Celestial Worm
Part Twenty-Five: Hubris
[A/N: this chapter commissioned by Fizzfaldt and beta-read by the author of Ties That Bind and The Long Way Home, Karen Buckeridge.]
On a world in the Unknown Realms, an unknowable distance away from Earth Bet in a direction not definable by mortal physics, Lord Chance of Mystal chuckled as he watched his sister Armina glower at the tiny purple slug. Or rather, at the perfectly visible Mystallian crest he could see emblazoned on its back.
"Well, she was here, all right," he said. "You have to admit, I'm on the trail still."
"Shut up and help me find and kill every one of these little shits," the black-armoured woman snarled. "The last thing we want is for them to breed and fill this planet with tiny squishy Mystallian-crested blobs."
Knowing she was right, Chance did what she said. They'd be the laughing stock of the Known Realms if anyone found out their crest had been applied to mortal slugs.
Danny stood at the stove, cooking breakfast. The kitchen was larger than he was used to, and the stove more ornate, but he was determined to keep some things normal. He turned to smile at Annette as she sat at the kitchen table watching him. The house now had a dining room entirely separate from both the kitchen and the living room, but he figured he'd be happy just using the kitchen for the time being.
"I have to admit, I'm flattered at how much everyone's missed me," Annette mused. "And you're better at cooking than you used to be. Those eggs smell delicious."
"Yeah, well, someone had to do it. I kinda checked out for a while at first, until Alan kicked my ass back into shape. But once Taylor and I were back on the same page, I started cooking breakfast more and more. Taylor actually makes a pretty good lasagne, too." He scooped eggs onto a plate. "There you go. Let's see if I still remember how you like them."
There was a muted flash of light and Janesha appeared in the kitchen, with Taylor beside her. Both were fully dressed in the regalia they'd been wearing the day before.
"Crap!" Danny nearly dropped the plate, but managed just in time to avoid decorating the floor with the eggs. "Seriously, you two! A little warning would be appreciated."
"Sorry, Dad." Taylor said with a smirk, undercutting her apology. "Janesha and I were just about to go out, so we dropped in to let you know."
"Aren't you going to at least have breakfast with us before you go?" asked Annette. "Your father went to the trouble of cooking for us, after all." She leaned back in her chair and raised her eyebrows, sliding into parent-mode like she'd never left it.
"Of course," Janesha answered without hesitation. "You offer your hospitality not from fear nor for any attempt at gain. We will be honoured to eat with you, won't We, Taylor?" She pulled out a chair and sat down in it, somehow managing to give the impression of royalty taking their place.
The look on his daughter's face made Danny chuckle. "I was thinking maybe we could shift some food in on the way," Taylor ventured, but she sat down anyway.
"You act as though time is short, petal," Janesha chided her gently. "While I do not love your parents as deeply as you do, I still respect them. One of the unbroken rituals My family has back in Mystal is that We eat together as often as We can. I may no longer be in Mystal, but I consider you to be more My family than Sagun is."
"Sagun isn't part of your family though, is he?"
"But he is divine, which should give him a higher priority at My table than I give you." She smiled at Danny as he placed a plate of eggs and bacon before her. "Emphasis on should. Thank you, Danny. I wouldn't have thought so before I came here, but if there is anything I have learned in My time in this realm, it's that mortals always possess the ability to surprise Me."
"You've certainly managed to astonish me a time or ten," he replied, deadpan. "Even when I knew you were a celestial and had some idea of what that actually meant, there have been times when I've just had to shake my head and walk away." He shovelled more eggs and bacon onto a plate for Taylor. "There you go, kiddo."
Annette chuckled. "I love this. Here we are, having a totally normal conversation, and on the one hand we have an actual goddess sitting and eating breakfast, and on the other, our daughter, who's the high priestess to our goddess houseguest, with some serious powers of her own."
"Trust me, honey. This doesn't even blip the radar anymore," Danny admitted, then turning to Janesha, he added, "At first, I had no idea what was going on. Even when the Merchants tried to shanghai you, and you just no-sold the lot of them, I still didn't really get it."
Janesha smirked and rolled her eyes. "Do not believe a word he says," she advised Annette. "Danny has been giving Me orders from the very day I took up residence under your roof. The only reason you're not married to a frog right now is that I owed him My life, and he's grown on Me. Like fungus, as My Uncle Chance would say."
"Well, I think I'm glad to hear that," Annette replied, her eyes bright with amusement. "I'm also glad you're here. Taylor has apparently needed a good friend for some time and while I wouldn't personally have seen her as high priestess material, she certainly seems to have settled into the role."
"Thanks, Mom." Taylor beamed at her mother. "We're trying to do good in the world. Without, you know, demanding everyone bow down and worship Janesha before she actually gets anything accomplished."
"Well, we're very proud of what you've already done," Danny said sincerely. "The world's needed fixing for some time now." Something else Janesha had said occurred to him. "Do you know when the ferry will be reopening?"
"That is up to you and the city council, Danny," Janesha said. "I have renovated everything so that all they need to do is crew the vessel and it will run, but I will not force anyone into the role. That's a free-will issue."
"I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out," Taylor said cheerfully. "I mean, we could pay for the first six months ourselves if we wanted. We've got the money for it." She flourished the card Janesha had given to her. Danny wasn't sure he was quite on board with the idea of someone just giving away access to an account worth millions, but then he reminded himself that this was Janesha, and anyone trying to rip her off was playing with more than just fire.
"Well, if you're both comfortable with doing that," Annette agreed. "So how are the health programs and other things going? Those books you sent out yesterday?"
