You ever sit and really think about what people deserve?
I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.
Because if life was fair—if the world operated on some perfect balance sheet of justice—then the people who hurt, the people who lie, the people who betray… they’d lose. They’d fail. They’d be left to rot in the shadow of their own making.
But that’s not how it works, is it?
I look across the ring and I see Nox. A vile man who hurts people for sport. For joy. For the simple rush of watching something beautiful corrode. I see El Dragón Caído—a man who plays the noble hero, who wraps himself in the mythology of honor and heritage, but who once looked me in the eye as a friend and still put a knife in my back. I see Narcissa—a woman who once claimed she was in pursuit of truth, who held herself above the trivial, but when the choice came… she turned her back on all of it. For her own happiness.
And the funny thing? I can’t sit here and tell you I’m better than any of you.
Because I’ve been each of you.
Nox, I’ve taken joy in destruction. Caído, I’ve lied to the faces of people who trusted me. Narcissa, I’ve turned away from truth when the lie was more convenient.
For the longest time, I thought that was the way to win. That was the way to survive. You take, you manipulate, you play the game with no regard for morality—and you prosper. And in my experience, that’s often exactly what happens.
The people who deserve less… they do prosper.
But here’s the revelation that’s been digging its way into my skull these last few weeks.
Your behavior matters.
Your humanity matters.
Matters of the heart and soul—they aren’t insignificant distractions from the path. They aren’t weaknesses you cut away to get ahead. They’re the point. They’re the thread that stitches your entire existence together. Without them, you can stack up all the gold, all the accolades, all the hollow victories you want… but you’ll never feel full. You’ll never feel anything.
And that’s the curse each of you carries right now.
Nox, you’ll poison and burn until there’s nothing left around you but ash, and still you’ll wonder why the emptiness never goes away. Caído, you’ll wear your mask, tell your stories, pretend you’re a man of principle, but inside that armor there’s a void you can’t admit is there. Narcissa, you’ll build your palace of beauty and surround yourself with every comfort imaginable, and one night, when the laughter fades, you’ll lie awake staring at the ceiling and realize you’re still hollow.
That’s not a threat. That’s just truth.
I’ve been where you are. I’ve felt that void. I’ve lived in it. But I’m not there anymore.
And until you come to that same realization—until you understand that winning at the cost of your soul is no victory at all—you’ll keep burning, lying, and turning away… and you’ll never be whole.
And in that ring? I’ll take everything from you.
Because that’s what you deserve.