A Gentle Hand's Influence: Chapter 1 – Mercy Shown in Both Forms

Chapter 1 – Mercy Shown in Both Forms

“Let’s not forget whose side started the fight.”

“Let’s not forget whose side killed first.”

“When a person’s life is in danger, do they not have the right to defend themselves?”

“A drunk band of kids is a danger more to themselves than others, and should be treated as such.”

“They were young adults, committed an adult crime, and were treated as adults. When are you going to keep referring to this case and move on to the real issue of your high taxes on our people?”

“Okay, we’ll talk about it. Why are yours not producing enough and dedicating manpower so that our facilities are well-staffed?”

“Don’t ignore my question, like how you people ignore the suffering of your fellow countrymen on the other side of the country.”

“We ignore it? We’re trying to run it properly and steer it in the right direction, while you refuse to do your jobs, like men on a boat who refuse to row. The waves of change are crashing against the boat that is our country, and it will sink if you do not do your part.”

“We could say the same about you.”

“Oh, here we go again,” I say aloud as I watch from a distance as the leaders of both sides of the country start to openly argue with one another like children.

“Let them fight it out. It’s more fun to watch,” Zahara says.

“You should be praying harder that it doesn’t erupt into violence,” Raziel says.

“I feel like we should use our powers to steer them towards peace,” Penelope says. “What do you think, Polina?”

“Remember, we don’t use our powers on them unless it starts getting violent.”

“That was the rule in Meridian. A fight in a city is one thing, but a fight here could be the spark of a civil war and tear the country in two.”

I consider Penelope’s words and keep my eyes on the crowd and everyone who’s arguing. Looking into their souls, I see that they’re all decent people with legitimate grievances, acting out on emotion and the suffering they’ve been through as a result of the other side. This is why we were sent here out of all the subsidiaries of the Dominion. The Compassionate specializes in delicate situations where both sides have legitimate arguments for their actions or are simply acting on emotion. I am their leader, and yet, I’ve been struggling to give them any other order than to be behind me and not act unless violence erupts.

“This whole situation makes me jealous of the Castigators. Kane, Idelle, and Zandro force peace onto four countries and melded them into one in a matter of days, whereas we’ve hardly gotten anywhere in the week we’ve been here,” Zahara says.

“Patience. Not everything can be done so hastily,” Raziel says.

“We’re going to need to do something because it’s been getting worse and worse. God only knows when the civil war will erupt because it looks like they’re going to wage war over a group of drunken young men stupidly attacking other people on the other side of the country,” Penelope says.

We've made some progress here since we’ve learned a lot about the people and the situation. The country we’re in, Ferdinand, is divided into two parts: Fribus and Nanpa. Fribus is the center of education, politics, business, and science, while Nanpa has the largest population and is home to most of the artists, farmers, factories, and clothing markets. Their history has been a back-and-forth struggle over who is right and who is wrong. Sometimes, Fribus leads the country as it should, and other times, Nanpa rebels against its leaders and keeps them in line, doing what they’re supposed to do. There was once a time when Nanpa joined the opposing side of an erroneous faction during a world war, while Fribus joined the righteous side.

Currently, they’re trying to negotiate new terms in a courthouse sitting on the grounds where the country was first founded by a group of families, and the Compassionate are sitting above the hall, watching for signs of trouble. I’m in my blue and black police-inspired armor with my old badge on, and my flying wings tucked within a back component of the armor. Raziel is dressed in his updated modern medieval crimson knight armor, Zahara is wearing her pink and black light body armor, and Penelope is wearing one of her simple purple dresses. I’ve made sure that we’re all dressed and look proper for this occasion. Given my regular job as mayor of Meridian, making sure my red eyes and red hair are in proper order is second nature.

