Chapter 68: Interferences...
A.N. Tribute to Kyen Syr for his addition to this story. Go visit his page for the short story that this chapter references.
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(Babel)
"Alright Ptah! Explain yourself!" Apollo leapt to his feet and pointed at the screen towards Godzilla. "What the hell is that thing? And where did they find it?"
"I'm more interested in how they tamed that thing." A goddess said before she shivered. "Ugh, just look at it. He's hideous and terrifying! And that breath attack, what's it supposed to be? A wingless dragon? A fire breathing crocodile? Can somebody explain?"
"Didn't you hear the announcement?" Another god asked. "I'm pretty sure it was a called a titan or something like that. And also a King of Monsters?"
"I AM GANESHA! And you are exactly right my friend!" Ganesha pointed at the god before he rushed over to Ptah with his hands clasped in front of him, sparkles twinkling around his face. "Oh how glad I am that I allied with you uncle! The fact that your Familia tamed something like that goes to show we can learn a lot from you!"
"Yeah, I don't think we'll be giving you monsters like that." Ptah said. "And besides, Steve and his friends tamed it before they even met me. It just became a part of the family once they introduced it to me."
"Just look at that thing!" Hermes looked out of Babel in the direction of Melen. Even from all the way over here, one could make out Godzilla due to the creature's size. "It's both terrifying and majestic! Like a heavenly beast! The fact that it's an earthly animal too. He would give the Hecatoncheires a run for his money."
"I'm not sure Surtr could lash him as easy either." Loki shivered in excitement. The initial terror had worn off of her at this point, and instead she was deeply soaked in anticipation and fascination as she watched Steve control this absolute beast. It was no wonder her Aisy-poo took such a liking to him if he had power to control something like that.
"Can we return to the topic?!" Apollo cried. "Where did they find it? Because if such a creature was roaming this world to be found and to be tamed, I'm pretty sure we would have heard of it!"
"Yeah." Dian Cecht agreed. "There is absolutely no way this thing could go on for ages being unseen and unknown by anyone amongst humans and mortal kind for hundreds or thousands of years maybe, and the whole world has not seen it or heard of it until a select few managed to find it. It's impossible!"
"Such a creature could not possibly exist in this world." Dionysus said before he suddenly remembered his 'special' affiliation and what he'd learnt. Details were scarce and few in passage between him and his mysterious new partner, but what were the chances that this thing did not share the same qualities and origins as Stephen Hewer and his friends? "But that's the point, isn't it?" The wine god said as he stood up, catching the attention of all those in the gathering.
"What do you mean Dio?" Hermes tilted his heard. "What are you suggesting?"
"Let's have a throwback to what Freya said earlier on." Dionysus tilted his head to the goddess, who simply stared at him intrigued as she pulled her attention away from the War Game. Her children it seemed were going to be saved for last, so she didn't need to pay attention quite right now. "Remember what she said about Ptah?"
"She sang a lot of praises for him." Ishtar sniffed. "What are you talking about specifically?"
"Remember the constant emphasis on Ptah going around the edges of our reality to learn all that there was to being and to creation?" Dionysus cocked his head to the Primordial who felt no panic whatsoever. It was clear where this was going, and it was bound to happen at some point. Better sooner than later. "We all know how Ptah used to be in his early days. And he's often spoken of stepping beyond those boundaries into new places and new things."
"I just thought those were gossip and exaggerated fables." One god said. "We've never really thought about going and exploring other worlds besides our own."
"But that's the thing!" Hermes said as his eyes lit. He was catching onto Dionysus's point...and it made the prospect both exciting, and terrifying. "We have never had the guts to traverse reality and go into other worlds. Whether it was fear of losing our powers or us being too comfortable in our own skins in our own world, we never went to see what lay beyond..."
