Chapter 19

Who are you

                As Mecha and I walked down through the city I glanced at him, he seemed to move with a confidence that spoke of authority and position.  The old fellow who ran an orphanage was there but looking at him now I realized that person was a mask for Mecha and that I was now seeing the real man behind the mask.

                This made me uncomfortable as the last person I had trusted and thought of as a friend was Archon and he had betrayed me.  As I thought of that I realized that I would not have time to deal with him if I were to leave the city in three days.

                “Mecha,” I said.  “You have assumed that I would be free to leave the city for you and the King.  What makes you think that this will work out for me?” 

                Without stopping Mecha replied in a confident voice, “You will leave the city and travel to the Dwarves Kingdom for several reasons.  First it is the next step in your training, second, the King has commanded it, and thirdly the life’s of thousands of people depend on you doing this.”

                As we continued to walk I thought of what he said.  I did need to continue my training as a thief, and while I could care less what the King wanted I could understand what the impact of a war would mean for both me and all the NPC and players that would be affected.  The players would respawn, the NPC would not.  To me, the NPC were as important as the players.

                I could live with waiting for my revenge on Archon and Reona, and the Eldest was currently being held captive in the real world by the government.  This journey would help me deal with the Banhammer problem.  It did tie in with what I wanted to accomplish.  Also, I had to admit I was eager to see more of this world, I had never really left the area of the city if you did not count my journeys to other realms. 

                I nodded at Mecha and spoke, “All right, I will go I will meet you at the orphanage in a day’s time.  Meanwhile, I have to attend to my business.”  With that I turned and began to walk towards the overlook, I needed to get to my cabin and speak with Komhether and Sebastian.  As I walked into the mist I noted the closer I got to the overlook the fresher the breeze was, coming off the ocean.

                It seemed strange that the wind was not blowing the mist away, it was almost magical.  As soon as I thought that I stopped.  Activating Shadows, I began to look at my map, checking for an enemy.  I may be overcautious but I was playing with the big boys here and knew that they would do whatever they could to trap me. 

                The Government wanted me, and both Archon and Reona would go crazy if they knew I was back Ingame.  If the King realized I was Tor I would never leave his dungeons, plus the little Shit would kill whoever he had to if he could get his hands on me.  The other thing was being an Ascendant, I was on the firing line if another God or Demigod were to capture me and they had made it into this realm once, so I had to believe they could do so again.

                The question was could they somehow track me; I knew nothing of the powers that other Gods or demigods had.  I would have to be careful and leaving the city was starting to look like a smart idea.

No red dots appeared on my map but I was not reassured by that, it was programmed to identify players and NPC, not Gods or demigods.  Still, I felt I was safe or at least as safe as I could be.  Making my way in the Shadows and drifting through the mist I finally came to the overlook, passing the Pub and the amphitheater I continued on towards the derelict cable car building.

                Once there I decided to wait, hunkering down on the platform I looked out over the city, it had an ethereal beauty with the lights shining dimly through the mists.  I would miss it I thought as I glanced up at the higher tiers.  A voice suddenly spoke to me and said, “It is a pretty little city, not Mount Olympus but nice.”

                Turning slowly, I saw standing beside me a woman of unearthly beauty and power.  My eyes must have widened and perhaps I gasped.  She just looked at me and gave me a wink.  Then she said, “Let's get to know one another, you are Torn, but you are also Tor.  Recently you have Ascended to become a demigod.  Interestingly you are also a demon Prince and a Dragon.”

                My voice finally managed to work and I asked, “Who are you and how did you find me?” 

                “My name is Nyx and who I am, I am the Goddess of Night.  As for how I found you, it is not hard for a Goddess to locate a demigod.  Now if you would please tell me how you became a demigod, all of Olympus is talking about it but no one knows who or what you are.”

                As I listened to her I realized that she was looking at me strangely and had moved even closer to me till we were face to face mere centimeters apart.  Staring into her eyes I smiled as I realized what was happening, she was feeling the attraction of the succubae.  Having a Goddess wanting to have sex might be a problem.  Still, I had read I should ally myself with a powerful God and this Goddess had to have power, if I remembered my ancient history, even Zeus was cautious around her.

                I began by saying, “You are correct in your knowledge, I was Tor and now I am  Torn.  I am a demon Prince through combat and I am a half dragon.  As to how I ascended, this is the tale.”  Once I finished speaking Nyx was silent for a moment and then nodded.

                “Your tale has the truth in it, of that there is no doubt.  A fortunate occurrence for you, to have become a demigod like that.  Most are born from mortal women and deceiving Gods.  Still, it matters not how you have become Ascendent but what you will do now.”

                Looking at Nyx I spoke slowly, “What can I do Goddess of Night, I have no idea what my powers are nor do I know how to level up as a demigod.  In this realm, I am on a mission of importance for the King of this city in an attempt to ward off a war, and I am on a personal vendetta against several people.”

                Smiling at me Nyx said, “You will be summoned to Olympus as Zeus Odin and Shiva will want to meet the newest demigod and take your measure.  Once you have entered the realm of the Gods your powers will awaken, what they will be I don’t know.  At the court of the Gods, you will be subject to much interest and many will seek to manipulate you to joining their  causes.  You would do will to not bother, it never ends and well trap you on Olympus during the time you should be out leveling.”

                Suddenly Nyx grabbed me and kissed me then with a sigh said, I have not felt such desire for the flesh in eons, Torn, you have awakened my interest if you accept my blessing I will shelter you from the Pantheon of Gods,  in return, I ask that you allow for temples for me to be built in the lands that you will claim as yours, what do you say?”

