For Love of Evil (35 page)

"What else is news," Parry said wryly. "For days after I saw her, her face appeared in my mind every time I closed my eyes. It put Lilah in a royal snit. But beauty alone no longer launches a thousand ships."

"I am not so sure. She finagled her way to Parnassus in the living state and interviewed several Incarnations."

"She whatT'

Mephistopheles smiled. "As You said, she is beautiful. She set fire to a funeral boat she was on, bringing Thanatos, and of course he could not take her soul because she was not yet slated to die. When he saw her-he is after all a man. So he took her to his mansion and had his staff tend to her burns. Then Chronos-"

"Chronos is in on this? He's my friend!"

"She must have smiled at him," Mephistopheles said, enjoying this. "He took her to Fate, who was evidently quite impressed-"

"What would impress that three-headed hog?" Parry growled.

"I wouldn't know; I can't snoop directly on Incarnations. Then he took her to War, who recognized her potential. Then on to Gaea, who told her that her husband had sacrificed himself in her place because she was destined to make much trouble for Satan. That was all; they do not seem to know any more than we do in what manner she will affect You, but they assist her because of it."

"Most of them have always conspired against Me," Parry muttered. "But Chronos-he has always been my friend. I can't understand why he would be involved in this."

"If he is your friend, why don't you ask him?"

"I shall." Parry conjured himself to Purgatory and knocked on the door of the mansion of the Incarnation of Time.

Chronos had changed officeholders since the last time Parry had visited, and this new one was distinctly less friendly than the prior ones had been. What had happened?

"Your office and Mine have always gotten along well," Parry said. "Have I in some way alienated you, Chronos?"

"You gave me a real workout when I assumed the office," Chronos said tightly. "You posed as my friend, but you used me to achieve your own ends. I had to-but why should I tell you, and give you another chance to interfere?"

Parry sighed. "I apologize for what I may do in your past, my future. Evidently things become very difficult then. For several centuries I have been friends with the holders of your office, and I regret learning that has changed."

"It has changed. If that is all-"

"Please, Chronos! Certainly I will leave you alone in the interim, with regret. Bul I came to ask one question, and if you would be so kind as to answer that-"

"One question," Chronos said grimly.

"Why is the mortal woman Niobe Kaftan important to you?"

"Damn you!" Chronos exclaimed. "Are you trying to torment me worse?"

"No, no! Remember, I am from the other direction! I do not at this stage know. I had no intent to-"

Chronos straightened his expression."Of course that is true, though you are the realm's most consummate liar. I will answer you, though I curse myself for doing so. Niobe was my lover, and I miss her-" He was unable to finish.

Astonished, Parry made his way out. He had never known Chronos to take a mortal lover! Evidently Niobe's widowhood had made her vulnerable, and the Incarnation had taken advantage of it despite living in the opposite direction. Now that she was, by Chronos' reckoning, about to be married, his affair with her was over, and he was hurting.

The lover of the Incarnation of Time! Now it was easier to comprehend her significance. Chronos' Hourglass was the most powerful magical instrument known, and if she were able to influence him, her mischief could be magnified in ways that Hell itself could hardly combat! No wonder the friendship between their two offices had been sundered; a woman had in her fashion come between them.

What a canny conniver the Angel Gabriel had proved to be! To select a woman so beautiful that she snared the Incarnation of Time himself! It was too bad Gabriel had not been in Hell's employ. Parry had to respect the superior nature of this ploy.

But it had not happened yet. Could he act to prevent the woman from seducing the Incarnation? This was uncertain, because of course Fate was on the other side. Parry could pluck the threads of Fate, but only when she wasn't paying attention; each Incarnation was supreme in his or her own bailiwick. Fate would be protecting Niobe, now that they had met; it would be prohibitively difficult for him to do anything directly.

He had to admire the developing prettiness of this trap. Gabriel had set him up for as nefarious a situation as any demon could have devised. Of course angels were but the positive aspect of demons, formed from ether. Evidently they were not as different from each other as he had assumed.

Well, there was no help for it now but to go home and wait for his opportunity. He would have a demon watch Niobe constantly, and notify him the moment she did anything significant. Meanwhile, he would proceed with his normal business.

He had to admit that despite the awkwardness of his position, he was discovering a certain infernal joy in the challenge. Niobe's beauty was not the least of it; it was much more fun to corrupt a lovely woman than a plain one.

His first alert came several months later. Niobe, after remaining quiescent, had abruptly taken a ship to America for no apparent reason. She was definitely up to something!

Parry joined her on the ship, watching her constantly. But she acted quite normally, avoiding the predatory men and remaining mostly in her cabin, reading.

Then, abruptly. Fate came to her, in the form of a spider. And, while Parry spied from cover. Pate took Niobe in as an Aspect of herself, leaving a prior Aspect of herself in Niobe's body to complete the voyage.

Niobe had become an Aspect of Fate!

Now Parry understood how she was to become Chronos' lover! The Incarnations did indulge each other in this manner on occasion, because they understood each other far better than any mortal could. Niobe was now the youngest and by far the prettiest Aspect of Fate, so this duty naturally would fall to her. He should have realized!

His problem had just been compounded. He knew from his prior observations that Niobe blamed him for the murder of her husband. Lucifer had done it, but it was indeed Parry's responsibility, for he had directed Lucifer to nullify Niobe. So Niobe was his sworn enemy, and now she had enormously increased power.

Again, he had to admire Gabriel's cunning. At every turn, this scheme became more diabolical!

How was he going to do anything about Niobe now? He had to try, lest he forfeit the contest. He could not touch her physically; even had she not become invulnerable as an Incarnation, the two wiser other Aspects of Fate that shared her body would have protected her. He needed to get her alone, and that was impossible.