"I will look," Janesha said, and her eyes turned into pools of infinity, with distant galaxies visible within them. Danny wasn't at all sure it was just an image. Then she blinked, and the star-studded eternity was gone. In its place was the sullen grey of a stormcloud, from corner to corner. At the same time, her jaw went as hard as rock, and thunder rumbled overhead. "They … dare!"
"What? What's the matter?" asked Taylor.
"I will show you in a moment." Janesha stood, and took Taylor by the arm. "Danny, Annette. We have business to attend to. The breakfast was delicious. I thank you for your hospitality." There was a muted flash of light, and they were gone.
Annette blinked and leaned back in her chair slowly. "Well … that happened."
Danny frowned. "I get the impression that somebody just pissed her off."
"What sort of idiot pisses off a goddess?" asked Annette. "I mean, seriously."
"Welcome to the future," Danny sighed. "Where people haven't gotten any smarter, I'm afraid."
Janesha was blazing, incandescent with anger. As she and Taylor hovered above the North Pole, her agitation kicked up the aurora borealis, flaring great sheets of coloured light as far south as Chicago. Lightning blazed in her eyes and crackled off her wingtips.
"Twenty-seven," she said, her words perfectly audible although they were ten miles above the polar icecap, the air far below zero and too thin for a normal human to breathe. "Twenty-seven of the nations I sent the plans to have started preparations for full implementation."
Taylor nodded. Twenty-seven sounded like a very low number to her. "And the rest?"
"Another sixty-four are bogged down in debates on how to go about it without reducing the profits of their richest industrialists. Seventy-one are assembling plans for a partial implementation. And the remaining thirty-three have rejected it altogether. Five have even attempted to destroy the books!" Her voice rose in outrage.
"What are you going to do?" Taylor had faith in Janesha, but she didn't know what to expect in this situation. A goddess spurned was not someone it was safe to be in the same realm with.
"I will … speak … with them." Janesha took a deep breath and let it out. "But first, I will prepare the ground. They must be made aware of what is at stake."
She took hold of Taylor's arm and there was the faintest flicker of movement, entirely unlike realm-stepping. Now they stood on terrain Taylor recognised at once; or rather, she knew what it was. The grey-brown powdery soil was unique to just one place, as was the star-studded firmament above, and the great white-streaked blue globe hanging over the horizon. As far as she could tell, they were in a crater so wide that the more distant area of the crater floor was hidden from her over the horizon, even though the wall was visible all the way around.
"Welcome back to the moon, petal." Janesha seemed to have calmed somewhat, but there was an edge to her tone that reminded Taylor of why it was dangerous to make an all-powerful deity angry. "Your astronomers call this crater Scoresby. To you it's just one more obscure feature on the face of the moon. But it's in just the right place for what I need to do."
Lifting her boot, she brought it down on the lunar regolith. From that single footfall, polished black marble spread out in all directions, intricate tiles forming patterns that were pleasing to the eye, and which never quite repeated. As the floor of the crater gave way to the sides, Taylor saw the marble become granite terraces, building higher and higher until the crater had been transformed on all sides. A wave of Janesha's hand called into being row after row of amphitheatre seating, all built into the side of the crater with granite steps between. Before the seats a stage appeared, more granite rising out of the marble flooring until it reached an imposing height. Huge brass sconces rose up on either side and burst into smokeless flame.
As a final touch, Janesha clapped her wings together. With a sense of shock, Taylor realised that she both felt the rush of wind and heard the clap of sound created by the divine pinions. "Air?" she asked out loud, inhaling and feeling it fill her lungs. "You created air?"
A moment later, she realised that wasn't entirely accurate, as she looked around to see everything crowding closer to her; even the Earth, distant by a quarter of a million miles, seemed to loom over the crater in the same way Taylor had seen in concept art of lunar colonies.
"Mortals can breathe it, but it magnifies everything you see and hear," Janesha said smugly. "There is a bubble of it in this crater. This will allow Me to get into everyone's face at once."
"I like it." Taylor looked around. "Where do you want me?"
"Atop the platform, at My side," Janesha said simply. "You are My high priestess. Where else would you be?"
It was times like that which made life as Janesha's high priestess so worth it. Lifting off the ground, Taylor landed on the platform; a moment later, Janesha alighted beside her. The teen goddess shook out her wings but left them partially unfurled, for dramatic effect.
"Where's Cloudstrike?" Taylor asked. "Shouldn't she be here too?"
"Mystallions get bored with speechmaking," Janesha said. "I told her she could go for a run around the realm if she wanted. She was gone before I finished saying 'if you want'."
"Okay, then." Taylor dusted her hands off. "What now?"
"Now," Janesha said, her voice becoming deeper and more portentous, "we speak with those who have flouted My will." She clapped her hands once, with a sound like thunder. And as the echoes rolled across the marble floor and reverberated back from the crater walls, people simply appeared in the very first row of seats. Dozens of them.
"Leaders of Earth Bet!" Janesha's voice was almost a palpable thing. "Just one day ago, I alleviated all hunger, all illness, all pollution for your world! I delivered to each and every one of you the means to work together and make a better world for your constituents! But you defy Me! You reject My word in this! You choose the old way, of pain and suffering, despite knowing that My way works! What have you to say for yourselves?"
Taylor looked at the faces of the people in the seats. The odd air allowed her to zoom in on them, to examine their expressions and form impressions of them. They were shocked and surprised, some were angry, a few defiant. One and all, this was likely the first time they'd ever been called to account like this. Especially not in such a dramatic fashion.
With sharp detonations, half a dozen capes appeared in mid-air before them, arrowing toward Janesha while more swooped around behind. A dozen different powers, changing in quick succession, lashed out at them.
Not a single one hit.
