by Gareth Otton
Self consciously, Leon climbed to his feet and looked around. He hesitated a moment before bending over, placing a hand beneath the sofa and another on the back, and then he stood. The sofa rose also, his grandmother with it.
He moved as easily as if he were lifting an inflatable sofa, his face and arms showing no sign of strain as he held it and the old woman five feet from the ground for long enough to make his point. Then, just as easily, he bent over again and settled the sofa back onto the floor. It was so smooth and gentle an action that it barely registered as a sound.
Though Stella was impressed, stunned even, she maintained her stoic mask. “I see. So he’s strong.”
“Yes, strongest man on Hydra,” Dorothea said without boasting. “The more people who believe it, the stronger he gets. You understand? Their belief is what shapes us. We are what they believe we are.”
Stella glanced at Tad as that phrase ran eerily close to what he’d always said about a ghost’s reality being what they believed it to be. However, now blind, he missed her look, just as he had missed the whole scene of Leon picking up the sofa. She could see he was desperate to ask what happened, but was trying not to interrupt. Despite everything, that effort made Stella smile. Taking pity on him, she filled him in on what happened. As always, his poker face failed him and he looked amazed.
“So the people on Hydra all think Leon is supernaturally strong?” he asked.
“No,” the old woman responded, sounding aghast. “If they believed that, Leon would be stronger. Hundreds of people on Hydra believe that Leon is strong, so he is very strong. If they all believed he was very strong, he would be impossibly so.”
“That wasn’t impossible?” Stella asked.
“Impossible for most, but are there not strong men who can lift cars?”
“Not nearly so easily, nor with so awkward a grip,” Stella disagreed.
“Maybe so. A little belief is a strong thing.”
A year earlier Stella would already have called the old woman crazy and kicked her out. However, she’d seen a lot over the last year and was slower to write her off. Beyond that, there was her absolute certainty that this woman told the truth as she knew it.
“So, you’re saying the stronger the belief, whether that’s from a smaller number of people believing more strongly or a larger number of people believing a little, the stronger the result?” Stella summarised to make sure she understood. Dorothea nodded. “What if a whole country believed something, was taught at birth to worship that thing like a god and believe like it was an unshakeable truth?”
The old woman smiled.
“You understand it now. That is how Idols became gods. If there is enough belief we become something much, much more.”
“Are there limits?” Stella asked. “Do they have to be physical traits or—”
“Of course there are limits,” the old woman said. “There is only so much belief in the world. But believe anything strongly enough, and it will be so.”
“So all the old myths are true?” Tad asked.
“No one knows for sure. History was changed for that reason.”
“History was changed?” Stella asked.
“Yes. There was a time when our people ruled. The Eidolon thought they were gods and convinced half the world. But thinking this made them arrogant, and they started disagreeing with each other. You get enough gods disagreeing, and you get a war of the gods. Of these there have been many, but the last nearly killed us all.”
“All the Idols?” Tad asked.
“All humans,” the old woman corrected him. “You must understand the power they wielded. They had convinced their followers they were immortal beings with incredible power. Their battle threatened to destroy the world.”
“So how are we still here?” Stella asked, sounding doubtful. She could believe a lot more than she ever used to, but there were limits.
“Someone found our weakness.”
“Weakness?” Stella asked.
“Ours power is of belief and faith. What weakens both of those things?” After a dramatic pause, she gave the answer. “Doubt.”
“Doubt?” Tad asked, confused.
“Is it not doubt that ghosts must fight to believe how their world changed? That you fight when you go to Dream? Doubt is powerful. It eats away at faith, removes belief, and when belief in our kind dies, so too does the power belief brings.”
“It’s hard to cast doubt on something people have seen with their own eyes,” Stella argued.
“Is it? Aren’t there people who disbelieve in Dream, the Borderlands and ghosts even though it is on TV? Even now, if someone could give you a believable reason to explain everything you think you have seen, you would stop believing.”
Stella doubted that, but decided not to press the issue. Instead, she pushed the old woman back towards her story.
“So people created doubt in these gods,” Stella said.
“Yes, and that doubt shrunk their power. But the death toll was unimaginable. Once the war was over, even the Eidolon who could start new religions and regain their power chose not to. They decided we needed rules and limits.”
“What rules? What limits?” Stella asked.
“What are your powers?” Dorothea asked instead of answering. “The whole world can see you are very beautiful. It’s… distracting. But what else?”
“Her beauty?” Tad asked, interrupting. “Stella has always been beautiful.”
“As are we all when we’re young,” the old woman said without a hint of modesty. “But you must have noticed Stella’s beauty increasing. Don’t men stare at her wherever she goes? Aren’t women so intimidated by her that—”
“Can we get to the point,” Stella interrupted, not liking where this was going.
“What other ways have your powers shown themselves?” The old woman asked again.
Stella hesitated and glanced at Tad, hoping to get his opinion on how much to share from his expression, but his eyes were blank.