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                I looked deep into her eyes and then I kissed her, then gently pulling away from her I said, “I give you my word that I will allow your temples to flourish on what I can claim and that I will accept your blessing.” 

With that, Nyx raised her hands to my face and gently cupping my cheeks she spoke.  “I bless thee and ask that you call upon myself in your times of need and to receive my patronage, you will always be welcome in the house of Nyx.”  With that, she kissed me and then disappeared.

                I sat down on the steps still smelling her scent and feeling a crackling in my nerves.  It would seem that I had found my patron in the Pantheon of Gods.  I just had not expected her to be smoking hot and wildly attractive.  I was not complaining, it was just unexpected. 

                Standing up I realized that I felt full of energy and with a flick of my fingers I transformed, much to my surprise I did not feel hungry or tired at all, I still had more energy than I know what to do with.  With a jump, I lifted off and climbed quickly through the mists finally turning towards the island and gliding across the sea.  Once I reached the Island I circled the mountain twice and finally landed beside the small lake.  Transforming back to Elf as I walked towards the cabin I wondered at the fact it seemed to take no energy unlike before.

              Knocking at the door I cried out, “Torn calling, may I come in.”  As the door opened I saw both Sebastian and Komhether standing in the room looking at me with shocked expressions.  I nodded and smiled at them and then did a double take as they both got down on their knees and prostrated themselves before me.

            “What the hell, get up guys what do you think you are doing?”  I asked in amazement.  Reaching out I grabbed them both by the upper arms and pulled lifting them far easier than I should have been able to.

              I looked at them and then asked, “What, what is it, why are you two acting so strange?  Tell me, guys, because I have to tell you this is starting to worry me, I need to know that you two are alright.”  As I looked at them Komhether shared a look with Sebastian and then smiled at me. 

              Taking a breath he began to speak, “We are giving you the honor that all higher beings get Tor, for it is plain that you have somehow become a demigod and both angels and demons will be able to see that by looking at you, your soul has changed and you are far more than you were.”

              I nodded and asked, “Is there anything else that I should know, can anyone else see the changes, is there any way I can disguise my nature and what the hell can a demigod do that I could not?”

              Sebastian answered, “A demigod is more than a mortal but not fully a God, he has attributes from both, but his Godlike nature is much stronger than his mortal nature.  As for what you can do to hide it, nothing can be done, Angels, demons, priests, monks, and a few others touched by the Gods will be able to see what you really are.  As for what can you do now as opposed to when you were merely a mortal half dragon.  That is unclear, the power of the Gods manifests itself in many ways, it will develop with time.”

            “Sebastian continued, “Without someone to help guide you it will be doubtful that you will ever reach your full potential.  But you being you anything is possible.  You can disguise yourself to the general population by not performing any miracle or acts that clearly only a higher being could do.  My advice is to just be yourself and if someone recognizes you as a demigod command then to not speak of it.  Your words have authority.”

              “Now if you would tell please, how the hell did you become a demigod?”  Sebastian's voice rose an octave as he spoke.

Sit back, guys and light a smoke this might take a while.  Then I began to speak, first telling of how time stopped then placing the book in the little Shits lap.  Seeing the fight of the Gods and wandering over there to examine what I had seen.  Waking up and feeling different, learning who the leader of the thieves is, and meeting the King.  I talked of how I was being sent out as the Kings spy and lastly of meeting Nyx and receiving her blessing.  I also mentioned that my transformation ability seemingly had no cost to it now.

             When all was said we sat in silence for a minute then I turned to Komhether and asked, “In this realm are there any demigods and if so what powers do they have?

              Komhether looked to the fireplace and nodded then turning to me he began, “There were few demigods in this realm, the Gods here were a jealous and fickle lot.  Sure they would lay down with the mortal women, but if the woman became with the child the God would have her killed.  The Gods here were dicks.”

              Damn that was harsh, I knew that the Gods here had been dickheads but to have an innocent woman and baby killed.  I was suddenly glad I had imprisoned the lot of them for eternity, I hope they would rot in that stone ball I had placed them in.  Glancing at Komhether I gathered he felt the same.  The Gods had not been nice to him.

            “Do you have any knowledge that might help me Komhether?  Anything would be good, I hate the thought of my life changing and I have no control or knowledge of how it will work out.  For me, that might be a recipe for disaster.”  As I spoke I realized once again the truth in my words.  I needed an edge anything that would give me an advantage.

            Komhether nodded, “On your journey to the Dwarven Kingdom, you will pass through several towns and villages, any that have Seers are worth stopping at and visiting the Seers.  The speak in riddles but they can be useful.  Other than that I am sorry my Prince I have nothing.”

             I smiled at the two of them, my friends ingame.  They meant a lot to me and I hoped that they would be safe during my absence.  I looked around at the cabin they had built for me, it was a home, but not mine.  It was the home these two deserved. 

            “Guys while I am gone I want you to keep on living here and working on the cabin, make this our home and make it secure.  If war is coming I want to not have my home destroyed and my friends hurt.”  Suddenly overcome with emotion I grabbed both of them and gave them a hug,  then without thinking I said, “Be blessed with peace and happiness.  May this home be a place of health, safety, and comfort.”

            Suddenly a window opened up in my interface and I read.

The Blessing of Tor

This home is now sacred ground and all who find a way to this island will receive plus 25 percent to healing and have their spirit restored.

               Damn that is a heck of a buff I thought as both Sebastian and Komhether congratulated me on my first act as a demigod.