Chapter Nine

I was at home browsing through my phone on the tips needed to open up a business and how to push it far when my phone buzzed. I opened the message. It was from AMD and it read:

"Come outside your gate now. It's urgent."

I quickly dressed up and told my parents I was heading out and would be back quite late because it is difficult to define urgency when it comes to gods and I might probably spend another week there. Immediately I opened the gate and passed through, all my fake appearance disappeared and it was as though I stepped through a portal and I found myself in AMD's house.

"What the ..." I said as I looked myself over in the godly form that I was back in.

AMD was hurrying all over the place. I greeted him and he just nodded and moved on. Ouch! I thought to myself. When he finally calmed down, he looked at me.

"We need to hurry, we are late." He said and started making a portral.

"Late for what?" I asked but he ignored me. Double ouch!

We walked through the portal and I just couldn't believe what I saw. We were in a city high up in the clouds. I was tempted to go to the edge and look down but I decided against it.

"This couldn't be… could this be?" I tried saying but couldn't get the words out of my mouth. I turned and looked at AMD and screamed out because he was already in his full eight metres form.

"You are a god now. Quit being jumpy all the time or other gods will intimidate you. Oh and welcome to Olympus by the way."

The manner in which he said 'by the way' told me this wasn't his first time in Olympus.

"Wow! It's unbelievable!" I said while looking around.

"Hurry up and transform already. I'm sure the meeting has already started." AMD's voice boomed at me.

I looked at him in shock. "What? I don't know how to do that! No one taught me godly enlargement." I cried out.

"Eww… godly enlargement? Don't put it that way. Just imagine it. You'll have to figure it out. I'm going in to cover for you, so come in when you are ready." AMD started walking towards the biggest building in the city and left me by myself.

"Great! Use my imagination again. How am I supposed to do that?"

I closed my eyes and concentrated as my silver avatar form started flickering into existence and it formed fully. I shook my head.

"This is not what he meant."

I bit my mouth in frustration and started walking towards the building AMD had entered. I would think of something along the way.

_______

AMD walked into the meeting hall where all the gods were gathered, rubbing his head and as he smiled nervously.

"Sorry I'm late. Had a little thing to take care of." he said and Zeus glared at him.

"You know lateness is not tolerable of a god." Zeus's voice boomed across the hall.

"Oh lighten up thunder bolt, it's not as though I committed a crime or anything. It's just lateness." AMD said and for a while they both stared at each other as everyone looked at them.

"Is it me or does the air smell of ozone?" Oluaye said and Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love hushed him. He winked at her and turned in the direction of Ares, the Greek god of war and saw him glaring.

"Fine since you are here, take your seat." Zeus finally said and turned towards Odin. "Aren't you going to say anything about his behaviour?"

Odin, the Norse god just shrugged. "Well he didn't commit murder."

Zeus just shook his head and Horace , the Egyptian god of the sky, stifled a laugh.

"Weren't you supposed to come with someone? The supposed new sky god you guys were talking about? Where is he?" Zeus asked.

"He'll be here, just give him time. Hopefully he will come." AMD said.

"Hopefully? Hmph… maybe he is a coward and can't stand being around these many ancient gods. Maybe if you and Sango weren't careless enough to let your essence leak out, you wouldn't have made a mess of things." Ares said with a spiteful tone.

AMD's eyes blazed to life and lightning echoed in the sky as he glared at Ares. "Mind your tone, war god. He might be an amateur but I've seen what the boy can do. Don't underestimate him."

"Yeah, At least he is better than most of the countless bastards you've sired", Oluaye said and Ares got up and almost rushed him, but was held back by Hermes and Hephaestus.

AMD took his seat and Sango tapped him. "Where is he?"

"He is having trouble performing the full body size thing. I'm sure he will figure it out", AMD said and Sango nodded.

Zeus shook his head. "Well, since he is not coming, we have to ..."

His voice was cut short as the entire meeting hall shook.

"What is happening? Are we under attack?" Apollo asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, who would be stupid enough to attack here?" Osoosi countered him.

The room shook again and the gods looked around in confusion. Giant footsteps could be heard approaching the meeting room as AMD and Sango looked at each other.

The gods began to murmur and gasp as I walked into view in my solid ten metre form and they all stoop up and looked at me in shock and amazement. Even Zeus was surprised as he stared at me. As soon as I stopped walking and stood In their midst, a symbol blazed to life above me. A symbol of my quadent slashed against a clock.

Zeus looked at Poseidon who in turn looked at AMD. His eyes were searching for an explanation.