“I don’t sleep,” she admitted. “I can force myself maybe once a week, but, even then I don’t really need it.” Dorothea’s eyebrow twitched and Leon looked stunned, but neither spoke. “I can also detect lies. I’ve always been able to do this a little, but recently it has gone to new extremes. I feel physically sick when someone lies near me and sometimes I can actually sense what it is people are trying to hide, especially when they’re guilty of a crime.”
“Ah. I see now,” Dorothea said, suddenly smiling like everything made sense. “You’re a Justice.”
“A what?”
“One of our people who is focused on justice. When people see you they see someone who upholds the law and seeks the truth. It is why you were an excellent detective. Is there anything else?”
Stella hesitated, not liking how the woman was dismissing her life’s work.
“I’ve been getting stronger. The other day I threw a man across a room like he weighed nothing at all. I only meant to push him away.”
“There’s your scars as well,” Tad reminded her. “When you hurt your leg with the dragons, the doctors said you healed far quicker than you should and all of your scars have disappeared.”
With every new thing they said, Leon’s eyes grew wider until it looked like they might fall out of his head. Dorothea had the opposite reaction, her frown growing more pronounced.
“This is what I feared,” she said. “I only hope I’m not too late.”
“What are you talking about?” Stella asked. Annoyingly, Dorothea didn’t answer directly.
“The reason your scars disappeared should be obvious,” she said. “The TV says you are the most beautiful woman in the world. Billions of people hear that. If only some people believe it, it still has an effect. It has removed your imperfections. If you had any grey hairs, they are gone. Your body will not scar. You will never be fat. Your skin will always be perfect. I bet even your breasts are firmer and—”
“I get the point,” Stella interrupted,
her cheeks flaming. Tad suddenly had a coughing fit beside her and when she turned to him with narrow eyes, his head was turned away and he was covering his mouth with his ruined hand.
“The healing is another matter. It must be to do with you being a Justice. It’s hard to fight crime if you are not fit,” the old woman said, again almost like she were talking to herself. “I don’t know about sleep—”
“Justice never sleeps, yia-yia,” Leon whispered and the old lady smiled ruefully.
“Of course. The world sees you working tirelessly to help people. I’m only surprised that with that kind of belief you can sleep at all.” She shook her head and sighed. “I might already be too late.”
“Too late for what?” Stella asked, growing impatient with her dramatic pauses.
“Too late to save you. You’re breaking the rules of our people. It’s a miracle things have not gone further.”
“What rules?” Tad asked.
“We aren’t allowed to show ourselves this much,” Leon explained when he realised Tad and Stella’s patience was diminishing. “The old Eidolon had only the belief of a nation. Populations were only tens of thousands back then, and they became gods. There are billions of people today. Imagine what we could become with belief from even a small portion of them. It is why I don’t compete professionally. With just the people of Hydra I am already more than any one man. With the whole world watching, I’d be Heracles come again.”
“More,” his grandmother disagreed. “With so many people watching, you’d have strength the old gods could only dream of. That can not be allowed. It’s why you must hide, Stella.”
“What?” Stella asked.
“Leave your work, your investigations, everything. With all the people that follow him,” she nodded at Tad, “You should leave him too. Things will only get worse other—”
“Hang on,” Tad protested, suddenly angry. “Stella’s fine where she is.”
“The old gods can not return,” Dorothea snapped. “You have been lucky that the belief the world has shown in Stella has not created more obvious changes. But she must hide to stop this getting worse. Stella, come away with us, get to know your family. Come to Hydra and—”
“Stella’s fine here, thanks,” Tad snapped.
“This doesn’t concern you, Dreamwalker. This is Stella’s choice,” the old woman said. “She should be with family.”
“Family?” Stella asked, her voice barely a whisper. “If you knew what that word meant to me you would not use it right now.”
For the first time since the conversation started, Dorothea was thrown off balance.
“You must listen, Stella, or you will change into something that must not exist. The other Eidolon will not allow that.”
“Is that a threat?” Stella asked, her tone dangerous. Slowly the little girl in her head was giving way to other aspects of Stella, more angry aspects. Where before Tad’s hand was a lifeline, now it was a tether, holding her back and keeping her temper in check.
“It is truth,” Dorothea said. “Belief will change you into something—”
“I am in control of my life,” Stella interrupted. “Other people’s belief might give you power, but it’s up to you how you use it.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the old woman said dismissively. “The more people believe in you, the less you will be you. The Stella you know today will be gone and in her place—”
“No,” Stella interrupted again. “That sounds like an excuse used by people who mishandled the power entrusted to them. I’m not going anywhere and that’s final.”
“Just like your mother,” Dorothea snapped, suddenly angry.
“What did you say?” Stella asked, her tone more dangerous than ever.
“I said you are just like your mother. She believed as you do and rejected our laws. She ran away, and look where that got her.”
“My mother died giving birth to me, not because of some choice to leave you. There were complications and—”
“Complications,” Dorthea scoffed. “Tell me, how is it you have become a world famous investigator of death, but you never looked into what really happened to your mother?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Tad asked when Stella rocked back, too stunned to talk.
“Don’t be stubborn. I have lost one granddaughter, I don’t want to lose anoth—”
“I think it’s time you go,” Stella said quietly, her voice cutting through the old woman’s words, regardless.
