The Mystery of Minako

Minako's family had fallen from the ranks of nobility. Her father had gambled away all of their assets and was now deeply in debt. Her mother did not have the ability to think on her own and was doomed to fall with them. Her brothers had been sent away to war. If they could prove themselves in battle, perhaps they would restore honor to the family. But that did not solve the immediate problem; Asmita. He was here to collect on her father's debts and he had nothing to give, except for Minako.

Minako was given to Asmita to pay for her father's debts. She would be a slave in his household until he grew tired of her. But before they left, Asmita wanted to prove to Minako's father who was in charge. He raped her in front of her parents, causing all three to cry. Minako felt true pain, true anger, true fear. She could never go back.

For some months Minako was solely the property of Asmita. He enjoyed watching her cringe at his touch. Eventually, though, he grew tired of her and wanted another concubine, so he sent her to his men's barracks. The next year of Minako's life was torture. She cried frequently and there was never a day when she didn't have several bruises. After a particularly harsh night, Minako began to bleed profusely from her womb. The medic was called in to examine her and he pronounced that she was having a miscarriage. She soon passed out from the loss of blood.

When she awoke she cried at finding herself alive. The medic told her that the miscarriage had been severe, but he had managed to keep her alive. She was determined to kill him for that. Then he gave her news that tore her heart into a thousand pieces, she could never have a child. Minako screamed in agony, as though the sulphorous flames of Hell were consuming her. The one gift that God gave to all women, and she was denied it, had it taken from her. Truly, God hated her.

That night, as she was recovering and cursing the name of God, a demon approached her. "God has left you," it said "you will never know love now for even Heaven itself has turned its back on you. I hear you cursing the name of The Rejector. My kind curse it as well. Tell me, Minako, would you like to hurt The Rejector?"

Minako hissed at the demon, "I would give my soul if it meant revenge on all those who have hurt me!"

"Then so it shall be," the demon replied. "If you give me your soul, I will give you power and you will destroy the lives of anyone whom you think has hurt you."

"What is your name," Minako asked. "For I know there are very few that can give this kind of power."

"My name is Sonneillon, but my master is Persophone. She sent me to you."

"Persephone feels my pain. To her alone would I give my soul. What do you need me to do?"

Sonneillon took out a contract written out by Queen of Hades herself and told Minako "eat it and it will become one with your body so that you can never break the contract and she can grant you your desire through her power."

Minako ate the contract and felt herself change. She felt the coldness of Persephone seep through her soul. She felt her body changing drastically, painfully. She could not tell which way was up. Her body tried to reject the contract by throwing it up but she forced it to stay down through sheer force of will. She would have her revenge. Finally she blacked out.

The next morning the medic came in to look at her and was greeted by the most beautiful face he had ever seen. It was enchanting, intoxicating, everything a lover of women could ever dream of and more. It was so beautiful that it distracted him from the giant, twisting mass of branches and leaves that was behind it. Minako still blamed the doctor for causing her to live when she wished to die so she reached out with a clawed hand, tore out his heart and ate it. He watched her eat it but was too entranced to know what she was doing until his body caught up and died. With the consumption of his heart Minako felt a growth from one of her branches, a blood red pomegranate. 

She wreaked havoc through the barracks. No one was able to fight her. Her face would change into whatever that person thought was most beautiful and he would stop. That is when she would strike. She cleaned the barracks of its hearts and left with more than a hundred pomegranates growing amongst her leaves. 

It was then that she turned her attention to Asmita. He had heard there was a disturbance in the barracks and went with some guards to investigate. He first saw Minako from the side and saw the monster she had become. He ordered his men to attack the creature but when Minako turned to look at them, they stopped. Even Asmita was so taken aback at this beauty that he forgot all about the monster that lay behind it. He dropped to his knees and begged for her blessing for one as beautiful as she must be a goddess. 

"Do you think I am beautiful," Minako asked as she ripped out the first guard's heart and ate it.

"More beautiful than the sun after a year of darkness!"

"Would you ever hurt me," she asked, tearing out the heart of the second guard.

"May my life and soul be forfeit if any harm should come to you!"

"Do you wish to lay with me," she asked, killing the final guard.

"No," Asmita responded. "You are far too precious of a thing to be soiled in the bed of any man! I will protect with all I am to make sure no one will ever sully your beauty."

"But I have already been hurt," she responded. "I have already been sullied by many. Many have called me an ugly whore and beaten me because of it."

"Whoever they are," Asmita yelled "I will see to it that they are brought to justice. I will kill them myself!"

"Prove to me you are a man of your word."

"I will slay whoever hurt you. Just point me to them." 


