Sunday, January 23, 2022 - Chelsea, New York City, United States

Arcsa came to stand by Ella to look at the exhibit. He was five minutes early. Ella looked back and saw someone who glowed with the telltale magic of the scorpions take a position near the entrance to the museum.1

If before he had carried himself like a soldier, today his body language was entirely different. His shoulder length grey-silver hair was artfully pulled back and his clothing was casual jeans and a chunky knit sweater. He looked like a movie star playing the silver fox.

The type that would have no problem being seen with someone in her twenties as Ella realized what they would look like.

Then again, their age difference was measured in millennia so it was really ridiculous to worry about how people perceived them.

Without a word, they began to stroll towards the next painting. The front door became obscured as they went behind the spiral staircase that dominated the room.

Ella’s watch buzzed and she saw it was Bahu who was texting tabs on Donna. Donna, who was up at the gym in Long Island City supposedly meeting Craig and her. Ella held up her hand for a moment and texted her apologies for bailing to both Craig and Donna and wishing them a good training session. No wink emoji even though she was tempted.

“So what did your Donna have to say?”

“She called Kothin.” And that was all that needed to be said.

“Do you want us to pick her up?”

“Now I know you didn’t mean that. Even I, a rank amateur, know better than wasting an opportunity like this.”

“Very good. It seems you have been not wasting all your time. How long have you been at this?”

“Three months?”

Arcsa’s eyebrow raise was perhaps indicative of his true surprise more than anything he might say.

“Then very good indeed. Do you know what to do now?”

“Not yet. Classes start again soon and part of me still holds onto the desire for normalcy. But that is not in the cards, is it?”

“So what will you do…”

“For now I’ll continue. I doubt there will be much normalcy to be had.”

“True enough.”

“So let’s talk about us.”

They moved to the next piece of art - something Himalayan by the title, but they weren’t here to be aesthetes.

Arcsa continued, “Bahu will be your liaison as we said. We will need to see more before our loyalty can be freely given.”

There was something odd about his inflection of the word “freely.”

“Why serve anyone at all?”

“We are not heretics!” Arcsa’s shift in tone from an urbane sotto voce to an angered bark was frightening in its intensity. Some of the other museum attendees gave a glance but subsided when they went back to talking softly.

“I apologize. I know you are not familiar with us or our faith. Despite potentially being the object of its veneration.” He assayed a smile.

“Is this one of those things I am expected to blindly stumble through prophesied actions and somehow prove worthy?”

“Not at all. You will be taking instruction in the Faith as part of our deal.”

“Let’s get down to the deal then. What do you want from me.”

“First, a warning, I am going to go beneath the tenets of our faith. But it is critical you understand, even despite what I tell you, it makes no difference to our belief. The whole thing is created and artificial and it does not matter. Not one bit.”

Ella sort of followed and let her silence be an indication to go on.

“During Ekerri’s war of ascension, some of the kingdoms took the opportunity to rebel. We were created to maintain his rule here, such that we were immune to some magic, that our skills were innate for the most part. Then he imbued in us a profound belief, a faith, that could withstand anything. I know Ekerri is mortal. I can talk about how he programmed my brain. And if he ordered me to kill everyone and everything I know, I would not hesitate.”

“So there are no unbelievers?”

“There were heretics, but it is one of failure of our programming than a question of belief. Often they were heterodox in their beliefs. And the correct belief is determined by who is left at the end.”

“And now? How do you defy him? That is what you are doing.”

“In this, he made a mistake. As part of our beliefs, he created a… vision of hell for us: one named Kur. We assume the story was to let us know it could always be worse than service to him. And then, to keep us going, he created a savior myth of Inanna reborn. I do not think he ever meant either of them to matter except as means of control. They did not exist.”

And he gave a vicious grin. “Too bad for him. We stayed in Kur for years uncounting, and magic was gone from the world. And so we have the need for a savior to bring back true magic to the and be a whole people.”

“Something we saw you do.”

He paused a moment and then motioned them on to the next display. “I suppose that is most of the education you actually need in the Faith. There is a fair amount of ritual, and things you would probably be appalled to hear about - your religions are soft and designed to affirm your weakness than to test your strength. But the meat of it is that through a bit of unforeseen serendipity, his means of control are now subverted to your ends.”

“Okay. I really, really don’t feel good about being anyones deity. And, if anything, it feels worse knowing you all are… what? Automatons? Following your programming? I’m sorry. I don’t know how to describe this without sounding demeaning.”

Arcsa gave her a smile and continued on. “It is what it is. We made our peace with it a long time ago.”

“What else?”

