Last week, dear reader, Hailey and Belinda resolved to face down the foul creature that plagued Belinda in the Starry Realm. Voicing her unflinching support for her mentor, Hailey promised to see the creature banished back to the pits of Hell. Belinda, emboldened by Hailey’s aid, now stands poised to regain her mental footing and emotional fortitude.
“So how do we handle this stupid thing?” Hailey asks in a determined voice.
Revitalized by her earlier pronouncement of support, Belinda answers with a bit more color in her voice, “Devils are tempters. Each one tries to drive humans to commit a different sin.”
“How does that help us?”
“Because every sin has an opposite. Seven deadly sins for seven heavenly virtues. Devils cannot stand the presence of their opposite for long and extended contact can kill or banish them.”
Confused, Hailey asks, “How do we bring it into contact with it’s opposite?”
Visibly deflating, Belinda answers in a weary tone, “I do not know. I have tried to discover what sin this creature represents to no avail.”
“So he isn’t really deceit?”
Shaking her head, Belinda replies with frustration, “I do not know! I thought it was betrayal or lies, but it was neither. Deceit seemed promising, but if what you said earlier did not banish the thing then I fear that was wrong as well.”
Marching towards the upended library, Hailey says, “Okay, so we just need to work backwards. How does the geas work?”
Belinda follows her into the library, stopping to retrieve a few books as she walks. “It creates a compulsion on the recipient. So long as the spell is active they must obey the compulsion or face whatever consequence the caster ties to the spell.”
“Consequence?”
Nodding, Belinda affirms, “It varies. I told you that I put the geas on us both, thinking it would prevent what has happened. But for those less scrupulous than I, a geas is a tool that allows them to enforce a functional slavery over the victim. They can render the price of disobedience anything from death to intense pain. In any case, the magic depends almost entirely on the will of the caster.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” says Hailey, “you told me that magic is precise, that ambiguity will cause a spell to fail. So it should be impossible for a spell to work like that.”
Belinda pauses in her search, trying to come up with an answer. Blinking, she says quietly, “That… is correct. I don’t know why I never noticed how odd that is.”
“Okay,” continues Hailey in a confident tone, “we can safely assume then that something else is going on. What might that be?”
Wryly, Belinda clicks her tongue and says, “If I knew, I might not have spent the last two weeks under that thing’s influence.” Expression faltering, Belinda sighs and places her hand on a table, making to take a seat on one of the chairs.
Before she sits down, Hailey urges her, “Come on Bel, think! You know way more about this stuff than I do, so what kind of spell could do that? What about the demon itself? Would the summons do something?”
Tapping her chin, Belinda pauses to think for a minute. Ignoring Hailey’s impatience, she puzzles her way through the dilemma slowly before concluding, “I think so. All of the demonic summons involve an invocation of the sin they represent. For example, the Malleus, what you cast, is a tool of hate because it is a magical spell that can only hurt those with magic. It encourages the caster to attack someone just like them in the worst way possible, a sign of hatred.”
“So what does the geas encourage?”
Shaking her head, Belinda says in clear frustration, “I am at a loss.” Slowly, she adds, thinking aloud, “The spell… is a chain, a compulsion. Placing a geas on someone represents a lack of trust,” pausing, Belinda begins to pace back and forth. “Or is it a lack of faith?” she asks Hailey.
“I think it’s neither,” replies the girl, “you’re thinking about why you used the geas, but that isn’t how Thorm Athow used it. He wouldn’t have ever trusted granny Belinda.”
“Granny Belinda?” asks an amused and incredulous Belinda.
“Yeah,” Hailey says, shifting uncomfortably. “Because you two have the same name and it’s hard to make sense of which Belinda we’re talking about otherwise. Plus she is your grandmother, just with like a billion greats in front of it or something.”
Belinda blinks a few times and shakes her head saying, “Alright, I suppose that is somewhat accurate if slightly odd.”
“Then it probably isn’t about trust or betrayal. This is something deeper.” Pumping her arm and trying to interject some force to her tone Hailey adds, “Keep at it Bel, we’re going to banish this devil!”
As if on cue, the mist begins to form into a vortex that takes the shape of a hazy humanoid figure with a long curling tail and horns. The creature whispers in a powerful voice, “I am so much worse than you can imagine. You can try to banish me, but you will fail.”
But the warning goes unheeded, dear reader! For the first time in many nights, Belinda has hope driving her actions. As the pair continues to trade ideas and pore over pages, another pair has a conversation across town.
“Hey Miss, talk ta me. What’s wrong?” asks a beleaguered Jake.
