Los Angeles, Saturday Night
Callisto stood before the bank of candles, the nose twitching at smell of burning incense and melting wax. She didn't like temples. Hadn't since the first time she'd stood in one at fourteen. Of course, the fact it had been on fire at the time might have had something to do with the bad associations.
Shaking her head, Callisto reached for a candle and a taper. "By this flame, I call on the three Fates. The Maiden-" A cough interrupted her stumbling recitation of the half-remembered ritual. She turned to see a man in robes, the priest of this temple she guessed, watching her with eyebrow raised.
"I trust you have a good reason for that."
Callisto frowned. "For what?"
"Invoking pagan gods in the house of the Lord."
"The Fates aren't gods," Callisto pointed out. "Zeus, Hera, Ares, they're gods. The Fates, are the Fates. And I'm not trying to invoke them, it's a...I was trying to honour the dead."
"Family, or a friend?" the priest asked.
"No, he wasn't a friend...not exactly."
"He must have been a good man, then, for you to do this."
"Hardly," Callisto snorted. "He was evil, and I'm not just saying that. Far from the worst I've seen, but bad enough."
"Then why?"
"He was... honest about it. Didn't try to hide it. Never wrapped his actions in self-righteous hypocrisy. Never lied to, or to the best of my knowledge about, me." She looked across at the priest. "It might make me a bad person, but I find that I prefer honest evil to dishonest good."
"And it that why you're doing this?"
"Partly," Callisto admitted. "But mostly, because... I accepted a long time ago that no one was going to do this for me when I die, but I see no reason why he shouldn't have someone do it for him and if I don't, no one else will. Look, I'm sorry if I'm breaking rules here, but I don't have anywhere else to do this."
The priest looked at her long enough to make Callisto nervous. Eventually, he sighed. "Do what you must."
Callisto nodded. "Thank you."
"Just be quick about it," The priest pinched his nose. "I'll be in the confessional, trying to ignore the blasphemy."
Callisto picked up the candle and re-lit it. "By this flame, I call on the three Fates. The Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. Comfort my... Comfort Angelus, not my friend or my enemy, who was taken from us this day a year ago. In his memory, I ask it."
Shaking her head, Callisto reached for a candle and a taper. "By this flame, I call on the three Fates. The Maiden-" A cough interrupted her stumbling recitation of the half-remembered ritual. She turned to see a man in robes, the priest of this temple she guessed, watching her with eyebrow raised.
"I trust you have a good reason for that."
Callisto frowned. "For what?"
"Invoking pagan gods in the house of the Lord."
"The Fates aren't gods," Callisto pointed out. "Zeus, Hera, Ares, they're gods. The Fates, are the Fates. And I'm not trying to invoke them, it's a...I was trying to honour the dead."
"Family, or a friend?" the priest asked.
"No, he wasn't a friend...not exactly."
"He must have been a good man, then, for you to do this."
"Hardly," Callisto snorted. "He was evil, and I'm not just saying that. Far from the worst I've seen, but bad enough."
"Then why?"
"He was... honest about it. Didn't try to hide it. Never wrapped his actions in self-righteous hypocrisy. Never lied to, or to the best of my knowledge about, me." She looked across at the priest. "It might make me a bad person, but I find that I prefer honest evil to dishonest good."
"And it that why you're doing this?"
"Partly," Callisto admitted. "But mostly, because... I accepted a long time ago that no one was going to do this for me when I die, but I see no reason why he shouldn't have someone do it for him and if I don't, no one else will. Look, I'm sorry if I'm breaking rules here, but I don't have anywhere else to do this."
The priest looked at her long enough to make Callisto nervous. Eventually, he sighed. "Do what you must."
Callisto nodded. "Thank you."
"Just be quick about it," The priest pinched his nose. "I'll be in the confessional, trying to ignore the blasphemy."
Callisto picked up the candle and re-lit it. "By this flame, I call on the three Fates. The Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. Comfort my... Comfort Angelus, not my friend or my enemy, who was taken from us this day a year ago. In his memory, I ask it."