♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦
Topic #252
We usually interview our good guys and gals when we do character interviews. How about we do an interview with our favorite bad guy?
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Reluctantly, I’ll open the door to let in a character that is better off deceased and away from anyone they could impact. That may seem like a cruel thing to say, but you don’t know this particular individual unless you’ve read the books, of course. If you’ve read the series, then you understand the sociopathic nature, the malignant narcissism. This could get quite brutal–like interviewing a prolific serial killer.
Before we begin, I’ll ask that you take precautions in protecting yourself. Take warnings that some responses could be triggering. Do not let what goes here influence your mind beyond providing information about a the individual. Opening this door could open you to Cursia.
Discovered intertwined with the souls that make Kharon’s skiff, Cursia was taken in by the Lord of the Labyrinth of Acheron (also called the Pit of Acheron). Her mind had been locked in a damning sleep, like a bio vessel may experience a coma. Once awakened, so were her ambitions.
Let us tread carefully forward with our guest…
Good afternoon, Cursia. Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed for our readers today.
(Her eyes are so dark that I can hardly tell if there is a pupil, and there is something unsettling in such a stare. Her smile curls to the side and I have the sense that I am a mouse before a rather hungry cat.)
Good afternoon.
(The response is simple and unassuming but for the tone that promises something just out of reach. A warning?)
Shall we get started, then? As I am sure you are aware, the blog has interviewed several individuals that you’re familiar with, who have been granted the opportunity to tell more about their stories. What would you like to tell readers about your role in the events surrounding Captain Maiel?
See, that’s the first mistake you make. You think this is just about Captain Maiel, but it’s far more than that child’s tantrum that matters.
What things?
The balance between all planes. Captain Maiel threatens the solvency of Zion, and risks war with Jahannam. She declares it to be the opposite, but it is she who encroaches upon the borders of our world.
Earth is not your border, though.
Isn’t it? The entirety of Samsara, as small as it is, is all that stands between the danava kingdom and those controlled by duta. The duta continually meddle in the affairs of souls living there. They skew everything they believe to favor them. The danava have been unfairly maligned. Thus the soul races have been inclined to commit violence against us–preemptively they call it, but it’s just fear–the fear they’ve been taught by another race attempting to destroy us.
If I have my story straight, are the danava not former duta? Did they not commit horrendous crimes against Zion and the souls of samsara that required their being isolated away from others–a mercy, quite frankly, when most laws at that time called for death?
Danava, as was I, were condemned for making free choices. They chose mates from among the souls, offending the king of Zion and his council. They did not murder, they defended themselves against the violence of others.
Their were accusations of rape by victims–
Were there trials? None. The king declared them guilty without fair trial.
The King has the kappalanum to tell him of what transpired.
Are you kidding me? Did you see any of it yourself? You just take him at his word?
I believe survivors. What do they have to gain from coming forward? They’re often further abused and revictimized by a public that seeks to preserve those they prefer to align with for often very shallow reasons.
No one believed me. I was put to death and imprisoned with the rest. If it were not for the Baron and our prince, I’d also have remained the prisoner of that pervert Kharon. That bastard takes whomever he finds to be pleasing for his weird pastimes.
How did you come to Jahannam. Tell our readers what happened to you.
As I just confessed, I was raped by a nobleman and my status did very little to protect me. My husband called it adultery. I birthed a child and he had it murdered, even though it could have been ours. Then, he put me to death. All of this directed by Zion’s hand.
The Baron tells us another tale. May I quote him? (She stares at me, a wrath rising in her eyes. I proceed not heeding my own sense that I am treading close to danger.)
“You betrayed those who loved you by lying with another. For this you were punished and you sought to punish your lover for being caught, insisting you were raped. He went to the gallows protesting innocence. He never raped you, did he? And when you bore a bastard you killed the infant to appease the wrath of your husband. You set up the one you loved and killed his son to hide your shame. The shame of a whore. Well, now you are my whore.”
What do you have to say to this, Cursia?
Cursia responds with great distaste, sitting back with her arm folded. She casts her eyes aside, caught lying or having caught a liar.
The Baron and I have had a falling out.
Over?
He did not tell you? I thought you spoke to him about the matter? (She glances at me with slant to her mouth. She’s reengaged now.) We differed in opinion on the matter of Dominic Newlyn.
Captain Maiel’s husband? (She nods.) The baron considered entrapping him, so that he would become marditavya.
No. See that’s the twist. The baron wanted to save him from Zion before he was killed. He knew his wife, once upon a time. He nearly brought her to our cause, as I recall him saying. Ultimately, it was his goal to complete that task, and save them both.
And you disagreed with this? Why?
Because the baron thought that once the Captain realized Zion had arranged the ketu between them, that she would be free to choose him.
But the baron already has a wife.
