Chapter Forty-Two:

Resurrection

Nicodemus

My hand shooting from the void towards the stone ground of Valyce academy made everyone jump into action. Odysseus darted to the door and grasped my bone fingers, pumping every ounce of energy he could through our touch as he pulled me up from the void. My friends and family could hear the agonized screams of the dead echoing from behind me, and flinched violently at the creepy sound. Odysseus was able to drag me through the doorway just in time, and Dad slammed it shut on the ghostly hands pouring from the opening with a grateful sigh to see me back in somewhat of one piece. “Are you ok…?!” Odysseus whimpered, pulling my shoulders up to make sure I could hold my own enough for this to continue.

I panted wildly, but nodded, “Yes, yes I’m fine… We need to work quickly, though. I can feel myself slipping.” He helped me stand, and after finding my footing, I wearily reached into my body and guided Halcyon’s soul out from my rib cage. The Gods gasped in astonishment to see me holding the little flame, but I ignored them and ghosted to where her body was lying.

I set my scythe to the ground before me to use as a conduit for the energy to pour through me and into Halcyon before I raised my arms. My Shadows moved to stand around me, and Akira began to feed me energy as I started to recite the Latin spell. The clearing erupted in light energy from Stark, which crashed violently before a thick fog began to envelop the arena. I continued repeating the words of the spell powerfully as smoke and ash ghosted by to tumble over everything in its path. At this point, everyone was forced to step back and wait for the smoke to clear, not knowing what was happening on the other side.

I started doing the movements to the ritual, moving my body rhythmically to each sigil needed to correctly raise her from the dead. Every time my hands shot towards Halcyon, smoke erupted from them, seeping into her body. I reached forward and placed the little blue flame against her chest, and as I did, blood started to trickle down the sides of my mouth. I ignored it, focusing, as more smoke filled the area. My voice seemed to take a physical form; a white mist rose up from the middle of my hands and into the sky, where it hung like a thick film over the arena. The black smoke that had begun rising from Halcyon’s physical body seeped into mine, and was replaced by the white. Bianca had her hands on my back, and was using gusts of wind to pull whatever she could out of my body.

Akira opened his snout and sent a sonic wave vibration shot through the field to help give me more energy, but that meant he had spent most of his own doing so. Somewhere in this stage I morphed back into my Elemental form, where my Shadows could see just how much damage I was truly taking from the ritual. My chest felt ready to collapse, and I was shaking violently from pain. My shirt was soaked with the blood that slid down my face, and I felt ready to drop, but I finished with a final strike of light energy that erupted around us.

The smoke finally started to clear.

I fell to my knees, panting hard in pain. Akira lamely landed on the ground before me, practically dead, as well as my Shadow Walkers. Stark was clasping his chest and coughing in between groans, while my original four desperately tried to catch their breath. The layer of fog between Halcyon and I had finally cleared, but the one from us to the Gods didn’t, which made everyone behind it very impatient. I slowly stood, using my scythe to limp over to her body. I shakily set my hand on hers, watching for some type of reaction.

And finally, her chest started to rise again.

╪

The color around Halcyon’s eyes began to turn back to a bronzy peach, as did her skin. Her pale lips turned rosy pink, as did her cheeks. The vibrancy returned to her beautiful carob hair, and her fingers twitched once before flexing slightly. I smiled, letting out a soft laugh as her crystal blue eyes slowly opened. She let out a hard gasp, then her breathing slowed to a steady pace as her lungs adjusted to working once again. She blinked in shock, and turned to me in awe. “Nicodemus...?” She croaked thickly.

“Welcome back, to the real world…?” I whispered, smiling once before collapsing beside the fountain. Halcyon sat up in horror as Claude skidded across the dirt and pulled me into his arms, tears sliding down his cheeks as he desperately tried to make me look up to him. “Why are you crying?” I choked delusionally past blood that was spewing down my chin.

(Why…?! Do you realize how much blood you're losing?) He sobbed hysterically.

