LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 4: Fate
Darkness fills the void as it grows more prominent to the point the far end can no longer be seen. No matter how sharp your vision is, nobody can know the unknown. Everything, from every direction, has become the unknown. However, in the middle of all darkness, a person stood brightly, and as brightly as he became, the void and the world soon regained their color.
"Hm?" Quagmire slowly opened his eyes after a long slumber. Unfortunately, as he opened his eyes, he saw darkness. It was as if he was staring at an abyss as the abyss stared back at him. Panic started to envelop his heart as he desperately tried to find an answer to his situation.
"!!!" Quagmire opened his mouth and heaved a breath of air, to no avail. He couldn't find any air to breathe, and so he started to suffocate. With all his power, he attempted to force his hands to his neck to assist himself in breathing. However, he wasn't able to move. It seemed that he did not even have a body.
Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Quagmire has long forgotten to breathe. Even the thought of moving his non-existing body was no longer in his mind. Just floating aimlessly in a sea of darkness. Questioning his existence, he found no purpose.
'Maybe this was my punishment? Punishment for leading my men and thousands of civilians to their deaths? What can I do? If we evacuated, thousands of civilians would still die! Isn't it better to die protecting them?' Quagmire questioned and shouted in the darkness, although he had no body or mouth.
'Or are you telling me that it is better to save what can be saved and abandon those that cannot be saved? If so, where are the honor and integrity there?!' Quagmire, as he talked more and more, became more agitated.
'No…' Quagmire was suddenly hit with a realization that wiped off his anger.
'I am just an incompetent commander. Yes! That must be it! I am just an incompetent commander. If someone more competent were in my place, they would have been able to predict everything and make better decisions than I did. Yes, that must be it!' Although he realized an answer, sadness could be felt in his voice.
'hahahaha! I see, I see. So I understand now.' At this point, Quagmire was slowly losing his sanity.
'I see, I see. No matter what I did, I would have still lost. Thousands of people would still die. After all, that was just my fate. I can't do anything, as I was born just that.' Quagmire began questioning again, but this time, to make himself inadequate.
'I guess my fate was to just float in a sea of darkness, unable to do anything but to stare at the people that I have killed and died by my hands within my memory. Such a cruel punishment for something that fate has decided upon-' Quagmire reflected, but he was suddenly cut off.
"Are you sure that fate has decided it upon you? Do you truly believe in meaningless words, such as some higher being making a plan for you to go through in your entire life?" A womanly voice spoke.
"!!!" Quagmire was shocked at the words he heard. It was the first thing he would have heard since waking up in such a place.
"What else is there?! If it wasn't fate, then how could such a thing happen?! That means before I was even born, everything was already predetermined based on the environment!" Quagmire was becoming agitated by the intrusion of such foreign thoughts. Yet, he overlooked the fact that he could now talk.
"You might have been influenced by the environment you or another person grew up with, but who said you cannot affect the environment itself as well? The womanly voice spoke in a motherly tone.
"!!!" With a single thought, Quagmire's entire thought has been utterly shattered
"Is that truly even possible?" Quagmire, seemingly resisting the temptation of agreeing.
"Of course, after all, god has given each of his creations free will. Don't you think it would be counteracting if he made plans for you to follow, and what if that plan was to make you end up in hell? Wouldn't that be just an insult to your creator? That's the equivalent of saying he made you just to become his playthings?" The womanly voice answered in a stern tone.
"!!!" Quagmire was shocked and was taken aback by the realization he had just found.
"I-I understand," Quagmire exclaimed, seemingly faltering.
"Seeing your thoughts, I can understand what you want to ask. How can you influence your environment?" The womanly voice questioned.
"Y-Yes," the faltering Quagmire answered.
"Very well, then. I have a question for you. Have you thought about the effects of people like inventors, politicians, and laborers in society?" The womanly voice questioned in a neutral tone.
"Laborers are just laborers; they get paid to work; that's just how society works, and inventors and politicians have a significant impact on society as a politician makes the decision for the entire nation, and inventors improve the people's livelihood?" Quagmire answered with confidence.
Quagmire felt the woman smile upon hearing his answer, so he expected a positive answer.
"That might be how it looks to someone who looks at the smallest details. However, have you looked at the bigger picture?" The womanly voice answered.
Quagmire was baffled about why his answer was the most minor picture, as he believed that's how society always works.
"H-how could it be just part of the small picture? Could you please explain?" Quagmire asked, with intrigue in his voice.
Quagmire swore he could have felt the woman smile even more, even though he was floating in a sea of darkness.
"Politicians may be the ones who make the decisions for the nation, but where do they get their support, including their taxes? Inventors may have improved people's livelihood, but what were they first before they became inventors? May I ask you who they are?" The womanly voice answered.
"!!!" Quagmire was taken aback as a light appeared before him, and staring at it, he saw a woman of beauty who could no longer be defined, with platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale white skin. It was of unimaginable beauty.
"Who was it, John Glenn Quagmire?" The woman whose shine became brighter and brighter.
Quagmire, unable to take his eyes off the beauty he is witnessing, also fails to notice that the light has pushed out the darkness within him and all of it from his surroundings as it regains color. He could not help but reach out his hand towards the woman.
"I-It was the people…" Quagmire answered, seemingly embarrassed by his previous answers.
"That's right, and it was the people, the laborers you spoke of; they are the ones who move society. Politicians and inventors alike are just a small part of the picture. After all, society is like a cog; everyone has a job to do, and if one breaks, the whole machine breaks. Make sure you remember this on the other side." The woman came closer to Quagmire and grabbed his hands.
"W-What?!" Quagmire was shocked by the words he heard and the sudden touch of the woman. It was warm. He felt he wanted to protect her, to take care of her.
"Please save our world. You who have been chosen." The woman brought her head closer to Quagmire and bumped her forehead towards his.
"W-Wh- "Quagmire exclaimed before he was cut off.