As a wife betrayed by her husband, you can see why I stood against this. Besides, he was foolish to bring a duta and her toy to Jahannam. The Captain would never betray her homeland. It would be disastrous letting her in only to let her sell us all out.
If that’s true, Cursia, I think you’re very wise, in fact. Captain Maiel would never betray Zion. Returning to what the baron said about you, is it true that you killed your infant, not your husband? That you lied about the rape to save yourself, which ultimately did not work?
Kill my own flesh and blood? You are insane. I did not lie. The man I lay with had manipulated me. When the deed had been done, I realized the terrible tangle I was in. Ashamed of it, I avoided my husband. Our relationship had been quite passionate. I came to find out, however, that his jealousy had a devilish streak to it. Eventually he sussed out what had happened. He executed the man on charges of rape. I, after all, had to confess this to him, to tell the truth. However, it wasn’t enough. My husband had a worm in his brain now. He started to believe me willing. As my belly grew with our child, he also believed it was fathered by the dead man.
Was it?
In those days, there was no definitive way to tell. I felt the child was my husband’s. A mother just has a way of knowing.
You could not convince him, though. He made you bring the child into this world, and then he killed you both. Have you ever seen him again in Jahannam?
No. I have never seen him since. For that I am thankful.
Why are you so willing to help a danava who would lie about you, after experiencing the terrible repercussions of lies that ended in your death?
You clearly see her as your enemy. What of Dominic? There are rumors that you have taken interest in the soul. He’s one of your own.
It would be nice to have someone of my own kind with which to speak. Can you imagine being so isolated from your own kind for such an eternity and to finally have the opportunity to connect once more? I only wish he were not so devoted to his bride. She betrays him.
The baron and I have the same goals. We just don’t see the same steps to those goals the same. I would never attempt to turn a duta. If a soul or a duta come to us on their own, that is one thing. Reluctantly, they can be trusted. They prove themselves. Maiel–she would end us. It’s certain.
In what way?
They’re not the same. She cannot help him.
Cursia, Duta pride themselves in helping souls reach ascension–
They pride themselves in assimilating us. Erasing and eradicating. It’s genocide.
Isn’t it the natural progression of the atman?
The natural progression of an atman is whichever path it wishes to take, and there is no evil in being true to that call.
You mean dharma?
Yes, but true dharma. That one should be able to do whatever satisfies their hearts desire. That is true dharma.
Duta claim that this belief is a deception. That entertaining all your desires leads to destruction. It’s reflected in Samsara, for instance, in how certain behaviors over indulged can lead to death–whether that is through violence or disease.
(Sneering) The duta claim.
You clearly don’t see it their way.
Clearly.
Thank you for taking this time to air your opinions and give more insight into both yourself and what it is like to live in Jahannam, Cursia.
You and your readers are most welcome. If there is anything I can do to help them hear the truth, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Both our salvations hinge upon cooperation between Jahannam and Samsara.
I hope you’ll pardon my reluctance to just accept that at your word.
Propaganda is difficult to unlearn. There are more voices than the Captain’s. You should hear them all.
That stare locks me in again. I feel a bit sick inside, frozen to my seat, but I eventually mumble further thanks and take my leave of Cursia.
I am left wondering what of the things said could be taken seriously. The sense that I have been manipulated successfully hangs heavy on my shoulders. My stomach feels better, but my mind is uneasy. This woman, after all, is a slave of the baron. It surprises me that she sees herself more on the same level as him, and not a subjugated person. Yet, she still holds animosity toward Morgentus. Perhaps it is just the fear of her words getting back to him that created this weird juxtaposition between her status and words. It’s not unheard of, now is it?
If you want to learn more about Cursia and Jahannam, or any of the characters and places mentioned above, read The Trailokya Trilogy.
Hop on over to one of the links below to continue the hop. You might just find a new book to read…
Good afternoon, Cursia. Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed for our readers today.
Good afternoon. Her eyes are so dark that I can hardly tell if there is a pupil, and there is something unsettling in such a stare. Her smile curls to the side and I have the sense that I am a mouse before a rather hungry cat.
(The response is simple and unassuming but for the tone that promises something just out of reach. A warning?) Cut this by 60% and build it into the her dark eyes bit. This is borderline irrelevant backstory drop. Once people start talking, let ’em talk and get out of the way as you do for the rest of it. Show us her dark side, get the author out of the way.\
I like her, by the way. A lot of equilibrium. I have a lesbian fairy godmother who went to Cambridge and Harvard law that has a lot of stare through you qualities. I can see the thin fog of cold condensation coming of Cursia!
You gotta set up the scene though, and show the author’s bias. At least I feel that way. I’m glad you see her. That’s good to hear! Thank you for the feedback.
It is hard to determine what is propaganda when you are surrounded by it and fighting for survival.
This applies to a few perspectives in that story!