Expatrianas Histories - The Child of the Goddess

"You know mortal, I have a half human daughter." Baj was stunned into silence by this revelation. After close to five years of forced servitude, rarely did anything the Goddess say surprise him. By the end of his first year, he had come to the realization that she was basically crazy, or at least that was how she appeared from a mortal's limited perspective. He had no idea what the other Gods and Goddesses thought of her, nor did he particularly care to find out. The things she said were a mixture of facts, opinions, truths, partial truths, half-truths, lies, and bald-faced lies. Of course, Elyria always said that "Gods and Goddesses don't have opinions, because once we say something, it becomes a fact." However, Baj knew better and many of the Goddesses’ opinions’ were wildly inaccurate or patently false. Never had the Goddess mentioned a thing about any offspring, let alone the fact that apparently her daughter was half mortal. That meant that the Goddess had been impregnated by a mortal, a thing Baj did not even know was possible. Eventually he regained his composure enough, cleared his throat loudly once, then spoke "I was not aware Goddess, and of course I have many questions. May I ask some?" Having to seek permission to ask her questions irked him to no end, but he knew better than to just begin to fire them off without that formality. The Goddesses' short temper was legendary, and asking a question she viewed as impertinent was a fast track to being totally ignored in the best case, or reprimanded and punished severely in the worst. He had felt the sting of Elyria's mental punishments too many times and had no desire to experience that pain again for what he viewed as a minor if irritating annoyance. The Goddess smiled and replied "It appears my many lessons in politeness may have finally begun to sunk in. Even one with a skull as thick as yours may learn it seems." Baj grimaced at the insult but knew better than to respond in kind. The Goddess' smile widened as she had seen the desire in his eyes to strike back and was pleased that he had managed to restrain himself for once. "You may ask your questions mortal." Baj took his time, considered the many questions he wanted to ask, weighed each against the level of insult or offense they might cause the Goddess, then mentally arranged them in order of least to most offensive. He rarely had the opportunity to ask questions of the Goddess, and he did not want to waste this chance to gain valuable intelligence by saying something stupid right off the bat and ending up with nothing but a burning backside or two-day long headache for his troubles. Finally, after much thought he spoke "What is her name Goddess?" "Her given name is Kaos, but the mortals with whom she spends most of her time refer to her as Stormbringer. Perhaps you have heard her spoken of in your many travels?" Baj's mind raced as he searched his memory for anything associated with that name. He felt a twinge of something just on the edge of his mind but could not place it. The name was familiar, and he was sure he had heard it, but could not recall the details or even the context and so simply replied "No Goddess, I have not." She sensed he was shading the truth but not lying outright. If he had lied, she would have known. One of the things her bond with the human gave her was the ability to see the truth and falsity of his statements. Unfortunately, humans traded in so many half-truths and half-lies that this power was limited to outright lies or patently false misrepresentations, and, in the five years she had known him, the human Baj had only lied to her twice. This stood in great contrast to every other mortal she had ever known for whom speaking the truth seemed to be as difficult as speaking a foreign language. In this case she only knew that he had likely heard the name but possibly forgotten it or was not entirely sure about it. "That is surprising. She is quite well known among the humans of this plane. Her abilities to influence the weather are both envied and feared. Mostly they are feared for she can only bring fierce storms, winds, lightning, hail, torrential rains and the like, and her command over these storms once summoned is quite limited. She cannot control their strength or duration and therefore only uses her powers in the direst of circumstances." She paused briefly and a look of sadness crossed her face before she continued. "It is such a shame she left us when she did, before we could finish her training, before I could teach her the things she needed to know to truly master her Goddess given skills. Of course, she would always be limited by her half human blood and could never hope to reach the level of a God like Poseidon or Aegaeon, but still she could have been very powerful indeed." Suddenly her sadness turned to anger, and her voice quivered with bitterness and rage as she spat out "If only that bastard human boy she obsessed over had run away as instructed when I first confronted him. Instead, he and my daughter snuck away in the middle of the night like two thieves. I may someday forgive her for that, but I will never forgive him, and woe his fate should I ever find him. It shall make that of Sisyphus look like a great gift by comparison" Baj shuddered as he considered that threat. Pushing a large boulder uphill for all eternity was a horrific fate indeed, and he felt a moment of sadness for this human as Elyria was an expert in the art of punishment and would no doubt devise something truly terrible if she were ever to lay her hands upon him. He forced himself to close that train of thought quickly before revulsion overcame him and instead focused on the puzzling inability of the Goddess to locate this human. Considering her many powers, vast knowledge, and network of supplicants, hangers-ons, devotees, and forced servants, it seemed a stretch to think one human could evade the obviously angry Goddess for very long. However, it was a good reminder of her many limitations and of her penchant for stretching the truth. Her "vast knowledge", as she called it, was not nearly as vast as she claimed he had discovered on more than one occasion. Moreover her "network" of loyal servants was always smaller than she led him to believe and truly believed herself. But her powers could not be called into question and finding things and people (mortals) was one of the many abilities possessed by the Goddess that she had proven over and over was genuine.