"The kid admires you." AMD mouthed to him.

I bowed my head slightly "Sorry for being late and interrupting the meeting. Please carry on."

I looked at AMD and he gestured to a space next to him and I started walking over to him as my footsteps shook the hall. I spotted Poseidon as I was about to sit and my eyes lit up and I bowed my head slightly at him and he did the same.

As I sat down, I looked around and noticed that it wasn't only the Greek god that were present. There were Egyptian gods, Norse gods and gods from other culture I couldn't recognize. I noticed Yemoja waving at me and I waved back at her with a smile.

"Let's give him an orientation by playing the historic power point." Zeus suggested and Odin clapped like a kid.

"I love power points. I give my Valkyries a power point seminar presentation every week." he said.

"You mean the one with the one thousand slides? Please don't, I'd rather jump into Tartarus than sit through that slide again. I remember the first time we came to Olympus and slides weren't even a thing yet, that story was boring and I'm sure he knows all about it." AMD said and they all turned to me.

"Well? What do you think?" Zeus asked me.

"C'mon buddy answer him!" AMD barked out as the others joined him to pressure me.

I screamed out so loud, stood up, broke through the wall behind me and jumped off of Olympus and plummeted down the world below.

"Emeka, we are still waiting for your answer." Sango's voice brought me back to reality as everyone was staring at me.

"If it's an orientation, I guess it can't be that bad." I said and all the Nigerian gods let out a sigh and shook their heads while some collapsed in their seats.

I came to regret that decision later as the power point was so slow because Zeus set the timer to 5 minutes for each slide so he could explain their heroic acts of defeating the titans.

The truth was that I knew most of those stories from books and movies and it was really nothing special with exception of new information. Every now and then, Aphrodite would wink at me and if I dared to smile back, it would earn me a deadly glare from Ares. I wondered if Hephaestus the husband of Aphrodite knew the two were having an affair. Well that wasn't for me to say.

After the meeting, many of the gods came to welcome me. Aphrodite kissed me on the cheek and I refused to look at Ares when he came to shake me and almost squeezed my hand into mush. Apollo hugged me and whispered something in my ear that I would prefer to keep to myself. I greeted Hephaestus with so much respect because Ogun held him in high esteem. Artemis was particularly beautiful with a warm hug, but she had the eyes of a vicious hunter and I wouldn't want to be her prey. Athena just shook me and walked away to go draft war plans, obviously.

Hera, the queen of the gods looked at me with a smile that said 'you may be a god, but if you cross me, I will kill you'. I sheepishly smiled back.

Thor nudged me from behind and I flinched. Marvel had deceived us. Thor wasn't exactly as they portrayed. He was so hairy and full of beards and he seemed drunk most of the time. While he was greeting me, he remembered he left his hammer in the meeting hall and ran back to get it.

While I was standing alone, Poseidon approached me and I grew nervous.

"Hey rookie, show me your trident." he demanded.

"Um… it's called a quadent actually." I replied nervously.

"Just show me!" He yelled and everyone turned in our direction.

"Yes Sir!" I screamed back.

I materialized the quadent and it was 13 metres long this time and Poseidon grabbed it.

"Hmm… good craftsmanship. Quality material. Hmm… looks a bit rushed though " he said as he analysed it.

"Well it was an urgent situation. It was either that or I blew up and destroyed an entire town." I said and smiled.

"I see." He said and tossed it back to me.

He started manipulating the water in the atmosphere as his trident materialized out of the air. It was amazing and looked like it was crafted from a sea blue gemstone and I loved it. I didn't realize I was reaching out my hand to touch it until he slapped it away.

"Hands off rookie", he said.

"Oh sorry, I couldn't help it." I said while rubbing the back of my palm he slapped. "It's just that among all the Greek gods I've read in stories, you were my favourite and meeting you like this seems like a dream."

Poseidon smiled. "What made me your favourite?"

"Well I think the ability to control an entire body of water is cool and that's one power I've dreamt of having."

He laughed out loud. "Your powers are pretty good too. Time god and sky god. Did you notice the way Zeus and Horus were glaring at you? It was ridiculously priceless."

I did notice them glaring at me during the meeting. They made me really uncomfortable as though I was competing with them for something.

Ogun walked over to us and exchanged greetings with Poseidon who turned and started walking away.

"Well, the meeting is over. Got an ocean to rule. It was nice meeting you. Nice craft by the way Ogun, his weapon has your signature on it " he said and dissolved into water.

