Osirionis:
Chapter Four
Netzatch
Pravuil
Once alone with Jim, she bubbled overwhelming joy to see him. “It is you my Lord Qblh, it has been such a long time. It must be true that you have come for me, but have mercy on me. The rituals these people practice, I do not approve of. It just seems that the men seemed to need to have a god to rival Isis, so they have instituted this practice of sacrificing human lives to their god Baal. There is no actual magical Minotaur, but only a sacrificial altar where our king’s monstrous son will try to cut your heart out. …….And they worship snakes of all things as well. I do not know how this evil worship originated. It must simply be a perverted and twisted false imitation of our devotion to our queen, which seems to be an inherent defect in these men. True they honor Isis as well, but they reduce her to nothing more than an imaginary goddess on the same level as their imaginary gods. Such respect is but a false respect, and as a result, Minos no longer takes my advice seriously, but would rather listen to his male lovers who tell him what he wants to hear. This kingdom is in a very sorry state and corruption rules the empire, now that Isis is no longer responding to our calls. Come to me after you have defeated this scoundrel. Show them no mercy! Tonight the priests of the baal congregate to drink your blood on the morrow. Perhaps it is time that you put them in their place, my lord Qblh. These sacrifices are an abomination. It is true we have sacrificed men, but new life is always the result and that is our way, but these demonic sacrifices to a golden idol make no sense at all. Take me off this isle, because once the king sees the threat of the Minotaur destroyed after my conversation with you, my reputation here will be ruined. Come with me tonight and drink of my passion. I want to love you again as we have done a million times before. I do so love your time loops. Yet, I must have you better explain your differences with Minos, so the survivors will better digest the lesson that you are about to teach them.”
“I am afraid there is not much I can do to save face for Minos. He has already committed an abundance of atrocities.”
“True he is flawed in many ways, but all men are, and he is no worse than any other of the tyrants that seem to be prevalent during this age. Human government would rather have the subjects sacrificing to artificial idols which can be created and modified by the king’s authority, than to have the population to be aware of the actual truth which conforms to the wishes of no human government.”
“Yes. It is much easier to make a new myth than it is to go back and change the past.”
“”Yet he does not know you are the next king of the land from which he demands tribute and your death. It is not fair for him to bear the guilt of your death without knowing who you are.”
“Am I not to blame him for the knife strokes that have already taken the innocent blood that is already on his hands? What is the difference, whether he murders a prince or a slave? The crime is equally unforgivable in either case.”
“Yet this is all a result of Athens accidentally being responsible for the death of his son.”
“I am told that it was an accident.”
“We all know it was an accident, Theseus, but Minos seeks still to expand his empire, and the new independent city states are ever a nuisance.”
“I am not going to agree to the absurd demands of Minos.”
“Yes, but history needs to be on our side, Theseus. You must allow Minos to condemn himself. I can give you another audience with him if you indicate a willingness to negotiate to his terms.”
“Arrange a meeting at the time you find appropriate then.”
“Tomorrow then after you have spent the evening in my bed. It will be so wonderful to have a lover who is actually alive to be with me the next day.”
“Very well then, we shall tell him that I am a prince and I shall negotiate a new treaty with him tomorrow.”
“Don’t destroy him and he will honor your treaty if you can get him to be bound by his word.”
“I shall get his word or he will not to live to see another sunset for his kingdom.”
“Easy, easy. There is no need to destroy Minos. He would be more humbled if he lives to see his power reduced to a more appropriate level.”
“If I terminate his Minotaur threats, then what?”
“His Minotaur is nothing more than a cross-breed shaman to the baal of Minos, the queen and coincidentally Crete. Drugs, illusion and costume are used to make him more than he appears. The Minotaur is his high piest to his baal, just as I am high priestess to Isis. The youths are to be blood sacrifice. It is an awful practice, and Minos is aware that I detest it.”
“So then, if the power of the Minotaur is shattered, then the people will realize that the gods of Minos are false, and that you can kill a king even easier than a Minotaur. He will have no alternative but to make an agreement with you.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am his high priestess. I know these people and this king better than they know themselves. Here we are at my chambers. Shall we enter? “
Ariadne’s chamber maids greeted her as she entered, and she dismissed them and charged her bodyguards to secure access to her chambers. “Now we are alone, my lord, how are you to return me to Artemis? It is nice here, but we don’t belong, and I miss my true home.”
“How did you get here to this time, and what do you know of time loops?”
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“Shortly after we made love in my cove in the Pleasure Dome, I was recruited without prior warning to staff the Pegasus, and within half an hour we were on our way to some type of time warp in the vicinity of Cygnus. Apparently we travelled backward in time and Isis assigned each of us a community to govern as her representative. This Earth seems to be of some special significance to our own history.”
“I haven’t been with you yet!”
“This is strange, Qblh, because I don’t remember giving you my peg, yet I have it not. I am told that we made love, but I do not remember doing so. My heart still burns for you with the virgin’s fire.”
“Were you after Persephone, by chance?”
“Why yes, I was, as a matter of fact.”
“Excuse me a moment, my dear Ariadne. Apparently I shall be able to assist you back to Artemis within two of your evenings. Let me check with the Genie.”
“Yes I have heard so much of your remarkable Genie. It seems that you never leave home without it, but why so secretive?”
“Do you really want to know the details about your tomorrows, my dear?”
“Well….I….er….I am not sure. It frightens me to think about what it would be like to have the knowledge of what is going to happen. I am not certain as to what I would think.”
“You would think that it does not matter what you think, and perhaps you would despair in thinking that you had no free will to change the future that you would apparently sense. It would certainly dampen somewhat any initiatives we would choose to entertain. We really seek the thrills that are associated with not knowing for sure. The well known bores our spirit.”
“It is really so refreshing to hear you speak, my lord..”
“Please just call me Jim, dear Ariadne. The title makes me feel uneasy.” With that he gave her a kiss. “I need to consult with Genie.” He pulled away. “Make yourself a little more comfortable.”
Moments later, Genie was activated. “”Secure sound to just between us, Genie.”
“Acknowledged.”
“OK, Idiot, Jim here, It seems that we need to take Ariadne home before she has left. Do you have a solution?”
“Quite simple, Jim. We need to pick up Persephone, and return Ariadne to Artemis at the same instant. Probability of success is one hundred percent once the power of the Minotaur has been broken. We will also be able to establish a conduit parallel to the flight path of the Pegasus when she makes its upcoming journey. I will be able to control its arrival with Isis and her crew, if you so command.”
Jim chuckled. The idea of hijacking the Pegasus seemed an absurdity, but now it started to make a certain amount of sense. He had knowledge that Isis would initiate launch. He couldn’t prevent that. Yet to make subtle course corrections would be a temptation that Jim would simply be unable to refuse. The fact that the idiot was proposing it as a solution still surprised him. One hundred percent probability seemed to stink of inevitability. Why fight what was necessary?
“Very well, Idiot, so directed. Ariadne is expecting a ride back to Artemis. What do I tell her?”
“Tell her we sail to Artemis after the Minotaur is slain.”
“Very well.” Jim turned his attention to Ariadne. “”What sort of beast is this Minotaur?”