“I’ll be ok...” I faintly whispered.

He clutched me tightly as Bianca crouched over me, her eyes serious. -Hand him to me, please, Claude,- She instructed with the utmost determination.

Halcyon pulled herself up off the marble and crouched over me, “Can you help him!?”

-Of course I can,- She held her hand out, where a tiny funnel erupted before she grasped it with a smile. -Sorry about this, Nicodemus.- She said, leaning down and kissing me softly. Through the gesture, I could feel a powerful air slithering through my body, and as it came back up towards her, a thick and gooey substance forced its way up my throat.

I choked up on it, but Claude and Jackson held me still as she broke the kiss and slowly brought her head back. My Shadows gasped in awe at the black gunk that escaped my mouth and dissipated, which made her cackle triumphantly and smack her hand to her waist. -Would you look at that, I'm not as rusty as I thought! I’ve drawn out everything I can, as you all saw. It will take a few days, but he should be just fine with some proper rest!- She cooed as she pinched my cheek.

The Gods had waited for Bianca to assure I was stable before taking a slight step forward. My parents took over, and slid me into their embrace from Claude’s. Mom brushed my hair from my eyes and hiccuped my name, “Nick? Love Bug?”

“I’m ok… just, tired…” I whispered to her relief. She clutched me tightly and began healing any exterior wounds as I cracked a painful smirk, “Blaine…?”

Blaine slowly stepped around Galaxy, and when his eyes fell on the beautiful woman crouched beside me, his serious demeanor crumpled. Halcyon slowly looked up from me to her husband, and when their eyes locked, you could feel time stand still around us. I couldn’t help but grin as she stiffly stood, blinking back tears as she tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear. “Halcyon…?” Blaine whispered brokenly.

She giggled in delight, a sound that warmed our hearts, “All these years and you still haven’t shaved. What am I going to do with you?” She teased. Her comment broke Blaine, and he rushed across the courtyard to embrace his wife. The two fit together like puzzle pieces, and shared grateful kisses and sweet nothings between one another. My parents caught me gleaming at them and chuckled, shaking their heads to one another at how corny I was.

Blaine finally found his voice, and stepped back to cup her face just to take it in, “I think someone else would like to say hi?”

Halcyon’s eyes widened, and she placed a hand to Blaine’s heart, “He’s here…?”

“He better be!” I snapped, gargled by some left over blood, which made the Gods and their children burst into hysterical laughter at my croak of a voice.

Odysseus stepped out from behind Sebastian with a ferocious blush, gave me the evil eye, then forced himself to look at his mother. Seeing the two this close, it was more than obvious that he was absolutely her son. The golden undertones in his skin mimicked the rich sepia that Halcyon’s was, and standing beside her brought his complexion to life in ways I had never seen before. I thought Odysseus had always resembled Blaine well enough, but it was Halcyon who shared the same hair color, nose, and smile as their son.

When Halcyon stepped forward, she delicately laid her hands on Odysseus’s shoulders, looking him over in absolute astonishment. She cracked a smile and a soft laugh, her gorgeous eyes filling with tears much different then ones from before. “Odysseus… My Odysseus… Gods, look how handsome you’ve become…?”

Odysseus broke once he heard his mother’s voice.

He clenched his teeth together, but inevitably stammered a broken cry, and succumbed to the loving embrace she wrapped him in. Blaine came over to clutch them both tightly, wordlessly pouring every ounce of love he was capable of into his reunited family. Halcyon continuously told Odysseus how beautiful he was, how much she loved him, how sorry she was, and Odysseus echoed the same back to her in a voice that no child should ever have to muster.

The entire scene was as beautiful as I hoped, but unfortunately, the day finally caught up with me. I patted Dad’s arms wearily, which made him flick his eyes down to me, “Hey, oldie? I’m probably gonna pass out in a second. Can you take a few photos for me while I’m out…?”

“Oh Gods, Nick!? We should get you to Lysander…?!”

