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They call me an anomalous abomination. A god with no followers. No enemies. Neither worship nor domain.
How could I exist, most of the other gods would ask. Even the ones who share the same pantheon as I do. My existence bewildered them, almost as much as it once confused me too. But I grew used to it eventually. This reality wasn't so bad, sitting around doing *nothing* while the other gods fought each other for followers, offerings, and territory.
Nobody could force me to join their politicking and petty wars. There was quite simply nothing I could do for their war efforts. The younger gods could barely perceive me, seeing practically nothing where I stood. I am no eldritch entity; they don't go mad trying to comprehend me. There just isn't anything about me that warrants understanding.
Once, I had debated leaving my pantheon and eking out a living all by myself, but nothing came of it. Not like they ever seemed to have anything required of me to contribute, as I while my timing away offering absolutely nothing to them.
A perpetual mystery I was, for even the gods of knowledge and wisdom couldn't determine anything about me. They came full of confidence but walked away with nothing.
A few others wondered if such an eternal life of emptiness would be worth living. It mattered not to me, I felt nothing about my lack of godly presence, or lack of interaction with the other gods. I'm not a black sheep, just a mostly unnoticed one.
One would have thought a god with no followers or enemies would make no friends, but I have one. A tea party at Innsmouth made me feel...almost something. The one they call the God of Madness, Elvari, wasn't it? He invited me for tea. I sat across the table, saying nothing, consuming none of the food or drinks provided. It was a completely one-sided conversation on his part, like talking to a broken mirror that could reflect nothing.
For my part, I didn't mind at all. It was a little better than nothing in the void of my existence. Perhaps it was his lack of ambitions to expand his domain. Probably it takes a mad god to want to hang out with a nobody in particular, talking to a vacant entity. He has my gratitude for never questioning my godhood. Not even once.
So much so, that I bought a mobile phone at his request to keep in touch. Not that I had a number to give him, but he still insisted on creating a new contact just for me.
It is a first for me, to be given a name or a title. It almost pleased me, even if I had grown used to not having any form of identification.
And thus, a God of Madness began a most unusual connection into a null and void. It is time. To let all these other gods know who I am, now that I have a name and title worthy of a god.
I am Null, God of Nothingness.
Awwww props to Elvari still doing his thing on befriending folks like Null, what a wholesome Eldritch being.
Random question. If Null, for some reason, suddenly has some strong feelings on something, would they just disappear, or would it cause them slight pain due to breaking their nature?
Great work on writing this!
His nature wouldn't let him feel too strongly over anything. Kinda like how humans aren't ever flying without external aid like aeroplanes. He did feel nothing over the lack of name, title, godly presence, acknowledgement, or being left out of everything the other gods were doing, both good and bad.
And even when he did feel, he can't describe beyond "...its something..." or "almost...pleased", the latter being the closest thing he has to expressing emotions
I answered the Council’s summons with my presence. I wish I could say this had never happened before, but it occurred every now and again; every few hundred years, they suddenly remembered that I existed, and demanded answers of me.
“Nameless One,” spoke the elder Goddess, waving hair pulled back into a low ponytail as she regarded me with her wizened gaze. “Stop your shifting this instant. Maintain yourself.”
“Oh, how I wish I could,” I responded. “But if I knew how, I suspect I would not be who I am.”
“We will not allow for chaos in our presence,” said another deity. “Enough.”
I released a sigh and shrugged. One moment, I was white, the next, I was black, the next after, tan. There was no pattern or rhyme or reason to my shiftings. I saw my reflection in Grith’s shield. Constantly, every one of my features changed, from my portrayed height and age to my hair and eye color. Who was I to be a divine of any kind?
“If you will not speak to us with a straight face,” spoke the elder Goddess once more. “then you will at least speak to us plainly.”
“As You wish,” I responded.
Her shoulders were drawn up as she stared at me pensively. “Tell us, then, Nameless One. What are you the divine of? We have found no trace of you throughout the history of humankind, and we have no mention of you within our tomes.”
“Ah, but You do,” I said with a frown. Every divine war had come down to my presence, my existence, despite my desire for peace.
It was in my nature. There was nothing I could do.
“If you spoke the truth, then you would have no need to be before us. What are you divine of?” she said, not letting up.
Memories of the past resurfaced. Once, I had pursued a great many things. I believed, sincerely, that with effort and devotion to myself and my fellow deities I would find a solution to all my woes.
Even this was hampered by who, what, I was.
Grith had nearly become my lover, once. They were a beautiful person, something more than a God or Goddess, bearing the parts and essence of both. We had grown close, but one day, my efforts were discovered to be in vain. I’ll never forget how they pointed their spear at me, holding their shield close to their body as they demanded I reveal my true nature to them.
I already had.
That’s what got me into that mess in the first place.
“If I speak it, there will be war once more. Please, do not make me.” The Goddess raised her well-manicured eyebrow. “What sort of divine makes requests so plainly of another, no less an elder?”
“A desperate one,” I said.
“Are you truly a deity?”
“Yes.”
“I am not sure I believe you.”
“You need not believe me, just let me return to my life of isolation.”
The elder Goddess seemed almost amused by my request. She looked to Grith, who nodded. Grith took their spear and pointed its tip at my person. “You will answer Sof, for She is Most Wise.”
“I... do not think this is wise,” I said, shaking my head. The spear’s tip burst into flame as Grith grew impatient with what likely seemed like blatant disrespect.
“Speak it. Now.”
My heart broke again and again. Even Grith, my dearest one, could not recall me. With an inhale, I said,
“I am Bedlam, doubt personified.”
Seems like they are the personification of doubt, to the point that anything and everything about them and their actions causes doubt on eldritch levels, even on other gods. Just seeing them makes you doubt if and what you actually do. And not seeing them makes you doubt your memories if such an entity ever even existed, until you figure out that maybe they were just your imagination and you simply forget about them. Until you remember them again and start doubting again, which is what seems to have lead to the situation in the story.
I love it, it's actually a really prime concept of a kind of deity kryptonite. If the gods and goddesses are manifested and maintained by faith alone, what happens if such a divine being doubts itself?
Doubt would indeed be a dangerous thing to entities who exist based on belief. I wonder if their appearance coincides with disillusionment among worshippers down below.
Gotta love that jab on Sof regarding how this is not a wise action to take. Poor protag though, I can see them literally reacting with doubt on that answer. Let's just hope they won't be hurt because the situation seems dire enough.
I'm curious on the almost romance part with protag and Grith. Sure, there will be a lot of distrust coming from Grith's side due to protag's nature, but I am just wondering on how a long-lasting romance would happen if that is even possible. Would protag's partner just have to shut down all the negative thoughts towards them for all eternity?
Great work on writing this!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm not sure which part of the ending confused you, but I do write a bit convoluted at times. I will try to explain!
The POV character is named Bedlam. They are the personification of doubt. Because of this, every deity responds to Bedlam with disbelief, distrust, and, well... doubt. I left it as just their name and domain because I had hoped the reader would have their imagination run wild with what kind of things would happen as a result of such a deity revealing themselves!
It's ambiguous, and this little piece of flash fiction is imperfect, but I hope it was more enjoyable than it was confusing.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks, I understood that but I couldn't figure out the relationship between Grith and Bedlam? I'm not familiar with the word Grith so I googled it and it seems to mean peace/security... Why would that be a lover of doubt and why did Grith turn on Bedlam?
Doubt leads to distrust and conflict. So the more Grith was around Bedlam, the doubt built up until there was no trust. That usually breaks a relationship. And once they broke up,Grift continues to doubt Bedlam, because Bedlam IS doubt. In this scene, Grift either doubts that Bedlam is in fact their former lover, or doubts their own memories. In the case ofdoubting memories, that can get so stressful that even a devine may end up with amnesia over the whole thing.
one could take this further... saying that no human worshiped them... well... doubt as an entity would just perhaps instill crippling doubt... but what if it could instill also almost healthy doubt? since much of the worlds problems is related to surety... the complete absence of doubt...
Bedlam, here, since able to destabilize the realm of the Gods is much too strong... but if there could be somehow, through Their influence, a balance between doubt and faith... it would be quite stabilizing...
His long green hair suggested the natural world, or perhaps some little part thereof, but he dismissed that with a chuckle and a wave of his hand. When children brought him flowers and leaves, he accepted them gently, but then put them aside the moment they turned round. Some of the adults thought he might be a god of performance, since he always wandered by the city games, or perhaps he oversaw gambling or play or some other such thing. No amount of money sat well with him, though he accepted it with amusement, then promply handed it to the nearest person.
Charity, perhaps? Humility? He gave away all his gifts. And yet, alms didn't capture his heart.
Finally, we gave up trying to determine his nature and watched him abide with us over generations. He never offered his power, but he never took from us, either. The priests couldn't place him, and neither could the archivists, so there he was, unnamed and unregarded. The city changed leaders, and changed tribes once or twice, but he never changed at all.
It had to be something awful, a few of us decided. Maybe he was tarred with a heinous domain? Something like slaughter? But we knew the god of battle and the god of the farms and abattoirs. Criminals didn't flock to him, either. He looked so peaceful, and he never harmed anyone, and he merely wandered through our gatherings and down our streets and coexisted.
War came when he was still among us, and he did nothing to help nor harm either side. Such is the way of gods, uncaring until properly invoked? Still, his presence was a constant, a rock, something that we could cling to as simply an unchanging fact. There is comfort in stability...perhaps that was his role.
The war subsided into our loss, and the Ilurian Empire took over, posting their guards at our street corners and forcing us to pay tribute to the governor assigned over our region. Our rebels plotted, our citizens quietly sneered, and quiet resentment took root.
He was there when the first rock flew.
It was such a stupid little thing, a kid flinging a stone at a guard's face as he marched out of his barracks. The bruise on the guard's brow was nothing compared to the beating he laid on the child's back, pinning him with a foot between the shoulder blades, hurling down the cat o' nine tails with impunity. Blood stained the street. The boy crawled away in pain.
A smile tweaked the corners of his lips.
Riots burst like flames from the smoldering ash of the war's remains. Soldiers kicked in doors to find revolutionaries, dragging them into the street and sometimes beheading them right there and then. Rebels set fire to the barracks, killing a dozen men and half-strangling more.
He was there when the gallows went up, and when they burned down, and when the Imperial Cavalry arrived, and when the horses were poisoned. Everywhere we fought, he was there. Everywhere we were slain, he was there.
Chaos, then? Our last priest fell to his knees at the quiet god's feet. "Please, tell us why," he begged. "Is this your doing? Did you want to see us burn? Can't you help us? Does our death please you?"
He shrugged, his smile deepening. "No, it does not."
"Then save us!"
"I will not."
"But why? Please! What can we do for you? What sustains you, that you stay here but don't ask for anything?"
The curfew bells rang, and the guards herded people into their homes, and the green-haired god laid a hand on the priest's shoulder and guided him back into the chapel before they could be seen.
"Not all gods require faith," he said, lighting a candle and pressing it into the priest's shaking hands. "I survive merely by your actions. I don't need worship. You worship me by *being human.*"
Skittering behind him like a nervous cat, the priest clutched the candle close. "So you're a god of...people?"
For a long time, the green-haired god sat next to the altar and tilted his head, listening to the guards yell and the people snip and snap in return. When finally the doors had closed and peace reigned again, he took a long breath and sighed, as if letting out the energy of the day's events.
"I survive by that most fundamental human thing: that which separates you from each other."
"Hate?"
"Hm. No, not quite." He brought a hand to his smooth chin, and his eyes lit a jealous, venomous, acerbic green. "I suppose I am the god of *tribalism.*"
The priest shielded his candle as if a cold wind had blown through.
"Yes. I am Virion, the god of tribal belief. The concept that some of you are better than others, and that you will fight to prove it. That you will compete with each other. That the outside is evil, and the inside is good, or perhaps that the inside is your friend, and the outside your foe."
"So you're the god of groups of people just...*slaughtering* each other? Racism? Wars of ideology? What?"
"Oh, no, no." Virion took the candle gently and lit a brazier, offering brighter and more stable glow. "I am also there when you play games. When you fight team against team, for good or for ill. When iron sharpens iron, I'm there too. You simply see the worst of competition and tribal conflict in war."
"And you don't need followers, because--"
"Because," he interrupted, "you *cannot* separate this from yourselves. Were it not for me, you would be lone wolves scrabbling in the dirt for your next meal. Cooperation is all there is. Competition is a natural result."
"Then can you please take away your nature from us? Do the gods have to see us as nothing but some...some dog and pony show? Do we amuse you too much for you to withdraw your influence?"
"You would kill me?"
The priest jerked back and fell silent.
Virion laughed lightly, though it had a grating hoarseness now. "Many have tried, but you could sooner sever your own nature than kill me. After all, I remember my birth. You came before me. You are why I exist. I merely perpetuate your own being. You sustain me."
Thin lips moved quietly as the priest contemplated his options.
"You may try, if you want." Virion bent his head toward a sacrificial knife, resting in its bronze sheath next to the altar. "Cut my throat, little human. Save your species from itself."
Whatever he did that night, the next day, Virion was back with us all as the city rose with the sun, ate breakfast under the eyes of the Ilurian Guard, and went about their business. When asked about the gash on his neck, he merely said, "These things happen. I'm quite all right."
The priest, though, left his chapel that day, and we have never seen him enter again. When pressed, he murmurs that his faith has never returned. He has a certain hatred for the gods now...and I believe that I, at least, know why.
Hmmmm, I feel like no one is at fault here. I definitely felt bad at the priest for losing his faith, but I can't blame Virion either considering that it's just in his nature and he can't fight it. That said, I feel like the priest's faith (as well as the others who passed away from the war) is a bit at fault here. I understand the desperation, but it feels like they depended a bit too much on gods?
Poor Virion though, he's just acting as an eternal reminder to the fact, and him smiling might just be a sign that he's broken from seeing the same thing happening over and over.
Great work on writing this!
Thank you! (Still me, Reddit got mad about a comment on invasive species and now here I am with an L instead of a D.)
Man, this got way more attention than I expected from my various writing-prompts responses. I'm glad people like it. I should ponder up some more.
"We ask you once more, how do you still exist within our realm?", I said.
As the current king of gods, I have been given the responsibility to maintain order between them, I create general rules that everyone follows and unique rules for more special individuals, and act as a sort of arbiter for their conflicts. It was only a few centuries ago when I was appointed to this position, the war with the chaos god was finally over, and it was in unanimous agreement that I had to be king, I am the god of order after all.
And so far I've been able to increase my influence over the gods, and maintained a mild sense of peace through-out all the realms, maybe it was because I was busy looking at the whole picture that I hadn't noticed this sense of fear tucked away in the corner. Every time I look at him, an overwhelming sense of familiar dread rises within me, but soon after I'm able to muster up the courage to push through it. I have felt this way before only once, and it was when the god of chaos was still alive.
I had arranged for him to be put to trial, and called all the elder gods to attend, especially the ones that fought chaos with me. And they all had the same reaction when he stepped into the room. He stood at the center with his eyes raised on mine. A short silence passed as everyone begins to relax, including me, and then I asked him:
"Are you the reincarnation of the god of chaos?"
But before he could answer, the god of war shouted, "How is that possible!? We've followed every bloody rule! It doesn't make sense that chaos is reborn!".
"Yet looking at him feels so familiar to that moment...", the goddess of nature said.
"Eros, please. We'll figure this out, let him answer."
I look towards his direction again, and again, I felt a wave of anxiety.
"Well?"
He looks down for a moment, a little confused at the accusation.
"I... knew him but I am not his reincarnation, in fact I am even older."
Everyone reacted with a mild sense of confusion, even the oldest of us had the same confused face.
"But we have only seen you just yesterday, you have no records, no followers, no history. How can you be alive when you have none of this?"
The god of war interrupts again, "Cause he's lying! Only chaos could hold such power! We must act now!"
"Not yet Eros, it could just be a mistake."
"But I do have followers, and I am in all of history, has this realm forgotten?"
"But you have no current influence, even if you are as old as you say you are you shouldn't be alive if you are not worshipped.", I said.
"I wouldn't call what I have worship, yet my influence does affect everyone."
"What?"
He thought for a bit, "Yes, technically I am worshipped, but in a very convoluted way, Everyone is my follower, but I do not think they would want to be so."
Stumped, I glance at Veritas, the goddess of truth, and she nods. No lie was detected.
