Chapter Four: Nemesis, the goddess of retribution

    Slowly the young Lakhesis made her entrance back into the cave. Her two sisters were waiting for her anxiously. Klotho was even worried that love struck Lakhesis would refuse to come back, following Terry back to New York. Lakhesis looked at them with dreamy eyes that sparkled. She didn’t say a word to them. Aisa was feeling her temper rising. Not only her sister had the rejuvenation treatment, not only she had met with Terry, now she was keeping herself to herself. What was wrong with her?? Lakhesis moved slowly as if walking on clouds under the curious and a bit annoyed stare of her sisters. She sat down at her usual place looking straight at the mirror wall, Terry was still in deep sleep. Her eyes were dreaming while open as she left a sigh.

    “Ahhhhh.....” Her sigh meant that truly her mind hadn’t left Terry’s room yet.

    “Well?”, Klotho was the first to finally speak. Lakhesis didn’t respond.

    “Look at her!! Now it’s like we have a brainless and dreamy teenager!”, Aisa said impatiently.

    “Shhhhh! She is still like in trance! It wasn’t a small thing for her to meet with the man she adores!”, Klotho said compassionately. Klotho looked at her sister who was completely lost deep in her thoughts and a wicked smile formed on her lips.

    “Aaaaaa!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE TERRY??!!!”, she yelled.

    Lakhesis snapped out of her dreams immediately. She jumped from her chair.

    “TERRY??!!!! Where??!!! What...the...?!!!” she managed to say while her sisters burst out laughing. Aisa was holding her belly.

    “Good one sis!!!”, she said loudly to her sister.

    “That’s great!! Did you think long enough to cause me distress like that?? I didn’t enjoy that one bit Klotho! Shame on you!!”, Lakhesis managed to say amidst their laughter.

    “I wouldn’t have done it if you were down to earth and talked to us when I asked you...HOW DID IT GO??”, Klotho raised her voice at the end of her sentence, still smiling widely to her sister.

    “Ohhhhh!! Sorry guys!! I’m still trying to get back to reality, but I have to say that he was great!”, Lakhesis said with a dreamy smile, bringing her hand to her forehead that burned still from the excitment.

    “Never mind how he was, we know Terry, we watch over him every day...”, Klotho replied to her sister’s comments, while Aisa was keeping silent, sulking, she clearly was jealous, Klotho was thinking.

    “Well...I have to say that meeting Terry from up close was nothing like we see him on the wall”, Lakhesis insisted. “He is really sweet, and polite, and very intense with his words and his stare, you couldn’t help but feel your knees trembling!! We really need to save him Klotho! He was completely broken...I couldn’t stand to see him like that!”

    “Did he get the message that he needs to return to New York back to Susanna?”

    “Yes, I’m sure he did, it seemed that was the last thing in his mind before he drifted off, so I’m certain that he’ll be getting on a train tomorrow”, Lakhesis finished her sentence and smiled widely to her sisters.

    “Good!”, Klotho answered. “Now that the stupid troll is sitting at his home quiet, the moment that Terry come back...things will start to change for her...for the worst.”, Klotho continued and sniggered at the thought. “We’ll have to ask for help. Nemesis might be the one to call...”

    “Nemesis???”, both sisters asked in unison.

    Nemesis was a feared goddess even amongst the immortals, for she was the goddess that measured happiness and unhappiness making certain that both were dealt in equal measures to mortals. Fool was the man that boasted for his good fortunes while women often spat on the bosoms to exorcise Nemesis had they experiencing long stretching good fortunes in their homes.

    Lakhesis looked serious and thoughtful. They couldn’t afford messing up with Nemesis. She knew of the ancient proverb “Unnoticed she walks at your feet, snaps your haughty neck, and always holds sway over your sustenance with her forearm”. She felt a vibrant shiver crawling up her spine fast. How would they explain to her what had happened? And why Nemesis should punish Susanna for her happiness? Losing her leg surely would seem more than enough a price to pay for holding Terry to her side.

    The whole idea of calling Nemesis seemed to her quite tricky and they were risking failure and even more they could get reported to Zeus for messing up in the first place. She looked at Aisa that was still watching Terry sleeping though her mind seemed to be lost into her thoughts too. She turned her worried eyes to Klotho that kept staring the fire that burned leisurely at the middle of their cave. She moved closer, and sat next to her sister. She could feel her mind working feverishly looking for solutions. She put her arm on Klotho’s shoulders.

    “Klotho...are you sure about this? Do we really need Nemesis??”, she asked her softly. Klotho turned her face and buried her stare into Lakhesis crystal blue eyes.

