Salem Snippets: A Collection of Silver Society Shorts

HOW THE POWERS THAT BE CAME TO BE

This story explains who the mysterious Powers That Be are and where they came from. There is a lot of history included in this one-shot. It's significantly longer than most of the others, but hopefully by the end, you'll have a much better understanding of Judas, the other Powers That Be, and the story of how a certain demonic assassin became what he is today.

HOW THE POWERS THAT BE CAME TO BE

Long before souls began incarnating to Earth, a hierarchy was established. The Light was run by Vishnu, the Darkness by Alestair, and all entities belonged to one or the other.

One day, Vishnu discovered that he could create entities from the very Light which he embodied. He eagerly began to create what would soon become the group known as the Powers That Be.

The first was Nathaniel. Although every Power That Be had a variety of magickal talents, each one had one specific area which they especially excelled in. Nathaniel was a master of Elemental magick. Andrea was gifted in manipulating and reading energy. Balthos had combat magick and a naturally protective energy. Jane was a powerful empath who could sense even the most hidden and guarded of emotions. James was a gifted Seer whose visions always came true, even if not always in the way he imagined. Justice kept Order and understood Chaos magick. Jonathan specialized in psychometry, picking up information about a person or place by reading the psychic impressions of objects connected to them. The youngest, Lou Anne, was born from the same thread of Light which created Balthos. She was a Light Sorceress and a powerful healer.

At the same moment that Lou Anne was created, a Demon of Darkness split off of the Darkness on her own. Her name was Carolyn. As a Dark Sorceress and necromancer, she perfectly balanced Lou Anne. The young demon was naturally rebellious and didn't like taking orders from Alestair despite being from the Darkness, so she set off on her own most days to explore the Universe.

Lou Anne and Carolyn were still children when they met. That day, Lou Anne was also exploring the Universe. The little girl was made of pure Light. Her skin was extremely pale, her eyes a soft grey-blue, her hair so pale blonde it was almost white. She radiated an innocent aura, making her an easy target for Alestair's more evil creations, but it was one of Vishnu's creations who came for her.

Lamashtu was a Goddess who belonged to the Mesopotamian pantheon. She enjoyed preying on children and expectant mothers. Seeing an innocent but unbelievably powerful young entity all alone was too tempting for her to resist.

"Hello, little one," Lamashtu hissed.

Lou Anne's eyes widened curiously as she looked at the unusual deity. "Hi," she replied shyly. "Who are you?"

The Goddess attacked instead of answering. She tried to pull Lou Anne closer to her so she could eat the child. Lou Anne let out a terrified scream. Suddenly, a rock was flung at Lamashtu's head.

The furious Goddess turned around to see who had dared to attack her and was met with another rock, this time to her face. As she cried out in rage and indignation, the little girl who'd attacked her said, "Do you want another one? Let her go, you ugly old hag!"

Carolyn radiated with dark magick and far too much rage for a child so young. Although she was as pale as Lou Anne, her hair and eyes were pure black. She picked up another rock. This time, she enchanted it with dark magick before throwing it at Lamashtu as the Goddess tried to slaughter her.

Lamashtu screamed as her skin burned. Smoke rose from her flesh. She lunged at Carolyn with a crazed look in her eyes. Much to Carolyn's surprise, Lou Anne kicked the Goddess hard in her shin.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Lou Anne shouted.

Lamashtu cursed. "I despise children!" She screamed before trying to attack Lou Anne.