What is the true meaning of evil? While most people think that they can answer that question with a sentence or two, or possibly by giving an example, they fail to realize that they aren't covering the whole expanse that is the word - evil. For example: how many people knew off the top of their heads that one definition for the word evil is "marked by bad luck or bad events"? In that context, how many people are "evil"? However, with something that can truly be seen as subjective, such is the case with the concept of what is and isn't evil, maybe the best course of action would be to see how someone who's spent their entire lives researching this very issue would define the word - evil. Sociologist Philip Zimbardo defines evil as - "Evil is the exercise of power to intentionally harm (psychologically), hurt (physically), or destroy (mortally or spiritually) others." By this logic, could one denote that the Nazis weren't evil because they were merely perpetrating the acts that Adolf Hitler wanted them to? Or, are there exceptions for those who willing follow instructions that lead to atrocities?

What is evil?

Perhaps, we should venture into the world of one such entity claimed by some to be evil. Maybe only then, can we figure out what evil truly is.


The wheels on the bus may go round and round, but the wheels on the Chieftain's Prius went clickety clack across the broken roads of a small town in the American Southwest. The name of the settlement isn't important to this scenario; the fact that something like this can happen absolutely anywhere is where the focus needs to be placed. This could be your shithole town in the middle of scenic fucking nowhere. Remember that.

"This is all a little too dramatic," Erin said as her eyes darts across the Arizona road map that Derrick had left in the glove compartment; a piece of planning that could more accurately be equated to an impulse buy at a gas station on the Arizona/New Mexico border, along with the unopened bag of Gummi Bears that had fallen to the floor near the driver's feet. Derrick was assured when he saw the baggie for the first time; that would be the last time Itaria would be trusted to pay for anything. Ever.

"You're sure humans do this all the time?" Her fingers curved into makeshift quotation marks as the phrase "all the time" escaped her mouth. It was a phrase she heard too many times in the span of time she had been stuck on this planet, chasing down the same, seemingly unreachable goal as the man who brought her here.

"Yes, I'm sure," Derrick said as his grip on the steering wheel loosened, and his foot pressed downward on the gas pedal. Within seconds, the Prius speeds up and rips down the nigh abandoned road. Well, ripping down the road as fast as a Prius with a flat tire can. Erin shakes her head and looks out the windshield, to the seemingly endless road ahead of them. With a sigh, she keeps her eyes locked on the chipped, faded yellow paint of the center line.

"I don't see why, or how. It seems like it would be a huge waste of time, given the potential consequences."

"And that's coming out of your mouth?"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Are you- oh, right..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What are we talking about?" asks Itaria from the back seat; beige burlap sack still covering her face. With a quick glance between themselves, the pair in the front of the hatchback both decide not to answer. With one hand still loosely on the steering wheel, Derrick reaches down and retrieves the baggie of Gummi Bears off the floor. He tosses them backwards to Itaria, but just as he does, the front left tire of the Prius hits a pothole on the road that jolts him to the side, and the one hand he kept on the wheel to turn said wheel sharply to right. The car follows suit, and within seconds drives off the slightly elevated road and into the pit of dirt and gravel below.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Calm down, I can handle this."

He pushes his foot on the gas, to get nothing. No sound at all. Well, at least from the car.

"Oh, Derrick? Is that the name I gave you?" calls a voice from inside the car; one that belongs to someone who wasn't there prior to the accident. The three turn their heads immediately and greet a familiar face: Lady Gonnerah. Derrick smiles and drums his fingers against the now useless steering column.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of having you come and check on me?"

"You know damn well what this is about, Kinwrathi."

"Oh, so we aren't going to be all formal for this? Good," he says while loosening the tie around his neck. "As for your fucking lecture, save it. You told me I was stuck here, and here I am, being stuck."

"Feel free to leave out the part where you're conspiring to take over the whole damn planet while you're explaining this, Kin. Your intentions are obviously very noble. Silly me!"

"Take over Earth? Y'know, that ain't too bad of an idea! I'll get right on that if you would be so kind as to fuck off, boss."

"Do you even remember the reason you got stuck here in the first place?"

"Of course! Fuckin' pussies, the entire Divine Council is. They get to be the 'good guys' and on top of that make all the rules? What the fuck does that have to do with the current situation?"

"What it has to do, Kin, is that they know what you're up to. If you think they're going to be okay with that; you're more deluded in your own arrogance than I thought."

"Whoever said I thought they'd be okay with it?"

"Wait a second, Divine Council? What about them?"

"Nothing. They're full of shit and we all know they aren't going to actually do anything to help a planet in which they have literally zero following in."

"It isn't about that, Kin. And yes Arellia, I did say the Divine Council."

"Fuck them! I say we cut them off at the pass! Start it right now before they have a second to anticipate it!"

"It doesn't surprise me that you'd be the one to suggest that."

"How come everybody keeps saying that?"

"No reason."

"Gah!" she screams, punching the dashboard in her fit of rage.

"Derrick, Kin, whatever: I can't stop you from doing this without condemning myself to the same fate as you, so instead of trying, I just want you to think about what you're doing. They've already pushed to start the Fuhyergon sooner."

"They have? I say let them."

With a sigh, Gonnerah (or the vessel she used to communicate with her former disciple) simply vanishes. Disappears from this plane of reality and likely back to the first level of Sethin. Throwing his head back against the seat, Kinwrathi reaches over and opens the driver's side door before stepping out of the car. With a sigh, he says loudly enough for his passengers to hear: "Grab the map. We're going to have to weird our way there, now."