A Deity Clash
by
I was Moko again, although I had sworn that I once had been in my grass bed, counting gazelles. The helephant had jade clothes on, although I don't know why he needed such expensive clothes when we were walking through the Jamaa sewers. A seal that looked disturbingly like Harper was behind me, along with a wolf shaped out of stars, were behind me in single file. We all walked toward a dark waterfall of black goop.
"We are going to negotiate with the phantom king and queen."Moko whispered to me. We were going surprisingly fast for deities that felt like they had mattresses glued to our bodies, and walked right over to the waterfall. A bridge of phantoms formed between the drop and a large hole in the wall, which was alarmingly stable. The phantom bridge felt like Jell-o, which wasn't reassuring at first.
"Don't look down,"Moko hissed in my ears. I looked down. Green hands grabbed at us, where Apophis lived and feasted on foul water and thoughts. Green spirits of forgotten scammers and hackers rose from the green mist below, then dissipated on the concrete ceiling. I stopped in shock so quickly that the other two deities bumped into me, disrupting the bridge.
"Move on!"Shade's and Harper's voices both growled at me. I was shocked.
"You two both are diviners too?!"I asked them. They nodded.
"Of course, pachyderm brain."both said, rolling their eyes. Shade was fighting Firetail far away, as far as I knew, and Harper was being nursed back to health by Cosmo.
"So you two are dreaming, like I am."I asked them warily. They rolled their eyes in unison.
"Our guests want to send us an important message."they both said. But by the time they finished their sentence, I was already clambering into the hole.
"Slowpokes!"I teased. The two girls ran over, and stuck their tongues at me.
"Not!"I yelped as they pushed me in head-first. My laughter quickly died down as I saw how dreadfully magnificent the phantom headquarters were. Skulls of prey decorated the onyx pillars, with phantom flags(I quickly sent some to Greely for sale) decorating the obsidian walls. I was in the grand hall, with portraits of famous phantoms like Elvanto and the little scout. Glow-in-the dark phantoms lit the halls, and jewels that made phantoms edible were on display in glass cases, along with hedgehogs. The floor was platinum, with Hope diamonds as the glass for the ceiling. The ceiling revealed that this place was under miles of rock, and vents everywhere fed foul thoughts to become new phantoms. Harper, Shade and I walked down the hall to the throne room, where steel pillars of phantom buccaneers supported the tall ceiling meant for Apophis to stretch. There, hundreds of phantoms gathered around the steps up to the podium, which I guessed that was meant for two thrones, but the thrones were moved aside. Instead, Apophis sat there like a charmed cobra.
"Ready for our meeeting,brethren?"Apophis hissed, a hiss that could paralyze ADHD children. All three of us flinched.
"Scat!"Apophis shouted at the phantoms. They went back to their various duties, such as guarding the base, kitchen work, or simply just invading the minds of innocent Jammers. We all sat down on large thrones Apophis's minions pushed toward us, and Apophis flicked his tongue in content.
"Sssso, I know of your lil' vows to the alphassss."Apophis hissed, his eyes murky with evil. He said "vows"as if it was the worst insult he could think of.
"Apophis, what are you up to."I said, but it wasn't my voice. Moko had momentarily controlled me.
Sorry, Moko told me as he slunk into my consciousness. Harper and Shade also looked like their guests were speaking for them, and they also hated it.
"Would you like to join me???Firetail has turned, and he is powerful. Veery powerful, indeed."Apophis hissed. It took all my will not to listen.
"He was always evil, brother."Cithara hissed."That is no reason to brag about." Apophis looked anguished.
"But Zios has also turned, and he created the worldddd."he hissed. We all looked at each other, and understood. Greely had discovered this when he was on a self-imposed quest to revive Shade, and it was gruesome.
"We shall not, Apophis, and we will leave, your reasons are puny."Moon said, her stars twinkling. We exchanged looks again, and knew that Harper would tell the story of the Cithara Order to distract Apophis while we disconnected from our dream.
"Wait, I would like to tell a story."Harper said.
"I love storiessss."Apophis said."I listened to the voice of the sea when the ocean firssst existed...."Apophis said.'
"So, when Firetail was trapped in a cage of snow and ice, I created an order of seals to keep him bound. They were called the Cithara Order. I only selected the most loyal seals, especially maidens. Every year, the Cithara Order told Firetail bedtime stories, mostly Jamaasian myths. He was always slightly sleepy at each time, but he was too scared to emerge! However, one year the Cithara Order had to control the polar bears from slaying their pups, as that limited the breathing hold territory, and forgot to tell Firetail bedtime stories, and he awoke, burning his way through the cell. He rampaged on to create the lands of no-ice, and the Cithara Order has been trying to slow down Global Warming before he burns my sacred seals to ashes."While Harper talked, I disconnected all bonds.
Good night, Moko said as he returned to his coffin.
"NO!"Apophis bellowed before we all woke.
So I went on to warn the alphas, and Harper helped me. They are now plotting a plan against Apophis, and I will pass this file on to Amy, as the enclosed information is vital. If you are reading this, keep it a secret. If you tell it to a traitor or non-Jamaasian, I will have no chance but to kill you with the tip of my spear.
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