Except for one occasion. Fate had to go to the Void to fetch the substance for the threads of Life. Clotho, the youngest, was the spinner of the threads; it was always her task to fetch the substance.

Parry knew what the Void was like! He knew that very few could ever face it, let alone negotiate within it. Only the Aspect of Clotho could do it, not the other two.

That was where he could approach her alone. That was where he could corrupt her-if he was ever to do it. Perhaps he would fail, but he had to try.

When the new Clotho made her maiden excursion to the Void, Parry followed her. He knew better than to enter that region of chaos without some kind of guide, but in this case, Niobe was his guide. He would stay with her until she emerged, perforce.

She began at the edge of Purgatory, where a road led toward the strange region beyond. Parry had not realized that chaos could be approached by a road! He followed, invisible and silent; he wanted to be sure she was alone, without her two companion Aspects, before he addressed her.

The road became a path, and the path wended through a thick forest. She spoke once, as if reflecting on something she had heard. "The Incarnation of War, and of Nature. I wonder what business they have here?"

What business indeed! Perhaps Mars sought the raw stuff of violence here, and Gaea the stuff of nature. So they had made a path. But he was sure that they did not go all the way into chaos.

The forest became so thick and the trees so large that the path was hopelessly squeezed and the light was almost cut off. Now Parry saw that Niobe was trailing a thread. That was how she intended to find her way out-by following her thread back! It was a secure device, for no one but her fellow Aspect Atropos could cut that thread of Life. Not when Fate was paying attention. Lucifer had to fudge the records in Purgatory to arrange for the death of Niobe-and even then, the ploy had gone wrong, taking out the wrong person and complicating Parry's challenge. It was dangerous to mess with Fate.

Niobe squeezed through the densest part of the forest, and Parry followed, having less difficulty because he was able to change his form. He became an invisible bird, flitting through crevices too narrow for his human form. Had Niobe not been an extremely slender figure overall, she would not have made it. Or was it that the path somehow accommodated her contours, which were by no means minor, so that she alone could pass?

Now the forest thinned, but the trees were misshaped and miscolored. Chaos was drawing nigh.

He followed her on through a region of vertigo, a pinwheel path. Then the path become a stream. Niobe hesitated, then removed her yellow cloak, laid it down, and sat on it, forming a floating craft of it. She was now in her underwear, and the contours that had been only hinted at before became fully evident. What a creature she was! He could have stared at her for a decade, while jealous fumes rose from Lilah.

That gave him a notion of how to corrupt her. He knew that she was to become Chronos' lover-lucky Chronos!-and that she was presently a widow and conservative about her relationship with any other man. If he played upon that situation, stressing the sordid interpretation, he might turn her off it before it started. She might even resign her office within the trial period. That would certainly foil much of Gabriel's plan for her.

Niobe floated out into the center of the Void, where Parry did not dare go. He was afraid he would get lost despite being near her, and did not care to risk it. JHVH would probably rescue him again if he called, but he preferred not to impose on the Deity of the Jews again if he could avoid it.

The woman seemed to spend an eternity there, gathering the substance of chaos into her craft. She, alone of all, could spin chaos into thread. At last she emerged, hauling herself along by the thread she had played out behind.

As she came to the solid portion of the path. Parry knew it was time for him to act. He did not like what he had to do, but certainly it would be better to nullify the woman this way than Lucifer's way.

He made himself visible. "Hi, babe." Niobe jumped. She caught sight of him, and stood appalled.

"I hate you!" she cried. Parry laughed, getting into the role. "Of course you do, you lovely creature."

"You killed my husband!" she flared. Oh, she was as lovely in her anger as in her confusion!

He saw that he could, by the mechanism of judicious interpretation, use her very grief for her husband to turn her away from the other Incarnations. First he explained about the nature of the substance of chaos: good and evil inextricably mixed, so that the whole of the process of mortal living was required to define and separate the two. He made sure to refer frequently to her appearance, calling her "sweets" and "sugar" and "delicious" and "luscious plum" so as to prepare her for the denouncement. The irony was that it was true; she was the most delectable mortal creature he had encountered, though she was now immortal. He was using the terms for a purpose, but each time he did, it reminded him of the truth of it. Niobe really was not his type, but even so, her beauty smote him with increasing force. She was appropriately appalled. "All life is just a laboratory to classify the substance of the Void?"

"Indeed. Beautiful, isn't it? Just like you, cutie," If only his words were not so true! He wished he were not her antagonist, so that he could-what? Use this Aspect of Fate as Chronos would? No chance of that! No chance? Suddenly he realized that this could be another aspect of Gabriel's ploy. To cause the Incarnation of Evil. FOR LOVE OF EVIL. MS himself to be smitten by one of the Incarnations on God's side! That would surely destroy his effectiveness in opposing God! It was insidiously clever: Gabriel had made sure that Parry would take a personal interest in this woman, so as to discover how to nullify her, knowing that Parry had always had an eye for the fairest of female forms. That he had grown inevitably tired of the knowledgeability of demonesses and damned souls, and found true innocence appealing. Niobe was perfectly cast to appeal to him!

Parry steeled himself and proceeded to the necessary finale. "The Incarnations are human, doll," he said. "They have human ambitions, weaknesses and lusts."

She reacted beautifully, in the various senses of the word. "Lusts! What are you talking about?"

"I'm so glad you asked, precious." He went on to introduce the notion of Chronos' need for a lovely young female Incarnation. She continued to react with ideal horror. On one level he hated what he was doing, but on another he liked it, because it was all too easy to imagine himself in Chronos' position. "You see, honeypot, we Incarnations have to get along with each other. We are not antagonists; we must cooperate. Chronos can be awkward, because he lives backward, but in this respect he is typically human."