Lucy's Demons

Part V: Principalities

Bulldog didn't bother with his seatbelt as he pulled out of the Liberty Hill High School parking lot, leaving Lucy scrambling to fasten hers. She inched as close to the truck door as she could without feeling rude and put her hand in the middle of the bench seat between them, intensely aware of its inadequacy as her only defensive barrier against this dubious new ally.

...........

"Deyan anay tasa Gaap! Deyan anay tasa Gaap!" Lucy slowly vibrated the enn chant with loud tones and long breaths, falling deep into the meditative state that had come to be her sole sanctuary. She sat cross-legged in the center of her bed with her cherished text open in front of her.

Just two years prior, the newly discovered Tome of Artemis had burst upon the world stage. A recent surge in nationalism across the globe had preceded a mass exodus from fundamentalist religions, and this newly discovered holy text was like an oasis for disillusioned spiritualists in many nations.

One of the myriad mysteries regarding the Tome of Artemis was the 144 empty pages at the end. They were prophesied to one day be miraculously filled as the apocalypse drew near. But it was the tales of Solomon and his Master Mason, Hiram Abiff, that revealed the esoteric universe existing just beyond uninitiated human perception.

These chapters detailed mental exercises similar in practice to secrets revealed by Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie of the Golden Dawn. Those traitors to their magical order had liberated this arcane knowledge from the esoteric few and delivered it to the unwashed masses. But the practice didn't require or imbue any supernatural ability. Rather it comprised a set of visualization techniques well within the grasp of any human willing to brave the unexplored frontiers of their own mind.

Yet the text was far from a mere instruction manual. Where traditional occult lore like the Lesser Key of Solomon had maintained an ambiguous distance from the other side, The Tome of Artemis related an explicit dramatic narrative of the inner workings of the aether. It was a syncretic witches brew of ancient astrological pantheons, historical events, magicians, the vast hierarchy of Hell, and a few rare glimpses across the abyss into Heaven as well.

Like many others caught up in the furor over the Tome, Lucy had come to believe the stories and practices in this sacred text could elevate her potential and save her from the Hell on Earth her young life had become.

As her chants evolved from out loud to internal, she felt that familiar shift of consciousness wash over her. She embraced it like her dear friend, Tree, in the backyard. She was "in". Inside her own mind. In a virtual reality of her own making that afforded her absolute peace and freedom.

Lucy imagined herself on a hilltop on a cool and sunny morning. She reached down and plucked a wildflower from the velveteen green grass, smelled it joyfully, and effortlessly welded it back in place on the stem.

"What to do, first?"

She sat down. Running her fingers through the grass with euphoric sensation, she called out to Robin in a sweet singsong voice but received no reply. She tried so hard to feel her sister's presence, but it was like trying to grasp water. Sometimes she would see a strange spot in the sky, but not today. Frustrated, Lucy left the ground, flying high into the air. Rising over the clouds, she peered out across the marmalade skies and called for Robin. Higher, near the edge of space, far above the world, Lucy screamed the name. But still no answer came. She floated back down to Earth, pondering.

When she touched down on the hill, she began to pray to her spirit friend. "Lord Gaap, I know you are with me." Lucy always imagined she could feel his aetheric presence, though she had never seemed able to create a clear image of him. "Once again, I need your help. How can I make Talia stop being mad at me without giving up your gift of Dantalion's concert? I don't want to lose my only friend in hopes of finding my sister. It's so unfair! But she doesn't believe in you like I do. She won't understand why you've done this for me and what it means. Even if Jim were a monster who means to hurt me, I know you mean it for my good. I know I'm safe!"