To Be Divine
This is Part Eighteen in a series. Trigger warning for mentions of rape.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen
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“If we're going to attend a trial at the Gods Council, it would be a smart idea to actually look good,” Maris said. She glanced at Nico, who still held onto me. “I would suggest you generate yourself an outfit that's a bit more...godly. You're not human, so don't dress like you think you are. Breccan, Finbar, I hope you have something more formal than what you've got on.”
Nico slowly untangled himself from my arms. “I - I can do that.”
The air around him shimmered, and, in an instant, he wore an outfit that could only be described as divine. It was a complicated robe of white and gold and possibly the most stunning garment I had ever seen. Nico even wore a gold circlet upon his head. Never had I seen anymore look more like a god, not even Egan. Nico's presence became impossibly magnetic.
Maris muttered, “Breccan, now is not the time to stare, and Nico, would you stop trying to charm him?”
“I'm - I'm not,” he stammered.
I said, “I'm not staring.” My cheeks prickled uncomfortably. Well, I certainly wasn't staring on purpose, at the very least. I needed to get away from Nico when he dressed up that way. Slowly, I shuffled off to my room to see if I had anything more suitable to wear. Finbar apparently did the same, but not before shooting me and Nico a look of something like disgust.
My stomach dropped when Finbar looked at me that way. It wasn't like I enjoyed the strange effect Nico apparently had on me. The god didn't even seem to realize what he was doing. This - it wasn't anything like what Egan had done to me. Maybe it felt the same, and Nico had been oddly physical, but - he wouldn't try anything, would he?
Looking through the tiny selection of clothes I had taken on my travels, I realized I had nothing to wear to a trial at the Gods Council. All my clothes were modest and suited for journeying, not presenting myself before actual deities. Sighing, I changed into a clean outfit and washed up as best I could. I couldn't make myself leave my room immediately, though. Leaning against the wall, I sighed. This could not possibly end well, and looking so shabby wouldn't help.
When I finally left my room, I had to stop and stare again, this time at Maris. I had no romantic interest in that direction, but her outfit stunned me. She wore a long, flowing dress of a deep, shimmering purple. Her black hair had been arranged into a complex up-do with purple ribbons of that same shimmering hue.
“How did you make yourself so pretty so quickly?” I had to ask, even if the question were ridiculous.
She said, “I'm a mage. Female mages are trained in how to use their magic to make themselves look good. It's not actually fair. The men are never forced to train in such a way. I never thought I would have to use these skills. It's far more exhausting and intensive than you might think.”
“You're right; I never was trained that way,” I muttered.
Finbar appeared, then, wearing over his outfit a fancy black cloak I had never seen before.
He said, “Unlike some people, I actually do have nice clothes.”
I didn't answer that, but my cheeks burned. My current clothes hadn't bothered me before, but Finbar made me feel terrible about what I wore.
Nico gave Finbar a funny look. “I think Breccan looks lovely.”
Finbar scoffed, “You're really going to try and flirt with him now? I can't believe you. Stay away from him, Nico.”
“Why should I? It's not like you're interested anymore, is it?” Nico murmured.
Finbar's cheeks seemed like they might have turned pink, though it was hard to tell through his shadows. “Well, after what happened...”
Nico snorted. “Oh, you believe him now?”
Maris glared at them both. “I cannot believe you people. Something horrible happened, and you're practically having a cat fight over Breccan?”
That seemed to shock them to their senses. Nico's eyes went wide. “I wasn't trying to - to flirt or anything,” he stammered.
He looked genuinely surprised, as if he honestly and truly had no idea of the spell he was trying to cast on me. Still, I averted my gaze from him, or tried to. Nico in his godly robe drew my eye, despite my best efforts. Finbar and Maris weren't so affected; what was it about me that two different gods had focused on me in such a way? Did I have some kind of fundamental weakness or vulnerability?
I looked down the stairs, feeling uneasy. Something was missing - Egan's body.
“Um, where did Egan's body go?” I asked.
Nico said, “I made it disappear. I couldn't stand to look at it anymore.”
A strange ringing noise came from nowhere. I jumped. What was that?
“The Gods Council is calling Nico and all of us in the house as witnesses,” Maris explained. “You may experience some nausea when traveling from the mortal realm to the Gods Council itself. If you must throw up when we arrive, try not to vomit on any deities.”
