Jolie took them to Luna's office. She borrowed the Judge's personal carpet; it would return to him on its own when she got off and dismissed it.
So what's your plan? Vita demanded. You know it's my body; you can't keep me away from him forever!
"I can as long as I retain control," Jolie said. "But fear not, I am on the side of romance, having been the route myself. The Judge had to do what he did; it was his compromise after I threatened him with your noncooperation. If he couldn't pay the penalty for his deed, he had to make certain that no further abuse occurred. So he will not report the matter, and you are gone from his household. But that does not mean gone from his life. We shall be seeing him again soon enough, I'm sure."
When? How?
"We are about to determine that. Meanwhile, Orlene, I think it is time we resumed your quest for your baby. You have recovered your equilibrium, and can now exist as a ghost without sinking to Hell."
Oh, Jolie, of course I want to do that! But "But you are halfway in love with Roque yourself, and wish to leave him hardly more than Vita does."
It is true. I have not forgotten Norton, nor do I wish to encroach on Vita's interest, but—
It's okay, Orlene! I feel so much better with you along. Without you I couldn't have been with Roque on that vacation, and even when you let me do it with him, you were there, helping me not to make too much of a fool of myself. Without you I'd revert to H; I know you and Jolie are helping me get over the craving, and with three it's much easier than alone. I really need you! I have no jealousy of you; you're part of what Roque sees in me.
"So I believe that the three of us should remain together," Jolie said. "Working to accomplish both your desires, and mine too."
Yours too?
"I am highly impressed with Roque Scott, and not just because of the way you girls feel about him. I think he just might qualify to be an Incarnation, and I want to watch him closely with that in mind, so that I can make a full report when the time comes. So my job is compatible with yours: we can watch him, and sometimes be with him, and try to recover your baby, together. Of course we shall have to take some turns."
Agreed, Orlene thought, relieved. I confess that when you said I could leave this host, I was afraid; I prefer residence in the living state to being a ghost, and I very much like Vita's company.
You do? I thought you regarded me as an impulsive juvenile.
I do. You do things I would never unbend enough to do. The way you tore open Roque's robe—but I loved being along for the ride. You lend excitement to my life—I mean, my death.
And you lend maturity to mine. Vita thought, pleased. When you two came, I thought. What the hell is this, spooks messing up my life even worse than it was, keeping me from the H. But you're better than H! You got me to Roque, and you're teaching me so much, I really think I can be something when I grow up.
"So I think we are agreed," Jolie said. "We shall work together, until it seems appropriate to separate, and perhaps we shall in time achieve all our desires." The truth was that she, too, rather liked experiencing the living state again. She had never had enough of it, the first time, with Parry.
We are agreed, Orlene thought.
Great! Vita added.
The secretary in Luna's office looked up. "May I help you?"
"I need to see Senator Kaftan," Jolie said.
"The Senator is away from the city this week. Do you wish to make an appointment?"
That wouldn't do; they needed a residence today. Jolie, in her concern with moving them out of the Judge's residence, had not anticipated this.
Maybe Mom...
Good notion! "Is Vera here?" The folk at Luna's office were all first names, as was Luna herself, normally.
"Why yes, you may see her if you wish."
"I will have to put you back in charge," Jolie murmured.
They were shown into a back office piled with books and papers and video screens: the research department. There was a woman who looked a lot like Vita, thirty years older.
"Mom!"
The woman looked up, startled, and burst into tears. Vita went over and hugged her, crying herself.
Before long they were comparing brief notes. It seemed that Vera had gotten a notion of the problem in the family, but didn't want to speak of it openly. She did not importune Vita to return home. Vita was at pains to explain that though something had caused her to leave, and that she had had some bad times, she was now much better off and perhaps even had a better life than she might have had.
"I've been staying with Judge Scott," she concluded. "He has a housekeeper who's nice, but you know he can't keep a juvenile girl in his house forever, it would look wrong, so I have to move out. I've got a friend with me, a ghost, and when I need to do something adult, she takes over. We're going to do some traveling, and we're helping in your research, maybe."
Vera's look indicated that she had a glimmer of why her daughter had to depart the presence of the Judge, but again she preferred to let it lie. It was obvious that Vita was physically healthy and emotionally sound, and that was an immeasurable reassurance. "You know of my research?"
"Some, Mom. The final confrontation between Good and Evil, when—"
"Enough! You are helping in this?"