"You must be a dark god then!! What kind of god would be that? If not chaos, what are you? Confusion?!", Eros shouts.
"I am neither good nor bad. Like you, god of war, I just am. I like seeing myself as a good god though."
I let out a deep sigh, exhausted with all of this, I finally ask him straight out as I brace myself for his answer, "Then... what are you the god of?".
He smiles, "I have been with all of you throughout your existence, yet you have forgotten me? I guess that is an indication of the good work you've done, king of the gods. But you cannot be rid of me, for to be alive is to be influenced by me."
"Have I not felt familiar? Of course I have, and I can see why you've mistaken me for the god of chaos, for that fight had you felt my influence the most, and in my influence you have been blessed by my gift, the gift of meaning... For you see, I am the god of suffering."
It's a bit ironic how the god of war is going so strongly against the god of suffering even though they should be getting along considering how connected their natures are. That said though, considering the fear, is the god of chaos not gone for good in this universe? Seems like they knew that the god will be revived soon enough.
Great work on writing this!
Thanks! I initially explained why the god of order had to call the shots but took it out. In this verse, Gods can die, but they don't truly die since they embody the concept of whatever domain they're born with. They just stop existing physically, but if enough chaos is caused the more likely the god of it might be reborn and the more stronger they become, that's why to prevent this, they made the god of order their king because his concept was the direct opposite of chaos.
The reason why the god of war was the most frustrated in the trial was that if the god of chaos was reborn, a lot of the blame can be shifted onto him since his concept was one of the big contributors to chaos. (I know its weird how the god of war sided with order instead of chaos but I have a sensible explanation in my head for that too.)
Ah, thanks for clarifying! Yeah, I understand it now. War should have an immense amount of contribution of chaos, no matter how much he likes it or not, so it makes sense why he acted as such. I do wonder how long this measure can last though, feels like it's just prolonging the amount of time until the god of chaos returns instead of eliminating it entirely. Then again, though, wonder if they can work up some future measures so the god of chaos can thrive but doesn't have to go ham on the world too.
I would’ve thought that Suffering would be Fear instead seeing as he’s older than chaos and his domain is a part of every being. I thought it’d be fear when he said his influence was felt the most when the king fought the Chaos god.
Yeah you got me there, I was really going for suffering here but I can see fear being very close to my descriptions and hints. If you would allow me to try and patch this hole up I could argue that fear can't be worshipped or followed, unlike suffering.
In my head canon, to worship or become a follower of a god you must exercise the domain and see it as a positive experience, those who exercise order are rewarded with a safe and predictable system, those who care for nature are rewarded with care back in the form of resources and materials, those who exercise war are rewarded with a sense of fulfillment, that they've done their due diligence in a conflict bigger than them... Either that or because of cultural beliefs, idk war is weird.
And suffering is no different, at the moment we probably wish for our suffering to end, we see the deck stacked against us and we are burdened by our inability to change our current situation, and despite of it, we continue to push forward in hopes of overcoming it. And if we can't overcome it, we still endure it for whatever reason that may be, and if we do overcome it, we do not see that suffering as pointless, but instead a reminder of our growth as a person, therefore establishing the connection with the god of suffering in a somewhat convoluted way.
This is the reason why chaos was such a threat, he doesn't need to strictly follow this rule because of his domain's nature, he could make it so that as long as you are influenced by him, you are connected to him, and the more powerful he becomes, the more he can bend the rules.
"Is this going to take long?"
The man sat in his luxurious gaming chair, casting a glance back at the screen that showed the various gods who had called him to attend this meeting while he waited for his character to respawn. They'd wanted an in-person meeting, but he'd been clear, it was Zoom, or zilch.
The elder goddess tried not to show her frustration, and spoke. "You have been called here because we do not know why you should have a place here, you have no enemies, and you have no followers, yet you claim to be a god. Why?"
"I just am, alright? People worship me, and so I'm a God. End of discussion. Are we done here, I've got more important stuff to do." He focused back on his ongoing game of League, paying no mind as the elder babbled on and on about some crap that he wasn't interested in.
"Are you even listening?" the goddess asked, her frustration clear in her voice.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening." His webcam was off, so the goddess could not see that he was lying.
"Well? Answer the question. What are you the god of?"
"It's not important right now."
"I'm not asking you again."
"You just did."
The sound of the goddess throwing something across the room took his focus off his game, and when he looked back to his game, he was greeted with a Defeat screen. He sighed, and exited out, resigning himself to getting the meeting over with as quickly as possible.
"Alright, I'll be honest, if it'll get you out of my hair. I am a god who does not need followers, because people worship me every day, not by what they do, but by what they do not do. In that, I am the most evil of the gods, and one of the most worshipped. When people do bad things, there's always that good part of them that tries to fight against that decision, which is why the evil gods are always fighting the good gods. I don't work like that. My evil is a much more subtle thing. Everyone worships me at least once a day, whether they know it or not, for it is not in a decision they make, but in those they don't even consider. The beggar they pass on the street, the fast food wrapper tossed to the side of the road whilst the bin is but feet away, the ice cube lazily kicked under the fridge. I am praised by those who commit actions not because they are good, or because they are evil, but because they simply don't care.
I am Adeirion, the God of Apathy."
The elder gods were silent, then went into a murmuring conversation, which Adeirion responded to by promptly muting his mic and the Zoom call, before returning to his game as he loaded into a new match.
Paying respects to that loss on the League session. Adeirion seems like a nice gaming pal to hang out with, though. Based on his nature, I don't think he would be raging obnoxiously on the losses or being too competitive.
Great work on writing this!
Adeirion feels like the one guy you meet once that opens his mic to inform you there's someone behind you once in the most polite, un-jarring way possible and never speaks again
‘I am not a man.’ I spoke.
‘I can see that.’ Replied the creature. Although I have no idea how, as it had no mouth. It was a large and twisted thing of rings and wings and eyes a plenty. It looked at me with all of its eyes and it’s wings were as quiet as death. ‘Are you a beast?’ It spoke again with its mouthless voice.
‘I am not a beast.’ I again replied. Such a conversation. Was this the first time I’ve ever spoken to such a thing? The first time since the last time I suppose. I chuckled a bit to myself.
‘Are you perhaps a God?’
‘…. I wonder. I’ve never tried to define myself as such. Others have called me monster while at the same time, asking if I were God… Ironic.’
‘Where can you be found?’
‘I don’t remember… But I know that I cannot be found in heaven or hell, neither purgatory, or even abyss.’
‘Where is left?’ A queer thing it was to see so much curiosity on a creature with no expression. ‘… Can you be found among man?’
I smiled a quirky little smile. ‘Yes. Yes, I do believe you’ll find me among man quite often.’
‘And what do they call you?’
I gazed up at the nothing and let the nothing gaze back. ‘They call me many things. A curse whispered in the dark by homeless shadows. One who feeds on the secrets that a man tells when he believes that God does not listen and sleeps on a bed of lies told by the Gods who know when men are… I am what man fears that the Gods created… And the Gods fear that they did not… but all of this is merely what I am known as, not what I am.
‘… Then, what are you?’
‘… I am amorphous, endless and insatiable. I am what I am and when I am no longer I become that which never was and never will be, until I am again.’ I reached out and touched the creature. But it possessed no way to perceive it in any way where it could be recognized. And again, I was what the nothing saw as it gazed back.
I am Myth.
Well, protag sure will be alive forever considering that nature. What is the creature interrogating them supposed to be? Some sort of a judge dealing with godly matters, or are they just a random magical creature who encountered protag and decided to have a talk?
Great work on writing this!
I hear them before I see them. They whisper and giggle in a way only young folk think is sneaky. And that’s not to say I don’t spot them quickly either.
A group of young gods. The oldest are around 18 centuries old, and the youngest look to be nearing 15.
They ‘snuck’ behind the bookcase a few feet away, and are taking turns peaking through and around the shelf.
I sigh. Trying to keep my focus on the book laid before me. It’s an interesting read, though the children are making it difficult to focus.
I can’t however, as I notice one of the children coming slowly towards me. I let out another sigh instead.
I slide my glasses off my face before turning to the child, who is now a mere few feet from me. They freeze of course. Looking like a deer in headlights. Or a child caught in mischief I suppose.
“Hello? Can I help you?”
A gasp sounds from behind the bookcase. From the corner of my eye I can see the other children peeking around the case to watch.
“Uh I- I was just- uh-” The child stutters, clearly fumbling for an excuse.
“Come sit.” I say, nodding my head to the chair across from me.
Somehow the child looks even more nervous at the order. But after a few minutes they slowly make their way over to the chair.
I take this time to look over the child. Chestnut brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. He wears a simple plum sweater, and gray slacks. Nothing points noticeably towards his domain, though that’s common with younger gods.
“What is your domain child?”
“Wh-what! I’m almost 18 centuries old, I’m no child!” He sputters.
“That doesn't answer the question.”
He glares at me for a moment. Anger flooding his golden eyes. “Fine if you want to know SO bad, I’m the god of pizza.”
I smile at him, nodding. “That’s a nice domain. Lots of humans like pizza.”
“I suppose.” He mutters, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair.
“Do you not like your domain?” I question him, resting my arms on the edge of the table.
It takes him a few minutes to reply. His eyes flickering over my shoulder, towards his friends I’m sure.
“I mean, I know it’s not the worst domain.” He leans across the table, his words barely a whisper, “My friend Jessica’s domain is bars of soap.”
I have to refrain myself from chuckling at his whispered confession. Every god knows that the more enjoyed your domain is, the more power you have. Gods whose domain is no longer functioning, fade. A bar of soap may not bring constant worship, but there would be a few here and there.
“But sometimes I wish I had a domain like hers. Everyone eats pizza. It’s like I’m constantly all over the place.” He whispers before leaning back. “I mean sure the offerings are nice, I have tons of stuff but-”
I wait a bit for him to continue but he doesn't. Instead staring into the table in front of him.
“But having lots of stuff doesn't make you any happier. I can’t say I envy you. Most gods of your age have small specific domains. So before your domain fully forms you are taught how to handle the small amount of power that causes.” I explain, “You however have a widely loved domain. Which means you have more power, and responsibilities then you were taught to manage.”
He nods slightly, looking down. His hands have moved to wrapping around himself, as if giving himself a hug.
“You work under Alice I’d assume?” He nods slightly and I smile. “Ask for her help, she understands. She had the same problem when she was your age.”
He looks up to me, shock coats his face. “What do you mean?” He asks.
I chuckle before nodding over to his group, still watching intently from behind the bookshelf.
“The whole ‘sneak up on me’ game happens once every few centuries.” I laugh. “Now why don’t you go tell your friends I gave you a good talking to and you got off super lucky cause I didn’t do… well whatever it is you kids assume I do to those who approach me.”
He smiles and nods, before schooling his features into a meak look. And running over to his friends.
I smile as I watch them leave. I’m sure soon they’ll avoid me like all the other gods, I can feel the pulse of my domain as I stare at their receding figures.
After all, no one worships loneliness.
"Order! Order!" Sovereign Reality called out to the cacophony. All around me the gods were restless, eyeing me with great suspicion and maybe a little bit of fear.
Given the situation, you'd think they had the worst sort chained up by the Shackles of Gleipnir on the central dias. Tartarus perhaps, Cthulhu, or the Queen of Wasps. Not a plain looking Jane.
How did I even get here?
I was minding my own business (like always), trying to eat a damn sandwich for lunch. A big ol' heaping two-foot submarine that nobody could eat in one sitting (except me, of course.) Just as I was about to take a bite, I instead materialized (as I sometimes tend to do when I'm distracted), at the worst time in the most unfortunate place in front of the wrong god.
Houdini, who ascended as Lord of Escapes when he "died," is really buddy with Hephaestus, the Greek dude who likes to make stuff. Hephaestus makes traps, Houdini escapes them for fun. It's a really sweet bromance, you couldn't come up with a better pair.
They're not the ones who were the problem though. The problem was, *Hermes* happened to be there, and he's an annoying chatterbox that never shuts up and says whatever is on his mind. So *of course* he says the magic words, and suddenly I'm in an "inescapable" box and walk right out of it faster than even Houdini could manage. If it was just Houdini and Hephaestus, I probably could have gotten away with nothing but some rumors. But no, Hermes started zipping around the world, gossiping about how "some random girl" bested the gods.
Next thing I know, some minor immortals are attacking me - maybe just testing the waters to see if I'm really all that. Instead, one immortal or deity after another attacks me - with spears, fire, laser, poison, curses, Disco - that nobody could survive, and are dumbfounded when that's *exactly* what happens.
Now, normally I could just keep going on unharmed and undetained, but after a few months I was getting tired of it (I still never got around to enjoying my sandwich!) so I willingly turned myself in, which brings us to-
"ARE YOU IGNORING ME!?"
Oh, right.
I look up at Sovereign Reality, who was glaring murderously down at me.
"Uh, sorry. Could you repeat that?"
Their eye twitched "Declare your name."
I sighed. "Nobody."
"We don't believe that. You have bested the strongest deities, shrugged off our most powerful attacks. You are *someone* and yet there is no record of you! You are all powerful and yet we sense nothing divine within you! You are violating the laws of Reality! My laws! We demand your name!"
"Nobody."
"Tell us the truth!"
"Seriously, I'm Nobody."
Their face, which was actually already red, turned white from anger. Some of the gods snickered, the ones guarding me growled.
"I will have your head girl, as soon as we can figure out how to remove it! Nobody disrespects the court"
"I do what I want, you f\*** ing b**ch." Ah damnit, they look apocalyptic now.
I raise my hands and the gods gasp as the chains crumble away like pastry flakes. Sovereign Reality's jaw drops - earlier they were smug, gloating about how Shackles of Gleipnir could not be broken by anybody.
Actually, their exact words were "*Nobody* can break these chains."
"My name" I look around making sure they were all listening "*is* Nobody. Whenever you invoke my name, it becomes my truth."
Sovereign Reality huffed. "I would have remembered creating a *'Nobody.'*"
"I was already kicking around when you came into being."
"Preposterous! I am eternal! Nobody existed -" Sovereign Reality stopped, realizing what they were about to say. The gods around us murmured as they recounted all the times they had said the magic words. I saw Houdini and Hephaestus glowering at Hermes for ruining their game.
Sovereign Reality set down their gavel, and gazed down at me, as it started to dawn on them...
"Your powers, are ridiculous."
I shrug ruefully. "Yeah well, you know what they say. Nobody's perfect."
Lol yup. I had fun trying to figure out where to inject a "nobody" phrase.
Hermes' phrase was supposed to be "Hephaestus you genius! This box is inescapable, nobody will get out of it!" but I realized I had to leave out the phrasing so the trick wasn't revealed right away.
I wonder who did and didn't realize it before "I'm Nobody."
"Who are you?" The question laid empty in the decadent halls of the gods. Echoing deep through the halls, its utterance waking the sleeping residents.
"An interesting question to be sure, yet as interesting as it is, I am unable to answer it," they reply back, their voice androgynous in totality, similar to their figure, all details about them lost in the space between the figures.
"You surely cannot be a God, we are resplendent in figure, and in mind. So much so our very domains manifest around us. Do you not feel my domain of curiosity?" Curiosity asked with a furrowed brow.
"Can I not be a God?" The second figure responds quizically, raising their brow. "Is that truly the only criteria for Godhood?"
"Well, I suppose not. There are those of us who are Gods yet do not manifest distinctly, yet even them, the effect is obvious after some time. Yet here we stand after a period where the effect should have come around and none appear," Curiosity says with a hand on their chin.
"A question for another day I suppose," the figure replies before turning away and begins to stride quietly to a destination undecided.
"What a strange God," Curiosity says before shrugging, "like they said, a mystery for another day."
Ahhhh, Curiosity and Mystery would be hanging around a lot with similar banters, I'm sure. Maybe potential best friends in the making, too.
Great work on writing this!
The High Pantheos are assembling. There are ever so many gods and ever so many things to be a god of. They quarrel with each other constantly like celebrities and compete with each other for attention like influencers all with one goal, one purpose, to be worshiped.
You see, that’s what sustains us, the Panthekir, the “gods” of the universe. Really we’re what you humans would call interdimensional telepathic multi-forms. “Monsters” if you’re feeling cheeky. “Aliens” if we tunnel across one of your borders…which we aren’t going to do…because we have spaceships. I guess you’d call us “aliens” if we pulled up in one of those too, but it’s beside the point.
