THE FALLEN
1. MARY AND THE NEPHILIM
HOLY WRETCH, UNWILLING FOUNDATION, FALLEN TITAN
It was not until I crawled from out its foot that I truly saw it, a great beast with a cracked and empty temple that pierced out from its titanic head. It had wounds for eyes and a gaping hole of a mouth, which was covered by a gag of chains and stone.
Even while restrained on all fours it reached as high as the clouds.
It was crying. A soft, endlessly tired moan that dug deep into my heart and made me hate myself. Because at that moment I realized the truth… this wretched creature, this immortal thing our ancestors restrained and abused into submission, the pitiful foundation to our proud home… it suffers so we do not have to.
A holy wretch, abominable angel, unwilling saint, sacred profanity. In the teachings of my youth, it was said that we lived atop a sacred giant that protected us from hurt. We were told it did this out of love for us but on the condition that we did not leave the safety of its back… surely it does not suffer now because I have left?
It moved like a dying animal, slow, tired, with occasional desperate but short-lived jerking actions that cracked like broken tree branches. Each motion was an act of loathing and despair. But the chains that gripped its limbs and held the gag in place stopped it from making any noticeable disturbances for those that lived so comfortably atop its broken back.
Does anyone know what lies beneath them? The people of my town have lived safe and comfortable atop this poor creature’s back for generations. Its back is an oasis. Water, food, shelter are all there for us. It was always forbidden to leave and was only by chance that I managed to escape. ‘Why leave when we are safe?’ they would say, ‘only death and madness await those who leave.’
I resolved to set it free;
As far as I know, I am the only one who has left its back and touched the earth. If I told them what lay beneath, they would not believe me, or they would not care, or perhaps some already know... Either way, they all must be shown. I will find a way to remove its restraints. I will make them see.
The Gatekeeper was a strange old man, broken but jovial.
He wore a round sun mask, with a painted smile that was upside down. Every sentence that came from his mouth was a riddle, every action was a painful and awkward contortion, poorly disguised as some kind of choreographed dance move… My patience was waning.
He moved out of my way after I told him to stop. Perhaps this was the answer to one of his riddles…
As he flew into the sky I could hear muffled noises coming from behind the mask, I did not know if it was sobbing or laughter.
I discovered things that should have remained lost forever,
Hidden knowledge known only to the Titans before their society came crashing down. It changed me in every way possible.
All mystery was ruined and with nothing left to know, life felt like a story I had heard too many times. But as hugely irrelevant as my knowledge made it, I figured I should still complete my mission. My new awareness showed me how pointless and problematic this would be, but I felt spurred on nonetheless by an old and perhaps outdated moral;
The truth should never be kept a secret. No matter how terrifying that truth may be.