"In part. Looking for candidates for—"
"Don't say it! Satan's minions are everywhere."
"Satan knows it's coming, Mom. Anyway, I sort of need a place to stay, for a while, until I travel. We thought Luna might know—"
"Let me ask." She got up and hurried out. In a moment she returned, the look of surprise still on her face. "Luna left word: you are to go to her house immediately. It seems that Judge Scott notified her."
"The Judge is a great man, Mom."
"I am not sure I grasp all of what is going on here."
"I guess you know. Mom, it was Luna who sent the ghost to me, to get me straightened out. She wanted you to feel at ease. The Judge, when he learned about her involvement, decided to help."
"She is a great woman."
"I guess that's why she and the Judge understand each other so well."
"There seems to be a good deal of understanding," Vera remarked somewhat wryly.
A carpet took them to Luna's estate. The two griffins charged up as it came down. Jolie took over. "Griffith! Grissel!" she called. "Smell my soul!"
They recognized an approved visitor and relaxed. They stopped at the front door, cautiously. "Muir!" she called to the moon moth within. "It's me, Jolie, in human host."
Muir, too, recognized her, and she entered without challenge. Gee, Vita remarked, impressed.
They walked through the house, admiring the aura paintings on the walls. Luna could see auras, Jolie explained to the others, and so could judge people in much the manner Orlene could. Perhaps that was not surprising, for Orlene was very like a niece to her.
There was a note on the kitchen counter. WELCOME, TRIO. FOOD IS AVAILABLE. USE THE EAST ROOM. DRESS IN SOMETHING NICE.
"Dress in something nice?" Jolie asked, perplexed. "To stay alone until she returns?"
They checked the East Room. It was a beautiful suite, complete with a closet stocked with several lovely dresses of the appropriate size. There were slipper-shoes which fit Vita's feet perfectly. There would be no problem dressing nicely!
They made a project of it, taking a good bath, washing the hair and putting a slow curve in it by using a spell-stone designed for that purpose, and donning a dress that was first cousin to an evening gown. Vita had filled out during her time with the Judge and now looked impressive in the low décolletage. I think I've been turned into a princess for a night! she thought admiringly.
There was the sound of a chime. They tripped down to the front door, uncertain who could be calling, but certain that Muir would allow no intruder.
Roque Scott stood there. He gazed at them, astonished. "Here?" he asked.
Jolie turned the body over to Vita. "Oh, Roque!" she breathed. "Don't go away!"
He stepped up and swept her into his arms. "This is not my house," he said. "I am not obliged to enforce standards here."
"Shut up and get on to the endearments," she said, lifting her face for a kiss.
"You are delightfully forward, my juvenile delight."
"I'm too young to know any better. How come you're here?"
"I received a message from Luna's office, asking me to check on an item of some value at her house. Naturally I came here after work, knowing that she would not ask such a favor capriciously."
"We didn't see anything," Vita said. "Of course you didn't, my darling innocent." He stroked her hair.
She tittered, catching on. "Gee, it's fun to be innocent!"
Maybe we should depart for a few hours, Jolie thought.
"No!" Vita said. Roque's hand, having proceeded beyond the length of her tresses and on down her back toward her rear, froze.
"No?"
She laughed. "I didn't mean you, Roque! I want you to feel me. I was talking to Jolie. She wants to go away."
"She did before," he pointed out.
"With Orlene this time. So I can be all the way alone with you. But I'm afraid I'd screw it up."
"Well..."
"Oh, you know what I mean! I want to be good for you, Roque, and on my own I keep getting too wild. I'd get the shakes, for sure, and turn you off, and I sure don't want to do that! So I don't want them to go."
"In that case, I am certainly amenable to their continued presence. I must confess that I do feel easier knowing that a woman of adult experience is monitoring the proceedings, because it allays my concern about taking advantage of one who is young."
But I'm another man's wife! Jolie protested. "Maybe you better talk to Jolie," Vita said. "Give me one good feel before I put her on."
His hand resumed its motion downward—at which point Vita gave the body to Jolie. He squeezed her buttock. Jolie clamped her teeth, trying to look neutral.
"The gamin!" he exclaimed, realizing. He was now able to recognize them separately, by their manners.
Jolie disengaged. "As we know, she is young," she said. "And full of mischief." She walked to a couch and sat down, crossing her legs demurely at the ankles.
