Chapter 14
Journey of the Goddess Queen, Part 4
Each part had a duty to the whole. No matter how grand or ordinary the duty was. Each part served all, and the whole served each part. Mercy was service to the Goddess-Queen. Mercy was service to Mercy. Mercy was bliss, beauty and glory. Loving Mercy was loving yourself. The Goddess-Queen was not the only one who thought or spoke these words. Every sister shared and expressed this sentiment. True happiness could only come from... All is Mercy. Or should they have uttered; all will be Mercy instead?
Her eyes and hair had been nearly black when she was a young girl. In the village of her birth, she had been a beauty. Admirers came to her as she came of age. By that time, she had reached a place of prominence and respect. She had earned the right to do as she chose. She chose who she would be with. Then they came. The creatures walked out of the night. She had no memory of the time that came before them...
She had not yet turned gray. Her skin was darkened by the sun, and it glistened. Her hair was split, uneven, dirty, and ragged. This description fitted her as a whole. She staggered forward. She was Mercy. At least, she was partly Mercy. She was part of the Goddess-Queen. She was part of the living breathing Goddess-Queen. She had no life before... Mercy was loving... bliss, beauty and glory.
A glimmer of a lost memory came to her. A gift from the past allowed to emerge. A gift from the Goddess-Queen herself. It was useful. Sisters did not remember. Only Mercy... Only The Goddess-Queen was allowed to have memories.
In a trembling stagger, the creature groaned. She remembered what it was like to be human. A human woman. She forced herself to stand erect. A tear trickled down her cheek. She moved the rag that hung from her hips. She attempted to cover herself. She looked around. There was no humans there to tell her that creatures didn't cry. She continued forward.
In her mind and in the mind of Mercy images of a short, fat, white-haired, old man danced about. He was her target. Her destination. She had passed a short rubble wall. She had passed a stone block house. It was important, maybe. Or maybe it was destined to be important. All of him were given to her. Sights, sounds, smells, but no one... No part of us dared touch. Many tried. They stopped, ended. She understood the reason no sister remembered. She understood why she remembered. Her tears continued. Oh, to touch another. She trembled and staggered forward.
She would reach her destination. She had to reach the man. No part of Mercy had ever failed the whole of Mercy. The presence of the goddess queen grew stronger with each step. The other sisters became more distant. The rolling hills of grass gave way to sharper inclines and pine trees jutting out at many different angles. Her sisters had left her mind. Only Mercy Goddess-Queen and a creature stood on the ridgeline. They were together in a twisted stolen frame of a person.
A small log fort was ahead of them. In front of her. The short, fat, white-haired, old human existed in that place. This human, it was one of those things that ended sisters. This was not a mission to end this thing. No vengeance or anger was involved. This human thing was special. This human thing knew our beloved demon. They had been seen together. It was the next step. Our beloved must understand. This thing must help. It was going to help. It would see. It would understand. It would know. Mercy and her sisters did not fail.
She entered the valley of the old man. Mercy, herself, was sitting on a gigantic section of the ancient wall. This section of the wall was intact. It had laid on its side. Undercut by wind, rain and time. Propped up by other rubble, it formed a lean-to of sorts. A shelter for creatures and other animals. Generally, it wasn't a place for humans. It was also more than forty-five days away from this human. She saw him. It was just like she... they remembered. No other creatures were around the old man. The other creatures had blinked out in the last few days. Their absence was not missed, they had been filled in. Still, it was good to see and hear again.
This human differed from the remaining existing humans. He was old, beyond any real usefulness to Mercy or her sisters. That was not the difference. He spoke to us. Some of his words were cautionary love. A warning to stay away. Most of his words were nonsense. The sisters did not comprehend any meaning in them. Mercy did. She sucked in the warmth and compassion from his tales and remembrances. A tiny portion of this flowed from her to all of them; even if they did not know the source. Mercy knew that he ended sisters only when they tried to touch him. She sent them anyway.
"Miamor." The creature spoke the first human word she had said for many years.
The old man replied, "Hello, my love. What brings you to this place so far from the wall?" He paused briefly to watch the creature tremble. "Well, my lady, if you do not answer how am I to know if it is a good day?" He gently moved her back with a pole.
"Miamor." The creature spoke her second human word. To Mercy it was a kindness.
He responded, "That will do you no good, my love. I know who you were. And I have no need of that name anymore. No one is alive who called me that. To me, you are still as beautiful as ever. Somewhere in my mind. In there, you live free of this curse, young, beautiful, and loved. I beg you please do not touch me. There is only death in that touch, my dearest love."
The creature stopped, "I remember, Miamor. We have the memories. With this gift, we come to offer a truce. Peace to trade for your assistance."
The old man replied, "No, Feliz. I will not bargain with creatures. If you want peace, act like it. Go before you anger me."
The creature Feliz spoke, "We will not touch. Exchange words for peace. Allow what remains of Feliz to stay?" This is good. He did not end us.
The old man closed the gate to the fence around his cabin. The creatures are becoming more manipulative.
It had not always been like this. A very long time ago each sister had lived, worked and served mostly independently. That previous incarnation of Mercy acted as a leader who honored and loved her followers. Mistakes and misfortune were treated as steps to success. But success only brought out a dark desire for more. This desire, ill-conceived and twisted, replaced honor and love. Soon after, life, independence and a willingness to serve were taken over by control and selfishness.