Since Scion had officially become Earth Bet's god of superheroes, Janesha had said she wasn't going to be removing or bestowing powers anymore; that was now his bailiwick. But that didn't mean she was above pulling sneaky effects with existing powers. Taylor got a force field up that shielded the both of them from everything that was raining down on them, and she saw several powers that should've skipped right through stop on the boundary.
Looking almost bored, Janesha snapped her fingers and glowing silver bonds tightened around all the attackers, including two invisible ones. Despite the ever more frantic struggles, the bound figures were drawn together, their individual bonds merging together to form a cage.
One particularly burly cape forced his way clear of the cage before it was completely closed, and flew toward them. Taylor had serious doubts that the guy had actually gotten out of his own accord; this was probably Janesha, putting on a show. Her suspicions were confirmed when Janesha tapped her on the shoulder.
"You are My high priestess, My warrior and My champion," the goddess proclaimed. "Defeat this unbeliever for Me."
"It will be done," Taylor replied, hearing her words echo across the amphitheatre. Then she flew to meet the oncoming attacker.
She could've simply thrown out another force field around him, but from the link she held with Janesha, this was to be a more hands-on demonstration of power. That was fine with her; anything that made these bozos listen more closely was a good thing. So she closed with him, trusting absolutely in the powers Janesha had bestowed upon her.
On the first pass, they grazed by each other; he tried to throw a punch into her ribs, but she rolled aside. Then they turned and moved toward each other, more carefully this time. His hand opened and he shot a vaguely dragonlike head made of fire at her. Taylor could have dodged, but she wanted to project strength, so she set herself with her arm up to guard.
"I have faith in the power, the strength and the mercy, of Janesha," she muttered. She was only halfway through the prayer when the dragon-head hit her arm and splashed hard, dissipating into wisps of fire that died away naturally. Just as she finished the prayer and registered the shocked look on his face, she was face to face with him.
Using Bonesaw's power, she could tell how durable he was, and where to hit for the best effect. She didn't want to kill him, so she settled for a series of stunning strikes. After all, he was just trying to do his job.
When she swung at him, he tried to block, but she was both stronger and faster than him. One after the other, her fists crashed into him, one to the point of the jaw and one to the solar plexus. Somehow, he managed to stay up, though her power said he was on the ropes. Putting on a good front, he swung hard at her. She caught the punch on her forearm and kicked him in a very sensitive spot. He let out a strangled scream and folded; knowing he wouldn't recover for another twenty seconds or so, she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him at the silver-light cage. With perfect timing, the cage absorbed him and snapped shut behind.
Within the cage, she could see one cape jittering all over the place, blinking from location to location, but never managing to make it outside the cage. Another was bashing at the silver bars, to no effect. The cage drifted to the ground beside the platform and stayed there.
"Your would-be protectors are useless, here," Janesha proclaimed. "I say it, and it is so. Nobody is coming to save you."
Almost as if to mock her words, there was a brilliant flash of golden light. Taylor half-expected another assault by capes, but it turned out to be Sagun, hovering in mid-air. He looked around, then down at the assembled people, at the capes in the cage, and finally at Janesha and Taylor.
"Lady Janesha," he said formally.
"Lord Scion," she replied, equally so.
"I got a report from some superheroes that their world leaders had been kidnapped." His eyes skimmed the rows of world leaders below them. "What exactly is going on here?"
Janesha sighed. "I am attempting to better the lot of every man, woman and child on Earth Bet, and these political mortals are refusing to cooperate. They will be returned unharmed, I promise you."
"That's all I needed to hear." Sagun tilted his head slightly. "Is this about that thing with the books?"
"Exactly." Janesha folded her arms and gave the assembled people a glare of annoyance. "I cannot believe that they can act in this way and still consider themselves good people."
"Oh, I can," Sagun assured her. "People are amazing at deluding themselves like that."
"I hear your words and understand them," Janesha said. "Actually, Lord Scion, having you here saves me the effort of contacting you." She indicated the row of world leaders. "Some of these and their deputies are actually empowered."
Sagun paused a moment as if waiting for her to go on, then nodded. "And?"
"And … if I depose them for incompetence or unwillingness to do what is right for their citizenry, they are likely to force their way back into power. Regardless of the mandate of the people," Janesha explained. "At which point I will be forced to make an example of them, and it will become a very messy affair indeed. Far better for both of us, if you simply remove their powers now. It avoids powerplays between you and I."
"Hm." Sagun pondered this. "You do have a point." Suddenly, he smirked. "But you'll owe me a boon for this."
Janesha allowed herself a delicate, ladylike snort of derision. "In the same way that you're in My debt for ensuring that all and sundry are fully aware of your divine status as god of superheroes?"
The golden-skinned celestial laughed out loud. "Very true. It is nice to have a congregation. Okay, let's get this done." He held out his hand. Golden lightning forked from it, striking down into the seated world leaders. In another instant, it was over. "And … done. Everyone down there, and everyone who might step into their shoes, is now a normal mortal."
"Muchly appreciated, Lord Scion."
"Likewise, Lady Janesha. I'll see you two around. Nice seeing you again, Taylor." Placing his fist to his palm and making a slight bow in their general direction, he vanished in another flare of golden light.
Clearing her throat, Janesha turned to her captive audience. "Now that we have that out of the way, you all know who I am. I have set about making life more palatable for your own subjects, and I have shown you the way to continue this good work, yet you choose to throw it back in My face."
Janesha leaned forward, and somehow Taylor knew her visage was dominating the visual field of every leader down in the seats. "Explain yourselves," the teenage goddess growled.
They squirmed from side to side, and Taylor could see some of them were trying to stand, but they could not escape Janesha's relentless gaze. Some of them started babbling excuses, then more and more got in on the act, to the point that even with her enhanced mental capabilities, Taylor couldn't keep up.
