My gypsy friend Fleur and I were browsing a silk merchant's wares when I first suspected something was wrong. She had gone into a trance, staring off into the distance.
"What's wrong, Fleur?" I inquired anxiously.
Shaking her head, she fell out of the trance. "Has Zephyrine been acting strange lately?" she inquired quietly.
"My sister? No..." I replied, trailing off as I watched her face. There was something in those blue eyes that made me think harder. Searching my memories, I said slowly, "Well, she has been spending most of the time in her rooms recently, but that's probably just because she's studying."
"It's more than that, I'm afraid."
"Ianthe - Fleur, what is it?"
"Go! Find Zephyrine now!"
Startled into obedience by Fleur's commanding tone, I was halfway home before I realized what I had called Fleur.
- Ianthe? Why did I call her that? Ianthe is the half-evil goddess of traveling, for Ariadne's sake! Fleur might travel most of the time and be diplomatic, but she sure isn't a goddess! -
Shaking my head, I hurried back to my house, pondering deities as I went. Ariadne, my goddess, was the noble, upright goddess of good. Ianthe was the traveling goddess of neutrality, though she was notoriously fair. Psyche was the secretive, dark goddess of evil. Her followers claim she is powerful, but Ariadne's worshipers know better. The males had their own gods that I didn't really care about.
~*~
"Zephyrine? Where are you?"
My twin's name echoed back, the house strangely silent. A shiver of fear ran up my spine as I snuck up the stairs to the second floor. Fleur's warnings had made me nervous. Steeling myself before Zephyrine's door, I knocked, the quiet sound seeming to thunder through the silent house. There was no answer. Swallowing hard, I pushed the door open and froze. Ianthe's warnings had been true.
Zephyrine, my twin sister, stood in the center of the room, her arms raised and fingers spread as far apart as they could go. In front of her, inside of a fiery black Circle of Protection, floated an undead wraith. One word flashed through my head.
Psyche.
The Circle in Psyche's color, the feeling of darkness pervading the brightly lit room and the undead wraith all led to one thing; my sister, my twin, had been corrupted by the goddess of evil.
"Zephyrine!" I cried, my voice breaking. Startled by my sudden appearance, my twin dropped her hands, releasing the wraith. It tried to escape, but the Circle forced it away.
"Marceline! What are you doing here?"
"Finding you! Oh Zephy, what were you doing?" Desperation tore at my voice.
I thought I had her; I thought I could turn her back to Ariadne. But at the sound of her childhood nickname, her eyes narrowed and she turned away.
"What would you know of what I was doing?" she demanded scathingly. "You and your precious Ariadne. You know nothing of power. Would you feel the same way about necromancy if I brought back your exotic lover?"
"He wasn't my lover," I started to say, before I realized what she had told me. "You - you could bring back Than?" I said faintly.
"Yes," was the soft reply. "I can do it now." Picking up a silver dagger, she beckoned me towards the still-burning Circle. "I need you nearby to summon him."
Raising the dagger, I expected her to slice our palms to give the blood I assumed the spell required. Instead, she turned, the dagger flashing towards my throat. Frozen with shock, I saw only a blinding flash of white light, and Zephyrine flew across the room, crashing into a table and falling to the floor.
"Zephyrine!" I gasped, running across the room to kneel at her side.
"Don't touch me!" she rasped harshly, coughing and pushing herself up. "You and your Psyche-cursed goddess!" she snarled. Drawing back and standing, tears forming in my eyes, I felt an arm wrap around me and I looked up into the golden-haired face of Ariadne.
"Do not try to hurt my Chosen, Zephyrine," Ariadne said, her voice majestic and commanding as well as kind and compassionate, just as I remembered. Staring into the goddess' eyes for a moment, I turned back to my sister and started at the person, goddess, standing next to her. I recognized her immediately. Cold and calculating in her gold-edged black, Psyche's sleek black hair fell past her shoulders. Regarding my goddess dismissively, she said, "So. The great Ariadne has her Chosen. Shall we fight to see who is the more powerful?"
"We art both bound by Ianthe's treaty."