The world started spinning, so fast I thought I might fall. As I felt myself collapse, everything went black.
* * *
Color returned as the world started spinning again. It slowed to a stop, and - it wasn't my world when I landed painfully on my knees on a floor with golden tiles. What on Earth?
This must have been the divine realm. We had to have landed at the Gods Council. I tried to stand, only to find the promised nausea threatening to overwhelm me. I sank back to the ground. Nico rushed over to me, evidently having no trouble with traveling from one realm to the other. He put an arm around my shoulder to steady me. Despite the disconcerting feeling this inspired, I was glad of the physical support.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maris already on her feet; she looked untroubled by the travel as well. Finbar's shadows had grayed, and he didn't seem to want to rise, either. At least it wasn't just me with whom inter-realm travel disagreed.
Finally, I got to my feet, with Nico's help. I felt steady enough, but the god seemed unwilling to let me go.
“I'm fine,” I muttered.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don't want to see you fall down again.”
Maris raised an eyebrow. “Nico, I'm sure he's fine.”
Finbar shot the both of us a chilly look. His shadows had returned to their normal dark color. I turned my head away from Finbar. Still, Nico didn't let me go. That lightning-like sensation flooded my body worse than it had yet. To distract myself, I looked around. We appeared to be in a vast room of nothing but those golden tiles. The distant walls were white and iridescent. The whole thing seemed like being within magic itself; I became nauseated all over again.
Somehow, I kept the contents of my stomach from leaving it, though barely. What were we supposed to do now? I turned to Maris, about to ask her, when a white-and-gold judge's bench materialized in the middle of the room. I gasped. Three figures appear sitting behind the bench. They stared down at us as if from a great height, though they physically weren't that far up.
That had to be the Gods Council.
There were two goddesses and one god, all with long hair, divinely beautiful faces, hard violet eyes and gold and white outfits similar to Nico's own. They wore gold circlets much like he did, too, though theirs were more ornate.
The god in the middle intoned gravely, “Nico of the Divine Realm, approach the bench. Do you know why you are here?” He appeared to ignore the rest of us.
Nico still didn't let go of me as he approached, meaning I had to approach the bench with him.
He looked the other god in the eye and said, “I - I am on trial because I defended Breccan here when Egan of the Divine Realm raped him.”
My whole body burned with the humiliation of hearing Nico say that, though I still felt that lightning course through me from his touch.
The goddess on my right, a blonde who looked distressingly like Egan, asked, “Am I to believe you saw a rape in progress and decided murder was the best solution? That is what our sources say, but I would like to hear it from you.”
Nico nodded. “Yes, that is what happened.”
The goddess on my left raised her eyebrow. “Don't you think that's a bit...hypocritical of you?”
Hypocritical?
I didn't understand, but I knew the goddess had unnerved Nico because his body stiffened beside me.
He stammered, “I - I don't know what you mean.”
“Oh, I think you do, Nico of the Divine Realm,” the left goddess drawled.
“Indeed,” the god said. “Do you not remember Isabel? You treated her in the exact manner Egan treated Breccan. She had a boyfriend already, and you decided you would be better for her, did you not? And when she finally broke away, you raped her like Egan did to Breccan. Is your memory so poor you do not recall this?”
What? They could not be serious. Nico wouldn't. Would he? He wasn't - he wasn't Egan.
“That - that is not - I - I - didn't. That's - I mean...” Nico's speech had lost all coherence.
I stood there, frozen to the ground and unable to process anything. Maris and Finbar looked on, dumbfounded by what they heard. Finbar recovered enough from being stunned to give Nico a glare so poisonous I thought it would have killed a mortal.
Still, the god didn't let go of me, and still that sensation like lightning coursed through my body.
The goddess on the right said, “You're not in trouble for that old rape, if that's what you're so worried about. Now, breaking up Isabel and her boyfriend? You shouldn't have done that, but we'll let it slide. The point is, your actions don't make sense. Why kill Egan of the Divine Realm because he did something you yourself have done? Why get so angry about it?”
“I'm - I'm not like that anymore. I - I don't want to be,” Nico stammered.
The goddess on the left said, “Nico, you know that we, unlike humans, do not change our basic natures, nor do we want to. So why would say you aren't 'like that' anymore and why would you say you don't want to be? There is nothing wrong with taking an unattached mortal whom you fancy. Killing someone because they did such? That is wrong.”
