Shattering Humanity-Chapter 290: "Guilty Of Being Alive..."
"Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Blessed is the one who always trembles before God,
but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear
is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
A tyrannical ruler practices extortion,
but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign.
Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder
will seek refuge in the grave;
let no one hold them back.
The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe,
but the one whose ways are perverse will fall into the pit." Proverbs 28:13-19
_________________
[Erebus City]
On queue, the fire alarms from the inside of the clothing store the group is next to, go off.
After the few customers and workers inside are finished evacuating the building, Bethany with the bathing suit top still exposed, is trying to get her wet pants back on whilst annoyed Icythis and a stone faced Isfet follow her out last.
Icythis looks at her wet and ruined halt finished cig, clenches her teeth, and flicks it away.
Icythis: "What a freaking waste."
[Five Minute Later]
While the General/co-leader of the city is apologizing to the store manager and clerk for the incompetence and mistakes of his group.
Stephanie and Tristan throw away their empty styrofoam cups before rejoining the damp part of their group.
Stephanie: "What happ-" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Icythis lits up a new cig.
With a nervous smile, Stephanie easily figures it out.
Stephanie: "oh..."
While Bethany is bragging to Stephanie about the (free) clothes she and the other girls got,Tristan is observing as Nephilim finishes his apology by handing over some sort of paper to the wet clothing store’s manager.
Curious, the young man with the camera around his neck leaves his small group and walks over.
As the General walks away he sees his puzzled soldier approaching and smiles while shaking his head.
Nephilim: "Well, I really thought it would be young Arai and Maniae who would manage to destroy a whole clothing store on their own, never thought it would be for Ms. Bethany and our new guests."
Tristan: "Is that why you have them something as reimbursement?"
Nephilim nods his head and stands with his interestingly intelligent young prospect. Watching from across the grass patch as hyper Bethany is trying to get Stephanie to take her shirt off and to put on a new one she had gotten(stolen).
Nephilim: "Not only have I hand written a few apology letters in advance but I always carry one with me.
Just in case.
Along with that letter is my office number, and a clearance code so I can accompany someone into Mount Morta to discuss financial compensation.
Like I said, I figured it would’ve been our two rambunctious rugrats who I was apologizing for."
The young camera man seems unsure about the response, raising an eyebrow.
Tristan: "Doesn’t that seem a little disingenuous though?
If you don’t know what you are apologizing for, or who you are writing those notes for and only handing them out to random people you’ve wronged seems...I don’t know..."
The smiling General turns his head to look at his slightly shorter soldier.
Nephilim: "Are you implying I don’t understand my own feelings, young Tristan?"
Tristan waves his palms out in front of his chest.
Tristan: "No, no, no, no sir!
Truly I didn’t mean to offend or discredit your willingness to sit down and actually write a letter of repentance.
I guess I just wasn’t fully understanding the complexity of your own mind General Nephilim.
I- I’m sorry."
Nephilim starts to laugh a bit and it sort of makes Tristan relax.
Nephilim: "Don’t worry young Tristan!
It takes more than questioning my methods of coping through this life to offend me hahaha!
You see young Tristan, like I said, I only carry one with me.
Now if something else happens, I am left without one of those clearance passes and letters."
Tristan thinks about the reasoning while his "Mentor" continues.
Nephilim: "When people see physical representations of another’s integrity, it creates the opportunity for more of a positive rebuild of their current relationship.
You see, I write those letters with such an ambiguous language, but with complete generosity because I am guilty of being alive."
Tristan is back to questioning the response of his General.
Tristan: "Sir?"
Nephilim: "We all are guilty, Young Tristan.
None of us are going to be able to walk this Earth without making mistakes.
Understanding that one lone fact makes writing those apologies mean something to both me and those who I am apologizing to."
Tristan: "But it wasn’t your fault that store is soaked.
It was someone who hasn’t even been part of our group for more than one day.
