May was the Goddess of Craftsmanship and was able to construct all sorts of items. Be they weapons specially crafted for another God's needs, armor to withstand most forms of damage, or even cages strong enough to keep Gods in. Such as the one Gloria had her build to hold Hilbert and Hilda. It was tall enough for them to stand with some extra headroom and wide and long enough for them to walk to stretch out their legs. The bars were about half as thick as their arms but with only space between them wide enough for the two Gods to stick their arms through.
"I feel as if I'm a slave waiting to be auctioned," complained Hilda. She stood and slowly paced back and forth at the front of the cage. Outside looking at her were two gods. Gloria and Brendan the God of Strength.
"I think I will sit the sale of this one out. Too mouthy for my taste," said Brendan. He laughed at his own joke while Hilda sneered at him.
"Until our investigation is over I need you two to be kept somewhere that you can't interact with any other Gods. Just in case you two are guilty," said Gloria who sat on a log not far from the cage.
"Then why is this taking so long? I thought you would want a quick investigation."
"Normally, yes. I would. However we don't know enough to make any drastic decisions. Even if I felt we had enough evidence either way, Cynthia has instructed us not to act drastically without the other present. That includes deciding if you two are guilty or not."
"And where is Victor?" asked Hilda. She made no attempts to hide her annoyance.
"There is a war between Johto and Kanto. While I believe it is a waste of time he insists that wars of such scale require his attention. If the war goes how he believes it will, he will be back in a matter of days."
"Days!" shouted Hilda. She gripped a bar in each hand. Had the cage not had the property of weakening any God's powers when they were inside it then Hilda would have burst into flame in an attempt to get out. Instead there was only a bit of steam that rose from her exposed skin.
"Calm down, Hilda," said Hilbert. He was further back in the cage sitting on a stool which was the only other object in the cage with them. "There is nothing to be done. So just be patient."
"Be patient?" Hilda turned to her brother. "We have duties to attend to. And what of Nate and Rosa? Who takes care of them when we are not there?"
"They are old enough to manage a few days."
"Elio has told them what has happened to you two. I will be sure to check on them myself."
"You should consider this a blessing," said Brendan. "Most of our duties tend to be so dull. Least now you have a few days to relax."
A ball of steam surrounded Hilda's hand as she tried to summon her bow. She let out a sigh and her grip on the bars loosened. The more she attempted to exert her powers the weaker she felt.
"Sit down," her brother said. He had risen to his feet and now stood beside her. Hilda let go of the bars then walked back to the stool. She rested her elbows on her knees after sitting and hung her head. "Why are you here, Brendan?"
"In Victor's absence I needed someone who could guard you two from anyone unwanted," said Gloria. She would have let Brendan speak for himself but she knew he would only give a lighthearted joke for a response.
Victor watched a large battle from atop a high mountain. Men were pelted with arrows, stabbed and slashed with swords, or bludgeoned with clubs or hammers. Their bodies falling limp onto the ground. Despite witnessing death and destruction Victor had the expression of a critic. He found the leaders of both armies to be making careless decisions for their men.
Kanto appeared to have a solid front line. A little too solid in Victor's eyes. If even a few men were able to flank them they could cause a great deal of confusion and even completely turn the tide of the battle. But Johto's army never took advantage. Likewise Kanto never committed to going full offense, even when Johto showed signs of a flimsy defense. Victor had half a mind to join the battle, though on which side he wasn't sure.
A pink smoke appeared some yards away from the four Gods and Serena, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, appeared from it.
"Oh, Serena. I've been waiting for you," said Gloria. She rose from the log and greeted the young God.
"Sorry, I was a tad busy and Elio was not able to reach me. But I am here now. What did you need?"
"Why is she here?" asked Hilda.
"Because she might have information that could help with our investigation of Wake's death. Serena, do you remember much of your previous lives?" Gloria asked. Serena had to think for a few minutes before responding.
