THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER

—Popp—

All of Josh’s clothing, body hair, and outer layer of skin instantly incinerated into a cloud of ash that was swirled away in the vortex of a rising plasma ejection. His eyes had only been functional long enough to possibly see an all encompassing golden-white incandescence accompanied by a feeling that he may have also partially ‘seen’ related to absolute searing. Then, his brown orbs had melted and dribbled down his already dripping cheeks in a bubbling trial of scorch. The rest of his skin, muscles, nerves, and organs had also started trailing down in runnels of varying sizes that boiled off in energized atomic vapor.

The tiny part of Josh's brain that wasn’t screeching for mercy wasn’t sure exactly where they were, but he was coming around to the belief that this present reality made Kyon Shi’s lava compulsion seem like an ice bath filled in a hollowed Antarctic glacier during a record cold snap.

Disembodied words penetrated his wobbling mind, “. . . Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you have ever— Oh! Ευπρόσδεκτο παιδί . . . δείτε τι είναι αληθινό!”

Josh felt more than heard Gaia’s intoning words of power as if on a basic level his core was resonating with her will. His oneness with the words increased at the Matron Star Child’s Intent continued to cascade along the points of matter and energy that connected him to the surrounding quantum network of Realities physical substrate.

Josh’s interface didn’t even try to translate the Gaia’s last words. But her long vowels and stressed consonants somehow reminded him of visits to his favorite old-school gyros shops on the middle South Side of Chicago. Her incantation also had the merciful effect of stopping his and Sen’s flash-fry-melt and allowed the still steaming Essence in their meridians to begin its rapid healing of their charred near-corpses.

After several seconds of experiencing relief that he wasn’t going to end up a brown stain of burn butter on whatever griddle Gaia had brought them to, Josh called to his Sen, his recovering body still quivering. ~Sen, you ok?!~

The short, top knotted, monk’s breathing was rapid. Through their Bond Josh could tell that his thoughts were racing just as fast as his own. ~... Yes, I’m… recovering.~

A few seconds more and all four of their eyes had grown back. Josh could finally see they were standing on–

He did a double take at the green border of dozens of well-tended orchards stretching out as far as his Essence-enhanced vision could see.

To the right, fruit trees rose straight and gracefully out of rich black soil. To the left, there were grape and olive vineyards. Their heavy, fruit laden vines growing on wooden trellises that marched down terraced hills into what had to be the lushest and greenest valley Josh had ever seen.

All through the bountiful vista, laborers wearing simple but stainless white tunics were tending to trees, bushes, trellises, and vines. Busily, they hoed irrigation ditches, laid fertilizer, and, all in all, seemed as happy as the seven dwarfs in a double diamond mine. The farmers might even have been humming the tune to Whistle While You Work . . . but Josh was pretty sure he was just imagining that. The happy crew’s labors did occasionally disturb flocks of nesting songbirds. The resultant mass-white-winged-exodus arial bursts that noisily rose into the air for short circling flights were a thing of beauty to behold. But the harried avians would soon return to their branches, realizing nothing was truly amiss.

Josh’s eyes also caught heavy-bodied, furry, yellow and black honeybees. The airborne insect workers meandered on their own unique paths performing their impossibility of flight with ease. As far as Josh could see, loosely affiliated swarms of the abelhas bobbed through the sweet smelling air while going to and fro in their ceaselessly cross-pollinating of the myriad white blossoms. Which intern nestled on the orchard’s thick, dark barked branches that would occasionally sway in the warm breezes.

But more than this dramatic evidence of prolific life all around them…Every limb on every tree, and every vine on every rack was in bloom and giving off an overwhelming feeling of simply being ready to burst.

Josh’s unconscious 360-degree pivot had brought him back to dead center and Gaia. Her ams were spread wide and resplendent in a gleaming white ankle-length gown, its thin straps over her lithe, sun-browned shoulders. The smile on her face reached down to the tips of her toes as she showcased everything behind her in a move that would have put Vanna White to shame. She veritably pulsed with pride in her surroundings as true happiness accompanied raised her brows. “Now, can you see it?”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Brains still spinning from their warm welcome, Josh and Sen finally nodded quietly in the affirmative. Josh spoke the first words that came to his shocked-raw brain. “Ya, Gaia . . . We can . . . There is no question that Mama Celeste’s ‘abbondanza’ lives here eight days a week!”

The mother of Earth chuckled quietly and turned taking in the amazing view for herself.

Slowly, Josh’s executive mental functions returned restoring the power of speaking semi-meaningful sentences. He asked the question forefront in his still healing head, “. . . But . . . where were we before . . . you know when we were being incinerated?”

