!Emilio.png"I am humanity's salvation"

The war continues despite humans. Filthy, sinful, and useless, powerless humans. I must distract them. And punish them for interfering in matters that are above humans. I will show them they have no power in this fight. I will show them just how powerless they are. I'm the only one of them that can see.

I started my crusade with one of the knight's generals. I tied him to the wall in my basement and let him starve for a couple of days. Humans are nothing compared to the giants fighting in this war. The sylphs are the source of beauty in this world, and nymphs are just like humans. Disposable, and useless. We are underlings to the superior beings that are sylphs, and the fact that humans even try to fight against these creatures is an affront to God. This world is for them to do as they please.

I had crippled an entire battalion by taking their general, who is now long gone. The rats are probably nibbling at his bones by now. I refuse to let my captured heretics die with glory. I will do my part to ensure that sylphs will prevail over these animals. - I put my goggles and bandanna mask on.

The mold in my basement and smoke and gas from the war make the air very dense. I walk to the streets to see my human kin marching down the street, covered in holy blood, cheering with glory. That they would be freed from their oppressors, cheering beside nymphs. I had to hide my disgust to lure my next heretics. My small stature is especially convincing to these wannabe heroes, this would be easy. I ran in front of the parade, crying and covered in blood. There's a sylph in my house! They re torturing my father!" I ran back to my house, hearing the grumbling and scoffs of the brigade of men following me back, to their demise. I pointed to the basement, and they ran in blindly with valor. I shut basement door promptly and blocked it with an iron bar. I wonder if those animals will eat each other before I get to them? I waited a few hours for things to simmer down before I went outside to pick flowers. The ones that nymphs smoke like humans smoke tobacco. I've sketched and painted them because they piqued my interest.. Especially after what they've done to me. I felt the boils under my long sleeves and grimaced a bit in pain. Then.. I smirked. The sinners would experience something much worse than just contact with the flowers. This disease was just my punishment for being human. My actions are just. Those humans will not punish themselves, they are too prideful. I set the flowers up on my roof to dry out in the sun, while collecting the ones I set out before. I tied them into a tight bundle before lighting it and tossing it into the basement. I listened to them cough and yell for help. Their voices became weaker and I could tell their lungs and throats were bleeding by the tone of their voices. They would be dead soon. Time to move to another house.

“When night fell, I collected my flowers and snuck across town. I searched for an open window, or a rickety door to be my next base of operation. I found the woman's house window was broken, and climbed in. I put the flowers in the vase beside her bed and placed the candle beneath them. I watched her writhe in agony as the disease got into her lungs and covered his skin with boils and rashes. I found it.. fascinating, and could not take my eyes off of her. That is the only reason you found me.”

The doctor left the room. The guard stared at the child in horror. This is definitely a death sentence, but he is merely a child. A sick child. "I can t kill a child. I m just going to enlist you so you will be under close watch so that you can become a better man."

Emilio stared at the crooked floorboards, trying to hide his malicious glare. "Fine. I will serve.. humanity. He was escorted out by the guard and sent to the barracks. It wasn't long before Emilio was sent into the plains and forests to help feed nymphs and scout. His uniform didn't fit him well, his sleeves hung almost a foot from his hands and his pants made him trip often.

They were almost constantly walking, carrying rations to the field, or armor. He hated it. He could handle the work easily, but in his mind, he was helping the enemy.

The other enlistees made Emilio a mascot of sorts. He looked ridiculous in his uniform, and he often stopped to pick flowers. His favorite color must be purple. The enlistees often tried to talk to him or start banter, but Emilio never spoke to them. He just stayed behind his bandanna and goggles, keeping flowers stuffed in all his pockets. He was visibly getting weaker, and the other enlistees helped pick up his slack.

As the soldiers slept, he continued to put petals in all of their belongings. He did this every night, religiously. He didn't care about how much worse his own condition was getting, he just wanted to enact vengeance on humans for the rest of his short life.

It only took 2 weeks for Emilio to be caught. An older scout saw him leaving purple petals in the camp's kitchenware. He was the only one of the enlistees to recognize the flower and what it has been causing. All the human enlistees were internally sick, and its because of Emilio. He grabbed the child's hand, and he yelled in pain. "What have you done? How long have you been doing this?" The man stared at Emilio's eyes behind his goggles and saw rage within them. The man grimaced and ripped the goggles and bandanna off his face and saw the dark rashes and boils all over his lower face and neck. Emilio looked away, but the man was already sure of what he saw. "You know what this stuff does to humans! Why are you collecting them? You've killed us all!"

“Let go of me."

The man yelled, "You re a murderer! These men are trying to fight to save our world from being destroyed by sylphs and you re poisoning them!"

"THIS ISN'T OUR WORLD TO FIGHT FOR! I'M SAVING YOU FROM DAMNATION! FIGHTING BESIDE THE NYMPHS AGAINST SYLPHS IS AN AFFRONT TO ALL THAT IS GOOD!"

