The Assassin and the Sorceress Ch. 09

"Hassan, listen to this!" she shouted excitedly after hours of silence. "Matthew 16:26; 'For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?'" she translated as best she could. "There's not much context given here, unfortunately."

Hassan considered this for a moment, but then shook his head. "It doesn't seem to be talking about willingly bargaining your soul away. I believe it is saying that losing your soul is the end result of living a life devoted to riches, and not so much a means of doing so.

They went back to their quiet studies. The hours passed, and soon, so did the days.

"Hassan!" she shouted early in their studies the next day. "What about this: 'No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.' This seems to be talking about temptation in general, the kind everyone feels. It doesn't mention deals with the Devil, specifically, but it says God always provides a way out. Do you think that could include Morgana's case?"

"I'm not sure. Does it go into more detail on what that way out might be?"

"Just accepting Christ and repenting, as usual. I don't know. Morgana seems to think she's forfeited her right to salvation. I like the passage, but maybe we need something more solid."

They went back to reading, and again, the only sounds were the turning of pages and their breathing.

"Ah! This is interesting!" Hassan proclaimed in the middle of the fourth day. "Have you ever heard of Theophilus? According to this tale, he bargained his soul in order to be ordained a Bishop. He sought out a sorcerer to summon the Devil for him. The Devil made him sign a pact in his own blood, in which he not only promised his soul to the Devil, but had to renounce his love for the Virgin Mary in writing. Doesn't sound like a very good Bishop to me from the start. But he did get out of his deal. He prayed to the Virgin Mary for forgiveness. She appeared to him in a vision, and she forgave him. But that wasn't the end of it. The Devil appeared to him in a dream to remind him that the pact still stood. When he awoke, there was the parchment he had signed laying on top of his chest. The deal was finally broken when he took the pact to another Bishop, and the Bishop burnet the pact to ash. Theophilus was so happy to be freed of the pact, that he died on the spot and entered Heaven."

"Good find! So, a deal with the Devil CAN be broken!"

"If you believe this story to be true."

"You don't think it is?"

"Parts of it could be true, and other parts could be pure folklore. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which is which, but it's as reliable a source as we are likely to get on such occult topics. If you are looking for historical accounts of supernatural things, you aren't going to find much, and what does exist is likely to be muddled with superstition."

"I see. Then maybe we should be keeping our research to scripture."

"Do you believe the Bible to be true, either?"

Adrielle sighed. "Well, I used to. They told me it was the literal word of God. I'm not so sure anymore. There are a few things I stopped believing after I met Morgana. Maybe none of it is real."

"I wouldn't place too much faith in its literal truth. Let me put it this way, have you heard of Islam, the faith I followed in my previous life before I met Morgana?"

"I know it exists, though I don't know much about pagan religions."

"It's not pagan. It derives from the Bible. Call it a later version of it. A few things are different, many are the same. They have many of the same books. The scriptures we followed were also supposed to be the literal, infallible word of God, and I used to believe that. But like I said, there are some critical differences, to the point that they can't both be true. In fact, there several faiths in the world that make the same claim about themselves. And how do you tell which one is the only true one? The point I'm trying to make is that just like how a language can change over generations, or folklore can evolve into different versions, even things that people take to be absolute truth can change over time. Even if the Bible ever was the word of God, it isn't anymore. It's been translated, retold, and paraphrased far too much. Even voted on."

Adrielle felt a knot in her chest, as her hope started to slip away. She knew Hassan was right. Even she had been doubting its literal truth lately. "So if there's nothing in here we can trust, then is there no way to answer our question?" Adrielle asked, dejected. "Even if we do find the answer, how will we know to believe it? Or have we just been wasting our time in here?"

"Not at all! This was a wonderful idea of yours, Adrielle! Just keep in mind that what we are researching is more a matter of faith than fact. Do you believe it's possible to sell your soul to the Devil?"

"Not really. It doesn't seem like something a fair and loving God would allow."

"I don't believe so, either. And neither of us needed a book to tell us that. So why are we reading books at all? It's because we're looking for inspiration to help us convince Morgana what we already know. Had I known about her deal with that 'Verus' entity she told you about, I would have tried this myself long ago."

"So, we find a pretty story to make her want to believe she is free."

"Something like that. Therefore, I think the Bible is a good place to turn right now. No, all of it might not be true, and we'll certainly never be able to prove it, but here is the thing about matters of faith. The word of God doesn't need to be proven in the intellectual sense, and scripture doesn't need to be infallible in order to have meaning. If something really is the word of God, it will be proof of itself, because a decent, thinking person will recognize the wisdom. It doesn't need to be written in an infallible book. The word of God could blow past you in the wind, scrawled in charcoal on a dirty rag. And if you pick it up and read what is written, you'll think to yourself 'That's not a bad idea!' It speaks to the heart. That's the kind of message we should be going for, and I'm sure the Bible, or any other holy book, is full of them!"

"I think that's a wonderful philosophy, Hassan, but remember: Morgana's devil is no mere matter of faith. He really exists, and we have real-world proof of that! Unless you can think of an 'intellectual' way to explain her magic powers."

"I can't. And I never said I don't think her devil exists."

"So since we're dealing with real-world things, what if we're wrong? What if we manage to convince her, and we're wrong? I want to help her. I want to more than anything, but I don't want to even take the chance of misleading her about her own salvation! Well-intentioned or not."

Hassan considered for a moment. "I see your concern. I admit the true nature of this 'Verus' eludes me, as does her deal with him. But if there really is a loving, all-powerful God, then the rules of the world will be fair, and it isn't fair that someone should lose her eternal soul because of a lie she believed long ago. But also consider this: even if we're wrong, what harm would we be doing? If she's really damned without a chance of salvation, is convincing her to fight back against the bastard going to make things any worse for her? And if we tell her a happy lie, at least we can give her some peace during her time here on Earth, which could be a very long time still. And also consider the opposite situation. If she falsely believes she has nothing left to lose, she might throw out what chance at salvation she does have. She might damn herself yet, and she won't need a devil to do it. Regardless of whether we're right or wrong, there's no reason not to try to help her."

Adrielle knew he was right. They studied in Morgana's library for another hour or so, but by then Adrielle had had enough. She called it a day's work early, and retreated to her chamber. She had a feeling she had read more than enough for now. Maybe now it was time to search within herself for further inspiration. Maybe something would blow by in the wind of her turbulent mind.