Alright, so I am not a regular writer, even if I try. Due to many things in real life, I can hardly churn out a few lines a month. Do not despair, that this story will eventually be finished, even if takes me a couple of decades.
Here I offer to whom might read, the next scene of the first chapter. If I don't change ( . . . once again . . . ) the struture of the story, this chapter should end on the tenth scene. I hope to put that one up before Xmas, but I make no promises.
By the way, I'm happy to say that I've finally gotten in contact with the one who calls himself "Darkwind" and authored the "Oh-my-god" saga. I know permission is mostly unnecesary for writting a fanfic, but still it does great stuff to your morale.
Hope you approve, Breet-san.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
On the other side of the mirror, Belldandy and I arrived to a dimly lit office. I could one more time feel we were in Heaven, for a slight hunger of Energy in the back of my head.
"Greetings, Belldandy." - I turned around, to see a gentle-looking middle-aged god gently taking Belldandy's hand. - And you must be the newly Ascended God. Greetings, newcomer." - And he took my hand with both of his and heartily shook it.
"Well, thanks sir. " - I answered embarrassed. After all, for all I knew he could be one of those legendary figures I had dreamed about in my childhood.
"Oh, don't be shy, kid. My name's Hephaestus, Greek God of Craft, so what's yours?"
I stood there, frozen like a statue. Of all the Gods I could have wished to meet, I step on the Greek God of Crafts and Fire. Indeed, he was a hero for me . . .
"I . . . I . . . Ignacio, sir. " - I stopped and wanted the ground to eat me. I wasn't sure what would be his reaction toward . . .
"Neo-Circa God of Darkness?" - He completed. My face fell, and I could not bare the shame of starting with the wrong foot with such a God.
A hand fell on my shoulder, and after a second I looked up to the face of the god. He wasn't angry.
"Don't worry, kid; I can understand how you feel. Remember that the Greeks were a civilization that venerated physical perfection, and look at me: I'm bow-legged!" - He stopped a second, to let me look down to his deformed legs. - "Yet being imperfect made me a hard worker, and look at me: today I'm Chief System Administrator of Terra's Heaven, and even to date I am still the God of Metallurgy. Come on kid, it isn't the end, but a new beginning for you." - And he pulled me into a hug.
I was taken aback by just how open was this god being with me. I shyly returned his hug, until the god finally let go, with a big smile.
"Alright, want some tea? Or wait, you are originally Mexican, right? Then what about a spiced chocolate?"
"Of . . . Of course, sir." - I answered shyly. He chuckled once, and turned to Belldandy, who had been watching us.
"Warm apple cider, Belldandy-chan?"
"Yes, please."
"Alright, give me a second."
He turned and began working on a table on the corner of the room, which was covered in papers and assorted metallic teapots and cups. He raised a glowing finger and touched three of the teapots, which glowed metallic red for a second before settling and beginning to steam. He served our two cups before serving his, and took them to us. I was a little afraid of just how hot they might be, but after seeing how guilelessly had Belldandy taken hers, I decided to take mine from his outstretched hand, and to my relief, it was only warm. I smelled it and caught the delicious scent of lightly toasted, freshly minced cacao, mixed with cinnamon, vanilla and molasses, and slowly brewed on wood. My mouth was watering by the moment my lips touched the warm surface of the brew, and then I took a sip. The taste was indeed superior; however, there was just something in the back of my head which told me not to pass the sip, and no matter how hard I tried, my body just refused to shallow. In the end, I finally managed to shallow a bit, and my body answered by coughing strongly. The god only shook his head sadly.
"Sorry about that, kid; my fault." - He began patting my shoulder. - "It seems you also share my uncle Hades´weakness toward System Energy. Well, then the only thing I can offer you is inside that cupboard over there . . ." - He pointed to a cupboard on top of a file cabinet . . . - ". . . And sorry that I cannot give it to you myself, but because I'm a God of Fire, I'm constantly irradiating Energy, and might pollute it. "
"Well, thanks sir. "nd don't worry, I don't mind serving myself."
And so I went to and opened said cupboard, and immediately felt the Dark Energy being irradiated by the inside of it. After a second I shook my head and actually saw that the interior of the cupboard was layered all-around with a thin granite slab, and that the only things sitting inside the cupboard were a decanter and a couple of glasses, all made out of the finest carved obsidian I had ever seen. I picked up one of the glasses and not only admired it for its beauty, but also felt the attractive coolness it seemed to radiate . . .
"Quite an impressive set, isn't it? "
"Sure it is, sir; but they have an . . . I don´t know how to say it . . ."
"An Aura of coolness?" - Intervened Belldandy, from behind me.
"Well yeah, they do seem to irradiate a certain chill, which I can only find to be attractive somehow. Do you want to hold it?" - I offered it to her, but she stepped back and shrugged.
"Sorry, Nacho-san, but I definitely don´t want to touch it. Such high yield Selenite obsidian, especially so energized, just irradiates too much Dark Energy!"
I raised an eyebrow, confused. Yet I did understand that she was afraid of touching it, so I held it close to my body. "s I thought, she looked relieved.
"I guess this is some really Dark item, isn't it?"