"Ogun, nice seeing you again." I smiled at him.

"How's our rookie god doing on his debut day?" He said and I shrugged.

"Not bad. If you don't count the number of glares I've received today."

Ogun laughed out loud "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Suddenly an idea popped into my head.

"Hey Ogun, I was wondering if I could come stay with you in Kogi state for the time being. I can't keep living with my parents because I'll be putting them in danger."

Ogun looked at me for a while and smiled. "Sure you can. It will be a great opportunity for you to train yourself more in areas of your godly abilities. So whenever you are ready, just contact me."

I couldn't believe it. I resisted the urge to jump off Olympus in glee. I thanked him and he headed out leaving me standing alone again. The gods were already dispersing one by one and I was waiting for AMD to take me back home.

_____________

"What do you mean he is gone?" I asked one of the minor Olympian gods few moments later.

"Sorry, he said he had urgent business and left immediately." The minor god said and walked away.

I grabbed my braids with my hands and almost yanked them off in the process.

"Do I smell someone in distress?" A voice said behind me and I turned to see Apollo.

"Oh it's nothing much. Just looking for a way to get home." I said.

"Well, can't you just portal like the other gods?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't do that yet. I am new."

"Oh. If you don't mind, I can give you a ride on the sun chariot." Apollo offered.

My eyes lit up. "For real? You'd let me ride on the legendary sun chariot?"

Apollo smiled. "Of course. Hang on." He blew a whistle as the air blazed with such intensity I felt my hair and eyebrows would singe off.

The chariot arrived and he hopped on and gestured for me to do the same. At first I had second thought, but I was a god anyway, what's the worst thing that could happen?

Me being me, fell off the chariot a couple of times and ended up being rescued by Apollo who was obviously enjoying every moment of it. Finally, we got to Umuahia, so he stopped directly above my house and I shook him.

"We'd meet again, sky god." he said and blazed away.

Luckily, no one saw me dropping down from the sky. Having to rewind someone's memories would be a drag.

____________________

Few months after the meeting on Olympus, I told my parents that I will be travelling to Kogi state because of a business opportunity that came up. They were okay with it and told me to be careful.

A month later, I arrived at Ogun's place in Kogi state and since he wasn't going to be home any minute, he just gave me a key card. Once I was inside the house, I ransacked the kitchen and fridge and there was more than enough to eat and drink and most of all I could be in my godly form comfortably. Having to put on a fake appearance was like putting on a mask and it was quite uncomfortable.

I called Chioma after a while and narrated the ordeals of the past months to her and I could hear it through her voice that she was jealous. Olympus is a place most people have only dreamt of going to.

"I'm so jealous right now." she finally said it out.

"I know. I could tell from your voice." I teased.

"Shut up. So what were the Olympians like?" She asked curiously.

I thought of a word to describe them. "They were 'Extreme' Poseidon and Apollo were cool though."

"You met Apollo? Not fair! I want to meet Apollo too." She said in a childlike tone.

I just laughed. "Don't worry, I'll introduce you to him one of these days."

"Really? You will?" She asked expectantly.

"Sure thing. I've missed you by the way. I will drop by one of these days to see you." I told her and I was pretty sure she blushed.

"Oh! Lecture's about to start. Talk to you later." She said and ended the call. I wanted to talk to her more but I couldn't help if the stupid lecturer wanted to have a class now.

Ogun's house was so big that I decided to take a tour. I peered into the other rooms and they were just as impressive. I went outside and entered the garden, then strolled to the fountain. I noticed a building that looked like a shed and decided to check it out. As I opened the door and walked in, I almost coughed out my godly lungs because it was so dusty. This couldn't be everything, I thought to myself and started looking for levers to pull until I accidentally stepped on a tile and the whole room moved, changing positions until I was in front of a metal door.

I pushed it open and my jaw dropped to the floor. I saw the most amazing workshop ever. Machines were building things here and there. I couldn't help but gawk. The items ranged from weapons to helmets, staffs and accessories.

Suddenly, my eyes caught two silver gauntlets lying on the table and I took them and put them on. Immediately they glowed and my symbol appeared on the surface of the gauntlets. I tried taking them off but they wouldn't come off.

"They look pretty good on you." a familiar voice said behind me and I turned back and saw Ogun.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put them on. I just thought they looked cool." I said apologetically.

"A fellow Orisha complimenting my work. I appreciate that." he said as he walked closer and examined the gauntlet. "I see your symbol has already been etched into it."

"What do the gauntlets do exactly?" I asked curiously.

