© Copyright, Maja D. Jørgensen ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Retro-cognition
Chapter 1 - Fallen
Unique clenched her fists. Her nails dug deep into the palm of her hands as she paced in front of the large gold gate. She paused, a frown forming. Her father's words echoed inside her head, causing a growl to vibrate through her throat. How could he order her like this? All she’d wanted was one look. One simple look at the mortal world.
Her father had no right to deny her this. It was her birthright. Wrapping her fingers around the steel bars of the large gate, she sighed. What should she do? She could disobey him. He wasn’t here now, and the other Gods wouldn’t care.
She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“Retro, the almighty God of Time,” she muttered. “Yeah, right. He’s more like the almighty God of Discrimination.”
She stopped pacing and took in her surroundings. Her heartbeat increased. Nobody had noticed her mocking her father, right? She wasn’t sure if it was considered blasphemy when, technically, you were a God, too. Nevertheless, it would be safer to stay on good terms with the other Gods.
The scenery in front of her was the same as always: exotic flowers and shining marble tiles decorated the elegant roads. Despite the beauty of the place, its never-changing nature bored Unique out of her wits. She rolled her eyes at it. Nothing ever happened here.
She saw her aunt, Amora, the Goddess of love, sashaying towards her. The Goddess’ white muslin dress swayed gracefully around her legs. With a frown, Unique turned away. She was not in the mood to be lectured on love right now. Actually, she wasn’t up to hearing about anything. Why couldn’t the other Gods just accept her? She was the daughter of Time. It wasn’t fair that she should stay passive while the others had the freedom to roam around exploring their powers.
“You can’t use your powers, Unique. It is not safe for you,” her father’s voice echoed inside her head. Unique pouted. She had just turned one hundred and twenty-five-years-old last week. Of course, it wasn’t as if her father, Retro, had remembered her birthday, and when she had sat down to have a heart to heart with him, he had shot down every single attempt by demanding her to stay passive. Passive sucks! She kicked a rock on the ground. Her eyes peered inside the gate, and she gazed at the fountain. Just a few more steps and she could test her powers on the humans.
Biting her lip, she looked around. The middle of their realm was unusually empty. It could be a sign. Perhaps her uncle Fatus was trying to show her the right path. The God of Fate worked in mysterious ways, and while she didn’t know if he had anything to do with the fate of God’s, this seemed like a perfect opportunity.
The beautiful, sapphire water called to her. It was now or never. Her powers were relatively passive anyway, so she wouldn’t be caught. With a nervous gulp, she began walking towards the fountain.
It didn’t take long before she was staring down at the sparkling water. One touch and she could see the layers of reality. Right. She could do this; no one would find out.
The last step to the porcelain edge seemed to go on forever. She rested her bum on the flat surface and inhaled deeply. Dipping her fingertips in the liquid, she sucked in a breath and entered the mind of billions of humans, which was too many at once.
She needed to narrow down her search. But what should she look for? She thought of Amora and wondered what the Goddess of love would look for. Obviously, love. . Well, love was always worth a look, right? Unique had often been curious as to why humans settled down with one another. It was cute but definitely strange. The Gods didn’t retort to such limitations of love—when you’re immortal, it’s apparently okay to shag around.
A proposal—she wanted to see a man propose. That moment when he succumbed to his need for security and took the big step. Amora often spoke about that moment. Apparently it was the make or break for any male. Unique concentrated and entered the past of a random happy man. She didn’t know his identity nor did she care who he was. This was just to try out her powers.
He was waiting for her to take a bite of the desert. The ring was hidden inside the creamy chocolate cake. His palm was sweaty and he rubbed it against his jeans. Would it have been better if he had worn a suit? Panic started to spread. Was this too early? Her mouth was forming words, but he didn’t hear them. The frantic speed that his heart was pumping at was all he could think of. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down. He loved her— he needed her. There wasn’t anyone else in the world that fit to him so perfectly. A smile formed on his lips, and he nodded to her over the lit candles.
“Why don’t you taste the desert, love?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes and sent him a teasing smile. “I swear, if I didn’t know better, I would think you were trying to fatten me up. You’re not a wicked witch are you?”