“Nah, nah… I wanna wake up in my own bed this time…” My gnarled voice made the Levasseur’s turn to me in horror, but I was still smiling to their disbelief, “We’ll grab coffee…!” I was able to delusionally call before falling slack into my mother’s arms, which admittedly made everyone laugh despite their worries over my wellbeing.

╪

“Smart phones? What the Gehenna is a smart phone?” Halcyon snapped.

“Something kids love to have these days,” Dad snorted.

“Well, seems the problem child will live.” Freya joked as she came down the steps. Laughter erupted as I heard her mess with her clipboard. “This kid is lucky the school has a doctor; your insurance bill would be through the roof otherwise, Atlas.”

“He breaks something every week, that monster,” Dad sighed.

“I don’t think there’s a bone he hasn’t broken,” Mom echoed.

“Oh don’t worry, Sebastian will find one by Saturday.” Deveraux added.

“Don’t I always?” He sang back, which made the laughter downstairs echo louder than ever before. Their voices toned down to a tolerable mumbling as Freya went over some instructions with my parents, and Halcyon continued asking the Gods children about themselves.

When I began coming to, I was pleased to find I was in my own bed, and no clunky hospital equipment was keeping my heart beating. The blinds were open halfway to let some sun in without blinding me, which also meant it was at least the next morning. I groggily turned my head to the futon, where to my surprise, Odysseus was sitting with his back pressed against the arm rest. His long legs were stretched across the cushions, and he was sketching in his famous notebook quietly. I smirked and whistled teasingly, which made him blink and turn in awe to me. “Whatchya drawing?” I sang.

“You’re awake…!” He gasped in relief, setting his notepad down to gently sit on the bed beside me. He smiled lovingly and brushed the hair from my eyes, feeling my cheeks with the back of his hands to secretly check that my health was to his liking. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a bus, but it’ll pass. Why aren’t you downstairs with your Mom?”

He chuckled lightly, “Well, thanks to you she’ll be around for a minute, so I wanted to come check on you. Plus, you know how I get around crowds…” His grin softened, and his eyes gleamed romantically. It didn’t surprise me when he leaned down and delicately kissed me; I slid my hand out from under the covers to hold his free one. We let the kiss linger for a few moments before slowly parting, panting slightly from how long we were twined.

When he opened his eyes, a thin line of tears was welling along his lashes. “Hey, no tears,” I combed them from his flushed cheeks soothingly, “I’m going to be just fine…”

“It’s not the only reason I’m crying…” He whispered thickly, taking my hand from his face so he could kiss my fingertips. He shuddered slightly, “You have given me a gift I could never repay you for, Nicodemus. Years of guilt and grief that I thought I’d never repent from are gone. I can finally be with my mother… I cannot thank you enough…”

“Consider it payment for fixing my eyes,” I joked, stiffly dragging myself up to an upright position. He guided me carefully until I was stable, then pulled me into his arms, setting my legs across his lap so he could hold me. I ran my hand up his chest to hug his neck, and nestled into his embrace with a soft sigh. “I really don’t want to move, but I’m hungry.”

He kissed my temple, his eyes gleaming, “The least I can do is make you a sandwich?”

“You make me one after I resurrect your Mom, but not after you bang me twice? Go figure,” I snorted, which made us erupt in laughter before kissing sweetly. I looked up into his eyes, which hypnotized me as they did every time we gazed at one another. “I’m glad you’re here, Odysseus…” I whispered, which made him smile breathlessly.

“Me too,” he pecked my nose before slowly helping me stand, “Let’s get you some food before you deal with Sebastian.”

“Is everyone here?” I asked, stretching painfully before letting him help me downstairs.

“Just about. We couldn’t wait any longer for you to wake up, so your parents invited us all to breakfast…”

“Odysseus sure has been up there a while; think they’re swapping DNA?” Sebastian cackled, which made the adults burst into hysterical laughter.

I creepily turned the corner with an evil scowl, “Well good morning, you beautiful ray of sunshine.” Mom giggled at my horrid expression.