Why should you take the blame?"
Nephilim: "I’ve taken responsibility for all of you, Young Tristan.
The moment Queen MamMon DæMon brought her to your apartment, she found that young woman Icythis worthy of our family."
After Isfet and Ichythis both interfering to stop the sexual harassment attempted on Stephanie, Tristan is focusing in on the live of his life.
Tristan(thinking): *...’Our family’?*
Nephilim: "From what you and I witnessed in that helicopter, I would say those three and Dice’s terrorist goons were the only humans that escaped that onslaught of Roronora City last night "
Tristan, who was trying not to remember the complete flattening of his home city, is now forced to remember it.
[FLASHBACK]
Tristan: "No fuckin way..."
The encircling group of giant Icemen have already passed where the city’s boundaries once stood and are destroying the outer most buildings, monuments, shops, and vehicles closest to the perimeter, moving inward.
The giants are swinging their long nearly indestructible arms, tearing down the first tall buildings they see then moving on to the next.
Some jump into the structures with their shoulder and stomp down on all the rubble raining down on them.
They are crushing the smaller stores, and running through apartments.
Unseen by the group within the distant helicopter, the giant Icemen are also completely juicing the gore piles left by their smaller allies. Squeezing out even more blood that streams through the streets of Roronora and water pipes begin to burst as the feet of giant aliens crash down on the concrete.
The flowing water from those pipes, as well as from kicked open fire hydrants, begins to mix with the unsettling flowing blood, creating a larger volume of dark red liquid that floods up to the curbs.
Once close enough, Silpheed hovers above the destroyed Eastern border and everyone except Arai watches the unstoppable chaos.
Tristan: "...Why?"
...
Nephilim: "Evil doesn’t need a reason, young Maniae.
When evil sees their own happiness as something more important than the life of others, there are no innocent victims, only statements made towards anyone who plans to oppose that evil."
Tristan has a egregiously pissed off expression as he watches his original home city get leveled.
His nose twitches.
Tristan(thinking growl): *Katsuuuu...*
[END FLASHBACK]
Nephilim and Tristan begin to slowly walk over to the girls as the General finishes his explanation.
Nephilim: "So knowing there are people like Dice and his people who would rather hide in walls of cement, instead of apologize at all for their own actions or the actions of their colleagues, it keeps the integrity of my prewritten apologies intact, no?"
The young man brings his camera up to his IceEye and takes the funny snapshot of the four new girlfriends.
Tristan: "I guess you’re right."
Nephilim: "Thanks for understanding."
The two men join back and Bethany stops her struggling.
Nephilm: "Well, now that that is taken care of..."
Icythis rubs the back of her head with the cigarette in between her lips.
Icythis: "Yes, um I’m kinda sorry about that."
The generous General hold out his palm.
Nephilim: "Nonsense.
As a smoker, I can understand the urges.
I just ask that you do refrain from lighting up in places with sprinkler systems, please Misses?"
Icythis: "Icythis.
The name’s Icythis."
The two shake hands.
Nephilim: "If you don’t mind dear Icythis, could I get a quick puff?"
Icythis takes a hit before handing the half finished cig over to the man who essentially paid for her mistake.
Nephilim takes a deeep inhale and cashes out the rest of her cigarette.
Exhaling it into the sky above them.
He realizes what he’s done and sheepishly chuckles in nervousness.
Icythis(chuckles): "Don’t worry about it."
Nephilim tosses the cigarette butt in the trash and looks around confused.
Nephilim: "Wait a minute...
Where is Queen-"
*DING-a-LING!*
Everyone turn to the door of the ice cream shoppe and sees MamMon DæMon taking a step out and slowly licking an vanilla ice cream cone, the ice cream is the same hue as the Old Norse witch’s gorgeous skin.
MamMon DæMon: "Mmm.
I will say...
If there is one thing the meek succeed at...
It’s making sweets."
