Drongos & Tortoises

Ekwensu was hard at work polishing his work desk. This was an annoying ritual he, even as a CEO, had to do every time he stepped into his office. That was due to the nature of the work desk, it was a special wooden desk made from sacred palm oil trees, the drawers themselves were made from a combination of pressed Ogisili leaves and sandalwood, both plants that had magic woven into them. The construction of this desk actually cost more than the skyscraper that was the headquarters of his company, as true mortal magic weavers were rare and expensive, and he would be damned if he had to bargain with one of the crafting spirits to do it. They would have asked him for a favor, better to pay the jujuweavers to weave their spells and never be bothered again.

The reason why the desk was so expensive and had to be maintained was for the purposes of what he did each day to make a living. As two of his divine domains were chaos and trade, he had decided to play in the mortal realm, specifically in the stock market, for what was more chaotic than stocks. At first, the early stock market was easy for him to use his powers to keep track of, but as humans populated the globe and markets diversified, it was becoming harder to keep track of every single stock on the entire planet. Thus the table. The magic of the table acted as a boost to his powers, but for the magic item to give him the boost it needed, proper care and maintenance were needed.

Satisfied that the job was well done, he put down his desktop on the table and booted it up. Magic or no, technology was still a good help. His analysis of stock markets since their inception by the Dutch East India Trading Company in the 1600s had allowed him to amass a ton of wealth, enough to establish a massive fortune, both in the realm of mortals and in the realm of spirits. Regular mortals would contact him for advice on stocks, but now he had employees for that. As for the spirit realm, even the spirits wanted to invest so that they could build big houses for themselves.

One thing he could count on was the greed of others and that suited him just fine. He was building up to a goal that was millennia in the making, and should he pull it off, he would have the greatest reward he could ever ask for. Within seconds at his desk, he rifled through every single stock on the planet, every single item for sale on the market, all that he owned that he could sell, and what items he could buy and it was done. He gasped, the skin on his fingers shrinking as they wrapped themselves around his bones. His long shaggy hair immediately turned white as lines appeared on his face. Quickly, he planted his hands firmly on the desk and took a deep breath.

The deep rich colors of the desk began to fade until it resembled a sickly green. Ekwensu stared at his fingers, now fully restored as the desk slightly decayed. As long as he didn't pull that off again within a few hours, the desk would return to normal, especially if he cleaned it properly again. Normally he wouldn't try to use that much power that quickly, but today was a busy one for him and for once, stocks were not going to be on his mind.

Pushing a button on the business telephone placed to his left, he made a call to his secretary to schedule a meeting with the board. Once the timing was acknowledged, he stood up to take a look at the large window view he had of the city of Port Harcourt. It was a large metropolitan city, in fact of the largest cities in the nation of Nigeria. The city itself though, was older than Nigeria by two years, having been built by colonial forces in 1912. It was located along the Bonny River, which ended directly into the ocean, but sprang from the greater Niger Delta. A swampland rich in oil and many other resources lay just north of the city, from which a lot of business was constantly conducted.

Like many cities that went through rapid change, the city had a large mesh of architectural styles. The buildings closest to the river were old early 1900s British imperial buildings, repurposed long after the Empire ended. Further outward to the city were more traditional style houses, belonging to the many tribes of humans that lived in the city. Towards the economic heart of the city lay more modern style houses and buildings of the more American style showing the changes the city went through over more than 100 years. Much newer were Chinese style buildings, another sign of the changing times. All of this meant truly little to Ekwensu, change was in his very nature, and a city that showed a lot of change was a perfect place for him to spend time in the mortal realm.

He wondered if he would be able to enjoy a view like this again, once all was said and done. Shaking his head and forcing himself to smile, he walked out of his office and towards his board room. He nodded to the mortal employees, most of whom were unaware of his nature but still afforded him the necessary respect as their boss. It wasn't long before he stood at the door to the boardroom, and took a deep breath, not that he actually needed air to sustain him.

Opening the door, he gave a polite smile to the other members of the board, all of which appeared human, but only 3 of the 7 people in the room with him were actually humans. One of the board members was the current governor of the city, his final term almost coming to an end. Another was a regular entrepreneur, but of collecting memorabilia, and the third one was the most interesting to him. The man was a 'Dibia', a user of magic and healing. Specifically, the school of magic this man plied was water-based magic, this specific dibia mostly used his magic to purify dirty water in rivers to make it ready for drinking. He hid this of course from most authorities, but the locals were usually grateful for his efforts.

The rest of the board members were actually spirits, currently in the guise of regular humans, but that was for people looking in. With the flick of a switch by Ekwensu black screens came down over the windows and walls of the board room, obscuring any outside ideas. With a shrug of their shoulders, the spirits shed their mortal guises. The first one was Ekwensu's old friend, Tortoise, now sporting a cracked shell and a wiry look in his eyes. The second was Hare, always fleet of foot and loving to trick others. Uche Mmuo was the third, and the spirit of the mind. The final member of the non-human team was Asụsụ Mmuo, the spirit of languages.