“You know the punishment for such wrongdoing, do you not?” the god in the middle asked.
Nico nodded. “I am willing to accept being made mortal for my transgression.”
“Very w-”
The god in the middle was cut off when a rope of pure blackness burst through the wall. Fragments flew everywhere. The rope wrapped itself around the goddess on the left. She tried to fight it off. She couldn't. Everyone stood there. Nobody could believe it.
The rope of blackness was resistant to god powers.
“Maris! Cut it with your knife!” I shouted.
If the thing, which would kill the goddess, resisted divine power, maybe mortal magic could damage it.
My heart hammered. I hoped I was right.
Maris pulled a knife from under her skirt. She leaped at the rope of blackness. Her dress flowed about her as she flew. She sliced the thing. A horrible, inhuman scream ripped through the hallway. I ducked to the ground and covered my ears.
When I looked up, the rope was gone. The goddess huddled in her seat, shivering. She breathed, “You saved my life.” She couldn't believe it.
Neither could I.
I said, “We should be careful in case any more of those things come back.”
The god in the middle gave me an odd look. “That was some quick thinking, young man.”
“Thank you?” I said while standing up. I wasn't sure what he tried to get at.
He continued, “In light of this recent development, it seems perhaps - premature to strip Nico of his godliness.”
Nico, who crouched on the floor, wondered “Premature? How? Why?” He sounded - disappointed?
The god explained, “Your companions saved us. Since you have such valiant company, we'll let the murder of Egan of the Divine Realm pass, just this once.”
“That makes no sense!” Nico cried.
“It is a gift,” the goddess on the right said.
Nico sagged into the ground, curling into a ball and whimpering. Conflicting feelings played in my mind. I hated him for what he had done, yet he looked so pathetic huddled on the floor like that.
The right goddess murmured, “This has been horrible and traumatic. I'll send you back now, so we can deal with everything without your interference.”
The world started spinning. “Wait!” I shouted. Nico wanted to be human. That would be a gift for him.
It was too late to change their decision. The world had gone black.
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written for 500themes prompt #458 - "Another Fine Mess"
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen, Part Sixteen, Part Seventeen
---------
“If we're going to attend a trial at the Gods Council, it would be a smart idea to actually look good,” Maris said. She glanced at Nico, who still held onto me. “I would suggest you generate yourself an outfit that's a bit more...godly. You're not human, so don't dress like you think you are. Breccan, Finbar, I hope you have something more formal than what you've got on.”
Nico slowly untangled himself from my arms. “I - I can do that.”
The air around him shimmered, and, in an instant, he wore an outfit that could only be described as divine. It was a complicated robe of white and gold and possibly the most stunning garment I had ever seen. Nico even wore a gold circlet upon his head. Never had I seen anymore look more like a god, not even Egan. Nico's presence became impossibly magnetic.
Maris muttered, “Breccan, now is not the time to stare, and Nico, would you stop trying to charm him?”
“I'm - I'm not,” he stammered.
I said, “I'm not staring.” My cheeks prickled uncomfortably. Well, I certainly wasn't staring on purpose, at the very least. I needed to get away from Nico when he dressed up that way. Slowly, I shuffled off to my room to see if I had anything more suitable to wear. Finbar apparently did the same, but not before shooting me and Nico a look of something like disgust.
My stomach dropped when Finbar looked at me that way. It wasn't like I enjoyed the strange effect Nico apparently had on me. The god didn't even seem to realize what he was doing. This - it wasn't anything like what Egan had done to me. Maybe it felt the same, and Nico had been oddly physical, but - he wouldn't try anything, would he?
Looking through the tiny selection of clothes I had taken on my travels, I realized I had nothing to wear to a trial at the Gods Council. All my clothes were modest and suited for journeying, not presenting myself before actual deities. Sighing, I changed into a clean outfit and washed up as best I could. I couldn't make myself leave my room immediately, though. Leaning against the wall, I sighed. This could not possibly end well, and looking so shabby wouldn't help.
When I finally left my room, I had to stop and stare again, this time at Maris. I had no romantic interest in that direction, but her outfit stunned me. She wore a long, flowing dress of a deep, shimmering purple. Her black hair had been arranged into a complex up-do with purple ribbons of that same shimmering hue.
