BLOODY LOVE'S
Episode 244

Jose walked past Tin Lizzie whose rear wheels were still spinning in the air. No need to close your eyes now.

Is this what the Scholomance Sect wants? Jose looked around. He could see everything clearly even in the dark.

His entire consciousness had already fused with Bjork. It becomes transcendent. Everything can be seen at once without having to go anywhere. He saw his father and Lord Greyland in the middle of Bjork, he saw Inspector Robert. The people of Bjork—, both North and South, began to come out of their homes and help fight the sheldbolis. Hans ran to the caravan still holding Maria, the girl just fainted. He saw Nolan weeping as he continued to swing his iron rod, crossing the grass field towards the river. Lady Chantall was inside Tin Lizzie, sandwiched between the steering wheel and car seat, broken bones and fainted. There were gleaming soft lines enveloping the entire world like spider webs, like the fibers of the earth.

Is this what will be broken when someone intervenes? Jose walked past some broken threads. Yarn destiny.

Then he saw Sir William.

The man was still in the middle of the river, sinking to his chest, confused by being unable to move.

He can't see it? Jose glanced tiredly. In her eyes it looks so clear. All those people, all the human victims from the beginning of the ritual, all their cosmic white hands holding Sir William, holding him in place. Even Gladys, with a broken body and a loose jaw, remained stubbornly attached to Sir William's back.

Poor girl, Jose is sorry he didn't really understand what Gladys wanted before. Run jumped him to fall off the cliff and the girl must have crept up the ravine to get back here.

"What trick is this Argent?!" Sir William shouted loudly from his place of sculpting.

Jose threw himself in. The section near the bridge is quite shallow. It's just so high. The current is strong enough downstairs, but Jose feels it's not a problem. Now, all things are no problem. He opened the car door without any difficulty. The middle of Tin Lizzie was stuck on the shoulder of the river, but the muzzle was sinking, leaving the front compartment flooded with water. Lady Chantall's body fell on the wheel. The woman's forehead is bleeding. Jose took the woman's body carefully and placed it on a dry surface on the shoulder of the river. He touched the wounds of Lady Chantall while praying wholeheartedly.

After making sure everything was okay, Jose turned back to Sir William who was still shouting with his head getting more and more down. The souls that surrounded the man were partially enraged and kept urging him down to drown.

"Take me off! I'm gonna get out of here!" Sir William exclaimed, coughed as the river water entered his mouth. He tried to fight, but it was free. Everybody's got it. The river and Mount Bjork hold it. "Argent, let me go! I have nothing!" his screams. "I don't have anything else!"

Even you're afraid of death apparently. Jose swam closer without a sound. His ears were filled with the sound of water currents. When he got in front of Sir William, the river suddenly calmed down. Current's missing. It was like being in the middle of a lake.

Can catch that this is not a good thing, Sir William is getting panicked. He raised his face upwards, towards the dark cloud that was twisting faintly over Bjork, then shouted for help.

"There won't be any help" said Jose. He touched the man's forehead. Water was dripping from the arm of his soaked shirt. "From the beginning, he never helped you."

Sir William gnashed his teeth, staring back hatefully. "I curse you, Argent!" his his hisses trembled, either out of anger or fear. "I curse you and all your descendants!"

Jose has not commented. He pushed Sir William's head into the river and drowned him.

THE CRUX SACRA SIT MIHI LUX

As Jose began to pray, his voice echoed throughout Bjork in whisper echoes, as if the whole city were praying with him. The wind appeared in the sound of a falling storm splitting through the forests of Bjork in the South, blowing violently throughout the city, bringing with it the sound of each prayer being recited to the ends of the road.

THE NON DRACO SIT MIHI DUX

VADE RETRO SATANA VADE RETRO SHAKRAN

NUMQUAM SUADE MIHI VANA

SUNT MALA QUAE LIBAS

IPSE VENENA BIBAS

Sir William is still in the water. Air bubbles came out of his mouth and nose, as well as his ears. Jose raised his gaze at the transparent souls in front of him that were marred by grudges. They're all mad. They all did not want to let Sir William go of course—hal which ironically became the power of Shakranim and William.