Janesha could, of course. She listened intently for all of thirty seconds, then waved her hand; every voice stilled on the instant. Sighing, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yeshua said that the love of money was the root of all evil. I now understand better what He meant."
"You can't keep us here!" shouted one voice.
"Oh, but I can," Janesha rebutted him, even as a dozen voices tried to agree. "You are here now, and here you will stay until this is resolved. Do not mistake Me as being bound by mortal laws. Here and now, you are bound by My will, and My will alone. I have listened to your words and looked into your hearts. There are those of you who despise your subjects and will not do right by them, no matter what inducement I place before you. I could change your minds by force, but that is not the act of a wise and loving goddess. So I will change your leadership, instead."
She snapped her fingers, and a number of the national leaders below vanished, to be replaced by others.
Taylor drifted closer to her. "If you put their second in commands in charge, what's stopping them from just taking over again once you send everyone back?"
Janesha lowered her tone to normal conversational levels. "Because each of the people from those countries now knows that the previous leader was deposed and is no longer fit to lead the country. Whatever loyalty they had for the original leader is now vested in his replacement."
That was … definitely one way to do it. Except … "Isn't that kind of busting open the whole free-will thing?"
Janesha snorted. "Not at all. The second in commands were chosen, either by the people or by the leaders, to stand forth when the leader was unable to lead. Those leaders have proven themselves incapable or unwilling to put the wellbeing of their people first, so I have removed them as being unfit for command. As for influencing the minds of their people, they were never going to be unwilling to the second in commands; I merely ensured that the former leaders are unable to overthrow the will of the people they once led and seize power once more."
Facing forward, she raised her voice once more. "Now then. Are you all willing to listen and heed My words, or must I … ahh." With a sigh, she snapped her fingers again. Fewer people vanished again, to be quickly replaced. Janesha concentrated once more. "Really?" Another finger-snap. "How corrupt are you people?" Snap.
"One more time. You are all willing to listen? Good. I can keep doing this all day, until I reach the deputy assistant janitor, if I have to. No? Excellent. So, why is it that you are unable to implement the plans in full?"
Taylor wanted to look over her shoulder at the Earth, but she knew she had to stay alert. So she scanned the row of world leaders, then eyeballed the silver glowing cage holding the capes. Nobody seemed to be able to get through, even the one that was changing his form to slither out between the bars. The bars were moving to contain him.
"Very well," announced Janesha. "So now the problem is that you have advisors or government bodies that will be blocking you from carrying out My will." She clapped her hands once, and all of a sudden, many more people were sitting in the auditorium seats, behind the national leaders.
The newcomers once more erupted in rage and shouting. Janesha let it go on for about thirty seconds, then sliced her hand through the air in a cut-off motion. "Enough. Each of you has been charged with the unwillingness to allow your leaders to carry out the plans to improve the world. Why are you doing this?"
People rose to their feet but could not leave the vicinity of their seats. Shouts, screams, insults arose. Janesha let it all wash over her, then once more sliced her hand through the air. "Sit. Be silent."
They sat, and were silent.
"Some of you are willing to work together to make this happen. You may now return to your countries of origin and begin this work." Janesha snapped her fingers. About a third of the captive leaders vanished. Taylor nearly missed it when one or two of the capes did as well.
"As for the remainder … you are being enriched by outside interests to ignore matters that might harm the disenfranchised. Let Me see these ones." Snap went her fingers, and all of a sudden, the majority of the seats were filled. "Each of you is holding up the implementation of truly good works in this world. Works that will benefit every one of your citizens in the long run, and most of them in the short run. You are doing this for several reasons, most of them boiling down to 'profit'. You don't want to pass up the chance to buy another yacht or the latest model of sports car." She paused. "But some of you are not doing it because of that. Some of you are doing it because I am proposing it. Because I am the supreme goddess of this realm, and you cannot accept that."
The ones who stood up now were a fraction of the whole number, but there were more than a few of them. They all shouted at once; as with the national leaders, they employed a number of languages, but somehow Taylor could understand each one perfectly.
Yeah, 'somehow'. Taylor hid a smirk. Janesha is awesome.
It seemed that Janesha was once more correct. The ones on their feet were shouting many things, but 'you are not my god' was the prevailing phrase. Fingers were pointed, voices raised, and gestures of several different religions were employed.
Because when it comes to narrow-minded bigots, religious narrow-minded bigots are the worst. They actually believe their god is telling them to be this terrible.
"Silence." Janesha gestured, and the religious protestors were struck mute, their voices quieted. "You labour under a misapprehension. I do not demand your worship. You may give Me your faith if you choose, but you may also continue worshipping those you have believed in all your lives."
"What is the difference?" demanded one man, wearing the clothing of a Muslim cleric. "One man cannot serve two masters!"
"I do not demand any worship at all," Janesha reiterated patiently. "But if you do worship Me, I expect you to follow My directives. And if you do not … you will not interfere with My works." That last statement did not sound like a request or even an order, so much as a prediction. "Whatever faith you follow, when you die, you will go to that afterlife. But here on Earth Bet, I reign supreme."
"What if our faith requires that we oppose you?" demanded another.
"Should you decide that to be the case, then you may do so. Without the immediate divine intervention of your God, I promise you will not get far. Not only that, but should you choose to harm My followers or oppose My designs, you will gain My personal attention. I do not recommend such a course of action."
There was silence then, as she stared them down; she didn't have to gesture or even exert her power. Such was the force of her presence that every single one of them sat down of their own accord to consider her words. One after the other, they began to nod. Some reluctantly. Others thoughtfully.
