You ever like hear some noise or see someone running or hear a voice, and even though you can’t understand what they are saying, you just instantly know that something is really really not right? I was a god—the son of the head of the gods. True, gods sometimes fought each other, but that was usually if they had some major beef with each other. Even then, they were rarely fatal because, you know, immortal. There had been wars between various pantheons, but like none of the major ones had gone to war in a lifetime, which is a hell of a long time when you are talking about gods. Basically, my whole life I took my safety for granted.

Anyway, I heard a noise coming from the earth. For all of my life, the phrase ‘my stomach dropped’ was just an expression. If something hits you just the right way, you suddenly realise it’s a real experience.

The sound at first sounded like the world twisted apart as though two giant hands gripped Yaiya on either side and then rotated against each other. A horrible screeching, cracking, grinding sound. Then, have you ever heard a noise so loud you can’t tell which direction it is coming from? This was like a trumpet blown in your face but playing the note of a violent rushing river as large as a sea.

Daiminion and I both stood up. But I was frozen. Emotionally I knew something was so wrong, but in my head I wanted to find out it was just a mistake. Maybe Khalkeús just blew up his forge or something. I’m not a good student, but I like stories. I thought of the explosion of Mount Vispius. The sinking of Pasvca. The Great Flood. But no. Those were things that mainly affected mortals. Big enough to be important to the gods, but mostly contained on Yiaya. I thought of The God Plague, The Viper, The Titans. I realised my breath was shallow. I wasn't thinking sensibly. I needed to act. We needed to know what was going on.

“I’m going to Khalkeús’ forge”, Daiminion yelled. “I need to see if everything is safe and if Khalkeús needs any help.”

I considered just following him since he actually sounded like he knew what he was doing, but my duty and what seemed like the most comforting thing was to go to the council of gods. My dad would be there. Probably holding an emergency meeting of the highest gods. I could get information, and hopefully it would only be some major catastrophe. Giagaloes dropped some part of the sky or something. Bad, but nothing we couldn't fix with some work. Maybe I could even be useful. Do my part for once. Be a part of history.

***

When I got to the plaza on top of Pankosmia, nothing was right. In an emergency there would have been messengers flying and running and riding in and out of the hall of the gods. Maybe, and I’m just guessing because I had yet to witness a major major catastrophe, but I was pretty sure there would be a lot of lesser gods hanging around the forum and the plaza, waiting for news or an announcement from the major gods or else organising themselves to deal with the problem or arguing with one another about what should be done.

The mountain of the gods was always swathed in clouds. So how could it look overcast? Like the usual white vibrance was now grey. As though everything had aged a thousand years in a day. I ran up to great steps at the front of the hall. Looking up at them, I saw an ugly stain near the top of the usually gleaming white steps. I had to get inside and find my father. He was supposed to be at the mountain today, right? How was I such a bad son that I didn’t even pay attention to the schedule of the head god, my father? I’m sure I heard at one point, but I just hadn’t bothered to remember.

I need to get with it. ‘As soon as this crisis is over, I’m going to get serious about god stuff’, I remember thinking.

Inside the hall of the gods was a mess. Almost unrecognisable. Marble tables broken, wine jars overturned with half their contents on the floor. Scrolls and pieces of scroll everywhere. From spread out on tables to soaking in the wine on the floor. And more ugly-looking stains. And no one around.

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I made my way to the grand council room. That room was undisturbed, just creepily empty. All the chairs were in their usual neat, terraced arcs. Two chairs at the room’s far end were slightly out of position. I stood in the doorway long enough to confirm to myself that there was no council meeting going on and that there hadn’t been one recently.

I went to find my father’s study, a place I had only been invited into a couple of times. It was right behind the grand council room. The door to the study was slightly ajar. It was strange but not messy. Two drawers were left open in the Capitoline Desk; the vault was open and empty except for one scrap of parchment on the ground. The carpet was rolled up and a stone was removed from the floor, revealing an empty hole.

Going to the Hall of the Gods was my only real idea. Investigating it was only natural since I found it empty and in a strange condition. But now I was out of obvious next steps and shocked by the sudden change to the capital of the gods and the centre of our power. I started to wander out of the plaza, not really knowing where I was going. I was vaguely thinking of just going down to Yaiya to investigate. Maybe walk to Mount Eitina to see if Daiminion was still at the forge. That would have been a horrible idea. But just then, I saw someone stumbling out of the grey towards me from the other side of the forum.

They were big, but they were walking in a hunched-over, stumbling kind of way. But even so, they were in a hurry. Half stumbling, half dragging themselves. But not slowing down such that even the stumbled became leaps and flops forward. And there was some paint on his face. Oh my Great Snake. It’s Marus—the god of war I mentioned earlier.

“Marus! Marus! Are you okay? What happened?” I yelled as I ran over to him. I had only ever spoken to Marus a handful of times. Mostly when I was young. But under the circumstances I was acting more familiar and, to be honest, mature than I usually did.

“What happened?” he said, panting and not stopping even as I tried to help him along. “What do you think happened? It wasn’t even a fight.”

“What? I mean, I don’t even know what happened to everyone. What was that noise?”

“Who even are you? He said. He was finally letting me help him by putting an arm around my shoulder. He should at least recognise me as one of the sons of Deus. But then, now that I was close I realised that it wasn’t paint, it was blood streaming from his eyes. He was blind.

“I’m Josh,” I said. “Josh, Deus’ son.”

“Yea, I know who you are.” He said as if he hadn’t just asked me, “And you better run. Run like your father.”

I had always been afraid of Marus since I was little. He had a temper and was always willing to publicly embarrass weaker gods and physically beat any weaker god that refused to be embarrassed. But as I grew older, I realised that Marus himself was afraid of my father, and my father kept him in check. Ordinarily, Marus didn’t have the guts to talk behind Deus’ back. So what was he implying now?

“What are you talking about? Has there been a battle? Are we at war?”

“He he he.” He laughed or maybe cried. It was kinda a mix of both. This was bad. The god I was most afraid of was cry-laughing. If you’ve ever seen it, you know. A cry laugh can be way worse than just regular crying. “Don’t you get it, kid? The council, the whole god thing, snakes the Yaiya. It’s over. It’s all over. If your father gave you some place to hide, you better go there. Maybe a key to another world? A stasis box? A hole out of time?”

“I’m just a minor deity. I don’t have anything like that.”

“Heh, well, sucks to be you. Here’s a tip. Don’t show any guilt. They can smell guilt. They made me sever my own tendons. With god steel.”

Oh snakes. With god steel? “Who? Why? I still don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Everybody… Everything.” He seemed worn out to the point of breaking. “Just hide if you can.”

By that point, we had reached a transporter, which Marus could feel as he groped along. I should have stopped him. Made him explain himself. But I was confused and on the back foot. I actually helped him into the transporter.

“Hide!” he said as he painfully scooted into position. “And Hide your guilt!”. And in a flash, he was gone.

V0.2.1 10/27/23