XXI Century

XXI century, technological progress is advancing by leaps and bounds.

Year 2015, a time where it is being marked by significant advances in technology, communication, internet and globalization.

Globalization is like a big hug that envelops us all, it is as if the whole world is connected by this invisible network of economic, cultural and technological threads. It's as if you could be in a small town in some remote corner and still feel part of something much bigger.

Thanks to globalization, communication is instantaneous with people on the other side of the world.

Buying products that are produced in countries you can't even locate on a map. It's amazing, but there's also a tricky side to all of this. Global competition can make things difficult for some, as if you have to fight harder to stand out from the crowd.

And then there's the question of culture. With globalization, the music, the food, the movies... it all blends together. It's like we're building this global culture.

Eira was living the best days of her life, the comfort of the times appealed to her.

All her years of life, Eira had to move every so often, once she had to leave the place where she settled because the citizens there accused her of being a witch, she had to leave quickly, she did not want to kill an entire village for her comfort.

The free access to the internet entertained her, as an immortal person, she looked for hobbies to waste her time, the internet was one of them.

She delegated all responsibilities to the head of the Ashford family.

Mason Ashford, the current leader, was always busy, traveling abroad every week on business.

A man in his 40s, tall and blond, with a piercing gaze, that was Mason Ashford. A family man and businessman.

Adir was always watching the Ashfords. He had a very good time with Eira, he doesn't know if in all these centuries that he spent with her he fell in love, it was unusual, he had lived much longer in the other world than in this one, and to fall in love just for accompanying a few centuries with a woman who looked like a girl... he felt that he had changed.

As a god, feelings for a mortal were complicated, he was afraid to let her go.

Sometimes he wondered why he fell in love, when there are many gods as beautiful as her, even their children are equally as beautiful as Eira.

The only thing he knew for sure, is that these feelings were real, and he wasn't willing to let go, his face was heating up at the thought of her.

His thoughts were flying, shaking his head, he stopped thinking about his romantic problems.

Adir spent a long time on the blue planet, he was going to take a break. He would return to the lands of the gods and rest.

Preparing to tell Eira, Adir said:

- Eira, I will be away for a while, I don't know how long I will be away, but I will return as soon as possible.

Eira, who was relaxing on the internet, froze. The years that they were together, was more than enough for Adir to give her a little more of his power, so they could communicate without the need to have dreams.

Hearing Adir say that, it broke her, Eira thought she would be with him until the ends of the earth, all the years she lived with Adir were wonderful for her, even if Adir cannot manifest his body, for her they were unforgettable.

She stopped what she was doing, and stood up from her seat, Eira was about to cry, tears were forming in her blue eyes. Her chest hurt, for a few seconds, she stopped breathing. Eira felt despair, for the first time in her long life, she felt she was losing something important in her life.

- W-why, why are you leaving? Have I done something wrong? D-don't go! Don't leave me alone!

Falling to the ground, Eira cried, her tear-soaked eyes falling like a waterfall to the floor.

- It's not like that, it's not like that, Eira, I have to do something important, after I take care of the matter, I'll be back, besides, you have my blessing, don't worry, I'll be back in the shortest time possible.

Recovering from her loss, her legs still shaking, Eira stood up, wiped the tears from her face with her dress, not caring about the lack of decorum, she was sad, Eira, with unwavering resolve, spoke.

- Do you promise to return quickly?.

- I promise - with a small breath, Adir answered her, the pain he felt when he saw Eira cry was tremendous, he felt a lump in his throat, his chest hurt, he felt he had done something unforgivable for the first time in his long life.

Eira, as the minutes passed, calmed down, regained consciousness and made Adir promise again to return as soon as possible.

Saying goodbye to Eira, Adir departed.

In the land of the gods, Adir awoke, standing up quickly, stretched his body, his body was a little stiff from the meditation position he had taken.

It didn't last long, after the stretching, he felt his body in better shape, he didn't know why.

Eira, as the minutes passed, calmed down, regained consciousness and made Adir promise again to return as soon as possible.

Saying goodbye to Eira, Adir departed.

In the land of the gods, Adir awoke, standing up quickly, stretched his body, his body was a little stiff from the meditation position he had taken.

It did not last long, after a few stretches, he regained his form.

Checking his panel, he was momentarily surprised to see that his divinity had increased enormously. Normally, his divine power increased passively over the centuries, but the increase was not so great, he speculated that it was thanks to his "meditation", he did not take much importance to his increased power, he was no longer interested in power, because he had found something much more important than this.

Quietly he left the cave. He thought about how fantastic it was to have a body to touch, the centuries spent on the blue planet made him lose a little touch, his diatribes did not last long, leaving his mind, Feltor, the golden dragon called him.

- How are you my lord, did you wake up well?

Feltor was waiting for him at the entrance of the cave, patiently, day and night, day and night. The days turned into months, and the months into years, Feltor was always standing at the entrance, waiting for his master's departure, protecting him from any threat or danger.

When Adir saw Feltor at the entrance, he stopped abruptly, what he saw was alarming.

Feltor, who was missing an arm, smiled towards his master, with a warm smile, as if nothing bad had happened, as if everything was normal.

Adir didn't know what to say, he had many questions, but he kept them to himself, levitated towards Feltor and touched his shoulder. Adir, for the first time, was furious.

- Who did this to you! Speak! - Adir was lost in madness.

Seeing his son without an arm made him angry, waiting for Feltor's answer, he waited.

- My lord, after you isolated yourself from the outside world, something happened - with a momentary pause, Feltor fell silent.

- A few years after your isolation, beasts appeared out of cracks created from the sky. They seemed to be fighting with beings with white wings, fell from the sky like meteors and crashed to earth. Some curious gods approached to see what they were.

Adir didn't miss any details, he wondered why angels appeared fighting with monsters. Not understanding what was happening, and why, Adir put his thoughts aside and continued to pay attention to his son.

-The beasts and the winged beings attacked the gods equally, but their attacks were ineffective, they did not have enough power to touch their divine bodies. Everything changed when they appeared - Feltor, with bitterness, spoke - those beasts that came out later, had the power equal to a supreme god.

Adir froze, he didn't understand anything anymore, he didn't understand who these supreme level beings were, or who the beasts that came out of the cracks were or why they were fighting with angels, he knew nothing.

- The god Anu fought against them, with the help of Ymir and Enkil, they repelled their attack, b-but then... many more of supreme level came, Lord Anu, together with the gods of supreme and primordial level, attacked, but as Lord Anu was the only supreme level, they could not stop their counter-offensive, many gods died and Lord Anu was wounded in the battle.

Adir stopped Feltor's words, asked him, with an urgent voice, where his brothers were.

Feltor, understanding his father's question, spoke.

- Fighting, none of them died, they are scattered killing beasts and winged beings alike - his answer was brief, it was enough for Adir.

With his children still breathing, Adir relaxed a little, but he still had worries for the others, for the twins, for Kairos and... for Anu. They were the first to welcome him to this world, and the first to talk to him openly.

Adir did not want to listen anymore, with his divine power, he returned Feltor's right hand and asked him where Anu was. He had to hurry, Adir was impatient for everything that had happened in his time of absence.

Feltor raised his newly restored arm, and pointed to the west. Adir, with a nod, headed in Feltor's direction.