The Honest Guest: Night 26

       Heaven or Hell? Military Police or Scout Regiment? I never thought that I’d get to this point but…it’s time that I made my choice.

       The young man found himself in a broad hallway with tall ceilings. Warm candles on silver sticks cast their light on massive paintings. Silky curtains partly covered towering, stain-glass windows. He stood on a red carpet with gold trimmings, surrounded by piles of gold and silver forms of utensils and trinkets. A small creaking noise caught his ear, and he looked to see a golden scale, one side filled with delicate pastries and the other filled with red wine. However, the young man noticed, on a silver pile looming above the scale, the cup was being filled with red droplets from a cow’s slit throat. Suddenly, his ears were filled with the sound of several men singing as once, “Do you know, who I am?~”
       Judgment Boy then dropped down from above, shouting, “Judgment!” as the other voices continued to sing. However, there was the number 1 printed on the front of his shirt.
       “They call me Judgment boy!~”
       A second later, another Judgment Boy dropped down, yelling, “Judgment!” and he had the number 2 printed on his shirt. The singing was reduced to two voices.
       “Do you know, who I am?~”
       A third Judgment Boy came down similarly, with the number 3 on his shirt and the singing limited to one voice.
       “They call me Judgment Boy!~”
       Finally, the fourth Judgment Boy dropped down, a number 4 on his shirt, and he finished, “Judgment!”
       There was a brief moment of silence until a deep and booming voice began to sing, filling the air with its size.

“Do you know~

“Who I am~”

       Suddenly, a massive and golden Judgment Boy dropped down. His voice boomed as he stated in a sharp-toothed grin, “Judgment.”
       His red eyes looked down upon the young man, who he towered over. Judgment Boy Gold’s weights hung at level with the young man, allowing him to see the label “10t” on them. He then announced, “You are trainee that has just recently graduated after three years of training. You were ranked 6th out of 104 other trainees. Because you were among the top ten, you are given the option to join the Military Police, a branch of the military mainly stationed in the Inner Wall, carrying out the king’s orders and keeping public peace. That has been your goal from the start. However, there is another option that has been hanging over your head; the Scout Regiment, a branch of the military that explores outside the walls, studying the enemy and fighting for territory. Of the three branches, it has the highest death rate. You find yourself trying to choose between the two.”
       “What will you do?” Judgment Boy #1 asked.
       “What’re you gonna do?” piped Judgment Boy #2.
       “What’ll you do?” wondered Judgment Boy #3.
       “What are you going to do?” Judgment Boy #4 inquired.
       Judgment Boy Gold, his deep voice ringing out, evenly asked, “So, what are you going to do?”
       The young man looked back and forth over the Judgment Boys. All their eyes were on him, with incessant grins on their faces. He looked at the cages, glancing from the money sign to the heart. The young man dropped his gaze to the ground. A bright, young man’s voice went through his mind saying, “I think you’re a good leader because you know what it means to be weak.”
       Finally, the young man looked up and stated definitively, “Marco. I’m going to honor Marco.”
       Judgment Boy Gold’s grin widened, and he slowly began to turn. The other Judgment Boys followed his lead. He then sped up his spinning, as did the other Judgment Boys, causing the very air to rattle violently, as they shouted, with Gold’s being a booming roar. The air around the young man shook until the various stain-glass windows rattled to pieces. The colorful glass tumbled through the now open window and tore through the curtains as they scattered onto the oak floors. The candles fell over, some dripping fiery wax onto the paintings while others plummeted into silver plates with wet splatters. Much of the light in the hall now came from a sky that looked as though someone spilled multiple colors across it and mixed them together with water. The young man could only stand in place, holding his ears as his very being seemed to tremble from the force.

“JUUUUUDGMEEEEENT!”