He took a seat across the room. "Perhaps your reasons for bringing Vita to me were mixed. As you know, I succumbed, and you and I agreed to do the appropriate thing. I think you were aware that I did not truly wish to separate from her, and I think you are not averse to our meeting in a situation like this. Your absence is thus a mere formality or courtesy which need not be invoked at this stage."
"I am the wife or consort of Satan," Jolie replied. "I do not care to be present in the body of a woman who is making love to another man. Orlene may certainly remain, but I prefer to absent myself."
"I am minded to debate the issue," he said, "if you are willing. If you do not approve my liaison with Vita, you can not excuse yourself merely by being absent in a manner you know will facilitate it."
"That isn't what I said!" Jolie said, stung. "I did have doubts, but subsequent thought has eased them, and I now feel that the two of you should be allowed your love. My presence or absence shouldn't affect that. But my own—"
"Yes. You do not wish to engage in the appearance of impropriety. I understand this consideration rather well. But this, too, I question. If I understand it correctly, your marriage to the man who is now the holder of the Office of the Incarnation of Evil dissolved when you died. He subsequently remarried, and you now join his present wife in amorous engagements. Thus the experience of joint involvement is not foreign to you."
He had it exactly! A thought had been growing beneath Jolie's level of consciousness, and now it surfaced. If she was to study this man as a potential candidate for the Office of an Incarnation, she could hardly do so by deliberately not observing him in moments of his passion. She had to understand him fully. She also needed to know how he approached matters of ethics and questions of propriety. Also, how he related to the underlying questions of Good and Evil. That meant she should remain.
Still, she had a problem. "It is more than the appearance, Roque. I do not love you and do not wish to be embraced by you, even in surrogate. I would feel extremely awkward about returning to my husband—or, if you will, consort—after—"
"There is also this to consider: Satan surely has been ultimate with a great many women over the course of his tenure, yet you still love him and wish to join him at every opportunity. Do you hold to a standard you do not expect of him?"
Ouch! The days of Jolie's sexual innocence had been left behind centuries ago. She no longer believed in a double standard. She knew Parry had had long and extreme affairs with the likes of the demoness Lilah and the damned soul Nefertiti, yet had returned gladly to her when she remanifested. What counted, in the end, was not his dalliances during her absence, but the way he felt about her, and she about him. He had never loved the demoness or the damned soul; he had loved Jolie. Now he loved Gaea—and still loved Jolie. Was she so much less certain of her love for him?
"I think you have made your case, Roque," she said.
"I will remain."
He smiled briefly. "As you wish."
"But one more thing, before I submerge. How do you feel about Satan?"
"I suppose that is a fair question, from one who loves him. I am adamantly in the opposite camp, and wish to support the forces of Good in every respect. Yet I see the need for a repository of damned souls, until they can be redeemed, and therefore I concede the need for a supervisor of that repository. As I understand it, Satan is not actually evil, just as Thanatos is not actually dead; he is merely a human person handling an unusual and often unrewarding job. I think you would not love him were that not the case, just as Luna would not love Thanatos."
A fair answer indeed! "Suppose you ever found yourself in a position to—to negotiate with Satan on some matter. Would you do it?"
"Of course. I feel that I am already, whenever I decide whether a given person should be punished or rehabilitated or go free. Satan is attempting to evoke the Evil; I am attempting to evoke the Good. It is, in a fashion, a continuing exercise in classification and treatment."
This man was certainly, to Jolie's way of thinking, a prime prospect! "So you, knowing that one who is close to Satan is with the woman you love, do not feel threatened."
"Satan never threatened any person whose convictions and practices were good."
"I think Luna might disagree."
"Luna is perhaps an exception," he admitted. "She is pivotal. But I think it is not her soul he threatens, only her political power."
"You impress me, Roque."
"Jolie, you impress me also. I thought I was dealing with a wayward girl, and then you manifested, and the case became inordinately more interesting. I had no intent to take Vita into my residence, until I became aware that you were in control. Then I realized that rehabilitation of the girl was not only possible, it was already in progress, and I did my best to facilitate your effort. Certainly you have been in no sense a malign influence. My subsequent relation with Vita, though unintended, was thus a direct result of your involvement. For that I must thank you. However wrong it may be technically, I now believe it is right ethically. You have brought light into my life, and I shall always be grateful."
