“Have you heard anything from Adam yet?”
Chris asked the question, even though he wasn’t really expecting the answer to have changed.
“No, nothing. I suppose it hasn’t been long enough yet.”
“Yeah. I suppose it’s too soon for him to have got settled yet, wherever he is.”
“How are you and Doug doing?”
“About as well as you could expect. This really came out of nowhere, you know?”
“Oh, I think I’ve got some idea.”
The sardonic tone brought a small smile to Chris’ lips as he shifted his weight in his chair.
“Okay. Well, if I hear anything. I’ll get back to you right away.”
“You do that. If we hear from Adam, we’ll let you know.” There was a pause. “It’s good to hear from you, and it’s good to know others care about him. You boys take care of yourselves, okay?”
Amanda’s warm voice sent a pleasant shiver down the young man’s spine. Damn it! Why did his friend’s mum have to be so attractive? Every time Chris met her or talked to her he was all too aware that Adam’s mother ticked all the boxes for his type.
“Yeah, I’ll make sure to eat something besides takeout.” He assured her.
“Good. Well, I hope to hear from you soon. Goodbye.”
“Bye.”
Leaning back in his chair Chris spun to face his desk and put his phone to charge. Once he saw that the bar was filling up his eyes turned to his computer, and he idly reached out to click on a page that caught his attention.
//THE NEW WORLD: NEW DEMIGODS//
It was the title of the forum page that he was currently reading. Only trusted sources were able to post on the site, and it wasn’t open to replies, so the chatter on it was all but non-existent. All of that added up to a pretty solid reputation and made it a favourite for those that wanted to keep track of newly emerging supernatural events. The page he was on was specific to newly emerging demigods, and he idly read the latest posts, looking for any hint of his missing friend.
//CONFIRMED LEGACY OF NEPER!
//Submitted by RedSandyBoy (Confirmed Civil Servant)
//Yesterday evening the people Australia gave a big cheer when Joseph Redmont received a government-approved licence to maintain the fields that he recently raised.
//Okay, so I don’t know what you guys in the rest of the world know, but things here in Straya things have been a bit tense since the spirits of the Dreamtime started to show up. For those of you not in the know, the Dreamtime spirits aren’t like the gods. They don’t have human-like bodies you can talk to or interact with. They’re more like friendly sentient storms of magic, living natural parts of the world. Luckly they haven’t been hostile, but they haven’t been happy about how things have changed.
//To make things short, they ended up taking over lots of land and getting several communities that follow old aborigine ways of living up and running. Anyway, heaps of people ended up joining up, all stoked with the idea of being true blue Australians and all that. That wasn’t so bad, and most of the land that got claimed was either in the Outback or the bush, but then we ended up losing a big patch of farmlands in northwest.
//Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a national disaster or anything like that, but it did mean plenty of people were going to have to be tightening their belts. Stuff getting pricier, that sort of thing.
//Joe’s solving that. Since he’s a Legacy of Neper he can make fields of stuff grow, ripen and be ready for harvest in just a few days. In case you don’t know, Neper is an Egyptian god of grain. There’s a whole thing about him being tied to Osiris, being an aspect of him and other stuff, but I only know the basics. What is confirmed is that Joe’s not much of a fighter, but he can do some pretty impressive stuff with fields and agriculture.
//Apparently Nepper gave his boy a magic hoe as proof of their relation and to give him a power boost. Ripper for us I guess, since it helps Joe with his fields. Word is that he’s cut some deal with some companies so that they’re supplied with what they need, even after losing those fields.
//That’s it for now. Hope you all enjoyed this update from down under.//
Chris smiled at the idea of a demigod using their powers so peacefully. If Adam ended up with powers over plants and stuff then he could see his best friend doing something similar. The same was true of other powers, like earth-moving or teleporting. Adam could make any of them into a business, one that would probably do well.
What Chris couldn’t see was his friend being a warrior or any sort of fighter. Sure, Adam could get mad if you pushed him far enough, but he wasn’t aggressive, never one to pick a fight. Maybe the next article, one that had only been posted a few hours ago.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
//MURDERS IN MEXICO CITY CONFIRMED AS THE WORK OF A DEMIGOD!
//Submitted by GatoDelgado97 (Confirmed Journalist)
//Hola my friends. I wish I could be bringing you better news, but it turns out that the serial killer that has been cutting out hearts in my home city has been confirmed as a demigod.
//In case it has not made the news where you are from over the last week there have been a string of murders her in Mexico City. Not just any killings either, these have been bad ones. The victims have been staked down, spikes driven through their hands and feet, then had their hearts torn out. Torn, not cut, the work on the bodies showed that whoever did this managed it with their bare hands, no tools.
//Of course, that was not enough to confirm it was a demigod, but last night the police were able to catch the murderer in the act. It did not go well for them though. Of the seven officers on the scene three are dead, two in critical condition, and the last two are still in hospital. The murderer used powerful fireballs to drive the police off, destroying two cars and starting a fire in nearby building before escaping. He is confirmed to have been able to take gunfire without apparent injury, and during the fight he called out to Huitzilopochtli, claiming him as his father.
