Meeting with a God 2: Eletric-Boogaloo

After the brawl with the old man, I'm relieved to see the white space from before I met Janus. If I was to be kept alive from some twist of fate, the next morning would be unbearably awkward.

However, my relief is immediately exchanged for anxiousness as I realize that I was back in the non-corporeal form. That meant that I would probably have to go through that excruciating pain when I'm given body once more.

"Not my fault." I hear the familiar voice of the god "Normally lightning doesn't hit twice at the same place but you asked for this. As the saying goes, blessings and misfortune walk side-by-side."

'Janus' I thought, hoping him to be reading my mind 'Thank God, I thought I would have to go to another god.'

I might have thought of him as incredibly annoying but it was better Janus than one I hadn't met yet.

"Of course not, I told you I was responsible for you, didn't I?"

'No, you didn't,' I think angered 'You just went all: You gonna die, good luck and thumbs up. You didn't tell me s**t'

"Well f**k," he says regretfully in a playful tone "HAHA! You are a lucky bastard, then. Something might have happened. Doesn't matter. Hold tight, you going to a special place."

'Special place? Can't you be a bit more specific?'

"I could, but it would take the magic from it."

I sigh, more precisely think of it, there is nothing I can say to a f**king god that would make him act any different.

I hear him mumbling something as he is talking to someone else.

"Don't rush me. No, no need I can do it alone. Aha! See I told you."

As he finishes his argument with whoever it is, I bright light shines on what I think is my face.

And once more I immediately hurl into my knees as the same feeling from the last time comes rushing in once more. At least this time it wasn't as intense but I still wasn't able to stand up.

Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder. It is not Janus' since I can tell it is a woman's hand. I immediately start to feel better, she is also better at this than Janus since when he did it I still felt quite incapacitated. However, the woman was able to quickly make me feel better and also strengthen me.

"I see you still aren't able to properly model earthly vessels, Janus."

Her voice was calm and soothing like a mother's with her son.

"I'm the god of beginning and passages, not humans and bodies."

Ignoring his remark with a light sigh she turns to me. She has beautiful sun-touched light brown skin with long black hair in corkscrew locks and deep green eyes. She wore a simple overall white sheath dress with patterns of bird feathers on it. She carried a staff and on top of it a fire was burning, but in a controlled manner, forming a symbol that I couldn't recognize. She seemed friendly, no, motherly actually.

"Are you okay, young man?"

Her voice made you want to answer her. I was shocked at it.

"Y-yes, thank you."

"Good thing I was here, or else Janus's sloppy work would have been devasting. He really needs to work at his modeling."

"Yeah, yeah. I suck and you are awesome. Now can we go?"

The woman just sighs heavily while helping me get on my feet. Why wasn't she responsible for me instead of the capricious Janus?

"Well, introductions are in order." she had this captivating smile seeming to be actually happy to be here "I'm Eset, goddess of magic, childbirth, and quite honestly… a whole lot of other things."

"H-Hi, I'm C-Cain."

I have a dumbfounded expression. Many times I learned of her, reading and re-reading her myths. Her tales always amazed me. I never believed seeing Eset in the flesh right in front of me. Was the same as meeting a celebrity, but multiplied but a hundred.

Probably feeling my awkwardness, Eset follows Janus and leaves through a door Janus had magically conjured.

"Yeah, Yeah. She is incredible but we need to keep going." Janus was impatient with me staying behind like a little kid. "So get a move on people!"

I reluctantly follow the god through the door hoping that this time would at least be safe without any new painful experience.

Different from my expectations the other side of the gate left me speechless. The first thing was the scale, it was a gigantic temple/church/shrine, it was a mixture of several religious symbologies: Greek columns molding Roman archways that sustain Chinese Shinto shrines roofs with Babylonian hanging gardens that were floating in the air going from one place to another. Arabic flying carpets go through the air together with colorful and scented winds, from cinnamon to mint to freshly cut grass and baked pastries. Nordic runes are etched on the walls and an enormous golden Hindu monument in the distance. You could even see animated hieroglyphs telling different stories from all over the world, a giant snake coiling around the planet, the journey of a ship that shined like the Sun through the skies, and many more.