Minako smiled, raised her hand, and pointed to Asmita. "You, Asmita. You are the one who hurt me. You were the first one to hurt me and treat me like a whore!"


Asmita was taken aback at this, but so engaged was he with the beauty of her face that he took out his dagger and slit his own throat. Minako took one of the pomegranates from her branches and squeezed the juice onto his throat, "You have forfeited your life, now you will forfeit your soul as you swore to do. Soul of Asmita, I command you to serve my queen, Persephone and never see the light of Heaven or day again." And it was done.


Minako wandered until the daylight came around. She hid in a nearby cave for the rays of the light burned her and she could feel her face change to match her twisted form. She fell asleep still thinking of all those who had hurt her.


In her dreams Sonneillon came and visited her, "You have had your fun. Now it is time to serve your queen."


"But there are still others to take revenge upon," Minako protested.


Sonneillon laughed, "do you really think the Queen of Hades cares about your quest for revenge? She has been trying to get her hands on Asmita's soul since he first propositioned a woman. You were just the right tool for the job. Now she has other work for you to do."


"But my quest is unfulfilled! She owes me total revenge!"


Sonneillon shook her head and whispered "they never read the contract. You wanna know what that contract said?" Minako nodded. "It said that were giving over your soul to the Queen of Hades and whatever she wanted, you would do. Admit it, your entire body is telling you to come with me to meet her and find out her new orders."


Minako could not deny the pull she was feeling. She realized that she had been the fool. All of her life, she had just been a tool, an object. She was never in control of her own fate. She was never in control of anything in her life. She just kept getting used. God rejected her, her parents had rejected her, Asmita had rejected her and even all of the men of the barracks rejected who she was. 


Suddenly Minako felt a fire stirring inside of her. She felt her anger rise to new levels she had never known of before. Her branches caught on fire and her body burned. Sonneillon stepped back "what's going on?!" Minako would have answered if she had known. All she knew was that this anger, this fire, felt good. She knew it was a power that she could use to control her own life and be who she wanted to be. This was the fire of her soul, her essence that no one, demon or angel, human or deity could destroy. As the flames consumed her she became more aware of who she was as a person, what her role in the greater plan was, and most importantly, her true name. "Adero," she whispered.


It is unknown, to this day, what happened to Minako-Adero after the flames consumed her. Some say she was reincarnated and lived a happier life. Others say she is serving the Queen of Hades. But a very few believe that Minako-Adero was purified in mind, soul and body by the fire and became a deity in her own right. A deity that protects women during childbirth, comforts them after a miscarriage and ruins the lives of any who hurt them.

Librarian's Vow

As your librarian I vow
To treat you with respect
Whether you are royalty or reject.

As your librarian I vow
To protect all your rights
Whether I agree or not with your fights.

As your librarian I vow
You'll have access to any datum
And you shall be given all, verbatim.

As your librarian I vow
No question is too strange
To have its answer outside of my range.

As your librarian I vow
To keep all your secrets
No matter how much the government frets.

As your librarian I vow
To be cost efficient
Part of your taxes should be sufficient.

As your librarian I vow
To teach you today's skills
To get a better job to pay your bills.

As your librarian I vow
To get you what you need
So that a free and full life you can lead.

True Education

Once upon a time there lived twin sisters, Folashade and Zafnet. On the day of their birth, The Midwife declared that one of them would be a great queen and bring peace to their land while the other would live in the shadows and die unknown to the world. The sisters' parents saw Folashade as a bright, outgoing child while Zafnet was never able to keep up with her sister. Because of this, the parents gave all of their attention to Folashade, educating her on all subjects regarding politics, science, math and philosophy. To Zafnet they taught home-bound skills; sewing, weaving, cooking, cleaning.

Folashade knew this was unfair to her sister, so at night, when they were alone, she shared with Zafnet all that she had been taught. As they grew, many complimented Folashade's beauty and wisdom. They knew that she would be the one chosen to be the queen. To Zafnet they gave encouraging talks about how she would make a wonderful wife and mother some day. Folashade and Zafnet had discussed the prophecy of The Midwife several times, they had no doubts Folashade would be the future queen. Zafnet would often say to her sister, "When you are queen, I will disappear to another land and you will never have to worry about me." To which Folashade would respond "Fie upon prophecy. When I am queen, I shall keep you at my side as my head adviser. You are as smart as anyone, especially me. Why should you fade into the background?" Zafnet would always thank her sister.

When she was old enough, Folashade was sent to the best school the family could afford. She studies politics, philosophy, economics and foreign languages with the greatest of minds. Many times her professors were surprised at her insight and did not always have immediate answers to her questions.