As for Raziel, since he’s my husband, I make sure there’s not a single pimple or blemish on his handsome face, and his blonde hair is as dashing as possible. However, his red, orange, and yellow eyes can be so captivating that I get distracted while making sure to keep his appearance in order.  Zahara doesn’t want her appearance changed at all, though she has shortened her pink and black hair so that her pink eyes with crosshair eyeshadow are more visible, and Penelope looks as elegant as usual, with her purple and blonde hair with a purple flower on top. Even though she has one purple eye, one spiral eye, and spirals all over her arms and hands, she probably looks the best of us.

“Polina,” Penelope says.

“Yes, I know. I’m thinking,” I say.

My eyes are drawn to one of the children in the viewing crowd. I don’t need my soul-reading powers to see that he wants me to do something too, for his side of the country, and yet, it’s not that easy. One wrong move, and the Dominion and our country of the Columbian Union, as a whole, will have to deal with a messy war. Agh! Screw it. The last time I tried to wait it out for a clean solution ended in the deaths of many police officers and civilians.

“Let’s intervene,” I say, to which the Compassionate agree.

“Everyone! Calm down!” Penelope says.

She uses her psychological powers on the arguing crowd to forcefully calm everyone down. People in the observing crowd are starting to stand up and question our actions.

“We’ve seen this situation too many times not to know that this will eventually result in violence, and, in turn, result in more conflict, and possibly war,” I say.

“Just let the war begin!” a woman from Nanpa says.

“Let us have our independence!” a man from Fribus says.

All sides of the crowd start agreeing to wage war, with few wanting peace and unity. Again, Penelope uses her powers to force calm among them, and I start adding my own to it. While using my power, I try to get a better understanding of the people and why they’re so thirsty for violence.

“Why do you crave the death of your neighbors?” I ask in people’s minds as I try to pull on their hearts. “Why do you put the mistakes of others onto people you only know the surface details of? The people of Fribus are not each responsible for the high taxes and demands, and the people of Nanpa are not each responsible for the disruptions in your cities and towns, and are not all lazy.”

“There’s a way to come to an agreement that you all will find reasonable. Don’t let your stereotypes of each other and recent events of the bad actors from each of your regions corrupt your view of one another,” Penelope adds.

“But…but they…but he…” I hear them say in their thoughts.

“But…but they…but she…”

There’s something still pushing them to fight one another. What is this thread that’s doing this? Concentrating and following it, I feel that an outside actor is responsible.

“Someone is affecting them mentally. Penelope, Zahara, keep the crowds calm and try to make them resume their talks. Raziel, come with me,” I say.

Following the thread, I go into the depths of the courthouse and start to feel a familiar cold touch, like icy fingers crawling up my spine. I take out my pistol and unsheathe my sword.

“Raziel,” I say.

Raziel has already taken out his scythe and lit it on fire as he says, “I know. The demonic is here. I can’t believe we didn’t sense it before. Useless division and infighting are signs of demonic influence.”

“Perhaps the cult members have just arrived or are only making their presence known now through the further exertion of their power.”

“This can’t be anything other than a trap. My guardian angel senses it.”

“My soul is guarded as always. Raziel-”

I suddenly fall down a hole that opens from the floor and quickly closes behind me. There’s nothing but darkness around me, and the overwhelming feeling of icy hands all over me. Dark figures start peering out from the darkness as if it were a veil and stare at me.

“Polina Emundatio. This is all too familiar to you, isn’t it?” their chilling voices say.

I fire my pistol at the figures, but my bullets go through them until it jams. Trying my sword, I swipe it at them, only for it to disappear from my hands when I bring it down. With only my psychological powers of mercy left, I dig into the minds and souls of the people around me and find something surprising.

“You’re all from Fribus and Nanpa? You’re all working together to use the demonic to ensure that a war happens between your regions? Why? That won’t solve your mutual grievances with one another,” I say.

“What would you know? A good war will separate the wheat from the chaff. Perhaps many of the horrible people on both sides will die, or the horrors will teach them a valuable lesson,” they say.

