Incarnations of Immortality

by Anthony, Piers

  "Not all men are like that," Mym protested.

  "You don't desire my body?" she inquired challengingly.

  Mym sighed. There was no respectable answer he could give to that.

  Seeing that practically all was lost, and with the fell pirate almost upon her, Ligeia had screamed. After all, submission to public rape was no more possible for a princess than a public apology was for a king. In private, a different standard obtained. After a princess got married, both rape and apology were likely, perhaps even necessary.

  But not desirable, Mym remarked.

  Every other person aboard the plane had lost consciousness. Ligeia, of course, did not know how to pilot it. So the plane crashed, and all aboard were killed, including her.

  "And so I found myself in Hell," she concluded.

  "But you did nothing worthy of damnation!" Mym protested.

  "That is my claim," she agreed. "Technically I did commit suicide-but it was to protect my virtue. And I was responsible for many deaths-but it was self-defense, and they were evil men. I feel that if I could only get a fair hearing, the powers who be should agree that I should go to Heaven. But it seems that my scroll was charged with both murder and suicide, and so I was damned. Of course I would have been damned had I submitted, too."

  "Damned if you do and damned if you don't," Mym agreed.

  "And then Satan had the temerity to force me to-I tried to warn you away, but-"

  "The thing to do," Mym said firmly, "is to turn Satan's trap against him. To get out of Hell. That would serve him right."

  "But I keep telling you, that can't be done!" she protested. "Only you alone can win free, if you know how. I can only do it if I get my hearing, and Satan will never allow that."

  "How can he prevent it?" Mym asked, nettled. "Doesn't God have anything to say about it?"

  "God doesn't interfere in the affairs of mortals or with the Incarnations," she said despairingly.

  "Well, I am under no such restriction," Mym said. "I shall get you out."

  "That is exactly what Satan wants you to try," she reminded him.

  "I am disinclined to disappoint him." Mym considered. "Do you think Satan is listening to us now?"

  "Well, we're hiding from him-"

  "It is in my mind that Satan permitted us to reach this place," he said. "He surely can tune in on us. This is, after all, his domain."

  "I hadn't thought of that," she confessed. "But Hell is a very big region. I'm sure he can't devote his attention to every little detail all the time. Once he knew we were together, he probably went on to other business."

  "Probably," Mym agreed. "So we can consider our conversation private."

  She shrugged. "I suppose so. But it doesn't matter. I can't get out and, as long as I prevent you from getting out, I am serving his purpose. I don't like that, though I do like being with you."

  She was probably correct, Mym thought. She had served as the lure to bring him in, and now served as the chain to keep him here. Satan had no need to watch them.

  Yet it was hardly unpleasant, being here with Ligeia. She was a nice girl, with compatible values, and extraordinarily pretty, and he had always been fascinated by that -type.

  He changed his position, as the stone was not really comfortable. His eye fell on the snake.

  The snake was watching him.

  Mym completed his adjustment as if he had not noticed, but his mind was suddenly awhirl. Surely it was true that Satan had worse things to do than watch two people get acquainted. But Mym was an Incarnation, and, though Satan could penetrate the veil of invisibility Mym had invoked, he probably couldn't do it from any distance. One Incarnation could not interfere with another from a distance. So Satan probably wasn't tuning in on them directly.

  But Satan would not want to let an Incarnation move about Hell unsupervised. He would have to have some way to keep track. And what better way would there be than to assign a lesser minion?

  The snake was that minion. It would report on Mym's location at all times and on any important activity Mym indulged in. That would certainly be a convenient way to keep track.

  He could touch the snake, phase in with it, and learn for sure. But that might alert Satan that he, Mym, had caught on. Better to seem not to have caught on.

  But how could he tell Ligeia, without the snake hearing? And how could he get away from the snake, without alerting it and Satan?