Janesha dusted her hands off lightly, eliciting a cloud of glittering sparks. Those who had shouted the protests vanished. "Now that I have disposed of the religious argument," she said, "let us address that of greed." She raised her hands, fingers spread, looking down at the remaining people in the auditorium seating. "You are each here because you decided that it was more personally profitable for you to oppose the measures I have set in motion than to allow them to go through. You chose to enrich yourselves further instead of sacrificing a little to benefit all humanity on Earth Bet. Right here, right now, your choices are to repent, to channel your resources into helping others … or don't. None will starve, none will want. What is your decision?"
If anything, these ones shouted louder than the ones who had opposed it with a purely religious motive. Taylor heard a dozen different justifications, ranging from "you can't change anything" to "thousands of people work for me".
"Enough." A pulse of light flashed out from Janesha's hands, and they fell silent. She pushed her hands downward. They sat, not willingly. "I have listened to your words, and seen what is within your hearts. My judgement is thus …"
Outrage apparently overrode common sense, because several called out variations on, "You can't judge us! You have no right!"
"I am the supreme goddess of this realm," Janesha said serenely. "There is nobody with more of a right to judge you than Myself."
"What about Earth Aleph?" demanded another. "Are you going to judge us and just let them keep going the way they are?"
"Once I have set this house in order, then I will visit the other Earths. Right here, right now; I am judging you. And believe Me, there is much to be judged." Janesha stretched out her hands, the fingers spreading wide. "Those of you who cannot give up your ways must be … prevented ... from interfering with My works."
The tone of her voice was implacable. Taylor had faith in her to do the right thing, but she couldn't help asking the question. "How are you going to do that without harming them?"
One corner of Janesha's mouth quirked in a smile. "Financial sacrifice is not physical harm. And if they feel hard done by, they can always pray to Me for forgiveness." She snapped her fingers, and a pulse of silver light flared outward. "The rivers of money guided toward thwarting My aims have dried up. Those of you who have been donating to others to stop Me are now deprived of all but enough to live on. Those companies which have been directed toward that aim are dissolved. The ones depending on those companies for a livelihood now have other well-paying jobs. The excess money and resources have gone toward feeding, clothing and housing the needy. I have spoken."
The shouts and screams of outrage were even more intense than before. Apparently they thought that telling Janesha she had no right to do that was actually going to dissuade her. Perhaps she or Danny might have been able to talk the young goddess out of her intended action, but nobody else on Earth Bet had even a chance at it.
"If you feel I am being unfair, feel free to pray to Me and present your case," she told them serenely. "I now return you to your lives and homes. Just remember that if those of you who can block My aims continue to do so out of spite, I can always bring you back here." A snap of her fingers, and the amphitheatre was empty. The silver-barred cage was also gone, along with its cargo of capes.
Janesha smiled and turned to Taylor. "I believe that went well. What do you say, most loyal high priestess?"
Taylor smirked. "I've never seen so many pissed-off, greedy old assholes in my life. Do you think they'll be good, and not try to undermine you in some sneaky way?"
"Trust me, petal, Thanks to you, I see all." Janesha's smile turned serene. "There is but one other celestial in this realm, and he is firmly allied to my cause. Not a mortal lives here that can escape my sight. Merely being 'sneaky' will not suffice."
"Hm. Fair enough." Taylor nodded and looked around, dusting her hands off. "Well, I have to admit, you certainly put on a production for them."
"I'm a celestial, petal." Janesha's tone was self-satisfied. "It's what we excel at."
Taylor considered that. "Good point." A flicker of motion caught her eye and she looked up. Cloudstrike's whinny reached her ears and she flew up to meet the stallion, Janesha alongside her.
"Did you have a good flight?" asked Janesha, running her hands through Cloudstrike's mane. "Who is the most beautiful of all mystallions? It's you, that's who."
Cloudstrike tossed her head and whinnied triumphantly. Taylor had no difficulty interpreting that as, well, duh. She came up on the other side of the mystallion and gave her ears a good scratching.
Settling into the saddle, Janesha held out her hand. "Let us return, petal."
"Sure." Taylor took it; a moment later, the light around them flared. When it died, they were airborne over Brockton Bay. "Okay, that was pretty amazing. What are we going to do for an encore?"
"Hmm." Janesha seemed to consider her next move. "I seem to recall there was a Canary, and a Cage, with people imprisoned unjustly."
"Oooh." Taylor held up a finger. "One question. Two questions."
Janesha's eyes sparkled with interest. "Present your queries, petal."
"First question." Taylor took a deep breath. "Are we going to just take Canary away from where they're holding her, or are we actually going to ask politely for them to let her go? And second question: how do we know which people are unjustly imprisoned in the Birdcage, and which ones should be there? I saw in a movie one time where everyone in prison thinks they're in there unjustly."
"Your questions are well-presented, dear Taylor." Janesha smiled serenely. "It appears that Canary purchased her powers from Cauldron, without ever knowing what was behind them. The judiciary is in the process of preparing to try a powerless woman. And as for those in the Birdcage, I am privy to all the details of a case, not merely the thoughts of one or another. I am the goddess of Justice for this realm, after all."
"Wait, if she's lost her powers, why are they still going to put her through a trial? Wouldn't losing her powers be punishment enough for what she did?" At least, Taylor thought so.
"One, she has attempted to inform them of her power loss several times, and even though some privately believe her, officially they do not," Janesha said bluntly. "Two, even if they were to admit to believing it, losing her powers would not suffice as an acceptable punishment for them. Considerable political capital stands to be made from convicting 'a dangerous Master' and sentencing her to the Birdcage, so any minor obstacles such as truth and justice are to be brushed aside as irrelevant." Janesha's tone was steely. "And while hers is the most egregious case to date, there have been other situations where the Birdcage was not the optimum place of incarceration."