"Yes it is, Nacho-san." - Belldandy stopped and looked uncomfortable.
"It is quite a Dark item, kid." - Hephaistos answered. I noted that he was now keeping his distance from me. - "Hades might not be too much of a Dark God, but when he comes and stays for a while, he definitely needs a recharge every now and then. Plutonic and volcanic rocks, especially if they come from a dead celestial body, are good at storing Dark Energy, and certain kinds are much better than others. That bit you are holding is about as powerful as they get."
I raised my other eyebrow, now in full admiration. So I was being attracted by this because it was really attractive . . .
"Wow!" - I said.
"Wow indeed, kid. Now please try and serve your drink, because keeping that cupboard open is really cooling down the place."
"Oh, sorry." - A bit embarrassed, I served from the decanter a liquid looking like wine, and closed the cupboard after returning it. I was expecting wine, but was gladly surprised by the strong flavor of fresh prune juice. I was also gladly surprised by a certain aftertaste, a certain something that just shook my heart with pleasure.
"Wow sir, is delicious!"
"Thanks, but you should better ask Hades where he gets it from. Too bad he gets it here already loaded with Dark Energy, although he might do so just to keep me off from his drink. Ha!"
"Besides, Nacho-san, it might be the Dark Energy in the drink what makes it so good to your taste; after all, Heaven is very poor in Dark Energy, and you might be hungry for it." - Belldandy concluded.
"Mm." - Was the only expression coming from me. It just made sense . . .
"Well, bottoms up, kid! We might take quite a while to get your files, and I suspect we better begin sooner than later."
I smiled at him and downed the rest of my drink, concentrating in the incredibly pleasant feeling. Then shook my head to bring myself back to place.
"Well, sir, I think I'm ready. Where can I wash the glass?"
He chuckled.
"Ha! Don't worry about it, as the cupboard itself cleans everything inside it, and even keeps the juice fresh. Just return the glass, and lets go."
"Alright sir."
And so I returned the glass to the cupboard. As I was closing the door, a thought came to my mind.
"And sorry, Belldandy-san, but I think you mentioned Selenite'. Does that mean that those glasses where from obsidian from the Moon?"
"Yes, Nacho-san. As the Moon is geologically dead, not to say far from any considerable Light Energy Source, its rock is specially rich in Dark Energy. Besides, certain kinds of rock are better than others, and obsidian is some of the highest yield rock.
"Secondly, regular gods can use Dark Energy, even if its unhealthy for us; and as Dark Energy is much less volatile than Light Energy, we can use energized rocks as auxiliary, or tertiary, energy source, for times System Energy goes offline. For most normal uses, such as powering individual gods, we use selenite basalt or granite; however, for the highest level uses such as powering the re-booting protocols, we use the highest yield rock."
I was impressed.
"Su . . . such as that obsidian?"
"Yes, Nacho-san."
Right there I learned a bit more about the meaning of the phrase "pregnant pause", as I was a bit too awed to make a comment. That until Hephaistos coughed.
"Sorry kid, but we don't have Eternity just for the moment. Let's go."
He walked up to an inconspicuous door in a far corner, followed by Belldandy and me, and pushed it open. For a second I only saw light through the portal, until my eyes adapted again and saw a bit of . . . a cubicle-based office floor?!
"After you, Miss Belldandy."
"Thanks, Hephaistos-sama."
And so the two of them exited, and I did after them.
* * * * * *
Well, it was clear I was a known factor. The second I stepped out of Hephaistos office, the few people on sight ( . . . or deities, whatever . . . ) stopped talking, quite a few people in warriors' garb made themselves known, and my skin felt the blast of the suddenly increased illumination level.
Not that it was enough Light to banish all Darkness from the place. A bit under the desks, behind file cabinets, inside drawers and the pockets of certain warriors . . . Let's say enough for me to harvest; and as I could fell that it was too weak for me to again loose control, I decided this would be as good a moment to practice controlling my powers as any other. I began gathering the Energy, and remembering the way I had done to re-power Belldandy, I casually blackened my hands and concentrated into just keeping the Energy there; I wasn't expecting them to begin emitting wisps of black smoke, but I was very far from concerned, as now most of the warriors seemed more respectful, and quite a few bystanders vanished from view.
"Hey kid, this way."
Hephaistos, with Belldandy lightly holding his arm, was a few steps to the right. He turned around and began walking, opening a way between two specially grim looking warriors, who respectively looked like a highly decorated modern army officer and a living suit of armor, both of them covered in dried blood. I tried not to look intimidated when I made my way between them, but I could not stop myself from sticking a bit closer to Hephaistos and Belldandy. We walked in silence through this maze-like office floor, until Hephaistos broke the silence, turning his head around with a forced smile.
"Please kid, that Dark aura was great at creating respect from those sword-happy lads, but you might want to consider that is also marking you like a beacon. It's freaking out Belldandy and me, too!"
Belldandy looked at me over her shoulder, looking pale, and nodded lightly.
"Oh, sorry."
I blushed, let them get a few steps ahead from me, and freed the rest of the Energy into a refreshingly cool cloud.