Minutes ago, Missy Anderson fell into a white lipped silence she refuses to break for her boyfriend. Growing more and more concerned, Jake begs her to communicate with him. Finally, after his entreaties continue to pile up for some time, Missy whispers, “Sorry Jake. Things just got a bit crazy tonight, me included I guess.”
“Miss,” Jake begins, taking in a deep breath. “Listen ta me. I ain’t gonna leave ya ta face somethin’ like this alone. Not fer a football game.”
Drained, Missy replies, “Yeah but you’re a star, the team needs you, and I know how much you enjoy it. I just feel like I’m being dramatic, you know like all clingy and needy, when I should be glad my dad is okay.”
Jake goes silent, his face taking on a thoughtful expression. Slowly, he reaches up and brushes a bit of Missy’s hair aside. Then he says in a gentle, but firm, voice, “Missy. You know my mom… you know I would never leave you alone at a time like this.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
For a few seconds, Missy has no response. Then she asks in confusion, “Your accent…?”
Flashing a grin, Jake says while overly exaggerating the accent, “Ya think I ain’t knowin’ how ta speak proper cuz Imma black kid from ta boonies?” Jake then laughs at Missy’s shocked expression. “Come on babe! It’s just you and me. I’ve lived in Liberty City for a couple years now. My drawl ain’t that thick anymore.”
“I never noticed,” Missy hesitantly says.
“I know,” replies Jake. “But a lot of people look at me like I’m a dumb scholarship kid who’s only here because he can play. The way I talk don’t help my case neither.”
“You aren’t dumb.”
Silencing Missy before she can continue, Jake says, “I’m not book smart Miss. That’s why I need Bella. But you aren’t listening, and what I’m trying to say is that I don’t care about those other people or how they think of me. They don’t matter, you do.”
“Yeah but,” Missy begins to say.
“But nothing,” Jake says, indignant. “When mom was sick she had to come into the city to see a specialist. When it got bad, and when she was spending more time in the hospital than out near the end, dad didn’t want me to see it. So he put me in a summer football camp. He’d go to the hospital and I’d go the field.”
Missy asks, “You met Theo there, right?”
Jake nods happily, saying, “Yep. There I was, on a field full of preppy white boys who all hated me cause I talked funny, looked different, and played better. I spent the first week not really talking to anybody. Then Theo got back from a family vacation and was ecstatic. He didn’t see an out of place black kid. Only thing he cared about was that he finally had a running back to take all the pressure off his arm. Took about half a practice before we were best friends.”
Then Jake shifts, pulling Missy closer as he says in a low voice, “But this is about my mom and your dad. I know how scary it is to have a family member in the hospital. Football is important yeah, but it isn’t as important as you.” Smiling, Jake adds in his exaggerated brogue, “Well, it ain’t as importan’ as you bein here fer ya dad, I shoulda said.”
Shoving him lightly, Missy whines, “Oh now that’s just unfair! You mean to tell me you can just switch back and forth like this anytime you want?”
Smile fading slightly, Jake replies, “It’s how my ma talked. An’ ta resta my family. Ya I can swap in an out but I ain’t gonna, specially not ta make nice with anybody who ain’t you.”
“Fine!” exclaims Missy, “I guess I’ll have to live with a big dumb softy for a boyfriend, huh?”
Jake glances at her in openmouthed amazement, fake hurt in his eyes. Giggling, Missy pinches his cheek and says, “Oh don’t make that face!” Planting a kiss on the opposite cheek, she murmurs in his ear as she hugs him tight, “You know I like you just the way you are, accent or not, right?”
Back in the mists of the Starry Realm, Belinda slams a book together and rakes a hand through her long hair. Frustrated, she says, “Child, I think we are out of ideas!”
Hailey waffles between replying honestly and offering encouragement. Before she makes up her mind, however, the demon speaks. “Ahhhh, still you have no idea?”
Shooting it a dirty look, Hailey says, “Okay so we explored the slavery side of it and got nowhere. Maybe we’re thinking about this in too specific terms?”
Placing her hands on the desk and leaning forward, Belinda says, “Let’s review. We’ve covered lies, betrayal, broken promises, and enslavement. Clearly, none of these is correct.”
“The demon itself, though,” urges Hailey. “It changes the spell. So no matter what, the spell needs to invoke the sin. We just need to figure out what each case of the spell has in common.”
“Well forcible slavery is almost nothing like a broken promise. Our situation is similarly different.”
“Then maybe it’s not about that at all. What about the spell is constant?”
“Nothing!” explodes Belinda as she slams her fist down on the table, “Nothing about this stupid invocation makes sense, it’s constantly changing and rejecting my attempts to make heads or tails of this spell!”!”
