“You will not get off that easily,” she said coolly.
“You can’t control me.” Uriel spat at her, but the saliva didn’t land anywhere near Its target. “You’re not strong enough.”
My beautiful child spared a glance at the other two true Higher Powers and smiled. “Like you, I am only as strong as the sum of my parts, Uriel.”
“How do you know my name?” the vile thing hissed. “It’s impossible for you to know my name.”
Alana Catherine refused to satisfy Its curiosity. “Because I am three, I’m stronger than you could ever dream of being alone. You tried to trap Chamuel in the beginning. And you were caught by your own cleverness?”
Uriel’s eyes narrowed to slits. It was scary, but It had no real power to back up the glare anymore.
“You divided but ended up conquered. Correct?” Alana Catherine asked flatly. “Isn’t that how it turned out? You too could have been as strong as the sum of your parts if your desire hadn’t been to destroy the others the parts of you that gave you empathy and passion.”
“The parts that made me weak,” Uriel scathed. “Weak!”
“Cold logic without the context of emotion makes you weak.” Alana Catherine held out her hand and called to the two ghosts. “Hemah and Chamuel. Come to me.”
Uriel’s recoiled at hearing their names and tried to crawl away. Candy Vargo put a stop to that nonsense by stepping on Its robe.
Hemah slid out of my body and floated next to Shitty Ritchie. At the same time Chamuel left Jennifer and floated next to her—counterpart next to counterpart. The look on Uriel’s face was one of confusion. It couldn’t make sense of what It was seeing.
“You have a choice,” Alana Catherine said. “You may choose to do in death what you failed to do in life, or you can dissolve into nothing and harm no more.”
“How did you defeat them?” Uriel demanded, pointing at her former partners. “What are they doing here? Why are they with you?”
“That would be their story to tell,” Alana Catherine said. “Not mine.”
What was left of Uriel’s body began to tremble. “No. No. This is not right.”
Chamuel floated forward. “I forgive you, Uriel. Even if you were the catalyst of our undoing, you had your life stolen from you as much as I had mine stolen from me,” Chamuel said with a sad smile on Its lips. “As much as Hemah had It’s stolen as well. It wasn’t caged, but It was still a prisoner of our circumstances.” The ghost extended Its hand to Uriel. “Come with us and be the spirit guide for the true Higher Power. Give yourself a chance to see what we could have been if we had been stronger. We can still serve the universe as we were once meant to do, by giving the true Higher Power the best parts of us.”
“NO,” Uriel screamed, slapping Its one good hand over an ear. “Stop.”
Hemah didn’t float forward. Hemah didn’t speak. Its sins were far too large for a simple apology to suffice. It would have sounded pathetic. Hemah had caged both Chamuel and Uriel for millions of years. For me, there would be no coming back from that. Chamuel had forgiven Hemah, but Chamuel embodied compassion. There was nothing logical about what Hemah had done. I would think Uriel would be hard pressed to forgive the betrayal after having Its life stolen.
The two former Higher Powers—logic and vengeance locked eyes and stared at each other. Hemah finally spoke. “I won’t insult you with an apology, Uriel. What I will say is that we are being given a chance. You and Chamuel deserve this chance far more than I,” Hemah said. “But I’ve been given the opportunityto seek redemption. I chose to take it. I impress upon you to take it as well.”
Chamuel tried one last time. The ghost’s compassion was ingrained deeply. “If we can let the past live where it deserves, we, together, can become the sum of our parts. The very thing the Universe intended for us. We’ll just be doing it unconventionally. We can still make a difference, Uriel. Come with us. Please, come with us.”
“LIES,” Uriel snarled then focused on Alana Catherine. “I will not be a part of these lies. I choose to dissolve into nothing rather than serve you.”
“Are you sure?” Alana Catherine asked. “There’s no going back once the game has begun.”
“I will never bow down to you. Ever. I am not made to be ruled by others.” Uriel’s voice was calm. Its words, methodical. The logic was beginning to bleed through, leaving the insanity behind.
Alana Catherine spread her hands in a gesture of openness. “The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.”
Uriel eyed Alana Catherine with curiosity.
Alana Catherine eyed her counterpart back. There was no malice in the exchange.
“In philosophy there are four principles of logic,” Alana Catherine began, only to be halted by Uriel holding up Its hand.”
“Yes,” It said emotionlessly. “The law of identity. The law of excluding the middle. The law of non-contradiction. And the only one that matters right now—the law of sufficient reason. I have reasons to deny your offer. Many. All sufficient. As much as Chamuel and Hemah might wish it different, they do not understand logic. It’s not their gift. It’s yours… and mine. Do you understand why I choose to become nothing?”
Alana Catherine didn’t hesitate. She nodded her head. Neither she nor Uriel were emotional about it. They wererational, lucid, and analytical. It was like watching scientists evaluate data instead of two Immortals determining the fate of a life or lack thereof.
“Let me go,” Uriel said. “This is not my destiny.”
