Champions Vol. 02

"I have no idea how long Eek has been alone on this island, but given the deterioration of his mind it has likely been at least a few years. Perhaps in the past the loneliness was lessened by visits from Eros and/or his Champion. Or perhaps the people who used to come visit him stopped one day. Either way, it appears that the things that once made the duty bearable ended at some point; and now he blames the man he used to be for agreeing to be stranded alone, in the middle of nowhere."

Sapphire contemplated David's response. She did not know much about human behavior, but she did know that the few hermits she had heard of often acted very strangely around others. She used to think that their mannerisms were the reason for withdrawing from society, but perhaps the reverse was true. Their strange behavior was in fact the result of being alone. It was something she would need to think about more.

"What is the second possibility?" she asked.

"The second possibility is that Laurena dealing with the 'crazy man' on the island was her first trial."

Sapphire considered what he had said for a few minutes. Finally she decided to share something that had been bothering her. "If that was the first trial, then what do you think the other ones will be?"

Sighing, David lowered his hand and began to stroke lovingly up and down Sapphire's back. The sun had dried most of the dampness from his hand and her back, so his fingers glided smoothly across her flesh. "I have no idea love," he replied, "but if that was the first trial then I imagine they'll only get harder from here."

* * *

When Ophelia's spirit touched her there was a flash of light before Laurena's eyes, which temporarily blinded her. When her vision cleared she was no longer seated in the temple with Ophelia. She was somewhere, and someone, else entirely...

She was seated on a large cushion with a young man. He was wearing a worship service robe cut in a very old style, which had not been used in hundreds of winters. Looking down She noticed that her own robes were more elaborate. In fact, She was dressed in the robes that Ophelia's spirit wore. She did not recognize her own body, and it felt very different from her own curvy frame. It was leaner, with slightly smaller hips and breasts. Confused, She looked back up to the man when She heard his voice.

"I have always dreamed of this moment, Champion," he said. "I hope only to be worthy of your attentions."

"You are faithful to Eros," her mouth replied in Ophelia's voice, though She had no control over it, "that alone makes you worthy enough."

Then the two of them moved together, kissing and touching one another as they slowly disrobed. The man was very excited, but he tried hard to control it as they shared the Blessings of Eros. Later, he lay above her, his spent penis slowly slipping from inside her at the completion of their joining. He had not been the most skilled She had ever experienced, but his enthusiasm had made up for it. He had put forth his all in an effort to satisfy her every desire.

Hovering above her, his eye staring intently into hers, he spoke, "I love you, Champion."

"And I love you, Akakios," She replied kindly, "as I love all Eros' faithful."

She realized it was the wrong thing to say when She saw his eyes fill with pain. It was the first time She had ever seen a person's heart shatter in front of her, and the pain he felt radiated from him. As She lay there beneath him, wracking her brain in search of the right words to repair the damage, he rolled off of her. He did not even bother to dress, but instead stormed towards the temple doors. The tears which began to stream from his eyes interfered with his vision, and he stumbled over other cushions and copulating couples on his journey, but eventually he reached the door. Without hesitation he moved through it, out into the night...

The memory faded out, replaced by another. She was seated in an office with an older man in priestly vestments as dated as the robe worn by the young man earlier.

"I do not understand," her mouth spoke in Ophelia's voice. "I said nothing wrong. The Blessing is supposed to be about the sharing of Love, which is what we did. Why did my words disturb him so?"

Sighing the old priest explained, "You told him that you loved him as you loved all Eros' faithful. Which is true. But he did not say that he loved you as the Champion of Eros, or even as another faithful, he said he loved 'you'. Somehow we missed his deep affection for you, which only surfaced once he joined with you. Now he is devastated, because the one he loves beyond all others does not share his affections."

"But how could he believe I would feel otherwise?" She asked. "I am Eros Champion. I cannot have that type of attachment in my life. Certainly I can feel love for others, and I do, but I can never have 'that' kind of love. He should know this."

