‘Am I imaging things or is this really happening?’ He thought to himself. He recalled only moments ago when he yelled at the heavens in vicious anger. He didn’t really blame the heavens for their machinations, no one believed in the Gods anymore, at least not on this planet. He was just venting his pain and frustration.
He looked over to his granddaughter’s grave before coming to his senses, “It’s not Gods. There is no such thing as Gods in this world.”
“But what’s going on? Why are they fighting? Why am I seeing these things?” He had so many questions but no one there to answer them. But that undeniable feeling of prostrating himself in worship before these figures ran through his body like electricity.
‘Am I losing my mind? That would make sense.’ He consoled himself as he reasoned it out.
The shadows fought back and forth as they exchanged blows, one after another. The sound of ferocious roaring echoed and spread over tens and thousands of miles, each word was spoken in thunder but was barely audible. Lightning crackled and flames flew through the sky as the two powerful forces tangled within the storm.
Boom
Something broke through the sound barrier and a ball of fire descended from the sky. It burnt brilliantly and flew with unimaginable speed, flying straight towards old man Jericho. “It’s..It’s coming right this way.”
He panicked as he raised his hands and ducked down in his hole. The fire continued to fall without any reservation for the destruction it would bring. It continued on without showing any signs of stopping. The fire was followed by a roar that spewed out from the very Heavens themselves.
“Ambrosia!”
That loud shout was so incredibly powerful and loud that the trees were nearly ripped from the ground. It instantly shattered Jericho’s eardrums as he started bleeding from the seven orifices of his head. If he wasn’t inside his grave right now he would have been blown away by the wind and possibly died instantly.
“Dream.. This is definitely not a dream.” He said this out loud but then realized that he couldn’t hear himself; his ears were ringing like a train was smashing into his head. He fell to the ground in pain as he held his bleeding ears.
The flaming ball of fire continued to whoosh through the air until… Boom
It made impact, sending a shockwave that spread across the province. The giant crater created a pit of molten lava which stopped less than 5 meters away from Jericho’s grave. Following that impact, a rumbling sound spread through the earth. It was soft at first but quickly intensified as the ground started shaking madly.
Jericho saw his granddaughter’s grave breaking apart. He lashed his tongue out once again. “You take everything from me, and now you won’t let her soul rest in peace!” He coughed up another mouthful of blood. He had temporarily lost his hearing but he knew if the Gods really did exist then they would understand his babbling, anger and frustration. He didn’t stop there as he continued to curse and throw vulgarities at the sky.
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Under his feet he felt something growing, he jumped out of the way as a palm tree grew at incredible speed from where he was just standing. It shot high into the sky, reaching a height of 30 meters in an instant. From the molten lava crater grew even more palm trees. These ones were hundreds if not thousands of times larger and shot high into the sky, creating a giant city of palm trees.
As he looked towards his Granddaughters grave it no longer existed. But as he looked at the palm tree that now stood there in its place he opened his eyes wide in shock. In the center of the palm tree he could see her face; she had fused with the trees. Her face was carved into the tree trunk, peacefully resting.
His tears flowed nonstop as he kissed the tree bark. “It’s okay my child. It’s okay. The Gods have called you home now. They have called you home.”
He looked to the center of the trees where the heavenly flame crashed down and caused the giant explosion. He slowly stumbled forward as he cautiously approached. The lava was now gone, either absorbed by the trees or sunk back into the earth. The crater was now covered by trees but there was still a small swirling fire that he could see in the distance.
He walked for a bit but it didn’t take him long to reach the spot where the flame was. Inside the center of the flame he found a little girl with strawberry blonde hair. The fire spread around her and lightning crackled softly.
The palm trees started to bend and lean towards her direction, it looked like they were bowing down before her like she was their God.
“Hah”…She took her first breath and the flame and lightning that crackled around her disappeared. She slowly opened her eyes and a dark red glow radiated from them before settling down and forming a pink eye tint. Her eyes danced with green lightning and pink fire.
The little baby started to cry softly, “uuuu”. She reached her hands out towards Jericho.
‘The h..heavens couldn’t return my granddaughter because her time had come. But…But they gave me their own child to care for, the child of a God… To fill the void of my loss, they gave me their own child to look after. To love and to cherish.’ His tears had fallen endlessly today and they still continued to fall.
He picked her up slowly, slightly afraid of her power. “Ambrosia…The Gods have given you your name. Who am I change it? Ambrosia, that is your name. Ambrosia the elixir of life, a name truly fit for an Immortal God.”
He continued through the forest before he came to the palm tree which had immortalized his own granddaughter and took a deep breath and let out a sad sigh. Ambrosia reached towards the tree but couldn’t reach it, so Jericho lifted her up to give her a better look at his dead granddaughter in the palm tree.
She reached out towards the tree, trying to touch it.
“Okay then, if you want to touch.”
She reached out her fingers and rubbed the tree bark. The lightning and fire that danced in her eyes shot out and entered the palm tree. The tree started changing and the face that was there changed into her own. Her own face changed into the one that was on the tree and the face of Ambrosia changed into the one of his granddaughters.
He held her up, looking at her face. No matter which way he looked at it he couldn’t get a hold of himself. She now looked exactly like his dead granddaughter. The only difference was her pink eyes and her strawberry blonde hair. But as he looked closer he noticed that the lightning and fire inside her eyes was non-existent. Is this what they call the Kenosis of a God? The renunciation of your divinity in order to become a human.
‘The heavens really have, taken pity on a wretch like me.’