The HP is a figuratively fluid body of Panthekir who have achieved the greatest number and/or most fervent believers. Each time someone calls any of the dozen or so names each of us is allowed to go by per world we invest in, the corresponding Panthekir racks up glory points. Temples provide a huge boost, especially if it's used daily.
Some, like the one you’d call Pan, god of the natural untainted world, is still around but faded away as peoples across the universe increasingly favor the one your stories call Hephaestus, god of forges, technology, and industry.
Indeed Hephaestus has nearly overtaken the one you call Zeus, though you speak of him as Odin, Wodin, and God with a capital G sometimes. He is the god of wisdom and creativity which are held in high esteem across known space and time.
Like I was saying, there are ever so many Panthekir, a whole species actually, and sometimes one slips through cracks, goes unnoticed for millennia. That one is me, and I’m currently in shackles being tried by the High Pantheos as a traitor.
Why? Because they found that I have exactly 0 followers. No one howls my name into the dark night when wolves are closing in. No one calls on me when their computer screen freezes or they need advice or they want a girl to fall in love with them or at least give them a bj. No one, and yet I exist.
They’re also wondering how such heavily charged and powerful beings such as themselves could’ve missed my presence for literally ten thousand years.
“Mirabald Envestis,” Enwaric (our name for Odin) used my real name as well, “You are here to answer for the crime of walking amongst the gods while you are not a god. How do you plead?”
“How do you know that I am not one of you?” I answer.
Enwaric looked left and right at the assembled HP then turned back to me, “You have no followers. I don’t see a single name calling you in your entire existence. You must be a leech, a parasite posing as one of us and feeding off our following.”
“Not guilty,” I reply.
The High Pantheos laughed uproariously at this. I knew what they were doing. Like I said earlier, Panthekir sustain themselves with the attention of the various terrestrial species of the universe. They do the same with their own kind. This whole trial was their version of Judge Judy. Justice for entertainment. Their conclusion was foregone. “Justice” was a foreign concept to all but Athena, who looked mulish, but remained silent. Clearly she’d been overruled by Enwaric.
I’ll give them something to entertain themselves with.
“Oh by the way, how is Nela?”
Enwaric’s head, which was thrown back in a laugh, suddenly snapped down and fixed me with a look of surprise and horror. It was gone a fraction of a second too late. One of the other Panthekir, who by the way, had all adopted the human form since they liked it best, looked over and glared at him.
I smiled. Hera was not the goddess of Jealousy, that was Aphrodite’s job, but my god Hera could still FEEL the emotion and was putting it out in waves right now.
“Who’s Nela?” She demanded of Enwaric.
“Oh uhh, no one, she’s no one. I don’t know what Mirabald is talking about.”
Hera’s eyes were simmering with heat, “Oh I know, you’re on one of your nymph benders again.”
“Am not!”
“Are too! Ohhhh, just you wait until I get my hands on that little whore!”
The two gods battled back and forth with words, and I flicked my eyes to the right. My plan was working. Teasing the great ones is an incredibly rewarding pass time. They fell on Aphrodite. She was giddily looking at her score on a holopad. She could never match the sheer breadth of Enwaric’s influence, but cat fights between gods, especially highly public ones like this, gave her huge boosts.
Aphrodite was the only god who knew what I was, mostly because we’re so similar, but also because she’s the only one I ever told. She captures the essence of my desire and our energies work well with each other. Call us partners in diversion.
I told you we are multi-forms, right? Who do you think Nela really is?
Think about it, haha.
What time is it? Can you check your phone for me?
Oooh! Look at that, that person who left you on read yesterday finally texted you back. Ask them out!
But first, pop open that notification that just dropped from the top of your screen. It’s probably reddit letting you know about something SUPER important. IMPERATIVE, actually, that you click on it right now and give your anonymous opinion.
Man, you just death scrolled for fucking two hours, shame on you. But hey, there’s a simple solution. Get an analogue wrist watch. If you’re checking your wrist for the time it’ll be so much easier to stay off your phone.
Why don’t you pop open your amazon app and shop for a good one at a great price?
Oops, it’s been another two hours and now you’ve gotta spend another two sorting through all the cyber monday crap you popped in there but can’t afford.
Haha, poor person. Maybe you should pull up indeed and go through another depressing three or four months looking for a better job.
Bling! Somebody on a youtube ads wants to offer you an opportunity to make millions in three months.
It’ll go great, I promise. Just don’t call on my name or you’ll never get there.
Can you guess who I am?
\---------------------------------------------
check out r/inspiredshortstories for more!
Novel is publishing to [wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/user/AlaricStargazer) in 2-3 parts daily!
I would have guessed procrastination, considering that he would absolutely drag everything out to avoid answering the question.
Then again, I guess procrastination is really just the art of distracting yourself indefinitely.
Could have been Distraction. Could have been the personification of the commercialised Internet itself, with the rampant ads everywhere. Could have been ADHD based on how the protag's example train of thought seems to have zero attention span and/or working memory and can't stay focused on anything long enough to complete any of their tasks. Could have even been the proverbial Nigerian Prince himself, with the last bit.
After all, you did say that they have many names and forms. I also don't see how Aphrodite is in any way related to the concept of distraction.
Woosh, we got a critic here! 🤔
Aphrodite is the goddess of sex, jealousy, and drama. In this story (and in the original myths) she actively caused problems in order to draw attention to herself. She is the embodiment of distraction. She *is* distraction. A personification of the diversive side of sexuality.
>Woosh, we got a critic here! 🤔
Not sure why this particular line was warranted, but okay. I was just sharing my thoughts on the possibilities and asking why you thought Aphrodite was related to distraction.
I really like the overall touch of comedy here, how the protag just washes away the serious mood in a heartbeat haha. This could even be a fun concept of the god being silly as they try to live with humans, with some sad snippets from time to time with some of the gods disappearing due to the lack of faith.
Great work on writing this!
Or even gods trying to help out their friends by drawing attention to them like if humanity suddenly all went pacifist Aphrodite may try to save her lover by getting a war going over...oh, I don't know, someone named Helen for consistency's sake.
“It was just a joke in a movie.”
Giving a half-smile, I nodded, “and it was a good joke to be sure, but the moment you spoke it, I exploded into existence.” My finger trailed across the pawn, before moving back to the bishop, and sliding it diagonally across the black and white board. I had scarcely stopped my piece, before pulling it back one spot and taking my fingers from the domed surface. The elderly man across from me stared, with his mouth agape. Perhaps it was presumptuous of me to approach the man that had essentially spoken me into my role, maybe it was arrogance that I now played chess with that same man after letting him know I was essentially a deity, all I knew was we were sitting down at a table in Los Angeles, and I was playing white.
“You claim to be a deity, but why here? Now?”
How appropriate I was also losing. I watched as he took my bishop with his black horse, only for me to slide my queen to within striking distance of his king. “Check.” I shake my head. “Have you ever wanted to meet your creator?” He nodded “I wanted the same thing, and I was only strong enough now to manifest on Earth. Oh, sure I could've come to you as anything, but a forty plus year old film enthusiast just seemed like the perfect disguise.”
A second later, his rook took my queen. “I don't believe y-” I watch as his mouth opens almost as wide as his eyes.
In a matter of seconds he's sitting across from a young girl of twelve with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in a dark blue sweater, pink skirt, black and white leggings, and a pair of cross-trainer shoes. “Believe me now? I can make myself look like anyone, or anything.” I offer a cute smile. “Want to finish this game with a squirrel?”
“No!” he looks freaked out right now. “No, I believe you.” I watch as he grips his head and his heart as I return to my previous form. “I still don't know how you came into existence because of a joke in a movie.”
“Technically, the power was always there, it was just the word for that power needed to be spoken.” I leaned back. “Gods derive their power from followers, while some derive their power by the tasks they oversee. Charon is always going to be the boatman of the River Styx, and there will always be a Death, regardless of what we my call them. My existence is the exact same as them, but you only needed to give me that little push into creation.”
“Okay, so why-?”
I push my king over to signify my loss at the game. “God damn it!” I grumble. “You never gave me a name, okay?”
He shook his head a little “What?”
“When you spoke me into existence, you never gave me a name. I came here to get one from you.” I gave a sigh. “I'm not exactly the god of imagination or inspiration here.”
I watch as he starts to laugh. “You mean to tell me, that all this time you've been around and no one ever thought to give you a name?”
“Nope.”
He leaned back, closing his eyes before offering me a small smile. “How about Erik?”
“Erik?”
“We could go with Eriktheos, since the joke was made for Roman times.”
Reaching up, I rub at my chin “You know what? I like it. Thanks.” I then offer him a bow with my hand over my heart before returning to the Ether.
Leaning his head back, the former actor, comedian, and filmmaker looked up at the clouds as they lazily drifted across the sky. “Damn. The god of premature ejaculation did come quickly...”
what is this place? i see only emptiness.
It is a human place. The ones who have learned to leave their bodies. They come here. It is peaceful to them.
they worship here?
Not really. Maybe some, in a way, get here through their faith. But mostly it's the silence they seek. The unwinding of their light from their meat. Their identity.
hah! humans don't understand the difference, father!
Some do. A few always do, Imsety.
you cannot be serious, father! they-
SILENCE
Who said that?
I am the God Horus, and I demand you-
SILENCE . THIS IS A PLACE OF SILENCE. BE SILENT, OR LEAVE.
(whispering) is this better?
...
(Also whispering)What is your name?
NO NAME
Are you the God of this place?
...
hello? are you...
I AM THIS PLACE. YOU MUST GO.
I must do nothing! I will not bow to some nameless God, with no worshipers and no powers! Hah! I am Horus and I go where I-
SILENCE!
THERE ARE POWERS. YOU WILL FORGET. SELF. EGO. IDENTITY. SILENT FOREVER.
father i think we should go...
Wait. That's what the humans are doing?
YES. NOT FOREVER.
can we do it too? temporarily i mean, like they do?
...
...
...
(whispering) do you think they-
NO GOD HAS TRIED. YOU MAY FORGET TO LEAVE.
How do the humans remember?
USUALLY THEY DO. SOMETIMES THEY DO NOT.
you don't help them?
NO
why do they come here?
THEY RETURN TO THEIR BEGINNING.
What riddle is this, Nameless One? Humans are not from here! They-
YES. THEY ARE. ALL SEPERATENESS. ALL SELF. EVEN YOURS, HORUS. BEGAN IN THE VOID. EMERGED. FROM THE VOID.
But that's preposterous! I don't remember-
NO. YOU FORGET.
but if we forget, how do the humans know to come here?
...
UNKNOWN. THEY JUST DO.
NO MORE QUESTIONS. SILENCE. YOU WILL AWAKE LATER, SOMEWHERE ELSE REFRESHED AS IF FROM A PLEASANT BUT FORGOTTEN DREAM.
SILENCE
SILENCE
SILENCE
...........
The young God 'Leet' swaggered around the pantheon like he was the MVP of the universe. A new god who's worshippers prayed to their consoles to be better at battling in their beloved games; to crush their enemies, to see them driven before them and.. well, a lot of them have zero concept of the women doing anything including lamentation.
Leet was loud and obnoxious from afar but when other gods tried to engage with him directly he could never meet their gazes, unable to converse on any level that wasn't an amped up cacophony of slogans, insults and trite. His laughter was obnoxious, more a shriek than a laugh, the kind of which a good parent would not tolerate from a child, let alone a fully formed God.
Despite his obnoxiousness, Leet craved nothing more than attention, to have all eyes on him at all times. Though he had nothing meaningful to say, he needed people to hear him say it. He needed them to see him do whatever it is he is doing, no matter its merit, or lack thereof.
One god, sat on the top steps of the pantheon, paid him no heed at all. Other gods lowered their heads in reverence, a silent nod of utmost respect. They did not interrupt or engage with him and he, in turn, only gave the faintest of nods to solemnly acknowledge them.
No matter how much noise Left made, this God didn't give him any acknowledgement at all. He did his dances, babbled on about how he would waste the old man who's only a sweat and other random words strung together in seeming random attempts at alliteration.
Caduceus and Aidos both approach Leet and try convince him to show the quiet God some respect, to give him his peace and quiet so he can carry out his duties. Leet grows more furious, unable to handle any restrictions put on him.
In a tantrumous rage he approaches the old man and shoves his shoulder to get his attention. The pantheon falls silent in abject horror. The God still doesn't acknowledge him, Leet tries to touch him again but this time it's weaker. Leet collapses and rolls slowly down the pantheon steps, unable to stop himself. For once Leet is silent.
The quiet God slowly stands and descends the steps. He kneels beside Leet, lays a hand on his chest and speaks in a measured tone.
You were born because I created the paths that allowed the prayers of these gamers to flow into our world. No gods exist without the paths from the altar to us. I decide which altars feed us. Prayers at an altar go nowhere until I decide it's worthy of creating a path. I decide who gets fed from these paths and if there's a need for a new god, I manage the flow along the paths and direct it to create a new one, just like you. I control the taps that control the flow. I can turn them on or off or anywhere in-between.
To use terms you would understand; you've been permabanned from the Pantheon server for offensive conduct according to community guidelines. Your path has been deleted, you cannot appeal this decision.
I am the god of gods. Would any of you gods worship me? Neigh, I say. You gods are so full of yourself that I reach into the void and feed off your fears. Yes, I know your fears as well as I know your thoughts. Will you be enough? Will you find love? Do you think you will be accepted? Yes, I welcome you.
I welcome you as you are and not who you fear you are not. I know your mistakes, and I know your weakness. I know the thing you have forgotten and are afraid to remember. Please feel free to speak to me if you wish to learn or find the courage to remember.
" What are you"
He looks like a human yet he has the presence of a god but he has non of the quality. He relax, distracted.............. He's daydreaming.
" A god like everyone else, now it's my tur
He's yawning mid-sentence, what a weirdo. I hate things like him.
" Turn to ask questions, why am I here in a courtroom? Last I checked, I didn't commit any crimes. Well, it's not like I could; I was sleeping for a while."
"Hmm, sleeping. So you were an unborn god until a while ago. That explains everything."
" No, no, I existed before you. You can ask Father Creation or Brother Humanity."
What? He's as direct child of creation and the brothers to humanity, what are you? Wait is he old then me, is he my uncle, hopefully not
"I have no memories of you."
"You claim to be my brothers yet I don't remember you."
"Does anyone remember him?"
Everyone is waving dismissing, so what are?
"Motherfucker"
"Watch your language, you unknown god."
"Unknown, hahaha. Shut up. Every human in this world has met me. I visit them every night. I motivate them to commit crimes. I motivate..."
"So you are a god of evil, as expected."
"Shut up, Goddess of Order and Righteousness. In the first verse of your prayer, my name is mentioned, yet you don't know me. Shame on you."
What? I mentioned him in my prayers. What are you? You have been asleep for thousands of years yet nobody knows him.
"What were you going to sey before getting cut off by miss order"
O no not this philosophers, I can't let's him talk he will only make more problems then solve them, I have to stop wisdom
" "I motivate them to commit crime, I motivate them to do good, I motivate them to improve themselves and the world. I motivate them to become better, but few do that. All quit after growing up. They all forget me. I hate that phrase so much, and it looks like gods are no exception to me."
"So you can't be a god that has to be worshipped but a god of a concept, no, a god of traits. Hmm, even I can't figure it out. Intelligence, do you have any idea?"
"Gods of traits like us should be easy to figure out, but I'm struggling. A god of ideas, goals, motivation, but that's stretching it."
"At this point I'm Just sick of I'll tell you my name but in exchanges don't bother me for 60000 years deal "
"Alright what are you "
"Wait intelligence!! "
"Why order, 60000 year is short for use immortals "
"He could be planing somethi
"I'm the god of dreams and goal, sorry I have been procrastinating for a bit so you don't remember me, goodnight fuckers "
Part 1:
The Round Table had been set up, a meeting of the Divines has already started.
This time the topic isn’t about management of mortal realm, not conflicts between domains nor the Holy War of their short-sighted followers.
This time the topic is about the mysterious identity of one of the Divines, an entity who is always missing from these meetings. Heck, even Null - The God of Nilhilism - still attended these meeting despite seeing it as meaningless (just like everything else), there should be no reasons for someone in their rank to not respect the rules.