"He is a young man," the priest explained kindly. "They seldom apply rationality and reason when their hearts are concerned."

"What should I do?" She asked.

"There is nothing you can do, Champion," the priest replied. "I will do what I can to guide him, but ultimately he must find the answer within himself. Eventually he will realize that his affections were doomed from the start and move on..."

That memory faded as well, and when the next faded in, She gasped in shock. The body of Akakios, the young man that had professed his love for her, lay cold on the stone slab. His throat was cut deep, and his final expression was a twist of pain and sorrow. She was assaulted by the massive guilt that Ophelia felt in that moment.

"This is your fault!" raged a woman's voice nearby. Looking up, She saw a woman of middling winters staring daggers at her through tear-filled eyes. A man of similar age was holding onto the woman, trying to both comfort and restrain the obviously distraught mother.

"He loved you," the mother continued with rage, "and you gave not a single care for his feelings. He was just another faithful to you, one of thousands you spread your legs for at Eros' command. You should have left him alone. He didn't need your pathetic attempts at passion, he needed real love. He needed the compassionate sharing of souls. You can't do that, you never had a chance, because you have no soul!"

Her eyes filled with tears as She realized that the woman's accusations, however vitriolic, were in some ways true. She had never bothered to consider the possibility that the love She spread through Blessings was paltry and false. She knew what the word 'love' meant, but She realized now She had never truly felt it. Not enough to be devastated when it was not returned. Not enough to willingly choose death over a life without it...

*** Chapter 29: The Guardian ***

031530JUN13 DW

14^th of Pyanepsion, 2351 EC

The Isle of Eirini

Laurena gasped as her consciousness returned to her own body. Shuddering, she contemplated the very intimate moment from Ophelia's life she had just shared. Looking up, tears began to fall from her eyes as she took in the ethereal form of the fallen Champion.

"I never realized..." Laurena began, but choked up. The look of pain and sorrow on the face of Ophelia was too great for her to continue. She was now bound to the spirit in a way that she could never have imagined. She had just relived one of the deceased woman's most tragic memories, and the echoes of that pain still lingered with her.

"Eros' Champions seldom do," the spirit replied sadly. "I was not raised in the clergy as you were, so I was even less prepared than you to safeguard the hearts of others when I began my own journey as Champion."

"But..." Laurena began, and then hesitated. She had no desire to discuss how blind she had been before now, but the pain of the shared memory was too great to ignore. "...but even with my training I did not understand. How many people have I already harmed in the same way, merely as an acolyte? How can I possibly spread the Love of Eros as his Champion without risking the same outcome?"

"You cannot," Ophelia answered with profound sorrow. "There is always a chance that as a Champion of Eros your actions will have far reaching consequences. The hearts of others are not an open book to be perused at our leisure, and we cannot always predict how our actions might affect them.

"However, back to the question I asked before: Are you certain that the Blessing I rendered on that young man promoted a feeling of community and love? Did it help him?"

Laurena was absolutely certain...that she was not certain. Ophelia had acted exactly the same in that memory as Laurena herself had acted during countless worship services. The former acolyte had studied well the techniques for rendering Blessings, and was renowned for her skills as a result of such diligence. However, now she questioned if she had been right in doing so. Perhaps that time had been misspent, because she had completely missed the feelings behind the mechanics.

"You are beginning to understand that love means more than sharing temporary passions and feelings with another. It is about caring for that person as much, or more, than you care about yourself," Ophelia's spirit explained. "You asked what a Champion of Eros does each day, between saving the world. You have just seen what one of those days is like. The lesson that I am trying to impart to you through my trial, is that the Love of Eros is not a passionate surge of lustful desire. It is caring about the lives and happiness of all people, even those who are not part of the faith. It is ensuring that the flames of passion in the lives of the faithful are used to warm their hearts and their lives, not burn them to ash. It is saving the world, but doing so one day, and one life, at a time."

Considering her words, Laurena worked to evaluate her own thoughts and emotions in light of the knowledge and experience she now possessed. The memory had been terribly painful, for she had experienced all the emotions that Ophelia had felt when it originally happened. However, the lesson was an important one, even more so because of what it had cost her predecessor.

