Chapter Twenty:
The Wrath of the Gods
Nicodemus
The following day Sebastian and I were coming back from the corner store, and I was swinging a grocery bag at my side casually. Akira hopped along the cracks in the pavement cheerfully, his tail up and the tip wagging to match his good mood. I was grateful to have such a happy companion at my side since he did admittedly lift my mood, and I felt much safer with him as well. Sebastian and I walked down the bridge that was built above Halcyon lake, tossing pebbles across the crystal water to see how far they could go. I stuffed my hand in my pocket and leaned against the rail when he stopped to survey some moss collecting around the stilts in the lake. “Healthy, for now. I’ll have to come back Saturday after the storm to make sure they don’t drown.”
“Whatever you say, Mother Nature,” I chuckled, which made him roll his eyes playfully.
“You can keep the tude’ to yourself, feisty pants. I gotta head home anyway; stay out of trouble!” He called, waving over his shoulder before continuing down the bridge. I followed him until we split at the fork, where he headed down the walkway towards town, and I took the path through the forest back towards my house. My phone rang as I kicked stones on the path; I pulled it from my jacket with a deep sigh, “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” I hesitantly brought the phone to my ear, fronting as much enthusiasm as I could. “Kon'nichiwa?” I joked lightly.
Dad chuckled hoarsely, “I think I’ve had enough of Japan, don’t you?”
“I heard the weather was just fabulous this time of year?” We both giggled for a moment, and I couldn’t help but smirk, “You feeling any better, oldie?”
“I guess so. Your mother is Gehenna bent on making me drink as much chicken broth as the world can produce, but it’s better than an I.V.” He paused, his voice softening, “Nick, I’m sorry for what I said to you, and about how I reacted to everything.”
I shifted on my leg, hugging myself, “I’m sorry too; I was completely disrespectful…”
“I’ve called Galaxy worse,” he chuckled lightly, “When you get home, I want to sit down and have a real talk, just you and me. I owe it to you at this point. I can’t keep you in the dark forever, and it’s not right to hold answers to your questions after what happened in Japan…”
“Well, I’d like that too. Don’t worry about it for now, though. I’ll be home soon; Sebby and I stopped to grab some snacks from the store before heading back from training.”
“Did you get anything good?” He asked, with the sound of typing echoing in the background. Of course he’d still be working even after what happened the other day.
“I got a honey bun and iced tea, the usual. Feels nice to go for a walk again.”
“I'm sure. How is Akira doing? He seemed pretty cheerful the last time I saw him?” I went to look down to Akira, but saw that he was trembling violently, his tail between his legs. He let out tortured little cries and sunk closer to my side, looking up at me with eyes full of pure terror. Dad grew impatient by my silence, “Nick? You ok, buddy?”
Akira’s legs were splayed slightly, and his muzzle was ripped back to reveal a row of menacing teeth. He was snarling in his true demonic tone, a sound that sent shivers up my spine. “Something is wrong with Akira…” I mumbled to my Shadows before the air grew dense. Akira viciously barked at the tree line, snapping his jaws with the fur on his back standing straight up.
My Shadows instantly threw up their weapons and stood in a circle around me, their eyes dead set on the trees that seemed to be swallowing us faster and faster by the second.
{More like who it is.} May added.
Dad paused what he was doing to question my silence, but the phone fell from my hand, hitting the ground so hard that the screen shattered. When I turned around the store behind us was completely gone, as was the rest of the town I had just walked from. An array of thick walls of fire encircled the field I was standing in, and though I could hear Dad screaming my name through the mangled phone, I couldn’t bring myself to move. The heat coming from the walls was so intense that it made sweat pour down my temple, but I didn’t let that distract me. “Who would have thought we’d be asked to collect the next ruler of the universe…?” A voice called through the air. I whipped my scythe out and spun it round, bracing myself as a shape came out from the tree line. “Nicodemus Crawford, in the flesh. There’s quite the price on your head, little boy, a price that could make many of us comfortable.”
“Who are you…?” I hissed.
The figure became that of a young man, with sharp red eyes and a sadistic smile. He slid his hands into his pockets and leaned on one leg casually, “I'm you’re new mentor!” He sang.
