The story of a man who murdered his own brother in order to inherit his family's estate, and how he then discovered what had become of his ancestor, the architect, and his church.

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Part 1 – The Manor

In the summer of a year that has long been forgotten since,
the wheel had turned again to the darkest time of past events.

A man of wealth had died, and left to the younger of two surviving sons, the family manor passed down through seven generations.

The younger, his father had favored, as for the older he'd felt nothing but shame, and so the eldest son was denied then his rightful claim.

But later that evening, while the younger brother stood at the top of the steps, a fatal blow was struck and he fell to his death.

A tragedy was staged to conceal his mortal sin
And as the only surviving heir, his father's manor then went to him.

Without a living witness, the eldest’s claim was not denied.
Although he was suspected, none could prove otherwise.

Just like Cain and Abel,
The older and younger
The past becomes the present
As it was before, it now must be again...

As it was, it now must be
And once again, the past repeats
As it was, it again will be
Until the last one is complete

Something was amiss,
the eldest turned back to meet the gaze
of the portrait of a man hanging just above the fireplace,
whose cruel features seemed almost to reflect his own,
the one who had built the church, upon whose ruins
now stood his home.

He had vowed that the work would stand throughout the centuries,
but his vision was destroyed with the blessing of the Holy See,
who had washed its hands of the blood spilled within the walls
of the corrupted chapel of horrors, whose infamy had betrayed them all.

And so the church was set ablaze and razed down to the ground, but its steeple would not fall, and the flames would not reach to the tower.

The cursed land was then returned to the family in disgrace
who built on the ruin around the tower a manor in the church's place.

Just like the worm divided that doubles in length and size,
The past becomes the present
As it was before it now must be again...

As it was, it now must be
And once again, the past repeats
As it was, it again will be
Until the last one is complete

The brother could hear, it seemed, another's thoughts inside his head...
Speaking with his voice, but with the language of the dead

"My thoughts are now your thoughts for my blood runs deep
throughout your veins
You are my descendent, and through you,
I will now live yet again…"

What you are now,
I once was too,
and what I am now,
you soon shall be.
The Door to Heaven,
one may pass through
with a permutation's key.
Three turns to the West,
One towards the East,
using Faith, and not Light, to see.

I am waiting there in the steeple's tower.
You must now come and walk with me"

Part 2 – The Steeple’s Tower

As if in a trance, he walked right through the iron door.
And a black dog led him up the winding stairs,
through an opening in the floor, to the steeple's sunlit chamber where he saw still sitting at his desk, mouth and eyes still open,
the preserved remains of the missing architect

"Now continue my work
Undo this disgrace
Let the righteous flames consume this place,
So that I may then
begin again
And my church will stand
One thousand years"

And so he stood engulfed in flames
dressed in the raiments of his ancestor
while laughter filled the burning tower
In the place where clouds dwell
And to where the angels fly...