"I, too, am glad it happened," Jolie said. And she wondered: could Luna have known this too? That Judge Scott was a worthy prospect to be an Incarnation, and that Jolie would discover this by the time she shepherded Vita through her problem? It seemed likely, now.
She returned the body to Vita, who promptly jumped up and flung herself across to Roque. "What were you trying to do, pinching Jolie like that?" she demanded, plumping into his lap.
"By your mischief," he said. "What is this delight you have in being impertinently handled?"
"I hated it when my johns did it," she confessed. "I hated everything about them. But I did catch on to what men like. Now I've got a man I like, I want to be sure I'm giving him a good time." She drew up her knees so that her dress fell away, and guided his hand to her inner thigh.
"I trust you realize that this is shameless exploitation."
But his hand did slide along her skin caressingly.
"You can do better than that," she said. "Come on, what are panties for, anyway?"
"For dirty old men's delight," he said. "Still, I would not want to spoil your pretty outfit."
"I'll take it off!" she said eagerly, and began scrambling to do just that.
All that effort we made, dressing her—gone! Orlene thought with resignation.
"But this sheer enthusiasm on your part continues to amaze me. How did you come by it?"
"I guess I just so much wanted to be wanted," she said. "Not just used and thrown away, but loved and needed forever. Maybe when I get older I'll really like just to talk with you, the way Jolie and Orlene do, but right now I just want you so hot for me you can't think of anything else." She was bare, now, in record time.
"Perhaps we should retire to a more appropriate place," he suggested.
"Like a bed. This way!" She bounded off again and hauled him along after her.
Soon he joined her there, unclothed. He kissed her and held her and squeezed her in intimate places, exactly as she demanded. I wish I had thought of this sort of thing when alive, Orlene thought.
Jolie had to agree. Vita's passion was not feigned; her body was humming with desire, and it affected all of them. She recalled the saying that a man gave love for sex, while a woman gave sex for love. This was certainly true here, but each aspect was so intense and pervasive that the dividing line ceased to have meaning. The two were giving passion for passion, reveling in it, delighting in its grandeur and its naughtiness.
So it was that Jolie was along for the ride, as Orlene had been before, and the revels of the couple became her own. She knew that next time she merged with Gaea and went to see their man, she was going to give him a show and an experience he hadn't had in years. There was much to be said for exuberance.
The next morning Thanatos appeared. "I understand you are ready to resume your quest," he said.
Vita screeched in terror and leaped out of bed. She was, as was her wont after sex, naked; Jolie had left her alone.
That's Thanatos, Jolie explained. He brought us to you. We have nothing to fear from him.
"Oh." Vita hastily turned the body over to Orlene, who as hastily wrapped a sheet about herself. They had been lying abed late, after the strenuous activity of the early part of the evening, and he bad come upon them unawares. That, of course, was often the way of Death.
"I, yes," Orlene said. "Thanks in part to you, I am no longer in danger of descending to Hell. But when Jolie talked with you before, you told her it was impossible, or nearly."
"The quest must continue, regardless. From me you need a blank soul?"
"So I understand. To transfer—"
"Come with me."
Orlene hesitated, remembering how Thanatos had come for her when she died and she had fled him. Have no fear, Jolie thought. He is a good man, as well as a good Incarnation.
"May I dress first?"
"Dress," he agreed.
She paused, but he did not retreat or disappear. Just go ahead and do it, Jolie urged. He doesn't even realize there could be a problem, after all the naked souls he's seen.
Orlene went to the closet, snatched down a decent dress, and grabbed for the rest of what she needed. She carried them into the bathroom and got herself in order as quickly as she could. Thanatos waited impassively, seeming not to move at all.
"I'm ready," she said, emerging. But he was already on his way, and she had to run to catch up. She didn't dare ask where they were going.
In the yard the death-steed Mortis was grazing. Oh, look at that! Vita thought. As with many girls of her age, she was thrilled by the notion of a horse, any horse.
Thanatos glanced at his deathwatch. He turned and put his hands at Orlene's sides. He lifted, and the horse came up and stood before them, so that Thanatos could set her on. Then Thanatos mounted behind her, putting one arm around her in an impersonal way to keep her secure.
The horse took off. There was no wind, no tilt, but suddenly they were riding upward through the sky, leaving the city below. Ooooo! Vita squealed in awed delight.
"Mortis likes you too," Thanatos remarked.