I went to speak, but a violent wind current ripped through the field and swallowed me whole, hurling me from the center of my Shadow’s circle and threw the air. I slammed to the ground and bounced a few times before I tried to crawl away to catch my bearings, but someone grabbed my leg and ripped me backwards into the swirling wind again. The boy from earlier conjured an array of fire warriors that overtook the field, surrounding my Shadows to try and keep them from coming to my aid… but they weren’t letting that happen. Jackson slammed his hammer into the wall the boy had conjured, May and Alice swallowed up as many of the fire warriors as they possible could, and Claude conjured a storm that he was trying to shock the boy to death with.
A violent pulse erupted through the field, and through the whirling wind, I saw Dad was slamming his giant scythe into the boy’s face, his eyes blacker than the night. “You are not taking my son from me!” He yelled in Grim’s voice. The sound of a thousand moans erupted, and a shock of black smoke clouded the air. Dad’s Shadows rushed to join my own, their heads bobbing through the crowd as they tried to locate me.
“Get the kid before Grim conjures a Bladedance!” A girl cried from behind me. I violently whipped in her arms, trying to bite and punch her as many times as I could. She yelped and called out for someone, and a moment later, a violent burst of electricity pulsed through my back and throughout my body. I violently trembled and cried out in pain, my head falling slack when the current finally cut off.
Before I knew it, a vial was injected into me, which made me croak an unholy sound. Claude gasped in horror before he dissipated into nothingness, which made Alice scream once before she was next, and May and Jackson followed. “Nicodemus...! NICODEMUS...?!” My father screamed bloody murder. By the time he was able to finish the crowd of fire warriors, the two boys, girl, and I were all gone, making him fall to his knees and scream in pure agony; a sound that would shake the academy to the core.
╪
When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in a heavy oak chair. My wrists and ankles were cuffed to the wood, and my body was completely frozen. Only my eyes could move, and they flicked back and forth in utter horror. The sound of heels echoed through the room before a cold finger ran across the back of my neck and me whimper. “It took a long time for me to find you, young Death Elemental…” a voice breathed. Another finger began to slip through my hair, twisting the ends as the woman spoke, “I have had quite the time breaking through your father’s protection charms, but your spectacle with the Gashadokuro weakened him just enough for us to finally slide by. What a waste, having you learn such remedial things. The power…” She inhaled deeply, sliding a hand around my neck and clasping it tightly, “It radiates from you. What an incredible specimen Endymion has created...”
A door behind us slid open, “This is him? You sure you grabbed the right kid?”
“You saw him kill the Gashadokuro, Constantine; of course it’s him.” The woman snapped, letting go of my neck to turn and glare at the man behind us. Her face, what little of it I could see in the dim light, was as fresh and fragile as any other Elemental, and her eyes buzzed the same violent yellow that Griffin and Galaxy had.
Constantine scoffed and shrugged lamely, “Just being cautious is all, honey.”
The room was bitterly cold, and my teeth chattered despite how hard I tried to wire my mouth shut. The woman turned back to me, her eyes burning holes in my soul as she pinched either side of my face. “I’m sorry for the deplorable conditions you're in, but it's just precautionary in case your Shadows attack.”
Constantine came around the chair and knelt in front of me, pursuing his lips as he tilted my face up. “How old is he? Seventeen? Is he even old enough for this?” He asked quizzically.
The woman shrugged, “You read the book, did you not?”
“You’re the one who knows everything.”
“Some help you are,” she sniffed, snapping her fingers. I gasped violently as I felt my muscles loosen, enough for me to be able to catch my breath and move my head. “It’s good to see you know how to respect your elders, boy.”
“Hardly,” I sniffed.
“You truly are so much like your father. Stupid and stubborn, yet extremely powerful.”
“Don’t talk about my father that way,” I hissed.
She let out a coy laugh, “Why not, it’s true isn’t it? The Grim Reaper, ha. He’s such a weakling. Endymion would get quite the kick out of watching Atlas be pulverized by a demon,” my anger boiled as she chuckled in delight. “He can’t even protect his own son. The almighty Atlas Crawford… more like the almighty loser. And now where is he? Rotting away under Galaxy’s shadow?” I spit right in her face, which made her pause and stand over me with a menacing glare.