Meanwhile, Zafnet was trained in the marketplace. She learned to haggling, foreign relations, folklore, traditions and how to defend herself from unwanted advances. She was able to earn her family a profit every day she went to the markets to sell their wares. Zafnet wanted to make sure her sister was able to stay in school and become queen.

When the college had a holiday, Folashade came home for a time and tried to join her sister in the markets, believing that her knowledge of economics and foreign languages would help her profitable sister become more profitable. The parents believed this was an excellent opportunity to show the world their daughter's skills and told Zafnet to take Folashade with her. Zafnet was hesitant, but accepted.

Before they got to the market, Zafnet stopped Folashade and told her "there are many ways in which someone new to the market can be taken advantage of. Do not take the first price you hear. Do not trust Virilius. Do not tell the Ajalan that you are Aadideven. These three rules are imperative for you to survive here."

Folashade scoffed at her sister and said, "do you think me so ill educated that I cannot converse with common people? I can blindside them with my intelligence. Just watch." And she walked into the middle of the market, disregarding her sister's yells.

Around this time, a young man came into the market, looking to sell silver from a far off land. Folashade saw the silver jewelry and wanted some so she approached the man, "how much for this necklace?"

"30 fedhas," he replied.

"You must think me an idiot to buy the necklace for that much. The cost of the silver alone is only worth 10."

"Ah, but you are forgetting about the craftsmanship that went into it. That is where the real expense is. This necklace alone took me five days to properly smelt and forge. Then it took another week to design!"

Folashade was at a loss, she had no idea if this man was telling the truth or not because she had never seen jewelry created before. Her face betrayed her lack of insight and the man knew he would not be talked down any more, "either pay the 30 fedhas or be gone. I have too much to sell to waste my time on one person." Folshade walked away in shame.

She ended up at a local tavern and thought that she would get herself a small drink while she thought about where she went wrong. While she was there, a group of people began a heated discussion about the true story of Hero of Canton. Once side said that he was a hero of the highest caliber, the other said that he was nothing more than an unlucky thief. Folashade, thinking that she could put her education to use interjected by saying that he was both, according to the official records.

Both sides glared at Folashade and each yelled at her for bringing up official records "which could be doctored by anyone" and "were irrelevant to the conversation" and "said nothing about the meaning behind the actions". Folshade paid her tab and walked out in shame. But she was followed.

A older man named Virilius had seen her and taken a liking to her. He followed her out of the tavern, maintaining a distance of a few feet, waiting for his opportunity to grab at her. Folashade was oblivious to him and just went looking for her sister to take her home. She wandered in between a couple of kiosks and Virilius followed after. When she saw she was at a dead end, Folashade turned around and was face to face with Virilius. He grabbed at her and forced his mouth onto hers. She tried to push him away, but he was much stronger. She tried to scream, but his mouth covered hers.

Folashade had had enough. She had been shamed for the last time. She grabbed Virilius' throat and roughly pushed his neck back until he couldn't breathe and he had to let her go. Folashade was beyond enraged and grabbed the knife that he had at his side and slit his throat.

She stood there, frozen from shock, for what seemed like hours. She woke up out of her trance to a scream from the owner of one of the kiosks. Folashade looked at the woman, looked at the knife and dropped it. Then she ran. She forced her way through the market square, towards her home, ran into her sister's room and locked the door. She collapsed and began crying.

After the sun had set, Zafnet knocked on the door. Folashade let her in and then collapsed again on the bed. Zafnet hugged her sister and held her tight.

"There was talk of a murder in the market place today," Zafnet began. "They say Virilius was killed by a woman who looked much like me, much like you. My whereabouts can be vouched for by all those I sold to today. My time line is set in stone. Yours, however, is a mystery. I will not ask you if you did it, and I pray you do not tell me if you did. I'd rather be ignorant of the subject."

"I was useless," Folashade began. "I should have just been by your side all day. I couldn't do anything right and I finally got fed up with it and now a man is dead. I cannot go back to the college. I cannot stay here. What can I do?"

"There is a group," Zafnet began hesitantly, "they take in refugees and people of unknown origins. All they ask is that you put in your share of the food at the end of the day."

"Is this my only choice," Folashade cried. "I am no thief. I only killed out of self-defense, a moment of weakness."

"The law of the land says you are to be put to death. I wish I had better news for you, better opportunities, but it is not safe for you to stay here."

"Dear sister," Folashade whispered, "there is another way. There is a group, the Ah Puch. It is said that after your first kill, they will hunt you down and offer to let you join them. They will train you in the arts of death and you will never want for another family."

"Folashade!" Zafnet cried. "How could you think of joining the Ah Puch? They are servants of the darkness! They kill for money, some for fun!"

