-ODE, GODDESS OF DEATH-
We're in the Before, the place where the gods' energy is strongest. It's made of starlight and stardust and spinning little gemstones that hover in the silky-black expanse of the night sky. Three thrones, one a mirror to represent death. One of vines and scenes of beautiful humanity to show life. The third empty, the third throne that once held the place of the brother who betrayed Kane. Who blinded my husband.
We blinded him in revenge, cast both traitorous brothers into marble and metal to remain for an eternity.
It's only fitting, that the gods live amongst the stars, where our stories are written.
"I saw what you did, Ode."
I take him in then, my husband, Kane, god of life. Silver hair falls to his shoulders, bare skin above a black-silk robe. Skin like obsidian, like it's made of the night sky. Eyes that glow silver, one tinged just slightly reddish to match the same color that mine were as a mortal. I try to pull him into a teasing embrace, but he just frowns at the blood on my armor.
"You aren't even trying to hide that you slaughtered a bunch of mortals."
"Kane, joon-am, my soul." I hold him to me, press my lips to his silver-haired brow. His handsome face, ageless, like a twenty-year old for eternity. His eyes, holding the wrath of an immortal god. "Those men on Akua weren't mortal for slaughtering a peaceful fishing village to get to their shells, to steal their livelihood and resources."
"You know who else slaughtered mortals?" Kane points to the swirling energy of the Before, dark violet, thrumming like a living thing. I inhale, smell the scent of power, get drunk on it. Get drunk on the lifeblood of eternity that exists outside space and time. Outside of forever. "My traitorous brothers who also tried to turn the Emperor into a puppet. My parents who tried to slaughter their own children, who roasted human infants for fun! You're turning into a callous immortal like them."
"I killed as a mortal. I kill now, what's so different when I kill for justice?" I kiss him on the nose, having to hover a bit past tiptoe to reach since he towers so high above me. I haven't gotten the hang of just altering my height in an instant yet. "You can't be mad at me for your family's mistakes, Kane."
"Why not?" His silver eyes run jet black in anger. I kiss him again and he softens this time, taking in a shuddering breath.
"Because," I nod to my stomach. "It's going to expand."
I have to use all my strength to hold his immense weight up as he slumps to the ground. How funny. He hears I'm with child and he suddenly acts like he's a regular human.
"Oh, Ode, my love, I'm so happy—." He pauses, furrowing his brow. "Wait, that means you went on a warring expedition pregnant!"
I wave his rage away as he bustles off to remove my bloodied armor, to fashion a soft robe from the Before's astral plane, the stars as thread, using the fabric of the sky and moonlit dreams as cloth. "It was a surprise for me too. I didn't know goddesses could get pregnant."
"They can't. Not unless the entire fabric of the universe is going to get altered."
I raise an eyebrow. "What?"
"Yes," Kane rubs his hands nervously, moving to massage my shoulders and kiss my forehead. "My mother, the Matriarch of Truth, gave birth to my brothers and I, tried to kill us, and ended up in an eternal slumber after we defeated them. Then we ended up fighting an entire godly war that nearly tore the whole Empire and their neighboring kingdoms apart." Kane lists these choice facts off as I feign to yawn. He talks so much. I'm sure half the religious texts in Rahasia are just Kane speaking for almost the entire book or scroll, and I'm just a nicely drawn illustration of an epic battle scene that spans half a page. "Not to mention there's an entire coven of witches down there who still worship my mother and perform savage killings in her name."
"Well," I pout as he feeds me dates that taste like sugary candies and fine Okami rice cakes. He knows what I crave before I do. "That puts a damper on the whole occasion. You're saying I'm giving birth to a warmonger who will either kill us, or start a world war, or both?"
Kane kisses me, and I forget all about the world possibly ending... for a moment.
"Would I expect anything less from a warrior mother?" Kane sighs, rubbing his eyes as he wraps his arms around me, resting his silver head on my shoulders. We share his throne, depicting an artistic rendition of all of humanity, shifting and growing and changing as the mortal world below does. My eyes rush over them all as I press my hands to my heart, releasing the innocent dead souls I'd collected today, ushering them towards my mirrored throne, towards the portal to the afterlife that not even I can alter.
"You should know something else." I rub my hands absentmindedly over my belly, the little end-of-the-world-causer lying there in wait. "I chose a Champion today."
Kane grits his teeth. "Yes, that sounds about right. You instinctively knew that the universe was being altered thanks to our beautiful child, and your body went into survival mode instinctively and chose a Champion to save you."
"The child was a mortal."
Kane smacks his head into his throne. I gently cradle him, so he won't hurt himself again. "Don't smack yourself or I'll do it for you."
Kane moves to hit his head again with a moan. I block him, this time flicking his forehead for good measure. "You didn't even choose a magical Diviner to represent you?"
"And the child's fingers were broken."
"Anything else to reveal? Maybe you stopped by the palace of Emperor Elio and his husband Ryu and found they had a demon uprising in progress? Oh, better yet, maybe you started one?"
"Joon-am, you're speaking like a coward for all your talk of ruling over all mankind." I let Kane's scathing sarcasm roll off me, pressing his hand to my heart, the other to my belly. "We will prevail. I did it before against incredible odds. I'll save you and the entire world again."
"Ode Ngayoh, daughter of a warlord and a witch. Ode the Cursed. The First Woman General. Summoner of the Dead. The Champion of Rahasia. The woman I could see even when I was blind..."
I kiss him.
"Shut up, Kane," I stare into his eyes, watching the energy of the Before in them, the same universe's energy thrumming through me. "The time of the gods, Diviners, and mortals isn't over."
His lips slide away from mine as he leans back. I miss his warmth. "Should I confess something as well, Ode?"
I nod.
"I chose a Champion today too."
I stare at him for a moment, the immortal husband who has all of humanity in the palm of his hand. The mighty one who stopped a murder plot, was blinded, then came back to defeat his traitorous brothers. I stare at him, the one who gave me a chance to prove myself when no other man would. Who let me show the world that I was no ordinary woman.
That I was a force to be reckoned with.
This just got interesting. I'd love to see Kane deal with another one just as crazy as me.
"Not even a decade past the Three Brothers' War in human years, and already the story moves onto another mortal legend. It's not about us anymore, not entirely. But, what's our world without a little conflict?" I run my fingers along the carved images of humanity, peering into their curious faces, always changing. Always living where I am a legend, static. Not living. Frozen forever in time. "You choose your Champions well. The last one turned out to be, well, me." I smiled, baring all my teeth, "tell me who's next."
***
Hey there, Pirates!
Congratulations!
It's a child... oh and the end of the world.
So kind.
And you get a Champion, and you get a Champion, and you--!
I know I wrote pirates into the same world as a desert kingdom.
Treat it like a literary vacation. With certain death on the line.
Back to the other Champion, who we'll see next chapter.