    “I don’t know Lakhesis...but it would be just great to have Nemesis on our side...on Terry’s and Candy’s side for that matter! I know how just she is and maybe she’ll say that Susanna had enough by losing her leg and maybe yes she’ll become furious with us messing things up with their threads...even Susanna’s accident was slightly our fault. But imagine if we could talk her into this! She could bestow great misfortune to this troll that appeared out of nowhere into our beloved mortal’s lives.”, Klotho said and a small troubled sigh flew from her lips.

    “OK...I agree with your thinking so what we need to do before we call her, is our story, our words to her must be just and precise. We cannot afford to leave room for doubt!”, Lakhesis said and poured herself a cup of the chamomile tea that was brewing in the kettle next to the fire. Suddenly she had felt her mouth dry.

    “I’ll talk to her!”, Aisa was heard from the distance and the two sisters turned her faces towards her, their eyes wide.

    Before they opened their mouths Aisa continued.

    “I hold the scissors of life guys...despite being the youngest, wouldn’t you say that my task is the most responsible of us three? Wouldn’t my words be the strongest?”, she asked.

    “Are you sure Aisa?”, Klotho asked her.

    “More than ever Klotho!”, Aisa said with a grave and determined voice.

    She felt it was about time that she stepped up and did something worthwhile to match her sisters. She was feeling confident and strong. Aisa looks were also the most intense of the three. Her hair were long and still jet black framed her ascetic long face while her large coal black eyes felt that had the power to pierce through the soul of the person she was staring at. She certainly had a face that wasn’t easily forgotten.

    Lakhesis looked at Klotho as she drew her eyes away from Aisa.

    “Well?”, she asked.

    “OK, you’ll speak to Nemesis, Aisa”, she said sternly. Now all we have to do is prepare our story...”, she said with a commanding tone in her voice. Aisa joined them around the fire. They had a long night in front of them and a lot to discuss...

    ********************

    The morning found Terry packing up his things having decided to move back to New York and Susanna. At her thought he pressed his lips and felt his neck muscles tighten. “How could he live with her?” he thought, a mix of sadness, anger and frustration were threatening to stop him right there on his tracks. The temptation to just disappear from the face of the earth was too great.

    He picked up his harmonica from the desk, his eyes and fingers caressed it, each caress a small priceless memory fondly tucked away in the paths of his soul. He whispered her name that brought tears in his eyes. He put the harmonica softly on top of his things. His eyes moved around the bed to check if he had forgotten anything. They stopped at the corner of the bed, noticing something that was stuck there. He wondered what it was and picked up the small sachet of lavender and poppy seeds. He brought it to his nose and inhaled the heady aroma that still was permeating the little package. He felt lightheaded, faint images of a very beautiful strange girl, looking at him with a lovingly caring stare. “Go back to New York Terry...everything is going to be fine...I promise you...”, he heard a soft voice whispering in his head. He felt instantly calmer. He put the little sachet in the inside pocket of his blazer. “Fate took Candy away from me...maybe fate is warning me of things to come...maybe I’ll see her again...”, he thought and with a determined sparkle in his eyes he closed his suitcase shut and left the room, for once feeling hope creeping in hesitantly in his soul.

    ********************

    The three Fates were up with the crack of the dawn. They had hardly slept as they were busy planning their next step until the small hours of the night. They looked at each other nervously but also confident to their knowledge that they had each other. They could do this. They had breakfast while going through the last details of their plan. Lakhesis was back to her normal self, her young appearance was gone, the spell was over. She felt a bit sad, but looking so young would raise questions from Nemesis and they definitely didn’t want her to feel suspicious of anything that was out of the ordinary.


    “Right...so do we have everything we need?”, Klotho asked her sisters.

    “We need thyme and wood from an apple tree, to start the fire”, Klotho said.

    “Got them”, Aisa said and took the bunch of dry thyme that was hanging upside down at the back of the cave. A small heap of apple tree wood was also lying nearby.

    They prepared a small heap close at the entrance of their cave, so the smoke would travel out high in the open air. Klotho and Lakhesis sat at their wooden blocks that were used as stools, while Aisa was standing at the entrance, staring at the sunny morning sky. She turned to her sisters and took a deep breath. She looked impressive as the morning light was making her dark figure even more intense.

    “Are we ready my sisters?”, she asked them determingly.

    Klotho was holding her pandourion (ancient music instrument that looked like a small mandolin) while Laksesis was holding a tympano (percussion instrument). They nodded yes to Aisa that was holding krotola on her hands (small pieces of wood that would produce a dry sound by hitting one to the other). They lit the fire.

