“It looks like my son informed you about Gehenna,” says the mysterious woman.
I respond to her knowing who she is as I approach her, “I’m assuming you are my aunt then from what you just told me.”
“Yes, nephew it’s good to finally meet you. I had a feeling that you’d come here,” says my aunt adjusting her coat and reciprocating my approach by walking toward me, “I already know that Gehenna killed my mother. Whatever serves to benefit him he will do without remorse or consideration. I know this better than most.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I say awkwardly as my hands continue to impress upon me the guilt I bear, “it was my fault that Gehenna acted like this. If you wish any vengeance upon me, I truly understand.”
“In no way is this your fault Skath!” says Esther glaring at me, “This was the meditated murder of a truly foul man, don’t you dare feel shame for this.”
“If I hadn’t crushed his hands, this wouldn’t have happened. My uncle impressed upon me that if I had killed him that day that perhaps Uzuri would already be free and your mother would still be alive,” I say hanging my head down in shame, “you may not blame me for any of this, but I do.”
My aunt wraps her arms around me and strokes my head. My arms are limp at my sides, and I’m caught off guard that she would do this to someone who may be the cause of her mother’s death.
“You could have never predicted this,” she says as she continues to embrace me, “Gehenna made his decisions, and you made yours. Your decisions spared Uzuri, Gareth, and I from his wrathful ways, which I am grateful for. Gehenna is responsible for his actions, and you shouldn’t feel responsible just because you could be vaguely related to the reasons, he had for all this.”
“I can’t help it,” I say, and I cry into her shoulder, “I don’t want to hurt others, but as I grow it seems like it is unavoidable. I was beaten down by the village and its inhabitants so many times both physically and emotionally, and in feeling that pain and enduring it I don’t wish those feelings upon anyone. I learned to heal, so I would be able to remove some of the evil from the universe. However, now that I have sacrificed for the strength to help one, I may bring everyone low. I just want the world to be better, but it seems determined to sink lower no matter what I do. I’m scared that your mother’s death is just the beginning, and I won’t be able to save everyone. I’ve worked so hard for that goal, but I’ve already failed. I couldn’t save her…”
“You aren’t alone now,” says my aunt clutching me firm to her, “you fought for Uzuri for so long completely on your own, and I was paralyzed in fear of my husband. Gareth spent seasons of his life preparing for the trials, so that he could use the village’s laws to save Uzuri, and all I could do was comfort her. Your mother was banished for daring to go against my mother’s changes. She was brave enough to stand against the Amolacrimae for ten passes of the seasons, until she found her own way and brought what would be a rejected peace to the village. I was weak and thrust upon Gehenna as a consolation prize and did nothing. I cannot sit by any longer… the goddess isn’t going to come and save us, and if anything, the village is still fearful and clinging to a deluded lie, like I had been for far too long. I stand with you, and those that you inspired stand with you!”
“Why? So many of you could be at risk if you help me?” I ask still weeping into her shoulder.
“Because, unlike Gehenna, you are fighting for a better future for all of us and not just yourself,” says my aunt stroking the back of my head, “your mother has told me how you have traded your very life for ours and have been training relentlessly to be strong enough to save Uzuri and us. I still fear the teratolion, but it sounds like you are fighting for a way that we can live at peace with our old adversaries. Unlike Gehenna, you personally sacrifice so others prosper, whereas Gehenna uses everyone else to make advantage for his own vision of how he thinks things should be.”
“I just want what is best for everyone! Why can’t we all just live in peace with each other, seeking the greater good for everyone, not just those that make up a greater faction, but everyone? Maybe, I’m an idealist, but I can’t help but want a better world. A world where no matter who you are you can have a future and belong. A world where collectively we work toward reducing suffering and strive for understanding and growth. Why is the world so divided, if we want so many of the same things? Why is mere difference something to be exorcised? I look exactly like you, yet I’m a demon! Why is the world like this?” I ask still weeping into her shoulder.
“I wonder that sometimes myself. Why do we hate so much, and why do we stand by division? I cannot excuse myself, as I refused to be a part of your life out of some loyalty to my mother and her supposed connection to a higher power that I so wished existed and cared for me,” says my aunt her voice mournful as she speaks, her embrace becomes tighter as the palpable regret in her voice grows with each word, “I didn’t speak to my sister for several passes, because I thought she had abandoned me and my people. My world was defined by a narrow view, but it was the only way I knew how to see before.”