"They are what I want," Folashade whispered. "They will train me, and I will use that training to protect you, be your informant and complete those tasks that no one needs know of."

"What are you saying?"

"You are to be the queen. Not me. Queens relate to their people, I don't. Queens are intelligent in the ways of the people, are able to sooth discord where it arises. That is not me. Zafnet, you will become the queen of these people and they will love you. I will stay in the shadows and protect you."

"Since that is your decision," whispered a voice from the window, "we gladly accept you into our ranks."

"You are from the Ah Puch?" Folashade asked.

"Yes."

"Then take me to where I am to go."

"Follow closely." And with that, the voice was gone.

Folashade made for the window but Zafnet grabbed her and begged, "please don't go! You are my sister! You are to be queen!"

"Zafnet," Folashade whispered, "I am of no use to you in the eyes of the public. I have shamed my parents and made their investments in me worthless. I will no longer be a waste to them or to you. I don't know how it will happen, but one day you will be queen." With that, Folashade slipped from her sister's grasp and fled out the window.

As the years passed, Zafnet grew more beautiful and more knowledgeable about the people in the market. It seemed that every day she was being proposed to. All of them she declined.

Soon, the king of the land heard about a beautiful girl in the marketplace whose kind words could bring the most ill-tempered drunk to a stop. Curious, he dressed in the clothes of a commoner and went to investigate. Sure enough, there she was, a woman of beauty, intelligence and courage. He fell for her instantly.

The King walked up to Zafnet and asked, "could I talk with you for a while? I am a lost man and need a friendly face to converse with."

"I'm sorry sir," Zafnet replied, "but I just opened shop and I need to make sure to sell everything here if I am to go back to my parents with my head held high."

The King dropped 500 fedhas on her kiosk and asked, "will this be enough to buy everything?"

Rather than being impressed, Zafnet was suspicious, "how did you get this money?"

"It is money that I have earned, not stolen, if that's what you are wondering."

"Then tell me how you earned it."

The King smiled and said, "I am a person of influence in The Council."

"My sister warned me about people like you. I'm sorry sir, but I cannot take money that was used for a bribe."

The King was unable to speak for some time. When he was finally able to collect himself he asked, "how can I prove my intentions are good?"

"My sister will let me know," Zafnet replied. "At the end of three days, you will either be someone I can trust, or a dead man."

The King was shocked again. He had never been addressed in such a fashion. All of the women of the courts and councils were only out to marry him for his crown. They were always so agreeable and disgustingly flirty. Never before had a woman made a threat on his life. The King walked back to the palace and waited the three days.

As the fourth day began to rise, the King was awakened by a servant, "My Lord, there is a woman at the gates waiting to speak with you. She says that you have passed her sister's test."

The King smiled and ran out to greet Zafnet, "may I talk with you now?"

Zafnet smiled, "you may, but keep it short, I have a shop to run and parents to support."

"Never mind that. I will take good care of you and your family, including this mysterious sister of yours."

"You will never meet my sister. But she assures me that when you were questioned in your sleep, your answers were those of a good man."

"May you never cease to shock me," the King smiled.

Soon after, the two were married and Queen Zafnet was praised by all who met her. She counseled her husband regarding who was being honest with him and who was not. She bartered with other countries for the goods that her land needed. She was arbitrator of arguments that arose that the King could not handle.

All the while, Folashade, true to her word, kept her sister safe. No kidnappers, no assassins, no threats were brought to Queen Zafnet. Rumor spread that the Queen was protected by the gods themselves. When presented with these rumors, Queen Zafnet would smile and simply respond "I am protected by love."

The Phoenix Legend

Ev'ry five hundred years or so
There is a gathering.
Birds from ev'rywhere congregate
To discuss their new king.

I was invited to attend
To see who runs the world.
By watching and listening,
Secrets would be unfurled.

The three phoenixes dictate all,
They choose who shall be king.
Through a battle bloody as war
One says what the birds sing.

One phoenix is of flames and power,
He longs for the cries of war.
He will lead the world to ashes,
Only to rise once more.

The second bird is of lightning,
And craves to understand.
He'll lead the world to discov'ry
With skills of mind and hand.

The third phoenix is of beauty
She longs to heal the world.
She will lead all mankind to peace
With grace and healing swirled.

Each phoenix would fight the other,
Flames, lightning and sunlight.
Their blood would pour onto the ground
As each displayed their might.

The winner would choose the world's fate,
Or so the birds told me.
Every five hundred years they fought,
Only one saw vict'ry.

They could not live at the same time,
Earth couldn't handle it.
And so they fought for survival
Killing each, bit by bit.