    “Let’s do this...”, Aisa said, her eyes to the sky, while the first traces of smoke travelled out of the cave. The beginning notes of Klotho’s pandourion swam leisurely in the air. Aisa’s crystal voice was heard moments later, mixing with the white fragrant smoke, climbing up the sky, echoing to the mountain around them. Lakhesis accompanied them with her instrument.


    “Winged Nemesis, turner of the scales of life,
    blue-eyed goddess, daughter of justice,
    who, with your unbending bridle,
    dominate the vain arrogance of men and,
    loathing man's fatal vanity, obliterate black envy;
    beneath your wheel unstable and leaving no imprint,
    the fate of men is tossed; you who come unnoticed,
    in an instant, to subdue the insolent head.
    You measure life with your hand,
    and with frowning brows, hold the yoke.
    We glorify you, Nemesis, immortal goddess,
    Victory of the unfurled wings, powerful, infallible,
    who shares the altar of justice and, furious at human pride,
    casts man into the abyss of Tartarus.”

    Hymn to Nemesis by Mesomedes of Crete, Greek lyric poet, lived during the 2nd century A.C.
    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zLWBlfaSj8g


    A mystical atmosphere surrounded the three fates as they were calling the goddess that everyone feared. Everything looked and felt still with only the music and Aisa’s voice spreading far away as they were invoking the presence of the goddess. They couldn’t turn back now...soon Nemesis would be there...and they had a lot of explaining to do, if they wanted to help Terry and Candy out of the miserable life that unfortunate events had fatefully thrown them into.

    ********************

    A small dark dot appeared far on the sky. A winged figure quickly getting nearer their cave. Aisa shivered slightly. “Nemesis...”, she thought, “she is coming...”. She turned quickly.

    “She is here!”, she told her sisters.

    The winged woman was approaching, her extensive wing span making her look more impressive and threatening. Aisa retreated in the cave. A few moments later, Nemesis was flying outside the cave, the flapping of her wings as she slowed down pushing air, dust and smoke into the cave. The three fates started coughing from the smoke that was filling now the cave.

    “Damn wings...”, Aisa said and cringed, while her eyes stung. “Look at me, how powerful I look!!! With my wings and everything!!”, she thought in her mind, too frightened even to mutter those words.

    She was now standing in front of the cave, and moved with firm steps in. She looked like an menacing Amazon with her leather rein tucked on her right side, and a sword on her left. Her eyes sparkled, two small ice blue fires burning as she looked at them. A thunderous voice blew away the deadly silent that had spread in the cave with her arrival.

    “Klotho...Lakhesis...Aisa”, she said and turned her eyes to each Fate as she spoke their names. “What is it that you had to call me out of the blue, disrupting my work?”, she asked.

    “It’s for work that we called you too Nemesis”, Klotho said to her with a steady voice, while glancing briefly at her sisters. “Please come in and sit with us. We won’t keep you for long”

    Nemesis left a faint grunt and without saying anything else, she moved in the cave and sat down.

    “Well?”, she asked.

    Aisa started talking.

    “There is a case Nemesis, that we think it needs your intervention...”, Aisa said to her, and started narrating carefully the story between Candy, Terry and Susanna.

    After a while, Nemesis spoke.

    “I see...”, she said, “I don’t think I need to do anything here Fates! That woman, Susanna, was indeed blasphemous to start with, wanting that man, Terry, for herself! But she lost her leg in the process, and that is more than enough punishment for her act”, she concluded.

    Aisa though wasn’t giving up.

    “We knew that you’d say that dear Nemesis, goddess of retribution. You above all gods though are responsible for keeping equilibrium between happiness and unhappiness amongst the mortals. And at that instance, we sentence Terry to perpetual unhappiness by leaving him be with Susanna. Not to mention Candy who spread happiness unselfishly to everyone she met, her whole life! From all mortals out there...surely Candy and Terry deserve happiness most that anyone else alive and walking on this blessed earth. Is Susanna’s happiness justified thus? She can remain happy in the expense of two very deserving mortals to be happy?”, Aisa concluded, feeling content with her words, as they could see they had managed to impact Nemesis.

    They knew that the comparison between Susanna and Candy and Terry would create a dilemma for Nemesis. She indeed looked very thoughtful. She always considered her job of keeping happiness and unhappiness in equal measures for mortals and their lives, very seriously. And right now Candy and Terry definitely were dealt an unjust hand of total unhappiness. Susanna on the other hand...her accident erased her improper actions and thoughts to make Terry hers. Her happiness afterwards though was unbalanced...nothing there to take that happiness away, or reduce it somehow. She returned from her deep thoughts and looked at the three Fates that were patiently but nervously at the same time waiting for Nemesis verdict.