Jose closed his eyes and whispered in a humble plea, asking for forgiveness and mercy for all those souls.

The entire tributary cliffs in purplish white from upstream to downstream, sparkling in transparent light. The same light enveloped the whole of Bjork. The night suddenly turned into day. The prayers of each person appeared in the form of a light of soft orbs, evaporating from each house through the precariousness and walls, soaring up until it slipped into the dark clouds that surrounded Bjork, then obliterated it.

Slowly but surely, all the sheldbolis disappeared into the dust of the sand. Their squeals and cliques dimmed from all over Bjork, leaving only black damage and stains on the walls and streets of the city.

Jose opened his eyes, looking directly at Sir William's blue iris which shone in frustration from deep in the river. Jose held both of the man's shoulders to stay in the water, then drowned his head in, hugging the body tightly. The river water felt ice-cold, biting all the way to the bone marrow.

I forgive you, he whispered in his heart. Spots of air bubbles swarm around it. We forgive you, William Bannet.

Lord, accept this man into the light of Your face.

***

William is still trying to fight. He can cheat the devil. He was allowed to cheat death. He should have survived this time. Should have. But his feet and hands could not be moved and he swallowed too much disgusting river water.

The disgusting river.

William was stunned to realize he could taste the water of this river. Hasn't my entire senses gone numb long ago?

Once out of Scholomance, he was Solomonari. He is no longer human. Food is as bland as sand and water as oil. Even if he does not eat or drink, he can live. He had been hit, harvested, rolled down from a ravine, but moments later his wound vanished without a trace. For the first few decades, it felt interesting. But after two hundred years had passed, it felt like serving an eternal punishment. He can't die. He can't eat. He could not feel the warmth of another person's body.

More sadly, there was no one to share the story with. Whenever he was ready to open himself, the man was hunted to death. Humans are so weak, so short of life. A little pain was enough to get them into the coffin. William shut himself up until he forgot how to talk to other people until he met Duke Ashington.

After betraying him, Frederick Ashington chooses to live in Aston instead of taking refuge in Bjork, William actually knows what the duke's reasons are. When a person becomes immortal, the nights spent alone feel very long. Loneliness will drive them crazy. Aston's frenzy kept Duke Ashington a little entertained, making him feel human again.

But all that could comfort William was one. Just Arabella.

Only the girl was not afraid of him, even when she knew that he was being followed by the devil. William summoned the demon Shakranim while trying to get him to talk. He had done it in a hidden place, but Arabella saw it. The girl did not coincidentally see him. Arabella followed him as long as he was a guest of Duke Ashington. The girl called him "The Man of Wonders" because he always told interesting things and brought antiques.

Instead of screaming in fear or running away, the girl approached him instead. William still vividly remembers how he immediately decided inwardly to leave before being expelled. But Arabella did not cast him out, instead busy questioning him about where the devil came from.

"Aren't you afraid?" tukas William who is uncomfortable in droves of questions.

"I'm sick" Arabella said. His pale cheeks frowned slightly as William leisurely sat by his side. "Doctor said, my life is just a little while away. But death is interesting to me. I wonder if there is another life after death. Then you show up and prove to me that there really is." The girl laughed sweetly from behind her fan. "You are never boring. You always show me something new that's interesting." Arabella continued with a soft, somewhat timid whisper, "Thank you for coming here."

Thank ye. That simple word stuck in William's mind for a few days. He became more attentive to Arabella, observing her fondness for partying and making friends with as many people as possible, her sweet singing voice, and her way of speaking cheerfully despite death being close to her. The girl thus contrasted with him, making William feel like he was being blatantly opposed.

William often moved around to avoid human suspicion, but he paused for a moment. Arabella's dynamic way of life made her want to settle down, wanting to continue to see how she lived each day.