You can hear me?
"I hear your soul, Vita."
I like this too, Jolie thought.
"Women do," he agreed.
They peered down to see fluffy cotton-ball clouds below. Mortis was galloping on air, moving far faster than any mortal animal could. On occasion his hooves kicked up divots of cloud dust, which dissolved behind them. The scene was beautiful, with the morning beams of the sun spearing out from the east, lighting the near sides of the clouds.
I begin to get a notion what Luna sees in Death, if he takes her on rides like this! Vita thought.
"On occasion," Thanatos agreed.
Then the steed was moving down to another city. They had no idea where it was; the speed and magic had been such that it could be anywhere. They had departed at dawn, local time; here it was afternoon.
They landed on a city street amidst traffic. Orlene flinched as a car charged toward them—but it passed right through them as if they were ghosts. Yet of course they were not ghosts, exactly; Vita's body was alive and solid, so that meant that Thanatos and Mortis had to be solid, too, to lift and carry her as they had.
Magic, Jolie reminded her.
"True," Thanatos agreed. "Mortals can neither perceive nor affect us unless we wish it."
The horse walked across the street and into a solid wall. They passed through the wall and into a lighted factory region at the base of a megabuilding. "This man is about to die of a rare internal electrical imbalance," Thanatos said, dismounting and approaching one of the workers. Sure enough, the man paused before his equipment, and fell back, looking startled.
Thanatos stepped in and reached out to the man—but not to help support him. His hand passed into the man's body without resistance and out again, holding the man's soul. The soul came out in a translucent skein, mottled by black patches and white, distorting out of shape. The body sank to the floor, its eyes staring as if still startled.
"But you never gave him a chance!" Orlene protested.
"He might have recovered had you not swept out his soul!"
"He would have endured until I took his soul, but not for recovery. I acted promptly so as to spare him unnecessary pain. When a soul is in balance, a person can not die until it is removed, no matter how hopeless the physical case." As he spoke he was folding the soul like so much gossamer, until it was wadded into a ball, which he placed in a little bag.
He returned to Mortis and mounted. The horse walked back through the wall, then galloped into the air again. "How can you just take lives, all day?" Orlene asked. "It is a necessary part of human existence," he replied seriously. "Without death there could soon be no new life. The old must be cleared away for the new. Even as it is, we are threatened with overpopulation."
Orlene was silent. She hadn't thought of it that way. Soon they came down in another city, somewhere in the world. Mortis halted at a Dumpster similar to the one they had hidden in when fleeing Vita's pimp, so long ago.
"Your turn, Orlene," he said abruptly.
"What?"
"Within that Dumpster is a newborn infant who will die within hours if unattended. No mortal knows of his presence except his mother, who is beyond compassion in this respect, having such serious difficulties of her own as to be unable to return. My attention is not necessary, as the baby is unsullied and will go to Heaven, but to avoid subjecting him to avoidable agony as the next load of garbage is dumped, crushing him, I am interceding. You are looking for a blank soul; this one is close enough. Climb in and take it."
"But I can't do that!" Orlene protested. "You are with me, sharing my power for this event by my extension. Do with him as you saw me do with the last case, and the soul will come out for you." Orlene waited a moment, flustered. "But—"
"I understood that you wished above all else to recover and cure your own baby," Thanatos said emotionlessly. "This is the way to obtain one of the seven elements required. How serious is your quest?"
Tight-lipped, Orlene got down and approached the Dumpster. Now they heard it: a faint mewling from within. They climbed up and peered in.
The baby was there, half swathed in dirty rags, grease and blood splotched over his body, short dark hair matted to the tiny skull. "Oh, my God!" Orlene breathed numbly.
So little! Vita thought. I never realized how small they were. His ankle is no bigger around than my thumb!
Orlene reached forth with a shaking hand to take the soul. Her teeth were clenched.
No! Vita thought. Don't kill him!
She has to, Jolie thought. It would be cruel to let him suffocate in garbage, or to die slowly of exposure.
Thanatos is right: it is an act of mercy to take this innocent soul now.
But he's just an eensy baby! He never did anything to anyone! He shouldn't be killed, he should be held and cuddled and nursed and everything!
Those are not his options, Jolie returned, realizing that they were in effect Orlene's inner voices, her conscience debating while she hesitated. It is wrong, we know, but the world is not governed by right, it is governed by circumstances, and all we can do is alleviate the most egregious cases. Sometimes the choice is between evils.
