'And your Sons.'
'Yes,' she said matter-of-factly. 'So why would I want them out of the way? That would disturb the Wheel.'
'Perhaps you don't need them anymore, now that Science is powerful enough to be reunited with Magick.' I stepped around the body on the rug to face her. 'They were dual aspects of the same death principle. Both were gods of destruction. You symbolize the principle of life and generation. Yet you also embody the opposite aspect of death and decay all by yourself. Blaze of summer and ice of winter are separated by your spring and autumn. You are the moon. Ever cycling through phases. From white to black and back again in varying degrees.'
'Well said, Dell, for someone talking far beyond his capacity. The answer you're trying to finesse out of me is a good deal simpler.' She pointed casually at the dead gods.
'They had let themselves be used by men. They had let their powers be called upon by good men and evil men alike. Their only requirement was faith. People flocked to churches, praying for pain and suffering to befall others. Yahveh granted it. Others performed black masses to blast enemies. Ahriman appeared to them.'
She gazed at her fallen Lovers/Sons. 'They grew vainglorious. They cared nothing for objective good or evil. They only demanded faith. Surrender to their authority, and they'd do anything you asked.' She shook her head. 'Thus the masters became slaves to their flock.'
'So you decided to stir up a little rivalry?'
'It was always there,' she said. 'May I have my gun back?'
I handed it to her. She slipped it into her purse while I tapped out another cigarette and lit up.
'Will the helix continue to ascend?' I asked.
'Differently, perhaps, for a while. Maybe for a long time. The Patroness of Knowledge is not above learning.'
'This Goddess that you are,' I asked. 'Are you different in degree or in kind?'
She laughed again. 'Both, Dell. And I do love you.'
'I love you, babe. But right now I'm wondering what would happen to the Universe if I plugged you, too.'
'You couldn't,' she said, simple as that. 'They could die because they were the death principle. It's easy to deny death while you live. It's almost as easy to kill the metaphors for death. I am your metaphor for life. To deny me is to deny reality itself. To deny that a tree can grow from a seed or that a child can be born of woman. To deny the Goddess is to deny love.'
I considered that for a moment as I took a few drags on my cigarette. I watched her watching me.
'So you're in charge now,' I said. 'What sort of sacrifices will you demand?'
'None. That's all in the dim past. You were right, Dell. Gods evolve. They live and die and learn on a higher plane. All I require now is tenderness. Every act of love is an offering in my name. Every kind thought is a blessing.'
'What sort of punishment will you unleash on Evil?'
'None,' she said, 'save that which they bring upon themselves. You'll find that Nature has Her own ways of teaching right and wrong. You don't have to trust me or have faith in me. I am One-in-Myself, with or without you. I don't demand anyone's premature death. You all return to my cauldron eventually, and are reborn. Life and death are segments of the spiraling Wheel. The Ascending Helix.'
She stood. 'I have to go now. You did well.'
'I did nothing. I didn't kill either of them.'
'You-as Man-were the catalyst. Be grateful you weren't consumed in the reaction.'
She turned to go. Something within me nearly cried out. Instead, I tapped the ashes off my cigarette, saying, 'That's it? You're just going to walk out?'
She hesitated. Without turning, she said, 'In my terrestrial form, you and I were lovers.' She glanced back at the bodies. 'The position in the celestial sphere is currently vacant.'
When I said nothing, she turned around to plant an impetuous kiss on my forehead.
'Look for me when you get back.'