While the animal spirits simply looked like comical animals wearing business attire, the spirits themselves were another story. Uche Mmuo's face and skin were pale, as typical of most spirits, but what was unique were his eyes, his eyes swirled like a tempest, and purple lines caressed the exposed skin, looking like outer veins. Asụsụ Mmuo stuck out his tongue at Ekwensu, all three of them, splayed out like a dolphin tail. His long black hair was adorned with various words and symbols, all constantly changing the mother language displayed on them.

The governor, whose name was Friday Barrett, was a portly man, whose hair had long receded, leaving only streaks of grey at the sides of his temple. He still adorned himself in the latest Igbo fashion, wearing long-sleeved blue robes that weighed down his arms, typical of high fashion in the other cities in Nigeria. While an outsider might be surprised at being named after a day, it wasn't an unusual naming convention in Igbo or Nigerian society. Names tended to be very straightforward or have entire sentences as their meaning and he was no different.

The entrepreneur was a woman by the name of Monalisa Madueke. She too was going grey like the governor, but due to the amount of care and makeup she applied each day, one would assume that she had dyed her hair grey, as she took many efforts to look young. Thus she was an extremely fit old woman, despite being an entrepreneur that mostly stood around looking at art and historical artifacts. She wore a puffed upped green and orange blouse with wide shoulder pads, her black-rimmed glasses sliding down her wide nose.

The Dibia was the youngest being in the room, he wore a robe that was similar to an ancient Greek style attire, but adorned with many symbols specific to Igbo culture. His hair was cut low to his face, and he wore symbols carved into his face, with magical words tattoed around the carvings. The carvings were also found in his arms, with symbols of water, to help him channel the magic. Also distinct was that half of his face was completely covered in chalk, a practice that dibias used to see the world of spirits and gods.

"I thank you all for coming today." Ekwensu began, sitting down in a curved ergonomic white chair,

"Today is a special day for most of us, and I am here to give the news."

Ekwensu's lip curled slightly upwards as everyone apart from Tortoise looked at him curiously, Tortoise folding his arms and turning his head away, knowing what this was likely about.

"Chukwu is having another one of his once a century feasts, and I have managed to put in a good word for you and most of you have been invited to attend a feast with the gods."

Hare and Asụsụ Mmuo started to clap, while the mortal members had their jaws metaphorically drop as the immensity of what was said to them dawned on them. The only non-mortal not looking happy was Tortoise, who shifted his back, exposing more of his shell. Ekwensu's smile dropped when he caught sight of Tortoise's posture, feeling a twinge of sadness at a painful history. Tortoise, of course, would never be invited to the feasts due to past history.

"The second reason I have called you here is for the history of this company." Ekwensu continued, wanting to shift the topic, "The mortals that don't know who I am will likely start to suspect how I have been running this company for so long. So to throw off a lot of suspicions, I have decided to step down and leave the company in your hands as you all have proven to me your skills in the market."

That got a reaction from everyone, especially Tortoise and Hare who stared hard at the chaos God, wondering what his likely scheme was.

"You have all been good, and as for you Mr. Barrett, this should secure your personal holdings once your term is over. For those of you that have finite lives, I can put in a word for you if you want to be part of the reincarnation cycle, and your deeds, especially when brought before Chukwu himself, should help with that." Ekwensu finished with a sad tone in his voice

Tortoise caught wind of that and moved to shift attention, bringing out some documents.

"I have an update to the British museum situation that you requested, sir. Mrs. Madueke in her report stated that the British museum is willing to return those artifacts, especially a certain mask and cane. But, as they did with the return on Egyptian and Iranian artifacts, they are dragging their feet over the issue. Mrs. Madueke suggests that we use economic pressure and contact some of the higher-ups to make a transactional exchange to persuade them to change their minds."

Ekwensu's muscles tightened in a brief flash of anger but relaxed as he nodded towards Madueke.

"If you do manage to get your hands on those two particular items, I would like to get my hands on them as soon as you can provide. If there are no more important things for today, those of you invited will have a python spirit visit your home with an invitation with Ala's signature on it. I'll write the handover documentation and make a statement in a few weeks. Dismissed."

It wasn't long before the rest of the board got up and started walking, most of them discussing among themselves their excitement to meet Chukwu, and what they would do with more say in the company. The only one who didn't move was Tortoise, who decided to stay within his chair, staring at Ekwensu.

Once the door finally closed with no sign of anyone else listening in, Tortoise walked up to Ekwensu and turned the god to face him in his chair.

"My lord, I've been with you for a long time, and I know for a fact that you're planning to do something stupid. I need you to tell me what it is!" Tortoise demanded

Ekwensu gave him a sad look, then sighed and motioned for Tortoise to have a seat.

"You know what I come home to every day? Onwu waiting for me when he doesn't have souls to collect. He may have memorized the entire household but he still makes mistakes every now and then. I have to call a memory spirit every day, just to share it with him so he gets to learn lots of new things."

While Tortoise was not unsympathetic, he needed to break through this tangent.

"Ekwensu, you have been taking care of Onwu for thousands of years. I have never seen you complain about it, you have been getting resources to make it easier for Onwu to communicate. I remember the look on Onwu's face when you got that word to Braille device, and now everyone can talk with him. You've settled into your life, no need to rock the boat."