"It takes you wherever you want to go and seeing how you have problems creating portals, I say it's a good fit for you." Ogun said and smiled.

"I looked at the gauntlets. "Really? I can have these? Thank you so much."

"It's okay. You can look around all you want, but it would be better not to touch things around here, they are very sensitive to gods and will latch onto you easily." Ogun explained.

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind." I said as I imagined one of those big chains latching onto me and shuddered at the thought.

By the time I turned around, Ogun had already disappeared into thin air leaving me alone in the workshop and I decided I had seen enough for the day. I left the workshop and headed back to the main house.

That evening when Ogun came back, I told him about the business idea I had in mind and we shared thoughts. For someone who was not a god of wisdom, he was pretty smart and I was glad I confided in him.

On weekends when he didn't go to work, we'd train together. He had a lot of things I could train with and I got to use my powers to my heart's content without destroying any landscape or rearranging the world's map. As time went by, I was getting used to my godly powers. It almost became like breathing to me.

I also did a lot of visiting too. I visited Yemoja once under the water. Honestly, I just wanted the feeling of having a fin again. And this time around I sang 'Under the sea' and Yemoja chased me around threatening to turn me into a seas horse. The water was calm and not as chaotic as it was back when Aganju was stirring things up. I thought about him, where he was and what he was up to.

Whenever I wasn't busy, I was drawing up business plans. I knew I was a god and that I didn't have to worry about things regular humans think of. But still, I didn't want to stay idle. I wanted to do all the things I dreamt of doing. Immortality was such a long time and I thought of how everyone I knew would grow old and die and I would still be around. The thought itself felt lonely.

Once in a while I visited my parents too or sent them things to get by with. One time I visited Chioma in Calabar and saw my brother too. Since I got the gauntlet, travelling around was such a breeze for me and I got to visit a lot of places all over the country. I once appeared in a grazing field and almost got stampeded upon by cows. Good grief.

One day I was drafting something on my business plan when someone opened the fridge behind me and I already knew who the rude godly essence belonged to.

"Manners! It's called knocking on the door and not opening the fridge." I said as I turned to face Oluaye grabbing a drink from the fridge.

"What are you going to do? Tell mom?" Oluaye said and I raised an eyebrow.

"You know what? Scratch that. What are you working on?" He said and walked over to the table and looked at the business plan.

"What do you think?" I asked

"You know you don't have to do all this, right? You could just kick back and relax." he said.

I scoffed. "Yeah right. Says the guy who owns the biggest spa and supermarket in Lagos."

He shrugged. "I opened those businesses on a whim and I hardly even go there. I have people that mange them. I could even walk in there and the employees wouldn't know me. You forgot I also have the best medical centre in Abuja."

"Wait… what? And you are telling me to take it easy?" I said as I glared at him and continued with my work.

"Nice gauntlets, looks new." He commented.

"Thanks. Ogun gave them to me. Helps me portal around." I said looking at the gauntlets.

Oluaye shook his head. "You mean you still haven't learnt to create a portal? That's pathetic."

I used time progression on the beer he was sipping and when he put it to his lips, he found out it was empty.

"Hey! No fair. Anyway, all I'm saying is that you can't use that gauntlet forever. A time will come when the gauntlet will not be of use and you will need to rely on your own strength.

I stared at him with my jaw open and he noticed "Why are you staring at me like that?"

I smiled. "Didn't know you could give reasonable advices."

"Are you mocking me?" He said as he glared and I waved my hands in defeat.

He walked to the fridge and grabbed an arm-full of beer and flashed me a smile.

"If Ogun asks, I'm telling him it's you." I said.

"Can't you cover up for an old friend?" he pleaded sarcastically.

"No!" I replied bluntly and he disappeared.

I sighed and turned back to look at my business plan. It was starting to make more sense to me now. I already knew what I had to do. I couldn't wait to start up the business. Anytime I felt like giving up, I remember rising business stars like Ovaioza and Chukwuma Ezeh who are youths like me and I feel motivated and besides I needed something to get my thoughts away from the immortality stuff which was really starting to bother me. None of the gods could relate to my situation because they were oblivious of how they came into existence.

I finalized the final details of the plan and closed the book and then relaxed on the couch and took a deep breath. I tried to stay calm but I knew deep down that in this my world of impossibilities, peace is something that is far-fetched. Trouble was brewing somewhere. I could feel it. But I couldn't quite place my fingers on it. I stood up from the couch and did a stretch as I said to myself.

"Only time will tell."