“You look happy.” Galaxy joked.

“You all can go fuck yourselves, how about that?” I spat in a raspy croak.

The room flooded with laughter as Odysseus rolled his eyes, sitting me besides Sebastian before moving to grab me a plate from the kitchen. “Watch your language, mister.” Mom barked. I smacked her hand away as she snarled playfully, “Meow, kittens got claws!”

“Kitty will also set Mommy’s pretty hair on fire,” I sarcastically spit.

“And I’ll euthanize the kitty if he lays a paw on me,” she snarled in return. I groaned loudly as Mom bat her eyelashes at me lovingly, “Mama Ashlynn saves the day again!” She chirped.

Dad chuckled and ruffled my hair, “How are you feeling, kiddo?”

“Better than dead,” I joked, which made him pinch my cheek.

“You’re such a brat.”

“A brat who totally kicked ass! I can’t believe we actually did it!” I cheered.

My Shadows wisped into the room, rolling their eyes at me. (Can we limit the resurrections until you become a God? That last one kicked the shit out of all of us.) Claude groaned.

“I don’t plan on doing many more. How is Akira?” I asked worriedly.

{He’s fine; he’s in the Shadow Realm recovering at the moment.} May assured.

“Thank goodness. I'm so proud of all of you, especially you two,” I said, gesturing to a blushing Stark and Bianca, “You guys really saved my ass out there.”

*We told you we would.* Stark joked lightly.

“I believed you, but you really proved yourselves. I'm very happy I was able to add you both to the team.”

“You’re lucky you’re alive, you son of a bitch! How am I supposed to live without my baby Angel…!?” Sebastian sobbed, throwing his arms around me wildly.

I hacked violently as he squeezed me as tight as he could, which made the Gods flinch in horror. “Sebastian!?” They screamed simultaneously.

“Ow, ow, ow…!” I croaked before coughing hard. When I pulled my hand back blood was splattered over my palm, which made him cry out and coil back. “Just cause I’m awake doesn’t mean I’m doing great, asshole…” I choked.

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“Must you always do something so stupid!” Odysseus scoffed, rounding Mom’s chair to hand me a plate and tilt my face up.

He closed his eyes and healed whatever Sebastian just broke, which made an evil smile creep over Sebastian’s face. “So, you gonna tell your Mom about your little boyfriend?”

“Shut up, Sebastian.” Odysseus and I snapped demonically as he opened his eyes to glare with a look that screamed, ‘Shut your mouth before I shut it for you’.

Halcyon giggled with a slight blush, and titled her head in awe at me, “I’m glad to see you’re doing better, dear.”

“How are you doing? Everything working the way it’s supposed to?”

“As far as we can tell. Lysander gave me a proper examination, and so far so good.”

“And Odysseus gave Nick one, so everyone’s nice and healthy!” Sebastian teased, cackling evilly as I slowly turned to him with black eyes. He paused mid laugh and grinned ear to ear, “I should probably run, shouldn’t I?”

I raised my hand, which made a long black Shadow arm conjure behind me, “I’ll give ya ten seconds.” I hissed.

Sebastian burst through the front door screaming bloody murder; I counted in my head while humming before flicking my wrist. The arm darted out the door and grabbed Sebastian, who choked off loudly before I began making a hammering motion over and over again. The arm slammed him into the dirt over and over; his screams made the house fill with laughter, and once the arm retreated, I smiled and blinked to turn my eyes back to normal, “Oh how I love to hear Sebby’s screams this early in the morning.”

“Why don’t you two just admit your dating?” Praxis snorted.

“You have NO ROOM to talk!” Odysseus yelled wildly, which made she and Griffin lurch back at how loud he screamed at them.

“There’s the pot calling the kettle black, and considering we have admitted it, I don’t understand the issue,” I chuckled as Sebastian stormed back inside, slammed himself down on the couch, and crossed his arms with a glare. I eyed him carefully before patting his frazzled hair gently, “Have we learned our lesson?”