You must be good at that! Vita shot back.
"That's not fair!" Orlene protested. "She's not evil, she's—"
Oh, damn, I'm sorry! Vita thought with genuine contrition. I didn't mean that, Jolie. It's just that I never was into killing, and this poor baby—
I know, don't I know! Jolie replied. I died before I had a baby of my own, and then when I came to watch Orlene, it was like—
I guess we better stop; I don't think we're helping.
Jolie had to agree. This was Orlene's decision, hard as it was. Thanatos had given her a cruel lesson in death and souls!
Orlene reached again for the baby. He took a ragged breath and cried a little louder, as if aware that death was upon him.
"I can't!" Orlene cried. "Oh, I just can't!" She put both hands down and picked up the baby and held him close.
Jolie and Vita maintained thought silence, not knowing what would come of this. Probably she had forfeited the soul she so needed; Thanatos would take it himself and put the dead baby back. But how else could she have reacted this woman who had already lost her own baby and died herself because of it? What Thanatos had inflicted on her had been more than cruel, it had been diabolic. Jolie knew it was not her place to judge him, but she could not accept this thing he had done.
Orlene climbed out of the Dumpster, managing to bring the baby along. She came to stand before Thanatos as he sat on Mortis. She held the baby protectively. "Maybe I have no right to ask this, but if there is any way to save this baby, I've got to do it," she said, the tears coming. "I'm a mother, not a killer."
"That is not your baby," Thanatos said. "You can gain nothing by interceding."
"I know. I expect nothing. Please."
"But you can salvage the soul, for your purpose."
"I cannot, though I lose my own baby. Please."
"I ask you again to consider just how serious you are about your quest for your own baby. If you will not do what is necessary—"
"Oh, Thanatos, I would give my own soul to save my baby, if it were only clean enough instead of hopelessly soiled! But I cannot sacrifice this innocent one to my purpose! This baby should have his chance to live and to make his own decisions about good and evil as he grows. I am grief-stricken over the loss of my own, but I cannot help mine by denying this one his chance. I beg you, I beg you—spare him, if you possibly can!"
The death's head nodded. "I can, to a degree. Mount." He extended a bone hand.
Orlene grasped it, holding the baby close with her other arm. Her weight diminished and she was moved effortlessly to the front of the great horse.
A short gallop through the air and buildings brought them to a hospital. "Take him there," Thanatos said, lifting her down.
Orlene walked into the hospital. She approached the front desk. "I found this newborn baby in a garbage dump," she said. "Please take care of him and arrange for his adoption." She held out the baby.
A nurse appeared and took the baby. "You will have to make a statement," she said. "Where he was found, what time—"
"I can't do that," Orlene said, turning away.
"But you must! It is a crime to—"
Mortis walked through the wall. Thanatos reached down. Orlene caught his hand and was set back on the horse.
The nurse stared, holding the baby. "She disappeared!" she exclaimed. "She just disappeared!"
"Sometimes they come like that," the girl at the desk said. "So there is no legal claim on the baby. We'll take care of him."
"Yes, we'll take good care of him," the nurse said. Mortis leaped, passing through the ceiling, through the various chambers of the hospital, and on out the roof. Orlene, her effort done, sank into renewed grief. Jolie understood the temptation that had been on her: to try to keep the baby herself. She had resisted that, but it hurt. You did right! she thought.
You did right. Vita echoed. "Yes, you did right," Thanatos said. "I will save an otherwise lost soul for you, from a baby whose situation is not subject to salvage, and deliver it to you when you have obtained the artifacts you require from the other Incarnations. You are worthy, in my estimation."
You mean this thing was a test? Vita thought, outraged.
"A soul is infinitely precious," Thanatos replied, unperturbed. "I would not yield one to a person who failed to appreciate its value, not merely as a convenience for a purpose, but as an entity in itself. This was a necessary determination. Orlene refused to do what she believed was wrong, even to achieve the thing she most desired."
But did you have to make her hurt so? Jolie demanded. Knowing that she had lost her own baby?
"The ultimate proof of character is not lightly achieved. A lesser proof would have been valueless. Incarnations do not deal in valueless matters."
The understatement of the century! Jolie realized that Thanatos had been correct in his action, however cruel it had seemed. Orlene had won her soul not by taking what was proffered without conscience, but by maintaining her standards of decency and compassion despite the seeming cost.