"I believe I understand," Laurena finally said. "But is there some way that I can look deeper into the hearts of others, so that I can avoid making the same mistake?"

"Yes, there is," Ophelia replied with a proud half-smile, "and I will now teach you how."

Laurena spent the next hour learning the spell that Ophelia's spirit taught her, until she now felt confident in its usage. It was a modified version of the aura reading that she had learned during her acolyte training, but it delved much deeper into the target's thoughts and emotions. Without a subject to practice it she could only hope it was as powerful as advertised. Hopefully it would aid her in avoiding a situation like what happened in Ophelia's memory.

"You learned that quickly," the spirit complimented her at the end. "I can see that the time spent training with magic alongside your companions has helped you grow."

Laurena nodded in agreement. The work she had done beside David and Sapphire in the last month had allowed her to gain a level of mastery with her magic she never thought possible before. She was now much more confident and comfortable using powerful spells.

"I have appreciated this time with you, Laurena, but unfortunately there are others waiting for you. Let me show you where to deliver my remains," Ophelia's spirit told her.

Laurena rose from her seat on the floor of the temple and followed the specter towards the back of the large room. They stopped in the middle of the large mural which stretched across the entire wall. In the painting directly in front of them was a man in ornate armor, holding a long spear and large round metal shield with a Lambda painted on it. The man seemed familiar to Laurena, but between the armor and concealing helm she could not be certain.

"This is Athanasios, a great warrior from the land before," Ophelia explained. "He fought many battles in that world, sometimes against other nations and sometimes against the faithful of other deities. It was before The Creator separated the gods, and many conflicts between the gods and goddesses spilt over onto the mortal realm. When The Creator dispersed the pantheon Athanasios was the first of Eros' faithful to demand the right to accompany him."

Laurena looked at the spirit in shock. One did not demand something from Eros!

"Yes," Ophelia's spirit chuckled, seeing the look of shock on Laurena's face. "He demanded the right to accompany our god. As a reward for his faith and determination Eros offered to make Athanasios his first Champion. For reasons that only Athanasios knew, he declined the offer, but instead offered his life in service to Eros in another way," Ophelia finished with a whisper of nostalgia on her face.

"What service was that?" Laurena asked, intrigued.

"He would serve as the personal Guardian of Eros' Champions, while they learned their powers. He pledged to remain at their side until his death, or until they grew strong enough to no longer need his protection. It was a role he was well suited for," the spirit answered.

While the exact history of the Champions of Eros' was a bit vague, Laurena did know that the first Champion had traveled with Eros from the land before. He had also served their god for over six centuries. Apparently he had a personal guard in the beginning. She wondered why the legends never mentioned Athanasios.

Reaching up, Ophelia's spirit pointed to the tip of the Lambda on Athanasios' shield. "Touch here," she instructed Laurena.

Laurena touched the spot, and felt a small button which she pushed in. The section of wall to her right swung inward, and exposed a staircase hidden behind the wall, spiraling downward into darkness. Her spirit guide floated inside, and down the steps. Laurena used her magic to illuminate her hand, and followed behind.

The stairs did not go down far, perhaps two dozen feet, before they ended in a dark room. The room was much smaller than the temple above it, but there were stone daises lining both sides at regular intervals. The first three of them bore sarcophagi upon them, with names etched in the side.

The first one on the right bore the words 'High Priest and Champion of Eros Amyntas, Born Ol. 100.3 (50 BEC) -- Died 680 EC'. Laurena recognized the name of Eros' first Champion, but not the first set of numbers next to his date of birth. The numbers in parenthesis indicated it was forty years before the faithful began the Erosian Calendar.

The first one on the left bore a sarcophagus as well, and was engraved with a language she did not recognize and could not read, yet for some reason she could understand what the message was. 'Champion of Min Nefertari, Born 608 EC -- Died 1316 EC'. A third sarcophagus rested on the second dais on the right, which was engraved with yet another language Laurena could not read but could somehow understand. 'Champion of Xochipilli Tlacelel, Born 1290 EC -- Died 1917 EC'.