Mercy Goddess-Queen blinked. A flash from a glorious past bounced through her thoughts. The Sisters of Mercy do not cry. We do not have many thoughts. We are one. We are Mercy...It is not possible for us to have love for this human? It is a thing? From her perch, she rose. Her hands automatically brushed the wrinkles from her dress. It was dark brown, and well suited to her shape. On her head was a wide brim, straw hat. Somewhere in her mind rested the word western. This human thing will help me; even if he does not know it. She strolled over to the edge. She stood there, and she looked over the edge. He will lead my demon back to me. He? It is not a he. It is not so. We do not... cannot love a human thing.
As she waited, the creature swayed back and forth. Waves of remembrances and oblivion oscillated over her. There was a far place. Mercy visited it often. Sometimes, by choice. Most of the sisters were no longer allowed to visit that place; except, at the end of their existence. In the past, it had been their playground. Parts of the sisters could be saved to the far place. Presently, this was done only occasionally. When Mercy had the whim. Was this important? Mercy hung her feet over the edge. Was this important? She alternately swung her feet back and forth. Was that a bird?
Mercy did not use the past, present or future as a function of measuring time. The only unit of measurement was Mercy's current desire. She considered herself not only the only being in the universe, but the most patient and most explosively ill-tempered being anywhere. A gust of wind slipped off of the prairie. She rubbed her eyes.
Occasionally, she attempted to search through her past. She had glimpsed it rarely. Each time she searched; something stopped her. It was like a wall that guided her away. Oh, I am wearing boots. Boots? Is that the right word?
The creature Feliz had been patient. She stood outside the wooden fortress. Darkness and light had come and gone. How many times? She did not know. She felt them long before they arrived. Two sisters were on the way. Feliz did not question this. Sisters needed sisters. This was the way it had always been? After all, the parts do not fail the whole.
Mercy's eerie gray eyes blinked, and her voice called out, through Feliz. The other two creatures mouthed the words as Feliz spoke. "Miamor, today we returned to you part of what was lost. We do this as a sign of peace, hope and joy. We ask in return a favor. A message to our most beloved. It is known to you. And it will come to you. You will speak the words of Mercy to it. Do this and you will have earned the right to be left in peace. We have come a long way to find you. Did we tell you that we look for our beloved? He is a glorious being of pain and hate. We have seen him walk out of the flames. He speaks to us with much anger. He comes to you. Our beloved. We have searched everywhere. We... I cannot do this alone. Did I tell you? We saw him walk out the flames. I... We came all this way to find him. We will find him through you. You will help us find him. Will you help us? We cannot do this alone."
"These words you say are not for human ears to understand. Why do you speak such nonsense? Tell me Creature, what do you want from me?"
"The one called Miamor will be the carrier of words. You will bring the message of Mercy to our beloved demon. You will help because we cannot do it alone. We have come a long way to find you. We bring with us a gift. Part of the one called Feliz can stay. Mercy is bliss, joy and glory."
"You bring me a gift. A thing. The thing I do not want. Creature know this, the only way to truly be free in giving a gift is to know that it does not have to be accepted. Take your gift and go. You cannot return all the years that have been lost."
Mercy spoke. "Why do these things keep trying to make me angry?" The sisters began to move around him. It was now clear why more sisters had come. Mercy continued speaking. "Human creature. I ask no more of you than what you normally would do. Speak to the one you know. Speak to the one who comes. We have come a long way to ask this of you." Two of the creatures moved away from the man.
"Creature, tell me who will come? How am I to know this demon? And tell me this message?" Ask the old man. He had lost a taste for killing many years ago.
Mercy spoke through Feliz. "Our demon you will know. He travels with a small human girl child. And he is known to you. He is the killer of Mercy. He has no mercy. He is our tall, beautiful demon."
"A demon for a demon?" The old man said to himself. "Tell me, what could a creature have to say to a demon?"
The Three Sisters watched an imaginary bird cross the Sky. Slowly time passed. Mercy did not speak. What do you say to a demon? Especially one you love. It is destined that we meet. "You can tell our demon he can be forgiven. We offer him, his price for a truce. We will pay. He is worth any price. Did you know? We have searched everywhere to find him? He is our Demon. Our most beloved, Demon. It is destined that we meet."
The old man replied. "Creature, I do not know any demons. This nonsense begins to trouble me. I want no more talk. Go away from me now and take your gifts with you. You do not bring gifts. You only bring torment. No more talk, I am done with this."
Mercy spoke through Feliz as the other two creatures mouth the words, "Miamor, today we returned to you part of what was lost. We do this as a sign of peace, hope and joy. We ask in return a favor. Our demon must know he can be forgiven. He must know we are destined to meet. We have searched everywhere to find him. We are so close now."
"Speak no more and leave this place. It is not safe for you here. Be gone." Stated the old man.
"Miamor." The creatures persisted in their actions.
The old man moved quicker than anyone could have expected. Three resounding gun shots filled the old man's valley. The 45-caliber revolver had done his work. Three creatures slumped to the ground. Feliz was the first. "I have kept my promise to you, my love. I have freed you from the creature that held you. The curse is gone. You may now go to our God. You are free."
For the first time in years, the woods were still.
The old man walked away, and he returned his weapon to his holster. He was glad that creatures do not care about an old man's tears.
Mercy served all, and the whole served each part. Mercy was service to the Goddess-Queen. Mercy was service to Mercy. Mercy was bliss, beauty and glory. Loving Mercy was love itself. The Goddess-Queen and every sister shared and expressed this sentiment. True happiness could only come from... All is Mercy. Once there had been a young woman. Admirers came to her as she came of age. By that time, she had reached a place of prominence and respect. She had earned the right to do as she chose. She chose who she would be with. Then they came. The creatures walked out of the night. They had no memory of the time that came before them....
Three sisters blinked out of existence. The emptiness was quickly filled in. Their service to the sisterhood was complete. No other sister would miss them. Very soon, their Goddess Queen would forget them too.