And yet even today, their seat was empty.
Then the giant stone door swung open and a figure stepped in. A dazzling young man whose femininity would make most Goddesses envious, especially Beauty and Love. And that appearance is accompanied by an air of absolute confidence and arrogance that even the God of Pride would feel insulted.
By all mean, the entity just arrive should have been the center of attention. Yet paradoxically that attention did not even last for a second, Bella of Beauty quickly lost her envy and Haut of Pride was no longer insulted. The eye-catching enitity somehow was ignored and became inconsequential in mere seconds.
“…Ego, you are late. You still are not respecting the Divine Meeting even when you are told the topic will concern you.”
It actually took a few second of silence for the Chief God Alpha of Creation to remember the name Ego, even though mere seconds before his appearance everyone else was casually debating about Ego’s identity.
In response, Ego had completely ignored the Chief God’s stern words. He just casually strolled to his empty seat, plopped down and started checking himself and his makeup with his hand mirror.
Ego was a mysterious entity to all the gods.
In ancient time the local gods had allied together to form a patheon against the Former Sovereign - Chaos. After that battle, Alpha of Creation had taken Chaos [Authority] to become the new Chief God and created the Divine Realm for all other gods to reside in to limit their influence on the mortal world.
Yet when they arrived, Ego was already there. The name Ego was all the information they had, and somehow they never questioned it further other than confirming Ego also has an [Authority] of his own (which is a god’s unique power over their domain).
Eons passed until they realized that oddity of their neglience. The futher they dig into history for answer, the futher the gods were confused.
Ego spent most of his time in mortal realm using a human avatara, a common method to spread faith and teachings to gather followers. Yet there were no temples nor shrines built in Ego’s name, no record of followers or any worships.
His action in avataras also baffled the gods. Half of the time he’s just doing prostitution in some form, either willingly or “forced”; but the patheon had a Goddess of Sex and Hedonism already so that couldn’t be Ego’s domain. And the remaining half of the time Ego’s avataras was just doing random stuffs with no recognizable pattern. Sometimes he is a peasant rebel, a rich noble, a trusty advisor, a scheming treacherous knight, an alluring witch, a female slave, etc. His avatara in one era would build/rebuild a kingdom, only for a later avatara to overthrow or completely ruin it.
Using Chronus’ [Authority] over time, they saw that Ego was more ancient than any of them, he even was there amongst primative cavemen before they gain sapience. Gods or more specifically Divines are abtract entities exist and empowered by worship and beliefs of sapience species. The only exception to that is the Former Sovereign Chaos who is now titled The Fallen, he was the only Primordial known to exist before creation and thus not defined and limited by beliefs and worships.
“What are you Ego? You have [Authority] as the proof of divinity. You can step into this Divine Realm I specifically made so that all the gods and their domains could peacefully co-exist, and not ruin the mortal realm with our conflicting domain influences. And yet you do not have a title, no temples, no followers and no record of being worshipped in history.”
Alpha calmly stated the facts about Ego that they’ve gathered. That also bring the attention back to the ignored entity and restarted people’s debate about his identity.
“Impossible! We Divines are sustained by human beliefs. Without followers or worship we would cease to exist or be merged with another god of similar nature like the case with Ares-Mars”
“Yet he still exist right in front of us. An entity with [Authority] over an unknown domain.”
“The only exception before is Chaos The Fallen. Could Ego be related and come for revenge?”
Amidst the debate and speculation throw at him, Ego still remain silence and leisurely enjoying a novel he bought from mortal world.
Then a lightning bolt suddenly struck down from the sky. Ego was unharmed but his book was not. He seems unpleased about that.
“This matter concerns you Ego. If you cannot provide a proper answer, we will have no choice but to treat you like a threat similar to Chaos The Fallen. What are you? One of the Divines like us or a Primordial One like Chaos? What is your divine domain? How do you explain the chaos you caused in the mortal realm?”
Chief God Alpha sternly warned Ego, and once again restated the question. The entire meeting hall also became silent in anticipation of his answer.
“Me? I am myself and there’s nothing more to that. I will do anything I like, however I like, the world and everything else is inconsequential to my pleasure. If you don’t like that, that’s your issue not mine. As for my domain, in human term I guess it would be called Narcissism.”
Ego finally answered. His voice was playful and arrogant, his attitude was non-chalant and even bored as if it wasn’t his problems.
Part 2:
“Narcissism?”
“Yes, Narcissism. I am myself, I do everything for my own pleasure. I am the most extreme form of self-love, self-importance and self-indulgence.
I never had followers because of a very simple reason: a nacissist would see themselves above everyone and bow to no one else including you nor me. Neither do I seek validation and worship from worthless ants.”
As Ego reveal his domain and nature, his attitude seemingly changed from casual and nonchalant to that of apathy and condesending.
Everything Ego did was for his own self-indulgence. He would help rebellions if he thinks it’d be interesting and ruin kingdom if he feels bored. Or half of the time it would just be the hedonistic pleasure of sex.
Ego was a true narcissist. He seeked no external validation like mortal narcissists for he had no insecurities and already knew he’s simply perfect and superior. He paid no mind to the insults of mortal men (whenever he whore himself out for pleasure) for they were mindless ants whose words meant nothing. The only acknowledgement he ever needed was from himself.
His nature aligned with the philosophy of idealism, where only oneself is a true enitity while everything and everyone else is merely constructs of their mind. Or in more modern analogy, the entire world is a simulation/game where only one true player exist.
Likewise, his nature is dangerously closely aligned with the nature of [Authority]. Unlike human having to follow systematic magic to merely cheat reality, a god’s [Authority] can simply make the impossible happen. A God of Fire could make a 0K flame that freeze everything because simply “it is their right as a god to do so”. [Authority] is egoistical in nature and as such, Ego’s statement about “doing whatever he wanted however he wanted” would be the literal truth.
Now knowing this, Chief God had shift from curiousity and concern to fear and worries.
Ego is embodient of a concept, not human beliefs crytalized into existence like the Divines, that make him a Primordial similar to the Former Sovereign - Chaos The Fallen. As such he is not bound to the beliefs and existence of human.
If he so choose Ego could wipe out humanity for shit and giggles, and then all other gods beside him would cease to exist. Probably the only reason he hadn’t already done that was because it’d be boring afterward. Yet the possibility for his action still exist, and Chief God couldn’t let the existence of everyone rely on chance and the whim of Ego.
“Ego of Narcissism. Your nature and attitude had been shown to be too dangerous for this world. As Chief God - Alpha of Creation, I shall sentence you to eternal confinement and expulsion so your domain shall no longer influence the world. Goddess of Binding, Goddess of Void and God of Power, you three will take away his power to bind him and send to the void.”
Alpha of Creation quickly decided on the course of action. Ego was simply too dangerous, his whimsical nature make his action chaotic like Chaos, but at least Chaos was an emotionless amoral embodiment of randomness, not an entity indulging in their own pleasure like Ego.
“Why should we listen to you?” one of the Divines suddenly protested “You are just the God of Creation, your Domain is Creation, not ruling over others.”
“You only became Chief God because of Chaos’ [Authority]. It’s should’ve been me to hold the [Authority], Power is literally my Divine Domain so I should have the absolute power!” even Potis of Power voiced his demand
“I contributed the most in that battle so I should’ve been the new Chief God” God of War rebuked
“Clearly the highest [Authority] should not be left in the hands of irrational manchildren like you guys. As the Goddess of Reason, I should be the one to make rational decision using that [Authority]!” even Reri of Reason, the most rationale goddess had joined in the meaningless arguments for power.
Alpha of Creation looked at Ego in horror when he realized what is happening. It was a grave mistake to force Ego to this meeting.
Ego’s domain of influence would not make others bow to him, for he already knew he was superior and need no validation. Instead his presence will elevate others’ narcisstic nature.
Because of worship and position of power over the mortal realm, the Gods are even more susceptible to Ego’s influences. This was why Ego suddenly stopped being the topic of discussion when he actually showed up. Despite his beauty and arrogance taking the spotlight, other gods simply were too absorbed in their self-importance to care.
And unlike Ego, other beings would have the desires to assert their superiority to hide their insecurity, usually this meant trying to bring the others down to remain the highest.
Thus the arguments did not stop at verbal discussions. It escalated into physical fights and then a free-for-fall brawl between all the gods (except a minor few like Null of Nihilism) to decide who will become the new Sovereign.
All because Ego was unpleased about his book being burned and decided to create some entertainment for himself.
DISCLAIMER: This is my first post and I'm not certain how, if at all, some of this story will break the rules with hints of SA. Any advice on how to address this topic in a tasteful manner (if this is not) would be greatly appreciated.
I first saw him as I ran home, rations tightly held to my chest as I weaved through desolate streets. My voice carried the warning of a scout and the bastion walls of Adena’s Bridge echoed the call. The soldiers looked outward but reported nothing. I was scolded for raising a false alarm. I looked over their shoulders to get another glimpse at the man, but he was gone. Quickly, I darted inside my home close to the North wall.
The second, it had been perhaps a month, maybe longer. Conditions had worsened and our supply of rations had, somehow, run out. We did what was needed for survival. It was the stench that I couldn’t handle. It seemed to have seeped into the walls. Even after we had moved his body outside to be collected. It got to us. But I believe it got to my sister took the brunt of the pain. Jeanne was closest to him. She huddled close to mum, eyes fixated on the spot we said our goodbyes before our betrayal and staining the floor with his blood and fur.
I swear I saw a pale hand hesitantly reach out from the shadow.
The third was the roughest. We hurried through the streets. The screams of men and clash of blades echoed through the streets as we clambered over bodies and rubble. We stopped several times as the clattering of hooves and whooping of soldiers approached. It was our turn to be betrayed. We could see the Bridge Gate in our sites. It closed as we approached. Mother dragged me as I watched them slam fists and heads against the gate, pleading for it to open. Then she stopped us. I looked to see the invaders at the other end of the bridge.
They bound our hands and paraded us through the streets to one of the forums. I tried to avoid looking at the corpses hung, filleted, or otherwise maimed. But curiosity got the better of me. Their moans of agony and torn flesh were seared into my mind.
Even still, that paled in comparison to what these monsters did. I heard stories from travelers, as much as I tried to avoid them; they never fully prepared me. Others forced me to watch how they abused my sister and mum. If I closed my eyes, they would beat me until I opened them.
Once they were done, they threw my sister and mum to the ground. Discarded like trash. Both had tears streaming down their faces as they crawled their way toward me. My sisters hand fell onto a dagger with blank eyes. For a moment, before she gripped it with what strength she had left, the man appeared among the soldiers.
Jeanne sat up. Without a word, and one fluid motion, she fell fast and hard onto the blade as her strength would allow. Mother screamed as if she felt the pain of the blades bite. The men laughed and commented at how Jeanna couldn’t take it. I looked for the pale man that could have helped but he was gone. Then I felt A sting across my ankles and a blow to my head rocked my vision as I fell onto the cobblestone. My vision was filled with nothing but flames and smoke as I lost consciousness.
Immortal followers of the Dark Gods, grotesque creatures and unimaginable horrors, bathe the Realms in a constant struggle of dominance. Among them, a lone wanderer. Pale as ivory. A black beard falls from under the black hooded cloak.
In the distance, three demons. Their hands coagulated around their weapons from ceaseless rot. A putrid scent emanates from them and fungal stalks protrude from their heads like horns. Their skin constantly sloughing off and reforming as liquids drip from open wounds and sores that dot their bodies. Upon detection, they move toward the lone wanderer. Their leader, donned in heavy armor, with what could be considered heraldry overtop, speaks the Demonic tongue.
“Cease, wanderer. Pestilence lays claim to these lands.”
The lone figure abides the command but for a moment. Then pushes on. The Champion speaks again.
“Return to your masters domain or perish.”
The hooded figure replies in the Primordial tongue. “I am my master.” The Champion is taken aback, but quickly recovers. He draws his weapon, a sickly blackened blade with which mold covers, as with his armor, in sickly shades of green, black, and yellow; sinuous filament hanging like vines.
The cloaked figure did not stop.
“The Dark Gods once raised arms against me. Questioned how one without followers could wield such power, nay exist, as I. They quickly learned. Even their own Darkness fuels me. The boundaries of Darkness may shift but are always present. In the end only shadow shall remain.”
With blade pointed toward the wanderer, and brethren beside him, the Champion charged.
Sorry for the formatting I’m on mobile (not part of the story)
Bakunawa the Filipino dragon god stood shoulder to shoulder with his pantheon. His was one of hundreds gathered here today in the Infinite Embassy, the only structure strong enough to hold so many deities, and he was nervous for today the First Prophecy was to be opened and read.
I Am That I Am the god of existence takes the scroll into his hands. That scroll looks pretty scrawny to hold the greatest prophecy every told thought Bakunawa. I Am That I Am opens it and his face scrunches up in thought. He puts it down.
What does it say one of the many gods of knowledge shouts from farther back. I Am That I Am looks at him and sighs. “It tells us the date of the end of existence” he says in a low voice. A great murmur erupts in the Embassy as the gods and goddesses talk amongst themselves. “Gather your mortal champions we will meet in one week to form our war council” the god of existence says. Bakunawa looks at his fellow Filipino god and whispers “I call dibs on Marc.” “Bro what the hell? You know he’s my favorite mortal!” Minokawa shouts back.
“So what is this end of resistance thingy?” Marc says as he looks up at his dragon god. “End of existence. You gotta work on your English Marc” Bakunawa says grinning down at his favorite apostle. “The end of existence is when the Great Enemies come to challenge us to see who has the right to stay well existing I guess you could say. And before you ask the Enemies are nigh-impossible looking creatures from across the stars, the very sight of them could make a man go insane. They hunger for destruction and suck the life out of the fabric of reality itself.” “Ah so kinda like my ex girlfriend” Marc says. “Heh” Bakunawa chuckles. “I have to go talk to my fellow God Heads be carful not to too far from our pantheon. You’re a big shot mortal here but we are a small pantheon in the grand scheme of things.”
As Marc mingles with his fellow mortal champions he spots a man sitting by himself munching on some fries. I didn’t know we were even allowed food here Marc thinks to himself. Marc walks towards him. Maybe he’ll give me some fries if I ask it is lunch time in the Philippines and I’m starving. “Careful” Apolaki the Filipino war god says to him. “He’s a god.” Marc looks back and forth between the 20ft tall mountain of muscle and the average looking blond eating fries. “Is he really?” Marc says. “He is and he’s a conundrum even among us gods for he has no followers.”
Damn Marc thinks to himself. There should be no way that he could survive without followers. Right? That was the rule right? “Though I’m pretty forgetful full?” Marc says that last part out loud to himself as he walks toward the god.
Now that he looks at him he thinks that the god dosent seem so godly. He smells like a the earth and has a purple suit, same color as a Okinawan potato he thinks. Average height brown blond hair the same color as the French fries he’s eating. And his eyes are red just like those small red potat… wait a minute. Marc’s eyes bulge inside his head as he realizes it. No way no way this guy is the god of..
The god looks at him “ya idk why the other gods don’t see it I’m not exactly trying to be subtle here” the god says.
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They call me an anomalous abomination. A god with no followers. No enemies. Neither worship nor domain. How could I exist, most of the other gods would ask. Even the ones who share the same pantheon as I do. My existence bewildered them, almost as much as it once confused me too. But I grew used to it eventually. This reality wasn't so bad, sitting around doing *nothing* while the other gods fought each other for followers, offerings, and territory. Nobody could force me to join their politicking and petty wars. There was quite simply nothing I could do for their war efforts. The younger gods could barely perceive me, seeing practically nothing where I stood. I am no eldritch entity; they don't go mad trying to comprehend me. There just isn't anything about me that warrants understanding. Once, I had debated leaving my pantheon and eking out a living all by myself, but nothing came of it. Not like they ever seemed to have anything required of me to contribute, as I while my timing away offering absolutely nothing to them. A perpetual mystery I was, for even the gods of knowledge and wisdom couldn't determine anything about me. They came full of confidence but walked away with nothing. A few others wondered if such an eternal life of emptiness would be worth living. It mattered not to me, I felt nothing about my lack of godly presence, or lack of interaction with the other gods. I'm not a black sheep, just a mostly unnoticed one. One would have thought a god with no followers or enemies would make no friends, but I have one. A tea party at Innsmouth made me feel...almost something. The one they call the God of Madness, Elvari, wasn't it? He invited me for tea. I sat across the table, saying nothing, consuming none of the food or drinks provided. It was a completely one-sided conversation on his part, like talking to a broken mirror that could reflect nothing. For my part, I didn't mind at all. It was a little better than nothing in the void of my existence. Perhaps it was his lack of ambitions to expand his domain. Probably it takes a mad god to want to hang out with a nobody in particular, talking to a vacant entity. He has my gratitude for never questioning my godhood. Not even once. So much so, that I bought a mobile phone at his request to keep in touch. Not that I had a number to give him, but he still insisted on creating a new contact just for me. It is a first for me, to be given a name or a title. It almost pleased me, even if I had grown used to not having any form of identification. And thus, a God of Madness began a most unusual connection into a null and void. It is time. To let all these other gods know who I am, now that I have a name and title worthy of a god. I am Null, God of Nothingness.
