Book 4

“Tell me, O Muse, of our present world, of this stagnant era and how we came to it.

In the ruins of that world gone by, still humanity persisted. Struggling to live, carving out a place for ourselves among the rubble, and so began our era.

Yet in Heaven things were moving, not a single thing to answer our prayers. The King of the Gods, Regnum, looking down at us from Heaven, decreed that our era must come to an end. Calamity would be let loose once more, and so humanity would come to an end. Such was his order.

Renovo, Goddess of Regrowth, the goddess that loves us, went to her king with tears in her eyes and made her simple supplication: ‘Lord Regnum, Lord Regnum, please reconsider. The children of man have done us no wrong, we cannot destroy them. They revere us and we ought to love them, let us not bring their end. I ask of you, Lord Regnum: spare their lives.’

He refused to do so and spoke thus: ‘The previous has remnants far too great in their world, we can allow them that no longer. We have no choice but to raze the world once more.’

And so he set loose Calamity once more.

In his arrival on Earth, the floods returned. A tempest answered his call and storms once more ravaged the land. At the sound of his voice Behemoth arose once more, the Ten Dragons descended, and so asserted their dominance over the beast of Earth and began their stampede once more. He rose his spear and so did his armies gather, grown since last he ordered them to battle, and so they waged war against us once more.

Humanity fought with all we had, our heroes come together. Yet even such a force proved deathly insufficient, and so that era ought to have come to an end.

In Heaven, as punishment for her attempt to save us once more, the goddess Renovo was transformed into a beast and sealed away under the sea. In protest of this, gentle Death refused to act. Only his spawn, inefficient in their deeds, could bring a life to an end. The ebb and flow of life and death has come to an end. Such is our world: brought to the brink of destruction, our lives made long as we suffer eternally.

And so, after these four brief nights, my story has come to an end.”

Before the rhapsode is able to leave, Cata grabs at the air above his head. A small golden thread, imperceptible to the eyes of man, has attached itself to the crown of his head, a straight line connecting to Heaven.

The rhapsode wishes to move, but finds that he cannot. Under the air of this man before him, he cannot move. This rhapsode bore witness to the ends of heroes, and yet he is sure that this man is stronger than any of them, and stronger than any monsters. He freezes before him.

“Rhapsode, your stories are quite good.” The rhapsode thinks that he must thank him if he wishes to live, but he can only stammer looking up at him. “However, it seems one of our young ones has played a small trick on you.” Suddenly, the golden thread begins to shine brightly. Its glow fills the open air and makes it visible to man. It grows slack as it begins to wriggle, as though it were trying to escape, but it cannot get away from Cata’s grip. At last, the beautiful voice of a woman, clear as glass, about to cry, rings out over the area.

“I’m sorry! Please forgive me, Cata!”

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t really mind! But I’ll tell Reno what you’ve done and let her judge!”

“Please don’t tell her! I’ll do whatever you want! Punish me however you please!”

“I thought I was supposed to be a cruel god? Shouldn’t you be more scared?”

“I’m sorry! I’m more scared of Reno!”

“And what was that last story!? We weren’t saying anything that nice! And how did I end up the villain!? It was all Regnum! You were there!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll fix it.” As if she were clearing her throat, the golden string grows taut once more, and the rhapsode begins to speak.

“When Regnum, King of the Gods, decreed that he would bring an end to an era, Cataclysmus and Renovo went forth together, husband and wife, and denied him his plan: ‘Regnum, it’s hardly time! This era is too young, and what does it matter if the last one’s still there!? We’re the ones who do all this, so we’re the ones who make the rules, okay!’

And Regnum answered them thus: ‘I am your king! Obey me!’

When the two refused, he transformed Renovo, Goddess of Regrowth, into a beast and stole from Cataclysmus, God of Calamity, his beasts and his armies, and so he set them against mankind.

And this is the true story of what occurred two centuries prior.”

Cata smiles at the story as he tugs on the golden string.

“Good! I didn’t even ask for most of that!”

“I’ll do anything for you, as long as you don’t tell Reno!”

“I’ll still tell her.”

“Why!? And why were you even here in the first place!?”

“Hm? I’m waiting for Reno. Obviously. And, well, I should thank you, really. Your man really made it easy to wait. But you should try giving him more in a day.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.” At last the rhapsode finds his own voice.

“Um, Sir, I… I assume you must be Lord Cataclysmus, so may I ask what you’re doing?”

“Right now? I’m talking to the Muse.” The ground begins to shake, the tremors of a great beast. Cata smiles gently when he feels it. “And pretty soon it seems I’ll get to see my wife again.”

“Lord Cataclysmus… You’ve been here for days…”

“Do you mean to ask how I knew she would be here? I’m her husband. I should know a thing or two about her, don’t you think?”