Energy Unbound
Chapter 15-1
Meetings Part 1
Deep within the dense, still unexplored jungles of South America there lay a several mile wide clearing in the foliage. A shining city rose from the canopy to caress the very clouds, the glint of inlaid gold and the hum of advanced technology present everywhere. Orange light spilled out from the few exposed sources which drive this city, casting eerie shadows behind the objects which obscure them.
In the tallest tower, in the center of the city, a ruler leaned over a large golden metal table inlaid with jungle wood paneling. He oversaw his domain with the greatest of focus, sometimes moving elements on the massive screen built into the table when he needed to direct or change something.
A single city it may have been, but it was still a metropolis in its own right. He had much to do, and that was with his own subordinates managing most of it.
The doors to his private office let out a drum beat, notifying him of his visitor.
He sighed, shook his head, and closed his eyes. "Enter!"
The doors swiveled on the hinges rooted in the floor and the ceiling automatically. They revealed a man in clothing which a northerner would likely equate to a blend of robes and military fatigues.
"What is it?" the ruler asked.
"Sir, the celestial temple is active again," the man answered, wasting no time. He also sounded extremely concerned.
The ruler tensed, the veins on his uncovered arms swelling momentarily. He straightened up and turned around, glaring down the other man. "What?"
The man nodded again, adding no more than what he had said.
"That is not good," the ruler said. He mulled it over in his mind for a moment. The question both of them knew was coming he was afraid to ask, but it had to be aired. "Which relic has activated the Temple?"
The aid gulped and spoke, though he was trembling. "T-the Spiral, my king."
The king closed his eyes and cursed. "Of course. It had to be hers."
The other man did apparently have some good news. "Not all is lost, my king," he revealed, raising his hands. He concentrated and the soft glow of orange energy manifested around them. "Our power returns!"
The king was concerned, and confused. "Our gods lie dead. How can our power be back?"
"I do not know, but I do know it started when the Spiral reactivated and began to glow." The robed messenger drew in a deep breath and let it out. "The energy is the same."
The king turned fearful. He turned away from his subject and leaned on his desk once more, staring unseeingly at the shifting text and images. "The Spiral reactivating means she has returned. Our power returning will not let us overcome her. No matter if the source is indeed herself, or not."
The other man grew worried. He dropped his glowing hands and allowed them to fade. "Oh."
"Indeed."
Silence reigned even more than the king for a long minute as each of them contemplated the reality they found to be true.
"...What will we do?" the man eventually asked.
The king was silent for many more moments.
"...Sir?"
"Can he yet be revived?" the king suddenly asked, still bent over his desk.
The runner gasped. "We are not ready, he is too weak!" he protested.
The king slammed his hand into the desk, a loud whoom echoing across the room. "I did not ask if it was wise, Pahuac!" he reprimanded the robed man. He stood up and turned around, a tired and defeated look on his face. "Can he be revived, in any state?"
Pahuac grimaced. "He will be too weak to fight for us, my king," he gently pointed out.
The king sighed and leaned back against his desk, bringing a hand up to rub his eyebrows. "We cannot stand against her even with his help," he declared. "Even the help of them all would still see us fall." He shook his head and stood again, nodding affirmingly. "We need his thoughts and his experiences, not his strength."
Pahuac sighed as well and shook his head. "I will direct the revival team to attempt to induce awakening," he agreed.
The king nodded and gestured the man away with his hand. With him gone he turned once more to look out over his city, his nation, and allowed the tears he held back to flow.
They were able to make their progress ironically because of her own actions, and a piece of her that she had cast aside in her hubris. Now that she had returned, and that very piece so central to their civilization was once more in resonance, they could not win even with her own tools.
It was too soon. The world wasn't united, most gods were asleep, or worse, just fighting amongst themselves like the most powerful two pantheons had been for the last few centuries. The rest were just flat out dead... barring Asgard.
They would not help. 'Midgard' as they called it was under their protection from external threats only. The planet could burn itself alive for all Odin would care.
Which left it up to them. As they had done for millennia they would continue to do. They merely had to add killing a primal force of the universe to their list.
The king gently smacked both his hands into his desk and swore out loud. "Merely, he believes. How shall we do that?" he chastised himself.
He didn't know. No response from anyone else came either. The room was empty save him, which did explain the absence.
The king chuckled at his own joke, then straightened up once more. He glared out at his city as if daring it to disagree with what he was about to say.
"Cibola Amanece Dorado," he recited.
A promise to the past. A promise of a future.
They would find a way. That was their way.
They would rise, and the shackles of the gods would be exhumed from the world.