But there was a surprise this year,
The birds sang together.
The birds of beauty and lightning
Seemed to like each other.

The birds' human incarnations
Had become as family.
They didn't want to fight or rule
They just wanted to be.

But the Phoenix of Fire was true
And kept to his nature.
He grew up in the midst of war
His pain his sole feature.

He vowed to destroy all makind
When he was crowned king.
He would obliterate all humans
And then peace, he could bring.

Lightining would not stand for this war
And knew he had to fight.
His sister phoenix was too gentle,
And would not survive the plight.

Lightning challenged Fire to a duel
To buy his sister time.
She would flee while the two battled
And one heard their death chime.

But Beauty was no chicken bird
And stayed by her brother.
He protested loudly at her.
She paid him no bother.

Fire attacked with all his power.
Lightning shield Beauty.
H would die before she saw harm
He knew 'twas his duty.

While war can lead to discov'ries
And new queries of though,
It was done so on the shoulders
Of the ones who had fought.

Peace would lead to less advancement,
But progress would be pure.
No blood would taint science's hands.
Peace, Lightning would assure.

It seemed the fight would never cease,
Neither could land a blow.
Lightning kept his cool, but Fire raged,
Vowing the blood would flow.

Then he made good upon his vow
And struck a viscous blow.
Lightning then fell upon the ground,
Fire had bested his foe.

The Phoenix of Fire dove downward,
Sure of his victory,
He would kill Lightning and Beauty
And rewrite history.

But for the love of her brother,
Beauty would not stand by.
She dove between Fire and Lightning,
All sure that she would die.

But she deflected fire's power
Through her own silent strength
And drove him back with sunlight pure,
That threw him back at length.

Beauty used her powers of peace,
To look into Fire's heart
And dismayed at all of his pain
And understood her part.

She looked at Lightning with a smile,
"Don't worry about me,"
She said to her precious brother.
"This is so we can all be free."

She dove headfirst into his heart
And drove his pain away.
She used her healing powers to
Make his heart bright as day.

In doing so she lost her life,
For it took all her might.
But the pay off had been worth while
For Fire had seen the light.

He'd found a force so pure and good
That it healed his old scars.
He'd never felt so free before
No more trapped behind bars.

But with this revelation came
A new feeling of pain.
He could feel a great well of guilt
'Twas driving him insane.

He looked to Lightning and begged him,
"Please take away this pain,"
And raised his neck up to Lightning
In hopes 'twould be his bane.

But Lightning could not bring himself
To end his sister's work.
She gave her life to end the reign
Of this self-serving jerk.

He glared at Fire with teary eyes
And asked why he should care.
The only one he loved was dead
'Twas Fire's burden to bear.

Fire begged with him to be put down,
And end this pain of guilt.
For of all the pains he'd endured,
This was the greatest built.

Lightning refused to take his life
Saying he deserved it.
Why should Fire get the peace of death?
Why should Lightning submit?

Then Fire got mad, for the last time
And built up his fire storm.
Then he threw himself at Lightning
In perfect fighting form.

But instead he did as Beauty,
And gave Lightning himself.
Lightning, Fire and Beauty fused
Making a higher self.

Then the birds from around the world
Began singing their songs
And gave praise to the Higher Form,
Saying goodbye to wrongs.

I marveled at this Higher Form,
Eager to hear it speak,
Wanting it to share great wisdom
With my kind that was weak.

The Higher Form stood in silence
While the birds sang its praise.
And then it turned and looked at me
And it said with voice raised;

"You humans could become like me
If only you would learn.
I am the balance of all life,
Beyond what you discern."

"This shall be the fate of your kind;
Following in my stead.
I will guide you to balanced lives,
And put behind your dread."

"To you I will pass some great truths
And you will take them out.
Some people will listen to them,
Others will have their doubt."

"You must only concern yourself
With those who will listen.
For those who don't, it is their choice.
And they shall not wisen."

And so the form told me its truths;
It talked of life balance,
Bringing peace to the world at large,
And how man can advance.

But let me ask my fellow man,
Whom I know, oh so well,
Would you take the advice I bring,
And on its wisdom dwell?

Or would you tear these words apart,
And destroy their meaning?
Causing more arguments and pain,
Purposely misleading.

These words shall only be shared with
Those who hear the calling;
Those who seek to be changed by them,
Who know that they're falling.

I will not give these words to those
Who would change their meaning,
Those who seek justification
Of their acts, demeaning.

The words are meant to be as is
And not torn into parts.
You cannot pick and choose the words,
All shall be ta'en to heart.

Listen for them in the birds' songs.