  Well, he could phase in to Ligeia and plant a thought in her mind. But at this point he preferred not to do that, because it would be an invasion of what little privacy she might have, and because she was, indeed, a young woman he was quite ready to like and perhaps love. Too great an intimacy could spoil such a relationship.

  Or was he afraid that if he phased in to Ligeia he would discover that she was merely another agent of Satan's?

  It was a possibility he had to consider. If she was, not only would he be disappointed, but his verification of her could betray his suspicion to Satan himself. That would leave him with nothing.

  He considered some more and decided that he would have to keep whatever escape plan he might have to himself.

  For, abruptly, he realized that he did have a plan-a bold, wild one that only he had any chance of implementing. If he could implement it successfully, not only would he rescue Ligeia, he would be able to rescue many other unfairly damned souls. In addition, it would amply repay Satan for his audacity in trying to trap another Incarnation in Hell and force him to do Satan's will.

  It wasn't the nice way and certainly it wasn't the easy way. But Mym was Mars and he felt that the honor of his office was at stake. He wanted to teach Satan a lesson about interfering with Mars.

  When night fell in Hell, they were satisfied that the pursuit had ended. They had talked and slept and now were eager to get out of the cramped cave.

  "I believe there is some way out of Hell," Mym said. "I intend to find it. Do you have any idea where it might be?"

  Ligeia considered. "For you, many ways. For me-"

  "For us both. Maybe you could not use the exit by yourself, but I could enable you to use it." She brightened. "Maybe-oh, dare I hope?"

  "It is better to hope than to have no hope."

  "I have hoped many times and always had my hope dashed."

  "There's always hope that this time your hope won't be dashed."

  She smiled. "For you, I will entertain that hope. But I really don't know where an exit would be. The River Styx circles all of Hell, and only the ferryman Charon can take a soul across. That he will not do, except by the order of Satan."

  "But Hell is three dimensional!" Mym protested.

  "How can one river surround it all?"

  "I don't know," she said, surprised.

  "And we came down from above, so there must be a route there," he persisted.

  "Yes, there must be," she agreed. "Funny that I never thought of that. But I still don't know how to use such an exit."

  It occurred to Mym that if Hell were like Purgatory, its apparent three dimensionality could be an actual two dimensions, so that one river could indeed enclose it all. The descending capsule could have carried them right through the River Styx, charmed by Satan's order. But he saw no point in bring up such morbid speculation. "What we need to do is inquire," he said. "There is sure to be someone who knows and will tell us. But we can't question the damned souls openly, or Satan will shut off any exit that we find."

  "We could use the back route," she said. "The demons don't go there, because-"

  "Back route?"

  "There are roads and things for the front route, but the demons use those, so anyone who doesn't belong would be challenged and caught very soon. Of course, if we were invisible, it might work-but we'd have to become visible to talk with anyone, and then the demons might see. But the back route is through the wilderness-the marshes around the rivers, mainly. But though there aren't demons, there are other things, like monsters and natural hazards. I don't know whether-"

&nb
sp; "What happens to a person caught by a monster or a natural hazard?"

  "A lot of discomfort or pain, mainly," she said. "We really can't die here, but it would hurt a lot to be chomped up and eaten by a monster, and then you'd be in its belly. I really wouldn't enjoy that."

  That was something to think about. Could a monster consume Mars? Probably not. But it could consume Ligeia. Could he protect her from such threats? Perhaps he could, by keeping her in contact with him.

  "I think I can guard you from that. Are you willing to risk it?"

  "At this point it can be no worse than what Satan would

  do to me, if-" She didn't finish, and Mym knew why. If she failed her assignment of trapping him in Hell, for all that she had never agreed to do it, she would be punished in Hell's worst fashion. There were indeed fates worse than death, and Hell was the place where these were suffered.

