And Our Little Life Is Rounded With a Sleep

“I am Velka, Goddess of Sin, Protector of the Scorned and Unwanted, and the best goddess you’ve never heard of outside of a statue.” she cleared her throat “among other epithets but leading with those are easier.”

The young woman clutched her towel tighter and looked around nervously. “Honestly, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about any of that.”

“Yeah, I thought as much. It’s not an easy sell when you’re not a goddess from this world. Welp. I’ve got to go.”

“Wait, wait, just like that? No explanations, no words of wisdom. No explanation of my powers,” asked Jayne, greatly dismayed.

The goddess shrugged, “you seem to be doing okay for now. What’s the problem?”

“I... but... you... what am I supposed to do? Why me?” Jayne asked growing more and more distraught by the second.

“Why you... yes... why you...?” Velka repeated. “Maybe I just have a thing for tearful redheads. Maybe I saw a girl who needed help. Maybe I was bored that day."

"Maybe you're not telling me anything of substance, " interrupted Jayne.

Velka nodded, regarding the girl cooly, "alright. You want something to do. Something of substance. I hope you're taking notes."

“Listen to me very closely. Finish your training today. Then, ask Tasya what a shard of darkness, sometimes called a Daughter of Manus is. Do not judge her harshly. Find the Countess you already had the displeasure of meeting. Ask her to tell you in her own words what a ‘Knight of the Wolf’ is. Expect vague non-committal answers. Escalate. Tell her you ‘know about the blood’. She’ll deny and deflect. Finally, if you’ve ever wanted to see a grown woman fold faster than a deck chair, ask her for her opinion on ‘exsanguination’ or the delightfully 21st-century word the Watch uses for it these days ‘extraction’. You’ll then be well on your way to learning something new about the world, the prisoners that the Watch keeps under Emberburgh, and some delightful information about the group that wanted to make you a meat puppet.”

“How do I get a hold of you if I need help?”

“Frankly dear, if things are that bad I’ll find you. But you really just want to call and touch base...?” Velka looked at Jayne expectantly.

Jayne stared. She wondered what the deity wanted out of her.

Velka made a show of placing the palms of her hands together looking skyward.

“Right. Pray...” she said and nearly groaned at herself.

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t make me say it now? I think well of you, regardless of what you think of me, right now Jayne.”

“I don’t know what to think of you! I’m standing here in a towel and you were about to leave before I could ask you a question!” Protested Jayne.

“Precisely. Because you didn’t know what you needed or wanted to ask until the possibility of it escaping your grasp presented itself! I don’t want to stand here trying to finagle a dialogue out of you. I want you to think for yourself, and I present you with an opportunity to learn,” Velka’s tone came off as a professor lecturing a student they knew was capable of more.

“Okay, something practical. The second epithet you gave makes enough sense, it even describes me... but why the ‘goddess of sin’?”

Velka snapped her fingers, “attentive. Most deities have domains that make clear sense, yes? Artemis is the hunt, the moon, protection of women and children. Ares is the god of war. Straightforward concepts. But sin? A man I respected, Samuel Clemon’s said you never talk about three things in polite company, religion, politics, or sex. In one way or another sin encompasses all those things. My domain is more accurately the punishment of sin... and I suppose the Goddess of Punishment just gives me entirely too many ‘leather mommy’ vibes.”

Jayne shuddered at the thought. “Okay. That makes sense. Uh... just because it’s a different set of rules. What is a sin, to you? Should I be worried?”

“Terrified,” she flashed a grin. “Let’s see. Betrayal and **** are the biggest. Defilement of the person or innocents encompasses a number of things such as ****, ****, exploitation, grave injury. Defilement of the land, which is to do with those who would knowingly destroy sacred ground where the dead rest. In a world in which the dead may walk, you can see how that’s a bit of a big deal. Dishonesty is lying, cheating, stealing, robbery, disloyalty without going so far as to be a betrayal. Not a legal system mind you, and not all sins are equal.” she winked. “If you were worried about consensual activities between adults, you’re fine.”

“What would happen to the worst of them?”

“I’m glad you asked. My Blades of the Darkmoon would hunt and kill them,” she waited for the follow-up.

“Wait... but...” trying to process that Jayne furrowed her brow.

“No. Not in this world. I was happy to see the tradition or at least the name survived the bleed over into this one though. The child whole stole them from me in my world, we would be eaten alive from the inside by a deacon who had grown so fat he no longer held any shape of his own... he wore the child’s body like some sort of sock puppet. Neither here nor there. Just felt like sharing,” she smiled, “You’re welcome.”

“Woah. Okay. Metal as fuck. Don’t bet against you. I got it. Anything else I should know?”

“More bad news I’m afraid. You wanted to be a sorceress this whole time, instead, you were a spontaneous divine caster,” Velka snickered.

“Wow. Rude,” but Jayne couldn’t help but laugh too, appreciating the joke.

“Well if that’s all, the sun will be up soon, so you’ve got a few hours real-world shut-eye left. I’m off to France.”

“Why France?”

“Je dois parler à un homme d'un livre. Au revoir mon amie!” she gave Jayne a wink before phasing out.

“Bah, at least Artemis kissed me an understanding of Greek...”

Not long after in Verdun, Lorraine, France

A new reporter on the ground is being counted down until she’s live to the backdrop of flashing police lights and a covered body being rolled out.

“Here in the Underground Citadel of Verdun, after more than a century, bloodshed has returned to Citadel, location of one the First World War’s longest, bloodiest battles. The Police Municipale has confirmed an armed break-in into the museum that now occupies the once military depot. The victim has been confirmed as 68-year-old Marsilius Bossé, the well-loved curator of the museum. What if anything was missing is yet to be determined. Police say it’s too soon to speculate on a motive until the scene has been thoroughly investigated.

Inside in the curator’s office.

“Someone please tell me we’ve got something,” said Inspector Marleau.

“Well luckily for us, it seems Monsieur Bossé kept everything in his safe cataloged. Doesn’t account for this wolf’s head crest though. The only thing missing so far is an article described so succinctly as “book”. Not much more specific than that I’m afraid,” replied one of the techs on scene.

The inspector glanced up at the wall just above where the body had been found, “no prints, no **** weapon, a place so clean I doubt we’ll find so much as a stray eyelash. But thanks to this, we can ascertain the murderer wasn’t a big fan of Monsieur Bossé or at least his reading.” There on the wall, written in blood was the word “sinner.”

“Ah, Inspector. We’ve got some new friends who wish to speak with you,” said a regular uniformed officer. A group of six well-equipped, and well-armed Police Nationale followed.

The biggest and meanest of which, a roughly 200cm tall burly man who looked like he chewed barbed wire and shit thumbtacks spoke first, “you’re all relieved. This is a Police Nationale matter now.”

Not one to pick fights with men who looked like they’d just as soon kill him as look him, Inspector Marleau could only pray the man was more jovial than he seemed, “I see... if I may. Under whose authority? The Poice Nationale does not often grace our jurisdiction with their finest.”

The man looked at him with the same disdain a toddler might an ant before crushing it. “The Ministry of the Interior.”

“Oh, well, of course, mon ami. By all means, take this mess off of my hands,” said Marleau as he beat a hasty retreat. “Mon Dieu, this is well above my paygrade.”