By My Will alone is Balance sundered [backpost]

Posted on 30 Jul 2015 @ 10:39pm by Oren Idris

1,650 words; about a 8 minute read

[ON]

[Mirror Universe, One year ago - 2389]

Those who oppose thee
Shall know the wrath of heaven.
From the face of the earth,
Lightning shall rain down from the sky,
They shall cry out to their false gods,
And find silence.

The sound of the priests' chant could be heard over the running water in the bathroom as Ren splashed it against her face. She sighed as it cooled her skin and ran her hand over her chin and neck to keep the drops from wetting her clothes. Taking a deep breath and hoping the nausea of her hangover would pass, Ren slid her hands from her neck into her hair, sweeping it back, not damp from the water.

Turning the water off, she gave herself a quick glance in the mirror before slowly making her way outside, where Nur was waiting. She perked up, pushing herself off the wall she'd been leaning on while waiting for her colleague to return.

"You alright?" she asked Ren, handing her the yellow coat she'd been holding. Ren took it with a nod of gratitude, throwing it over her elbow. "Fine..." she said as they walked back through the cemetery towards the funeral group.

"Are you sure?" Nur asked again, walking a step behind Ren. Almost three inches shorter, mostly at the expense of her legs, the small Bajoran woman could rarely keep up with her older, El Aurian partner.

"I'm fine, Nur, but I'll tell you one thing," Ren replied, rolling her shoulder and stretching the muscles of her neck to work out as much tension and nausea as possible. "I'm never buying Hallex off Niftu Cal again. That stuff must be cut with something because I thought I'd puke out my soul in there."

Nur nodded, but made the wise decision to remain silent, simply observing Ren as they approached the gathering. She watched Ren make her way through people without much effort, most simply moving to the side at the sight of her. Eventually, they broke through to the spot they'd been in before Ren's episode.

The priest, an old woman by any species' standards, stood in front of them, Ren and Nur a few feet behind her. The pyre was in the middle of the group, ready to be set aflame and the deceased's soul to evaporate to whatever heaven fate had in store.

Ren rested her hands behind her back, one over the other, and kept her head down. All visual stimuli lowered to the bare minimum, she focused on the priest's words.

And as the black clouds came upon them,
They looked on what pride had wrought,
And despaired.

As the hymn continued, Ren would admit she heard very little she had not heard before. The Church of Holy Fire was very repetitive in its teachings. Instead, Ren focused on the dead man wrapped in cloth resting on the pyre and thanked the Heavens for modern technology which saved them from the smell that lingered around dead bodies, especially those left in the sun for how long it took the priest to earn her keep.

O Great Fire, hear my cry:
Seat me by Your side in death
Make me one within Your glory
And let the world once more see Your favor

For You are the fire at the heart of the world
And comfort is only Yours to give.

As the priest finished, Ren's attention once again focused on her. She lowered her hands once again to let them rest in front of her.

"My brothers and sisters, death is only the beginning of life's journey. Or deceased brother has passed on and it is not ours to mourn his loss. Instead, we should rejoice, for he is finally cleansed of all wrongdoing in this world and has moved on to the next, a pure soul."

Ren rolled her downcast eyes.

"Let us not be selfish and wish for him to always be with us," the priest continued. "For what is immortality but a curse amongst the living."

Nur watched Idris flinch slightly at those words. The El Aurian glanced up to look at the priest as she continued.

"There is nothing more purifying than death, as it is the secret to life," she went on.

"It is ultimately selfish to make permanent those experiences and joys which are only lovable because they are changing. Music is a delight because of its rhythm and flow. Yet the moment you arrest the flow and prolong a note or chord beyond its time, the rhythm is destroyed. Because life is likewise a flowing process, change and death are its necessary parts. To work for their exclusion is to work against life."

A sigh escaped Ren once more as she listened to the priest's words with a growing feeling of dread, lost in her thoughts. Despite the steel nerves she prided herself on having, Ren couldn't help but feel stung by the priest's words, despite the source.