Taylor nodded. "So … we're going to do something about it?"
Janesha's smile was razor-edged. "Why yes indeed, petal. We are."
Emily Piggot turned her head at the light tapping on her office window. She'd issued orders about one day into her tenure as regional Director of PRT ENE that anyone attempting to prank her by knocking on the window then flying away would undergo severe discipline, and she'd only had to enforce it once. Now, as she looked around, she wasn't sure who to expect. However, when she saw the face of Taylor Hebert, newly-minted high priestess to the goddess of Earth Bet, she wasn't at all surprised. Even though she hadn't known Taylor could fly.
"Good morning, Director Piggot," Taylor said politely. Emily knew she shouldn't have been able to hear the girl's words—the heavy polycarbonate was insulated against several things, including sound—but her voice was perfectly clear. "Do you mind if we come in? We have an important matter we'd like your judgement call on."
Beyond Taylor, Emily saw Janesha herself, riding astride the magnificent flying beast they called Cloudstrike. Her mind ticked through several aspects of the situation, and she nodded. "Come on in," she said. After all, it was only courtesy. Janesha had shown herself perfectly capable of breaking the law and ignoring boundaries before this day, so she was clearly asking out of respect.
Besides, this was her best chance to get an inside line on what was going on with Brockton Bay's quirkiest—and most powerful—young cape.
Taylor was mildly impressed at how well Director Piggot took it when she and Janesha teleported into the office. The older woman barely raised an eyebrow as she sat forward. "The light show is new," was her only comment. "Part of being a goddess?"
"Indeed," Janesha confirmed. "I have judgement upon a mortal to be rendered, for a mortal crime, but the current process has every indication of being unjust. You are no shrinking violet, to stand back from stating what is fair and what is not, so I am calling upon you to adjudicate."
Director Piggot shook her head. "I'm not a part of the judiciary. It is literally not my duty to define the law, just to uphold it."
"We're aware of that," Taylor said hurriedly. "But you've got experience in this sort of thing. And the PRT has a history of getting the punishments it wants. Besides, you won't be in this on your own."
"Hmm." Piggot didn't sound happy. "Well, you did me a favour, getting that ass Tagg out of my building, so I'll look at whatever it is you want me to see. But I reserve the option to say nothing at any point."
"That's entirely fair." Taylor turned to Janesha. "So, shall we get this done?"
"My thoughts exactly." Janesha raised her hand. "I call upon … Paige Mcabee!" She snapped her fingers, and a woman in prison orange with shoulder-length light brown hair appeared in the office. She staggered a step to the side, then looked wildly around her.
"What … what's going on?" she stammered. Her voice was pleasant, but not the marvel that it had been on the few Bad Canary songs Taylor had heard. "L-lady Janesha? I prayed, but I didn't dare—"
"Wait, that's not Canary!" snapped the Director.
"It is now," Taylor said. "Or rather, it was. She's one of the many who've had their powers removed."
From the look in Piggot's eyes, she believed Taylor; the sideways glance at Janesha indicated who she thought was responsible. "Then why is this even a thing? Why is she in front of me, instead of a normal criminal trial?"
"Because they don't believe me when I say that I'm powerless." Paige spoke then, her voice still normal though tinged with anger. "They're accusing me of manifesting a Changer power to pretend to be powerless. I've already had to attend hearings wearing a metal mask to stop me from talking and buckets of containment foam on my hands, because I might be a Brute." She formed air-quotes with her hands. "Before this is over, I'll have more powers than Eidolon, which will be amazing for someone with no powers at all."
"You have had no interaction with this case, Emily Piggot," Janesha said almost formally. "I trust you to be impartial." She snapped her fingers again. This time, it was Armsmaster who appeared.
"What the—oh. Hello, Janesha," the Tinker said. "In future, please don't do that, or at least give me some warning. I was—" He looked down at himself. "Oh. You put my armour on me as well."
"The last thing I wish to do is embarrass you, Master of Arms," Janesha replied. "This is Paige Mcabee. You may know her better as Canary. She is on trial here, today. You are the Protectorate representative."
Paige squirmed as Armsmaster stared at her. "She doesn't fit the description," Armsmaster noted. "No feathers, and the hair is a different colour." There was a brief pause. "Actually, she fits her previous description, before she triggered with powers. Have you lost your powers, Ms Mcabee?"
With tears trickling down her cheeks despite a brave smile, Paige nodded. "I … yes," she said. "I don't know how, but nobody would believe me until now anyway."
"Oh, we might have an idea," Piggot assured her while rolling her eyes towards Janesha. "Will there be anyone else showing up to this impromptu trial?"
"Just three more." This time, Janesha snapped both fingers at once. Two men appeared; one was in his late twenties, while the other looked to be sixty or more. "The judge who was to try the case, and Paige's accuser." The older man opened his mouth to speak. "No, don't speak. I have no interest in any of what you've got to say. You." She pointed at the younger man. "You are now able to procreate as any other intact male of your species. You no longer have a case against Paige Mcabee."
A snap of the fingers, and he vanished once more.
"You." She pointed at the older man. "Judge Peter Regan. You planned to sentence Paige Mcabee to the Birdcage, no matter the outcome of the trial. Your understanding was that the District Attorney would be able to overwhelm the meagre defense Paige Mcabee could muster, once her funds and voice were denied her. Do not attempt to lie to Me. I see the truth imprinted upon your soul."
A golden flash filled the office, and Scion stood there. "This is the last time I come to you, Lady Janesha," he said. "What do you want?"