I think maybe I learned something. Vita thought. I couldn't've done it myself.
Jolie wasn't sure she could have, either. We thank you, Thanatos, for this hard lesson, she thought. "You are welcome, Jolie," he replied. Mortis landed back in Luna's yard. Orlene got down. "I, too, thank you, Thanatos," she said. "I will try to get the other things I need."
"We are not yet finished," Thanatos said, dismounting.
He accompanied her into the house.
"I don't think I understand," Orlene said. Thanatos took a seat on the same couch that Judge Scott had used the night before. Jolie was glad that they had thought to return to pick up Vita's scattered clothing before sleeping! "The shifting of the course of a life cannot be accomplished by a single Incarnation unilaterally," he said.
"A life is too important for that. In my early days in Office I sometimes declined to take the souls that were due. I once saved a drowning man, for example, instead of allowing him to die. I learned later that both Chronos and Fate had had to make adjustments to accommodate my action. They had not spoken of it to me, making allowance for my inexperience in Office. Now I am more careful, just as other Incarnations are careful of my prerogatives. Orlene, you will have to present your case for the baby you saved to Fate, so that she can decide whether to alter his thread of life."
"But Fate is—"
"Your natural grandmother," he said.
"My what!"
Thanatos paused. "I apologize. I see you did not know."
I did not tell her, Jolie thought. I thought it best to let her follow her quest without the complication of that knowledge.
"My natural grandmother!" Orlene repeated, dazed. "That may complicate the picture," Thanatos said. "Nevertheless, it was at your instigation that that baby's thread of life was rerouted, and it is your responsibility to obtain the authorization for it. Jolie will be able to guide you to the Incarnation of Fate, of course."
"I will do it," Orlene agreed. "I agree it is my responsibility." But she remained shaken by the revelation of her ancestry.
"You should also check with Chronos."
"The Incarnation of Time? Why?"
"In order to fit this special session into my schedule, I borrowed time. This has actually been a rerun of time I am spending in my normal duties, so that I have not sacrificed them or been rushed. Chronos is tolerant of such occasional borrowings on my part, but it would be better if you approached him and explained directly."
"I need to see him anyway, to get a grain of sand," Orlene agreed. "I shall do that forthwith."
"However, in fairness, I must advise you that your interview with Chronos will not be easy."
Jolie remembered the key thing about the Incarnation of Time: he lived backwards. That complicated things for every person who interacted with him, mortal or immortal!
"I will do what I must," Orlene said.
"I think you do not yet grasp the nature of the problem. Not only does time reverse in his residence, he is a man you knew in life."
"I knew him? But how could that be? I've only been dead for a few months! How long has he had the Office?"
"That depends on perspective. By my reckoning, it has been perhaps twenty-five years; I had not thought to verify the precise length of his tenure. By his reckoning, it might be as little as two years."
"Either way, then, I cannot have known him!"
"I believe his given name was Norton."
Orlene stiffened. "Oh, no!"
Thanatos stood. "It is not my concern how you may handle your interview with another Incarnation. Certainly I do not wish to interfere in their activities that do not relate to my proper business. But you seem to be uniquely related to or involved with more than one Incarnation, in which number I am included because of my interest in your aunt Luna, so I have brought this matter up to you. I bid you good prospects."
"My aunt...?"
"I think I have made another error," he said.
That, too, is true, Jolie thought. Maybe I should have told you all of it at the outset, but—
"But I was in no condition," Orlene said.
Yes. Then the business with Nox—
Orlene, shaken again, walked to him. "I appreciate your information, Thanatos." Then she lifted her face and kissed him on his lipless mouth. The expressionless skull face managed to look startled.
Two days later Luna returned. "I trust you were not bored, being here alone?"
Jolie was back in charge. "By no means, thank you. We have been tutoring Vita, and getting to know Muir and Griffith and Grissel, and looking at your wonderful pictures, and we had visits by Judge Scott and Thanatos."
"The moon moth and griffins seldom have company they appreciate; I'm sure they have been most pleased. I am glad you like my paintings; I really have little time to paint now, but on occasion I still do it, to relax. As for Roque, he is a good man," Luna said, with an oblique smile that suggested that she well understood that situation. "Thanatos is a good Incarnation." Jolie wasn't certain how she meant that, knowing that Luna had been Thanatos' mortal lover for well over a decade.
