Chapter Twelve
The Viking and the Princess
The Leviathan and the Princess have discovered several things in the great trench in the deepest ocean: the roots of the World Tree, the Nidhogg wyrm, and the gates of the Abyss. The Nidhogg wyrm is a giant tapeworm sucking the energy out of the roots, and the ocean floor is slowly seeping into hell. The Leviathan uses his comparatively smaller size to infect the Nidhogg at a cellular level. Moiety has discovered that she can stop the influx of the universe into her black hole heart by utilizing the creative energy of the Universal Vibration that surrounds her. However, she has lost Odin's Scroll of Poetry, and the pieces of the wyrms tale that she cut off have come to life and are attaching themselves to the World Tree in a new effort to drain the World Tree of its gratitude. "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened."
-CS Lewis, The Great Divorce"Please tell me more about what is in the abyss," Moiety inquired of the Leviathan.
"It is the waterless places," replied the Leviathan
"The waterless places?"
"The void, the nothing, outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It is the fire that is never content with wood, the ground that is never filled with water, and the eye that is never satiated with seeing, and it is full of the spirits who are never grateful for being."
"That sounds terrible. Are there really beings that are doomed to live inside of it."
"Yes. But not in the way that you might think. The gates are locked from the inside. There is no one there who has not chosen to be there.
When they first get there, they just walk in, because it has a comfortable familiarity - the spirit can walk back out, but it will not. The whole earth is filled with the Creator's glory, leaving no room left over for self-glorification. Instead of joining into its Universal vibration, cursed spirits choose to engage in self-aggrandizement, shutting themselves out of the cosmos. The Creator, in mercy, allows them to abide in the outer darkness."
Moiety thought about her mother's sisters, who spent much of their time together bickering. At any time, any one of them could just get up and leave, but they seemed to thrive on the intrigue generated by their scandals. No wonder the Abyss is made of fire and full of malice. Without wood, the fire goes out. Without words, there is no gossip, and without malice present, there is no consuming hatred.
The Leviathan was listening to Moiety's thoughts. "A great chasm was set between the Heavens and the Abyss for that excellent reason. The saints would delight in extinguishing the Abyssal fire, and the Abyss dwellers would utilize that sentiment to lure them in and entrap them."
Moiety and the Leviathan searched along the roots of the mountain. The Abyss continued to consume the seafloor and release its pressure on the surface in the form of volcanic activity.
Moiety could hear the malodorous thoughts of the Abyss dwellers, "It's all your fault!" A woman's voice screamed. "If you would have just listened to Me!" A man's voice thundered. "That is Mine!" "I have a right!" "This is my property! Get off My land!" "Get out of My way!" The mob's cry perspired from the crack in a sulfuric stench.
Finally, the Leviathan spotted the tip of the glowing scroll peeking out of the silt. It was slowly inching its way towards the fissure. There was no way to reach it in time. It was being sucked down into the Abyss. Moiety felt terrible. The one valuable thing that she had, she was losing, and only as soon as she realized that it had any value at all. She put her head down on the Leviathan's... Support this podcast
