24 Unintended Consequences

Minas choked, the pink liquid bubbling down his throat. It burned down his throat, leaving an itchy feeling as he swallowed it down. Shooting a look of pure disgust and loathing to Releva, Minas shoved the bottle back at him.

"What?" Releva put on an innocent look, "I told you it's disgusting."

Minas could not speak. Instead, he gurgled his answer.

"What was that, m'Lord?" Releva leaned in, his pure white lab coat rustling. "Can you say that again?"

Taking one look at Releva's smug expression, Minas punched him in the gut. Releva went down with a bang, hitting the cabinet that held all of his potions. A green one fell down on top of him, and he looked at it in horror.

Standing up quickly, Releva grabbed the black kimono that Minas wore. "We need to leave!" He announced, his expression panicked.

Coughing to clear his throat, Minas spoke, "What for?" Confused, he looked at the green liquid that dripped through Releva's hair.

"This is the potion that would make my entire laboratory explode."

"What?!?"

"So we need to leave. Now!"

They hurried out of the laboratory, weaving in-between the metal tables and intricate machines. They were 50 feet away from the lab when it exploded.

Minas lost his footing and fell onto the ground.

"My King!" Releva exclaimed before he began to laugh. Pointing at Minas, he said, "You've truly became weak, my King." He laughed harder. "Otherwise you would not have fallen!"

Standing up, Minas huffed. He patted off the dirt and grass that covered his black kimono and tidied up his long black hair. "I wouldn't have this issue had you not placed a self-destruct option in your laboratory!"

Releva shrugged. "That's what all the greatest scientists do."

Minas shot Releva a look, however, he sighed when he viewed the 'I'm innocent' expression plastered on Releva's face. He changed the subject. "What were the effects of that potion?"

"I don't know."

"What?!"

Chuckling, Releva patted Minas' shoulder. "My King, haven't they ever told you about that human saying, 'Never trust a strange God?'"

"It's never trust a stranger, Releva."

"Same difference. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that I have no idea."

Frustrated, Minas pulled at a few strands of his hair. "Then why did you give me the potion!"

"Just because I have no idea what it actually does, doesn't mean I don't know if it would help or not."

"And?"

"It'll help..."

"Why are you hesitating?"

"Because that's not all. It should also have some unintended consequences."

"You really make me regret creating you, Releva."

"We all have those days. Mine happens on Wednesdays."

Minas sighed. He looked around at Releva's Godspace. It was modeled after the human realm, with grass and trees and buildings. The laboratory that Minas had accidentally exploded was only one of such buildings.

Glancing back at Releva, Minas could see him studying a charred remain before he kicked it away. Minas could hear him mumbling. "I knew I should have added more adhesives!"

"What was that, Releva?"

"Oh, nothing. We should probably go to Qori," he paused, an excited look briefly moving past his face, "I'm sure she'd be delighted to see me."

"She hates you."

"Ouch," Releva pantomimed pain in his heart, "You've harmed my pure soul, m'Lord."

"Pure black soul, you mean."

"Inventive soul," Releva corrected.

Minas sighed, "Let's just leave."

"Okay doke!"

......

"Why the f*ck are you here!"

"Did you miss me, Qori?" Releva made kissing sound, extending his arms out for a hug.

Qori, like a feral cat, hissed at the man, swiping at him with a roll of paper towels.

"Why do you have paper towels?" Minas questioned, grabbing the paper towels from Qori's hands. She hissed again and used Minas as a shield.

"There are a lot of messes in a hospital," she said, dodging Releva's outstretched hand. She swerved, and Releva's elbow connected with Minas' face.

"Enough!" He bellowed, pulling the goddess and god away from each other. He pointed at the ground. "Sit."

The god and goddess sat with their legs crossed. Qori was unwilling to look at Releva, yet he openly stared at her.

"Stop being such a creep, Releva!" Qori crossed her arms. Her face was scrunched up in disgust.

"Creep?" Releva raised an eyebrow. "I'm no creep! Wouldn't you stare if you saw the most beautiful thing in all of existence?"

"Enough," Minas sighed, "stop acting like children you two." Minas turned to Releva. "Stop bothering her." He turned to Qori. "Come on, Qori."

Huffing, Qori let her arms fall down to her sides. "What is it, m'Lord?"

He pointed towards Releva. "I drank one of his potions."

"You did what!? You actually trusted this- this idiot!"

Minas sighed. "Yes."

Qori turned to Releva. "Which potion was it?"

"You've finally looked my way, gorgeous," he murmured, placing a hand above his heart. "Your beauty leaves me in awe every time."

"If you don't shut up I swear I will knock you out and sew your lips shut."

"Please use regular needle and thread. The fishing line took forever to dissolve."

"Qori!"