Ekwensu looked at Tortoise, sitting up straighter and staring intently at his friend,

"I learned tactile sign language, tracking, print on palm, tadoma and tactile fingerspelling, all for Onwu. I will go to great lengths to help my friends Tortoise, you of all beings should know that."

Tortoise shrunk at Ekwensu's outburst, a slight creeping of shame entering him, but he would not back down on this.

"Yes, that is all well and good, but now that I have an idea, did you even bother to ask Onwu how he would feel about this? I'm sure he would not want you to do this. You cannot undo what Chukwu has ordained Ekwensu."

Ekwensu shot up from his seat, livid,

"Onwu didn't get a say in his punishment, I am doing the right thing here. I won't get a chance like this for a long time, I can fix him."

Tortoise didn't budge, even as the very air around them started to crackle with energy, and a cup on the table began to crack.

"Fix him you say? Just like Chukwu 'fixed' his mistake? You're not giving Onwu any choice in this matter either, that's my point, you're making a decision for your friend without considering his input, this is too great a trick to try and pull. You cannot trick Chukwu, your own creator, even if you are the trickster god."

At that, Ekwensu flopped back into his seat, deflated at Tortoise's words. Tortoise walked over to his master and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go see Onwu, go see your friends, that has to be worth more than whatever price you want to pay. Besides, I think once you get your mask and staff back, Onwu will be delighted when you share that memory with him." Tortoise said, changing his tone to a more soothing one.

Ekwensu sighed, brushing Tortoise's arm off, standing up and looking at him.

"Fine, I'll go see Onwu, then I'll go to the party and just, be myself."

Tortoise smiled, satisfied with his words and left the door, as Ekwensu summoned a laptop to the table, looking at pictures of his old mask and cane. In fact, he was glad he argued with Tortoise, it meant that if there was an investigation, none of the board would be negatively implicated, and they could get on with their lives. He wasn't swayed, of course, he had been planning this for a decade and wouldn't let anything get in his way. He just needed to make some final purchases, he would have liked to get his hands on his old items of power, but if he couldn't power his way through his problem, he would have to be more intelligent about things.

Several hours later, Ekwensu found himself in the world of the spirits, specifically in an ethereal forest, a heavy dense fog blanketing the air around him. Ekwensu walked without issue, he was one of the oldest gods, he had nothing to fear here. Coming upon a clearing, he sat down and cupped his hands and whistled a tune with low notes, then with high notes, interchanging back and forth.

After making his music, he waited for several minutes, until he heard the exact same sounds coming back to him. Smiling, he repeated the motion and the sound came back, this time even louder. He did this 6 more times until he heard the bushes rustle, and a small bird popped out of it. It was a dark-grey short-legged bird, its long tail ending in a forked shape, its beak having a metallic shine to it. The bird cocked his head at Ekwensu and bounced over to the god then made a polite bow.

"My lord Ekwensu, it has been a long time since I've seen you." The bird answered in Ekwensu's own voice.

"A pleasure to meet you Drongo, I see your skills of mimicry haven't diminished" Ekwensu replied mirthfully. Drongo was an animal spirit that was not often trusted, but for good reason. Like the species he represented, he was an expert on mimicking the sounds of other animals, but he could go further than mortal Drongos. He could mimic the voices of others and talk as if they were that person and was completely indistinguishable from the true owner.

"You honor me, my lord." Drongo trilled, legitimately pleased with the compliment.

"I have a request of you Drongo, with substantial compensation if you agree," Ekwensu stated, bringing out a large blueprint of a longhouse. Drongo's eyes went wide as he hopped onto the blueprint.

"Is this what I think you are offering my lord?" Drongo asked, fighting to keep his voice from breaking with delight.

Ekwensu nodded, "Your very own Mbari house in the mortal realm. You'll be able to travel from the spirit realm to this location and experience the world of mortals very easily. It wasn't cheap to build but it can be yours."

Drongo looked up from the blueprint and hopped back, "What would you require of me for so good a gift?"

Ekwensu smiled pleasantly, "It won't cost much, just your voice. It will be for a limited time only, the Mbari will be yours permanently, just pick the pen and sign this scroll. One actual addendum I have made for this temporary period of silence is giving you your own dibia as translator."

A scroll containing a set of terms and agreements appeared before Drongo, and Ekwensu sat back to give him the necessary amount of time to read the full contract. He always liked his role as god of bargains, everyone wanted something and he was yet to find a being that truly wanted for nothing.

Drongo looked back at Ekwensu after putting down the contract, looking deeply at Ekwensu, before putting his feet on the signing line. What followed next was an orb of light emerging from Drongo's throat and floating in Ekwensu's right hand before sinking into his skin. With a thankful nod, Ekwensu put his hand on Drongo's head, letting the magic flow from him to place a symbol on Drongo's forehead, causing the bird to increase in size. Once the procedure was done, Drongo bowed and with a wave of his wing a doorway in the air opened and Drongo stepped through it.

Ekwensu sighed with relief, step one was done, now for a visit to a Chameleon. With a flick of his hand, he opened his own door to the mortal world and stepped through it.