Hitherby's Diary : The Opera


Keepers of Memory,

I thank you for hearing me. I thank you for keeping this record. If I should die, my successor may need to know what I know, and to understand what I understand. The Seneschal knows of this record; they will come to you.

It would be rude to leave a message with you that you could not understand. I will keep this in mind.

It began with Terethel. He is a burrower, one who makes nests. An angel of the Earth. He favored a human entertainment known as opera, where humans sing stories while decorated with funny items. One day, when he had a great deal of assigned work, he saw a killer-of-young outside the opera hill.

"Oh, no!" said Terethel. "Whatever shall I do?"

Then a thought occurred to him. "I will contact all of the local angels," he said, "and have them fix this problem. That way, I will get my own work done and the opera will be all right." This was something he said to himself, of course, and not to the killer-of-young, who would never have understood.

So Terethel gathered us together. Mazpatiel, an Elohite of Judgment, was like a mantis -- very still and quiet, except when he strikes. Chephirah, a Cherub of Destiny, was like an ant who virtuously protects the aphids in her charge, except without the aphid part. Zebina, an Ofanite of Trade, was like the swift yellowjacket; Eduardo, a Malakite of Gabriel, was like a bumblebee, big and scary and not likely to lose his bottom just because he stung somebody. And there was Sephar, a Kyriotate of Jean, and me, who are like the royal wasps, that are no more. There was also Daimonique, a Lilim of Dark Humor, who was like a beetle, because, well, he just was.

We gathered together to sip the morning dew at a human building, and we did so with great finesse. There, Terethel explained his problem, and we all agreed to help him, and he wiggled his legs in relief and tunneled off through the floor.

I flew, with Zebina, to the Opera hill, and encountered Daimon for the first time. He gave me a shiny object which I left somewhere or other a few minutes later. Then I started to arrange for assistance -- I called many of the great winged beasts to a nearby hilltop and had them perch there to await my call. I also gave them food. The human who helped me get them food was later to become a Soldier of the Great One.

I listened in on Daimon and a warrior human discussing recent events, whereupon I discovered that a place called Focals was giving the Opera some of its own bugs to help dig tunnels and gather funny things for the Opera people to wear. Later, I encountered Daimon in the hallway and told him, "Beware, scoundrel! Explain yourself or face my fury!" However, he replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about." He also met up with Zebina, and they began to fall in love. -- What? No, I have no idea how a beetle and a yellowjacket do it. It involves much invocation of the Lord, however. -- in any case.

We discovered somehow, I forget how, that there was a Shedite in Props, a malevolent master bug that sat atop the opera bug and controlled his mind. -- Oh, what horrors you are spared by not being human! So I gathered Chephirah, and we went in to destroy the Shedite. It turns out that there was a Habbalite as well -- like those rare moths that know how to confuse other people's scent trails? Like that. We fought bravely, but the Habbalite confused Chephirah, and the master bug and the moth escaped. Unfortunately, Props died, and I was forced to call in the Great One to resolve the situation completely.

We decided that this was unacceptable. The Shedite had moved on to another bug -- er, yes, a human, I'm *trying* to make this accessible, you know. I informed it of my readiness to mate, and we moved up to a high place, whereupon I shook the master bug off and me and my comrades attacked it until it was dead. Then we went after the Habbalite, and wound up giving him back to the Demon Prince of Dark Humor for some reason or other. I think it was because Daimon wanted it that way. We also went looking for a green sparkly thing that had magic powers, and finally escaped with it.

But there were still more demons! These demons were like police, the demons who keep the other demons in Hell. They said, "We were supposed to get the master bug and the moth, but we will settle for you instead, since, well, we are demons and don't have to make sense." So Dominique came in and killed or scared them all off to teach them a lesson.

-- Hitherby

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Fiat Justitia