had felt as if something else was in here,but it didn' t matter. It didn't take long after that for the goddess to fall asleep again and it wasn't too long after her body stopped moving, the only noise being those soft puffs that escaped her lips. The god sighed. How he hated keeping his emotions under control when it was so tempting to allow himself to be angry like he wanted to. He would have liked to stay a little longer to watch over her one last time, but there was someone else he needed to see first. Someone he hadn’t spoken to in a long time. Someone who knew what happened when he left,and why. He slowly closed his eyes and focused on reaching out. The god concentrated hard on trying not to break the contact between them, but as he did the last remnants of his hold broke allowing the connection to drop. The gods eye snapped open as a shock ran through his whole being. His vision blurred from the tears that threatened to fall down. His hands shook as he placed a hand on her chest. He closed his eyes once more letting the warmth flow into her. He had been right,she wasn't dead. The feeling he got in return was just as strong as his and he couldn't help but feel hopeful. He slowly removed his arm as if it were burned, but instead of stepping away like he usually does,he leaned forward pressing his forehead against hers. They stayed like this for what seemed like eternity but he soon became tired and moved away from the girl he loved. He wiped away any remaining tears that remained before turning away to leave. “Thank you,for bringing me back here,” she whispered softly, but he heard every single word. “For loving me.” A sob tore free from his throat as she said these words, but she couldn't hear it,all she heard was her final goodbye. All she saw was his face as he stepped away, and all she felt was a wave of emptiness and grief crash upon her. She closed her eyes tightly hoping desperately that everything would be alright. She didn't want to say goodbye,but she knew there was nothing else she could do. With each step the god took away she felt herself getting weaker,but she ignored the pain,because she had a promise to keep. A promise to someone who meant the most to her and she wasn't going to break it.

As it turns out there was never a prophecy, it was all a lie. Voldemort was never the bad guy, Harry Potter was not destined to kill him and dear old Dumbledore is Grindelward reincarnated.

His childhood was turned to dust the second those words poured out of the old crone’s mouth; “There will be a child born at the last moment of sunlight on the year's shortest day. They will take up a sword and finally be the one to kill the king of the North.”

Sixteen years later, Jex holds the regions of his horse as he approaches the gates of Aro. The King of the North’s, Esther’s city. The guards eye him as he gets close, and he readies for a fight. One steps forward, “Are you prince Jex?” she asks.

Forcing his voice, even he answers, “I am.”

She nods, “King Esther welcomes you; I shall bring you to his throne room.”

Jex freezes for a moment; this couldn’t be so easy. Then, as the guard turnsand begins walking, he hurries after her. A young boy steps forward, a stable hand, and in Jex’s jumbled up thoughts, he doesn't think as he hands his horse’s reins to the boy.

Aro was far more considerable than the small town his father sent him to. Riverway wasn’t even a town but a military camp, and he had stayed there all his life. There were no stores; if you needed something, you saw the inventory officer—a grumpy older man Jex never wanted to look at and think about speaking to. This city was utterly foreign to him.

They reach the castle. A looming building that matched his father’s home’s extraness. An older woman holds a notebook and talks to the king when Jex and the guard enter. The woman immediately turns to them, and Jex recognizes her. “Oracle?” he says breathlessly. “Why?” he asks hopelessly.

The women’s eyes suddenly look tired, and she hands her book to the king who stands. She steps down from the throne and approaches Jex. “My prince, how you have grown,” she says softly.

She reaches to hold his face but Jex flitches away. “Oracle,” he takes a deep breath, steadying himself, “they must know why I am here; why do they not kill me?” he asks.

It was childish, begging for answers from a traitor he should kill. She smiles sadly, “Jex, before we do anything, I need you to listen to me. Alright? And I swear this will be one of the first honest things you will hear.” she says. Jex hesitates but nods, so she continues, “There was never a prophecy; it was all a lie.”

All his energy drains from his body, and he suddenly wishes he was sitting. Then, suddenly, hands were on his back, leading him into a chair. Jex is sitting when he realizes the hands helping him belong to the king. Yet he didn't have the energy to do anything about that fact. “What?” he asks.

“What she says is true, young one,” Esther says. “Your father has long wished for my lands and mines, but I never thought he would go this far.”

His whole life was a lie because his father couldn’t put his money before his family. Everything, the training, growing up too fast, the high consent standard for nothing. Prince Jex was no hero; he was a pawn in a war that never existed. Esther and the Oracle promised him a home and a life of comfort where he was free to do anything he wished within reason. Jex listened, shivering with the thought of not being under anyone’s or any prophesy’s control. He knows better, though; sooner or later, war will find him, and maybe, he will welcome it.

There was never a prophecy, it was all a lie Some people even had to die Love and loss is now our new life Some people have even dared to pick up a knife It's a cry for humanity Run from insanity It's alive

I was meant for more than this, or at least that’s what they’ve been telling me my whole life. There was never a prophecy, it was all a lie. I was promised the best and only the best. I was to become a part of something bigger, a community. They said I would be the best of the best and that I would be praised. Instead,I’m locked in this human cage waiting for the end. Just my luck to allow myself to trust in them. To actually believe in the broken promises and lies they were feeding me. They weren’t preparing me for a better life and for being part of a community. They were meal prepping and I’m just one small part of that meal. I was told that when they were to turn me I would go on to become the best vampire their community would ever produce. They’ve been telling me this since I was a kid. And I believed them. How could I not? They were kind of like my parents even though they were really my kidnappers. Turns out they were just raising me to drain my blood. I was always going to be food for them. I just really had hoped I was meant for more than this.

She had fallen for it, all of it! He’d convinced her, he’d convinced all of them he was the Messiah, but he’d used his power to rape, mutilate and murder.

At sixteen, she’d ran away from home to join them, for this perceived fantasy, fake salvation. But only Jesus had the power to save, and he didn’t do it, by hurting girls, by bringing children in to be hurt.

“There was never a prophecy, it was all a lie.!” She shouted, ten years stuck in this prison with him, ten years of watching him torture little girls, for what.

She was sixteen, when she ran away, but most of these children were much younger, little girls as young as nine and ten.

She couldn’t pretend it was safe any longer, not with the baby growing inside her belly.

What if it was a girls, what if the same thing that happened to her, happened to the baby growing inside her?

She wrapped her arms, around her rounding belly.

He stared at her “How dare you defy me, I’m the Messiah.”

She glared back, a strength she did not know she had.

“I’ll kill you, before I let you go, kill you, and send you straight to hell.”

She reached in her pocket, and pulled out, the small pistol, that had been leaving a bulge in her pocket.

“It was never a prophecy, it was all a lie.” She said, as she pulled the trigger.

She would be free from him one way or another, and she’d make sure he never hurt another child, especially not the little one growing inside of her.

© Michelle R Kidwell May.14.2022