{Nick! No!} May cried murkily within my head.
The woman held her cheek, her eyes wide with disbelief. She brought a napkin up and wiped the spit away, then remained quiet for a moment longer. She burst out laughing abruptly, causing me to blink in shock, “Looks like you're not as worthless as I thought, Crawford.” I stayed quiet as she sat across from me and delicately fingered for a cigarette that she slipped between her lips. “Glad to see I’m not wasting my time with you.”
“Why am I here?” I snarled.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
“Can I counter your question? Why do you think that you’re here?” She asked, gesturing to me with the cigarette. She flicked ash at me as she did this.
I winced at the burn from the ash, “Don’t play games with me.”
“Surely we have plenty of time to? Sebastian should be joining us shortly, and I wouldn’t want him to miss out on the fun!”
“Don’t lay a hand on him!” I yelled, lurching forward.
She held her hand up lamely, which made me snap back into the seat as a violent ripple of electricity strangled my intestines. The pain was absolutely agonizing, and made me immobile for a good few seconds. The sounds I made were inaudible, and even when she stopped, sparks were popping from my eyes and lips for a few moments after. “Down, puppy, down; let’s not get ourselves into trouble. You, my friend, are more powerful than anyone at Valyce knows. Each of you and your little friends is extremely special. I would know, I had a hand in making sure you would be.” She took a long drag before blowing the ring at me, “It’s obvious you don’t know who I am, so we should start from there.” She died out her cigarette and stood, rounding my chair, “I'm honestly offended you’ve never heard my name, considering Claude wouldn’t exist had I not kept our element alive, let alone created it.”
My blood ran so cold that it made my spine tingle, “What do you…?”
“What your parents call themselves, and what I rightfully am, are very opposite. They currently may hold the title of God, but I, Nicodemus Crawford, am one of The Originals. I am Pandora, the first God of Electricity.” My stomach twisted as she brought her finger up from under my chin to poke my nose, “And you, my darling, are the key to my biggest problem.”
“You’re fucking insane…?” I stammered unsurely.
She slammed her fist onto the arm of the chair, then grabbed my throat and pinned my head back. I choked off before she slowly loosened her grip. “It’s too bad you're such a little brat. I lose faith in your abilities more and more by the second. Gods know what Endymion sees in you...” I jerked my face away in disgust as she looked over her shoulder, “Constantine, deliver our rebel to his room for the remainder of the night? I’ll call for Fagan and ask he join me on the surface. This boy needs to prove his worthiness before I let him anywhere near the others.”
Constantine unlatched the numerous chains wrapped around me before grabbing my still bound hands and dragging me up from my chair. Pandora waved casually, puffing her second cigarette, as I kicked wildly and tried to break loose from Constantine’s grip. He opened the door to a room just down the hall from where they had me prior and tossed me onto an old rug. I bounced across it twice before coughing and twitching in pain. “Do yourself a favor and keep your mouth shut, it’ll keep you alive longer.” He spat before slamming the door shut.
Somewhere behind me I heard a rustle, and a gasp echo in the silence. “Nicodemus...? Oh my Gods!” Sebastian raced across the room and tried to turn me over, tears racing down his face at my bruised complexion, “Nick, can you hear me? Nick!?”
His face was foggy when I focused on him, “Sebby…? What are you… How did…?”
He sighed in relief and hugged me close, pulling me up into his arms and going into the bedroom, where he locked the door. “Ambushed me in the field the same time they grabbed you; I woke up in here a little while ago. Nick, where are we? Who is that woman…?”
Sebastian unwound my wrists so I could hold my throbbing head. My words were twisted as I spoke, as I was still under that mystery serum they had injected in me prior. “She’s a God, the Original God of Electricity. She keeps saying that we’re pieces to her puzzle, but I have no clue what she’s talking about…?”
“The Original Gods are still alive…? They were supposed to have died centuries ago…?” He mumbled mostly to himself.
“I don’t know, but she keeps telling me I’m some, thing, for Endymion, but I have no clue who he is. They called me the next ruler of the universe?”
“I, I don’t know… I don’t know any of the names they keep saying…” Sebastian paused, and his eyes widened in horror, “If they’re truly the Original Gods… What the fuck are they going to do with us?” He croaked morosely.
