Page 55 of An Unexpected Ascension
I open my eyes to a void of white, an echo of nothingness around me. The absence of color is so bright, it burns like fire. Suddenly, in the distance, a swirling dot of blue comes into view, mixed with purples and pinks. Such a beautiful collage of color. The dot grows bigger and bigger until everything is consumed by it. One by one, sparkling gems speckle the air, forming all around me.
Gasping, I inhale the beginning of the universe as it unfolds before my eyes. As each planet grows, unfurling in quick succession, I name them in my head. Except, it doesn’t stop at eight and the worlds now building in front of me are not planets, they’re nothing I’ve ever seen before. They’re hardly even in the same realm. No, these worlds are parallel to the planets that humans find many years after their creation.
Heaven, this one must be Heaven given the glow. In an instant, the world transforms and a wave of sickness washes through me. My feet touch ground now, marble to be exact, but this isn’t the Heaven I know.
A temple brushed in the whitest white constructs before my eyes, encasing me in its center. Columns carved with an unearthly beauty, stand tall and proud. In flashes, the sun once glittering against the shining marble turns into the moon looming low over the Gods’ temple, giving a soft magical glow.
Men – no, Gods – appear one by one, cloaked in exotic fabrics and adorned in gold. They hold goblets of wine and mingle with women. I spinin place wondering which God is the one I grew up with, the one I spent years trying to know.
They don’t see me, and they cannot hear me, so I watch and listen.
A shimmering green silk drapes loosely over one rounded, muscular shoulder of Koa, the God of Nature. His dark curling hair atop his head matches closely to that scattered across his bare chest. Gold cuffs in the shape of vines hug his biceps, wrapping tightly to the bulging body part. He laughs, the sound like the whistling wind, calm and delightful.
“And what then, Amadeus? He simply took her as his bride?” Koa sips from his goblet, those eyes the color of rich soil gleam with amusement.
Amadeus smiles. “Why of course! And she was happy to oblige him.”
The God of Love finishes his recollection of the very first pairing he mastered. It was a match made in all of the worlds; nothing could come between them. Twin Flames, Soul Mates, two halves of a whole – he went on to brag.
This God was donned in a red tunic with white breeches, both tight against his body. The blond hair he wore sat down past his shoulders and fluttered in the light breeze. He was the embodiment of passion, of lust, of love.
“Tell Kao how it ended.” Garroway, God of War, snickers.
Black, black, black from his head to his toes. The long dark hair tied low at the nape of his neck, his black leathers, tight across his chest and hugging his legs. Boots, made for crushing skulls, sat heavy on his feet. This God emanated death and destruction. Drank the blood of the fallen from his golden goblet. Breathed those last gasping breaths as the souls drifted from the dead.
Amadeus’ electric blue eyes narrow at the dark God. “Well, if it wasn’t for the Great War of Garroway – a mindless, meaningless war struck from boredom – those two lovebirds would still be spending their last few years in each other's arms.”
“Ah yes. Garroway’s boredom has gotten out of hand, hasn’t it, brother?” Achaz chuckles. “Despite his recklessness, I might add that the pairing lasted even in death. When those souls stood at our gates, they stood hand in hand. Never knew two beings to be so attached.”
The God of Life recalls. He sips his wine, rubbing a hand down the center of his white Godly gown, his thumb hooking around his golden belt. That light breeze washes over them, his short ebony hair just a few shades darker than his rich brown skin.
Amadeus meets Achaz’s hazel eyes, granting him a grateful look. The credit much needed because this pairing was in fact his favorite masterpiece.
Before Kao could cut in to share his latest accomplishment, the world whirls as I free fall once again.
It seems time has passed, how much is uncertain, but now I’m looking down from the highest point in Heaven, staring at the temple. The room is open, the breeze heftier up here and the sun much warmer. It’s a rooftop of a stone tower with thrones strategically placed in a circle. In them, sits the Gods.
“They question us. Even now after all we’ve done for them, all we’ve created.” Achaz snarks, his fingers gripping into the arm of his golden throne.
“They’re merely human with puny minds, they can’t grasp the concept of a God. It’s not in their nature.” Koa dismisses, popping a grape into his mouth.
“They’ve reduced us to legends, to entertaining bedtime stories, to mythical beings that hold no current sway. They console themselves with lies of our beginnings of how we too were once human! Does that not light a fire in your veins?”
Those very veins in Achaz’s arm bulge, pressing against his muscles, threatening to snap the golden cuff around his bicep. He combs at his ebony hair with aggression, unable to cool the rage simmering within him.
“Many things spark a rage inside of me, brother, but what do you suppose we do about it? I refuse to give into their meandering and belittle myself by walking the same Earth as them.” Garroway snickers, assessing the bed of his nails.
There’s a thick silence, fogged with fury before Achaz goes on.
“We eradicate those who question us.”
All eyes narrow on Achaz. He only pinches his lips,holding his ground.
“That’s barbaric,” Kao finally says, drawing forth a wrath from Achaz the other Gods have never seen.
He hurls himself forward, nose to nose, seething.
“What’s barbaric is allowing us to be demeaned. Do you like to be belittled, God of Nothing? Do you like it when lesser beings question you or think you as dim-witted?”
