An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
“This is a story about Adaela, the God of Justice, and Rafma, the God of Mercy, and how they met”, said Angela.
“Ew, is this a love story?” said Fareeha.
“Yeah, but it’s much more than that!” said Angela.
“Fine, let’s hear it. But I want to hold the book!” said Fareeha.
“Here”, said Angela, handing over the book. “But hold still, or else I can’t read!”
Fareeha noticed the way that Angela had to crane her neck over her lap to look at the words on the pages. So she climbed into Angela’s lap and held open the book in front of her.
Angela tucked Fareeha’s head under her chin and began to read.
“Adaela is the God of Justice, and lived on the east end of the heavens.”
Angela pointed at the picture of Adaela. Adaela was tall and slender, with a furless, primate-like body, and the head of a falcon.
“Adaela only had to look in the eyes of a person and she knew all his crimes.”
Angela turned the page, revealing a picture of rounder, softer god, with a similar body of a furless primate, but in the place of arms, had white, feathery wings.
“Rafma is the God of Mercy, and lived on the west end of the heavens. Rafma only had to look in the eyes of a person and she knew all his virtues.”
“Adaela punished those who had done evil and Rafma rewarded those who had done good. But over time, Adaela’s heart grew hard, as all she could see was bad. Rafma could only see good, and her heart grew so light and full of holes that one day she started to float so high that she could not go home anymore.”
“Rafma is like me”, interrupted Fareeha. “I can’t go home either.”
“Shhh”, said Angela before continuing the story. “And so Rafma floated and floated, until she came across Adaela, who lived high in the heavens. Adaela was judging a peasant from the Planet of Never-ending Sea, who had stolen a loaf of fish-bread.”
There was a picture of the person, whose top half was that of a dog, and whose bottom half was that of a fish.
“‘For your crime, I shall punish you with three strikes to the face, ten growth seasons of imprisonment, and a permanent mark on your tail so that all will know of your transgressions’, declared Adaela.
‘Stop, that is too harsh’, called Rafma from above. ‘This peasant has done nothing wrong. I can see that he is a good father, and although he is poor, managed to feed his family and saved them from starvation.’
‘I do not see such an honourable man’, said Adaela. ‘Only one who has stolen.’
‘I do not see a thief’, said Rafma. ‘Only a man who saved the lives of many little ones.’
‘How do you suggest I punish this man, then?’ said Adaela.
‘You should not punish him at all’, said Rafma. ‘Instead we should fill his arms with as much food as his arms can carry and send him back home to his family.’
‘That will not do’, said Adaela. ‘The merchant he stole from is also poor, and without the revenue from his bread, one of his children starved. We cannot turn back time, but I can bring justice to the deceased.’
‘That is a terrible thing to hear’, said Rafma. The holes in her heart began to fill, and she sank softly to the ground. ‘But the punishment is too harsh. How could this peasant have known of the merchant’s circumstances? It seems in either case there would be one dead child, and one grieving father. The peasant did what he could to save his children.’
Adaela felt her heart grow lighter as she considered what Rafma had to say.
‘Very well’, said Adaela. ‘I will set this peasant free. The days that he spent awaiting his trial are sufficient for his punishment.’
When Adaela accompanied the peasant back to the Planet of Never-ending Sea, she returned home to find that Rafma was waiting for her.
They looked into each other’s eyes, and both gods were surprised at what they saw.
Adaela saw bad in Rafma. Rafma had released a criminal out of mercy, and the criminal returned home to slaughter one hundred babes.
Rafma saw good in Adaela. Adaela had captured a powerful, magic-wielding murderer who had destroyed many worlds, and imprisoned him where he could no longer kill.
They became enamoured with each other.
‘Will you stay with me and judge the characters of criminals in a holistic light?’ said Adaela. ‘As mercy without justice is irresponsible, and justice without mercy is inhumane.’
Rafma said, ‘I will be your wings if you will be my anchor.’
The end”, finished Angela.
“Wow”, said Fareeha, closing the book. “Rafma is so pretty, isn’t she? I liked her white wings.”
“I think Adaela is much prettier”, said Angela. “She looked beautiful in the blue dress.”
“Adaela is cool, not pretty”, said Fareeha. “She captured a murderer that nobody else could! I want to be strong like her!”
“Rafma obviously has better character though”, said Angela. “She made mistakes, but to only see the good in people is very admirable and everybody should try to be like her.”
The two sprouts squabbled until they came to the agreement that although both gods were wonderful, being with each other made them better.