She sighed and raked a hand through her short hair. "What, Minas? You can't trust this thing," she pointed at Releva, "You should have just came to me."

"Can you tell me what that potion will do?"

Qori glanced at the beaker Releva was holding. "Give me it," she sighed.

"I get to touch my goddess' hands?"

"I'm not your goddess," Qori mumbled, snatching the beaker.

"But where's Uyir? I don't see him anywhere." Releva looked around the hospital, its interior the same as a human hospital in the twenty-first century.

"Why do you insist on keeping the interior like this, Qori?" Minas asked, curious about Qori's choice.

"I like how it looks."

"It expends more energy the more you use things beyond the technology of the current era."

"So?" Qori curtly replied, her attention not straying from the beaker in her hands. She wiped off a purple stain and tasted it.

"That's my Qori!" Releva dreamily said. "She's a queen!"

"Shut up."

After a while, Qori completed her analysis of the purple potion. She sighed, looking up at Minas. "It's nothing too serious-"

"Really?"

"But we better keep a tighter watch on Mai."

"Who's Mai?"

""Shut up, Releva!""

The two turned away from Releva, continuing their conversation from before.

"What'll happen to her?"

"I'm not too sure, but I know that you're now more connected to her than ever."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were connected to her before- you used your power to make sure she lives for a long time without illnesses, right?"

"Yes."

"That connected you two together. She uses your energy to protect herself from life-threatening dangers that she couldn't otherwise protect herself from. But this," she shook the beaker, "makes the two of you even more intertwined."

"And?"

"That's all I know." She shook her head, but concealed her hesitation, "If you had let me analyze at least a drop of the potion, I would have been able to learn more." She shot a look at Releva, "Instead, you trusted this idiot."

Minas sighed. "Thanks, Qori."

"No problem." Qori threw the beaker back to Releva and left, not turning back.

"I love you, sugarkins!" Releva yelled out towards Qori's leaving figure.

Minas hit Releva's head. "Don't be an idiot." He glanced at the beaker. "Let's go."

They returned to Releva's Godspace. Before Minas left, Releva turned uncharacteristically grave. "M'Lord," he began, stopping Minas in his tracks, "You should get the waters of rejuvenation and the Soulful flowers as fast as possible."

"I know."

Minas did not turn back as he returned to his Godspace.

...

He stood before the scrying water. Noevl was the one to supply energy this time.

"Is she alright?"

Noevl turned, her hands on the edge of the bowl. "Yes."

Minas' eyes narrowed. Noevl's face was pale and her lips had no color to them. "What did you do, Noevl?"

"N-nothing," Noevl could not turn paler at Minas' suspicions- she was already as white as a sheet.

"Tell me the truth, Goddess of Springtime."

Noevl sighed and looked at the ground, her eyes like a petulant child's. "I may have-" she hesitated. Her voice grew to barely above a whisper as she continued, "helped Mai a little bit."

"What?" Minas said alarmed. "Is she alright?" He paused then placed a hand over his heart. "But I didn't feel that she was in danger." He looked up. "Was she in danger?"

"Yes..." Noevl looked down, guilty.

"She wasn't in danger? What did you do?"

"Nothing..."

"Noevl!"

She sighed, "I didn't do anything! I may have given her a teensy weensy little power- just enough so that she won't feel tired!"

"Is that all?" Minas said, relieved.

Noevl nodded.

"Good, but next time you shouldn't do this."

Noevl tilted her head.

"I'm the one that's going to protect Mai."

Staring at the slightly blushing King before her, Noevl giggled. "Are you embarrassed at saying that, my King?"

Minas' blush grew stronger, turning his whole face red. "No!" He turned his head, distracting himself by looking at the full-length mirror. "Has Kirna and Lorna contacted us yet?"

Noevl shook her head.

"Then I'll contact them." He moved toward the mirror and touched its surface. After a few seconds, the surface rippled and the faces of Kinra and Lorna appeared.

"'Lo, Boss!" Kirna said.

"'Lo, King!" Lorna said.

"Hello to the both of you too."

"Why'd you call us?" Lorna asked.

"How's the situation with Ocis?"

The goddesses in the mirror shared a glance. Their expressions were not good.

"What?" Minas grew alarmed. "What happened?"

"He was forced by Brqi'a to use his power in the human world," Lorna glanced at Noevl, concerned.

"And?" Minas voice was like ice. Even through the mirror, Lorna and Kirna could feel their room's temperature to fall by a few degrees.

"He's the one that caused the betrayal of Fredrich, and he had even cause the existence of the Resistance in the first place," Lorna continued.

"Yeah!" Kirna chirped, "He did it by causing the betrayal of a noble-"

"Enough!" Noevl cried out, tears in her eyes. "I don't want to hear it!" She rushed out of the room, almost causing the scrying water to fall down at her feet.

