Chapter 64: PROLOGUE VOL. 3: Gods Among Us
"talking"
'thinking'
"Spells"
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Yucatan, Mexico, November 1, 2016
"My love, this feels very strange to me. We'd better go"
"The Internet has very good reviews of this center. But you're right, sweetheart. This doesn't look good to me. Yes, we'd better go"
At this point, two tourists were in a locked room. There was a censer in the center, with various medicinal herbs, and the room looked like a small sauna. It was a 'temazcal'. A ceremonial center for a ritual of 'cleansing' of the soul and body.
These two people had come to vacation in Mexico for their honeymoon, and found that this temazcal had very good reviews. So much so, that it was even said that the shaman who performed this ritual could fulfill wishes. Of course, all for a good price.
However, it all seemed rather strange as the place looked quite simple. And the herbs smelled very strange and ugly. They began to doubt whether to stay. However, just as they were about to leave, the shaman entered, preventing them from leaving.
The man was 5'7" tall. He had a stocky physique, and a small mustache adorned his face. He had brown skin, and had a pair of ceremonial earrings in his ears.
(AN: I based this on actor Tenoch Huerta, who played Namor in the Black Panther movie)
"Are you ready, guys?" said the smiling shaman. There they saw that they could no longer escape the ritual.
"Yes, sir" said the woman with an uncomfortable smile.
"Well, I understand you paid for the Diamond package. You are entitled to have me perform a ritual to fulfill a wish. What do you want?"
"Prosperity. We had just gotten married and we want to lack for nothing" said the husband
"Love. May there be no lack of love" said the woman
"How nice. And congratulations on your engagement. Well let's get started, while the sun still gives us its warmth"
The shaman's whole demeanor changed. His eyes seemed to glow in power. He began to chant.
"Yohui aya, monexahui in ye tempa nemi tlahtlazsoltiya" (Winds of change, cleanse this body and remove its impurities)
"Yohui aya, monexahui in ye tempa nemi tlahtlazsoltiya" (Winds of change, cleanse this body and remove its impurities)
"Yohui aya, monexahui in ye tempa nemi tlahtlazsoltiya" (Winds of change, cleanse this body and remove its impurities)
Smoke began to rise from the censer covering the entire bodies of those present. The couple felt an unparalleled relaxation. They felt all worries melt away from their bodies. The shaman took an oil and turned to the woman. Smearing some oil on her forehead, the shaman began to chant.
"Niquinteya inin cihua cualtitlaco ixpantzmixtica, niquin tlazohtlaqui inin chicahuaciehualoztli" (May this woman, here present, find fulfillment in love)
"Niquinteya inin cihua cualtitlaco ixpantzmixtica, niquin tlazohtlaqui inin chicahuaciehualoztli" (May this woman, here present, find fulfillment in love)
"Niquinteya inin cihua cualtitlaco ixpantzmixtica, niquin tlazohtlaqui inin chicahuaciehualoztli" (May this woman, here present, find fulfillment in love)
Then, he turned to the man and did the same.
"Canin ontlachihuactli in tlaquacapan ompa nonyaz in naquinali" (May this man find unparalleled prosperity)
"Canin ontlachihuactli in tlaquacapan ompa nonyaz in naquinali" (May this man find unparalleled prosperity)
"Canin ontlachihuactli in tlaquacapan ompa nonyaz in naquinali" (May this man find unparalleled prosperity)
Smoke began to dance and drift into their bodies. The couple began to float in the sky and began to shake like rag dolls. If this image could be described it would be that of an exorcist ritual.
However, unlike exorcist rituals where the person feels pain or anger, the couple had looks of happiness and pleasure. They felt like they were in heaven itself.
Then, everything began to tremble. The censer began to shake as the shaman continued to use his power.
When it was thought that something else was going to happen, everything stopped. The fire in the censer went out. And smoke rose from the bodies of the people who fell down totally exhausted.
"Well, we're done. It would be all from me. You can order some popsicles at the reception, if you like" the shaman returned to his cheerful and friendly demeanor.
However, the couple returned to their reality. There their minds remembered what had happened and they looked at this man in fear. What had happened was magical, but frightening. The couple fled the place in fear.
"Don't forget to leave good reviews!"