  "I have a tentative plan of escape," Mym said carefully. "I can't tell you exactly what it is, because news might reach Satan." He flicked his eyes toward the snake without moving his head, hoping that she would understand the signal while the snake missed it. "But it requires that I meet with the various leaders of the souls of Hell not the ones doing Satan's business, but the ones who are genuinely interested in human welfare. I presume that, though these souls are damned, they are not totally evil. Can the back route get me to these souls, and can you guide me there?"

  Her eyes also flicked toward the snake. "Yes."

  How comprehensive an answer was that? Whatever it was, he had to accept it.

  They climbed down out of the cave and to the ledge, and the snake slithered after them. That was fine with Mym; he did not want to get rid of the snake, because then Satan would have to assign some other creature to snoop, and that one might be more effective. Also, the snake served as the pretext for him not to speak his true plan aloud, so that he did not have to share it with Ligeia. He disliked having to distrust her, but she was serving as an agent of Satan, and he could not be quite, quite certain of her ultimate loyalty.

  It was nervy business, walking down the narrow ledge in the dark, but necessary. They proceeded slowly for hours, winding around the mountain, and finally, as dawn was threatening, they reached the base.

  They were both tired, so sought a place to rest and sleep. To be tired in the spirit form was no more anomalous than dawn in Hell. Mym's body seemed fully physical to him; it even had natural functions, requiring him to borrow the cover of a bush for a minute. It seemed that if one ate in the Afterlife, one also digested and eliminated; if one labored, one became tired.

  They formed a bower-a shelter of boughs-under a leaning tree, making a bed of leaves and fem. They lay down to sleep-and the bugs located them. This was Hell, of course; naturally there were obnoxious vermin.

  But Mym simply enfolded Ligeia in his cloak, and the bugs could not get to them. Of course this made it more difficult to sleep, because she was very warm and soft against him. He had sought her because he was in need of a woman, but he wasn't quite sure of her, and of course a princess was not a concubine, so he did not want to move things along too hastily. But that did not mean that he could simply ignore her contact and sleep.

  “A penny for your thoughts," she murmured.

  “No sale."

  “Are you sure you don't desire me?"

  “Of course I desire you!" he snapped. "But-"

  "That's nice," she said. "But don't worry; I won't corrupt you." And she fell asleep.

  How nice for her. Did she, as a pampered princess, even know what male desire signified? She had to, for she had been threatened with rape both as a mortal and as a spirit. But probably she assumed that nice men were different and expressed desire only as an intellectual compliment with no physical component. Well, he would try to honor that notion. Certainly if he had really wanted concubinage without content, he could have had it in Lilith/Lila.

  Lilith. Lila. Ligeia. He had not before realized how similar those names were. Could it be that-?

  No! That was preposterous. Yet, insidiously, he had to wonder. What a fool Satan would be making of him, if he had been tricked into trapping himself in Hell for the same creature he had renounced in Purgatory! If he was now torturing himself with desire unfulfilled for a damned amoral demoness!

  He could phase in to her and learn her identity for certain. He knew that he should. But still he refrained. Suppose Ligeia turned out to be genuine, and his intrusion betrayed his distrust? How would she react to him then? He would not blame her for feeling betrayed.

  Was he weighing the risk of his actual betrayal against her mere feeling of betrayal? There could be no question of the appropriate course to take. Yet he could not.

  She stirred. "Why are you tense?" she asked.

  "Just thinking."

  "Are you sure you won't tell me?"

  "You would not like it."

  "I don't see how your thoughts could be worse than the rest of Hell."

  She had a point. "I am wondering whether you are who and what you say you are."

  "I am," she said, then reconsidered. "Oh, you mean you doubt? I suppose that's sensible. Who else do you think I might be?"

  "Lilith, the demoness."

  She became fully alert. "The one who went to the cave with the demons? You think I-?"

  "I told you you wouldn't like it."

  "I don't! But I suppose you are right to wonder. Demons can assume any form, so she could make herself look just like me. But how can I prove my identity?"

  "There is a way," he said reluctantly.

