Chronicles of Espiria Season 2
Episode 3 – The Return of Justice
Written by the Dude
Two girls were playing in the yard in front of their modest home while their mother watched them through a cracked window. The elder of the two accidentally tripped the younger, who fell and rolled just short of a shrub on the border of their yard. She was unharmed, save for some dirt and grass that she had to brush off her dress, but she was quite irate over the trip.
"That's no fair! You tripped me!"
"I did not, you tripped over your own feet!"
"Nu-uh, that was you, Eliana!"
"Was not, Athalia!"
"Girls, girls, stop fighting this instant!" their mother called out as she ran from the house. When she reached them, she knelt next to them and held them at arms length. "How do you think Dura feels about you fighting?"
Both girls looked at their own feet, shamed by their actions. "She doesn't like it." Athalia answered.
"No, she doesn't." their mother continued. "I saw what happened from the house. Eliana, you did trip Athalia. Athalia, it was an accident. Now I want you two to apologize to each other."
Eliana and Athalia turned to face each other sheepishly.
"I'm sorry for tripping you, Athalia."
"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Eliana."
"That's better." their mother said, calmer. "Remember, Dura wants us to be friends, not enemies."
"Yes, Mother." the girls answered.
"Now I want both of you to look at the gate." the mother said with a sly grin.
Eliana and Athalia gasped in excitement when they looked at their partly broken gate and saw their father walking through it, dragging a wagon full of firewood behind him. He was not due back from the fields for several hours, so seeing him so soon was an unexpected pleasure. The two girls ran to him and tackled him with hugs.
"Oh dear, I'm being attacked!" he shouted playfully.
Finally, the girls let their father up. As he stood up, Eliana asked, "I'm glad you're home, Daddy, but I thought you'd be gone longer."
"My employer told me I could go home early today because I have such a lovely singing voice."
The two girls giggled more than necessary; their father did not have a pleasant singing voice. Athalia noticed that he was holding one of the logs from his wagon. "What is that, Daddy?"
"This, girls, is a very special log. You see how it twists and turns and bends?"
Athalia looked closely at it. "No, Daddy; it looks straight to me."
Their father smiled wider. "Exactly. It is perfectly straight. Trees do not grow like this on their own; they want to grow in twisty, curvy paths and go all over the place. This was guided by Dura to grow perfectly straight for a very special purpose."
"What purpose is that?" Eliana asked.
"It is meant to be returned to Dura, as a statue carved in her honor."
The girls smiled at this idea; what their father lacked in singing talent, he more than made up for with his woodcarving skills, and they loved to watch him work his magic. They ran to get his workbench ready as his wife approached him from behind.
"It's good to have you here, Reuben." she said as she kissed him.
"I should come home early more often." Reuben replied, a little flustered.
"So what really brings you home early?"
Reuben glanced in the direction of his workbench, checking to see that the children were out of earshot, and sighed. "I was fired, Hannah."
"Fired?!" Hannah nearly shouted as her smile faded. "But why?"
"As I told the girls, it was my singing. One of the newer field hands complained that I was singing a hymn to Dura. No one had ever complained before, everyone knew that I sang as I work. But this time, I was shouted at as if I had committed a crime. In the end, I was told to get out and never come back, that Dura was somehow not welcome there."
"That's absured!" Hannah responded, her fury rising with each second. "How could Dura not be welcome, as if he could keep her out if he wanted! Who does he think gave him his fields in the first place and made them fertile?! Not him, certainly; he couldn't make a plant grow if the seeds were to jump in between his grubby fingernails! I don't even want to think about where he puts those fingers; I throw up in my mouth every time he waves at me anymore! You know what, I'm going down there right now and..."
"Hannah, please!" Reuben stopped Hannah before she could go any further with her plan. "Please don't do anything to provoke him! You didn't see his eyes! If he'd had anything in his hands, I don't know what he would've done with it! Please, just let it go!"
"But how could he do this?! What are we going to do?! None of us can hunt, and the soil here is ill suited for gardening, and none of that will pay for the house anyway!"
"We'll be alright. I have a little money saved up for emergencies; that should keep us going for a while. In the morning, I'll start looking for another job, one where people are more accepting of Dura's grace. Dura's never abandoned us before, and she won't now, either."
Hannah just nodded her ascent as she embraced her husband, wondering how the town could have fallen so far from the love of Dura.
Untold centuries later, the child Athalia was no longer a child; indeed, she was no longer human. She was a Celestial, an immortal, undying weapon of justice with a singular purpose and drive: the extermination of evil, however slight. Since the failure of the Barred Gate, she had spent her days patrolling Espiria, keeping a watchful eye out for the Hypogeans and those who would serve them.
This day, her attention was seized by a group of school children accompanied by their teacher and a hired guard. This group was under attack by a small band of Hypogean ogres; the teacher struggled to keep the children together as they all ran from a pair of ogres, while the guard bravely battled a third. Athalia wasted no time; she descended on one of the pursuing ogres, pinning it to the ground by its shoulders with her sword-like boots. She quickly removed her boots and pinned the other pursuing ogre to a nearby tree with the swords in her hands. She then turned her attention to the third ogre, which had just then overcome the guard and killed him. As it charged, Athalia watched it approach with lips curled in a snarl. It took one swing at Athalia with its club, missing by a wide margin as she countered with a sharp blow to the stomach with her fist, followed by a series of strikes to its arms and legs that left each bone shattered. She unceremoniously lifted the broken ogre like a sack and tossed it next to the other two, which were still pinned in place.