The shaman didn't care about this, nor was he bothered. It always happened. The world had heroes and villains fighting daily, and yet they were still surprised by this simple magical ritual. People could accept the oddities of the world until they happened to them.
The only consolation for the shaman was that they had already paid in advance.
The shaman, who no longer had any further appointments, began to put everything away. Thundering his back, because it felt very sore, he continued to put everything away, until he felt the presence of a man arriving on the scene.
This made him very tense, however, when he saw who it was, he relaxed, and continued to put everything away.
The man was tall, muscular with blond hair and a thick beard. His eyes were sky blue. And he wore a smile, as he watched the shaman lifting the herbs and picking everything up.
"As I see, you are still scamming people with your rituals... Tezcatlipoca"
That's right, this 'shaman' wasn't just any sorcerer with a little power. He was the Aztec god himself who is credited with bestowing good and bad things on man at his mercy. A god of chaos so powerful but one who liked to trick or manipulate people.
"The ritual was not a scam. In reality, that couple will have a very prosperous year. The man will have everything he dreamed of. A great position in his company, money to spare, several houses. And the woman will have love to spare. Everything they asked for, they will have... until they divorce in two years. The man will find out she's cheating on him with the pool cleaner and she'll find out he owes so much money for failed bets that the house will be mortgaged. I kept my deal. I just didn't indicate how long their luck would last"
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"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh, Tezcatlipoca. You and Loki always gave me a good laugh with your jokes. I remember when you challenged him to a prank duel. That day, Valhalla was filled with shouts of Odin and Quetzalcoatl. Good times!"
Tezcatlipoca only laughed at his friend's laughter. A look of longing came to his face as he remembered the good old days.
Those good old days where the Gods ruled everything and everyone. However, those times were over. The look of longing changed to one of seriousness on Tezcatlipoca.
"Yes, they were good times. But they are over now. Already the age of the Gods is over. Now, I ask you, what are you doing here... Ares?"
The blond man was none other than the god of war himself and Diana's half-brother, Ares. Who had escaped from the underworld. He was still weak, but the conflicts of these times gave him enough power to be able to break out of his prison.
"I come to make you a proposal. The age of the gods is over, yes, you are right. But we are still here. The gods still walk among men. However, that will change in the future. The demons are gaining power. They threaten to attack and conquer the Earth. Trigon is at the dawn of his return. And when that happens, we will be lost"
"And what do you want to do? We are nothing against that monster"
"You're right, we are no match for Trigon... yet" Ares looked solemnly at Tezcatlipoca.
"But if we evolve our power, and become multiversal beings we can stand up to the demons. Transcend as those New Gods did many years ago. You could become stronger. No one would be your rival. The age of the gods would return to the way it was. NO. It will be better... but only if you accept my proposal. I cannot do it alone. We, 'the old gods', are dying out, and you and I are among the few that are still left. What do you say, my friend?"
Tezcatlipoca thought long and hard about Ares' proposal. If what he said was true, then he had some ideas on how to transcend from a universal being to a multiversal being. Something, that only the New Gods could accomplish and that no one knew how they did it.
The idea was simple. To do it, you had to connect with every version of yourself in the multiverse. Thus creating a definitive version of yourself.
An example is Darkseid, who was born a universal being, but when he grew up, he became a multiversal being by connecting with all his variants in the multiverse and creating a collective consciousness.
Each variant had its own free will. But each variant was itself. This endowed him with every experience of his variants. And it made him a fearsome being as he evolved and learned from his own experiences, making him more powerful than he was. Something that Ares wanted to achieve at this time.
Tezcatlipoca thought long and hard about his proposal. Ares seeing his hesitation, said to him.
"Oh, well. Keep being a simple shaman in this shitty place, while you keep scamming tourists. It's up to you"
Ares made a pretense that he was going to leave, but just as he was about to walk out the door, Tezcatlipoca stopped him
"What do we have to do?"
Ares smiled at this...
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This completes the arc. Uff *Breathes with exhaustion*. I hope you liked it. A long arc, more than 40 chapters developing everything about The Light, but we came to its end.
Sadly, I'm going to stop posting for a good while, maybe about two weeks. And I'll take a break from this site for a bit.
In P@treon I'll continue posting (2-3 caps, per week) and so I'll accumulate chapters there.