“Everyone wants recognition.”
“From the most famous of movie stars to the youngest of grade schoolers.”
“Children, the most immature of society, often require this recognition to function. If there’s no reward at the end of the tunnel, no prize for their efforts…”
“Then why do the task at all.”
“For most children, this prize is simple.”
“A gold star.”
“Shimmering in all of its glory, the star finds itself placed upon their homework, their projects, and their tests. It’s proof of them being a good little lamb who follows directions.”
“And with their feeble little minds, they flaunt their pitiful reward to all who will listen. Parents, friends, and teachers all giving faux praise for their victory.”
“But the thing is, no matter how useless or fleeting the gold star is, it’s all that drives their weak little minds.”
“More stars, more rewards, more praise.”
“They can’t live without it.”
“You, Cael Gable, can’t live without it.”
“Look at your life, look at the things you’ve done and the reasons you’ve done them. Every task you’ve completed, goal you’ve accomplished, has been for the love and adoration of others around you, for the shimmering trophy that would grace your person.”
“Be it the gold medal around your neck that you worked so hard for and flaunted so freely.”
“Or the golden cross hanging upon your order’s wall that you look to in hope that Yaweh will notice all of your hard work and reward you with a pat on the head and a ‘good job’ for being such a devout little acolyte.”
“Without the eyes of the crowd, the promise of glory, you wouldn’t do anything at all.”
“You’d simply sit back and wither, watching the world go by because you couldn’t muster the strength to do anything simply for yourself.”
“That’s the difference between you and I though, Cael. You have hinged your entire existence on what others think of you, how they perceive you. You wanted Danvers to love you and Yaweh to praise you.”
“But me? I don’t do what I do for any kind words nor for the companionship of others. And the shimmering prizes that I’ve gathered? They are the stones which lie so comfortably in my hands.”
“Everything that I have ever done, every friendship I’ve destroyed and life I’ve ended has all been for the purpose of my ultimate goal. They have been for me and me alone with the audience merely made to watch as I further my own destiny.”
“When we meet in the ring, Cael, there will be no gold star on the line, no idle praise to grace your ears.”
“No.”
“All that you will receive is the damnation I offer you, the reckoning I bring you.”
“When all is said and done, when you lay broken on the mat…”
“I’ll take your medal, take your cross.”
“And extinguish your praise.”
“I have walked this path before, I shall walk it once more.”