//To be clear, Huitzilopochtli was one of the most important gods of the old Aztec culture, and was one of the gods that received human sacrifices. He was not an evil god though, he fought against endless night and the sacrifices made to him were meant to give him the strength to make the sun rise each day.
//Things are tense in the city right now, though there is talk that another demigod might hunt him down. We will have to wait and see.
//Adios, please wish us luck.//
The darker tone of the entry left a bad taste in Chis’ mouth. It was an all too sharp reminder that there were just as many demigods going wild with their new powers as there were those that tried to be heroes or just productive members of society. The notion of a serial killer with literally superhuman powers was . . . disturbing on a visceral level.
Was that what Adam was going to have to deal with? The thought came to him as he reread the short article. Joan of Arc had been sent to take him, Joan of Arc! When you thought about it there was no way that someone with one of the most famed saints in the world as a bodyguard would just be growing crops or running mines.
Biting his lip, he read the next post.
//CANADIAN DEMIGOD KILLS HELLHOUND!
//Submitted by BlueBillyBlue52 (Confirmed EMT)
//Things got pretty hectic this morning at the hospital where I worked. Normally I wouldn’t be able to talk about it, confidentiality, but since it’s going to be in the news soon it should be okey.
//This morning, not ten minutes after I got to work, we had a sudden rush as more than twenty people were all brought in at once. There was a lot of rushing around, getting things ready, helping those that needed it. All in all, it was probably the most stressful hour I’ve ever had to deal with. Still, once things settled down, we were finally able to get the whole story.
//A major highway was turned into a battlefield when a black dog the size of an elephant suddenly attacked a truck. The sudden upending of the trailer caused a massive pileup across multiple lanes, and ended up with nearly twenty cars crashing, and many more only just avoiding major collisions.
//That would have been bad enough, but the massive dog started going after people, tearing cars open like tin cans to get at them. Seven people were killed and about a dozen maimed in barely a minute, and it sounds like it would have been more if the demigod hadn’t shown up.
//We don’t strictly know that she is a demigod, she hasn’t regained consciousness due to the injuries she took while bringing the dog down. Still, she was tough enough to wrestle down and break the neck of a monster that could’ve used my ride as a chew-toy, so the general assumption is that she’s a demigod. I heard that the police are trying to identify her, but so far nothing has come up.
She hasn’t bounced back from her wounds, even if she isn’t in danger. The docs that took a look at her say she’s stable, even though she shouldn’t be, not with the damage she’s taken. Anyway, there’s been no luck identifying her, so she might be one of those demigods that ended up with new looks after gaining her powers.
//Whoever she is though there are a lot of people alive who wouldn’t be if she hadn’t been there, so I’m putting her here and request that the mods post this article to the heroes’ section.
//She deserves it.//
This was the stuff that Adam was going to get involved in? This was the stuff that was going to drag him in?
Chris found that far from distracting himself he was just worrying himself deeper and deeper into a mental hole. Trying to distract himself again he clicked back to the main page, looking at the titles of the articles that had most recently been updated.
>Demigods being abducted, truth or rumour?
>Diplomatic developments between China and Japan!
>New product line from Olympus Industries, sneak preview!
>Rumours of elves seen in central Europe!
>Supernatural bar being opened in Paris!
>Applicant to join the Round Table!
So many things going on, the world seemed to change so fast, and it all seemed so . . .daunting all of a sudden.
Chris let out a snort as he leaned back in his seat, staring up at the white plaster of his ceiling. Daunting . . . two days ago it hadn’t been daunting. If anything, it had been kind of cool. He had the advantage of having lived in a quiet corner of the country, a country with some of the best supernatural protection in the world. He’d been able to watch the chaos the rest of the world was having to deal with while his small corner of it was relatively untouched. Sure, there’d been some things, like the angel and demon duking it out near the town, but even that had passed him by.
Now . . . now it seemed all too real. Adam wasn’t someone on the TV, someone from some town Chris had never heard of. He was the guy that had helped Chris when he’d been suffering from food poisoning and had puked up over his bed. He was the guy Chris had set up on a blind date with his sister, even if it hadn’t been a success. Adam was real, he was a part of Chris’ life.
And now he was going to be a demigod.
Twisting on his swivel chair he turned away from his computer. He didn’t want to stare at his computer anymore, each title, each link, just led to more worries.
Adam was with Joan of Arc, that had to count for something, right? A hero resurrected by the heavens to help in the mortal realm couldn’t be some sort of pushover. Surely, she’d be able to keep him safe, right?
Chris had a general idea of how strong resurrected souls could be, King Arthur was a prime example of them. With someone like that in his corner, Adam was sure to be safe. Yeah, he’d be fine, there was nothing to worry about.
Now. . . why did that last thought stubbornly refuse to feel real?