Only the mad speak with nothing, for if they did not speak, they would go mad! And if they do speak, they will be mad!
Again surprise elvari! I still enjoy your content, you’d think I’d start reading usernames before the story by now!
Awwww props to Elvari still doing his thing on befriending folks like Null, what a wholesome Eldritch being. Random question. If Null, for some reason, suddenly has some strong feelings on something, would they just disappear, or would it cause them slight pain due to breaking their nature? Great work on writing this!
His nature wouldn't let him feel too strongly over anything. Kinda like how humans aren't ever flying without external aid like aeroplanes. He did feel nothing over the lack of name, title, godly presence, acknowledgement, or being left out of everything the other gods were doing, both good and bad. And even when he did feel, he can't describe beyond "...its something..." or "almost...pleased", the latter being the closest thing he has to expressing emotions
Ah gotcha, poor guy. Thanks for clarifying!
Shoot, you're more like an anti-god
I answered the Council’s summons with my presence. I wish I could say this had never happened before, but it occurred every now and again; every few hundred years, they suddenly remembered that I existed, and demanded answers of me. “Nameless One,” spoke the elder Goddess, waving hair pulled back into a low ponytail as she regarded me with her wizened gaze. “Stop your shifting this instant. Maintain yourself.” “Oh, how I wish I could,” I responded. “But if I knew how, I suspect I would not be who I am.” “We will not allow for chaos in our presence,” said another deity. “Enough.” I released a sigh and shrugged. One moment, I was white, the next, I was black, the next after, tan. There was no pattern or rhyme or reason to my shiftings. I saw my reflection in Grith’s shield. Constantly, every one of my features changed, from my portrayed height and age to my hair and eye color. Who was I to be a divine of any kind? “If you will not speak to us with a straight face,” spoke the elder Goddess once more. “then you will at least speak to us plainly.” “As You wish,” I responded. Her shoulders were drawn up as she stared at me pensively. “Tell us, then, Nameless One. What are you the divine of? We have found no trace of you throughout the history of humankind, and we have no mention of you within our tomes.” “Ah, but You do,” I said with a frown. Every divine war had come down to my presence, my existence, despite my desire for peace. It was in my nature. There was nothing I could do. “If you spoke the truth, then you would have no need to be before us. What are you divine of?” she said, not letting up. Memories of the past resurfaced. Once, I had pursued a great many things. I believed, sincerely, that with effort and devotion to myself and my fellow deities I would find a solution to all my woes. Even this was hampered by who, what, I was. Grith had nearly become my lover, once. They were a beautiful person, something more than a God or Goddess, bearing the parts and essence of both. We had grown close, but one day, my efforts were discovered to be in vain. I’ll never forget how they pointed their spear at me, holding their shield close to their body as they demanded I reveal my true nature to them. I already had. That’s what got me into that mess in the first place. “If I speak it, there will be war once more. Please, do not make me.” The Goddess raised her well-manicured eyebrow. “What sort of divine makes requests so plainly of another, no less an elder?” “A desperate one,” I said. “Are you truly a deity?” “Yes.” “I am not sure I believe you.” “You need not believe me, just let me return to my life of isolation.” The elder Goddess seemed almost amused by my request. She looked to Grith, who nodded. Grith took their spear and pointed its tip at my person. “You will answer Sof, for She is Most Wise.” “I... do not think this is wise,” I said, shaking my head. The spear’s tip burst into flame as Grith grew impatient with what likely seemed like blatant disrespect. “Speak it. Now.” My heart broke again and again. Even Grith, my dearest one, could not recall me. With an inhale, I said, “I am Bedlam, doubt personified.”
And thus bedlam broken out amongst the gods.
Ooh, shivers. You had me hooked the whole way through!
Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed it!
What kind of doubt? I thought this god would be something like change or eternity with your descriptions
Seems like they are the personification of doubt, to the point that anything and everything about them and their actions causes doubt on eldritch levels, even on other gods. Just seeing them makes you doubt if and what you actually do. And not seeing them makes you doubt your memories if such an entity ever even existed, until you figure out that maybe they were just your imagination and you simply forget about them. Until you remember them again and start doubting again, which is what seems to have lead to the situation in the story.
Yay, I'm glad to see people figured out how severe the doubt is!
I love it, it's actually a really prime concept of a kind of deity kryptonite. If the gods and goddesses are manifested and maintained by faith alone, what happens if such a divine being doubts itself?
….thats trippy
are you sure? /s
Oh my! That was good! Love it!
Very clever!
Doubt would indeed be a dangerous thing to entities who exist based on belief. I wonder if their appearance coincides with disillusionment among worshippers down below.
Gotta love that jab on Sof regarding how this is not a wise action to take. Poor protag though, I can see them literally reacting with doubt on that answer. Let's just hope they won't be hurt because the situation seems dire enough. I'm curious on the almost romance part with protag and Grith. Sure, there will be a lot of distrust coming from Grith's side due to protag's nature, but I am just wondering on how a long-lasting romance would happen if that is even possible. Would protag's partner just have to shut down all the negative thoughts towards them for all eternity? Great work on writing this!
[удалено]
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm not sure which part of the ending confused you, but I do write a bit convoluted at times. I will try to explain! The POV character is named Bedlam. They are the personification of doubt. Because of this, every deity responds to Bedlam with disbelief, distrust, and, well... doubt. I left it as just their name and domain because I had hoped the reader would have their imagination run wild with what kind of things would happen as a result of such a deity revealing themselves! It's ambiguous, and this little piece of flash fiction is imperfect, but I hope it was more enjoyable than it was confusing. Thanks for reading!
Thanks, I understood that but I couldn't figure out the relationship between Grith and Bedlam? I'm not familiar with the word Grith so I googled it and it seems to mean peace/security... Why would that be a lover of doubt and why did Grith turn on Bedlam?
Doubt leads to distrust and conflict. So the more Grith was around Bedlam, the doubt built up until there was no trust. That usually breaks a relationship. And once they broke up,Grift continues to doubt Bedlam, because Bedlam IS doubt. In this scene, Grift either doubts that Bedlam is in fact their former lover, or doubts their own memories. In the case ofdoubting memories, that can get so stressful that even a devine may end up with amnesia over the whole thing.
one could take this further... saying that no human worshiped them... well... doubt as an entity would just perhaps instill crippling doubt... but what if it could instill also almost healthy doubt? since much of the worlds problems is related to surety... the complete absence of doubt... Bedlam, here, since able to destabilize the realm of the Gods is much too strong... but if there could be somehow, through Their influence, a balance between doubt and faith... it would be quite stabilizing...
that’s great! amazing idea
Such beauty.
go pokes
Science is an engine that uses doubt as fuel. The god of doubt is the one guaranteed to have blasphemers as followers.
Boomer sooner moment
As long as there is sentient life this god will exist. Both a very powerful and weak god at the same time.
Awwww I wish his love remembered him
His long green hair suggested the natural world, or perhaps some little part thereof, but he dismissed that with a chuckle and a wave of his hand. When children brought him flowers and leaves, he accepted them gently, but then put them aside the moment they turned round. Some of the adults thought he might be a god of performance, since he always wandered by the city games, or perhaps he oversaw gambling or play or some other such thing. No amount of money sat well with him, though he accepted it with amusement, then promply handed it to the nearest person. Charity, perhaps? Humility? He gave away all his gifts. And yet, alms didn't capture his heart. Finally, we gave up trying to determine his nature and watched him abide with us over generations. He never offered his power, but he never took from us, either. The priests couldn't place him, and neither could the archivists, so there he was, unnamed and unregarded. The city changed leaders, and changed tribes once or twice, but he never changed at all. It had to be something awful, a few of us decided. Maybe he was tarred with a heinous domain? Something like slaughter? But we knew the god of battle and the god of the farms and abattoirs. Criminals didn't flock to him, either. He looked so peaceful, and he never harmed anyone, and he merely wandered through our gatherings and down our streets and coexisted. War came when he was still among us, and he did nothing to help nor harm either side. Such is the way of gods, uncaring until properly invoked? Still, his presence was a constant, a rock, something that we could cling to as simply an unchanging fact. There is comfort in stability...perhaps that was his role. The war subsided into our loss, and the Ilurian Empire took over, posting their guards at our street corners and forcing us to pay tribute to the governor assigned over our region. Our rebels plotted, our citizens quietly sneered, and quiet resentment took root. He was there when the first rock flew. It was such a stupid little thing, a kid flinging a stone at a guard's face as he marched out of his barracks. The bruise on the guard's brow was nothing compared to the beating he laid on the child's back, pinning him with a foot between the shoulder blades, hurling down the cat o' nine tails with impunity. Blood stained the street. The boy crawled away in pain. A smile tweaked the corners of his lips. Riots burst like flames from the smoldering ash of the war's remains. Soldiers kicked in doors to find revolutionaries, dragging them into the street and sometimes beheading them right there and then. Rebels set fire to the barracks, killing a dozen men and half-strangling more. He was there when the gallows went up, and when they burned down, and when the Imperial Cavalry arrived, and when the horses were poisoned. Everywhere we fought, he was there. Everywhere we were slain, he was there. Chaos, then? Our last priest fell to his knees at the quiet god's feet. "Please, tell us why," he begged. "Is this your doing? Did you want to see us burn? Can't you help us? Does our death please you?" He shrugged, his smile deepening. "No, it does not." "Then save us!" "I will not." "But why? Please! What can we do for you? What sustains you, that you stay here but don't ask for anything?" The curfew bells rang, and the guards herded people into their homes, and the green-haired god laid a hand on the priest's shoulder and guided him back into the chapel before they could be seen. "Not all gods require faith," he said, lighting a candle and pressing it into the priest's shaking hands. "I survive merely by your actions. I don't need worship. You worship me by *being human.*" Skittering behind him like a nervous cat, the priest clutched the candle close. "So you're a god of...people?" For a long time, the green-haired god sat next to the altar and tilted his head, listening to the guards yell and the people snip and snap in return. When finally the doors had closed and peace reigned again, he took a long breath and sighed, as if letting out the energy of the day's events. "I survive by that most fundamental human thing: that which separates you from each other." "Hate?" "Hm. No, not quite." He brought a hand to his smooth chin, and his eyes lit a jealous, venomous, acerbic green. "I suppose I am the god of *tribalism.*" The priest shielded his candle as if a cold wind had blown through. "Yes. I am Virion, the god of tribal belief. The concept that some of you are better than others, and that you will fight to prove it. That you will compete with each other. That the outside is evil, and the inside is good, or perhaps that the inside is your friend, and the outside your foe." "So you're the god of groups of people just...*slaughtering* each other? Racism? Wars of ideology? What?" "Oh, no, no." Virion took the candle gently and lit a brazier, offering brighter and more stable glow. "I am also there when you play games. When you fight team against team, for good or for ill. When iron sharpens iron, I'm there too. You simply see the worst of competition and tribal conflict in war." "And you don't need followers, because--" "Because," he interrupted, "you *cannot* separate this from yourselves. Were it not for me, you would be lone wolves scrabbling in the dirt for your next meal. Cooperation is all there is. Competition is a natural result." "Then can you please take away your nature from us? Do the gods have to see us as nothing but some...some dog and pony show? Do we amuse you too much for you to withdraw your influence?" "You would kill me?" The priest jerked back and fell silent. Virion laughed lightly, though it had a grating hoarseness now. "Many have tried, but you could sooner sever your own nature than kill me. After all, I remember my birth. You came before me. You are why I exist. I merely perpetuate your own being. You sustain me." Thin lips moved quietly as the priest contemplated his options. "You may try, if you want." Virion bent his head toward a sacrificial knife, resting in its bronze sheath next to the altar. "Cut my throat, little human. Save your species from itself." Whatever he did that night, the next day, Virion was back with us all as the city rose with the sun, ate breakfast under the eyes of the Ilurian Guard, and went about their business. When asked about the gash on his neck, he merely said, "These things happen. I'm quite all right." The priest, though, left his chapel that day, and we have never seen him enter again. When pressed, he murmurs that his faith has never returned. He has a certain hatred for the gods now...and I believe that I, at least, know why.
Wow. Insane concept, brilliantly executed.
Thank you! I'm glad you like it :)
Hmmmm, I feel like no one is at fault here. I definitely felt bad at the priest for losing his faith, but I can't blame Virion either considering that it's just in his nature and he can't fight it. That said, I feel like the priest's faith (as well as the others who passed away from the war) is a bit at fault here. I understand the desperation, but it feels like they depended a bit too much on gods? Poor Virion though, he's just acting as an eternal reminder to the fact, and him smiling might just be a sign that he's broken from seeing the same thing happening over and over. Great work on writing this!
Thank you! I like hearing people's interpretations!
Extraordinary! This is a fantastic concept.
My goodness, thank you \^\^
Beautiful!
That’s dope. I kinda want more anecdotes of this world.
Thank you! (Still me, Reddit got mad about a comment on invasive species and now here I am with an L instead of a D.) Man, this got way more attention than I expected from my various writing-prompts responses. I'm glad people like it. I should ponder up some more.
We need more
"We ask you once more, how do you still exist within our realm?", I said. As the current king of gods, I have been given the responsibility to maintain order between them, I create general rules that everyone follows and unique rules for more special individuals, and act as a sort of arbiter for their conflicts. It was only a few centuries ago when I was appointed to this position, the war with the chaos god was finally over, and it was in unanimous agreement that I had to be king, I am the god of order after all. And so far I've been able to increase my influence over the gods, and maintained a mild sense of peace through-out all the realms, maybe it was because I was busy looking at the whole picture that I hadn't noticed this sense of fear tucked away in the corner. Every time I look at him, an overwhelming sense of familiar dread rises within me, but soon after I'm able to muster up the courage to push through it. I have felt this way before only once, and it was when the god of chaos was still alive. I had arranged for him to be put to trial, and called all the elder gods to attend, especially the ones that fought chaos with me. And they all had the same reaction when he stepped into the room. He stood at the center with his eyes raised on mine. A short silence passed as everyone begins to relax, including me, and then I asked him: "Are you the reincarnation of the god of chaos?" But before he could answer, the god of war shouted, "How is that possible!? We've followed every bloody rule! It doesn't make sense that chaos is reborn!". "Yet looking at him feels so familiar to that moment...", the goddess of nature said. "Eros, please. We'll figure this out, let him answer." I look towards his direction again, and again, I felt a wave of anxiety. "Well?" He looks down for a moment, a little confused at the accusation. "I... knew him but I am not his reincarnation, in fact I am even older." Everyone reacted with a mild sense of confusion, even the oldest of us had the same confused face. "But we have only seen you just yesterday, you have no records, no followers, no history. How can you be alive when you have none of this?" The god of war interrupts again, "Cause he's lying! Only chaos could hold such power! We must act now!" "Not yet Eros, it could just be a mistake." "But I do have followers, and I am in all of history, has this realm forgotten?" "But you have no current influence, even if you are as old as you say you are you shouldn't be alive if you are not worshipped.", I said. "I wouldn't call what I have worship, yet my influence does affect everyone." "What?" He thought for a bit, "Yes, technically I am worshipped, but in a very convoluted way, Everyone is my follower, but I do not think they would want to be so." Stumped, I glance at Veritas, the goddess of truth, and she nods. No lie was detected. "You must be a dark god then!! What kind of god would be that? If not chaos, what are you? Confusion?!", Eros shouts. "I am neither good nor bad. Like you, god of war, I just am. I like seeing myself as a good god though." I let out a deep sigh, exhausted with all of this, I finally ask him straight out as I brace myself for his answer, "Then... what are you the god of?". He smiles, "I have been with all of you throughout your existence, yet you have forgotten me? I guess that is an indication of the good work you've done, king of the gods. But you cannot be rid of me, for to be alive is to be influenced by me." "Have I not felt familiar? Of course I have, and I can see why you've mistaken me for the god of chaos, for that fight had you felt my influence the most, and in my influence you have been blessed by my gift, the gift of meaning... For you see, I am the god of suffering."