"For the record, I didn't invite you last time, Lord Scion. You turned up at a fortuitous time."
"Tomayto, tomahto," Scion countered. "And I'm already bored."
Janesha gestured at Paige Mcabee. "Lord Scion, master of all superheroes. Does Paige Mcabee possess any powers?"
Scion looked Paige over. "No," he said at once. "She did have powers once, but they've been stripped from her. I take it this is one of my sister's cannibals?"
"They paid for their powers. Only Cauldron knew your sister was being carved up and shared out like a Sunday roast." At Scion's darkening scowl, Janesha added, "The fact you killed them too quickly was your fault. I would've stretched it out a few decades, but I didn't have a bone in the fight. Don't be looking for new targets, now that the guilty have been eliminated."
"Fine. She gets a pass. That all?" Scion asked.
"One other thing. Could the powers have activated without her wish, and caused someone to do something unsightly?"
"Her ex, you mean?" Scion nodded. "Until I recently removed it, all powers leaned towards conflict. They made the best stories. In her case, she was denying it its conflict, so yes, it could have gone far past what she intended, to force her into a situation where she was confronted by other powers and had to defend herself."
Janesha looked at Judge Regan. "She is unpowered. You were told this, but you chose to leave it out of your deliberations. You would still sentence one such as her, who had no choice, no intent and no defence to a place where she would have been ravished and likely murdered within a month. Is this justice?"
He said nothing.
She leaned closer. "Your tongue is unbound. I wish to hear your words. Is. This. Justice?"
His face was pale, devoid of blood. He swallowed thickly. "N-no," he managed. "This was never about justice."
"We are of the same mind, then. Go, and do not come to My attention again." The merest flick of her finger banished him. Janesha turned back to Scion. "I thank you, Lord Scion, for your words in this matter."
"The next two times you have a problem, you come to me." He looked at Taylor and grinned. "See you around, Taylor." Then he sobered, and nodded at Piggot. "Director." Placing fist to palm, he met Janesha's eyes and vanished in a flare of light.
"Armsmaster." Janesha turned to the armoured Tinker. "You have heard the evidence. The injured party is injured no longer, and the injury was not of Paige Mcabee's design. How do you find her?"
Armsmaster rubbed his bearded chin slowly. "I would have to say … not guilty. Especially if she doesn't have powers anymore."
"Indeed. Director Piggot." Janesha passed her attention on to the heavy-set woman behind the desk. "Your final judgement in this matter?"
Piggot raised her eyebrows. "You're asking me? It seems you've already made up your mind."
"That is as may be. It is not against myself that she was charged with sinning. She is mortal; you are mortal. You have seen both sides of this struggle. What is your judgement?"
"Well, then." Director Piggot raised herself to her feet. "Paige Mcabee, once known as Canary, AKA Bad Canary, you will be freed immediately and your funds unfrozen. I don't know what sort of a singing career you'll have now, but that will be up to you."
"You know, you can always pray to Scion for a singing style power," Taylor offered. "He could get you one without any drawbacks."
"Yeah, no. Hard, HARD pass on that," Paige said with a shudder. "So I can walk free now? I'm really done?"
Janesha snapped her fingers, and Paige's outfit changed to jeans and jacket. "The paperwork has been filled out, signed, stamped and filed. Your life is officially yours once more." She stepped forward and put her hand on Paige's shoulder. "You had faith in me, and that's all that matters."
Bursting into tears, Paige hugged her.
Wind whistled past Taylor as she hovered before the unassuming-looking mountain. She knew she would've been freezing her ass off, had it not been for Janesha's upgrades. "So, are we going to do this?" she asked.
"That is Dragon's choice," Janesha said from astride Cloudstrike. "She is the warden of this prison and so it is her responsibility."
"Yeah, okay, I get that," Dragon said as her suit hovered in the freezing winter wind. "I just want to make sure that it won't lose integrity while you're remodelling it. There are some very tricky people in there, you know."
"I understand," Janesha agreed. "I will be weaving my own constructs into the prison walls to ensure that powers cannot be used to effect an escape. Of course, once we're done, that is when the true problems will surface."
"Yeah, but they won't be your problems or mine, thanks to you." There was a smile in Dragon's voice. "Okay, do it."
Janesha drew her hands apart and then clapped once; a wave of sound blasted out in all directions, somehow not deafening anyone, then washing over the mountain. As it died away, the tremendous mass of rock before them began to shift and change. Snow slid away as granite morphed and rose up, great blocks rotating like bricks on a swivel. Taylor grinned as she watched; it was always amazing to see Janesha at work.
Once the landscape had finished remodelling itself, a huge castle stood before them, its sheer walls replacing the rough mountainside. Above it, a hemispherical dome rose into the sky, sparkling slightly as random snowflakes impacted it. "You'll have to call it something other than the Birdcage," Janesha said, not at all apologetically as the first inmates emerged blinking into the exercise yard. "Most of the structure I left as it was. But now they can get out, see the sun … and file appeals."
"Or, if Scion accepts their prayer and removes their powers, they can be transferred to a regular prison," Taylor added. "I'm pretty sure your death rate is going to go down a lot, now there's a little bit of hope involved. Also, that powers no longer breed conflict."
"Well, there are quite a few who have already served a full sentence, so they can go up for parole," Dragon agreed with a smirk. "Just one question. Glaistig Uaine. I've always suspected that she could come and go as she pleased, and only stayed in there because she wanted to. How's she going right now?"
Janesha's serene smile turned into a brief answering smirk. "Extremely displeased," she confirmed. "Her language is most unladylike. I've asked Scion to put a curb on her power so she can't harm anyone unless attacked."
Dragon laughed out loud. "It's a whole new world," she said. "I'm glad I got to see it."