"But someone did." Hephaestus followed up. She had figured out the great secret of the Ptah Familia long ago, so she was able to recover from seeing that monster out there a little quicker than most. Even Loki sat up as she observed from Ptah's demeanour that he was willing to let this discussion go along...he was ready to come out with it all. "Ptah was the one who went to other planes, other dimensions...and he came back."
The congregation looked at Ptah who simply looked back at them with a blank look, intentionally putting it across to them that he was giving no answers and that they were alone to figure this it out on their own speculations by themselves. Eventually more and more gods started to see a link forming.
"Nine absurdly powerful adventurers, with casual power strong enough to alter the environment on terrain level, and absurd powers suddenly appear out of nowhere, get Falnas and are revealed to be of the highest levels recorded in adventurer history." One god began.
"With them they bring such wealth and such advanced knowledge that they can construct a super luxurious mansion in just three days alone, not just from foundation but also incorporating the surrounding structures in." Another god followed.
"They have strange names that cannot be placed from any culture, and they all seem to come from a place of great diversity, which is not existent anywhere on Genkai besides Orario." Demeter said. "On top of that, they have an extremely deep understanding of agriculture, down to the level of the very soil we live in and the very food that the plants eat."
"They also have strange cuisines that we have not seen anywhere in this world before." Ganesha said as he thought back to Steve's birthday party. "And different drink too. Delicious dishes regardless, but Orario is a place of people crazy about food and the fact that nobody could tell where these dishes come from is quite suggesting."
"And even though they are clearly foreign, they have the ability to completely adapt to new and vigorous environment." Dian Cecht stroked his beard. "Hence why one of them can go all the way down to the 50th floor on his first Dungeon run and defeat all monsters, despite the several different geological differences in the Floors."
"On top of that, they bring this monster out of the sea which if not the mortals, then we gods would most certainly have known about." Dionysus said. "Moreover, it's a creature that does not seem to fit into any category of monsters in this world...because it's not a creature of this world." The wine god pointed a finger at Ptah as everybody fell upon the same realisation. "The same as his new children. They are not from here at all! They're other-worlders!"
.
.
.
"Do you have anything to say about that accusation Ptah!" Freya asked as she opened her mouth for the first time.
To her this explanation, as far-fetched and incredulous as it seemed, would make complete sense in theory. Perhaps it was why she couldn't tell what she was seeing when she was looking at their souls...because their souls were not meant for a god of this world to read! Their souls could only be for the eyes of the supernatural forces of the world they came from, a world where she had no authority. It would also explain why they were so radiant and why she was so intrigued...because they were different! Their souls were not of a category she could fit them in because they did not originate from Genkai in the first place!
"To call it an accusation is to imply that I have done something wrong." Ptah said. "As I see it, as an Elder amongst all you brats, I reserve the right to bring to our world what I want and who I want. But it took you long enough...well most more than others."
"What do you mean others?" Apollo asked before he suddenly realised the meaning and he as well as several other gods stared at Loki. "Loki! Did you know this?!"
"Sure I did." Loki said. "A few of us know about this by now."
"Who else knew about this?" Miach asked quietly.
"I did." Hephaestus rose up as she walked down the isle and stood by a surprised Ptah who was now flipping out that the woman of his interest was standing next to him, seeming ruffled on his behalf. "And while he is correct, that he wouldn't be wrong even if he did bring these people to our world, I find it quite thoughtless and shameful that you think he would just do that on a mere whim. It was not Ptah who brought them here."
"Then who did?" Freya asked as they turned to Ptah for the answer.
"Honestly, we don't know." Ptah answered. "Ouranos and I brainstormed a few things. It was actually Steve who came to this world first. It was only a bit more than a week ago that the other eight came. Steve just opened a gateway to his old world to bring them through. But just like me it seems, he was a wanderer and he wandered the edges of his own reality too. But according to him, some supernatural force brought him here without his knowing nor his consent, not until he woke up to see our skies. Ouranos and I came to the conclusion that it was somebody amongst the Others."
"The Others?" Goibniu raised a brow. "You mean an outsider god?"