"No, for most of us whenever we die it is like being born all over again. Unless another tells you of your old life you may never remember any of it."
"Oh, I see," said Gloria. She was one of the few Gods who have never died, or has died so long ago that no one knows what she once was. "Well, I wanted to ask you about Hilbert and Hilda. Do you have much of a past with them?"
Serena turned to the caged Gods and looked them over. Like with Gloria's earlier question, Serena needed time to think. Eventually she let out a sigh and gave the twins a smile. Hilbert and Hilda didn't return the smile. "No, we do not have much history. Least none that I can recall."
"Then Hilbert, Hilda, can you two tell me of your past with Serena?"
"Very well," said Hilbert. He took a breath. "Long ago, before Brendan had even become a God, Serena and I, in her distant past, had a love."
Of the four Gods listening to Hilbert three had shocked expressions while Hilda only stared sternly at him.
"We had enjoyed each other's company for many nights and I had believed we were destined to spend eternity together. I was so sure of it that I never used my gift of foresight to confirm. One day Hilda came to me and revealed she had a vision," Hilbert fell silent after speaking and Hilda continued for him. She rose from the stool and stood beside her brother.
"I foresaw Serena with another. She spent her time with them as she had Hilbert when Hilbert had believed they were for each other. When I told him of my vision he fell into a deep sadness. He had shirked his duties for weeks before he came to me. Hilbert asked me to strike her down in his emotional state. I did as he asked and took Serena down perfectly with a single arrow. I did it when there was a meeting since she was a new God at the time and was not there. The only ones who knew of the killing were Hilbert and I and Grace and Them," Hilda spoke matter-of-factly. Brendan and Gloria looked at the Goddess with a mix of emotions. Serena only seemed mildly surprised.
"Oh," she said. "There was a death that my mother had told me to never ask anyone about nor did she tell me any details of."
"So that is why you had Serena killed? Over a petty betrayal of love?" Gloria asked Hilbert. The God known for his confidence and assertiveness was hesitant to speak.
"If I were to go through it all over again I would do things differently. But you must understand, that time in my sister and I's lives was turbulent. We were not born young like others. We were once one until being split."
"You two were one God once?" asked Brendan. He and Serena looked at the twins with confused faces. Gloria let out a sigh and spoke.
"There was once a God who had too much responsibility. One day, after being overwhelmed for so long, he went to another and asked them to kill him with an ax, being sure to split him from his head down. The other God agreed and killed the first with the ax. From the God's body, from where he was split, two Gods emerged. Each one had a different half of what made up the previous God's duties but also both had what made him him," she said. She turned to Hilbert and Hilda. "I had forgotten all about that story. Even after remembering it I still cannot recall the old God's name."
"It has been so long even we do not remember the name," said Hilda. Hilbert spoke after her.
"Being born in such a manner led us to have confusing emotions that were hard to handle. Upon meeting Serena so long ago she was able to help me with some. But after being told of Serena with another, I was flooded with new emotions I had never felt, each one stronger than the last until it became too much and I went to Hilda."
"Is there anymore to the murder? Or have you two revealed everything," asked Gloria.
"That is all. Since Grace had never come to us or anyone else about the murder we kept our silence. This is the first time we revealed it to anyone."
"How long ago did it happen?"
"Before the second to last void year."
"Hm..." said Gloria. "It has been too long to properly punish you for Serena's murder. However neither of you are cleared for the murder of Wake and will remain here. Serena, if you have any questions for them you have permission to ask."
"No. I don't have anything to ask. Though I do have some choice words for my mother," Serena said before enveloping herself in a small cloud of pink as she left.
The battlefield had shifted and now Johto's forces were pushing Kanto's up against a mountain side. Victor could see how it was beneficial for Kanto, they were now much more difficult to flank but it was also much harder for them to fight offensively. A temporary truce had been called between the two armies and they had taken the time to eat and get what little rest they could. A line of men stood on guard at the front of each army. One wrong step and the fight continues.