"You are also bound by the Great Concordance. You may not interfere."
"And thou art not? The Concordance prohibits necromancy!"
Psyche shrugged. "It is my domain. Would you have me forbid you to use justice?"
"No, for necromancy falls under the realm of evil, while justice is, even to the untrained eye, the realm of good!"
At this Psyche burst into laughter. The sound filled the room, making me shiver. "Evil? Oh Ariadne, you fool. I am the goddess of evil!"
"Thou shalt not test my patience," Ariadne warned her, making Psyche laugh again. "Just you try, Ariadne." Wrapped in the goddess' arms, I felt her power grow. Flinging a hand out, darts of light flew from Ariadne's fingers.
"Ariadne!"
The new voice froze everyone in the room. A green blur appeared between the goddesses, condensing into Ianthe. "Ariadne," Ianthe repeated, her voice still disapproving. "You know better than to attack another goddess. And you, Psyche. Intervention is allowed when the other is breaking one of our Treaties."
"Ah, well. I never paid much attention to those treaties anyway."
"Apparently." Ianthe's voice was dry. "Well, you could always apologize to each other and obey the treaties."
"No!" I stared at Zephyrine, who had spoken. "You expect me to give up the only source of power I've encountered? I don't have Marceline's gifts; I can't make friends with goddesses, or anyone else." I started. What was she talking about, goddesses? Zephyrine continued without acknowledging me. "I'm just the quiet one that studies all the time. I will only become someone, and will remain someone to be reckoned with with Psyche's help, with necromancy." Finished, she raised her chin defiantly, as if daring the goddess to punish her.
Ianthe watched my sister through her tirade consideringly. "You are Psyche's Chosen. You are hardly powerless."
"A lot of good that does me. Psyche is the goddess of evil. How many people worship her? She doesn't have enough followers to be truly powerful. Might I talk to my sister?"
I blinked at the abrupt change of topic. Ianthe nodded and Zephyrine came over to me.
"What did you mean, about friends that are goddesses?" I blurted out before she could say anything. Zephyrine laughed, sounding eerily like Psyche. "You mean you don't know? Marceline, you fool! Your precious friend Fleur is Ianthe's avatar!"
"Avatar?" I gasped. "You mean Fleur is Ianthe! I'm friends with a goddess!" Turning to Ianthe, too shocked to realize what I was doing, I demanded, "You're Fleur? And you never told me who you are? How could you?"
I never heard Ianthe's answer, for from behind me came an ear-piercing scream. Whirling around, I froze I shock and terror. Zephyrine stood in front of Ariadne, looking into the goddess's wide eyes. Zephyrine's right hand was pressed against the white fabric of Ariadne's dress, pulsing with a dark light.
"Zephyrine, no!" I shrieked, preparing to throw myself at her.
"Don't." Zephyrine's hand flashed up, the silver dagger at my throat. "If you move, I'll kill you and your weakling goddess." I froze.
"Thou wouldst not!" Ariadne spoke, her white glow fighting with Psyche's channeled through her Chosen. Zephyrine only smiled, holding Ariadne's eyes.
Turning my head slowly, I found Psyche. She had her hands around Ianthe's neck, their eyes locked. As I watched, Ianthe convulsed twice and fell to the floor, still.
Suppressing a scream, I turned slowly back to my goddess in time to see Zephyrine slide her hand up to Ariadne's neck. My goddess shuddered twice, violently, and fell to the floor, unmoving, just as Ianthe had. I nearly screamed again. Zephyrine turned to face me and we locked gazes; wide, stunned green to cold, calculating green.
"Will you submit to the goddess Psyche and worship her as your goddess, or will you die, sister?"
"I'm not your sister! I refuse to worship the one who murdered my goddess!" Fraught with grief and terror, I could only glare at she who had been my twin, tears running down my face.
"They you will die." Psyche spoke from behind me and I knew excruciating pain, and then nothing.
~*~
Looking from the limp body of her twin to the tired but triumphant eyes of her goddess, Zephyrine said, "We won. You are now the greatest goddess." Dropping to her knees and bowing, Zephyrine whispered, "Mistress."
June 04