💾 Archived View for yujiri.xyz › writing › henry-the-hero.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 02:52:59. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2022-06-03)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Henry the Hero was a brave and honest man.
He wanted to help his fellow man and to protect the innocent.
Whenever he saw someone beset, he drew his blade and slew who assailed.
In a world of tragedy, it wasn't long before Henry was renowned for his deeds.
He traveled the world and fought time and time again.
The strongest evils in the land feared him.
Everyone admired him, and soon rallied under his flag.
No evil could overcome such determination. Henry's success was the will of the whole world.
The bandits, the monsters, and the tyrants each fell by the wayside.
The people were saved, and Henry was their savior.
After beheading the last tyrant, Henry spoke to the people he'd saved:
"Live in peace, and show love to one another. The dark age is done.
Never again will you fear for your lives."
The people applauded, and obeyed Henry's command.
One day, Henry found one of the people he'd saved harming another.
Henry stopped him, but the people were confused. If he could save the whole world, why couldn't he stop one bad apple?
Henry vowed to protect them better, and so he required everyone to surrender to him their power to harm each other.
His people did as he required, and they were happy again.
One day, Henry found one of the people he'd prevented from harming each other had tricked another and left him in ruin.
Again, his people were upset. Why hadn't he protected them as promised?
So Henry vowed to do better, and decreed that all matters must be brought to him for adjudication.
And his people obeyed and were happy again.
One day, Henry found one of the people who'd obeyed his decrees had fallen into a chasm and died.
His people were angry. After so much time, why couldn't he prevent this? There was only one person to blame.
Henry apologized, and decreed that no one could exit his cities without his permission.
They were the happiest and safest places on Earth; why would they want to leave?
Finally, there was no room left for evil to enter, and his people prospered into his old age.
But Henry grew lonelier each day of his reign.
He'd made the others his subjects to protect them from each other.
But when everyone was his subject, to whom could he speak?
He was unlike them now; another level of being entirely. They could never understand his thoughts.
He took one last look upon his kingdom.
It was the best place on Earth... except that there was no life.
His people were but a reflection of his own will after he stripped them of their own.
A land of peace and happiness and virtue, but somehow, it felt like the emptiest place on Earth.
He said to himself, "What if choice itself is more valuable than the right one?"
Since he could see no beauty in his life's work, Henry stepped from his tower.