We didn't walk but a minute or so before the two gods ahead of me stopped before a steel door, where Hephaistos keyed a password on an inconspicous keypad. The door (apparently hydraulic) slowly slid back.
"Welcome to the Central Control Room, Ignacio."
And so I followed them inside a dark, large room, literally lined floor to ceiling and wall to wall with display panels and controls. He walked up to an undistinguished section of wall, were he tapped a button, and three chairs appeared nearby.
"Do seat down, as this might take some time."
He pulled one of them up, sat facing the wall, and began working on a huge keyboard that appeared from thin air. After what I felt like hours of trying to keep-up with some incredibly fast computing from both Hephaistos and Belldandy, mostly in some weird written language mixing from the Greek alphabet up to Japanese kanji; Hephaistos called my attention.
"Well, Ignacio, I'm quite impressed at how vexing happens to be your file, but at least I have already managed to decode most of your profile and basics. Here's a condensed printout." - And coming from a slit just in front of me, a VERY thick folder appeared. - "Read it over dinner, where Belldandy and company will help you understand it. I still got to get a bit of sweat on the rest, although I actually suspect that The Almighty screwed it into a Mistery in purpose."
He sighed.
"Anyway, I'll make a copy for the little Skuld to do her own try; nothing is wrong with trying, specially as she might just be destined to be the one to decode it."
A CD-ROM sized drawer opened itself in front of the god, and Belldandy extracted from it a crystalline, lightly shimmering green octagonal tablet.
"This is a data tablet, Nacho-san. Is like a computer's removable disk, but is about a thousand years more advanced than anything known by modern humans." - Belldandy said, while she held the tablet and a proud smile.
Hephaistos suddenly slapped his forehead and cursed under his breath.
"Damn, kid, I'm forgetting one of the most important pieces of hardware I am supposed to give to any new god. Come this way!"
He jumped from his chair, closely followed by me, and opened a drawer on the far corner of the room. From it he pulled a woolen sack, which he gave me.
"This is your personal uniform, Ignacio. All gods have one, unique to every god or goddess, and is mostly obligatory to wear when dealing with official functions."
I received the news with a groan. The word 'uniform' means to me no-fun, after all.
"mm . . . alright, sir."
The gods seemed to notice my enthusiasm, or lack thereof. Belldandy suppressed a giggle, while Hephaistos didn't. After a second, he composed himself.
"No . . . Don't worry, kid! Every uniform is supposed to be something the owner will like, and it even slowly changes itself to fit his or her changing likes. And although they aren't properly part of the uniform, the sack is supposed to also contain most of your basic accessories."
I shook the sack, doubtful; yet, I didn't say a thing, and a moment later I smiled. Being my likes so widely extended, just how would my uniform' be?
"Mm . . . Then a uniform might not be such a bad idea . . ."
I made a motion to open up the sack, but Hephaistos touched my hand, and shook his head.
"I know you might be impatient, but please do wait until you have reed your profile. There you'll find a complete description, and indications on how to use your basic accessories. Pay special attention to the section denominated limiters', as they will help you stay in control of yourself."
"uh . . . Alright, sir!" -And for emphases, I lightly touched my forehead with two fingers raised, in a mock military salute. He chuckled a bit, heartily patted my shoulder, and turned to Belldandy.
"Bell, I know you have already reed as much as I have, and although I know you for all you are, I still need to explicitly ask you to take care of this boy; he'll need a lot of help to develop himself, and I can hardly think of a better teacher than you for him."
"I'm grateful for your trust, Hephaistos-sama; and I'll do my best."
"I would never expect less from you, Bell. Do take care, and please greet from me your sisters, your guest star, and that incredibly lucky mortal."
"Well . . . Bye."
Belldandy blushed, and raised her hand to meet Hephaistos', whom had just extended his. He picked up her hand and lightly kissed its back, even if she just seemed to blush even deeper. Then he moved up to me, and with a wide grin, patted my shoulder, hard.
"Well, be welcome to the Pantheon, kid, and take care of yourself."*
[ Author Note: The word "Pantheon", in Latin, literally means "All the Gods". ]
"I'll do, sir. And thanks for everything."
And so, Hephaistos gave me a last affectionate pat on my shoulder, and walked back to the door, which opened at a light touch from him. A second later the three of us were back outside, in the office floor, facing a giant mirror right across from the exit of the room. At both sides of the mirror there were piles of vicious-looking weapons. The entire tableaux inspired the message We want him out NOW', which seemed to be understood by the other two gods with the same speed as me, as now Hephaistos was lightly shoving us toward the mirror, and Belldandy was offering me her hand. I took it without a word, and followed her as she stepped into the mirror.
The transition wasn't instantaneous, as the last one. A pleasant sensation of warmth overcame me, and as I enjoyed it, I remembered about the sack I was carrying, and began divagating about how would my uniform finally be.
Would it be patched-leather pants complimented with a leather bandana, some heavy boots, and a billowing black cloak? Or would it be a modern military field uniform, made out of magic-enhanced fabric? Or would it be a full-body leotard with chameleon-like properties? Or would it consist in a tailcoat or a tuxedo? Or would it give me extra appendages, or extra senses?
. . .