“We only see what we want or are primed to see then,” I say grasping at what my aunt was trying to tell me, “No one has the same beginning, or life experience, so as we live the mind begins to cheat and try to simplify the complex world into understandable chunks. Same, different, good, evil, my people, your people, and though we have the potential to wonder and know the similarities of all those around us and build off common ground, what is engraved upon the mind already whispers discontent.”
“We all fool ourselves that we belong to certain groups, and though it is nice to belong it isolates us from all those we can know and cherish,” says my aunt pushing me from her embrace, but maintaining her hands on my shoulders, “I have kept myself from people that could have been precious family, because I believed in lies. Don’t get me wrong, belief can inspire and connect, but it can also blind, and impede. I knew in my heart that what Gehenna had done was evil to that poor woman, but he was my husband, chief, and was ridding the village of the demons and your incubus of a father. I believed in Gehenna, I wanted him to be virtuous, but I deluded myself with belief. The only comfort I could bring myself to have was to separate myself from his taint by raising his daughter in love, that same daughter being one who both my mother and Gehenna abused relentlessly. Eventually even the fortress of belief crumbles, maybe not because of abuse against you personally, but...”
“I’ve heard that Gehenna beat Gareth within an inch of his life for asking about his sister,” I say understanding where her thought was going, “I can only assume that wasn’t the first time, and I know he wasn’t his only victim.”
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My aunt nods and tears well in her eyes, “I could do nothing as he was just too strong, his influence over my mother and the village being their savior was insurmountable, and I am bound to him under the goddess. When I saw that beast crumble before you. What once was this terrifying and invincible behemoth was just a person like anyone else. The years of fear that I had dealt with crumbled away, and my view was broadened. It was not my sister who abandoned me, I had abandoned her, and her son was desperately trying to rescue someone that I cherish as my own daughter. All at once, I knew that I needed to help you save my daughter, and that the world I believed in had only caused me and my family to suffer.”
“I’ll try my best to make things right. This I promise,” I say putting my own hand on her shoulder, “I am not certain about many things. I’ve done what I can to potentially save all those in the village. Though, it will be Uzuri who will determine their fate. I want to have faith in her, but my uncle wasn’t certain. Please, as I can only assume that you are the one she calls her goddess, you may be able to reach her as one of the village, and also being one that has suffered under Gehenna, you may be the only one to guide her in what will come.”
“Thank you, and I will,” says my aunt wiping her tears from her eyes.
“This is touching, but when were you going to introduce us,” says a rambunctious new voice from the forest.
“Yes… I was very much… wanting to meet Mr. Demon today,” says a less rowdy and more petite shy voice.
“Esther, I’m sorry about these two,” says a third voice seeming like a neutral mix of the other two.
Three women around my age stepped out of the forest, each wearing the tunic and slacks that Esther was wearing, the vestments that my mother adored. Their voices and the details of their appearances seems to give some insight into their personalities, as the rambunctious voiced girl had wild dark hair, and her clothes were ripped in ways that had to have been deliberate instead of natural wear and tear. The shy voiced girl also had what was more or less the stereotypical dark hair of the village and her face was mostly covered by her hair almost like a shroud to hide her from the world. The third girl was different from her two compatriots as she had blond hair which she kept neatly tied in a braid that swirled around a bun.
“Sorry girls, this is the first time I have had a chance to talk to my nephew since the day he was born,” says my aunt to the three girls.
“I’m Lilith,” says the wild haired girl, “and you will be helping us reestablish the old religion the apostate hag brought about and bring the true high matriarch back! Your mother protected us before Gehenna went and buggered everything for us. So, bringing your mum back to her goddess given calling and returning the teratolion girl will put the village back on good terms with the goddess! I look forward to working with you!”
“I’m… Mary… and… you have... pretty eyes Mr. Demon,” says the shy girl tentatively before diving behind Lilith.
“I’m Bathsheba, and it’s good to meet you,” says the final girl nodding her head toward me, “I prefer being called Ashe, and it is my hope that working with you will grant me my wish.”
“Lilith could you be a tad more respectful when talking about my mother?” asks Esther looking back at the site of atonement.
“Why? She condemned all the women in the village to be tied to some man before they are truly adults, if you end up with someone nasty, like my ma and you, you’re damned to be with the bastard till death mercifully takes him or you, and she has killed so many boys just because she thought that they somehow reflect the sin tally of the village,” says Lilith rolling her eyes, “I would spit on her grave if she was dead.”