“Choke on a dick and die,” he snapped back, but ended up laughing with me.

“Did I miss anything fun while I was out?” I asked with half a bagel in my mouth.

“Blaine got laid for the first time in twelve years, but besides that, no.” Deveraux said casually, which made Dad snort a huge giggle.

“And how do you know that, spaz?” Blaine shot back, though Halcyon was so red she matched Soren’s hair.

“You have such a radiant glow today…?”

“ANYWAY!” Odysseus yelled, which made our father’s cackle at Blaine’s growl of defeat, “What is our game plan now? Things should somewhat be in our favor, and if that’s the case, where do we go from here?”

The Gods all looked to one another, but Halcyon was the one to break the silence. “You all are going to spend some time in the Human Realm.” She simply said.

“Excuse em what?” Praxis scoffed.

Halcyon pulled the book Odysseus had taken behind the Gods back out from under the coffee table, and flicked through the pages wildly until she landed on the one she wanted. “I don’t mean to say this cruelly, but the Gods have all agreed it is time to take your roles in the universe seriously, and the following step in the process is for you to spend some time in the Human Realm. Every God, including myself and the other Originals has had to do this at one point, and there is no better time like the present. I know for a fact you will be perfectly safe, as I will personally ensure you are, and we will be there to monitor every step you take.”

“For how long?” Griffin scoffed, eyeing the rest of us sadly.

“Until we can prepare things for you back home.” Elizabeth said nervously.

The others began to rebel and ask a thousand questions, but I was the only one to stay completely silent. Halcyon watched me especially, reading the look on my face as she waited for me to respond. Finally, I patted Sebastian’s leg, which made him pause and the rest of the kids turn to me. “Don’t disrespect the Gods wishes.” I simply said.

“Well I’m so sorry Mister Hot-Shot Grim Reaper, but the rest of us are a bit nervous to be sent off to a Realm we’ve never spent more than a few days in alone!” He shot back.

I turned to him with a lifeless gaze, one he’d never seen from me before. “If anything that’s happened recently should stick with you, let it be this… this isn’t a game anymore, guys. We’re only going to get stronger by doing what the book says. Right now, we have no clue where the other Original Gods stand. It’s great that we have Halcyon on our side, but Pandora and Constantine were not so willing. Who’s to say the others aren’t on Pandora’s side, too? We have to prepare for this transition before it’s too late.”

“Where is, Constantine…?” Halcyon uncomfortably asked the room.

Everyone coughed awkwardly, but I sighed, not looking to her as I spoke, “I crushed his skull about a year ago.” I barked.

Her eyes widened, and I could tell she was looking at me a lot differently than before; I suddenly went from sweet kid to monster. “You, killed him? You actually killed one of them?”

“Well, after he used Sebastian and I for target practice, I thought he should get a taste of his own medicine.” I bitterly and defensively snarled.

“Oh, Nick, don’t think I meant that in an adverse way…” She closed the book and began tapping her fingers on it methodically, “It’s a good thing, in this case, that you did what you had. You are right to say that we have no clue what the other Gods shall do once they awaken, if they haven’t already. We never would have imagined Pandora would go against our plans the way she has, but now that she has, I cannot trust any of them…” her voice fell.

I stiffly turned to her with a softer, more compassionate expression, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound cross. I just, this has all happened so quickly, and none of it until now has been a positive thing. I understand that you all were good friends, but I want to protect mine as well, and Pandora and Constantine hurt Sebastian, so they needed to know we weren’t going to let that slide.” I tried to say lightly.

Halcyon scoffed, her eyes muted with pain, “Friends; I wish I could call them that.”

“What do you mean?” Blaine whispered.

She rolled her lips, smirking to herself, “I suppose we’ve been through enough at this point. I might as well give you a rundown of everything. I owe you that much.”

╪

Halcyon took a sheet of paper and broke it into seven pieces, writing the name of each element on the strips before laying them on the table before us. Her eyes were distant as she recounted her origin story, which I can tell everyone, including her own husband, was hearing for the first time. “You may think that we all came to be at the same time, but that is far from the truth. Of all the Original Gods, I am actually among the oldest, the older sibling, so to speak, though not the first by any means.