“Stella. Yia-yia didn’t mean it like that,” Leon said. “We’re not threatening you. We just want to stop anything bad from happening.”
“That still sounds like a threat, Leon,” Stella said.
“Please, these are dangerous people. They are terrified of the return of the old gods. You don’t know what you’re risking.”
“I’ve spent the vast majority of my life knowing none of this and I’ve gone far without your help. Nothing you said today changes that.”
“Please. I know this is a lot to take, but we only want what’s best. We’re family, and while that not mean much to you, it does to me.”
“Then where have you been all my life?” Stella asked coldly.
“I didn’t know about you until the other day,” Leon said. “I’d have come to find you otherwise, I promise.”
He was telling the truth, Stella could feel that much. But his honesty only made the fact that the old woman hid her existence worse.
“You both need to leave now,” Stella insisted.
“Stupid girl,” Dorothea snapped. “We are—”
“She said, leave,” Tad said, his tone deadly serious. Picking up on that tone, Growler started one of his supernatural growls and even Freckles looked unfriendly.
“They will not stand for her to live,” the old woman said bitterly.
“I’ll protect her if it comes to that,” Tad insisted.
“A blind man against the Eidolon. Even reduced, we are more than a match for you.”
“You think I need my eyes to deal with Mr Muscle over there?” Tad asked.
Leon looked affronted, but Dorothea placed a hand on his arm to keep him from saying anything.
“It’s alright,” she told him. “We have said what we came to say. The rest is up to them. We should go.”
She held out her hand for Leon to take, and after a slight hesitation, he accepted. After helping her to her feet, he led her out of the house while glaring at Tad. His expression turned regretful when he looked at Stella, but then he was gone and the front door slammed behind him.
“Can you believe their nerve,” Tad said once they were alone. “It sounded like they’re going to send someone here to kill you. I should—”
“Ignore them,” Stella said. “When I’m not at work surrounded by Trevors’ guys, I’m with you and Jen who can get me anywhere in the world with a thought. If that’s not enough, Freckles is always with me as my early warning system. Trust me, I can handle whatever they send… if they send anything at all.”
“They sounded serious.”
“Maybe they were. Who knows? For all their talk, I’ve been in front of billions of people for months and I’m hardly a goddess, am I?”
“I don’t know,” Tad said. “You can do some amazing things. And she’s right, your boobs really are supernaturally awesome and... Ow! You’ve got super-strength now, remember… and I’m blind. You’re not supposed to hit blind people.”
Despite herself, Stella laughed. “That’s the least you deserve,” she said. Then after her smile faded, she shook her head. “You should have told me you were looking for them, Tad.”
“You’d have just told me to keep my nose out of it,” he explained.
“And this was better?”
“At least we know why you’ve been changing recently and what to expect. That’s something, at least.” When she didn’t answer he added, “Stella, I’m sorry. I never wanted it to turn out this way.”
> “Well it has,” she snapped, her words harsher than she expected. Suddenly she was so angry she was shaking. “This is exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid. I didn’t need to know that today.”
“About being an Idol?” he asked.
“No, you idiot. I didn’t need to know that she knew about me, but didn’t want me. I was perfectly happy thinking I might have family out there who would have come for me in a second if they knew. But now I know that no matter what side of my family it is, no one ever cared. No matter what happened, no one was coming. No one will ever come now. I’m just the mistake that killed my mum and my whole family hates me. I should have—”
She flinched as she felt Tad’s hand on her shoulder and pulled away. However, Tad tried again immediately and it took a few seconds to realise he was saying her name, but she couldn’t hear him over her own shouting. She could barely see him anymore for the tears that filled her eyes.
“Stella, listen to me. Your family were wrong,” he said slowly and clearly like he was trying to make himself heard over a bad phone line. “You’re an amazing person. You’re not a mistake and—”
“I killed those men,” Stella interrupted, her voice haggard and her tone sharp. She barely even recognised it as her own voice. “Trevors’ people. If it wasn’t for me they’d be alive. My family were right. I’m useless and—”
“Stella, stop,” Tad almost shouted. “Listen to me. None of this is on you. You didn’t create the nightmare wave that killed those men, and you can’t be held responsible for whatever happened to your mum. No, listen. Dorothea practically said outright that your mum didn’t die in childbirth, but even if she did, that’s not your fault.”
“It is,” Stella said, her tone utterly miserable. “It’s why they hate me, it’s—”
“It’s not your fault,” he said again, tone firm and enunciating every syllable as forcefully as possible. “We both know your family on your dad’s side are arseholes and we can leave it as that. As for Dorothea, I’m sorry for finding her because she’s obviously a poisonous old woman. But the good news is that contrary to popular belief, we do get to choose family. Family are people who are there for you no matter what. That’s me, and that’s Jen. We’re not going anywhere, and we chose to make you part of our lives. Trust me, blind or not, I’ll fight anyone who tries to take you from me. I might need Growler to point me in the right direction, and I’ll probably look like an idiot punching nothing but air as I try to figure out what I’m doing, but we’ll fight for you no matter what.”
