Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 199: Heartfelt Confessions



It was clear that Heidi's sudden ingestion of the distilled spirits had caused some degree of intoxication right off the bat. Her face flushed red, and the light in her eyes dulled slightly. As a woman who seldom ever touched alcohol, it was rather easy for her to get drunk.

Once she had enough of the drink to calm her nerves, Bruno did not pour her another; instead, he drank from his own glass before he admitted the truth he had concealed from her over the course of their lifetimes.

"I will be frank with you, Heidi. What I'm about to tell you is an unbelievable story, one which I do not have the means to prove in the slightest. And should it merely be a fanciful story concocted from a mentally ill mind, I would not blame you for changing your perspective about me.

However, the reality of the situation is that the war I am about to wage against our enemies is one that will be far grander in scale and in the destruction it will wreak upon the world than just about anything in recorded human history.

Though I am a General who will largely be sitting in the rear echelons, commanding men to go kill and die in my stead, there is a very real possibility that I will not make it back to you alive, or as the same man I am today.

With all of this in mind, I wanted to confess my greatest secret to you, my beloved wife, and the mother of the children, so that I can go defend you and the fatherland from its inevitable destruction..."

Heidi wasn't stupid. She knew Bruno better than anyone; she had grown up with the man since they were small children. She had always known that he was hiding something from her, something that explained his damn near prophetic understanding of the world and its future, as well as the unusual intelligence and wisdom he had possessed since she met him.

She had on a few occasions over the years tried to pry into this mysterious background, only for her efforts to result in total futility. Because of this, she sat there silently, with a serious expression on her otherwise intoxicated face as she allowed the man to continue with his story.

"I'm ready... Whatever you need to say, I will hear it... Go ahead, dear..."

Bruno took a deep breath before confessing all that he had wanted to say over the course of the last 30 or so years of them being together. How from the moment he was born, he had possessed the memories and thoughts from a man who had lived another life.

A life set in the future, one which he had abhorred. He spoke in great detail of how the world had progressed following the defeat of the German Reich in 1918, and how it was something virtually unrecognizable when compared to the civilization he now found himself living in. Crime, corruption, decadence, and despair. Man was meant for so much more than this; it was not a suitable way to live, and yet it was the world he had lived through. One which constantly marched forward under the guise of "progress" when in reality they were only hastening their own demise.

In a world where nobility, virtue, and general human decency seemed to have completely evaporated from the hearts of man, Bruno found himself living among the depths of depravity. Was it possible to be a decent man in indecent times? Bruno was the answer, as he too had fallen prey to the "liberation" of his own base desires.

Only after he had grown old and alone did he realize such an existence was nothing but degrading and insulting, one which had an incredible corrupting effect on the souls who partook of their newfound "freedom."

Ironic that he lived for nearly six decades in that world, watching it get worse with each passing year, only to find his happiness with his death and resurrection in a time better suited for a man of conscience and character like he was always meant to be.

Needless to say, the story was long-far longer than either Bruno or Heidi had expected it to be. Heidi sat listening in silence, clearly mulling over every word that her husband had spoken, as if within her own mind comparing them to all that she had known in this life.

Her response was unusually calm and measured as she stepped forward and grabbed Bruno's chin in her two dainty hands. The tone of her voice was neither shrill nor hostile like Bruno had expected it to be. Rather, it was filled with nothing but love and warmth.

"This is going to sound strange... But I believe you. I don't know why exactly I do, but I know you better than just about anyone... There were no lies when you spoke to me just now, and if I'm being honest, this would explain a lot of mysteries that surround you.

If what you say is true... And this is the way the world will become, and what will become of the future of our children, and our children's children. Then all I have to say is this...n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Whatever you do when you go to fight for family and fatherland, there must be no hesitation in the way in which you act, nor can there be any mercy shown to our enemies. You must unleash a hell so ferocious upon our foes that they would think twice before ever attempting to create a world filled with such madness and depravity.

Whether once more in this life or in the lives of our descendants ten generations down the line, do not allow your better nature to prevent you from doing what needs to be done."

After saying this, Heidi dragged Bruno's face forward to her own and kissed his lips gently. Bruno had been shocked by her reaction; he had honestly expected her to behave hysterically towards his admission.

Yet she believed every word he had said, and he could see in her eyes that she was telling the truth when she said that. It was at this time, Heidi made a joke to kill the tension in the air that was so taut one might be able to accidentally decapitate themselves with it.

"So... Does that mean I have to call you Karl from now on? Because I'm not going to lie, I really hate that name!"

Nothing more needed to be said between the two of them. The potential rift that Bruno expected to be created between him and his wife over this massive revelation was a fear he had only now realized was a figment of his own imagination.

However, Heidi shocked the man with a revelation of her own, about the role she had in connection with German intelligence and how she had used this as a means to help him and their family in ways that she found to have dirtied her hands.

It was another lengthy conversation, one that would result in healing for both of them. The two major secrets this couple kept from one another came out into the open, and the fears of rejection they had regarding these things were proven to be nothing but falsehoods, tricks of their own minds.

In the coming days, which would lead to the outbreak of war, Bruno would spend them at home with his family. A giant weight had been lifted from both his shoulders and that of his wife's. The two of them no longer had any insecurities about their relationship and its potential for failure hidden deep within their hearts.

Because of this, Bruno and Heidi's relationship seemed to vastly improve during this time. But unfortunately for Bruno, peaceful eras were short, and he was a man of war... And it just so happened that such a gruesome and brutal reality was not far behind.