I was mesmerized by the splendid imagery in front of me. I could hear Janus making fun of me due to the look on my face and Eset chuckling about it, but I don't care. Never in a million years had I ever thought something like this existed.

We went through all that and arrived in a circular area of the… huh… temple? It was a much normal looking area, which seriously disappoints me. It had five chairs that formed a pentagon around a circular wooden table. The walls were a simple brick construction but every single one of them were different colors and materials, the dome ceiling showed what I believed to be the entire universe with galaxies and stars decorating the scenes, but other than that nothing else and hanging from the domed ceiling there were several tapestries depicting the creation of the universe, however, each tapestry showed a different tale for it.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Janus showing it around when we first arrived. He must really like this place to be this excited "I know, I know, a little is rustic but is not really a building we use much."

"What's wrong?"

Eset asks me as she sees my disappointed expression due to the area we were in.

"I'm just thinking about the difference from the place we just went by to this. It s incredible alright, nothing like I have ever seen, but compared to where we came from…" I decide to say what's on my mind since I don't think it would be a good idea to lie to the all-powerful gods "Is a little disappointing, you know?"

"Oh, I see" Eset is amazed at my answer "This place, however, is the most important place in all of creation. Right here we stand directly at the center of the universe."

Now I'm truly overwhelmed. I must have the dumbest expression ever seen. The center of the universe, for centuries it has been debated where it is and right now I'm standing right on top of it.

"Now you know." Janus interrupts us taking from me the wonderment of being in the center of the universe. "So please take a seat we still have to wait for the others."

"Others?"

I ask, taking a seat with Janus to my left. Eset decided to stand up waiting for the apparent others to arrive.

"Oh yes, my dear. We have quite the special guests this time around. But they will be rather late. They are pretty busy."

"You seem quite excited for the two this time?" Janus asks with that somewhat annoying smile he shares with the old man. "Any information you want to share with us?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait."

"Tch, you no fun."

You would think that being sent to another world would warrant a more detailed interest in the parts involved but I guess not. They keep acting in this playful banter. Living forever must have made them rather desensitized to matters such as this one.

"Anyway, Cain." Janus turns around to me. "I have a question for you."

"Well, isn't that a surprise?" Eset speaks before I have the opportunity to respond. "Janus? The one that doesn't care, whatever happens, is asking a question? That is a first."

"HAHAHAHA." Janus gives her a robotic laugh in a mockery manner. "You're absolutely hilarious. Ever thought about becoming the Goddess of Comedy, it might suit you."

After his input, Eset gives out a little giggle at the displeased god and returned to focus her attention on a magazine she conjured while waiting for the two other gods to arrive.

"So what's the question?"

"Ah yes. Why did you decide to leave Earth to go to another world? You had a pretty good life there. I mean currently, your early childhood... jeez, I've seen punishments less horrible than that."

Although that last commentary was unnecessary, Janus was right. My life was quite good, exceptional really. Stable work with a lot of free time, a roof under my head, friends, and much more. I've never really been one for material goods, so the quiet life I lead was fantastic. Well, as quiet as a bouncer on one of the most known clubs could be.

"I don't know, actually. Except for that threat to the old man."

I didn't really have an answer, that was the best I could do.

"First of all, it was not a threat, it was a warning. And secondly, seriously?!" Janus interjected with a lot of vigor "There must have had another reason for it."

"What can I say? Since I'm dying anyway why not?" I continued "Is there a reason for you to be so focused on my reasons?"

This questioning is already starting to sound like Janus is trying to keep something from me. I look at Eset trying to see if she knew something but she kept reading her magazine without a care in the world.

"No, just for formality, we still have our responsibilities." answered the god. "Anyway, it looks like one of them arrived."

The doorway from where we entered the room started to glow with a pale grey. The smell of old books swept the room. It gave the same feeling from when I met one of Ms. Barley's friends that ran a bookshop. His establishment was the kind that would have been a great success a few years back, being more of a café mixed with a bookshop. After the light stopped a woman entered.