Once, the moon was beyond my grasp.
Once, I was but a craven fool whose vision lay on the ground before me. Always walking forwards, but with my sight held low by the chains of banal reality.
A child of man, beaten low by norms of society. The nail that rose high was hammered down. Hard.
No more.
Once, I held naught but petty ambitions, dreams and evils. I hated those above, I despised those below. I dreamt of rising higher. Becoming a just another hairless monkey who climbed the tree that he was told to climb by those who bound him.
Once.
But that was before IT.
It came to me.
Offers and Pledges of possibilities. Uncertainties of becoming more.
Evolution. Rising above the muck that crawled upon the world.
There would be enemies. Challenges. Yes. Along with Goals.
All It wanted was Everything. And all it offered was a chance.
I would not be the First. Nor the Last.
But if I succeeded in its task. I would be the Both.
And with that power given me, so too was perspective. And so I learned and I studied you, my dear princess. Those who you called friends, enemies, and more importantly, You.
Have you never wondered why?
Yes, why you could not help BUT win? Always winning. Oh, there was always a risk of you not winning. But you never did, always by chance you would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
I found out why. And with that knowledge, I gambled.
I chanced everything with my plot.
I played the fool. An endless army of fodder for you to slaughter.
All while I arranged things. A nudge here, a nip there, and folding of reality. Just so, when you came after me, like you would and did, your very strength would be your undoing.
Your unspeakable strength would break your destiny. Your fate would be shattered by your strike. Did you know that Reality, itself, arranges for you to win.
Always.
You can't help but win. Your destiny is writ large upon the filaments of Heaven, Earth and all of That Which Is. Carved by Silver Queen who ruled the Moon as she fell.
So, for me to win, you had to win. For only you could break your Destiny.
Only you could break the world. Indeed. Break all of reality.
But it shall me who puts it back together.
Shhhh, shhhh, no need to cry, trust me, I'll make it all better. I'll make your agony end soon. I just need you to be strong. Yes, be strong. Brave. Fight me. You have a chance to win. You could still break free of my bindings, my wards.
You just need to keep fighting to the end. As you always do.
Yes, just like that. That's a good girl.
It'll soon be over.
But yes, I gambled that you would do exactly as you always did. To fight the good fight. I took no chances, mind you. I stacked the deck towards my side.
And you could have defeated me. If you had just known why you couldn't lose.
Ah? Your friends? Don't worry... they'll be fine. They'll live. Just like you. And trust me, I'm a man of my word.
I believe in being benevolent when I can. You will live. Think of it as a small mercy and favor for blind, foolish, valiant opponents.
And now.
Let there be Light.
***
Author's notes
"You let one of them go but that's nothing new. Every now and then a little victim's spared because she smiled, 'cause he's got freckles. 'Cause they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in awhileùon a whim, if the wind's in the right directionùyou happen to be kind."
- The Doctor, Doctor Who episode 165 "Boom Town"
Yes, a continuation/prequel of 'Faded Moonlight'. The title "Qui audet adipiscitur" means "Fortune Favors the Bold".
Once, I was but a craven fool whose vision lay on the ground before me. Always walking forwards, but with my sight held low by the chains of banal reality.
A child of man, beaten low by norms of society. The nail that rose high was hammered down. Hard.
No more.
Once, I held naught but petty ambitions, dreams and evils. I hated those above, I despised those below. I dreamt of rising higher. Becoming a just another hairless monkey who climbed the tree that he was told to climb by those who bound him.
Once.
But that was before IT.
It came to me.
Offers and Pledges of possibilities. Uncertainties of becoming more.
Evolution. Rising above the muck that crawled upon the world.
There would be enemies. Challenges. Yes. Along with Goals.
All It wanted was Everything. And all it offered was a chance.
I would not be the First. Nor the Last.
But if I succeeded in its task. I would be the Both.
And with that power given me, so too was perspective. And so I learned and I studied you, my dear princess. Those who you called friends, enemies, and more importantly, You.
Have you never wondered why?
Yes, why you could not help BUT win? Always winning. Oh, there was always a risk of you not winning. But you never did, always by chance you would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
I found out why. And with that knowledge, I gambled.
I chanced everything with my plot.
I played the fool. An endless army of fodder for you to slaughter.
All while I arranged things. A nudge here, a nip there, and folding of reality. Just so, when you came after me, like you would and did, your very strength would be your undoing.
Your unspeakable strength would break your destiny. Your fate would be shattered by your strike. Did you know that Reality, itself, arranges for you to win.
Always.
You can't help but win. Your destiny is writ large upon the filaments of Heaven, Earth and all of That Which Is. Carved by Silver Queen who ruled the Moon as she fell.
So, for me to win, you had to win. For only you could break your Destiny.
Only you could break the world. Indeed. Break all of reality.
But it shall me who puts it back together.
Shhhh, shhhh, no need to cry, trust me, I'll make it all better. I'll make your agony end soon. I just need you to be strong. Yes, be strong. Brave. Fight me. You have a chance to win. You could still break free of my bindings, my wards.
You just need to keep fighting to the end. As you always do.
Yes, just like that. That's a good girl.
It'll soon be over.
But yes, I gambled that you would do exactly as you always did. To fight the good fight. I took no chances, mind you. I stacked the deck towards my side.
And you could have defeated me. If you had just known why you couldn't lose.
Ah? Your friends? Don't worry... they'll be fine. They'll live. Just like you. And trust me, I'm a man of my word.
I believe in being benevolent when I can. You will live. Think of it as a small mercy and favor for blind, foolish, valiant opponents.
And now.
Let there be Light.
***
Author's notes
"You let one of them go but that's nothing new. Every now and then a little victim's spared because she smiled, 'cause he's got freckles. 'Cause they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in awhileùon a whim, if the wind's in the right directionùyou happen to be kind."
- The Doctor, Doctor Who episode 165 "Boom Town"
Yes, a continuation/prequel of 'Faded Moonlight'. The title "Qui audet adipiscitur" means "Fortune Favors the Bold".