Minas lunged to right it, his heart beating out in fear.

"M'Lord?" Kirna quietly said. "He needs to show them his loyalty before he'll be able to steal two vials, okay?"

Minas glanced at Kirna, still holding onto the bowl of the scrying water. "I know this, Kirna," he said, the room falling another few degrees.

Kirna gulped. Lorna chimed in, "But he contacted us and said that he would be able to return in two human days!"

"Two human days?" Suspicion surfaced on Minas' face. "Isn't that too few?"

"He is the God of Betrayal, King," Lorna said. "He is good at betraying others. It's in his nature."

Minas sighed. "So I have to weight two days. Alright."

He waved goodbye to the two goddesses in the mirror, and the mirror rippled before it became still. He once again could see his reflection and the exhaustion in his features.

...........

The wait was excruciatingly painful for Minas- although he tried his best to distract himself from the time, he couldn't help but track each passing second.

"I can't believe that I could sleep for thousands of millenia," Minas muttered, rubbing his face, "when now I can't even wait for two human days to pass!"

He sighed and glanced again at the scrying glass. Although he does not have enough energy to see Mai, he still wished her to be well.

"Hah," Minas laughed, "who am I kidding?" He sat heavily on one of the chairs in the room. "I want to see her." He leaned in, burying his face in his hands, "I want to talk to her. I want to meet her."

He remembered back when he thought he had saved her. She was so tiny in his arms. He felt a mixture of pride when he saw her face her death with serenity. Now, however-

"I've placed her in even greater danger," he whispered. There hasn't been a successful God test since a million millennia ago.

He stared at the scrying glass and waited.

That was how Ocis had found the King.

Minas had long noticed the God of Betrayal coming from behind him, however his pride as King forced him to wait for Ocis to arrive.

"You've come," he said as Ocis bent down in one knee, holding out two vials.

"Yes, King," Ocis respectfully replied. "I've brought two vials of the waters of rejuvenations, but-" He hesitated, "I wasn't able to-"

"Ocis!" Noevl's joyful voice rang as she hurried into the room. "You came back safely!"

Ocis turned around, his features softening when he heard Noevl's voice. "Noevl."

They hugged. Minas had to count to 100. He had the urge to hit Ocis.

No longer able to take it, Minas interrupted the couple's hugging session. "So?"

Ocis and Noevl quickly composed themselves. Coughing, Ocis said, "Almost everything went well, m'Lord."

"Almost everything?"

Ocis hesitated. Once again kneeling, he held out the two vials of rejuvenation. "I was only able to get the vials, sir."

"Oc-"

"Thank you very much," a hand plucked a vial out of on of Ocis' outstretched hands. It was Releva. He shook the vial before uncorking it and drinking its contents. "Ah," Releva said, "that tastes... rejuvenating."

"Releva!" Ocis was shocked. He turned to his King, pointing at the thieving god.

"It's fine," Minas rubbed his face. "We made a deal. That vial is for him." He gingerly held the other vial, careful not to drop or spill its contents. "The other one is for Mai." He looked back at Ocis. "What happened to the Soulful flowers?"

Ocis shook his head sadly. "I wasn't able to get them. They were guarded to fiercely, m'Lord."

Minas sighed. "Don't worry, we can figure something out."

"My mother would know," Noevl said. Releva, Ocis, and Minas turned to look at her.

"Of course!" Minas hit his forehead with his palm, "The Goddess of Agriculture!" Questioning Noevl now, Minas' tone revealed his eagerness, "Where is your mother, Noevl?"

Noevl hesitated. "She left to grow crops, m'Lord."

Minas deflated. Still holding hope, he asked, "When will she be back?"

"I'm afraid I'm not too sure, m'Lord. Oh! But it will be before the end of Mai's first lifetime."

Hope rekindled in his eyes. "Then we should give her the vial of rejuvenation before we find those flowers."

"And how do you suppose we do that, m'Lord?" Releva ruefully said, tapping his empty vial on his lips. "You don't have the energy to do so."

Minas turned to him. "I may not have the energy, but you do, Releva."

"Me?!" He looked shocked. "But I haven't contacted the human world in an eon!"

"You can do it," Minas looked solemn. "You have to do it."

"Fine." Releva snatched the vial and walked over to the scrying water. He peered in, curious as to how it worked. "What do I do now?"

Noevl stepped in at this moment. She walked to the scrying water as well and grabbed the vial from Releva's hands. "You need to connect to the human world and see Mai first."

Releva breathed in and plunged his hands into the bowl, splashing the water over its edge.

"""Releva!""" Three voiced yelled out at the same time. However, the image on the water rippled into focus, showing Mai as she slept with nineteen other humans.

Minas breath caught in his throat. He missed her.