MALEDICTION (8)
"Malediction."Blake had just performed the autopsy on miss Anne, Njeri's mother, he had labeled her death as due to extreme blood lose and blood poisoning that instantaneously stopped her heart upon first circulation of the newly poisoned blood into the Vena Cava.
Gil remained in the morgue with Blake as Juma the remaining men left to go help the sister's with any other patient there might be. While some returned Njeri to one of the guess quarters in the cathedral.
"A word that invokes a curse of great evil, you might have heard it during your English classes."
"Probably not, they didn't teach anything complex in those English classes, but maybe I might have read about it in the libraries at the orphanage a few years back."
"Regardless of where you might have heard it, it is something serious to the point of shutting down complete nations." Blake covered Anne's face with a white sheet and placed her on a tray that protruded out of the wall, he then pushed the tray back in.
"Ok, so this 'malediction' is what's happening right now?"
"No. To be more precise the word brings about evil, its not inherently evil itself."
"Uh, I don't follow."
"In sorcery these things are important, you cannot mistake a mere chant for a ritual. A word of evil and a word that invokes it are two different things."
Gil grabbed his chin, "Still not following."
Blake sighed, the then went to one of the benches on the wall. He then opened one, removing a piece of chalk. Squatting on the floor he wrote two things.
"Read them out loud." He told Gil.
"Leave and Leaving"
"Yes, what does that the first one mean?"
"It means that you should go."
"Yes, it implies the action of leaving, what about the second one?"
"it means the… action of… going?"
"No, wait, actually yes. It means that you are actually going. While one is a verb and the other is a noun , one implies the action while the other is doing the action."
"Oh, so your saying that the word 'Malediction' only implies evil so there must be another word that does the evil?"
"99.9 points."
"Yes!" Gil gave a smile, "So what is that word?"
"Its not a word, rather an energy that makes it possible." Blake got up, "Words, have power, power given by something beyond the mortal realm. The more a word means to you or to who ever your saying it too, the more powerful it is, well, unless you're a god then these rules don't apply."
"So what I'm getting from this conversation is that… Malediction is a word that invokes evil, when it is said a certain energy is used depending on the status of the being that's saying it with regards to everyone else around it. Which must mean that there are other words that are evil rather than just implying it."
"80 points."
"Just 80? Where did I go wrong?"
"You don't have the full story yet. There are many words that invoke evil, the reason you didn't get a 100 points is because you didn't ask me a question that would have unlocked the full story."
"What words invoke evil other than Malediction?"
"Correct, there are many words that invoke evil, many are just common words like trip, fall, die! Depending on the emotion you feel when you say them. The same goes for malediction, you can't say it and expect something to happen when you're in good graces with whoever you want it to affect." Blake tapped on the table.
"So then why not use other words, whoever is doing this must have enough power to say die."
"That's where things get tricky, and its something I don't think your ready for. But in simple terms, some words require… specific instructions for them to work."
"I suppose it makes sense." Gil sat up on one of the benches and swung his feet.
"What about the words that are evil?"
"Human beings do not have the capacity to pronounce those words, there are exceptions to those rules but you'll learn them later."
"So, malediction invokes a great evil… but if we take your example of leave and leaving doesn't that mean that malediction has a counter part which is another word which is evil?" Gil asked, "Because I asked the first time and you said the word was an energy, but the more you explain the more I'm starting to realize that it might not be so."
Blake gave a slight slime, "Ok, there are two types of words that we've learnt today, one that invokes evil…"
"… and one that is evil."
"Good, so when one is feeling a strong emotion, mostly negative, and utters the words 'Fall!'."
"There is another word that carries out this action, the word you say cannot be pronounced by humans." Gil snapped his fingers as he realized what Blake was saying.
"Are you getting it now?"
"You were using words as a metaphor, malediction is a spell or ritual that invokes a type of magic or rather a type of sorcery."
"80--"
"I'm not done yet." Gil jumped off the bench, "Leave and leaving, leave is the word that implies the action, but if I want to do the action as in leaving I have to use energy, which is moving my legs. Same with malediction, the other word can't be said by human beings, except a few… sorcerers are the only ones who can say it. Malediction is a type of sorcery."
"97 points."
"Seriously." Gil leaned on the bench, "Where are my 3 points?"
"I'm not giving them to you, because you don't know the full story yet."
"Full story?"
"Yes, the story of fragment energy and sorcery. Its not just cut and dry what you've said, it's a bit deeper than that." He said before thinking 'There are actual words that humans, including ordinary sorcerers, can't say. But he'll learn that later on his own, with a little assistance of course.'
"That's the basics of sorcery. You want an action done, imply it first, add energy, then the action is done."
"Teacher, teacher!" Gil raised his hand like a student in a classroom.
"Yes Gil."
"If malediction is a sorcery, how can we stop it, isn't it like magic?"
"Well, what have you learnt about sorcery Gil?"
"You imply what you wanna do, add energy, then its done."
"20 points."
"20?" Gil froze for a moment before thinking hard.
"Some require specific instructions and conditions to be done." Blake said.
"I was gonna say it eventually." Gil felt a little bad for not being able to answer that question.
"Its fine, your learning. Normally cutting off the power source would do the trick. However, what do you think the problem with that plan is?"
This was his chance to redeem himself and Gil new the exact answer, "We don't know who is doing it and where its coming from."
"100 points."
"Yes!" Gil said feeling proud.
"But, in order to pull off a sorcery on this scale, conditions are required. As such I suspect whoever is doing this must have some sort of tie to this village, cut the tie, cut the sorcery."
"Ok, but where and how exactly do we find this tie, this village is massive."
"True, but I think you already know where it is."
"Me?" Gil was a bit confused, "How do you mean?"
"What did she tell you when she gave you your powers?" Blake took out another cigar.
"Who… the girl with black hair… how do you know her?" Gil jumped off the bench again, "So, did she come to you too?"
"Not quiet, let's just say she was a friend of a friend."
"What?"
"Gil, what did she tell you before she left?"
"Oh, uh…" Gil bonked his head as he scrolled through the memories of the entire night. They were a bit hazy as he didn't feel like himself, most of it must have disappeared.
"##############" Catherine spoke.
"What?" Gil looked at the corner of the room, Catherine stood their and mouthed a few words, "What are you saying?"
Blake knew that Gil wasn't speaking to him so he kept quiet.
"###############"
"I don't understand."
She suddenly appeared infront of him causing him to stumble backwards for a bit before realizing what catherine was saying:
"See to it that he is free, then your dept will be paid." He said outloud.
"Good, what's next?"
WE FIND WHOEVER THE HELL THAT WOMAN WAS LOOKING FOR!
TO BE CONTINUED