       Judgment Boy #1 came to an abrupt stop and released his money sign, stating, “Now!”
       Judgment Boy #2 also came to a stop and released his money sign, proclaiming, “Now!”
       Another creak, followed by the statement, “Now!”
       A fourth creak accompanied by the proclamation, “Now!”
       Finally, Judgment Boy Gold came to an abrupt stop. He stated, “Judgment now,” and the bottom of the large cage holding the gold money sign came open. One by one, the money signs crashed through the wooden floor, leaving gaping holes around the young man. Finally, Judgment Boy Gold’s sign struck the floor with a thunderous crash. Floor boards fell away, and piles of gold and silver spilled into the dark abyss that surrounded the young man. Judgment Boy Gold, as well as the rest, tilted to the side, weighed down by the proudly glowing heart. A glowing path then appeared in front of the young man, leading across the abyss and underneath Judgment Boy Gold.
       The enormous Judgment Boy stated in satisfaction, “You have finally made a decision truly beyond your own self-interest. It is time to walk the path you decided on. It was your choice.”
       The young man instantly bolted down the glowing path, moving past the Judgment Boys, and down the hallway. All the while, Judgment Boy Gold’s voice rang through the air.

“Do you know~

“Who I am~

“They call me Judgment Boy~”

       “GOLD!” all four of the Judgment Boys shouted in the distance.

       The young man continued to run along the glowing path. The hall was still lined with golden piles, paintings and glowing windows, but the hall seemed to shrink the farther he went. The young man started to see a large, welcoming ball of light at the end of the hall. However, the closer he got to it, the louder a plea in the distance behind him became; it was Gregory’s voice.
       “My friend…my friend…” the old mouse called in a ghastly echo. The young man looked over his shoulder, seeing a glowing light. As it approached, he realized that it was a mouse-shaped spectral, reaching its hands out towards him. The creature continued to plead, “Please…come back…my friend…”
       The young man turned back around and continued to run forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the occasional, severed animal limb among the piles. The sound of Gregory’s voice seemed to only get closer as he went on, “You can’t ever truly escape from here…come back…”
       A crooked candle steadily slid off its silvery perched and landed on a pile, knocking off a silvery bell, which airily rung twice as it bounced along the pile. The young man looked over to it as he ran past, making eye contact with an oil painting that depicted a grim reaper beside a memorial. From the painting, he heard the calm and knowing voice of the skeleton, “Remember! A soul must believe that there is no unfinished business in reality and have no regrets to hold them back from resting eternally! This is your last chance to choose! Reality is a cruel and unforgiving place! Choose wisely!”
       “Don’t forget, my friend!” Gregory shouted. The gold piles could barely be seen under the rivers of blood that spilled from the decapitated heads and mangled bodies of faceless humans. His ghastly from edged closer, taking hold of a radiant line that connected him and the young man, using it to pull him forward. “You wanted to run from reality! You choose to come here!”
       “Hurry! He’s going to catch up! Either sever your connection or turn back!” the shouting called from another painting of the grim reaper, this time standing in a war infirmary.
       “There is no escape, my friend. Reality is simply too much to handle. There is no point in returning. You’ll only end up coming back to Gregory House!”
       As the young man ran, he reached into his pockets and drew out the bloodied gloves. Hurriedly, he slipped on the gloves and stopped to turn towards Gregory, heart pounding. The phantasm was a meter away, closing in on the young man. The young man took hold of the glowing connection and shouted, “No! I will not keep running from reality! I will leave! It is not! My! Time!”
       The young man pulled the connection loose with a solid snap. There was a flash of light, and Gregory’s ghastly form was pushed back, spiraling into the endless abyss down the other end of the hall. He cried, “I’ll keep your room ready for you!” as the young man turned and continued running towards the light at the end.
       He could hear the crunching of undergrowth under his feet. The light was dim as there was only moonlight that filtered past the tree branches. The young man was running through the forest. He continued to run, bloodied gloves clenched. Somewhere far behind him, the young man thought he heard a noise resembling a distant, oily chuckle. Without looking back, he continued in the direction of Trost.

THE END