“This is the difficult part. There isn’t more. But after what we went through with Ekerri, we hope for someone better to serve.”

“What happens if Ekerri orders you against me?”

“A profound theological dilemma.” He winked. “And not something that Ekerri prepared for. As Kur was the first step in releasing us from his grasp. We would deem a potential Innana to be more appropriate to follow. There will be no conflict should it come to that.”

Ella thought for a moment. The honesty of this conversation was refreshing. But… and then she had it. This was testing. She had a sense everything the Agrabuamelu did was a test. So this was the truth but not the critical piece.

And then she had it, “My first request, I would have you not follow Ekerri’s requests.”

Arcsa’s handsome face broke into a genuine smile. “It would have been awkward if you hadn’t thought of that. More embarrassing if he had asked us to stab and eat you. Embarrassing for you.”

Ella felt a bit green, “Do you really…”

“What, eat each other? As long as we have enemies, we have food. Or as you might say, waste not, want not.”

“Can I free you?”

“This world is truly soft if it breeds such naïveté. You would leave yourself defenseless.”

“I am not a slaver.”

“Well, your morals stay intact. You cannot free us through command. Nor would we allow you if possible.”

They took a pause and actually looked at two more exhibits. Ella then remembered something, “You mentioned something about a ‘whole people?'”

“Yes. We cannot have children. And thus our numbers continually dwindle. Innana shall bring back real magic and with it, the ability for us to procreate. That is the true test of your divinity.”

They took a moment to go up the spiral staircase.

“Now about this dragon? They were our great foes here during the war. Rebels, prideful, arrogant, and difficult to kill.”

“Yes. That seems to match my impression.”

“Who is it?”

Ella did not hesitate. Arcsa had offered a lot, “Tommy Xu”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?” asked Arcsa with amusement.

“He is some sort of financial wizard and is some a Chinese dragon. A — I am going to mess up the pronunciation — a fuzanglong, I think?”

“I know the type. Their cousins, the tianlong, guarded the gates of ascension. We slew them in great numbers. What kind of ally is this creature?”

“Ummm… confession time. I’d call it more like acquaintances with an option for future friendship.”

“And to get that much concession?”

“Well I sort of promised that he could fly free as a dragon under my eventual reign?”

“So nothing for nothing?”

“Pretty much. Well I did use it to bluff you guys when we first met. That I would call a win.” And she turned to face him and gave him a wink.

“My turn. What happened on that island that appeared?”

Arcsa thought for a moment. “Do you understand how your crown works?”

“Not at all.”

“Ekerri granted you a portion of his royalty which manifests in that crown. When you manifest it, it pulls from a keystone of his power as a symbol.”

“So this crown is kind of a mirror of his?”

“More like a manifestation of his, a lesser manifestation.”

Ella pondered this for a bit and then motioned him to go on. They switched displays again.

“But, his power was so great, he could not contain it. So he created his imperial regalia to partition it. There are five treasures he invested his magic into.” Arcsa held up his fingers and began to count them off:

“One, the crown. It represents his command. Your crown draws on the same well, but like a straw versus a hose. But I can still feel it’s influence. Second, the scepter - a sword staff which contains his martial might.”

“He stabbed me with that I think. And then I woke up with my eyes and crown.”

“Yes he would have needed to symbolically invest you. And a tap on the shoulder to knight someone is a bit different than stuffing divinity into you.”

Ella felt a bit bewildered. “Like a sausage?”

“Hmmm. I am not sure I like that metaphor. The cream filling of a Twinkie?” Arcsa winked.

Ella laughed at the image. Thinking of this distinguished gentleman eating Twinkies was a bit jarring. He looked more like the kid of guy who lunched at Per Se and smoked a pipe with cognac in the evenings.

“Third, the dagger - representing subtlety. "

“Fourth, the bracelet. Nobody knew what it does and Ekerri was very vague about it.”

“Fifth, the orb. It was the newest of these relics and like the crown represented rule, but celestial rule rather than terrestrial.”

“This we surmised- but when he sealed off the world, he must have used some of these as anchors. He had to leave them all over the world.”

Then Arcsa added, “You will probably need to take them if you intend to oppose him.”

“Well… I am not sure what is going on. Why did he crown me and then cut me loose like this? I would have thought he was desperate but then Kothin turns out to be following me around and concealing his relationship to the emperor. And then finally Donna is spying on me? It makes me feel a bit untrusting.”

Ella thought for a moment.

“And what will happen to you and us if I do not oppose him?”

“Then we will end up in service to him again, I suppose.”

And for the first time, Ella thought she might have heard Arcsa lie to her.

The Rubin Museum