    “Well...Aisa...you spoke your case very impressively. I for once I’m not usually lost for words...but this story certainly seems serious and complicated...I wonder how things turned out that way...”, she said and stared intensively at each one of them.

    Klotho, Lakhesis and Aisa, were breaking into cold sweat inside...Nemesis shouldn’t suspect any wrong doing from their part...despite that they tried to look as indifferent as possible to her...a very difficult task indeed. The few moments that past until Nemesis spoke again felt like forever for the three of them. After those quiet moments of Nemesis’s deliberation on the case, she stood up.

    “I’ll help you...you convinced me that there is a great unbalance here!!! Terry and Candy both don’t deserve the life that lies ahead of them. And I’ll make sure that Susanna gets her comeuppance for her happiness that is clearly unjust”, she said and walked out of the cave. She turned and looked at them.

    “I don’t think that I need to convey my progress to you...you’ll see everything from your ‘Wall of lives’ I assume”, she said.

    “Yes Nemesis, not to worry about us...we watch everything...everyone...and every day!!”, they said in unison.

    “Thank you for supporting our case Nemesis. We’ll be forever indebted to you for your help”, Klotho said and the three Fates were now standing up and had moved close to the cave’s entrance.

    “It’s nothing Klotho...just keep up the good work...we’re counting on you!”, Nemesis said and a rare smile flashed on her face. “Now, watch the wing flap, go back inside”, she said before expanding her impressive wings. The three Fates said their goodbye and moved back in, before they had to endure the cloud of dust and the wind that would result from Nemesis’s wings.

    “Watch my flap...oh...oh...oh... I’m flying...did I tell you that...?”, Aisa said with a mocking voice. “That Nemesis...is so full of herself!!”, she said looking annoyed.

    “Hey!! Nemesis is helping us and there is no need to badmouthing her Aisa!! She has a very responsible job...as we do...although she takes it slightly more seriously than we do!! I think she is a very responsible deity!”, Klotho said sternly and then her face mellowed, “But...good job nevertheless Aisa!!!”, she continued and patted her a bit more eagerly on her back, making Aisa cough, before moving back close to their wall.

    Lakhesis put her arm over her sister’s arm and whispered at her.

    “A little modesty wouldn’t hurt her though now, would it?”, she said and chuckled to Aisa. “Good job sis!! I knew we could count on you!”, she said smiling and they moved towards the wall.

    “Quite right sis! Thanks!”, Aisa said and with a proud look in her eyes took her big scissors and sat down facing their mirror wall.

    ********************

    The day after, it was a glorious morning that had dawned over New York’s sky. Susanna was looking outside the window, thinking of Terry. She felt confident that he would return to her. His fate had been sealed when he admitted to her that he’ll stay by her side and she knew in her heart that Terry wasn’t a man that backed down on his word. She had the patience and Terry needed to just accept his life with her now, and that realisation surely must be approaching him by now, she thought.

    “Isn’t it a great day today Susanna?”, her mother asked her from the door, while coming in with a cup of coffee and a couple of muffins on a tray for her daughter.

    “Yes, indeed it is mother! I have this feeling that Terry will be here with us soon”, Susanna exclaimed happily.

    “That’ll be great sweetheart!! Now would you like to have coffee and later on the go for a walk to the park?”, she asked her.

    And just as Susanna’s mother said those things, out of nowhere thick black clouds were slowly filling the sky, the atmosphere feeling heavy with the anticipation of a big storm.

    “Ohhhh! Look at the sky!!! That’s strange....sometimes the weather can change so quickly...don’t you think?”, her mother said while stopping from pouring milk into Susanna’s coffee and peering outside the window, joining her daughter.

    “Well I guess that walk to the park is cancelled for now...”, Susanna said somewhat disappointed before turning her wheelchair towards the little table where her warm coffee and muffins were waiting for her.

    “I guess you are right...”, Susanna’s mother sighed slightly as she moved to the table, to join her daughter, “That’s a shame...I was looking forward for that walk...”

    “Me too mother!”, Susanna said and smiled.

    Right at that time, Terry was stepping out of the train and onto the station’s platform in New York. He was there at last and now he was to gather all of his strength to face Susanna and a dreaded life with her by his side...Standing outside the station, the ominously dark clouds above confirmed his state of his heart at that moment...he looked to the sky for a few seconds and with a dark look on his eyes, mirroring the sky above, went into a carriage, taking the road to his old place where Susanna should be waiting for him...

    Chapter 5