Seven

Okay fine, I'll just sit down.' I looked around. Shit, there was the old-man Jibril, lying dead on the floor. And a couple more Ellohim. I looked down to the ship's floor.

It seemed the same way it was when we entered, yet it felt different. Like it wasn't supposed to be this way.

I looked at the Marjas, not knowing what I was looking for. Excuse me if I can't differentiate them but I'm pretty sure the immortals choose how they looked like and they all chose Marja, or he himself broke into four personalities, I don't know.

Then I found it, I guess. Turns out all I had to do was to close my eyes and see through my third eye. The eye belonging to my soul, just like Father Enki always told me.

There it was right on my face. Marja the injured one was gleaming golden with auras that flickered, proclaiming he was okay. I could still see the darkness within. The darkness that scared the living crap out of me. The other's had none of that. Except, they were gleaming gold. Like the Ellohim after eating Manna.

Now I remembered something. Judges. They had that aura. It was said by someone called Joan in the lost era. He wrote that they were responsible for ending life, beginning it, and they refereed a game called game of gods, played to decide the doom of planets. One thing he stressed out, they were one hell of tough motherfuckers. Hey don't look at me like that, I mean respect! It's what he wrote, I'm just quoting him.

According to him, life was a game, death a thrill and destroying Planets, no matter how plentiful in life they were was nothing but a hobby. Screams and everything was just fun for them. He said they were something like the 'titan's, 'Ra'...

'Wait!' you are wrong!' I got up and looked at them.

'What?' they all said in Marja's deep voice. My insides melted. Fear came upon me in waves, and I swear I felt my head fuzz. Turn to nothing but darkness.

Don't, they can kill you. Marja whispered into my head.

'Can you stop that please?' I asked but I'm pretty sure as fuck that it didn't even leave my lips.

What was that other word for it? Fainted? Slept? Oh, I'll take fainted because I am sure I fainted. Maybe or not, because of fear. But I saw nothing. Nothing but soot black darkness. Even my body I didn't feel it. But somewhere deep within me, I felt this vibration, like I was somehow fading into... oblivion.

Fading?

Am I dying?

But I'm still a kid! Don't count in thousands of years I've lived 'cause, trust me I am 19. That is nothing compared to Anu. Hell, the motherfucker was still alive after millions of years. But not as a king. He gave that to Enlil. He is in retirement. And trust me; he is practically older than anyone I know.

Omi, don't bother counting him in. He is older than planet Earth itself. That I am ten times thirty thousand to the power of infinity percent sure of. If that is how equations go. The motherfucker knows where all time and everything came from. Even why people on this galaxy die young. The same way the governors know where the country's money goes to. Their big fat belly that makes one wonder everyday whether it's today they are going into labor or not? 'Cause they definitely look like they are ten months pregnant. Only thing off, they are male.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I asked me, myself and I. I was dying and I am making jokes. Are we gonna get serious? And die already?

'You were saying?' Marja's usually candy whipped voice pulled me with such speed from whatever dark whole I've crawled into. I got back and puked. Probably the last meal I'll ever have. But surely the whole of the last one.

I practically felt like I was drained. Hungry.

'Excuse me about that.' I turned to them got up from the ground. My body ached so bad I am practically sure someone had been pounding the crap out of me. But somehow, I didn't care. 'What can I call you?' I asked. ''coz, I'm pretty sure that is Marja and you are?'

The tormentor looked at Marja. I'm not sure what he saw. But I can be positive that as close as he was to me, I knew why Marja found him as the biggest headache ever. I had it. But that was not the worst. I kept forgetting who I was, where I was even everything. I even felt confused by everything. Sometimes I saw my family, the next they were not even there.

Even by the words the judge told me. I don't know what he actually said but, trust me, it's confusing. It sounded something like, 'marja?' a rhetoric laugh, and he continued. 'you are mistaken, I killed Marja and crafted earth out of his skull. The solar system earth is on is nothing but Marja himself. This is Alpha Beta, by your language, he is not Marja!' that... didn't set. Nope! Not at all.

'ooh, okay.' I said looking at him in the eyes. I am pretty sure I saw supernova's in his eyes and a lot of other confusing stuff. I didn't grasp a single thing from it. 'Confusing it is then! Now, confusion you liar and...' that, I heard myself say.