“About that,” I say pointing to the site of atonement, “you may be able to do that right now if you meant what you said.”
“Gehenna killed her,” says my aunt, her gaze being more tired than sad, and all the girls startle at the news.
“How, he can’t use his arms,” says Ashe surprised but clearly trying to assess the situation at hand.
“Just… because his arms are broken… doesn’t mean he can’t… use his legs,” says Mary still hiding behind Lilith, her expression one of absolute terror just saying that much.
Lilith strokes Mary’s hand to comfort her, “Pa’s not here. You’re here with friends, and he can’t hurt Metty anymore where she is now.”
Ashe walks over to Mary and places her hands on her shoulders, “come dear, now that Mr. Demon is here don’t you want to be brave for him? We will put the world right, and you will be a heroine, so your father won’t harm another one of your precious pets again.”
Mary perks up and walks to stand side by side with her sister and friend, and Lilith jabs her sister with her elbow in jest and says, “Just remember Uzuri has first dibs on ‘Mr. Demon.’”
“I… know,” says Mary with a pout, which makes Lilith burst out laughing, and Ashe shakes her head to try and hide the fact that she is smiling.
“It looks like someone has already claimed him,” says Lilith with a shocked expression looking at my arm band.
“My mother gave me that, thinking I’d never get one. I’m also not long for this valley, so she gave me this to be with me in spirit wherever my path will take me,” I explain my face blushing even though the arm band doesn’t mean what they think.
“A mama’s boy huh,” teases Lilith with a hearty chuckle, “you know what that means Mary. He’ll make an exceptional lover!”
“Anyway, now you know each member of the Sororitas Daemonica,” says Ashe blushing, she was clearly embarrassed at her friend’s brashness.
“I think I know why you call yourselves that, but I’m not a demon,” I say scratching my head awkwardly and trying to hide my own embarrassment, “well I may be part celandil, but that’s basically saying I’m human except for my soul being a tad different.”
“I told them that. I even told them that perhaps the term warlock was a better fit to describe you and your father,” says my aunt with a note of exasperation in her voice, “but they were dead set on the name.”
“Mary came up with the name,” says Lilith beaming, “if it wasn’t for her wondering what had happened, we wouldn’t have made this group to begin with. Though, it was a shame that our groups formation kind of hurt Esther’s position as attendant.”
The valley was shifting in color, and I realized that my short trip had taken longer than I had expected as the sun was close to setting and I quickly interject, “Gareth and my family are waiting on me. They should know what has happened, and as we are all working toward the same goal maybe it would be best for all of us to plan together. We will need all the help we can get, especially with Gehenna calling the shots now.”
“That would probably be for the best,” says my aunt, signaling for the girls to follow her, “please lead us to your family home… I’ve never actually been there.”
I nod and begin walking ahead of the group of women. I was hoping for more allies than four, but considering Gareth was my only friend up until now, it is good to have more help no matter the number. I can’t believe that my run in with Gehenna actually inspired people to act in ways that weren’t fearful but led some to seek me out and learn the truth the village had so long hidden.
I looked behind me to make sure that I wasn’t just imagining the Sororitas Daemonica, almost expecting them too not be there. To my grateful gaze they are still behind me and boisterously following me, Lilith being the main source of the energetic conversations the group of women were having. I was expecting to see Mary’s eyes trained on me, based on what Gareth told me, but she was mumbling to both Lilith and Esther, and the only eyes that bore any level of honed focus were those of Ashe. Her gaze seems to bounce between me and Lilith, in a sort of ambivalence that made her incredibly hard to read. She blushes slightly seeing me notice her gaze jumping, and her full attention then solely homes in onto Lilith. I turn my head forward to focus on my path and narrowly avoid getting hit in the face with a branch.
What a strange assortment of allies I have now. Gareth my bully made best friend, Esther my aunt, Lilith a somewhat sacrilegious yet pious girl, Mary who is painfully shy but curious enough to seek out what she finds interesting, and Ashe who doesn’t have the same goals as her group but somehow sees me as a way to achieve her goals. With a team like this what could go wrong. These thoughts make me chuckle to myself, but I feel reassured that somehow others think that fulfilling my promise to Uzuri is the right thing to do.