Netzatch

Victory over our fears for eternity

Archangel Haniel

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Chapter Eighty-two

Pravuil

God's scribe and recordkeeper.

 

 

 

Once alone with Jim, Ariadne’s composure collapsed into quiet radiance.

“It is you,” she breathed. “My Lord Qblh. I knew it the moment I saw you. It has been so long.”

Her relief was genuine—tempered by dread.

“It must be true that you have come for me, but have mercy on me,” she continued. “I despise the rituals these people practice. They have twisted devotion into spectacle. The men demanded a god to rival Isis, so they fabricated Baal—an idol that feeds on fear. They sacrifice lives not to create life, but to preserve power.”

She shook her head.

“There is no true Minotaur in the sense they proclaim. but only our king’s mutation of a son riding his monstrous bull who will try to trap, torture you and cut your heart out.. A monstrous son paraded as divinity. And they worship serpents—symbols stripped of meaning and turned obscene. I do not know how this corruption began, only that it mimics our devotion while denying its truth.”

Ariadne’s voice hardened.

“They honor Isis only as an imaginary goddess, no greater than their idols. Such reverence is not reverence at all. Since Isis no longer answers, Minos no longer listens to me. He listens instead to flatterers—men who tell him what he wishes to hear.”

She stepped closer.

“This kingdom is decaying. Corruption rules because truth has been silenced.”

She met Jim’s eyes.

“Defeat this scoundrel. Show them no mercy. Tonight the priests of Baal gather to drink and boast. Tomorrow they will drink your blood—if you allow it. These sacrifices are an abomination.”

She paused, her tone softening.

“Yes, we Venetians have sacrificed men—but always to bring forth life. This worship of a golden idol brings only emptiness.”

A breath.

“Take me from this island. When the Minotaur’s power falls, Minos will know I spoke with you. My position will not survive his fear.”

Her voice lowered.

“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.”

Jim regarded her carefully.

“There is little I can do to preserve Minos’s dignity,” he said. “He has already drowned it in blood.”

“He is flawed,” Ariadne replied, “as all men are. But he is no worse than the tyrants of this age. Human governments prefer idols they can edit and command rather than truths that answer to no throne.”

“Yes,” Jim said. “It is easier to invent a myth than to amend history.”

She hesitated.

“He does not know you are to be the king of the land whose tribute he demands, and that he seeks the death of his equal. It is unjust for him to bear the guilt of your death without knowing who you are.”

“What difference does it make,” Jim replied evenly, “whether he murders a prince or a slave? Innocent blood does not dilute with rank.”

“This began,” Ariadne said quietly, “because Athens was blamed for the death of his son.”

“I am told it was an accident.”

“It was,” she agreed. “But Minos seeks expansion, not justice. Independent city states offend him.”

“I will not submit to his demands.”

“Then let history condemn him,” Ariadne said. “Negotiate. Allow him to speak his own ruin.”

Jim considered.

“Arrange a meeting.”

“Tomorrow,” she said. “After you have survived the night.”

She smiled faintly.

“It will be a novelty—to love a man who lives to see the next day.”

“Very well,” Jim said. “We will tell him I am a prince. We will offer treaty.”

“And if he binds himself by oath, he will honor it.”

“And if he refuses?”

“Then his power ends without spectacle.”

Jim nodded.

“If I destroy the Minotaur’s authority, what remains?”

Ariadne answered without hesitation.

“Nothing. “As I revealed, his son, the 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. 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.”

She gestured to her door.
“My chambers.”

Her attendants were dismissed. Guards sealed the corridor.

Now alone, Ariadne exhaled.

“How will you return me to Artemis?” she asked. “This world is beautiful—but it is not ours.”

“How did you arrive here,” Jim asked, “and what do you know of time loops?”

“After our last meeting in the Pleasure Dome,” she said slowly, “I was summoned without warning. Within half an hour, I was aboard the Pegasus. We passed through a distortion near Cygnus. Time folded.”

She frowned.

“Isis assigned each of us a dominion. Earth mattered—more than I understood.”

Jim stiffened.

“I have not yet been with you.”

“That is the paradox,” Ariadne said softly. “I do not remember giving you my peg—yet it is gone. We made loved, but it as a dream. The details are a blur. Still my heart burns as if untouched.”

Jim studied her.

“Did I meet with you after meeting with Persephone?”

“Yes. She was summoned to the Pegasus also..”

“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 wish to know your tomorrows?” he asked.

“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,” Genie replied.

“We must return Ariadne before she departs,” Jim said. “Do you have a solution?”

“Quite simple, Jim.,” Genie answered. “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 for Artemis after the Minotaur falls.”

Jim turned back to her.

“What manner of creature is this Minotaur?” he asked calmly.

Ariadne’s eyes darkened.

“Not a beast,” she said. “A lie wearing horns.”