Ken had been sitting in the bathtub long enough that it was tepid when his brain started working again all at once.

His phone battery exploded because mana somehow overloaded the battery (but why didn’t it do that the first time he teleported from the hospital?).

The ambulance was still in gear when he’d put the driver to sleep and he was so busy getting out of the bed that he didn’t notice it slowly accelerating back onto the highway.

Ken didn’t know what he was going to do now. He felt like he was in two worlds at the same time. In one of them he was a nerd who was trying to survive the apocalypse and in another he was incredibly powerful, but everything he did seemed to go sour. On one hand he could see that he had been making mistakes, but it just felt… wrong somehow. Life didn’t have it out for him before, but now it seemed to.

Ken opened his 3rd eye to look around himself and see the different layers of reality. Nothing much seemed to be there until he found this one dark layer and in that layer he was surrounded by creatures of pain, loss, blood and more. They seemed happy and smug somehow. When they noticed him looking at them they seemed happy and almost welcoming.

Praise to the Giver of Sustenance! One thought at him.

??? Ken thought back.

Pain, sadness, hurt and death are food. You make much. Praise to you! It replied as other around noticed him and made motions which seemed welcoming and happy.

I have a demonic fan club of death eaters? Ken thought to himself. What does that say about me?

We help you! We give you opportunities! We-

Ken shifted his sight so he couldn’t see them anymore. I’m gonna have to do something about that, he thought to himself.

Taking a moment he decided to practice some of the basics he’d been taught by Kalaam. Ken Astral Projected to look around the neighborhood. Using the skills he had been taught he started claiming the space. Using Mana he cut a circle around the homes and did a quick banishing that only people and good spirits could stay within. From now on only people and good spirits could enter the circle.

Shifting his vision when he finished, Ken went to look for his death-eater fan club and didn’t see them around. In fact just by banishing the dark spirits, he felt lighter and free, like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

It was time to get some advice. Ken got out of the tub and summoned his God and Goddess candles to him as well as a few tea-candles. Doing so used a lot of Mana, but Ken had plenty of time and now knew how to draw more into himself.

Going slow and taking his time, Ken returned to the rituals he knew. After lighting candles and turning off the electric light, Ken summoned his Athame and started performing a skyclad ritual in the bathroom by cutting a circle. He was trying to take it easy, but the Athame had so much power that as soon as his will contemplated the boundaries of the circle he wanted, the athame reached out with power and cut it. Settling down onto a bathmat on the floor with the God and Goddess candles in front of him, Ken ceremonially called to Earth in the North, Air in the East, Fire in the South and Water in the West.

Each call was answered by a basic Elemental physically arriving who seemed willing to just hold space. Before he’d have the sense of a spirit, but now he was having physical entities arrive. Their thoughts were simple but aligned with their Element.

Simply having all four arrive in the circle changed something profound. As soon as the water elemental arrived, the circle started to feel like its own astral reality instead of just a space separated from the rest of reality by a magickal curtain.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Feeling peaceful and ready, Ken lit the God Candle while calling out to the Divine Masculine. He didn’t want to use a name because he wasn’t sure who would be best to call. A male figure stepped through the shadows and into the light. Tall and with antlers like a stag, the figure was dressed in Celtic clothes which would have been good for forestry. Ken recognized him.

Cernunos seemed content to wait for the Goddess to arrive, so Ken greeted him and then lit the Candle for Goddess while calling out to Divine Feminine. The candle flame grew and widened until a stunning woman stepped through. Bright Red hair held in place with a circlet framed a strong and beautiful face. She was clad in a blue dress with golden highlights. The face of a queen, wise and bright, looked down at the naked man sitting in front of her with striking green eye. His nudity seemed to bother her naught, raising neither desire nor disgust. It was simply a course of action.

“Brigit?” Ken asked.

“That name works.” The Goddess responded.

“I have had a very hard day.” Ken started.

“So we see,” the Gods responded in stereo.

“I… I don’t know what to do.” Ken continued.

The Gods sat silent.

After a few moments of silence Ken asked. “Please help me choose. Help me protect my family and those I love. Help me protect Reno from the invading threats. Help me prevent and avoid the horrors I have seen coming.”

Brigit spoke, “Your heart is in a good place, but you aren’t seeing clearly.”

“You are seeing what you expect. You are ignoring very important things.” Cernunos added.

“How can I do differently?” Ken asked. “When do I have time to stop and think?”

“You don’t.” Brigit told him. “You are in an emergency. You will make mistakes. You will hurt the wrong people and you will help those who wish you ill, but to do nothing would be a greater sadness for you.”

“You must do your best and leave guilt and sorrow for a day of peace.” Cernunos said. “Shame, sorrow, fear and regret will stay your hand when action is needed.”

“Remember your ignorance though.” Brigit added. “You must forgive yourself mistakes, but you must also let go of your assumptions and allow the truth to correct your ignorant lies.

“Do the best I can, keep an open mind, and forgive myself?” Ken asked.

“That is a good start.” the Gods echoed each other as they spoke.

Ken sat with that for a minute. It felt like he had been jumping from one huge mistake to the next from the moment he went to the graveyard. He did need to forgive himself. He knew he had lessons to learn beyond the ones he’d already figured, but the Gods were right, beating himself up for his mistakes right now was dangerous.

“Thank you.” He said afterwards. “Is there something you would ask of me or might offer me to help?”

Variations of that line are common in modern ritual practice when dealing with any spirit or God. Ken had done that for years when doing a guided mediation or listening to advice.

Cernunos reached up and broke off one of his antlers. Even as he offered it to Ken he was quickly growing a new Antler on his head.

As Ken reached forth to accept it, Cernunos said, “You have been focusing and worrying about the humans of this valley. What about other life here? How should my birds, rabbits, deer and coyotes survive all these new predators? Even the humans may start killing my other children for food. Keep this in mind. Remember the need to balance nature. Humans are one part of what we need to care for.”

Brigit wait for Cernunos to finish and then said “My gift is less physical, but it is powerful all the same.

She reached up and touched her forehead and a tiny amount of power started swirling around her finger before she reached forward and touched Ken’s forehead.

Suddenly Ken was seeing tomorrow. He wasn’t sure how he knew it was tomorrow. Ken was driving through a neighborhood and he realized he had no clue what was causing the deaths. 4 houses with dead bodies. Looking around he tried to study what was happening, but as he did so he didn’t notice a small man only two feet tall in a bush behind him setting up a shot with a poisoned arrow, that didn’t matter though because in this vision Ken remembered and put up a shield behind him. The shot bounced off the shield and-

“A gift of foresight.” Brigit said. “May it serve you well.”

“Thank you, milady” Ken said. “Thank you as well, milord.”

Cernunos stepped back into the shadows and as he disappeared so did his flame. Brigit snapped her fingers and transformed into a column of fire which quickly faded and disappeared, taking the candle flame with it.

Ken had no idea what to do with the Antler, but he knew that a gift from a God should ALWAYS be cared for, so he set it carefully aside while he proceeded to thank and release the elements, asking them to return whence they had come. Once they were released Ken took his Athame and with a simple choice it uncast the circle which had been before.

Mana rushed into a void which had built up throughout the ritual. Until this moment Ken hadn’t realized that part of the discomfort he felt was all of the Mana pressing in with its terrifying potential. He decided that tonight he would sleep in a light circle to keep the mana down to tolerable levels.

And with that thought, he blew out the candles and put clothes on before heading to bed.