Endymion was one of the first of us, the first being of existence for this universe. Before him, the only beings to exist were the Elementals, all who lived in the Elemental Realms and never reached upon it. It was our generation who decided to break free from the cycle and create our own Realms, our own spaces to govern, and our own place to let creatures blossom and live.

Endymion was granted access to become the governing God of Death for this new universe, and told to seek out the bringer of Life so the two could begin the process of formulating their own universe. He was then placed into the universe by those above him, rather, the failed universes that they had tried to create before, where he was left to his own devices.

For some amount of time Endymion wandered the vast voids of the failed universes alone, the only living being amongst thousands upon thousands of galaxies and solar systems. He thought he had been the only being alive, but only when he found this universe did he meet his husband, Erasmus. Erasmus was the God of Life, the bringer of everything we know and love today. His universe is the one we all call home, the most prosperous, the one that actually succeeded, and the one where he intended to blossom his powers and create a beautiful family for himself. He had been placed in the same failed universes as Endymion, but instead of utilizing an old space, he created a new one to try things his own way.

Endymion was completely infatuated with Erasmus, and for years watched from afar as Erasmus created this universe. He learned that every universe he passed was one his past masters had created, trying to make the perfect one to call home, but not succeeding until the one where he and Endymion met. Endymion was always a charmer, and when the two finally did meet, Erasmus realized the thing that he was missing for all of those centuries, was love.

As soon as the two united as one, the balance of the universe came to be, and nothing but life was breathed into the atmosphere. Endymion’s element, combined with Erasmus’s, brought the peace of equal balancing to let new beings become, and elder ones pass on, and this was what helped their creation be brought to fruition.

The two chose Earth as the planet to call home, an empty canvas that Erasmus wanted to create with Endymion now that they were one. The problem was, they did not have enough power to do it alone. They turned back to their, let’s call them parents, and begged them to bless them with more Gods to help them bring prosperity to their new home.

Since their universe had been the first to not fail, their parents granted them the ability to create a single God for each element needed to bring the Earth to life, but only enough to mimic the Realm that they originally called home. Erasmus, as he was Life, set to work bringing each of us to fruition, and placed us in our respective areas of the planet until we were ready to awaken.”

“So, are Erasmus and Endymion, like, your parents?” Soren asked.

Halcyon smiled warmly, “I suppose so; there is a reason we call the Gods of Life mother or father. Erasmus and Endymion have always treated us like their children, and even called us such, so it would be correct to reference them as our parents.”

“How were you born?” Praxis cooed excitedly.

“When I awoke, I was on a pocket of land that is now known as the Pacific Ocean. Erasmus was there to greet me, and explain to me who I was, who I was meant to become rather, and where I now would preside. He named me Halcyon because the name means ‘calm justice’, and he wanted me to use my element to create one of the biggest and most important thing to Earth; the oceans. The ocean is the equalizer, the justice bringer, and he thought the name would be fitting for someone who would rule such a large portion of his home.”

“So, you were really up on the chain, huh?” I asked.

“They tended to like me,” she teased with a giggle, winking sweetly, “Now, before, when I referenced myself as the older sibling, it was because I was the first of the elements to be born. Erasmus and Endymion dubbed me their first daughter, and taught me how to control my element to perfection before I was tasked to begin creating the Earth. The other planets were what we used to learn our element, and once we were ready, we took that knowledge to our home so that no mistakes would be made when bringing it to life. Calypso came next; he’s my favorite. He is the God of Earth, and took his position very, VERY seriously. He must have reworked the configuration of the planet a thousand times; we bickered so much because of that. I was constantly having to move my oceans because he was plowing through them during a middle of the night fit!”

“You say that so casually!” Sebastian laughed.

