348: A Plague of Phantoms: The King of Lies and The King of Revolution III

"Pleasure to meet you at last Sho'lajah, blessed child of the stars. I am Anansi, God of fables and trickery, father of spiders…and a great fan of your work." The massive spider calling itself Anansi said.

"A-A-A-A…"

"Anansi, yes. That is my name. Strange…I thought your grandmother educated you on all the African gods. I figured you'd heard of me." Spider Anansi said.

"WAIT A FUCKING SECOND! GODS ACTUALLY EXIST!" I screamed, my voice booming throughout illusionary space. Anansi's body shook from the sound then the enormous spider slammed one of his front legs down on the web it was perched on.

"You mean you didn't believe gods existed!" Anansi snapped, all the hair on his tarantula body stood on end. "YOU PRAYED TO THAT DRUNKEN BASTARD THOR FOR YEARS!"

"Why are you screaming at me! Nearly all Americans pray to the Norse gods!" I snapped.

"You are the last one that should be complaining about screaming!" Anansi barked then took a calming breath. "Father of creation, give me patience…your buffoonery nearly made me forget the reason I dragged you to my domain."

"I don't think the self-proclaimed god of fables, trickery, and spiders can talk to me about buffoonery!" I griped. I could hear the spider taking a deep breath again then letting it out slowly.

"As I was saying; child of the stars; I had a reason for bringing you here. To impart a little wisdom." Anansi said.

"Wisdom?" I muttered.

"Have you ever wondered why you are the only splicer with the star crystal? What this plague that you have been looking into really is? Why the three legendary villages were created?"

"Well no shit, I'm looking into all that stuff so obviously I've wondered about it!" I snapped.

A dozen strings suddenly wrapped around my legs and yanked me into the air. I yelped as I bobbed up and down before dangling upside-down in the air. I looked up towards my legs and saw a intricate web of thin threads stretching towards the raised leg of Anansi. The web was attached on the tip of the foot.

"Your mouth is like a broken damn, constantly running. Make it like a forgotten door, closed until something useful comes out of it." Anansi warned, a inhuman screech echoed following his words. The sound made my skin crawl and reminded me of the sound a Ca'oon makes while it eats it's victims alive.

"Mhmm!" I replied with a vigorous nod of my head. I could feel all eight of Anansi's eyes staring at me intensely for a few seconds before he cut the threads and I fell flat on my face. I growled and bit back the scream that was building in my throat and sat up, looking up at the so-called god.

"The reason for all those things lie in a past long forgotten and in a feud between all pantheons. A feud and war. A war that sundered the very heavens and nearly destroyed the world. To keep that from happening Lugh, Coyote, and I made a wager: We would let the humans decide the fate of our war. " Anansi said.

"A wager between trickster gods? There's no way that was a fair wager." I said.

"It was not fair indeed. All three of us debated on the terms of the wager for centuries before we finally came to an agreement. The wager was sealed with a promise, and at that moment Coyote's treachery was unveiled. Hidden deep under trillions of lines and rules of the wager was a secondary starting and winning condition. To keep this secondary condition from activating Lugh and I had to clearly state that we would not be accepting those conditions. Since neither of us caught it…we fell into his trap." Anansi explained. The hairs on his body shivered slightly, I assumed from anger or regret.

"What were the secondary conditions?" I asked. Anansi chittered, similarly to how Grimm-Guard did when he was frustrated, then stomped his front legs on the web in front of him.

"I cannot tell you! The wager prevents me! Gods are bound by their promises and cannot break them. To go back on a promise is to go against the very forces that binds the universe and our souls!" Anansi growled.

"What was the wager?" I asked.

"I cannot tell you."

"What happens when someone wins?"

"I cannot tell you."

"Why can you not tell me?"

"Because you are Coyote's pawn." Anansi said. Finally answering one of my questions.

"Coyote's pawn? Coyote is a god of the First nation. If anything wouldn't I be your pawn or Lugh's since my family comes from Africa and Scotland?" I asked then froze as I thought about Anansi's phrasing. "WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN PAWN?!"