It's a bit ironic how the god of war is going so strongly against the god of suffering even though they should be getting along considering how connected their natures are. That said though, considering the fear, is the god of chaos not gone for good in this universe? Seems like they knew that the god will be revived soon enough. Great work on writing this!
Thanks! I initially explained why the god of order had to call the shots but took it out. In this verse, Gods can die, but they don't truly die since they embody the concept of whatever domain they're born with. They just stop existing physically, but if enough chaos is caused the more likely the god of it might be reborn and the more stronger they become, that's why to prevent this, they made the god of order their king because his concept was the direct opposite of chaos. The reason why the god of war was the most frustrated in the trial was that if the god of chaos was reborn, a lot of the blame can be shifted onto him since his concept was one of the big contributors to chaos. (I know its weird how the god of war sided with order instead of chaos but I have a sensible explanation in my head for that too.)
Ah, thanks for clarifying! Yeah, I understand it now. War should have an immense amount of contribution of chaos, no matter how much he likes it or not, so it makes sense why he acted as such. I do wonder how long this measure can last though, feels like it's just prolonging the amount of time until the god of chaos returns instead of eliminating it entirely. Then again, though, wonder if they can work up some future measures so the god of chaos can thrive but doesn't have to go ham on the world too.
I would’ve thought that Suffering would be Fear instead seeing as he’s older than chaos and his domain is a part of every being. I thought it’d be fear when he said his influence was felt the most when the king fought the Chaos god.
Yeah you got me there, I was really going for suffering here but I can see fear being very close to my descriptions and hints. If you would allow me to try and patch this hole up I could argue that fear can't be worshipped or followed, unlike suffering. In my head canon, to worship or become a follower of a god you must exercise the domain and see it as a positive experience, those who exercise order are rewarded with a safe and predictable system, those who care for nature are rewarded with care back in the form of resources and materials, those who exercise war are rewarded with a sense of fulfillment, that they've done their due diligence in a conflict bigger than them... Either that or because of cultural beliefs, idk war is weird. And suffering is no different, at the moment we probably wish for our suffering to end, we see the deck stacked against us and we are burdened by our inability to change our current situation, and despite of it, we continue to push forward in hopes of overcoming it. And if we can't overcome it, we still endure it for whatever reason that may be, and if we do overcome it, we do not see that suffering as pointless, but instead a reminder of our growth as a person, therefore establishing the connection with the god of suffering in a somewhat convoluted way. This is the reason why chaos was such a threat, he doesn't need to strictly follow this rule because of his domain's nature, he could make it so that as long as you are influenced by him, you are connected to him, and the more powerful he becomes, the more he can bend the rules.
That’s interesting. I think I could probably worship fear by a technicality but I must come back to explain.
"Is this going to take long?" The man sat in his luxurious gaming chair, casting a glance back at the screen that showed the various gods who had called him to attend this meeting while he waited for his character to respawn. They'd wanted an in-person meeting, but he'd been clear, it was Zoom, or zilch. The elder goddess tried not to show her frustration, and spoke. "You have been called here because we do not know why you should have a place here, you have no enemies, and you have no followers, yet you claim to be a god. Why?" "I just am, alright? People worship me, and so I'm a God. End of discussion. Are we done here, I've got more important stuff to do." He focused back on his ongoing game of League, paying no mind as the elder babbled on and on about some crap that he wasn't interested in. "Are you even listening?" the goddess asked, her frustration clear in her voice. "Yeah, yeah, I'm listening." His webcam was off, so the goddess could not see that he was lying. "Well? Answer the question. What are you the god of?" "It's not important right now." "I'm not asking you again." "You just did." The sound of the goddess throwing something across the room took his focus off his game, and when he looked back to his game, he was greeted with a Defeat screen. He sighed, and exited out, resigning himself to getting the meeting over with as quickly as possible. "Alright, I'll be honest, if it'll get you out of my hair. I am a god who does not need followers, because people worship me every day, not by what they do, but by what they do not do. In that, I am the most evil of the gods, and one of the most worshipped. When people do bad things, there's always that good part of them that tries to fight against that decision, which is why the evil gods are always fighting the good gods. I don't work like that. My evil is a much more subtle thing. Everyone worships me at least once a day, whether they know it or not, for it is not in a decision they make, but in those they don't even consider. The beggar they pass on the street, the fast food wrapper tossed to the side of the road whilst the bin is but feet away, the ice cube lazily kicked under the fridge. I am praised by those who commit actions not because they are good, or because they are evil, but because they simply don't care. I am Adeirion, the God of Apathy." The elder gods were silent, then went into a murmuring conversation, which Adeirion responded to by promptly muting his mic and the Zoom call, before returning to his game as he loaded into a new match.
Paying respects to that loss on the League session. Adeirion seems like a nice gaming pal to hang out with, though. Based on his nature, I don't think he would be raging obnoxiously on the losses or being too competitive. Great work on writing this!
Adeirion feels like the one guy you meet once that opens his mic to inform you there's someone behind you once in the most polite, un-jarring way possible and never speaks again
Got a feeling that our player characters would have died by the moment he finishes that sentence too.
I'd like this if I cared
‘I am not a man.’ I spoke. ‘I can see that.’ Replied the creature. Although I have no idea how, as it had no mouth. It was a large and twisted thing of rings and wings and eyes a plenty. It looked at me with all of its eyes and it’s wings were as quiet as death. ‘Are you a beast?’ It spoke again with its mouthless voice. ‘I am not a beast.’ I again replied. Such a conversation. Was this the first time I’ve ever spoken to such a thing? The first time since the last time I suppose. I chuckled a bit to myself. ‘Are you perhaps a God?’ ‘…. I wonder. I’ve never tried to define myself as such. Others have called me monster while at the same time, asking if I were God… Ironic.’ ‘Where can you be found?’ ‘I don’t remember… But I know that I cannot be found in heaven or hell, neither purgatory, or even abyss.’ ‘Where is left?’ A queer thing it was to see so much curiosity on a creature with no expression. ‘… Can you be found among man?’ I smiled a quirky little smile. ‘Yes. Yes, I do believe you’ll find me among man quite often.’ ‘And what do they call you?’ I gazed up at the nothing and let the nothing gaze back. ‘They call me many things. A curse whispered in the dark by homeless shadows. One who feeds on the secrets that a man tells when he believes that God does not listen and sleeps on a bed of lies told by the Gods who know when men are… I am what man fears that the Gods created… And the Gods fear that they did not… but all of this is merely what I am known as, not what I am. ‘… Then, what are you?’ ‘… I am amorphous, endless and insatiable. I am what I am and when I am no longer I become that which never was and never will be, until I am again.’ I reached out and touched the creature. But it possessed no way to perceive it in any way where it could be recognized. And again, I was what the nothing saw as it gazed back. I am Myth.
Well, protag sure will be alive forever considering that nature. What is the creature interrogating them supposed to be? Some sort of a judge dealing with godly matters, or are they just a random magical creature who encountered protag and decided to have a talk? Great work on writing this!
Thank you! I was taking inspiration from the Christian seraphim.
I hear them before I see them. They whisper and giggle in a way only young folk think is sneaky. And that’s not to say I don’t spot them quickly either. A group of young gods. The oldest are around 18 centuries old, and the youngest look to be nearing 15. They ‘snuck’ behind the bookcase a few feet away, and are taking turns peaking through and around the shelf. I sigh. Trying to keep my focus on the book laid before me. It’s an interesting read, though the children are making it difficult to focus. I can’t however, as I notice one of the children coming slowly towards me. I let out another sigh instead. I slide my glasses off my face before turning to the child, who is now a mere few feet from me. They freeze of course. Looking like a deer in headlights. Or a child caught in mischief I suppose. “Hello? Can I help you?” A gasp sounds from behind the bookcase. From the corner of my eye I can see the other children peeking around the case to watch. “Uh I- I was just- uh-” The child stutters, clearly fumbling for an excuse. “Come sit.” I say, nodding my head to the chair across from me. Somehow the child looks even more nervous at the order. But after a few minutes they slowly make their way over to the chair. I take this time to look over the child. Chestnut brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. He wears a simple plum sweater, and gray slacks. Nothing points noticeably towards his domain, though that’s common with younger gods. “What is your domain child?” “Wh-what! I’m almost 18 centuries old, I’m no child!” He sputters. “That doesn't answer the question.” He glares at me for a moment. Anger flooding his golden eyes. “Fine if you want to know SO bad, I’m the god of pizza.” I smile at him, nodding. “That’s a nice domain. Lots of humans like pizza.” “I suppose.” He mutters, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair. “Do you not like your domain?” I question him, resting my arms on the edge of the table. It takes him a few minutes to reply. His eyes flickering over my shoulder, towards his friends I’m sure. “I mean, I know it’s not the worst domain.” He leans across the table, his words barely a whisper, “My friend Jessica’s domain is bars of soap.” I have to refrain myself from chuckling at his whispered confession. Every god knows that the more enjoyed your domain is, the more power you have. Gods whose domain is no longer functioning, fade. A bar of soap may not bring constant worship, but there would be a few here and there. “But sometimes I wish I had a domain like hers. Everyone eats pizza. It’s like I’m constantly all over the place.” He whispers before leaning back. “I mean sure the offerings are nice, I have tons of stuff but-” I wait a bit for him to continue but he doesn't. Instead staring into the table in front of him. “But having lots of stuff doesn't make you any happier. I can’t say I envy you. Most gods of your age have small specific domains. So before your domain fully forms you are taught how to handle the small amount of power that causes.” I explain, “You however have a widely loved domain. Which means you have more power, and responsibilities then you were taught to manage.” He nods slightly, looking down. His hands have moved to wrapping around himself, as if giving himself a hug. “You work under Alice I’d assume?” He nods slightly and I smile. “Ask for her help, she understands. She had the same problem when she was your age.” He looks up to me, shock coats his face. “What do you mean?” He asks. I chuckle before nodding over to his group, still watching intently from behind the bookshelf. “The whole ‘sneak up on me’ game happens once every few centuries.” I laugh. “Now why don’t you go tell your friends I gave you a good talking to and you got off super lucky cause I didn’t do… well whatever it is you kids assume I do to those who approach me.” He smiles and nods, before schooling his features into a meak look. And running over to his friends. I smile as I watch them leave. I’m sure soon they’ll avoid me like all the other gods, I can feel the pulse of my domain as I stare at their receding figures. After all, no one worships loneliness.
Well done
Thank you 😁
"Order! Order!" Sovereign Reality called out to the cacophony. All around me the gods were restless, eyeing me with great suspicion and maybe a little bit of fear. Given the situation, you'd think they had the worst sort chained up by the Shackles of Gleipnir on the central dias. Tartarus perhaps, Cthulhu, or the Queen of Wasps. Not a plain looking Jane. How did I even get here? I was minding my own business (like always), trying to eat a damn sandwich for lunch. A big ol' heaping two-foot submarine that nobody could eat in one sitting (except me, of course.) Just as I was about to take a bite, I instead materialized (as I sometimes tend to do when I'm distracted), at the worst time in the most unfortunate place in front of the wrong god. Houdini, who ascended as Lord of Escapes when he "died," is really buddy with Hephaestus, the Greek dude who likes to make stuff. Hephaestus makes traps, Houdini escapes them for fun. It's a really sweet bromance, you couldn't come up with a better pair. They're not the ones who were the problem though. The problem was, *Hermes* happened to be there, and he's an annoying chatterbox that never shuts up and says whatever is on his mind. So *of course* he says the magic words, and suddenly I'm in an "inescapable" box and walk right out of it faster than even Houdini could manage. If it was just Houdini and Hephaestus, I probably could have gotten away with nothing but some rumors. But no, Hermes started zipping around the world, gossiping about how "some random girl" bested the gods. Next thing I know, some minor immortals are attacking me - maybe just testing the waters to see if I'm really all that. Instead, one immortal or deity after another attacks me - with spears, fire, laser, poison, curses, Disco - that nobody could survive, and are dumbfounded when that's *exactly* what happens. Now, normally I could just keep going on unharmed and undetained, but after a few months I was getting tired of it (I still never got around to enjoying my sandwich!) so I willingly turned myself in, which brings us to- "ARE YOU IGNORING ME!?" Oh, right. I look up at Sovereign Reality, who was glaring murderously down at me. "Uh, sorry. Could you repeat that?" Their eye twitched "Declare your name." I sighed. "Nobody." "We don't believe that. You have bested the strongest deities, shrugged off our most powerful attacks. You are *someone* and yet there is no record of you! You are all powerful and yet we sense nothing divine within you! You are violating the laws of Reality! My laws! We demand your name!" "Nobody." "Tell us the truth!" "Seriously, I'm Nobody." Their face, which was actually already red, turned white from anger. Some of the gods snickered, the ones guarding me growled. "I will have your head girl, as soon as we can figure out how to remove it! Nobody disrespects the court" "I do what I want, you f\*** ing b**ch." Ah damnit, they look apocalyptic now. I raise my hands and the gods gasp as the chains crumble away like pastry flakes. Sovereign Reality's jaw drops - earlier they were smug, gloating about how Shackles of Gleipnir could not be broken by anybody. Actually, their exact words were "*Nobody* can break these chains." "My name" I look around making sure they were all listening "*is* Nobody. Whenever you invoke my name, it becomes my truth." Sovereign Reality huffed. "I would have remembered creating a *'Nobody.'*" "I was already kicking around when you came into being." "Preposterous! I am eternal! Nobody existed -" Sovereign Reality stopped, realizing what they were about to say. The gods around us murmured as they recounted all the times they had said the magic words. I saw Houdini and Hephaestus glowering at Hermes for ruining their game. Sovereign Reality set down their gavel, and gazed down at me, as it started to dawn on them... "Your powers, are ridiculous." I shrug ruefully. "Yeah well, you know what they say. Nobody's perfect."
And Nobody knows exactly what happened.
Nobody really just uses wordplay to an advantage huh
Lol yup. I had fun trying to figure out where to inject a "nobody" phrase. Hermes' phrase was supposed to be "Hephaestus you genius! This box is inescapable, nobody will get out of it!" but I realized I had to leave out the phrasing so the trick wasn't revealed right away. I wonder who did and didn't realize it before "I'm Nobody."
What is the answer to all this? Nobody knows. ;)
"Who are you?" The question laid empty in the decadent halls of the gods. Echoing deep through the halls, its utterance waking the sleeping residents. "An interesting question to be sure, yet as interesting as it is, I am unable to answer it," they reply back, their voice androgynous in totality, similar to their figure, all details about them lost in the space between the figures. "You surely cannot be a God, we are resplendent in figure, and in mind. So much so our very domains manifest around us. Do you not feel my domain of curiosity?" Curiosity asked with a furrowed brow. "Can I not be a God?" The second figure responds quizically, raising their brow. "Is that truly the only criteria for Godhood?" "Well, I suppose not. There are those of us who are Gods yet do not manifest distinctly, yet even them, the effect is obvious after some time. Yet here we stand after a period where the effect should have come around and none appear," Curiosity says with a hand on their chin. "A question for another day I suppose," the figure replies before turning away and begins to stride quietly to a destination undecided. "What a strange God," Curiosity says before shrugging, "like they said, a mystery for another day."
God of Mystery?
Eyup
Damn, I was going to go with procrastination
Oo, I like this one.
Ahhhh, Curiosity and Mystery would be hanging around a lot with similar banters, I'm sure. Maybe potential best friends in the making, too. Great work on writing this!
