Chapter Three: Rich in Spirit but Poor in Wealth

Once the council meeting had concluded and Anakin and Vader left with Hermes, everyone was voicing their concerns about the matter. It was a divine outrage.

The gods and goddesses were protesting over the somewhat light punishment the two "rouge gods" were imposed of. Some argued that it was too lenient, another said it was unfair and elicited injustice towards the people directly affected by the "attack" on the city and they did nit even defend themselves; the two riuges were just feigning ignorance over the attack and proceeded to threaten them, while the rest was just plain mad that they had just been assaulted by Vader.

Somehow, Ouranos was able to pacify their anger and quell their concerns. The goddess, Freya who was the head of the Freya Familia where Ottar is a part of, was particularly cincerned with the identity of the two entities who were just on trial recently.

'I couldn't see their souls. Impossible!' Freya thought, visibly distressed that her divine eyes was not able to peer through the souls of Anakin and Vader. Out of all the gods, she possesed the ability to look through the souls of all living things, mortal or not with her divine eyes and it is through that ability of hers that she is able to discern the character and intentions of an individual just

by looking at their soul.

If the person is evil she is able to tell how evil they are by how dark and murky their soul is, likewise she is able to tell how good a person is by how white and transparent their soul is. No living entity could escape this ability of hers, not even Ouranos, the judge and disciplinarian of the gods. So why is it that she was noy able to see Anakin and Vader's souls?

She glanced at the gods and goddesses present in the court and found that her ability worked just fine. And yet it did nothing against Vader and Anakin. When she looked at their souls, there was no color, not even a speck of aura or a small colored mist.

However that was not always the case for she was able to temporarilly see their souls when the two of them used their abilities, namely Anakin "telekinetically" stealing their weapons from Hermes and Vader "strangling" everyone they emmited a colored energy.

Both of their souls was similar to the two contrasting rays of light that was used when the city was "attacked ."

Anakin had a ray of bright white light with a tint of yellow encompassing him. Watching his "essence" was like being blinded by light and yet it felt warm. Too warm, as the longer she looked at him, the more the bright light seared her eyes, like staring into the sun for a few hours. It was as if righteousness was being personified, there was not a trace of malice in his soul, however it wasn't anything innocent nor pure. A true embodiment of innocence and purity would have a transparent color, like a certain white haired boy she was interested in, and yet Anakin's was a blinding ray of light, similar to Ouranos' soul.

Vader's was the complete opposite. Bearing witness to his soul was like being thrown in a harsh blizzard, butt naked. It was as if she was thrown down to the underworld, embraced by the cold feeling of death. The color of his soul was the most disturbing part however. The color of his soul was pitch black, darker than the night sky on a stormy night itself, and it was tinted with the occasional flickering of a red light, whether it was due to the reflection of his "divine weapon" or not, she was unable to tell.

In contrast to Anakin's soul taking the form of a ray of light that seared and blinded, Vader's took the form of a fiery inferno of black and red flames ironically sending chills down her spine instead of burning her.

Regardless, she had not seen a soul as bright and righteous as Anakin's, not even Zeus, Hera and Gaia's soul had been this luminescent. And not once had she seen a soul as dark and evil as Vader's. The likes of Hades, Ikelos and Noctis' souls could not even compare.

This was the cause of her distress.

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"So, first thing's first, in order to start a familia, you're gonna need some funds." Hermes said to the two force users. They were now walking the middle towers of the tower of Babel, the business district.

"Since I doubt anybody is willing to lend you guys any money, we're gonna have to borrow some." Hermes added.

"You're not going to lend us some?" Anakin asked.

"Hahaha...no." Hermes said. "I would if I could but my familia's funds are not doing so well, after I payed my taxes in bulk. But I guess that's what happens when you try tax evasion." Hermes giggled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Anyway, here we are!" Hermes said, venturing in a small kiosk store that looked a bit run down. Vader and Anakin exchanged glances, wondering how would this meager place be able to lend them money, after all these so called gods seem to value their pride, it would seem counter intuitive for them to parade a small store rather than a big grandiose one that is befitting the tower of Babel's luxury, to show of their wealth.

But then again, both Sidious and Kenobi taught them not to judge based on appearances, and they followed the god of travels and trade inaide the establishment.

Surprisingly it was a decent place. "Now, I know that this looks like a medieval town hall mixed in with a little bit of a tavern look, but I assure you that his services are top notch." Hermes said, though Anakin and Vader did not really know what the word medieval meant.

"HEY PLUTUS! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? YOU GOT CUSTOMERS!" Hermes hollered, to which a voice replied "PIPE DOWN HERMES! I'M COMMING YOU DAMN SWINDLER!"