“Oh then . . .” A slightly chagrined look crossed her ageless face. “... You were right here as well—And I’m sorry about that, boys, I really am—I just keep forgetting how fragile– Ahhh– young! How young you two truly are.” She looked at them like the proud mother she was. “The surface of a neo zoi—” Gaia waved her hand indicating everything around them to clarify, “This protostar— is still a bit much for you both.” Gaia tilted her head as if she was considering adding something else. But ultimately must have chosen to refrain and she continued along a different conversational track. “. . . Because of this, I had to invite you as my personal guests and as the guests of the Star Children olio mazi— all together, so to speak. With that formality, you gained our protection from the environment.” She spread her hands wide, bidding them to again to take in the magnificent vista of unlimited plentitude all around. “. . . You are also able to see the neo zoi as we do . . . The most fertile place in the iteration—”

Josh’s unnerved voice interrupted Gaia, “—You mean we’re walking on the surface of a protostar—a celestial body that can erupt into stellar nuclear fusion at any second!?”

Gaia looked back with a playful expression on her face and raised a thin hand with her index finger extended. “Well, technically, no . . . But, only because I’m exercising control over the core elements of this and every other protostar in the Creaturix Nebulae that surrounds us—”

“I suspect you will be wasting your breath if you get any more technical than that with them, mother . . . Particularly given the limited mental faculties of this particular young vampire.” A disturbingly familiar, cultured, and authoritative voice cut in from behind.

Josh’s eyes popped open. ~It can't be!?~

Sen allowed himself one nod of acceptance. ~. . . But it is, brother. It is.~

Josh spun, as Sen nimbly turned to bring into view a powerfully built, movie-star-handsome man at the peak of youth. He wore a gold-trimmed white toga and sported laurel leaves wrapping his temples. His dark hair fell in loose curls to his broad shoulders, and his skin glowed so brightly gold that a halo of light radiated around his entire frame.

Cronos’ cocky, crooked grin belied the fact that he had spent over five thousand years imprisoned in isolation as punishment for eating his children whole.

Can’t imagine what their family get togethers look like during the Holidays…

A perplexed expression shot across Sen’s face ~Holidays?~

Josh absently held up a hand. ~Earth custom, not important…but to think about it, I bet sitting at his Thanksgivings aren’t all that different from those at the Marztanak household.~

At the mention of his family Sen’s gaze grew laser focused, but he quickly adopted an expression of being completely mystified by Josh’s lack of explanation, ~...Never mind for now…I’ll explain the judeo-christian winter custom of flagellating yourself with family later.~

Sen narrowed his gaze. ~Never mind brother, I already know that the human capacity for masochism is far beyond my ability to understand.~

Josh did a double take, but then remembered what he had been focused on and turned back to Cronos. He now appeared twenty years younger than when Josh and Sen had rescued him . . . a virtual youth in the prime of his vigor. But, Josh supposed physical appearance was probably nothing more than a current attitude when you were a Titan.

Cronos wasn’t alone. Like migrating geese in formation, there were five others flanking his leading position, three women and two men. All just as heroically proportioned, they also wore white togas and sported his glow-in-the-dark luminescent-skin of a youthful god on holiday. They also broadcast the same arrogant attitude of superiority and bore looks that gave Josh the distinct impression it would be beneath their station to pee on him and Sen should they spontaneously catch fire.

Cronos spoke for the group, “Mother . . . their presence here indicates you have decided to replace our missing two . . .” Cronos looked straight at Josh and screwed his face up, obviously mentally groping for the appropriate word that wouldn’t insult Gaia. “... with these mortals.” The down turn of his vocal emphasis left nothing to the imagination that Cronos would have preferred to find his bare foot stuck in a pile of horse manure than to continue seeing Josh and Sen. Moving on, his voice took a tone of increased hope as his cadence increased to get his next thought out. “... All you need do is say the word, and I can have Atlas and Prometheus here at our side—” Gaia’s almost two-foot-shorter form leveled a gaze at Cronos. The king of the Titans shut his mouth so fast his teeth clicked together behind blanched lips as Josh saw his throat anxiously dry swallow.

No doubt about who’s wearing the power pants here.

The Earth’s mother sighed and spoke to the king of the Titans as any mom would in explaining to their child for the fiftieth time that there would be no desert before they had finished their supper. “My youngest son, you know that won’t work. Only other Star Children or our direct descendants can participate in this event.” She pointed with both hands to the Titans around her. “That means you all as my children conceived with Uranus . . .” Then she tilted her head and looked at Josh and Sen with good-natured acceptance, “. . . and for some reason mortals from the planet Earth. I’m not really sure how, but I think it has something to do with the fact that they were formed unilaterally from the stray particles of your core Essence when Zeus disrupted your iterational continuity with that thunderbolt of his . . . Almost as if they are your brothers and sisters… not your descendants. The why is not exactly of crucial relevance to our current situation. But these are the tiles we have all been dealt . . .”

Gaia took several small but quick steps forward, and her presence took on an aura that commanded all to look on here as she pivoted on Cronus. Then the Earth Mother’s being took on a sharp edge that could have rasped granite into powder. Josh suddenly found it difficult to pull air into his lungs.

Everything in the immediate vicinity stilled. Even the overhead clouds seemed to stop in their vectors as Gaia lowered her tone to barely above a whisper. Cronus’ face paled as if Gaia’s words struck him physically. “. . . I encourage you to accept reality and play nicely with these new friends I have been fortunate enough to bring for you . . .”