"We are grateful for your generosity in allowing us to stay here during your absence," Jolie said. "Now I think we should find some other lodging, so that—"
Luna looked seriously at her. "I would not think of it. You, Jolie, are a good friend and incidental liaison with the enemy. Orlene is family. Vita is the daughter of my employee and friend Vera, whose situation is still clarifying. It behooves me to facilitate your various interests. I understand that you, Jolie, are now also doing an observation of the Judge as a prospect for an Incarnation."
She was really current! "Yes. But it would help if I know which Incarnation was the most likely prospect. The Offices are so different—"
"We do not feel free to advertise that at this stage. But we do need candidates who might be acceptable to all of the Incarnations."
"But Satan will not agree to any completely good man!"
"And the others will not agree to any completely bad man," Luna agreed. "Therefore our most likely prospects will be compromises—people with both good and evil. In truth, the current Incarnations are similar compromises, brought about by chance and circumstance, doing the best they can. But we distrust chance, and wish to upgrade prospects, with no affront intended toward any current parties."
In other words, she wasn't letting any secrets slip. Jolie was increasingly curious about this matter. She tried once more. "When we were with Thanatos, we thought he was acting cruelly, but it turned out that he was merely clarifying the gravity of the matter of taking a soul for any purpose other than its own. We conclude that he is doing a good job. Yet he must have had a lot of evil on his soul, to encounter his predecessor, because Thanatos normally goes after only those souls that are in balance between good and evil."
"True. He was in balance, with as much evil as good. So was I, when we met; we compared notes. He has been doing a good job, and surely changing his balance slowly positive, and I hope my own is similarly changing. Certainly it is possible for such folk to perform well. But if there were a better system of selection, we might guarantee that future Incarnations will be better prepared for their Offices."
It did make sense, though Jolie had little confidence that a real upgrading of Incarnations would come of it, because unanimity among the Incarnations was virtually impossible.
"We shall be glad to stay here, if it is really all right with you," she said, returning to the earlier subject. "But Orlene does wish to resume her quest, and we have decided that the three of us will remain together to see that through. That means that we hope to go physically to see the remaining Incarnations. So if we have to travel—"
Luna laughed. "You will not have to travel! All the Incarnations have residences in Purgatory."
"But in mortal form we can't get there," Jolie pointed out. "As ghosts, Orlene and I can go, and indeed have already been. But Vita—"
"Oh, you need to leave her unchaperoned for a time! Certainly she may remain here; Muir will watch her and prevent her from leaving, and the griffins will be happy for company."
You know, that might not be so bad. Vita thought. But Jolie could feel her disappointment; she did like the animals and the house, but she very much wanted to participate in the larger adventure. Also, she was aware that Roque might not visit her alone, and feared that if he did, she would make some romantic blunder that would turn him off. She wanted to remain with Jolie and Orlene, but was afraid she couldn't. She was trying to be nice about it. That, for her, was significant progress; she was learning self-sacrifice, perhaps inspired by Orlene's example.
"We intend to do it together," Jolie said firmly, and felt the thrill of Vita's joy. "We two ghosts like the experience of being alive again, and Vita likes our company. We have a viable combination, and will keep it as long as all of us agree."
Luna nodded, unsurprised. "It is possible for mortals to visit Purgatory; indeed, the Incarnations are mortal in certain respects, such as their normal solidity. But you will need the intercession of an Incarnation to get there."
"As it happens, I am on good terms with an Incarnation or two," Jolie said. "I happen to know that Satan doesn't use his residence in Purgatory, so it would be available for a temporary stay. But if we were to ask his aid..."
Again there was a knowing nod. "I would not forbid you this earthly residence,, in that case. Though it is true that I oppose Satan, and expect to be instrumental in defeating his major ploy not far hence, it is also true that we must have his cooperation for what we intend in the longer run. In earlier days I believed that the conflict between Good and Evil was absolute, but with time and experience I have learned that it is relative. It is as if we are playing an important game, with each side wanting very much to win but both sides agreeing that without adherence to certain ground rules, there will be no game to win. Even enemies need to cooperate in certain respects and to honor each other's prerogatives."
"Thank you," Jolie said. "We shall remain here, except when visiting Purgatory. May the game continue.
"May the game continue," Luna agreed, smiling.