Kurt looked up as Danny entered the Dockworkers' Association building. "Hey, Danny, what do you think about the Washington shit, hey?"
"What about Washington?" Danny wasn't looking forward to doing paperwork, but he knew he'd be flying through it today. On his way into work, he'd dropped Annette off at the Brockton Bay College with a "Back from the Dead via Divine Intervention" form, all signed and sealed by a notary public. While he would've loved to have been there while she explained what happened, he had work to do. Plus, he would see her again tonight. And every night and morning thereafter.
The knowledge gave him a light feeling in his chest that he hadn't felt for some time.
"The President, VP and half of Congress just vanished this morning for about five, ten minutes. Then they came right back. It was like, fuckin' chaos all over DC. Nobody knew a damn thing."
And there went his good feeling. "What are they saying? Do they know who did it? Are the people who came back even the same people who got taken away?"
Kurt shrugged. "Apparently the local Protectorate has Thinkers that checked them over and said they're good. But they're not saying diddly about where they went and what happened to them while they were away. Freaky times, huh?"
"Yeah," Danny said, licking his lips slowly. "Freaky."
He had a really sinking feeling about this. Going into his office, he closed the door. Then he shut his eyes so that he could concentrate. "Janesha," he said softly. "May I please speak with Taylor?"
"Of course, Danny," he heard in his ear, as plain as day.
When he opened his eyes, he could see Taylor's face, hanging in the air before him. "Hi, Dad!" she called out over the sound of rushing wind. "What's up?"
"I, uh, heard about the President and other people vanishing out of Washington DC today," he said awkwardly. "Is this something Janesha needs to look into?" Please say yes ... Because that would mean she wasn't responsible.
"Oh, no," she said cheerfully. "You know those plans we were trying to get started? Turns out that a bunch of governments were being dicks about it. Me and Janesha went to the moon and Janesha teleported all the world leaders there and read them the riot act. I mean, she ripped them up one side and down the other. They all fell into line after that. How awesome is that? World hunger, world health, energy, pollution, all that's being fixed. It just needed someone to put their foot down."
"What? No!" The sinking feeling coalesced into a black hole in his guts. "Taylor. Honey. You don't ever force political change by fear. It's a bad idea. Trust me on this. People don't stay scared."
Taylor laughed. "Dad, she's a goddess. She's got ultimate power. Even if people stop being scared of her, she'll know if they try anything. Anyway, once these programs kick in, they'll see we were right. Everyone will have food, shelter, health care, the lot. Nobody needs to die or get sick for some stupid, avoidable reason."
In that instant, Danny knew beyond a doubt that no argument would pierce the armour of certitude Taylor had woven around herself. The big problem was, Janesha was actually listening to Taylor, so they were reinforcing each other and agreeing with the other's points of view. Taylor was supplying Janesha's ultimate power and overall attitude, and Janesha was making sure Taylor kept believing in her.
At the moment, it seemed all rosy, but Danny could see the train wreck that was looming in the horizon. One thing at a time, without adult supervision that they'd listen to, and they would gradually remake the world into the image Taylor and Janesha wanted it to be. All it would take would be Taylor deciding that Janesha needed to mind-bend someone into compliance. It would be the start of a very long and very slippery slope.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
"Okay, bye," he said. "Have fun."
"Bye, Dad!"
The image vanished. Slowly, Danny reached into his pocket and took out a golden ring. Janesha had offered it to him the previous evening, telling him it made him proof against mindbenders. He hadn't seen the need, but it had gone into his pocket anyway.
It went onto his middle finger easily enough. He didn't know if it would stop Janesha from reading his mind at all, or just a little. But he would take whatever buffer he could get.
Moving as if in a dream, he went to his knees. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. For more than five minutes, he struggled with his inner self, forcing his thoughts into a particular channel. Sweat ran down his brow as he made himself believe. This is the only chance I'm going to have of saving her. Of saving both of them.
There was nothing he could do. But he knew of others who could.
"Lord Chance of Mystal," he murmured. "Hear my prayer …"
"And that should be the last of them." Armina scraped slug guts off her boot onto a convenient rock. "Do you see any more?"
"Actually, yes, I do." Chance pointed without even looking. "There, there and there." The marked slugs were, of course, crawling where he indicated. He was lucky like that. "I—"
Lord Chance of Mystal, hear my prayer. You are the only one who can help us. Your niece is here, and she has become established. Please, come and save her and my daughter from one another. Lord Chance of Mystal, hear my prayer …
"What? What is it?" Armina was staring at him now, even as she ground the last of the slugs under her steel-plated boot.
Having stiffened in response to the incoming prayer, Chance's lips curled in a victorious smile. Prayer was the breath of life to an established god. More to the point, he now had a specific location in the Unknown Realms to go to. A pinpoint of light in the darkness. He lifted his fingers to his lips and uttered a short, sharp whistle. "Gambler!" he called. There was an answering whinny from his mystallion, and the clattering of hooves.
"Tell me, runt," gritted Armina. "Or so help me …"
"I got a location on Janesha!" Chance called over his shoulder as he leaped into the saddle. "There's a mortal where she is, who just prayed to me for divine intervention."
"Praying to you?" Despite her doubt, Armina was already swinging astride Gladiator, her own heavily-armoured mount. "But there's nobody out here who should even know about you!"
"You didn't bring me along for my pretty looks and charming disposition, right?" Chance grinned broadly at her as he shook out his reins and gave Gambler his head. "Let's go!"
Armina pushed Gladiator until he pulled up alongside Gambler, knowing better than to ask any more questions.
Because as irritating as he could be, Luck was on her side.
End of Part Twenty-Five