The second dais on the left was empty, but the words etched into it were in Aeolian, and caused Laurena's heart to ache. 'Champion of Eros Ophelia, Born 1812 EC -- Died 2331 EC'. Turning to the spirit guiding her, Laurena could see that Ophelia felt sympathy for her turmoil.

"Yes, Laurena," she said softly, "it is here that we must part. Place the pendant on the dais, and its magic shall do the rest. Remember what we discussed, and you shall do well as my successor."

Laurena struggled to maintain her calm, accepting that this was the peaceful rest that was long over-due the courageous Fallen Champion. But a few tears still escaped her eyes as she removed the pendant, and guided her predecessor to her final rest.

As soon as Laurena backed away the magic of the change began. The pendant began glowing brighter and brighter, until the once dark chamber was as illuminated as a sun-drenched meadow. Then the sarcophagus grew to cover the entire top of the dais, and eventually it was full-sized. Then the glow receded, and Laurena noted that the spirit of Ophelia was no longer with her. As the last of the light faded from the room, she heard Ophelia playfully whisper a final message, "I will see you again someday, but try to ensure it is not too soon..."

*** Chapter 30: The Trial of Hubris ***

031650JUN13 DW

14^th of Pyanepsion, 2351 EC

The Isle of Eirini

"I see Xochipilli still has excellent taste," a male voice announced jovially behind Laurena. Turning quickly in surprise, she took in the next ghostly figure in her initiation as a Champion.

Despite the transparency of his form, Laurena was able to identify a great deal of detail. He was dark-skinned in life, closer to a deep bronze than her own lightly tanned flesh. His hair was short, but not quite as short as David's, and he looked to be around thirty winters old. He also bore an exuberant smile as he inspected her with a level of interest that exceeded her own.

"Who?" Laurena asked in confusion.

"Xochipilli, the God of Love," he explained nonchalantly. "You call him Eros, which just proves how much more spectacular I am than you."

"What?" Laurena asked, becoming indignant.

"I said I am more spectacular than you," he continued calmly, "do try to keep up."

"As I was saying, our god does seem to always choose those gifted in the looks department. I have often wondered if he will ever choose a Champion that is average looking, or even hideous," the specter continued jokingly. "I've tried to convince him it would be a good test for the faithful. It is far too easy for them to love beautiful people...they should be made to work for it.

"Oh, yes," he mused, turning his gaze from Laurena to stare past her with a contemplative expression. "Someone fat, with a hump-back and large boils," he continued, a smile growing on his face. "That way when they say they love the Champion of Xochipilli everyone will know that they mean it."

Laurena snorted at the ridiculous image his words sparked in her mind. His arrogant proclamation about his greatness had not made the best of first impressions, but his jocularity and ludicrous ideas were at least humorous.

"Could you imagine?" he asked, returning his attention to Laurena. He leaned over and moved around with a shuffling gait, dragging one leg a bit and bending his shoulders and back to give the impression of hump. "My lord ish majeshtic and bootiful," he said with a lisp. "He shpeeksh wish a shilver tongue, and commandsh all to love equally."

The antics of this spirit -- whom Laurena recognized was Tlacelel from the image on his sarcophagus -- caused her to burst into laughter. It was not that he was particularly funny, but the sadness she had felt since sharing the tragic memory of Ophelia's had been threatening to overwhelm her. This small bit of tasteless levity went a long way towards helping her shake off the maudlin feelings.

"There we go," Tlacelel said in response to her laughter, ceasing his act and rising back to his full height with a grin. "I cannot stand all the doom and gloom of these things. Our bodies are dead, not our sense of humor."

Laurena could only shake her head at the ludicrousness of the situation. Here she was, facing the trials as the next Champion of Eros, and this returned specter of a Fallen Champion was trying to raise her spirits (pun intended).