“This is the last one, my lord.” The timid voice shook with fear as the speaker finished his report. Karl could almost smell the terror wafting from the young colonel and sighed in exasperation. Today he was less angry than normal, his ordinary fury giving way to an emotion more like... nostalgia.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1Eo9VKmTl
“That is all then. Leave,” he commanded, and continued to stare out the large window of his office, never turning to face the poor colonel. At first, the respect and fear had uplifted him and he was swollen with pride, but after several years of ruling the world under his iron heel, he was starting to get worn out. Being a nearly omnipotent dictator was, in the end, no more interesting than anything else he could have done with his life.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHpsv8OCF0
He sighed again, more deeply this time. It wasn’t that he was unhappy really, and he had plenty of activities to spend his time on, even productive ones; but he had, with his almost limitless power, done everything that could be done in this life short of experiencing death. Not all of those experiences had been pleasurable, but at least he could say he had done them. Giving birth had been especially unpleasant.
His phone rang, and he turned to the desk with invigorating anger. Who dared call him now, while he was thinking so deeply?! Someone who wanted to die, no doubt.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0rTio9B6t
“What do you want?” He snarled into the phone, his grip nearly crushing the handset.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjMOGNu4jL
“Uhrk!” The person on the other end of the line was yet another terrified slave. “Er— I’m sorry, my lord, I didn’t mean to—”565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0olI1aBPZ
“Just tell me what you want and hang up,” Karl growled.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRdl2vkwCq
“My lord, we just wanted to know when you wanted to schedule the hearing for those accused of blasphemy against you? We don’t want to let the issue stand longer than necessary. Th-th-that is i-if you want, of c-c-c-course!” The poor caller was, just as the colonel before her, terrified out of her mind. And for good reason.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPhtCUYlei
“Kill them all,” Karl said shortly and slammed the phone down. What nuisance, he thought. Then an idea came to his mind, and he picked up the phone again to call the person back. He hadn’t even gotten a name from her, he realized.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ8DnrFnRr
“Hello, you’re the one who just called me? Yes, I still want them killed. Are you questioning me!? How dare you! I command you to torture those blasphemers instead of just killing them. Keep them alive and in pain for as long as you can! And go to Hell while you’re at it!” He slammed the phone down again, smashing it to pieces and denting his desk.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡke9X96cflg
How did all this happen? He wondered. I haven’t made any mistakes, have I? He pondered for a moment, tracing his life back to search for where things started to go wrong. Life used to be so exciting and full of color! But now it was monotonous and gray, just the same every day.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUxQJTiwtZ
No, he thought, maybe I’m just having a midlife crisis. I have no regret for any of the decisions I’ve made. He suddenly remembered a little boy hiding from bullies, and a kindly mage who enjoyed honey tea on cold evenings. As memories of his childhood flooded back, he recalled the exact start of the journey to how he got to that spacious office and the world his slaves.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNuS1RNGOO
I was ten years old, living in a corporate orphanage in a dirty city in the American Midwest. The caretakers were generally benevolent, but their kindness would run dry if a child took too long to be adopted. Adopted for a hefty fee, of course. Their hearts were guided by their pocketbooks, I guess.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAAAdqjmmQ
I was an odd child, I suppose. This caused me plenty of bullying, and I tended to hate the world and everything in it. I still do, but that seems to be how I developed this trait. The other children, whether they were large or small, boy or girl, loved to despise me. I can’t remember a night back then when I didn’t have bruises all over me, physical and emotional. I tended to lash out as well, and my magical talent was probably the largest factor in my problems back then.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6JcjGhLlR
Maybe it still is.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PsBbmIyQq
But one night, I remember the matron turning the lights out, and leaving with a warning to me.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSU3sfBo7l
“Karl Faron, if you don’t shape up and get adopted you’ll be thrown out, mark my words!” She spat those words at me, for she hated me as much as I hated everyone else. I decided that I needed to die.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBj7oGIkxbK
I was too tired to formulate a plan for bringing about my own demise that night, but the thought stayed on my mind the next morning, and I ruminated on it during breakfast. If I knew then all that I know now, I could have simply wished myself out of existence, but I was a little boy who had no idea how to stop a beating heart. I wondered if my spoon was sharp enough to stab myself.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhK0GeMiy89
I remember my shock when my name was called on the loudspeaker, informing me that an adopter had come for me. I was in a daze as I gathered my meager belongings and put them in the trunk of Mr. Humbert Deimos, a short, mousy man with thick glasses and a funny accent. I was probably going to hate him too, I thought, but withheld my judgment at first. I wanted to give him a chance.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46onEwSJ1F
“You’re no doubt wondering why I adopted you,” he said. “You’re not an ordinary boy, you know.” He said it matter-of-factly, not the way I expected those words to be said by an adult. I used to get the ‘You’re so special just because you’re you’ speech all the time, but this was different. I sat up a little straighter.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNbc8837WT
“I’m not an ordinary man, either. Because we both have a Talent. I’m a mage, and you’re going to be my apprentice. How does that sound?”565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhPC3rBqdR
I remember we were at a stop sign when he said that, and I responded by opening my door and getting out of the car. He was crazy, I decided. I silently walked back up the road.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxxWJqvOXa
“Now hear me out! I know how this sounds!” He was so pathetic and despicable in his eagerness. But I was favorably impressed by what happened next. I was suddenly back in my seat in the car, and this time the seat belt wouldn’t come undone.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwY82at063
“What the heck!” My ejaculation was in wonder, for I knew I wasn’t imagining things.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIGRd4IA4q
“That’s right, Master Karl, I just magic’d you. Still don’t believe me?” He was so childish in the way he exulted at one-upping a ten-year-old.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrHsB1IKsD
“Okay, so you’re a wizard, fine. But I’m not anything like that!” I was mad that he had so easily caught and trapped me, so I wasn’t going to play along. I find it hard to blame me, as I hated the world and everything in it, and that included Mister Deimos.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkdREeBfYa
“We’ll see,” was his only response, and we drove the rest of the way to his country home in silence.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAiH31vyNf
The next six years were an amazing rollercoaster. Of course, puberty played a role in that, but I began to discover some of those more... distasteful emotions, such as love, joy, and peace. Humbert was really a stand-up guy, and I think he truly loved and cared for me. Most of the time I cared for him too, as he was the only human to ever see me as more than a tool to be bartered for money. He invested a lot of effort into my training.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUQOZEbgFq
There was a common tension, however, in all of my magical learning. I had a tendency to go too far, to use too much energy, and so I was often putting myself and others in danger. Humbert was always getting on my case and telling me to reign in my powers so I wouldn’t hurt anyone. This angered me.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2L8ny21bT
I remember one night, just before we parted for bed, he gave me a stern warning.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1nEQHXYLp
“Karl, your soul will be burnt and consumed if you don’t start limiting yourself. You are turning yourself into a monster!” He said those last words with great precision and deliberateness. They stung, and I left wordlessly with tears in my eyes. I really cared about his opinion of me and had generally low self-esteem, so I was easily hurt when people said things that weren’t meant to.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPqnrl2TIQ
That night I was so angry that my magic leaked into my dreams. It was a wonderfully horrific experience, and when I awoke my red hair had turned black, my irises were bright red, and my face became quite evil to look upon. I’ve made myself more handsome since then, but I literally awoke as a monster that morning. I still chuckle when I recall the absolutely stunned expression that I received from Humbert when he saw me. His coffee slipped right out of his hand!565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8rACdeQYp
“Karl,” he said slowly, “what have you done?”565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiYznDEWrw
“I don’t know, but I like it,” I replied firmly, deciding that if it annoyed him after what he said the night before, then he deserved it.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cgOyHGegY
“Karl, you know better than to let your magic leak into your dreams. What did you dream about?”565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwR6FluaDiC
“That I was the ruler of the world and everybody was afraid of me.” If his jaw hadn’t punctured the foundation of the house before, it certainly did this time. I’ve never seen anyone look so truly shocked as he did that morning, and I’ve tried. A couple years ago I killed an entire civilization and then showed their corpses to the single survivor. Still didn’t compare.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJ6YCqmqw9
But I digress.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJx47eXipHu
Humbert, kind and loving Humbert, gave me a very stern lecture, and I stormed out of the house in a rage. How dare he! I remember thinking. He doesn’t understand! Ah, those words that define the thought patterns every teenager has in relation to adults. And of course, few of them truly understand. I was feeling self-righteous and indignant, so what came next should have been obvious, and no doubt Humbert was trying to find me to avert the—ahem—impending disaster. Disaster in his opinion.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8muubE2nn
I was in the middle of a field of uncut grass when I felt his probes, empathic and psychic. I was so mad, and I just wanted to be free of all the pain and sorrow and fear that had plagued me since I could remember. My fury, my rage was so absolute that my vision turned red and it seemed that a dam had burst in my soul. The fire and force of that fury were so powerful that the entire state of Michigan is now a crater, and the earth’s axial tilt was increased by a degree and a half.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxZ28P3bgt
To date the most impressive display of my power. I have a photograph of that crater as seen from space framed on my wall. It’s simply beautiful.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3pgk2uoRn
Ever since that day I’ve been taking matters into my own hands. Sure, I command armies and the entire world population are my slaves, but a true dictator must be willing to get his hands dirty once in a while to keep things in order. That’s figurative, of course, as I don’t have to leave my seat to doom a continent. Sometimes I even let my idle thoughts cause chaos just so I can have a challenge in cleaning up the mess later.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFSmhL96Jz
My life isn’t that bad, I suppose, and I should be grateful for the good things I have. But there’s only one thing left to experience in this life, and it would be my doom to do so...565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZvXoiwKfk
Karl mused for a moment, remembering that dark thought he’d had the night before he was adopted. Death was the final experience for one with the power to experience everything. What would it feel like? He’d given plenty of other people the opportunity.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ676Obbwv6P
When the colonel came back for his nightly report, he found the Ruler’s office empty, but for the dictator’s black cloak on the floor. A note on the desk read,565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzdlDloSnQ
“I’ve done something no sane person is brave enough to do. I beat you all. Go to hell. Signed,565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdMxvPMlZo
“Karl Faron"565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNQuqlGPz4
The End.565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lNLgU5alS