Deep in both camps, large fires were created and into them were thrown various sacrifices. Both sides had goats which they killed and after removing certain cuts of meat for themselves, the men threw the goat bodies into the fire. As the bodies burned to ash, the men also threw pieces of gold and silver in the flames to melt all while the men loudly prayed to Victor. Both sides wanted Victor's support but he would only help one.
"Say, Brendan," said Hilbert from the cage. Hours had passed since Serena had left.
"Hm?" replied Brendan.
"There is something I have always wanted to ask you. You were born a mortal, correct?"
"A half-mortal, yes. My father, Norman, had been intimate with a mortal woman."
"What was it like? Being mortal?" Hilbert asked with great interest. Brendan crossed his arms and stared at the ground. He let out a small chuckle.
"I cannot recall fine details of my life before becoming a God. I remember in great detail the day I ascended but those that came before are nothing more than a vague blur. Of the men I had fought or the women I had loved I only feel some distant feeling for them all. Their names and faces are unknown to me. I suppose the memories of my old life are not of any use now so overtime I forgot them."
"How exactly did you come to ascend?" asked Gloria. She knew some of Brendan's story, having been a God longer than he had, but she didn't know it all.
"I know I was a man known all over my country for having immense strength which I proved time and time again at various competitions. Usually for strength or wrestling. Being undefeated led me to develop a rather cocky attitude as you can imagine."
"You do not need to be undefeated to be arrogant," said Hilbert. He turned his head back to look at his sister who locked eyes with him. Brendan chuckled at the siblings.
"A rumor had spread that I had strength that only the Gods could possess. Having grown up fatherless I had always wondered just who the man was. One day I asked my mother, who I can barely remember, about him and she finally revealed to me that my father was Norman, the God of Strength. I suppose then it was more acceptable for Gods to interact with mortals. Considering myself the strongest among men I set out to find my father.
"You three know what a task that was, but I had learned it the hard way. I traveled all over my home country. Unlike Hisui or Kanto, Hoenn's people did not care much for the Gods. Some even denied their existence. We had no temples or shrines or monuments for any God so finding a holy place was near impossible. Eventually I decided to climb the highest mountain, Mount Chimney, and from its peak I shouted at the sky for my father."
"Did he respond then?" asked Hilda. She was just slightly curious about Brendan's story.
"Not when I first shouted, but there are few Gods who can resist any challenges to their pride," said Brendan. Hilbert took another glance at Hilda, who quickly told him to stay quiet. "It took thirty days of shouting before I got a response. I slept little, ate less, and had just enough water to last me those thirty days. When I had just taken my last sip I was surrounded by a cloud of ash and standing on the other side of the peak was him. He spoke none, but I did not need any of his words. I knew he was Norman, my father, and we simply approached each other. I tried to speak when we were close, but he only grabbed me and threw me to the ground. He jumped on top of me and we began fighting."
"You ended up fighting your father to a standstill, correct?" asked Gloria. Brendan was now at the part of his story where she knew what came next. Brendan smiled proudly.
"Correct. I, a half-mortal, fought a God to a total standstill. We were deadlocked and stuck in each other's grasps. Any move one tried to make the other would use to their advantage. For a week straight we kept in place. Neither loosened their grips until my father managed to shove me off and he backed up. For the first time I heard his voice as he laughed. He began telling me what the life of a God entailed and of his specific duties. At the end he asked if I wanted to take his spot. Immediately I said yes and suddenly Cynthia was there. She towered over both of us and somehow appeared without noise. I was surrounded by a black and purple fog and when it was gone I was a God."
"Do you ever regret becoming one?"
"I cannot say I have, but I do find myself wondering what would have become of me had I never set out to meet my father. Maybe I could have competed in other countries and been known all over the world. Though I suppose I'll be known far longer as God."
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~~~Sikoh