Emilio tried to snatch his hand away and run, but yelped when the man's grip on his wrist tightened. The rash on his arm tore a bit because it had dried out and he began bleeding profusely. Emilio kicked the man's leg hard enough to shatter the bone and feebly retreated. The man yelled for help, and not soon after, the entire battalion was trying to find him. Emilio ripped the slack from his uniform sleeve off and wrapped his arm tightly to stop the bleeding, in excruciating pain. The flower's poisoning was now flooding his bloodstream. He didn't have much time before it would reach his brain. He became frantic.

I haven't done enough. I have to do my part in this war and be humanity's retribution. They will remember me for saving them. Yes.. I am their savior. I am the only one who can SEE.

Emilio scratched at his eyes as one of the men walked past the tree he hid behind. He tackled the soldier and grabbed the dagger from his belt before stabbing straight through the middle of his throat, destroying his ability to scream. He stuffed petals in the wound and the man began writhing in agony and madness. Emilio looked for his next target and sprinted toward the man who sold him out. His vision began to fade.

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I woke up in a dark plain. I couldn't see the sun, but it was very hot.

The smell of smoke and brimstone made the air thick. I wish I had my goggles. I felt my skin and noticed my rashes weren't as inflamed as before, they were replaced with dark, rough patches of skin. They didn't hurt anymore.

I noticed some other people waking up in the dirt. Someone patted my shoulder, "You must've came from the war, I was killed in battle. What happened to you, you re just a kid! Hehe..”

I clenched my fist and looked back at the human. He had no eyes, yet he smiled. I noticed his other arm was missing. He had bled out.

Wait.. I must have died. This isn't heaven.

I pushed the man off of me. "Filthy heretic. Keep your disgusting hands to yourself.”

The man was confused, "You died in a uniform. Are you.. not a human?"

"I am the most human of any of you. I didn't turn my back to God like all of you did when you chose to fight beside nymphs. I was forced to. I shouldn't be here."

"But you are."

I thought for a moment. Yes.. I am here. In hell. But.. I can see. Just like before. And they can't.

What s different about me?

I felt the spots on my skin and observed them. It almost felt like charcoal, and it left a residue on my fingers. I started to feel an overwhelming rage within me. I asked the man, "You were killed by an sylph, weren t you?"

The man smiled a bit. "Yeah, she was pretty too. Redheaded."

I slapped the man's face, and surprised myself with my sudden power. He laid on his side and rubbed his jaw.

"You will learn to respect them. What was her name?"

"I-I don t know. We were fighting."

I reached for my knife and pulled it out, and to my surprise, a spear was in it's place.

I smirked, I understood.

I saw.

God has chosen me to punish the humans in my afterlife. I am God's instrument, just as I was in life.

I drove my spear through his arm and pinned him into the barren earth.

"You are but an insect compared to the sylphs. That is why you lost. That is why you died. That is why you are here." The man was yelling in pain. It filled me with euphoria, to feel his anguish because of my pain. I have never felt so alive.

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I am a nymph. I walk among the other horned creatures, leading the fallen souls to barren lands with my spear. Occasionally, they fight back. A quick poke in the gut puts them back in line, usually.

It is also my job to patrol the halls and labyrinths. Many people fall from the skies and end up lost. I must retrieve them and lead them to the plains, or wherever they are supposed to be.

The other nymphs have taken to calling me 'Al Ek-che'. In their tongue, it translates to 'All kinds'. I found it a bit strange, but they told me they needed to call me something. I didn't really want to be named, I liked just listening, my identity wasn't important.

All the fallen souls often had great stories. They often died of old age, and were saddened to leave their families behind. I wonder what that must be like? Love seems to control almost every human action. Is it something that they can see? Hear? No matter.

One day, I found a man, confused and dazed, in the center of the labyrinth. He wore exotic armor I had never seen before. It was rusted, however. He must've been here for a while. Souls rarely ever find the center of the labyrinth. I should've checked here more often in the last few dozen years.

The man's blank eyes lit up when he saw me, Ah, finally! Something interesting! I ve made it to the center of this maze and to the outskirts ehh.. about forty or so times without seeing a single bit of life until now! And you are lively my boy, wow! I've never seen such beautiful nymph horns! What region are you from, eh boy?"

I was dazed by the onslaught of questions. Well.. him exploring explains why I hadn't found him sooner, at least.

"I am from ..here."

"You know what this place is, no?"

“This is just where souls permanently reside. You are now only a soul, because your physical form is now incapable of holding it. This is only 'hell' for people who cause problems."

"Ah, that explains it. What s your name boy?"

"...Al Ek-che..?"

“REALLY..? That was my son s name! Oh my, I wonder how he is. I haven t seen him in months. I'm a bounty hunter.. well, was a bounty hunter."

I sat beside the man in the dirt, "I enjoy stories."

The man let out a hardy laugh and began to tell his tale from beginning to end. How he loved food. He loved a woman. He loved many women, but there was one woman he loved so much that his entire life was changed. And they created a human together and raised it. Him. Alexei. His son also loved often. At first, he loved to laugh and crawl. He started to love walking and speaking, and soon, he began to love growing plants. He began to love everything. The man loved that his son loved everything.

I wonder what love is like?