บท 31: Chapter 31: A Godly Conversation (Part 3)
[Clock - 11:01 | 11:01 AM]
[Calendar - 16/02/2003]
[Location - Croc Kingdom (Name Pending) - Old Gotham, Gotham City, New Jersey]
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Flashback - [Calendar: 15/02/2003]
Have you ever wondered why Gotham is so fucked up?
Atlas has. And, thankfully, he has the ability to ask questions!
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Q&A
Q: Hey, can you tell me why the fuck Gotham's so fucked up?
A: There are various reasons, but the main one is that Gotham is hungry.
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This answer just made him scared. He pondered on the answer for a few minutes about the many ways Gotham could become hungry, and all the answer he had were not as concrete as he wished and therefore he gave up and used another one of his questions for the day:
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Q&A
Q: ...what do you mean by that?
A: Gotham is alive. Gotham is sentient. Gotham craves the blood of the innocent and the guilty. Gotham is ALIVE.
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"Gotham is alive..." Whispering the answer he received, Atlas' eyes darted around to the walls of the cavern, as if it would grow teeth and eyes, ready to devour him whole: "...how is Gotham alive...? In what way?" Atlas' mind was going through a thousand different thoughts at the same time as he was trying to search through every ounce of information and knowledge on historical events and mythology that might turn land into something that is, in a way, alive- Earth that is alive? "Perhaps... Gaea? No, she doesn't usually drink blood, right-?" Atlas' face paled immediately. He could think of a being that was from the Earth, was alive, and was hungry for blood.
In fact, a being that was fed blood so it wouldn't destroy the world. "I need to know..." He used his last question of the day to confirm- Is what he fears true?
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Q&A
Q: Is Gotham connected, in any way, to Cipactli?
A: A long time ago, a powerful warlock was betrayed by his lover for the land where Gotham now is located. In deep anger and desire for revenge, with his dying breath and his very soul, he casted a curse that invoked the wrath of Gaea upon the land. In turn, this cursed ended up turning the region where Gotham is into one of the Goddess' wrathful aspects. The need for blood from the Warlock invoked Gaea's Aztec aspect of Cipactli, the Primordial Abyssal creature that was made into the earth and needs blood to not eat humanity. Because of this curse, death happens a lot in Gotham, to feed the city with blood! To keep the blood flowing, the city attracts the unfortunate, desperate, and insane to itself, receiving a steady flow of new blood.
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"...FUCK!"
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Flashback End
So yeah! Atlas was fucking nervous now.
The kingdom is under the body of a vengeful, spiteful, angry, and destructive aspect of the Goddess Gaea, Cipactli. In the Aztec mythos, she lived in the Primordial Abyssal Sea, where everything that the Four Gods of the Four Directions (Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Xipe Totec) also known as the Four Tezcatlipocas- even though only one is named Tezcatlipoca -made would fall into, and then be devoured by Cipactli. Making a plan, one of them gets closer to the water and acts as bait for her, and thus they lose a leg... Atlas doesn't remember which one did though, all that he knows of this myth is that they kill Cipactli and use her corpse to make the Earth, and they also promise her constant flow of blood.
Which is why so many people die in Gotham.
Like a child left alone in a candy store, Cipactli is feeding herself with anything she can get her grubby little pseudopods on, which is disgustingly disturbing. As an Eldritch Goddess, she has inhuman thoughts and is born out of the fear of humanity, which would be the same about other gods and monsters born out of the fear of humanity... Like Apep, that vanished because nobody feared that a giant snake would devour the sun anymore since everyone now knows that the sun does not go to the underworld each night (because the world is a big round sphere), and thus there's no need to fear that a giant snake will eat the sun god. But Cipactli? She was an aspect of Gaea, as the system puts it, and like an aspect of the Primordial manifestation of the planet he lives in, she will never leave and never go away. Sure, she could be suppressed or go to sleep (as in many parts of the world, there might not be enough bloodshed to awaken Cipactli), but she will never truly leave or cease to exist.
Gaea is Cipactli, and Cipactli is Gaea.
Two sides of the same coin, as they say.
"Fuck..." He was so nervous now- what the fuck is supposed to do right here and now? The Croc Kingdom is not complete established, they could move the kingdom out of the land that has been infercted by Cipactli, right? They could leave- No. Waylom would not wish to leave, he would learn of the way his land was part of the personification of a goddess that desired blood and death, and he would want to stay to help the homeless of Gotham... "Is that why Waylon is also weirdly bloodthirsty? Because of the presence of Cipactli?" It might be a contributing factor to Waylon's bloodthirsty acts of cannibalism... which isn't technically cannibalism, because he isn't human and never truly was. "What'chu guys think?"