His curiosity on that point was piqued and he could not resist pressing the Goddess further, asking "How is it possible that this human has managed to evade you for so long? I have seen your powers in action, your abilities when it comes to finding people and things are extraordinary." The Goddess smiled at the compliment. Though he tried mightily to suppress it, he could not help but feel a rush of pleasure at that smile. She was indeed beautiful, that was a thing no man or woman could deny, and when she smiled her face gave off a radiant light that could dispel any shadow, remove any dark thoughts. Gods and Goddesses had a presence that mortals would always envy and admire. The fact that his words had caused that smile added to the feeling of satisfaction and pleasure. The Goddess knew full well the effect her smile had on mortals, and it pleased her to no end to take full advantage of it, particularly with Baj, a man whom she found interesting and endlessly fascinating. She also found him vexing, annoying, irritating, boorish, headstrong, foolish, dull, and weak, but all humans shared those characteristics to some extent. In Baj she saw the best of humanity and it gave her hope that all her efforts trying to make them see the truth of her philosophy of hope and love might not be in vain. In addition to delivering pain and punishment, her bond with Baj allowed her to give him feelings of pleasure and happiness, great pleasure, if she so desired. In this instance, that power was not needed, as her smile did the work for her.

"Yes, mortal you are correct." she snorted in reply. "Of course it is not possible, not without the help of another God or Goddess that is. He is under the protection of one for sure, but which God and to what end I cannot say. I suspect that double crossing traitorous snake Loki and his whore-friend Aphrodite are behind it, but I have only suspicions and no proof. If I had I surely would have taken it to Zeus long ago and begged for him to intervene on my behalf. Though it would pain me to have to get on my knees and snivel in front of that old fool he would see to it that justice was done, but he will not act without hard evidence of wrongdoing, and, of that I have none." She fell silent then, her smile had long since fallen from her face, and with it the light in her eyes dimmed some, though it never entirely went out. She was a Goddess after all and that light reflected just a tiny portion of her Godsoul, her Pneuma and Anima. What was reflected in her eyes was the most any mortal could stand to observe without being driven mad or dropping dead on the spot. If that light went out, she would be dead, if a Goddess could die that is. Elyria claimed all the Gods were immortal though Baj knew better. They may not die of old age, but Gods could kill other Gods or Goddesses, though it required great power and the assistance of special weapons virtually, but not totally, impossible to obtain. Baj happened to know exactly where one could be found, and one day, he intended to use that knowledge against or in service of his Goddess. He was not yet sure which, but he was sure that he would know when the time was right. Somehow, he had managed to keep this knowledge from Elyria's prying mind, and that was a miracle in and of itself. It also worried him, for he suspected divine intervention as there was no other knowledge he possessed that he could ever shield from her. Most especially that was true of any knowledge which might harm or benefit her. His sureness of the appropriate timing was also no doubt of divine origin. Baj spat on the ground in disgust and whispered under his breath to no one in particular "Get the frack out of my head Gods, I want not your interference in my life. I need no aid from your kind, nor do I seek it." "What was that mortal, did you say something?" "Yes Goddess, I was commenting on how a strong human like me did not need the God's assistance in my life." "That is a puzzling thing to say dear Baj, and also stupid. So stupid. Of course you do, you all need us, more than you could ever know." The superior tone she took as she spoke made Baj want to scream, but he knew better, and simply hung his head sadly "Yes, Goddess, of course we do. I am foolish to think such thoughts. Please forgive me if I have insulted you in any way." "No human. No forgiveness is required for it is natural for every mortal man and woman to question the need for the Gods at some point in their lives. Eventually they all grow out of it and come to see the error of their ways, one way or another, exactly as you shall someday Baj." "Yes Goddess, of course." He paused long for effect and emphasis then said loudly "Someday but today is not that day." She laughed at that. "You are a stubborn one mortal. I'll give you that. But always remember, the Gods are patient, but our patience is not eternal. Forsake us and curse us for too long, and we will eventually be forced to act against you. And you most definitely do not want that human." As she spoke her anima had darkened and her eyes dimmed and changed to a blackish grey. She drew a great breath, and the darkness in her eyes grew even more "Most definitely you do not want that."