“As casual as it sounds, it was normal to us. Each of us came to be one after another, and before long, the vision Erasmus and Endymion had for their home had come to life. During this time most of the Gods courted as well, which made things even more fun. If I had to see Calypso and Esen making out in a mountain range one more time I was going to lose it!”

“You never married anyone?” Odysseus asked.

“Nope, not a single person. I was content being alone, and since I was close to the other Gods as friends, that was enough for me. Beyond that…” she laced her hand with Blaine’s, “Since I was the odd number, I had no one. I was also one of the only Gods to want biological children. Erasmus painfully explained that because we were not created biologically ourselves we could not have children of our own without them dying. I was the only one who wanted to try, even once, so I was content to wait until I one day found my Particeps Potestatis to see if it were possible.”

“Hence why this thing exists,” I snorted, pointing to Odysseus, who blushed as his parents giggled to one another.

Halcyon beamed to her son, “He was all I thought about for centuries upon centuries. I always dreamed of having a child, even if it were just one, and when I met Blaine I felt that dream come to life. Although I did make him promise to not try until I had done as much research on the idea as possible, things happened, and we were blessed after all.”

“But how did you, die…?” Praxis tried, but when she saw Odysseus’s face contort, she pressed her lips together.

Halcyon sighed, tightening her grip on Blaine’s hand, “Odysseus became very, very ill when he was young. I knew exactly why he was dying, and the only way I would be able to save him, was to fill the missing parts of his biology. That was what the Original God’s were lacking; authentic, biologically created souls and bodies, which is why our children could never flourish. The last thing I wanted was to leave my family, but I wasn’t going to let the one thing I begged for, for millenniums die because I rushed things…”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly feel great about stealing my mother’s life.” Odysseus snapped, casting his eyes away to clench his fist.

Halcyon stood and came over to gently comb his hair back, kissing his forehead lovingly, “Do not ever blame yourself for what happened, my dear. I could never live with myself if I had lost you, and I knew your father would always be there to love you the way I have. I wouldn’t change a single thing that has happened, and now, I don’t have to. We have a chance to be together, and I promise I will never leave you again.” She tilted his face to look into his eyes seriously, “Do you understand me, Odysseus?”

“Yes, ma’am…” he whimpered before moving into her hug.

“This all is starting to make sense…” I began abruptly, which made Halcyon peer at me over Odysseus’ shoulder.

“How do you mean?”

“The Original Gods trusted you to continue living so you could meet us, and even stay on as The Water God of The Universe. You ended up giving birth to the next God of Life, the element that your ‘father’ was, who loved you the most. When you died, not only did it ensure that Odysseus would live, but it also made my prophecy come true. I resurrected you, as Endymion had told I would. They planned this, all of this. This is exactly why you never had a Particeps Potestatis, why you were the only one who wanted children, and why they wanted you to live longer than the rest.”

Blaine’s eyes widened, “He’s right, Halcyon. It all makes sense…?”

Halcyon moved to sit beside Odysseus so she could continue hugging him, but pondered my words carefully. “If so, did they know Pandora would revolt?” She questioned.

“Were all of the Originals ready to let the Successors take over when this was all announced?” Dad pressed.

“Well, as far as we knew. By the time we had trained the Second Set it was because Erasmus and Endymion had seen what was going to become of us, of their failing powers, so they set to work making the Successors right away. Their creators were the ones who told them they needed to let a new generation of Gods take over before the universe failed, thus why we were even considering giving up control.”

“Where are they all now, Halcyon? The other Gods?” Soren asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she snorted to our disbelief, “Unfortunately, when I died, I lost all of the information regarding where their souls were being kept. By lost, I mean it was erased from my memory. It was a defense mechanism that Erasmus set in place so no one could hurt the others. Luckily, I do know where to find the information, but that’s if Pandora hasn’t gotten to it first.”

“So, is Constantine, like, dead, dead? Is there a chance he can come back?” I asked.

