Welcome to another Binding of Isaac short story! This one contains spoilers for the true ending (the final one obtained in Afterbirth +), so if you do not wish to be spoiled, turn back.
This story also deals with a character's death, as well as religious content. Binding of Isaac has religious content by itself, but my other stories never truly explored it. This one uses it quite a bit, so those who do not like to read about that content should skip this story.
As always, I do not own Binding of Isaac and see the author's notes at the end for details.
Worth It
Barren, gray hills stretched out as far as Isaac could see. Occasionally, trees could be seen among the hills, but all of them were completely stripped of their leaves.
Strangely enough, snow never fell. Not even a light breeze blew.
Not once did the sun touch the ashen sky.
But one thing was for certain.
Isaac had no idea where he was.
But he knew he had to find out.
So Isaac continued walking, keeping a brisk pace despite his confusion.
Surely there must be someone here…
Yet there was no one, and nothing.
Isaac's only companion, his shadow.
The only sound, his footsteps.
Isaac paused, glancing around.
As he surveyed the dead landscape, a thought crossed his mind.
He could dwell on this thought, Isaac supposed.
There wasn't much else to do here.
So he sat down on the hills, and allowed his mind to wander.
A single notion preoccupied Isaac's mind.
Was this worth it?
Was this worth suffocating himself in that chest?
Was this worth leaving everything he knew behind?
Well, it must've been worth something.
After all, there was no more fear or pain.
No more fighting.
No more sadness.
No more anger.
And there was no more hunger.
No more fatigue.
No more coldness.
Isaac may have been the devil back where he lived, but he didn't seem to be the devil here.
He was alone, after all.
And that there was no one to terrify.
Or hurt.
Or worse.
But even so…
Being alone meant there was no more people.
No more friends.
No more family.
No more pet cat.
No more fun things at all.
Isaac sighed.
He had everything he wanted, but at the same time, he didn't.
In reality, he had nothing.
Maybe this wasn't worth it after all.
But what was Isaac to do?
Suddenly, something caught his eye.
It was enough to make him jump to his feet.
Isaac hesitantly took a few steps closer.
There was… something else here?
He'd searched everywhere.
Surely that couldn't be.
Isaac focused on what he had seen. He couldn't make out any shapes, but the object emitted an eerie orange glow.
Was that… light?
Light?
Here?
After not having it for so long?
Was it something good? Or bad?
And where did it lead?
Isaac knew there was only one way to answer his questions.
With that, he dashed towards the light.
As a light zoomed into view, Isaac quickly ground to a halt.
A deafening roar reached his ears, and Isaac found himself trembling.
The light was no light at all.
No, it was flames.
Vicious, angry, flames,
Now that Isaac was closer, he could see that they were not just orange flames. Reds and yellows danced with the orange. The flames' burned so brightly he couldn't see anything else. There were rival the most savage beast, and Isaac thought he would go deaf. He resisted the urge to cough as smoke filled his nostrils.
Why… Why were flames here?
There was no reason for them to be here.
Unless…
Isaac shuddered.
His mother's shows spoke of a devil, and that devil lived in the place wreathed in flames. Those who were sent to that place were tortured forever, as the devil laughed at their misery…
And of course, Isaac was the devil back when he was with his mother.
So was only fitting that he be sent there.
Condemned to the raging flames, no way out, to suffer for all eternity…
By now, Isaac was trembling so hard he thought he would lose his balance. His face paled, white as the place he had come from. He opened his mouth to vomit, but nothing would come.
Maybe people didn't get sick here.
But Isaac thought they might be able to cry.
It took all his strength not to do so now.
Even with that strength, his vision swam with tears.
His only way forward, and to have things end like this…
Isaac took a shaky step, but then he stopped again.
There was something else from the shows… Something similar to this... But he couldn't really recall… If only he could fish the information out of his brain…
So, Isaac closed his eyes and tried to remember.
But all that occupied his thoughts was the roaring of flames.
Isaac squeezed his eyes shut tighter, and frowned.
He had to remember something!
Yet still more flames came, and Isaac thought he could see them licking hungrily at the ground. Instinctively, he flinched and stepped back.
Flames…
Flames…
Yes, that was it.
Flames.
The other place had flames.
And with that, the knowledge was back.