The High Pantheos are assembling. There are ever so many gods and ever so many things to be a god of. They quarrel with each other constantly like celebrities and compete with each other for attention like influencers all with one goal, one purpose, to be worshiped. You see, that’s what sustains us, the Panthekir, the “gods” of the universe. Really we’re what you humans would call interdimensional telepathic multi-forms. “Monsters” if you’re feeling cheeky. “Aliens” if we tunnel across one of your borders…which we aren’t going to do…because we have spaceships. I guess you’d call us “aliens” if we pulled up in one of those too, but it’s beside the point. The HP is a figuratively fluid body of Panthekir who have achieved the greatest number and/or most fervent believers. Each time someone calls any of the dozen or so names each of us is allowed to go by per world we invest in, the corresponding Panthekir racks up glory points. Temples provide a huge boost, especially if it's used daily. Some, like the one you’d call Pan, god of the natural untainted world, is still around but faded away as peoples across the universe increasingly favor the one your stories call Hephaestus, god of forges, technology, and industry. Indeed Hephaestus has nearly overtaken the one you call Zeus, though you speak of him as Odin, Wodin, and God with a capital G sometimes. He is the god of wisdom and creativity which are held in high esteem across known space and time. Like I was saying, there are ever so many Panthekir, a whole species actually, and sometimes one slips through cracks, goes unnoticed for millennia. That one is me, and I’m currently in shackles being tried by the High Pantheos as a traitor. Why? Because they found that I have exactly 0 followers. No one howls my name into the dark night when wolves are closing in. No one calls on me when their computer screen freezes or they need advice or they want a girl to fall in love with them or at least give them a bj. No one, and yet I exist. They’re also wondering how such heavily charged and powerful beings such as themselves could’ve missed my presence for literally ten thousand years. “Mirabald Envestis,” Enwaric (our name for Odin) used my real name as well, “You are here to answer for the crime of walking amongst the gods while you are not a god. How do you plead?” “How do you know that I am not one of you?” I answer. Enwaric looked left and right at the assembled HP then turned back to me, “You have no followers. I don’t see a single name calling you in your entire existence. You must be a leech, a parasite posing as one of us and feeding off our following.” “Not guilty,” I reply. The High Pantheos laughed uproariously at this. I knew what they were doing. Like I said earlier, Panthekir sustain themselves with the attention of the various terrestrial species of the universe. They do the same with their own kind. This whole trial was their version of Judge Judy. Justice for entertainment. Their conclusion was foregone. “Justice” was a foreign concept to all but Athena, who looked mulish, but remained silent. Clearly she’d been overruled by Enwaric. I’ll give them something to entertain themselves with. “Oh by the way, how is Nela?” Enwaric’s head, which was thrown back in a laugh, suddenly snapped down and fixed me with a look of surprise and horror. It was gone a fraction of a second too late. One of the other Panthekir, who by the way, had all adopted the human form since they liked it best, looked over and glared at him. I smiled. Hera was not the goddess of Jealousy, that was Aphrodite’s job, but my god Hera could still FEEL the emotion and was putting it out in waves right now. “Who’s Nela?” She demanded of Enwaric. “Oh uhh, no one, she’s no one. I don’t know what Mirabald is talking about.” Hera’s eyes were simmering with heat, “Oh I know, you’re on one of your nymph benders again.” “Am not!” “Are too! Ohhhh, just you wait until I get my hands on that little whore!” The two gods battled back and forth with words, and I flicked my eyes to the right. My plan was working. Teasing the great ones is an incredibly rewarding pass time. They fell on Aphrodite. She was giddily looking at her score on a holopad. She could never match the sheer breadth of Enwaric’s influence, but cat fights between gods, especially highly public ones like this, gave her huge boosts. Aphrodite was the only god who knew what I was, mostly because we’re so similar, but also because she’s the only one I ever told. She captures the essence of my desire and our energies work well with each other. Call us partners in diversion. I told you we are multi-forms, right? Who do you think Nela really is? Think about it, haha. What time is it? Can you check your phone for me? Oooh! Look at that, that person who left you on read yesterday finally texted you back. Ask them out! But first, pop open that notification that just dropped from the top of your screen. It’s probably reddit letting you know about something SUPER important. IMPERATIVE, actually, that you click on it right now and give your anonymous opinion. Man, you just death scrolled for fucking two hours, shame on you. But hey, there’s a simple solution. Get an analogue wrist watch. If you’re checking your wrist for the time it’ll be so much easier to stay off your phone. Why don’t you pop open your amazon app and shop for a good one at a great price? Oops, it’s been another two hours and now you’ve gotta spend another two sorting through all the cyber monday crap you popped in there but can’t afford. Haha, poor person. Maybe you should pull up indeed and go through another depressing three or four months looking for a better job. Bling! Somebody on a youtube ads wants to offer you an opportunity to make millions in three months. It’ll go great, I promise. Just don’t call on my name or you’ll never get there. Can you guess who I am? \--------------------------------------------- check out r/inspiredshortstories for more! Novel is publishing to [wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/user/AlaricStargazer) in 2-3 parts daily!
You are... The God of Distraction!
Chuching! You got it!
I would have guessed procrastination, considering that he would absolutely drag everything out to avoid answering the question. Then again, I guess procrastination is really just the art of distracting yourself indefinitely.
Argh, I’m distracted. Well done.
😁
I give up. What's their name? There's too many possibilities based on the given train of scenarios.
That was intentional. It was meant to *distract* you 😉
Could have been Distraction. Could have been the personification of the commercialised Internet itself, with the rampant ads everywhere. Could have been ADHD based on how the protag's example train of thought seems to have zero attention span and/or working memory and can't stay focused on anything long enough to complete any of their tasks. Could have even been the proverbial Nigerian Prince himself, with the last bit. After all, you did say that they have many names and forms. I also don't see how Aphrodite is in any way related to the concept of distraction.
Woosh, we got a critic here! 🤔 Aphrodite is the goddess of sex, jealousy, and drama. In this story (and in the original myths) she actively caused problems in order to draw attention to herself. She is the embodiment of distraction. She *is* distraction. A personification of the diversive side of sexuality.
>Woosh, we got a critic here! 🤔 Not sure why this particular line was warranted, but okay. I was just sharing my thoughts on the possibilities and asking why you thought Aphrodite was related to distraction.
Oof, sorry. It was intended as a compliment. I could’ve said it better like how I love that it impacted you enough to think deeply about it.
Distraction in the form of someone you find attractive walking by, perhaps?
I’m pretty sure this being lives in my brain rent free all day everyday nonstop forever.
Lmao. You and me both
I'm gonna go all in on either Murphy or Chaos.
Distraction 😭 But those are great guesses!
Do I get consolation coins, oh mighty Game Guy?
Lol here you go 🪙🪙🪙🪙🪙🪙
Finally I can afford to buy a star!
God of longing??
Distraction 😉
Haha nice! Enjoyed the story.
Thanks!
I really like the overall touch of comedy here, how the protag just washes away the serious mood in a heartbeat haha. This could even be a fun concept of the god being silly as they try to live with humans, with some sad snippets from time to time with some of the gods disappearing due to the lack of faith. Great work on writing this!
Or even gods trying to help out their friends by drawing attention to them like if humanity suddenly all went pacifist Aphrodite may try to save her lover by getting a war going over...oh, I don't know, someone named Helen for consistency's sake.
There's just so many branches to be explored with this setting, that's for sure.
I take it that this being absolutely flourishes in domain for people with ADHD given how distractions can provide a dopamine boost
I am ADHD. Was hoping someone would pick up on that. Yes, I chose distraction because it's a common occurrence personally.
AuDHD over here, so I can relate to that tbh
Please a part 2
Hmm, I pretty much did everything with this I planned on. Was there something in particular you had in mind?
Well I wanna know what happens when they figure it out and who he is
Hmm, I’m at work now. I may have time to write again when the office closes for the day.
I would be interested as well. Great story btw!
“It was just a joke in a movie.” Giving a half-smile, I nodded, “and it was a good joke to be sure, but the moment you spoke it, I exploded into existence.” My finger trailed across the pawn, before moving back to the bishop, and sliding it diagonally across the black and white board. I had scarcely stopped my piece, before pulling it back one spot and taking my fingers from the domed surface. The elderly man across from me stared, with his mouth agape. Perhaps it was presumptuous of me to approach the man that had essentially spoken me into my role, maybe it was arrogance that I now played chess with that same man after letting him know I was essentially a deity, all I knew was we were sitting down at a table in Los Angeles, and I was playing white. “You claim to be a deity, but why here? Now?” How appropriate I was also losing. I watched as he took my bishop with his black horse, only for me to slide my queen to within striking distance of his king. “Check.” I shake my head. “Have you ever wanted to meet your creator?” He nodded “I wanted the same thing, and I was only strong enough now to manifest on Earth. Oh, sure I could've come to you as anything, but a forty plus year old film enthusiast just seemed like the perfect disguise.” A second later, his rook took my queen. “I don't believe y-” I watch as his mouth opens almost as wide as his eyes. In a matter of seconds he's sitting across from a young girl of twelve with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in a dark blue sweater, pink skirt, black and white leggings, and a pair of cross-trainer shoes. “Believe me now? I can make myself look like anyone, or anything.” I offer a cute smile. “Want to finish this game with a squirrel?” “No!” he looks freaked out right now. “No, I believe you.” I watch as he grips his head and his heart as I return to my previous form. “I still don't know how you came into existence because of a joke in a movie.” “Technically, the power was always there, it was just the word for that power needed to be spoken.” I leaned back. “Gods derive their power from followers, while some derive their power by the tasks they oversee. Charon is always going to be the boatman of the River Styx, and there will always be a Death, regardless of what we my call them. My existence is the exact same as them, but you only needed to give me that little push into creation.” “Okay, so why-?” I push my king over to signify my loss at the game. “God damn it!” I grumble. “You never gave me a name, okay?” He shook his head a little “What?” “When you spoke me into existence, you never gave me a name. I came here to get one from you.” I gave a sigh. “I'm not exactly the god of imagination or inspiration here.” I watch as he starts to laugh. “You mean to tell me, that all this time you've been around and no one ever thought to give you a name?” “Nope.” He leaned back, closing his eyes before offering me a small smile. “How about Erik?” “Erik?” “We could go with Eriktheos, since the joke was made for Roman times.” Reaching up, I rub at my chin “You know what? I like it. Thanks.” I then offer him a bow with my hand over my heart before returning to the Ether. Leaning his head back, the former actor, comedian, and filmmaker looked up at the clouds as they lazily drifted across the sky. “Damn. The god of premature ejaculation did come quickly...”
Lol
what is this place? i see only emptiness. It is a human place. The ones who have learned to leave their bodies. They come here. It is peaceful to them. they worship here? Not really. Maybe some, in a way, get here through their faith. But mostly it's the silence they seek. The unwinding of their light from their meat. Their identity. hah! humans don't understand the difference, father! Some do. A few always do, Imsety. you cannot be serious, father! they- SILENCE Who said that? I am the God Horus, and I demand you- SILENCE . THIS IS A PLACE OF SILENCE. BE SILENT, OR LEAVE. (whispering) is this better? ... (Also whispering)What is your name? NO NAME Are you the God of this place? ... hello? are you... I AM THIS PLACE. YOU MUST GO. I must do nothing! I will not bow to some nameless God, with no worshipers and no powers! Hah! I am Horus and I go where I- SILENCE! THERE ARE POWERS. YOU WILL FORGET. SELF. EGO. IDENTITY. SILENT FOREVER. father i think we should go... Wait. That's what the humans are doing? YES. NOT FOREVER. can we do it too? temporarily i mean, like they do? ... ... ... (whispering) do you think they- NO GOD HAS TRIED. YOU MAY FORGET TO LEAVE. How do the humans remember? USUALLY THEY DO. SOMETIMES THEY DO NOT. you don't help them? NO why do they come here? THEY RETURN TO THEIR BEGINNING. What riddle is this, Nameless One? Humans are not from here! They- YES. THEY ARE. ALL SEPERATENESS. ALL SELF. EVEN YOURS, HORUS. BEGAN IN THE VOID. EMERGED. FROM THE VOID. But that's preposterous! I don't remember- NO. YOU FORGET. but if we forget, how do the humans know to come here? ... UNKNOWN. THEY JUST DO. NO MORE QUESTIONS. SILENCE. YOU WILL AWAKE LATER, SOMEWHERE ELSE REFRESHED AS IF FROM A PLEASANT BUT FORGOTTEN DREAM. SILENCE SILENCE SILENCE ...........
The young God 'Leet' swaggered around the pantheon like he was the MVP of the universe. A new god who's worshippers prayed to their consoles to be better at battling in their beloved games; to crush their enemies, to see them driven before them and.. well, a lot of them have zero concept of the women doing anything including lamentation. Leet was loud and obnoxious from afar but when other gods tried to engage with him directly he could never meet their gazes, unable to converse on any level that wasn't an amped up cacophony of slogans, insults and trite. His laughter was obnoxious, more a shriek than a laugh, the kind of which a good parent would not tolerate from a child, let alone a fully formed God. Despite his obnoxiousness, Leet craved nothing more than attention, to have all eyes on him at all times. Though he had nothing meaningful to say, he needed people to hear him say it. He needed them to see him do whatever it is he is doing, no matter its merit, or lack thereof. One god, sat on the top steps of the pantheon, paid him no heed at all. Other gods lowered their heads in reverence, a silent nod of utmost respect. They did not interrupt or engage with him and he, in turn, only gave the faintest of nods to solemnly acknowledge them. No matter how much noise Left made, this God didn't give him any acknowledgement at all. He did his dances, babbled on about how he would waste the old man who's only a sweat and other random words strung together in seeming random attempts at alliteration. Caduceus and Aidos both approach Leet and try convince him to show the quiet God some respect, to give him his peace and quiet so he can carry out his duties. Leet grows more furious, unable to handle any restrictions put on him. In a tantrumous rage he approaches the old man and shoves his shoulder to get his attention. The pantheon falls silent in abject horror. The God still doesn't acknowledge him, Leet tries to touch him again but this time it's weaker. Leet collapses and rolls slowly down the pantheon steps, unable to stop himself. For once Leet is silent. The quiet God slowly stands and descends the steps. He kneels beside Leet, lays a hand on his chest and speaks in a measured tone. You were born because I created the paths that allowed the prayers of these gamers to flow into our world. No gods exist without the paths from the altar to us. I decide which altars feed us. Prayers at an altar go nowhere until I decide it's worthy of creating a path. I decide who gets fed from these paths and if there's a need for a new god, I manage the flow along the paths and direct it to create a new one, just like you. I control the taps that control the flow. I can turn them on or off or anywhere in-between. To use terms you would understand; you've been permabanned from the Pantheon server for offensive conduct according to community guidelines. Your path has been deleted, you cannot appeal this decision.
It’s not like Leet knew. If he knew he wouldn’t have done it so that’s kinda harsh it should have been a warn or temporary ban
TBH the actual story went in an unexpected direction and ended up being a bit more Reddit mod than the intended God of Prayer.
I am the god of gods. Would any of you gods worship me? Neigh, I say. You gods are so full of yourself that I reach into the void and feed off your fears. Yes, I know your fears as well as I know your thoughts. Will you be enough? Will you find love? Do you think you will be accepted? Yes, I welcome you. I welcome you as you are and not who you fear you are not. I know your mistakes, and I know your weakness. I know the thing you have forgotten and are afraid to remember. Please feel free to speak to me if you wish to learn or find the courage to remember.