Looking down at her hands and then at the priest's, she wondered their age difference. Surely, the other woman couldn't be more than eighty and yet she looked two miles from death while Ren kept her youthful figure, her skin rosey and beautiful, a stark contrast to the old woman.

"In the course of nature, once we have ceased to see magic in the world anymore, were no longer fulfilling nature's game being aware of it. There's no point in it any longer. And so we die."
Ren swallowed hard, staring at a spot on the ground. Suddenly, she felt a hand touch hers. She grabbed the offending limb and squeezed, making Nur withhold a yelp of pain.

"Any creature whose life drags on is not living, but damned to spend it's existence accumulating its sin, with no repentance, no purity."

Her grip on Nur's wrist tightened and didn't falter until the end of the ceremony.

---

Here lies the well of all souls.
From these flames doth life begin anew.
Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you.
In my arms lies Eternity.

Oren recited quietly to herself, knelt in front of the eternal fire inside the church, her hands resting in her lap and her head lowered in respect. The priest's words had been painful to hear, but over the years Ren had learned to accept them as a necessary evil.

The door beside her opened and Nur stepped out, looking a bit shaken. She stopped short at the sight of Ren on her knees in front of the altar, but didn't comment. The fact that Nur knew exactly when her silence was worth it's length in latinum was Ren's favorite attribute on her. It was the main reason they worked so well together.

"It's done," she said, crossing and uncrossing her arms nervously, as Ren stood up after giving the altar a final, respectful nod.

"Good," Ren nodded, starting to make her way through the church and towards the main gate. After a moment, she realised Nur wasn't following. She turned to look at her, still standing by the altar.

"Problem?"

Nur shook her head, wrapping her arms around her body.

"Don't lie," Ren said.

Blinking, Nur looked down at her feet.

"Was this...was this right?" she asked, looking at the door she'd gone through moment's before. "What happens when someone finds her?"

"That's not our problem. She's dead. That's all that matters," Ren replied, turning her body to face Nur fully. She pointed to the spot in front of her on the floor and Nur came over to stand there without hesitation. Ren looked at her.

"Did you do everything I told you?" she asked the girl, who nodded.

"Did you do anything I didn't tell you to do? Look at me!" Ren asked, her voice rising to echo off the walls as Nur looked down. Startled, she looked up to lock eyes with Ren.

"I-I...Yes," she said, rubbing her hand against the fabric of her shirt in what she thought was a hidden movement.

Ren grabbed her hand by the wrist and raised it up towards her face, jerking Nur's entire body towards her. With a sniff, Ren's nose was suddenly assaulted with the metallic scent of dried blood. She let go of Nur's hand, giving her a look.

"You're a very sick girl, Nur," she said, sighing like an exasperated parent. "We'll talk back at the base. Let's go..." Nur nodded, lowering her head and following Idris out of the church.

Inhaling the fresh air, Ren took a moment to herself just outside the church, in the courtyard, before taking out her comm.

Tapping the appropriate code, she waited for an answer. At the click, she brought the device to her painted lips.

"Oren Idris reporting. Target has been neutralised."

"Acknowledged. Return to base and await further instruction."

"Acknowledged. Idris out." Lowering the device, Ren turned to see Nur by her side. "Congratulations," she said with a smirk. Nur tried to smile back but failed.

"Thank you," Nur replied, nodding. "What happens now?"

"I told you, we're going to the base," Ren said. Nur shook her head.

"No, I mean...with the patriarch."

"Ah..." Ren nodded, turning her head to look at the garden in the courtyard. "When they find her, they'll start an investigation while looking for someone to replace her. She's old, and her views are ancient so they'll want a fresh, new face. Our agents are putting the word of Elren in their ears."

"Elren? Alax Elren?"

Ren nodded in confirmation.

"Why do we need to watch him? I mean, he's a kid. He should be easy enough to manipulate," Nur said, the two slowly walking through the courtyard.

"A leash can be pulled from either direction. It's best to be safe."

[OFF]

Oren Idris
KCA Agent
[PNPC Idris]

 

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