Floating behind him were the small manifestations of the six patron gods of the Croc Kingdom! This small green little lizard that looked pissed off was Sobek, the little bird with a black beak and white feathers was Thoth, the small white calf with blue eyes was Ptah, the black scorpion that looked like it was made out of pure cosmic dust was Isis, the small golden scarab that was sitting right on top of his head and glowed softly like the morning sun was Khepri, and the small pink-ish little lion kit with this weird scaly tail was Hathor. Each had tried taking the form of one of their sacred animals, but their power was not like it once was before, and thus they took these... smaller forms. Almost none seemed bothered by this endeavor, but Sobek was pissed off in an almost adorable way- he wanted to be big and be strong, but he turned into a small green lizard, of course he's pissed!
"...I believe it is wise to leave this land, but I also believe staying could be beneficial. Protecting the ones who cannot protect themselves is honorable in nature. Something a Pharaoh, a King, should do— protect his subjects." Thoth spoke, his pointy beak poking Atlas' hand until he sighed and gave him a small sunflower seed- what? He likes sunflower seeds. They're tasty! "Well, the ones who would know more about Pharaohs would be Isis, Sobek, Hathor, Horus, Osiris, and probably Ra... Well, tou got three of them here, so ask the right questions and the right answers ye shall receive- give me another seed~!"
"There you go-" Atlas didn't blink as he fed the bird another seed, poor thing must've starved for so so long! "-hey, Sobek, your opinion? I know we'll probably still stay in this cursed land, but about my idea to... you know." He poked the little green lizard, who angrily bit his finger, but it caused no damage as it was the weakest bites og this entire world! He also looked adorable in a cartoonish way, with big pale green eyes that narrowed as if he had heard his thoughts- or he said that out loud?
"I am not cute!" Okay, so he did say it out loud, good to know? "Ugh... I miss my big muscles, my beautiful scaly body, the thousands of servants who would line to serve me... I miss my children..." He grumbled a little bit more about the unfairness of the world before he sighed and answered his question: "Well, of course we'll stay- The land has been claimed for the kingdom, we can't simply leave, you began building it here and for the magic of the kingdom to come alive, you'll need to finish it. Well, and the crocodiles like it here too, so I don't wanna leave... about your other idea, you sure you can do it? I mean, that sounds really weird and stupid and totally cool- Hey, give me a seed too, I wanna know how it tastes." Atlas pushed a sunflower seed in the open maw of the small green lizard and had to hide his smirk when the lizard spat it out with a sad look in his eyes.
"As a the one to counsel the Pharoah, you need to keep a calm head, little one." Hathor, in her majestic feline lioness beuty- her cat tail was, in fact, a cobra -floated softly before him, letting out this cute "mrrp" sound as her body twisted upside down: "It is better to analyze the pros and cons of staying... if you cannot convince your king to leave, than you shall stay by his side as he falls- and make sure to say 'I told you so' before leaving, just to be petty." Ah, right- Hathor was once married to Ra and was a consort to Horus, which is... well, let's just say, the father of the man she was given to wasn't a very good man, and she has grown to be a bit spiteful of Pharaohs even though she was and still is a pharaohnic deity.
"And also make sure he and the people are safe too, only then can you be sure the empire will survive- Even when every single building can be destroyed and fall into misery, as long as the people lives, so will the empire." Ptah, the snow while pale bull calf seemed to be even wiser as a bull than as a old man: "Buildings, temples, palaces... they're all temporary and should not be put above people, you understand, young one? Buildings can be rebuilt if destroyed." But even though he was speaking wise words, he was eying the seeds on Atlas' hand with shining eyes, making him sigh and give him one: "Ooh~ Thank you, little friend."
"You all really like sunflower seeds, huh?" Atlas paused for a moment- He hadn't really read about the meaning of flowers, but doesn't sunflowers mean loyalty and admiration? He is not sure, but considering the fact that they really enjoy his presence and the way he interacts with them with a mixture of respect and familiarity was "refreshing", as Khepri explained. Apparently being forgotten for hundreds of years (more for some of them) and suddenly being worshipped, being remembered, being offered sanctuary and worshippers? That was like water to a man in the desert. "Well, I know well Waylon enough that he won't want to leave... Not until I can guarantee that I can take the entire kingdom along. Buildings, people, and land."
"Which is why you plan on making... what was that thing named again?"
"A mythallar." Atlas looked seriously at the book in his hands, a book detailing the process of creation of one of the most powerful items that were created in bulk by the most powerful magic empire (known as a Magocracy) of the Netherese. A typical mythallar prevented certain schools of magic from being employed while empowering others. It could restrict access to the warded area to certain classes of beings, such as Dragons, Demons, Angels... A mythal can also permanently cause a powerful magical effect in a large area. "And with it..." Atlas closed his eyes, he could practically see it already- Breaking through the earth's crust, into the heavens and even above the clouds... A city, a flying city of magic and people that would no longer need to fear for their safety at the hands of villains. A city that would rise above everything. "The beautiful dream I have will come true..."
It was, indeed, a beautiful dream... It's sad that it would take much longer than he thought it would.
After all, to take to the skies, you need wings.
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