The pair falls silent for a few minutes, the echoing laughter of the demon haunting them as they continue to try to think. Then Hailey leaps to her feet. “Exactly!” she shouts at Belinda.
“Exactly what?”
“The spell is rejecting you!”
“But-” begins Belinda in confusion before a look of dawning comprehension lights up her features. “The spell itself is rejecting me! Child, the spell is about rejection!”
“I know!”
“Quickly, we must act to banish it!”
As if summoned by the mention, the devil begins to form out of the mist. Before it can solidify, Belinda shouts at Hailey, “I dislike your relationship with Theo because he is a man without a proper subservience to women. But if you truly like him then I will accept and support you both.”
The demon pauses, it’s face turning to a grimace as it surveys the two women with hate-filled eyes.
Replying to her in a loud tone, Hailey responds, “I don’t believe in the patriarchy! I think feminism should focus on building people up not tearing anyone down. But I respect your beliefs and will endeavor to support your efforts to promote equality.”
Pausing, Belinda turns with a somewhat hurt expression towards Hailey and asks, “You truly do not believe in the patriarchy? Even when it’s insidious influence is everywhere around us all the-”
“Time! Not the time, Bel!” Hailey says cutting her off.
Nodding, after throwing one more sideways glance her direction, Belinda says, “I want to make Malefic hurt, I hate what she took from me.”
The devil clutches at it’s stomach as if in agony. Doubling over it retches mist onto the ground and begins to dissipate before forcibly pushing itself back together. Hands transforming into claws, it reaches towards the two in futile rage.
Quieter, Hailey replies, “I don’t want to kill her. I can’t explain why, logically I know that she’s a monster who deserves everything she’d get and more. I think I might hate her too. But I don’t want to become a killer, not even for her.”
Meeting her gaze, Belinda answers, “She meant everything to me. I grew up listening to stories of her life and learning that saving her was my destiny. Failing broke me in a way that I never understood I could be broken. These past few months with you have reinvigorated my sense of purpose, but it does nothing to diminish how badly I want to visit my anger on Malefic. I will never not want her dead.”
Hailey gently replies, “I understand.”
“So do I,” Belinda inhales slowly as she turns to face the creature. “And I understand. But more importantly, I accept. I have gone over it in my head, around and around, trying to weigh revenge against the cost of your trust and I cannot balance the two. But I value the living, not the dead. I choose you.”
Screaming, the devil howls out, “This is nothing! I have endured far worse torments than this pathetic display.”
Grimly, Hailey says, “Want me to name your sin, devil?”
Without waiting, Belinda adds, “God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed.”
On the ground, the devil begins to bubble as it’s flesh contorts and writhes as though pieces of it have started to move underneath the skin. It’s screaming stops as the boils begin to appear on it’s face and mouth. Instead, it simply gurgles and spits.
Hailey joins in, saying, “Courage to change the things which should be changed.”
Together, they finish by saying in unison, “And the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other!”
On the ground the spirit lurches upright and gives out one final, foul, scream into the sky as it’s skin turns black and peels away. As it starts to disintegrate, it turns to Belinda and hisses, “It is nothing! Soneillon is coming. So is the wizard Athow. Soon you both will come down into the pits where the Word of God does not bind me. Then we will have all the time in eternity for your torment!”
Then the creature blasts apart into nothingness, sending a shockwave throughout the Starry Realm that reverberates like the crash of a gong. As the sound fades, Belinda turns to Hailey and embraces her saying, “Acceptance. This was about acceptance.”
Returning her hug, Hailey says in a tired voice, “And the sin was the change itself, the act of forcing someone else to conform to your desires, and rejecting who they really are.” Pulling back, Hailey leaves her arms on Belinda’s shoulders as she says, “Bel, I really meant it, all of it. I’d go through Hell for you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to see Malefic behind bars. But I won’t become a killer.”
Belinda nods, then steps back and smooths down her dress. With a wry smile, she asks, “You really meant it, all of it?”
Hailey nods in assent. Belinda frowns and says in a concerned tone, “All of it? Including the bit about not believing in the patriarchy? Because if this is the case child I have quite a bit of educating to do!”
And so we take our leave, dear reader! For though Belinda has further use for Hailey’s time tonight we feel she is best left to a well-earned and certainly well-deserved rest. Yet her sleep is uneasy tonight, for she knows all too well that the devil did not lie. A storm is coming, dear reader, and naught that anyone does can stop it! But for tonight, Eldritch Maiden might rest. She will need it on the morrow when her training with Vicious begins in… “An Education!”