Arabella felt the same way and they forged a secret love. William could not feel anything, so Arabella was always busy describing the taste of food and drink, as well as how it felt when they kissed.

Those were his happy days. The short days, which saved him from the gloom of the world.

When Arabella was gone, William ran into silence to call his teacher.

Arabella can return.

The girl could return as long as she could open seven gates of sin consecutively every seven years without interruption.

Lusts.

Greeds.

Sloths.

Wrath.

Envy.

Prides.

There's only one left. There's one more and he can meet Arabella. He can grant the girl's wish to see life after death. He could give her life after death.

Just a little more and he could hear the girl's laughter. Then maybe ... maybe thank you again.

But that's not possible. He lost.

William frowned in the stream. He could feel his life energy being absorbed. Darkening view. He faintly heard Arabella's voice calling out to him, scolding him playfully.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Billy!"

Not only Arabella, even Frederick Ashington and his nine old friends were also waiting there. Far away at the end of a long hallway.

Am I gonna get there?

William decided to try. This time without cheating, without the help of the devil.

***

They both sank deeper into the bottom of the river as if there was no end, getting deeper and deeper drawn by soft transparent white hands. Sir William shrank in Jose's arms, then slowly shrank and melted into wet sand. Jose just hugged Marco's coat. His hand caught Solomon's necklace floating glittering in the river.

Around him, unfamiliar hands and faces appeared crashing down like waves. Every time something pierced his head, Jose heard a soft whispering voice in his ear.

Thank ye.

Thank ye.

Thank ye.

The voices were simple as if they were spoken by hundreds of people at once amid the sound of currents and air bubbles in the water. Jose heard Gladys' voice in the middle of the noise.

It's not finished yet, he thought as he clasped tightly onto the talisman in hand. He clenched his eyelids and relaxed his body to release consciousness, allowing himself to be dragged further and further into the depths of darkness.

Many books tell the story of a man who could make an offer with God. The most famous person Jose knew was Abraham. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham bargained to save his brother Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah, who were about to be destroyed by God. When the Lord told him of his plan to destroy the two cities, Abraham ventured to ask if the city would still be destroyed if there were fifty righteous people in it. The Lord said that He would forgive the city if there were fifty righteous people there. Abraham then continued to ask while reducing the number of righteous from fifty, forty-five, twenty, to ten righteous. Keeping His promise, God would not destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten righteous people in the city. So God sent an angel to bring Lot and his family out of Sodom so that both cities could be destroyed. Abraham managed to save Lot.

Later in the book of Matthew a Canaanite woman insisted on asking Jesus for help to cast out the demon that possessed her daughter. When his insistence was rejected on the grounds that it was not appropriate to give the children bread and throw it at the dog, the woman twitched and said that the dog ate from the crumbs that fell from his master's desk. His faith saved him, his daughter survived.

Negotiation with God has been done for a long time by humans, both by prophets and non-prophets, by saints and sinners.

Jose was determined to do the same.

He will negotiate.

***

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Note:

¬Transendents: beyond human reach/beyond human logic.

¬Vade Retro Satana (God be You Satan) used by Lady Chantall (chapter 154) and Jose is a medieval Catholic prayer formula for exarcism. This formula is recorded in a 1415 manuscript found at the Benedictine Metten Abbey in Bavaria.

THE CRUX SACRA SIT MIHI LUX

THE NON DRACO SIT MIHI DUX

VADE RETRO SATANA

NUMQUAM SUADE MIHI VANA

SUNT MALA QUAE LIBAS

IPSE VENENA BIBAS

Which can be translated into:

Let the Holy Cross shine on me

Let not the devil (written as 'dragon') rule me.

Get rid of you, Satan

Don't confuse me with something evil

What you're offering is evil.

Drink your own poisons.

¬ Bargain to bid for the Abraham that Jose referred to in Genesis 18:16-33

¬The Canaanite woman referred to is in the Book of Matthew 15:22-28

Actually, I want to use examples of bargaining from other religious books to vary, but I fear it is offensive, so all I write is from the book in my house is 😂