"Children of Annih, you stand guilty of grievous crimes against almighty Dura! You have murdered her children without cause, tainted the world she gave them to have dominion over, and blasphemed her name before her holy places! For your crimes, you shall face just punishment!"
In an instant, all three ogres were engulfed in flames that, mercifully, incinerated them in moments. Athalia breathed deep, then let out a sigh of relief.
"Justice is done." she said to herself.
She retrieved her boots and her blades from the ashes of the ogres, examining her surroundings to ensure that no other Hypogeans had escaped her notice. She made a passing note of the group of children huddled behind their teacher, frightened not only by the ogres, but by the savagery with which Athalia dispatched them.
Her belongings recovered, Athalia turned to leave, but paused before she could take off. Her gaze returned to the children, eventually resting on one young girl at the back of the group. Athalia's eyes burned again as she examined the girl's heart. Before the girl left for school that morning, her parents had asked her to clean her room. She told them that it was already clean, a lie that she was able to get away with because her parents were in a hurry to leave for their jobs.
A lie. This girl was a deceiver.
Athalia approached the girl with burning eyes. The other children, and even their teacher, quickly moved out of her way, hoping to avoid her wrath by any means, while the frightened girl backed against a wall, tears already streaming down her cheeks. As Athalia was about to pronounce judgment, two gentle voices whispered in her ear, their source invisible to all but Athalia.
"Spare her, Athalia." the Twins pleaded.
"She is a liar. Justice demands she be punished."
"She is a child." Elijah whispered.
"Age is no excuse." Athalia answered sharply. "She knew that deceit is a sin, and still chose to commit it. She was even proud of it, thinking that no one would ever know, forgetting that no sin escapes my notice."
"Let her learn from this experience." Lailah countered. "Give her a chance to repent."
"Repent?" Athalia spewed the very idea from her mouth. "How can we trust the repentance of a liar? Have we not seen countless mortals repent of similar sins, even among my servants in the Path, and still continue to commit them?"
"It is what Dura would have done." the Twins said as one.
Athalia closed her eyes and clenched her teeth and fists. They were right; Dura had a weakness for these unworthy creatures, always offering them an opportunity to confess and repent of their sins. In times of peace, she was only unleashed when the recipients of this grace reached the limits of even Dura's patience, not only failing to repent, but indeed, practicing their sin.
When Athalia opened her eyes, the fire in them had died down to embers. She knelt next to the girl and grabbed her roughly by the shoulder.
"Confess your sins to your parents. Accept what restitution they demand. And swear to me that you will never tell a lie again."
The girl nodded vigorously as she wiped her eyes with her arm. Athalia examined the girl's heart again; she seemed sincere. Time would tell if the girl would keep her word or break it as Athalia expected, but it was enough to satisfy her, at least for the time being.
Athalia released the girl and walked away, deaf to the girl's continued tears.
"Thank you, Athalia." Elijah said.
"Though I wish you had been gentler with her." Lailah continued.
"She lives." Athalia snarled at Lailah. "Do not press me for gentleness. You are not Dura."
Athalia vanished into the clouds as abruptly as she appeared. She was annoyed by the attitude of the Twins, but she bore them no ill will for their intercession; it would be unjust for her to do so. It was in their nature to seek out the good in Dura's children and try to nurture it. They did not understand human nature as she did. They could not fathom the darkness that lurks in the hearts of mortals. They had never born witness to that darkness on full display.
The Twins were not yet created when Athalia's humble home was burned by those who had forsaken the Light and embraced the darkness, who had hung and beaten her parents to death, who had taken her sister and...she could not bear to recall what they did to Eliana. Rather than share their fate, Athalia escaped the grasp of those who she once called neighbors and fled. She ran for she knew not how long, until she finally found sanctuary in the middle of a forest, where the sounds of her pursuers finally faded into silence, the only evidence of their handiwork visible a faint orange glow beyond the treeline. It was here, in the relative safety of the forest, that she allowed herself time to grieve for her family.
Her tears only halted when she sensed a presence near her. Fearing that her pursuers had found her, she looked up to find not an angry mob, but a beautiful woman clothed in light, wiping the tears from Athalia's eyes.
"D...D...D...Dura?!"
"You are safe, my child." Dura answered. "No harm will come to you while you stand under my wings."
Athalia reached out and embraced Dura, a gesture which the goddess returned. Athalia thought she could hear a gentle sobbing from Dura as well.
"I know what you are thinking, my daughter." Dura said as she released Athalia. "You wonder why your family suffered the pain of death when your father promised that I would never forsake you."
"I should not doubt you, Dura." Athalia answered, ashamed of this question. "I am sorry."
"Don't be; I do not expect you to understand my ways as I do. Your family is not forsaken; they now live for eternity in paradise, where all my faithful children will one day find their rest. It is not I who have forsaken you; it is your townspeople who have forsaken me. You and your family have warned your people, pleaded with them to return to my edicts and to abandon the path of darkness; they responded by turning their hardened hearts against my messengers. Justice demands that they face punishment for their crimes; I have consecrated you to be my instrument of justice. Accept, and I will make you into my living weapon, my immortal avenger, my harbinger of justice."