He chuckled. It was evident that she was nervous as well. For some reason that made him calm down. This was a leap of faith and love and they could take it together.
She looked down and grabbed her fork. His stomach gave butterflies as she sent him a smile and dove in. There was a small clang of metal hitting metal. It wasn’t much, but her awestruck face proved that she had heard it. She lifted the fork and on one of the fangs was the ring.
It was now. He leaped of the chair almost knocking over the table in his eagerness. His knee hit the floor and he took her hand.
“Susan…” His eyes found hers. “Will you marry me?”
Unique anticipated the woman’s response. This was like moving pictures. The vision was like a book that she didn’t have to read. She wanted to see more, but something hindered her. Frowning, she concentrated harder and finally found him again.
Susan… She was so beautiful. He couldn’t comprehend it. His eyes scanned over her frame. She was standing with her back towards him. The loose white top barely covered her ass. All it would take was just one flick of his wrist, and the straps would fall down, revealing her body to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. His right hand found her thigh and caressed the soft skin. God, she was so perfect. He inhaled deeply. The scent of her was enough to make him feel intoxicated. She arched her neck to the side, exposing her skin.
“Mmmh,” she purred. The sound caused tingles to travel through his body. He kissed her neck softly, leaving small pecks all the way from her shoulder to her jaw.
“I love you,” he muttered. “I’m so glad you’re mine.”
She turned around to him, her mouth finding his. Her body pressed against his. The arms wrapped around his neck, and the fingers tangled in his hair.
Passion exploded inside him. He wanted to be inside her – to claim her. His hand wrapped around her bottom, and he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and deepened the kiss.
Unique forced her mind to leave his. That was the single most disgusting and violating thing she had ever witnessed. Her body shook with fury. Was that all love came down to? So animalistic and raw, nothing like the pure innocent and adorable vision she saw before. She cringed. If that were what love truly was, then she would never go down that route.
“Ha-ha, you should have seen your own face!” said a man’s voice.
Unique jerked around to find the source of the voice. She narrowed her eyes when she came face to face with Sion.
“Sion…” she said through gritted teeth. “I should have known that you messed with my vision.”
His laughter echoed through the place.
She looked away. Jerk. Tears welled in her eyes, and she hurried to flick them away.
“Aww. Come on. You can’t be that innocent,” he said and swallowed a chuckle.
Unique didn’t care how decently he tried to behave now. It was too late. She hiked her chin up and looked at Sion.
“You,” she said, taking a step towards him, “are the worst God ever to exist.”
“Ouch. Harsh words from someone who isn’t allowed to use her powers.”
She widened her eyes and her mouth opened. Her cheeks burned. “You jerk. Just because you have the worst power ever doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me.”
When he rolled his eyes at her statement, she balled her hands into fists. Keep calm, Unique. Keep calm.
“I bring people pleasure, what do you got?” He snorted. “The power to see what is already over. Congratulations.” He clapped his hands together twice in mock congratulations.
She charged forth and shoved him, hard. “You are so unbelievably annoying!” she shouted. She hit him in the chest multiple times, forcing him several steps back. “I hate you.”
“Not my fault that daddy’s girl chooses to disobey orders,” he said.
She punched as hard as she could. His smirk widened with every hit, and he didn’t so much as flinch, so she attacked him again and again Then, abruptly, he stepped away, causing her to lose her balance. A cry escaped her lips as her hands landed on the hard, paved ground.
He was standing next to the fountain now. “It’s quite ironic. For someone who claims that I have no real power, you seem to be passionate about hitting me.”
Unique pushed herself back to her feet and stood up straight. She looked at her hands; her palms were scraped, but the healing process had already begun. It was one of the perks of being immortal. Dusting them off on her pants, she turned to Sion.
“I’m not passionate about anything that is even remotely close to you,” she said.
“Ouch. That one must have felt good.” He feigned being hurt. “Want to use your powers to relive it again? Because that’s all you can do, right?”
That’s it. She narrowed her eyes and flared her nostrils, then shot forward at him. Her body slammed into his. If she was going down, she was going to take him with her.
Splash!
Cool liquid enveloped her. She tried to jump back, but Sion had a strong grip on her. They had fallen into the fountain and were heading straight for the mortal world.
Oh, crap.