From the Vault #1

A brief interlude I wrote for after the pirate fight, pulled when I ditched a subplot in favor of our main one. It's unedited, meh (my opinion), and definitely not for everybeing. Thought I would clear it out of my files and give everybeing a idea of what the gods are like in my universe.

Next real chapter is almost ready, enjoy in the meantime

*****
Somewhere in the Multiverse

Zeus

“Faust is interfering with the chaos magic.”

A pink sphere of power communicated to me, it was Aphrodite. Floating a good distance from me, glowing brightly before dimming, she was obviously disturbed by the god of creation. Wandering left into a mass cooling energy before gliding right, out of the stream, and around to me. Obviously thinking of something while she waited for me to respond, the restlessness was new…

But this must be special, her presence here, most didn’t wander out to the older stars when the blues of the new stars and planets held much more interest.

“He has, has he?” I kept my voice nonchalant, knowing her quirk of needing to vent, and it was unsurprisingly about her least favorite brother. Some things never changed.

One…

Previously erratic waves of moving energy slowed down, till it was like no energy was coming from her.

Two…

Aphrodite moved in close, forgetting about respectful space.

Th-

“DON’T!-,” she punctuated this by rushing into my space, almost touching me, “-say that I am over reacting!” Backing up slightly, her glow dimming and allowing me to see the gaseous fog behind her, I had been galaxy watching before my daughter had sought me out. But being the father to host immortal beings did have its responsibilities.

Glowing with more energy, I turned my full attention to her, this unsettled state she was in was unusual. Mind you, around Faust most gods struggled to stay calm, but this felt like it was more than the usual frustration.

“Then explain exactly what he did this time.”

After a coupled failed starts she finally decided on her words, giving me more space as well. “He took a human-,” I perked up at that, humans were always the most entertaining mortals to watch, “-and messed with her form, he turned an innocent woman in a stallion.” My energy blinked about as she said that, it was a little extreme.

“Wh-.”

But she was only getting started.

“And that’s just the beginning of it! I mean, I could ignore his past decades of meddling with the chaos energy.” Decades?! “But he crossed the line this time! I mean he changed her gender, species, and is trying to- Zeus…Are you okay?”

You are calm, remember the peace, calming galaxies...

Energy swirled around us in the multiverse, mixing with the red coloring around me, and older stars glittered. Some winked at me, threatening to die, but I was resigned to that. Mortality, which was the end that those different energies faced.

“Uh…As I was say, Faust not only destroyed her womanhood, her chances at love on her home planet, but he has also been visiting the planet’s dreamscape-.”

“WHAT?!” Red was not calming. “He not only modified a mortal, put them in a new world, but he made contact with them?!” Then it hit me. “Faust still is?!” Her light flickered at that, realizing her error I hoped, it was hard to tell in our energy forms.

As much as I would love to punish my daughter for not telling me sooner, decades sooner, before he got this bold. The sheer size of his ego from being able to create like no other was the main reason the automated creation systems were started, he was insufferable! I realize many mortals expect me to love all my children…But some I loved a little less than others.

“Yes…We had been trying to hold him off after we realized what he was doing but-.”

Flaring my energy, the sheer power electrified the air, and several stars winked out. But she was quiet at least.

“Normally I would be ecstatic at the self policing your siblings and you did taking, but,” a second to reign in my energy, “When any god breaks one of those rules, I need to know.” She didn’t acknowledge it, “We just can’t have every mortal knowing we are real, disregarding the dependency issues some get to our presence, it is the chaos energy that needs to remain balanced! Please tell me you understand my daughter?”

For a second I was worried I had scared her, but she just moved closer, touching energies, and I felt her sorrow briefly.

“I will father, but Faust appears to be mad…Last time we prevented his contact he assaulted me and would not listen to reason, I fear he will cause something horrible to happen if this continues.”

“Perhaps it’s time I talked with him.”

…

Finding my wayward son was not difficult, we all tended to visit the say places as time went on, one needed a routine when time was meaningless. Faust was attracted to the brighter blue galzxies, the newer stars and planets, and that is exactly where I found him.

This time he was watching a planet worriedly, if he ever was worried. Energy pulsed erraticly as he hovered just outside the line to the planet’s stratosphere, focused above the sunny side of the planet. As such he appeared to not notice my presence, a perfect opportunity to see what his actions were.

Aphrodite was not a liar, but with such serious statements I didn’t want to assume the worst. After all, it was hard to take back a sentence in tartarus.

Faust was moving towards over a patch of blue on the planet, zooming left and right, enraptured by whatever he saw. He lurched forward only to stop himself, flickering rapidly, clearly worried.

The sun started to move unnaturally, traveling faster than it was healthy, and I understood where I was now. It had been the talk of the galaxy a millennia or so again, a most entertaining war happening there, and…

Planet Equis quaked slightly.

It was exactly like Artemis had theorized, the planet was on it’s way out prematurely. No wonder my son was upset, he loved all the new planets. I was almost concerned at first as well, the drama that had unfolded here had been simply captivating. But we had moved on, and a god his age still enraptured in the little dramas of mortals, well, it was not a good sign.

He was unneeded now, his job was automated.

“Son, how have you been?” There was no reply and I wasn’t surprised, moving closer I could see a battle on the high seas was holding his attention. “I heard some interesting things, very serious accusations.” No acknowledgment, he was glued to the show. “We need to talk about them.”

“Then talk.”

So he had been listening, “You have been contacting a mortal, messing with their previous design,” a brief flicker of unease in his energy, “and you attacked your sister.”

