Inveigle

Chapter Thirty-Four: Hitler (and others)

This is getting too weird. I sat in the spare bedroom lent to me by Aunt Sarah Gene. My legs folded under me on the pale pink carpet. I faced a floor length mirror because it felt strange not to look someone in the eye during a conversation, even if it was my own.

Your emotions tell me that you blame us.

Trust me, this is weird for us, as well. We have never had a physical form, not even for an instant.

Inhale, inhale, inhale. Hold. Exhale. Logos is right. I can't be mad at them. They only give me the gift of persuasion. They didn't make me and Persim collide, or did they? They needed someone to go up against their sibling. I let out a long breath. This was giving me a migraine. I already felt like one of the only people in the country that disagreed with her policies. Well, I could kind of be mad at them. Without Logos and Pathos I never would have started that first protest. I never would have been the personal target of the President of the United States.

Alright, but I need you to be honest. You hear all of my thoughts, know me better than I do. Yet, the street isn't going both ways. You two are keeping something from me. What happened in the past?

Silence.

Pathos? Why were you so...emotional when you spoke with Ethos before? What deaths were you referring to?

The silence I received again made me angry. I began grinding my teeth together watching my jaw go back and forth in the mirror.

This wasn't working. I needed to speak with them face to face. How do I get in my own head? They had always pulled me into my mind previously. I shut my eyes. I need to stop looking at my physical self. I concentrate on me, the actual me. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. I no longer felt the carpet beneath me. I opened my eyes and in place of the mirror I saw a fountain. I was sitting on pristinely green grass in a garden that smelled like honeysuckle. I stood up and turned to see Pathos and Logos sitting side by side on a white, marble bench.

"Impressive," Logos sounded resigned, but behind his glasses, his eyes showed no emotion. He looked drained.

"Pathos," I said calmly, turning my gaze from Logos, "What happened between you two and Ethos?" Logos moved to put his arm around his sister's shoulders. Her blonde curls fell from behind her ear. I had never seen anyone so beautiful before. The conflict displayed on her face did not take away from her elegance. She shuddered.

"Eighty million. That's how many souls were lost because we gave him our powers. I wanted to leave. Ethos liked the power, the blind followers," Pathos finished talking and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Of course, Hitler wasn't the first one to abuse the gift we gave him. Many leaders throughout history have come to power through us," Logos added. "Pathos and I are tired of it. We don't just create sheep. We also give talent to artists and strength to wonderful leaders: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Joan of Arc, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. People that used us the right way."

"So you resided in them like you are with me now. All three of you?" I sat back down on the grass. I felt the soft, green slip through my fingers.

"The more famous ones, yes, I suppose we were with most of them at least for a short time. Many humans have pieces of us. That's the way I prefer it, to visit and empower before we overstay our welcome and begin to taint the mind in a negative way."

I stared at them. They looked whole to me. Logic of course sensed my confusion. "Not every mind is suited for us. Only about 1% of the human population has a mind capable of housing us for more than a day. There are years where we flit from one mind to the next. It's exhausting. These people only know us through dreams and urges. The type where you wake in the middle of the night inspired. When we leave, some part of our essence remains. In some cases it can be passed from one generation to the next. I'm afraid that without us, humanity would be a very dull species."

From where I sat Pathos looked to be an attractive woman having a rough day on a park bench with her brother there to comfort her. Both seemed almost too perfect to be human, and yet I knew them. I knew their family struggle and personality like an old-

"Friend?" Logos finished for me. "Yes, we consider you a friend, too, Cora."

I couldn't help but smile. It had been a long time since I had felt-

"Loved," it was Pathos who responded this time. The tears were gone from her eyes. "Yes, Cora, you could say that we love you."

I blinked. My eyes opened to my reflection once again. I stood up and made my way into the kitchen. Everyone I knew was still there. They sat around confused and defeated. Earlier that day we had held the funeral for Nathan. Ava hadn't spoken to anyone in days.

I cleared my throat. Eyes turned to me, "I have a plan."