Just then, a man in a white robe with brown curly hair and a handle bar moustache that looked to be in his 30's dashed towards Hermes and and lifted him up by the collar.

"So you finally decided to pay your debts you little sh8t." The man known as Plutus grumbled.

"Uh...actually, I'm not here to erm...pay my dues. Hehe."

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"Ok so let me get this straight, these guys need the funds to start their familia? And they've been blacklisted by the rest so they can't procure the necessary funds, that it?" Plutus stated.

"Well, unless they would hunt the monsters inside the dugeons themselves, then yes. But gods going inside the dungeon is forbidden so..." Hermes said, now missing a few teeth and with a pair of black eyes, with a piece of tissue bloccking one of his nostril.

"Right, it would seem introductions are a bit late, but nonetheless my name is Plutus, god of riches and head of the Plutus Familia, also known as the Plutus insurance and lending corporation." The middle aged god said.

'A business type familia.' Vader noted, remembering Hermes' earlier explanation about familias.

"My name's Anakin. Anakin Skywalker."

"Vader. Darth Vader."

"I see, I haven't heard from the two of you, what are you the gods of?" Pluus asked.

"Well, you see, we were instructed to build our own familia, but we're not really go-" Anakin was about to reply but was cut of by Hermes saying: " They're not very famous gods among their pantheon." Hermes was trying to hide the fact that they were rougue gods, as no sane individual would lend money to rougue gods, and with their popularity at an all time low, that would not help their case.

But it only reinforced the coincidental lie that they were supposedly gods.

Anakin was about to retort about this matter but Vader stopped him.

"What? Are we supposed to just lie to them?" Anakin whispered unbeknowmst to the two other gods in the room, still conversing.

Vader replied with "Not necessarily. We had already denied their claims, twice. And yet they still made their premature assumption based on their meager and biased knowledge. Instead, it would be wise to use our status to increase our influence." Vader reasoned.

"But still...it doesn't seem right. Decieving them like this. Besides, what are we going to do with said influence?" Anakin rebuttled.

"That remains to be seen. Though having influence far surpasses raw power in certain situations, as is evidenced by Chancellor Palpatine and the Republic Senate." Vader replied.

"If we wish to live and survive in this new world that we have been transported to, we must take any and all opportunity that is presented to us. Chivalry and goodwill mean nothing if we are in no position to uphold them, lest we end up dead once more. You and I of all people should know that fact. " Vader added.

Anakin only contemplates, but nodded regardless, acknowledging his other half's decision. Both are now returning to the matter in front of them.

"I was hoping you could lend us a premoum starter pack? Maybe around half a million valis for each two of them." Hermes bargained.

"For them? Sure. For you? Get lost, bot until you pay me that 1 million valis you borrowed last year." Plutus grumbled. "Hey, hey I will pay you back soon, we just finished paying back all of our taxes, so after a few more expeditions, we will be able to pay you back!" Hermes assured.

"Excuse me. We actually won't be managing two separate familias, we have decided to manage one familia under the two of us." Anakin informed.

"That...is not allowed, nor is it possible." The two of the gods said.

"You see, every familia has it's own exclusive patron diety, and that symbolizes their familia's theme and their identity as a whole. Having two separate deities is not something that would be precedented. Espacially being the case with the falna." Hermes stated.

"What's a Falna?" Anakin inquired.

"Oh jeez...were the two of you living in some sort of backwater dimension?" Plutus retorted.

'Says the guy living in an underdeveloped planet' Anakin and Vader both thought.

"A Falna is the grace, sometimes called blessing, given by Gods and Goddesses to their familia members. Those with a falna gain a superhuman physical prowess upon being bestowed with it and can gather excelia to raise their status and grow even stronger. When a falna is given, a growth stat called "experience" or EXP is bestowed to the reciever. Each god has one falna, with their own symbol. As such not two gods can have one familia as only one falna is possible to be bestowed per person, and a falna symbolizes a peerage with the god and the members, so you can't not give them one or just one over the other." Hermes explained.

"I see, that was an excellent explanation." Vader answered.

But both of them were worried over the fact wether the two of them are able to grant this falna, seeing as they were not really divine entities. Butbthey would leave that matter for a later date.

"Now, about the matter of being lent five hundred thousand valis each, would the two of you please read and sign this document." Plutus said, handing them a stack of paper, twenty four pages for each of their copy.

TO BE CONTINUED

I know that this chapter wasn't as exciting, but it did provide for an excellent exposition, both for you the readers and for Anakin and Vader for their new world.

It also delved into other peoples reaction towards Vader and Anakin and how they view them and their...peculiar nature. I touched upon them, but did not provide too much emphasis on it other than it being given.

Send me a power stone, and comment if you like it. Some suggestions, advices and constructive criticism would be appreciatted.