“Aphrodite started it! She just couldn’t keep quiet and then every god this side of the galaxy got involved. It’s ridiculous! Think about it, I’m doing good things here, saving this planet, you saw the quake. This planet is doomed and-.”

“-You do not want to see your show end.”

I had struck the right note, his attention turned to me, “YES!”

“But, you made contact with a mortal.” Waiting a second for him to yell how I didn’t understand or how it was a lie, he surprised me and remained silent. But he also was not refuting the statement. “You know what I must do-.”

Ripping sounded and I was frozen there for a second, he was zooming away, forcing himself to the world below him…He wouldn’t.

This was new. Faust had never been one to not monologue, his endless talking was one of the reasons no god ever liked to visit with him. So for him to run…Maybe she was right. He has lost himself to his many foibles, become so obsessed with this world that he-

A bang rocked the air, even reaching outside the stratosphere of the planet.

It may too late to go back and stop him from making contact with the mortal, from revealing his existence, but I still could stop him from doing more damage to the chaos magic.

Following Faust was even easier than finding him the first time, his trail was blazing white across the night sky, not even hiding his energy. I followed the trail, past the interesting examples of architect. Tall towers made of criss crossed beams of metal, castles made of crystals, and even a castle sticking off the side of a mountain. All were beautiful and…They might exist in a hundred years if the mortal succeeded in whatever Faust’s plan was.

If they did I come back to take a peek, this was a unique situation after all, we hadn’t this much drama for…Well, whenever it was that Ares tried to start that intergalactic war.

His trail just kept going and going, with no end in. With a sigh I sped up, traveling faster than light for a second, till I felt his energy approach. Ending up in front of Faust I stopped, energy repulsing him as we collided, and he rolled down a cliff.

We were exactly where he had been watching before.

Planks floated in the currents, various barrels and ropes bobbed along the waves, and a splintered air vessel was at the center of this wreck site. The once pristine stern impaled by a tall spire of rock that rose out of the sea. A tragic end, the sea monsters had left this husk of a ship-

For a second both Faust and I hovered, transfixed by the sight before us, there was a survivor. Behind the ship, at the base of the cliff, one last struggle for life was happening. Looking to be half broken, the mortal creature used it’s arm to pull itself along craggy rocks it had become stranded on, the other useless and bleeding down the dark structures.

The pain must be horrendous.

But Faust would be in more pain than that creature will ever know, and my son was unfortunately immortal.

“Do you see what has to happen?” It was irrelevant whether this half dead mortal heard us, he couldn’t climb with one arm, and to swim would be crazy.

“Yes! I have to help save this planet! It can’t end, it just can’t!” He backed away from me, closer to the cliff. “Don’t you see the significance of this world, every world’s importance? Without one the others will fall, with one they will fall, the dominoes are too easy to knock over!”

He was mad, that was utter nonsense, and perhaps I had allowed him to watch for too long.

The rule of ‘look down upon the mortal, but never touch’ was always easier said than followed, even I had broken when I was younger.

Gathering my power, I sent it outward. Bright tentacles of yellow energy crept out from my mass, moving towards my son, and I felt my core stutter at the knowledge of what I had to do. Punishing them was never easy, their screams and pleas were always there. But I had to…Entangling my probes around him I began to bring him closer, a final embrace of sorts.

Faust showed no resistance energy wise, instead watching the mortal grunt and move slowly along the rocks, illuminated by our energy. “I have saved many worlds, created many beings before, and this is the only one you chose to do this on…” His voice was tired, slow, and confused.

“You know, knew immortals can’t interfere with mortal’s affairs, no matter how much we enjoy the mortals.”

He was now half way to me, still watching the progress of the mortal under us. “Why do we exist? What purpose do we serve then if not guide the mortals, they are always so busy…So happy and full of purpose!”

Resistance pulled at me, he was attempting to escape, pulling back on my energy.

“There is purpose, but that time comes and goes, different planets cycle through their need for us. You still remember your other names don’t you?”

Faust stilled, white light dimming, “I have no purpose…YOU TOOK THAT! YOU ALL MADE ME OBSELETE!”

“It was necessary son, you were and still are too involved with the mortals, immortals can’t be with mortals, we have all seen the folly that comes from that.” I waited for a response from my son, who I had admittedly made obsolete in the creation of life. That was true. But he had been going too far.

My energy started to feel less resistance as I watched the night sky but I ignored it, he needed time to accept his fate. And somewhere inside I wished the galaxies and stars would provide me with answers, but they had no more answers than I already had. When my own son was so wrapped up mortal dramas and moments of existence that he forgets his purpose, creation was more than life, it was art, games, and literature.

His time would come, perhaps in some other millennia.

“Can I at least watch the ending?”

“Ending?”

Silence followed, “I want to see the world live, move on, if this is the last act I get to orchestrate than I should be allowed the pleasure of seeing how it ends.” I sighed, ready to chastise him when he continued, “Or I won’t tell you where Hermes is.”

Tartarus would have to wait I guess, “Fine.” White light beamed from my son, “But from a higher vantage point.”

With that we rose, higher, through the stars, leaving the dying mortal and its wreck of a ship. High enough, till the edge of the atmosphere loomed, pressure around us, and before long we had risen above the small planet.

The mortal realm.

“As soon as this ends, for good or bad, you are heading straight to Tartarus.” My son always did know how to create a good drama, it’s a shame he went too far this time.

Comments

[Shawn99]

As someone who just read through the story so far, I have been wondering for a while what happened to the gods meddling around in Ari's dreams and why we haven't heard anything about them recently. Anyways, even unedited this is very good. Eagerly awaiting the next chapter!

[EinPazi]

Did you die?

Did the sickness get you?

I hope not but I will have to just hope.