"Just what it sounds. You and all the other humans are simply pawns in the war of the gods…however not a single human alive are paws for any side but Coyote's." Anansi answered.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means the true wager has never begun. This war between gods was split into three factions, three sides, three armies that should have fought. However only one was created. The wager sealed the other two out of reach from even the gods. The way to unseal them simple in theory, but in practice impossible...for a time. So the other factions waited and plotted, schemed, and dreamed." Anansi said ominously then leaned in close, too close. I nearly passed out from fear and shock of seeing a spider up so close. "Dreamed of a star, a twinkling light. A chaotic symbol of change unburdened by the shackles of fate and destiny but urged on by the allure of discovery."

"You dreamed of a star…the Star farm crystal bearers!" I exclaimed.

"Coyote loves twisting dreams however. So he took our dream and wove it into his plan. He took our last hope and dangled it in front of our eyes for all to see. Taking pleasure in watching that beautiful light get snuffed out again and again."

"Wait…I don't get it?! Star farm crystal bearers are pawns of Coyote's faction but also the hope of the other two factions? How do the villages tie into this? The Plague?!" I cried out.

"I cannot tell you."

"FOR THE LOVE HEL!" I barked.

"Think Child! You are intelligent! Your mind is not just some quirk of genetics but a badge of your station! Use it!" Anansi snapped. I growled and ran my hand through my hair.

'Think…station? How the fuck can I use anything when he doesn't tell me shit? What does the plagues and villa…ges…oh fuck…wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!' I thought. My eyes widened as realization hit me.

"Villages…Plagues…monsters…" I muttered then looked up at the spider god. "Humans are Coyote's factions army thanks to the secondary conditions, plagues and monsters are yours and Lugh's. The villages are locks that keep them in check and star farm crystal bearers are the key. The plagues start every half millennia or so when a star farm crystal bearer from one villages heads to another, then come the monsters! I'm right aren't I?!"

"I cannot tell you."

"Would you tell me even if you could? If I do go to the other villages and unlock your armies then your war is on! It would bring destruction to the entire planet!" I snapped. Anansi chuckled and stood up straight, looking down at me like an ant.

"Destruction will come regardless, you have already set the wheels ever turning wheel of fate in motion. You have no choice but to follow the tides of destiny and the course laid before you by the gods." Anansi said.

"I thought star farm crystal bearers were supposed to be unburdened by fate and destiny?"

"Unburdened and unaffected are two separate things. Your fate was your own until the day you left in Tolapo village. Had you stayed there instead of returning with your peers then…" Anansi twitched slightly, then let out a soft chittering sound. "…I see…that would be reveling too much. Regardless, you have no choice."

"Wanna bet! I could just stay at Andromeda once this Evo-cution expo is over. I could give up on finding the other villages." I exclaimed. Anansi chuckled again and reached out to pet the top of my head with one of his oversized arms.

"It is adorable to think that you can but alas you will not remember anything about our talk once you wake up." Anansi informed me.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Yes…while talking to you no is technically not against the rules of the wager getting caught is. While there is no chance of Coyote and his faction finding out I spoke to you while your mind is in my domain, the moment you leave with a memory of me everyone will sense it. So to keep that from happening…I will erase your mind." Anansi explained.

"THE FUCK YOU ARE!!!!" I snapped.

"Child…what can you do to stop me?" Anansi asked.

I curled my upper lip up at him. Admittedly there wasn't anything I could do and that pissed me off more that anything. Anansi chittered happily when he saw my frustrated look.

"If you're wondering why I bothered to talk to you when you won't remember it, the answer is simple. While you won't remember anything you will feel a powerful pull towards finding the other villages and solving the mystery behind the plagues. This conversation is a suggestion, a plant…a compulsion…"

I started to open my mouth to say something when my vision started to blur and I felt a hot flush spread all over my body. I stumbled back and bit and ended up falling flat on my back, looking up at the endless expanse of black.

"It looks like our time is up. Fear not child…this talk was the beginning of great things." Anansi commented then chuckled deviously.

I swore I heard him say somethings else but I started to feel like I was spinning and getting my mind shaved down with a straight razor. The last thing I saw was anansi climbing his web into a deeper part of his domain then everything went black.