“It’s not worth the loss of life! They all have the capacity to change for the better.”

“That’s what we’re banking on; however, we’re trying to accelerate that change. Things have to get worse before they can get better. Our new friends will make that happen. After that, we can go back to fighting each other as if we never worked together.”

“They’re lying! Once you fall to sin, you’ll continue to fall unless you repent.”

“Speaking of that, they tell us something interesting about you. How two police groups were against one another, and you held back from doing anything useful until innocent people died. They also told us that the weight of that choice made you act foolishly and fall under the influence of sin. Oh, the perverted things that you allowed to happen to yourself because you gave up for a second.”

“That’s true, but they’re manipulating it to make themselves sound right. I’m ashamed of myself for letting myself fall. Still, the same thing will happen to you if you don’t stop right now.”

“Will you stop us, Polina? Will your empathy for us outweigh your calling to enact justice? We both already know the answer to that.”

The icy hand all over me starts tearing at my face and my armor. They think I will hold back and let my empathy for their pain and worries overwhelm my judgment of them. That’s not going to happen. I won’t let anyone else take advantage of me like that anymore! I let God have control of the situation, letting go of control of myself as my entire body and armor turn white and grey. The darkness turns white, and the figures in it stand out clearly.

Taking advantage of their stunned fear, I run up to them, and with one simple touch, they evaporate into white ash. One after the other dies as the demons scream, afraid of the power of God being used through me. Once they’re all dead, my original body color returns to me, and the white around me disappears, giving way to the normal electrical lighting in the room. Now that the supernatural lighting and darkness are gone, I see that the room around me is an old courtroom, but it’s been defiled with blood and demonic symbols, broken holy statues, and body parts around the room. This whole building will have to be cleansed and blessed to ensure that every bit of demonic influence is erased.

An explosion blows open the walls behind me. Turning to it, I see Raziel walking out of the raging flames and the bodies of people with horns on their bodies behind him.

He runs to me and asks, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Better than usual, actually.”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe I’ll know and explain it to you later. Let’s see how things are going upstairs now that the threat has been removed.”

As we walk away, Raziel’s flames die down. Returning to the courtroom, we’re surprised to see the two sides talking to each other, with Penelope acting as a facilitator, expressing their true feelings and thoughts to both sides and steering the conversation in the right direction. On the side, Zahara looks genuinely engaged in the discussion. Seeing us, Zahara approaches, and we tell her what happened and the motivations of the enemies we faced.

“They were idiots to think that they could do evil as if that could bring about some greater good. I’d be madder at the fact if I wasn’t guilty of doing the same thing,” Zahara says.

“When did Penelope get so involved in politics?” Raziel asks.

“She struck a chord with them and got them to calm down. Because they didn’t trust themselves to continue the conversation, they wanted her to facilitate it and keep the peace. Should we tell her she should stop now that the threat is eliminated?”

“No. We’ll have security clean up the threat downstairs, while the negotiations continue.”

After an hour passes, the representatives of Fribus and Nanpa come to a temporary mutual agreement until something more solid can be decided by their leaders and set into law. They shake hands, and the crowd cheers, happy with the results, as far as I can see. I go up to Penelope and tell her how happy I am with what she’s accomplished.

“Thank you. I didn’t know I had it in me. I still don’t know how I did it,” Penelope humbly admits.

“We all don’t know what we’re capable of, until God puts us in a situation where it can be brought out,” I say.

“What you did today is the first step in securing peace and unity for Ferdinand,” Raziel adds.

“That was amazing, Penelope,” Zahara says.

Penelope tears up and hugs me. I hug her back and think about the current situation. It’s going to need our guidance more than I thought, and I’m glad that Penelope pushed me to do the right thing and that God saved me in my time of need. This reminds me of what mercy is. It’s both a soft and firm hand that can be both kind and understanding, but also tough and willing to force justice when necessary.