A Soul Left Unsullied

Chapter 7: The Bubble

We went through the portal ourselves and I was expecting to see some victorian setting with my own eyes, instead I was met with the sight of a huge abandonned mall.

There was nothing and no one around it, it stood tall despite its decay. Lilith advanced first and we followed, careful to stay behind her at all times.

We passed the entrance without anything jumping at us. Inside, everything seemed normal, functionnal too, the lights were working, so was the fountain and the attractions. The only creepy thing was how deserted it was.

Things were scattered on the groud, phones, shoes, books, like people evacuted in a hurry. I was examining the ground, trying to see if there was any clue as to what happened here.

A phone rang, jolting me out of my search, my heart nearly gave out. Lilith picked up the phone from underneath her foot, as she had just stepped on it.

She picked up the call and put it on speaker, children's laughs could be heard on the call. Then a deep voice spoke out, it was the raspiest voice I'd ever heard, like the person who possessed it had been smoking for centuries.

"Welcome to your arena, your trial will take place here. There is no way out for the participants or their guardians until you finish your trials or fail. The guardians may give advice, encouragement and guidance but may not participate in the trials for you. You will only be allowed to fail once. If you fail again, you will die  and your souls will be used to power the portal. Good luck and godspeed." The caller hung up.

I still had no idea what the trials were or what they consisted of as nobody had deigned explain them to me.

We looked at each other, taking in the gravity of the moment.

A letter dropped from the sky on the table closest to George. We gathered around it and I picked it up. It read:

"Edward Oxford was acquitted on reason of insanity, thanks to the extensive research and preparation he had provided his lawyer with during his trial.

Edward Oxford has spent the majority of his life hating George Oxford, who was an abusive husband, an alcoholic and a neglectful father.

In court today, George Oxford will be tried for his crimes. In front of the jury, the couple will argue on Mr Oxford's behalf.

The plea the couple have to get is not guilty by reason of insanity.

Edward Oxford's soul will be sent down shortly. You will have two hours to prepare."

What the fuck kind of challenge was this?

Edward looked visibly agitated so his lover took him aside, seemingly to calm him down.

"What the fuck is this? What kind of God would do this?" I screamed at Lilith.

"God? God has nothing to do with this, he couldn't care less about poor souls being persecuted. He is the one that is letting the persecution happen. This portal and this opportunity were provided by Hell." Lilith responded "This is not what it seems, it's cruel yes, demons feed on emotions after all, but it's also salvation and freedom."

"This is just plain torture, there is no rhyme or reason to it. Aren't you just trying to defend your species?" I couldn't believe I was screaming at her. Me, who was usually so reserved around strangers. Me, who needed time to open up and get comfortable. Me, who was very afraid of the Queen of demons.

Lilith turned to me and in a hushed voice said, "This is about forgiveness. For Edward to forgive himself for not protecting his siblings and his mother from that man as a child. It's like a deranged and absurd cosplay version of what therapy should bring you, I'll give you that. Edward will have to go up there and argue the defense, a defense that would exonerate the man he hates most. But mostly, it should change his feelings and make him realize that a lot of his destructive behavior comes from the sense of guilt he felt at being the progeny of a monster and of being unable to stop him. We cannot tell him this directly, not only would it affect the emotions he feels, it would count as breaking the rules since he is the target of the trial and they would be immediately killed. Our job for this trial is to guide him like a horse to water, until he realizes that, on his own. The only way for the jury to vote guilty by reason of insanity is for Edward's feelings to change."

Well fuck, how the hell were we supposed to do that? This was trauma that was unpacked through years of therapy, not through defending your abusive father's behavior to a shadowy court.

How the fuck were we supposed to help? How the fuck was I supposed to be their guardian and help them? I was terrible with emotions and I had heaps of unresolved trauma vis a vis my own parents.

Also I was in recovery, hanging out with addicts was not a step in the right direction for me.

I was the worst person for the job.

I didn't have time to stew over how inadequate I was as somebody just appeared. By the way he looked, disheveled, like he just went through Hell, I could guess this was George Oxford.

He looked very much like his son, who upon seeing him, lunged at him.

I thought somebody would intervene but we all just stood there, looking at him thumping his father.

After a few minutes, Lilith pulled them apart and exclaimed, "I know this is hard but hard is what you expected when you walked through that portal. We don't have any more time to waste, we need to get to work."

She said it smiling, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Edward's head hung low, he seemed defeated and crushed. For the first time since his arrival, I felt terrible for him.