"Yes, and one that was able to forcibly move a powerful outsider into the heart of our midst with no alarm or awareness on our side." Ptah answered. "Such a being would have to possess power far greater than even my own to be able to do such a thing. Something out there sent these people to us...and you know how it is when it comes to situations like this."
"And you gave him a Falna despite that?! Have you gone mad?!" Apollo shrieked, feeling more than freaked out before he did a double-take during contemplation of Ptah's words. "Wait, Ouranos knows about this?"
"He does. And after thorough questioning and examination of Steve in person, he's given permission for Steve and his friends to live amongst us, if only for the benefits of their otherworldly existence." Ptah said. "Perhaps even join our world with theirs in the future too."
"...The hell is going on?!" Ishtar asked as there was nothing but horror written upon her face. "Is that why my children are still alive?! I know I felt their deaths but there they are on the battlefield unharmed even!"
"Steve by himself has the power to bend reality in his image." Ptah said. "He doesn't realise exactly how powerful it is...despite the power being subservient to me as the god over the Falna it resides in...it may rival my own power...and perhaps even surpass it. Just one of those individuals down there of my children could destroy this planet if they wanted, without our intervention of course."
"...I want out of this War Game now!" Apollo cried. "Forget all the consequences, it's worth nothing if my children are going to be broken. He's going after them next!"
"What has been done cannot be undone. It has been put in motion and now there is no way of stopping it." Ptah said. "I did not want this to happen, but now that it has happened, my children are going to have their fill. This War Game will not end!"
"Stop crying Apollo." Loki said as she kicked up her legs and leaned back. "It looks like that wolf will be killing your kids after all. He's just toying with them now. Just relax and watch the show!"
"How would you feel if it was your children down there?!" Apollo cried.
"My kids have already been served their own humiliating defeat." Loki smiled. "And they made the smart choice. I have no reason to fear."
"Are we not going to discuss these powers then?!" A god asked. "In what world could it be feasible for ANY mortal to have these sort of abilities? It defies common sense!"
"They are higher forms of life." Freya mumbled as people in the congregation looked at her. As for her herself, she was speaking simply on what she had experienced regarding their magnificent souls. "From a higher plane of reality...and whatever entity may have brought them here to us...would have to be amongst the highest of all existences..."
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(???)
In a place far remote and inaccessible for both the tangible and the intangible, the material and the immaterial, the physical and the spiritual, all things of the physical world and the scope of Creation by the hands of the Almighty, there sat in patient wait and continuous mirth and amusement one who was very human looking and yet was anything but.
Though perhaps he may have been an ordinary human once, he'd ascended past the limits of moral flesh and the blessed immortal soul and had found a higher position of excellency in existence under the eyes of the Supreme one.
There he sat upon a throne built atop the bones of all the omniversal beings who had scrabbled at his robes and flesh, desperately trying to keep him from obtaining this position and gaining favour which had never been granted to any before him. So great his might that he could open his palm over the infinite expanse over infinite omniverses in infinite timelines, and close his fingers around it all in a singular crushing grip.
And yet with all that power, he now focused on refining that privilege of his and in the meantime to fill his boredom, he would reincarnate people of his old world into fantastical fiction adventures of their own. While his main self did what it did to seek further enlightenment and enrichment, this portion of his conscience known as Nekros sat on this exorbitant seat and looked down upon his works.
Three mirrors currently floated before him, depicting three different characters closely or distantly related with one another in their previous world, now residing in different alternations of the Danmachi universe where they carved out their own path and destiny.
Greatest and most dearest to him was the mirror which depicted the vision of a young boy in blindfolds, bearing a magnificent sword befitting of a king, fighting his way through the Dungeon on a genuine path of struggle and self-reflection, an organic way to true and deserved power. One who perhaps was his most insolent subject but one who did not ask for ease and took the hardships vying for greatness in stride as lessons and experience, so as to become worthy of the power he would attain in the future.