“That, is the complicated part…” she gnawed her lip slightly with a frown, “The only way the Original Gods can truly die, is if they are killed by one of the Successors, who need to be Gods formally. While Nicodemus is going to eventually become one, he currently is not a God, and that means the damage done most likely was not permanent. I am the only other being who can kill the Original Gods at this point. His body may be gone, but his soul is still thriving, and I’m sure we’ll see him again shortly.”

“Gods damnit…” I snarled demonically.

“Trust me when I say this; you all have nothing to fear. Erasmus ensured you would be ten times more powerful than the others, it’s just a matter of getting you to that potential before you cross their paths. Pandora is an issue because not only is she awake, but she has awakened Constantine, which mean she can do it again. If she awoke him, she can get to the others I’m sure, which means their return will be premature. This will cause a lot of discourse between them, as well as make your time crunch much tighter. This is why I said that we needed to move forward sooner than later with the next stage. The only thing is… This is either a very good thing, or a very bad thing. Constantine and Pandora are obviously out of the equation, but I do not know where the others stand in terms of this transition process.”

“That’s what we’ve feared, too…” Galaxy sighed.

Halcyon spoke despondently, “They could all have changed their minds and want to put up a fight to keep the universe, but they could also be willing to help hand it over so they could rest. Knowing Erasmus he will never go back on his word, neither will Calypso or hopefully Esen; but Endymion? Endymion is a difficult creature, who wasn’t ready to let go to begin with. Pandora can easily persuade him against this, and if he switches sides, not only will we have a huge problem, but Erasmus will too. The war that will break out between them will be catastrophic. I only pray that Pandora didn’t actually awake Constantine on her own.”

“You got a fucked up family,” I snorted, which made Halcyon laugh hysterically.

“To say the least.”

“Mom, if all this is true, then you’re the only God who’s truly immortal. You were meant to be here since day one, and to continue for the rest of forever. Do you understand how important you are to this whole thing?” Odysseus croaked.

She shrugged simply with a lopsided frown, “I guess so. I don’t see anything special about this other than I’m the working mule of the group. At the same time, let’s be happy I’m on your side…” She teased, tickling his cheek to make him giggle and ease the tension.

“It would explain why you were stuck in Purgatory; your soul was never meant to cross to begin with, let alone so early in the game.” I offered. “So, where do we go from here? What should we expect from the Human Realm?” I asked with a low sigh.

“Well, your time there should be spent on becoming one with your home. Meaning, you need to practice controlling and stabilizing your elements in that Realm rather than this one. You need to connect fully to your environment, to see the balance first hand. The easiest way, is for you to venture and experience everything Earth has to offer, the good and the bad.”

“Once again, Nicodemus has an advantage over us,” Soren teased as I rolled my eyes.

“You think so, but you forget that I was blind growing up, so I’ve never seen the Human Realm for more than a few moments. I’ll be going into this as blindly as you are.”

“What if we run into one another? Are we allowed to stay together?” Praxis asked.

Elizabeth frowned a little, “Unfortunately, the chances that you find each other are slim. By all means, if you do find one another you are more than able to collaborate, but the chances aren’t likely.”

“This is a big step, and not one to take lightly. Pandora is the least of your worries, but not one to ignore. Your status as the Successors has put a huge target on the back of your heads, and if we don’t ensure you’re spot as Gods, then the fighting will only grow worse. We know how frightening this is, and that the responsibility we’re placing on your shoulders is astronomical, but this is the only way we can guarantee your safety.” Deveraux calmly yet stagnantly said.

“We have no damn clue how to be a God…!?” Soren scoffed, “How do we know where to even begin!? This isn’t exactly something we’ve been told our whole lives to prepare for?”

“That is why we are going to take the time to train you. I know the idea of separating is very painful, but you need to learn how to defend yourselves before all else.” Dad said seriously. The energy surrounding the Gods grew ominous, and all of them refused to look at us. Dad’s hands had begun shaking, which made each of us coil closer in horror.

“Dad...?” I whispered.

“I'm sorry, Nicodemus…” He choked, flashing black eyes.

End of Book One