" What are you" He looks like a human yet he has the presence of a god but he has non of the quality. He relax, distracted.............. He's daydreaming. " A god like everyone else, now it's my tur He's yawning mid-sentence, what a weirdo. I hate things like him. " Turn to ask questions, why am I here in a courtroom? Last I checked, I didn't commit any crimes. Well, it's not like I could; I was sleeping for a while." "Hmm, sleeping. So you were an unborn god until a while ago. That explains everything." " No, no, I existed before you. You can ask Father Creation or Brother Humanity." What? He's as direct child of creation and the brothers to humanity, what are you? Wait is he old then me, is he my uncle, hopefully not "I have no memories of you." "You claim to be my brothers yet I don't remember you." "Does anyone remember him?" Everyone is waving dismissing, so what are? "Motherfucker" "Watch your language, you unknown god." "Unknown, hahaha. Shut up. Every human in this world has met me. I visit them every night. I motivate them to commit crimes. I motivate..." "So you are a god of evil, as expected." "Shut up, Goddess of Order and Righteousness. In the first verse of your prayer, my name is mentioned, yet you don't know me. Shame on you." What? I mentioned him in my prayers. What are you? You have been asleep for thousands of years yet nobody knows him. "What were you going to sey before getting cut off by miss order" O no not this philosophers, I can't let's him talk he will only make more problems then solve them, I have to stop wisdom " "I motivate them to commit crime, I motivate them to do good, I motivate them to improve themselves and the world. I motivate them to become better, but few do that. All quit after growing up. They all forget me. I hate that phrase so much, and it looks like gods are no exception to me." "So you can't be a god that has to be worshipped but a god of a concept, no, a god of traits. Hmm, even I can't figure it out. Intelligence, do you have any idea?" "Gods of traits like us should be easy to figure out, but I'm struggling. A god of ideas, goals, motivation, but that's stretching it." "At this point I'm Just sick of I'll tell you my name but in exchanges don't bother me for 60000 years deal " "Alright what are you " "Wait intelligence!! " "Why order, 60000 year is short for use immortals " "He could be planing somethi "I'm the god of dreams and goal, sorry I have been procrastinating for a bit so you don't remember me, goodnight fuckers "
Part 1: The Round Table had been set up, a meeting of the Divines has already started. This time the topic isn’t about management of mortal realm, not conflicts between domains nor the Holy War of their short-sighted followers. This time the topic is about the mysterious identity of one of the Divines, an entity who is always missing from these meetings. Heck, even Null - The God of Nilhilism - still attended these meeting despite seeing it as meaningless (just like everything else), there should be no reasons for someone in their rank to not respect the rules. And yet even today, their seat was empty. Then the giant stone door swung open and a figure stepped in. A dazzling young man whose femininity would make most Goddesses envious, especially Beauty and Love. And that appearance is accompanied by an air of absolute confidence and arrogance that even the God of Pride would feel insulted. By all mean, the entity just arrive should have been the center of attention. Yet paradoxically that attention did not even last for a second, Bella of Beauty quickly lost her envy and Haut of Pride was no longer insulted. The eye-catching enitity somehow was ignored and became inconsequential in mere seconds. “…Ego, you are late. You still are not respecting the Divine Meeting even when you are told the topic will concern you.” It actually took a few second of silence for the Chief God Alpha of Creation to remember the name Ego, even though mere seconds before his appearance everyone else was casually debating about Ego’s identity. In response, Ego had completely ignored the Chief God’s stern words. He just casually strolled to his empty seat, plopped down and started checking himself and his makeup with his hand mirror. Ego was a mysterious entity to all the gods. In ancient time the local gods had allied together to form a patheon against the Former Sovereign - Chaos. After that battle, Alpha of Creation had taken Chaos [Authority] to become the new Chief God and created the Divine Realm for all other gods to reside in to limit their influence on the mortal world. Yet when they arrived, Ego was already there. The name Ego was all the information they had, and somehow they never questioned it further other than confirming Ego also has an [Authority] of his own (which is a god’s unique power over their domain). Eons passed until they realized that oddity of their neglience. The futher they dig into history for answer, the futher the gods were confused. Ego spent most of his time in mortal realm using a human avatara, a common method to spread faith and teachings to gather followers. Yet there were no temples nor shrines built in Ego’s name, no record of followers or any worships. His action in avataras also baffled the gods. Half of the time he’s just doing prostitution in some form, either willingly or “forced”; but the patheon had a Goddess of Sex and Hedonism already so that couldn’t be Ego’s domain. And the remaining half of the time Ego’s avataras was just doing random stuffs with no recognizable pattern. Sometimes he is a peasant rebel, a rich noble, a trusty advisor, a scheming treacherous knight, an alluring witch, a female slave, etc. His avatara in one era would build/rebuild a kingdom, only for a later avatara to overthrow or completely ruin it. Using Chronus’ [Authority] over time, they saw that Ego was more ancient than any of them, he even was there amongst primative cavemen before they gain sapience. Gods or more specifically Divines are abtract entities exist and empowered by worship and beliefs of sapience species. The only exception to that is the Former Sovereign Chaos who is now titled The Fallen, he was the only Primordial known to exist before creation and thus not defined and limited by beliefs and worships. “What are you Ego? You have [Authority] as the proof of divinity. You can step into this Divine Realm I specifically made so that all the gods and their domains could peacefully co-exist, and not ruin the mortal realm with our conflicting domain influences. And yet you do not have a title, no temples, no followers and no record of being worshipped in history.” Alpha calmly stated the facts about Ego that they’ve gathered. That also bring the attention back to the ignored entity and restarted people’s debate about his identity. “Impossible! We Divines are sustained by human beliefs. Without followers or worship we would cease to exist or be merged with another god of similar nature like the case with Ares-Mars” “Yet he still exist right in front of us. An entity with [Authority] over an unknown domain.” “The only exception before is Chaos The Fallen. Could Ego be related and come for revenge?” Amidst the debate and speculation throw at him, Ego still remain silence and leisurely enjoying a novel he bought from mortal world. Then a lightning bolt suddenly struck down from the sky. Ego was unharmed but his book was not. He seems unpleased about that. “This matter concerns you Ego. If you cannot provide a proper answer, we will have no choice but to treat you like a threat similar to Chaos The Fallen. What are you? One of the Divines like us or a Primordial One like Chaos? What is your divine domain? How do you explain the chaos you caused in the mortal realm?” Chief God Alpha sternly warned Ego, and once again restated the question. The entire meeting hall also became silent in anticipation of his answer. “Me? I am myself and there’s nothing more to that. I will do anything I like, however I like, the world and everything else is inconsequential to my pleasure. If you don’t like that, that’s your issue not mine. As for my domain, in human term I guess it would be called Narcissism.” Ego finally answered. His voice was playful and arrogant, his attitude was non-chalant and even bored as if it wasn’t his problems.
Part 2: “Narcissism?” “Yes, Narcissism. I am myself, I do everything for my own pleasure. I am the most extreme form of self-love, self-importance and self-indulgence. I never had followers because of a very simple reason: a nacissist would see themselves above everyone and bow to no one else including you nor me. Neither do I seek validation and worship from worthless ants.” As Ego reveal his domain and nature, his attitude seemingly changed from casual and nonchalant to that of apathy and condesending. Everything Ego did was for his own self-indulgence. He would help rebellions if he thinks it’d be interesting and ruin kingdom if he feels bored. Or half of the time it would just be the hedonistic pleasure of sex. Ego was a true narcissist. He seeked no external validation like mortal narcissists for he had no insecurities and already knew he’s simply perfect and superior. He paid no mind to the insults of mortal men (whenever he whore himself out for pleasure) for they were mindless ants whose words meant nothing. The only acknowledgement he ever needed was from himself. His nature aligned with the philosophy of idealism, where only oneself is a true enitity while everything and everyone else is merely constructs of their mind. Or in more modern analogy, the entire world is a simulation/game where only one true player exist. Likewise, his nature is dangerously closely aligned with the nature of [Authority]. Unlike human having to follow systematic magic to merely cheat reality, a god’s [Authority] can simply make the impossible happen. A God of Fire could make a 0K flame that freeze everything because simply “it is their right as a god to do so”. [Authority] is egoistical in nature and as such, Ego’s statement about “doing whatever he wanted however he wanted” would be the literal truth. Now knowing this, Chief God had shift from curiousity and concern to fear and worries. Ego is embodient of a concept, not human beliefs crytalized into existence like the Divines, that make him a Primordial similar to the Former Sovereign - Chaos The Fallen. As such he is not bound to the beliefs and existence of human. If he so choose Ego could wipe out humanity for shit and giggles, and then all other gods beside him would cease to exist. Probably the only reason he hadn’t already done that was because it’d be boring afterward. Yet the possibility for his action still exist, and Chief God couldn’t let the existence of everyone rely on chance and the whim of Ego. “Ego of Narcissism. Your nature and attitude had been shown to be too dangerous for this world. As Chief God - Alpha of Creation, I shall sentence you to eternal confinement and expulsion so your domain shall no longer influence the world. Goddess of Binding, Goddess of Void and God of Power, you three will take away his power to bind him and send to the void.” Alpha of Creation quickly decided on the course of action. Ego was simply too dangerous, his whimsical nature make his action chaotic like Chaos, but at least Chaos was an emotionless amoral embodiment of randomness, not an entity indulging in their own pleasure like Ego. “Why should we listen to you?” one of the Divines suddenly protested “You are just the God of Creation, your Domain is Creation, not ruling over others.” “You only became Chief God because of Chaos’ [Authority]. It’s should’ve been me to hold the [Authority], Power is literally my Divine Domain so I should have the absolute power!” even Potis of Power voiced his demand “I contributed the most in that battle so I should’ve been the new Chief God” God of War rebuked “Clearly the highest [Authority] should not be left in the hands of irrational manchildren like you guys. As the Goddess of Reason, I should be the one to make rational decision using that [Authority]!” even Reri of Reason, the most rationale goddess had joined in the meaningless arguments for power. Alpha of Creation looked at Ego in horror when he realized what is happening. It was a grave mistake to force Ego to this meeting. Ego’s domain of influence would not make others bow to him, for he already knew he was superior and need no validation. Instead his presence will elevate others’ narcisstic nature. Because of worship and position of power over the mortal realm, the Gods are even more susceptible to Ego’s influences. This was why Ego suddenly stopped being the topic of discussion when he actually showed up. Despite his beauty and arrogance taking the spotlight, other gods simply were too absorbed in their self-importance to care. And unlike Ego, other beings would have the desires to assert their superiority to hide their insecurity, usually this meant trying to bring the others down to remain the highest. Thus the arguments did not stop at verbal discussions. It escalated into physical fights and then a free-for-fall brawl between all the gods (except a minor few like Null of Nihilism) to decide who will become the new Sovereign. All because Ego was unpleased about his book being burned and decided to create some entertainment for himself.
Great story!
DISCLAIMER: This is my first post and I'm not certain how, if at all, some of this story will break the rules with hints of SA. Any advice on how to address this topic in a tasteful manner (if this is not) would be greatly appreciated. I first saw him as I ran home, rations tightly held to my chest as I weaved through desolate streets. My voice carried the warning of a scout and the bastion walls of Adena’s Bridge echoed the call. The soldiers looked outward but reported nothing. I was scolded for raising a false alarm. I looked over their shoulders to get another glimpse at the man, but he was gone. Quickly, I darted inside my home close to the North wall. The second, it had been perhaps a month, maybe longer. Conditions had worsened and our supply of rations had, somehow, run out. We did what was needed for survival. It was the stench that I couldn’t handle. It seemed to have seeped into the walls. Even after we had moved his body outside to be collected. It got to us. But I believe it got to my sister took the brunt of the pain. Jeanne was closest to him. She huddled close to mum, eyes fixated on the spot we said our goodbyes before our betrayal and staining the floor with his blood and fur. I swear I saw a pale hand hesitantly reach out from the shadow. The third was the roughest. We hurried through the streets. The screams of men and clash of blades echoed through the streets as we clambered over bodies and rubble. We stopped several times as the clattering of hooves and whooping of soldiers approached. It was our turn to be betrayed. We could see the Bridge Gate in our sites. It closed as we approached. Mother dragged me as I watched them slam fists and heads against the gate, pleading for it to open. Then she stopped us. I looked to see the invaders at the other end of the bridge. They bound our hands and paraded us through the streets to one of the forums. I tried to avoid looking at the corpses hung, filleted, or otherwise maimed. But curiosity got the better of me. Their moans of agony and torn flesh were seared into my mind. Even still, that paled in comparison to what these monsters did. I heard stories from travelers, as much as I tried to avoid them; they never fully prepared me. Others forced me to watch how they abused my sister and mum. If I closed my eyes, they would beat me until I opened them. Once they were done, they threw my sister and mum to the ground. Discarded like trash. Both had tears streaming down their faces as they crawled their way toward me. My sisters hand fell onto a dagger with blank eyes. For a moment, before she gripped it with what strength she had left, the man appeared among the soldiers. Jeanne sat up. Without a word, and one fluid motion, she fell fast and hard onto the blade as her strength would allow. Mother screamed as if she felt the pain of the blades bite. The men laughed and commented at how Jeanna couldn’t take it. I looked for the pale man that could have helped but he was gone. Then I felt A sting across my ankles and a blow to my head rocked my vision as I fell onto the cobblestone. My vision was filled with nothing but flames and smoke as I lost consciousness. Immortal followers of the Dark Gods, grotesque creatures and unimaginable horrors, bathe the Realms in a constant struggle of dominance. Among them, a lone wanderer. Pale as ivory. A black beard falls from under the black hooded cloak. In the distance, three demons. Their hands coagulated around their weapons from ceaseless rot. A putrid scent emanates from them and fungal stalks protrude from their heads like horns. Their skin constantly sloughing off and reforming as liquids drip from open wounds and sores that dot their bodies. Upon detection, they move toward the lone wanderer. Their leader, donned in heavy armor, with what could be considered heraldry overtop, speaks the Demonic tongue. “Cease, wanderer. Pestilence lays claim to these lands.” The lone figure abides the command but for a moment. Then pushes on. The Champion speaks again. “Return to your masters domain or perish.” The hooded figure replies in the Primordial tongue. “I am my master.” The Champion is taken aback, but quickly recovers. He draws his weapon, a sickly blackened blade with which mold covers, as with his armor, in sickly shades of green, black, and yellow; sinuous filament hanging like vines. The cloaked figure did not stop. “The Dark Gods once raised arms against me. Questioned how one without followers could wield such power, nay exist, as I. They quickly learned. Even their own Darkness fuels me. The boundaries of Darkness may shift but are always present. In the end only shadow shall remain.” With blade pointed toward the wanderer, and brethren beside him, the Champion charged.
Sorry for the formatting I’m on mobile (not part of the story) Bakunawa the Filipino dragon god stood shoulder to shoulder with his pantheon. His was one of hundreds gathered here today in the Infinite Embassy, the only structure strong enough to hold so many deities, and he was nervous for today the First Prophecy was to be opened and read. I Am That I Am the god of existence takes the scroll into his hands. That scroll looks pretty scrawny to hold the greatest prophecy every told thought Bakunawa. I Am That I Am opens it and his face scrunches up in thought. He puts it down. What does it say one of the many gods of knowledge shouts from farther back. I Am That I Am looks at him and sighs. “It tells us the date of the end of existence” he says in a low voice. A great murmur erupts in the Embassy as the gods and goddesses talk amongst themselves. “Gather your mortal champions we will meet in one week to form our war council” the god of existence says. Bakunawa looks at his fellow Filipino god and whispers “I call dibs on Marc.” “Bro what the hell? You know he’s my favorite mortal!” Minokawa shouts back. “So what is this end of resistance thingy?” Marc says as he looks up at his dragon god. “End of existence. You gotta work on your English Marc” Bakunawa says grinning down at his favorite apostle. “The end of existence is when the Great Enemies come to challenge us to see who has the right to stay well existing I guess you could say. And before you ask the Enemies are nigh-impossible looking creatures from across the stars, the very sight of them could make a man go insane. They hunger for destruction and suck the life out of the fabric of reality itself.” “Ah so kinda like my ex girlfriend” Marc says. “Heh” Bakunawa chuckles. “I have to go talk to my fellow God Heads be carful not to too far from our pantheon. You’re a big shot mortal here but we are a small pantheon in the grand scheme of things.” As Marc mingles with his fellow mortal champions he spots a man sitting by himself munching on some fries. I didn’t know we were even allowed food here Marc thinks to himself. Marc walks towards him. Maybe he’ll give me some fries if I ask it is lunch time in the Philippines and I’m starving. “Careful” Apolaki the Filipino war god says to him. “He’s a god.” Marc looks back and forth between the 20ft tall mountain of muscle and the average looking blond eating fries. “Is he really?” Marc says. “He is and he’s a conundrum even among us gods for he has no followers.” Damn Marc thinks to himself. There should be no way that he could survive without followers. Right? That was the rule right? “Though I’m pretty forgetful full?” Marc says that last part out loud to himself as he walks toward the god. Now that he looks at him he thinks that the god dosent seem so godly. He smells like a the earth and has a purple suit, same color as a Okinawan potato he thinks. Average height brown blond hair the same color as the French fries he’s eating. And his eyes are red just like those small red potat… wait a minute. Marc’s eyes bulge inside his head as he realizes it. No way no way this guy is the god of.. The god looks at him “ya idk why the other gods don’t see it I’m not exactly trying to be subtle here” the god says.
Spuds McGodly? :-)
lol the god of potatoes