  "That's what men always say, isn't it? But I understand that demons are better at it than genuine people are, so-"

  "As the Incarnation of War, I have certain powers. One of them is the ability to-"

  "To incite violence," she said. "You are doing a fanjob of it now!"

  This was exactly the kind of entanglement he had wanted to avoid. But now he was in it and had to slog through. "Also to phase in to people, to occupy their bodies and minds and grasp their thoughts."

  "Oh." She considered. "I thought you meant another kind of penetration."

  "I would not practice either on you without your consent," he said stiffly.

  "This phasing in, so you can read my mind-does it mean I can also read yours?"

  That notion startled him. "I'm not sure. When I have done it with mortals, they were unaware of my intrusion. But I could project my thoughts to them. I suppose, if one realized what the situation was, he might have read my thoughts on his own."

  "Then phase in to me," she said.

  "But if you should be a demoness-"

  "Then Satan will know all your secrets. But you seek to know mine. Turnabout is fair play, isn't it?"

  It did make sense. He had distrusted her; she could distrust him. He wanted to trust her; surely she wanted to trust him. The phasing in would resolve all doubts, one way or the other.

  "But do you realize that this can be a more intimate association than any physical one could be?" he asked, still hesitant.

  "I would rather be known than unknown, "she said simply.

  So he phased in. For a moment he had trouble orienting, and was afraid that it wouldn't work when there was no mortal body to anchor to. But then he realized that in the mortal realm he had used the physical body to fix the spiritual essence in place; on this occasion it could be done directly.

  He overlapped her-and discovered that not only was it possible to do it without the physical bodies, it was much easier, because there was no flesh to get in the way. Just like that, her thoughts were his.

  She was genuine. All that she had told him was true. Her mind was so straightforward, and the merging so complete, that there was absolutely no doubt.

  So that's the plan! he thought with surprise.

  No, that's not your thought, it's mine, the thought followed immediately. Ligeia's.

  The rapport was so thorough that he had mistaken her thought for his own! He had never anticipated succes
s like this! Why had she even been concerned about-wait, whose thought was this? His or hers?

  Does it matter?

  Confused, Mym disengaged. They lay there, both there bodies radiant with the experience, assimilating the enormous impact of the prior few moments. Truly, they had known each other for an instant.

  Now Mym discovered that he could recollect greater detail in Ligeia's memories than he had been aware of before. He seemed to have acquired part of her mind.

  "It was right to let Rapture go, though you still loved her," Ligeia said.

  "You share my memories?" he asked, knowing it was so.

  "Your memories become you," she said. "You are a decent man. I can see why you are wary of the demoness; that business with the talking head-"

  "I had no idea that the phase would be that complete, Li!"

  "I know, Mym, I know," she said.

  "How well we know each other so suddenly!"

  "It was worth it."

  "It was worth it," he repeated.

  "I think we shall very soon be in love."

  "Very soon," he agreed.

  "For the first time in my Afterlife, I am glad I went to Hell."

  "I know." He kissed her. The acquaintance that should have taken months had been accomplished in seconds.

  Now, secure in their knowledge of each other, they slept.

  Ligeia did know her way generally about Hell. She had found a map of it in a book Satan had shown her. The book described the various regions and tortures available; the showing of it had not been any favor to her, but a threat. She had been terrified by the threat, but she had remembered the pretty map.

  "The River Lethe originates near the center, and that is where Satan's private retreat is," she said. "So we should discover its source spring near here."

  "Lethe-the water of forgetfulness?" he asked. "My mythology is not yours, but I seem to remember that."

  "True. If we thirst, we had better not drink that water, for we will not even remember our mission thereafter."

  They walked along, and the snake followed, and they found the spring, and thirst smote Mym, but he knew he could not drink. The clear water bubbled up from the white sand below, forming a lovely pool surrounded by rich vegetation. There were several canoes on a rack beside it. This was evidently a wilderness retreat.