╪
Pandora walked across the field and delicately sat on a chair made of electric currents, her eyes glowing against the murky grey sky. Fagan, her son come to find out, latched a collar around my neck and ripped it backwards, dragging me through the mud until I was at Pandora’s side. She sipped her tea calmly, then looked down to smile, “Good morning, sleep well?” I stayed completely silent, which made her snort before turning back to the dense fog surrounding the field, “Conjure your weapon. I want to see what I'm working with here.”
Fagan kicked my side as a reminder to do what I was told, and instead of arguing, I stiffly rose and held my arm out. The air pulsed wickedly, and a moment later my scythe began to materialize in my palm. The weapon was always my pride and joy; it had an old, withered skull with onyx stones pressed into the long black handle. The beautiful midnight black blade shimmered under the ghostly glow of the muted sun, and made Pandora’s eyes widen in awe.
“The scythe of the Fifth Dimension. It’s over seventeen thousand years old, and used by only the most elite Death Elementals. I don’t think I’ve seen it for seven thousand years. I presume Endymion left it for you. Now, summon your Shadows, and don’t try pulling anything. That chain will seize your heart the moment you attack anyone.” I sighed and closed my eyes, softly beckoning to the air for them to join me. In a brief flash of smoke all four Shadows appeared, standing with hard glares before Pandora and Fagan.
Pandora walked forward to better survey each shadow. “So the rumors are true... you truly have four Shadows? How amazing...” She sang.
“What can you do with them?” Fagan barked.
“Not much,” I numbly lied.
“Well then, let’s start with a Bladedance.”
“You’re going to kill him before we have the chance to use him!” Pandora breathed.
“He’s never going to outshine Grim without pushing himself. Trust me, he’ll be fine,” Fagan hissed in return confidently. “Let’s begin. Conjure a spirit ring.” I stepped back and opened my arms, lifting from the ground slightly. A white ring appeared at my feet, and the symbols for summoning energy from the Shadow Realm appeared. “Maybe you are worth the trouble. Now, hold the scythe at a 90-degree angle…” I did as I was told, waiting, “When I tell you, force your energy into it, and begin summoning the dead.”
“Yes sir,” I whispered sarcastically.
“Now!” My scythe hummed to life as the wind began to pick up. I closed my eyes, and when they opened, a flash of power echoed through the field. The scythe vibrated violently as the ground turned black, beginning to crumble just as it did the day Dad used this spell in Japan. “Yes, yes! keep it up kid!” Fagan cried excitedly, his eyes blood red with hunger. I began trying to summon the dead, but in an instant a sharp pain smacked into my chest, and I snapped back as a large streak of blood shot from my lips.
My scythe bounced metallically across the ground, hissing as I choked violently for air. “Shit, I knew that was coming!” Constantine laid me back and put his hands on my chest, hitting it once. Air slammed through me, and the blood finished coming up and began letting me breath again. I fell on my side and hacked wildly, my lungs screaming as I tried to shake the pain away.
“Come on, let’s go again,” Fagan snapped.
“What!?” I bawled.
“Did I stutter!? Let’s go!” I stiffly grabbed my scythe and dragged myself upright, hoping the next time I tried the spell that it would kill me.
╪
“To think someone so strong would crumble so easily,” Fagan sighed as Constantine dragged Sebastian across the field hours later. Sebastian cried out when he saw me lying still in a pool of my own blood, twitching violently. My hair, which was frozen white at this point, was soaked red, and my eyes glossy in the reflection of the substance I was left in. Fagan let go of Sebastian for a moment so he could run over and lay his hands on my back, cringing violently when he knelt down in the blood. The horror that ensnared his soul the moment his knees hit the substance would scar him for the rest of his days. “Let this be a warning to you, Sebastian, that this is no game. You were made to fulfill a prophecy, to continue a legacy. We will not tolerate failure, let alone insolence.” Pandora spoke softly.
“What have you done?” He whimpered, shakily moving a hand through my blood soaked hair to see if he could find my pulse.
Fagan yanked the chain around Sebastian backwards, ripping him across the ground back to his side. “Your friend will live if he is strong enough, but he is no concern to you anymore. You are to do exactly as we say when we say it, and there is no exception to that whatsoever. I would hope for your sake you understand the position you are in, and do not follow in his footsteps.”