Now I don't know what happened after that. I don't even want to know, because whatever reason I forgot, I think it's for the best. But I do know one thing, I woke up in hell. And the worst part was that I woke up just as the fire and brimstone of hell consumed me.

My chest hurt like one hell of a motherfucker. My chest and windpipe burnt like I've scrubbed the inside with steel wool then rubbed salt all over it. Fire burnt, carried around by blood that fried each and every blood vessel it came across. But to move, I didn't dare to. It excruciated beyond anything I have ever felt before.

Air refused to go down to my lungs without ever feeling like I was pouring acid into my lungs. But still, I felt the pressure build and steadily rise within my chest and up to my neck. All of my veins felt like they were being blown into like a balloon and it hurt. Especially as boiling blood raced up to my throat, and moved slowly up to my head.

I felt like screaming out to my mother for help. But the thought of her and everyone else in my human side of the family hurt even worse than the pain I was already feeling. I knew I have long let her down especially when I left Earth the first and second time. But I couldn't change that. I just hoped that she understood the sacrifices I've made. I couldn't protect her people the way she wanted. And if she didn't understand or know how much a sacrifice I've made, I just hope she forgave me for being a failure. The mistake that I ever was.

I closed my eyes and let the pain carry me away. Carry me back home. And yes, safety, I found in the darkness.

'Enna!' an angry male voice I've heard a couple of times in my dreams returned. This time it was beyond furious. It was raging fury at its worst. It was nothing short of a roar of the king of the jungle infuriated beyond reason. He caught my attention from the billions of whispers that called all specifically for my attention. But he, he didn't call for me. He called for the blood of someone he named Enna.

I drifted towards him as he shouted curses at Enna, desiring his head in war. Unfortunately, for me, I couldn't see him but a vast cloud of smoke covering wherever I was.

'Joan! Don't!' a terrified feminine voice shouted back. Her fear and terror spreading through thick air like it was the heat from the sun. But I've known worse. So even as i stood searching in the darkness, I could understand how she felt like. Afraid. Powerless. Yet, wishful things would turn for the better. Wishing she could change things. But being helpless left her weak. Made things hard.

I felt the ground tremble. The scent of battlefield hit my nose. Its stench so strong it scared me. I wondered, was this the tragedy of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Great calamity? The sinking of the land of King Benjamin? How many were there going to die? I wondered.

Shit! Death smelt everywhere. Decay, fresh blood its stench was everywhere. Different types of blood, from different species. I could smell the red earthen blood, its ferrum content was nasty. But worse was the heaven copper based blood of our creators. Even though I hated them for their wars that they brought down with them to earth, their blood was not to be spilt. Even in their bloody games because each cell in a fallen drop was a human head chopped. Even other blood kinds fouled the air. The green and yellow one from the other gods and their enemies were in the air. Everywhere, in gallons. But I couldn't see. Hear I could...

'joan! don't!'

Joan! Don't be crazy!

Joan! You are not a titan, step back! we would get him when you know how to harness your powers!

Joan!

Steaming white hot lightning flashed in the dense cold smoke and debris. Quickly raising the temperature and ionizing the already acidic air. Then flashes came. Images of a missiles falling, lightning smiting everywhere, and the ground cracking and sliding deep into the ground flashed into my head. Waves of fire engulfing the land, the planet, like it was the waves of a tsunami all flashed into my mind. As I focused, the view changed, I felt like I was watching it all from space. Then I saw the planet being ravaged. Tiena, my kingdom, my Earth, exploding.

I shot up and screamed. Howled I might say. My racing heart beat started aching. With every beat, I felt like life was being drained out me. I felt like my heart was being squeezed, too tight for anyone's liking. Though it was like an untimely tap to the heart. It felt way too worse. All of my muscles above the diaphragm were excruciating.

The shout felt like it started a chain reaction of nothing but immense pain that was way worse than being castrated without any use of tranquilizers. Hell, worse than any physical pain I have ever felt. It was like I could just tear myself apart. Skin myself and explode. But I couldn't. Damn I wanted to scream, to shout, to roar, but all of that, was just dream I couldn't pursue. I couldn't dare.

Not when I knew now that Earth was once again going to be wiped out, clean, again. I had to survive this. I must survive this. But where the fuck was Ganzu?