Least in importance to him was the mirror depicting one donned in a fur cape, and wielding a giant cleaver. This was one who had asked him for all power from the get-go and while Nekros was a generous man, he did not have much love for these types. For certain he'd interfered in this particular individual's life and ironed a few things out, and for certain, he'd created this boy's body from a drop of his own blood. But ever since, he'd completely lost interest in his life.
The one he was looking at now though was everything in between. This was an individual who had not met him face-to-face unlike the others, nor had he asked and denied anything of Nekros. His powers had been given from the get go so as to create a sort of balance, a middle-ground to observe between the other two champions Nekros had created.
And right now, he was enjoying the way things were going. Granted that it had its degree of silliness and so much unnecessary flex and pomp, Stephen Hewer had not failed to entertain him yet. And to see the gods in this timeline sensibly figure things out instead of over-reacting was a relief. The Primordial Ptah was an oddity he had not observed before in the other two timelines though one did make mention of him, this timeline had made the Egyptian deity an active participant.
And so far, it had been quite the ride. Though Nekros did wish Steve would go along and fulfil that hidden mission he'd activated, he supposed that a confrontation between him and the Hidden One was inevitable. He'd lived billions of years, he could wait a few puny seconds to watch a true struggle, a true battle of fire and will instead of Steve trampling all over his enemies.
As he rested and observed his creation, his attention was sparked by something as he sensed an interference in his design. Snarling, he reached out a hand to intercept the offensive subject from interfering with Stephen Hewer's record.
"Who would dare?!" The Transcendental asked himself. "Which mongrel would meddle with MY affairs, and dare to insert their innovations into my works?"
He closed his fingers which to a normal person would look like he was gripping air. But he was manipulating forces outside of even super comprehension that even Eldritch powers would not be able to sense to capture this interference and bring it to him past time, space, dimension and plane and outside of Creation altogether.
And soon, the item showed itself.
"A banana peel?" Nekros raised a brow before he swiped a finger to peel away the first layer of its reality coding.
...
[Item: Immortal Peel]
"Rarity: Troll – Unique"
"Durability: 1/1 (Infinite)"
"Description: A seemingly normal used Banana Peel that had been left out of the trash bin. Despite its seemingly normal appearance, this peel has been cursed with [Infinite Durability], [Spatial-Temporal Teleportation], [Vanishing Curse], [Eldritch Power], and [Unbreakable Structure]. At (seemingly) random times—like walking near stairwells or other environmental factors—the peel will teleport within an inch of the target(s) feet and cause them to slip. As the target(s) successfully slip, the peel will vanish into thin air—unable to be seen by even divine or Otherworldly eyes. Readers, the Author, and the Primal Powers are exempt from this item and its relevant effects."
"This item is bound to Ishtar and her Familia except for Haruhime and Aisha due to their canon fates."
...
"This much Primordial energy invested into something that accounts for nothing more than a practical joke item?" He raised his brow, his anger averted by the complete foolishness and absurdity of this waste of precious power. "Which fool made you?"
He pulled upon the very strings of reality and forced the item to reveal the name of its creator.
"Saratas. Why am I not surprised?" Nekros said as his ire dropped completely. "You and your insufferable lover Xaradel seem to think that you can do as you please in the works of others. Will you stooges do nothing else other than live to annoy those who try to conduct their projects with singular autonomy?"
Nekros then sighed as he read over the cursed item's description for now.
"But...if you want to waste your gifts, then I would suppose that its your prerogative. And perhaps this may make things a tad more enjoyable. I will allow this offense to slide by this once since you have stoked the old prankster in me...but rest assured, pull this foolish nonsense again, and I shall seize your by your ankles and rip from you your aortas...foolish jesters."
He flicked the peel away into the mirror depicting the life of Stephen Hewer.
"We shall delay its deployment for sometime. But I should suppose that my conversation with little Ptah shall happen much sooner than anticipated."
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