Or what little knowledge Isaac had.
Isaac hardly ever heard the other place mentioned. He wondered if his mother even knew about it before she watched her shows.
Nevertheless, the other place also had flames, but they were different.
These flames apparently purified souls by burning the sins away. There were no devils in other place, only people in need of cleansing.
And then…
And then…
After the souls had been cleaned, they would be sent to yet another place from the shows.
A place high above the clouds.
A place filled with light.
A place where everything was perfect.
Heaven.
It seemed like a glorious prospect, but Isaac couldn't stop shaking.
Heaven.
He knew it only for one thing.
It was the place where the God from his mother's shows lived.
Isaac didn't want to meet that God.
That was the God he'd cowered in fear from. The God that had nearly gotten him killed. And Isaac was the devil, the enemy of that God. Surely the God would reject him.
Yet, did he really have any choice?
Isaac opened his eyes and stared at the flames.
There weren't any devils emerging.
No people screamed in pain.
So the fire must lead to the other place he'd learned about.
But then…
Why would it appear here?
Was he truly worthy of being purified?
Someone clearly thought so.
And if the God his mother watched was in charge of things…
Then was it He who wanted Isaac purified?
Yes, it must have been.
And if that was the case…
Was Isaac's mother wrong?
Was he wrong?
Was that God not something to be feared? Was He someone who was loving and kind instead?
Was the God not responsible for nearly getting Isaac killed? Did He not see Isaac as the devil?
Perhaps Isaac wasn't even a devil in the first place?
There was only one way of knowing the answers.
Isaac took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
In another minute, he took a running start and leapt straight into the flames.
As his vision was surrounded by the burning light, Isaac was sure of one thing.
Everything he did was worth it.
Author's notes:
-So I came up with this idea after I saw the true ending in Afterbirth +. It wrapped up Isaac's story well, but at the same time, I felt like there could be more after it. So this idea popped into my head.
-It is, however, quite different from its original incarnation. In its original form, the story wasn't meant to be a multi-chapter. It was to feature Isaac going to Heaven, and encountering the creatures there.
However, this was scrapped for multiple reasons. One of them was that if something would be difficult to write. Heaven doesn't really have one concept, whereas Purgatory does. Seeing as Isaac as many different religious concepts in his game, I wouldn't be sure which concept to use.
It would also be difficult to write because I would have to make up many different creatures, and an entire new world. While this is possible, it would be difficult to do, and probably spend more time researching than I would creating in the story.
Another thing is that even if Isaac could go to heaven, he might not want to (at least initially). The reason is that Isaac spends the entire game in fear of God, and knows Heaven is where He lives. So the idea of heading to the same place where God is might not appeal to him much.
The final thing has to do with the gameplay of Binding of Isaac. Isaac's game involves fighting, and it's almost all he knows how to do. Especially taking into the fact that Heaven is frightening for him, Isaac would probably end up fighting there. However, Heaven is supposed to be a place of peace, so Isaac having to fight to survive would contradict that image.
Now about the story itself…
Isaac believing that God almost got him killed comes from one interpretation of the events that start the game. In the game, it is stated that Isaac's mother heard the voice of God telling him to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac fleeing from the sacrifice is what starts the game.
Isaac might not have heard the voice, but he would know his mother was very religious and would never ignore God. Therefore, it's not illogical to deduce that he made the conclusion that God wanted him dead. Therefore, him blaming God for what happened would make sense.
However, since the game is also Isaac's delusions, it's not known whether Isaac's mother really did want to sacrifice him, or Isaac just imagined she would. Therefore, this story deliberately leaves it ambiguous.
-Isaac believing that he is the devil comes from the true ending in Afterbirth +. In this ending, this belief is scrawled onto a wall, along with drawings of a devil.
-The unnamed place Isaac thinks about is called Purgatory. Its function is exactly what is outlined in the story. One thing that was left out is that Purgatory is typically only accepted in Catholic religions. It's unknown what type of specific faith Isaac's family is, but for the purpose of this story, Isaac knows about Purgatory. However, if Isaac is just generally learning about Christianity, Purgatory probably wouldn't be mentioned very much. Hence why Isaac doesn't know as a lot about it, and doesn't think of it immediately when he sees flames.