“You’re monsters…?” Sebastian stammered through trembling lips.
Pandora slowly stood and walked through the dead grass, passing Sebastian, who winced as she did. When he realized where she was going, he cried out and tried to lurch forward, but Fagan violently ripped him backwards and made him choke off. Pandora plucked the back of my shirt up and slowly dragged me to my knees, smirking at the way I slumped forward lifelessly. She became annoyed by my lack of response and grabbed my hair, wrenching my head back so Sebastian could see my battered face. “We are not monsters, Sebastian, just impatient. Years… years we waited for Atlas to slip and reveal the existence of the last child we needed, and now that he has, we can finally bring the others back.”
“The others?” Sebastian whispered.
Pandora’s face softened, yet her grip on my hair did not, “You think we mean to kill you, but you have no clue. Erasmus wanted to see you take our place, but I’d much rather use you as hosts…” She gestured towards me, “We made you perfect, absolutely impenetrable beings, worthy to carry us for centuries to come. The waste it would be to not take advantage of your impeccable shells is mind-numbingly ridiculous. This child, this… this glorious boy, is the secret to our success. He will bring us to life, bring him back to life, so we can awaken our full potential. We can finally rid ourselves of Erasmus’s weak forms and become immortal.”
“This makes no sense?!” Sebastian shook his head wildly, “What prophecy!?”
Pandora chuckled to herself darkly, “I suppose it’s time for a history lesson.” She nodded to the muted sky above us, “Thousands of years ago, the Original Gods’ powers were failing us, as happens to Elementals after a certain amount of time. Erasmus, the Original God of Life, decided that we should use the last of our powers to create Successors, Elementals meant to surpass us by leaps and bounds. We were not all in agreement of this; I for one did not want to waste what little power I had left on some twerps, but Erasmus convinced us nonetheless.”
“Those children were meant to become the Gods to rule all Gods; the most powerful Elementals to exist, who’s powers would never fail, thus allowing them to rule the universe for forever.” Constantine ground his teeth, “We decided we were not ready to give up power yet, so we decided to change the game plan. If we could use you as hosts, we would reclaim our long lost powers and become unstoppable once more. We have been searching for our Successors for quite some time. We needed Nicodemus to pass his final test and prove he, too, was a Successor. Now that he has, we can have him fulfill his duty, and resurrect the other Original Gods.”
“So you want our bodies, our powers, and nothing more? To use us as puppets!?” Sebastian hissed, “You want to drain us of everything we’re made of, then destroy the world around you?!”
“Co-exist is a better term…” Pandora dropped me like a bag, and wiped some blood off on a cloth from her dress pocket, “Constantine and I, we were not the lucky ones. We were expelled from our slumber to seek out the souls of the other Gods, and to wait for the proper time to bring them to fruition. We may not know where their souls are yet, but with time, we will track them down. We were to prepare for when you were all born, and here you are. Now, it is time you held your end of the bargain.”
Sebastian tensed up, “And what if we don’t? You said yourself you made us all powerful, so who’s to say we cannot outshine, outlive, you? Why would we give up our body and soul to preserve your wretched existence…?”
Pandora leaned down and tilted his chin up, smiling so darkly that Sebastian shivered, “Because you are nothing without us. Your entire lives have been crafted to our liking. We are your creators, and you will repay us for your existence properly, as good puppets should.”
Sebastian ripped his face free, “You’ll pay for this, you sick bitch.”
She shrugged lamely, “It’s a risk I’m willing to take. You know nothing of your true potential, so if we can stop you from reaching it now, our plans will come to fruition naturally.” She nodded to me, where I laid limp on the ground, “Nicodemus Crawford will help us find the souls of the other Gods, and you, Sebastian Montgomery, will rework the Earth to our liking.” Pandora laughed to herself and began to draw shapes into the air, “I was thinking about a grand castle, somewhere off the coast of Australia. The continent should be big enough for you to make a grand structure for us!”
“Rot in Gehenna!”
Pandora paused, and turned to Sebastian with pure yellow eyes. “I’ve been there, my friend, and I am not going back.” She snarled before hitting him with her staff.