“How did you make yourself so pretty so quickly?” I had to ask, even if the question were ridiculous.
She said, “I'm a mage. Female mages are trained in how to use their magic to make themselves look good. It's not actually fair. The men are never forced to train in such a way. I never thought I would have to use these skills. It's far more exhausting and intensive than you might think.”
“You're right; I never was trained that way,” I muttered.
Finbar appeared, then, wearing over his outfit a fancy black cloak I had never seen before.
He said, “Unlike some people, I actually do have nice clothes.”
I didn't answer that, but my cheeks burned. My current clothes hadn't bothered me before, but Finbar made me feel terrible about what I wore.
Nico gave Finbar a funny look. “I think Breccan looks lovely.”
Finbar scoffed, “You're really going to try and flirt with him now? I can't believe you. Stay away from him, Nico.”
“Why should I? It's not like you're interested anymore, is it?” Nico murmured.
Finbar's cheeks seemed like they might have turned pink, though it was hard to tell through his shadows. “Well, after what happened...”
Nico snorted. “Oh, you believe him now?”
Maris glared at them both. “I cannot believe you people. Something horrible happened, and you're practically having a cat fight over Breccan?”
That seemed to shock them to their senses. Nico's eyes went wide. “I wasn't trying to - to flirt or anything,” he stammered.
He looked genuinely surprised, as if he honestly and truly had no idea of the spell he was trying to cast on me. Still, I averted my gaze from him, or tried to. Nico in his godly robe drew my eye, despite my best efforts. Finbar and Maris weren't so affected; what was it about me that two different gods had focused on me in such a way? Did I have some kind of fundamental weakness or vulnerability?
I looked down the stairs, feeling uneasy. Something was missing - Egan's body.
“Um, where did Egan's body go?” I asked.
Nico said, “I made it disappear. I couldn't stand to look at it anymore.”
A strange ringing noise came from nowhere. I jumped. What was that?
“The Gods Council is calling Nico and all of us in the house as witnesses,” Maris explained. “You may experience some nausea when traveling from the mortal realm to the Gods Council itself. If you must throw up when we arrive, try not to vomit on any deities.”
The world started spinning, so fast I thought I might fall. As I felt myself collapse, everything went black.
* * *
Color returned as the world started spinning again. It slowed to a stop, and - it wasn't my world when I landed painfully on my knees on a floor with golden tiles. What on Earth?
This must have been the divine realm. We had to have landed at the Gods Council. I tried to stand, only to find the promised nausea threatening to overwhelm me. I sank back to the ground. Nico rushed over to me, evidently having no trouble with traveling from one realm to the other. He put an arm around my shoulder to steady me. Despite the disconcerting feeling this inspired, I was glad of the physical support.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maris already on her feet; she looked untroubled by the travel as well. Finbar's shadows had grayed, and he didn't seem to want to rise, either. At least it wasn't just me with whom inter-realm travel disagreed.
Finally, I got to my feet, with Nico's help. I felt steady enough, but the god seemed unwilling to let me go.
“I'm fine,” I muttered.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don't want to see you fall down again.”
Maris raised an eyebrow. “Nico, I'm sure he's fine.”
Finbar shot the both of us a chilly look. His shadows had returned to their normal dark color. I turned my head away from Finbar. Still, Nico didn't let me go. That lightning-like sensation flooded my body worse than it had yet. To distract myself, I looked around. We appeared to be in a vast room of nothing but those golden tiles. The distant walls were white and iridescent. The whole thing seemed like being within magic itself; I became nauseated all over again.
Somehow, I kept the contents of my stomach from leaving it, though barely. What were we supposed to do now? I turned to Maris, about to ask her, when a white-and-gold judge's bench materialized in the middle of the room. I gasped. Three figures appear sitting behind the bench. They stared down at us as if from a great height, though they physically weren't that far up.
That had to be the Gods Council.
There were two goddesses and one god, all with long hair, divinely beautiful faces, hard violet eyes and gold and white outfits similar to Nico's own. They wore gold circlets much like he did, too, though theirs were more ornate.
The god in the middle intoned gravely, “Nico of the Divine Realm, approach the bench. Do you know why you are here?” He appeared to ignore the rest of us.
Nico still didn't let go of me as he approached, meaning I had to approach the bench with him.
He looked the other god in the eye and said, “I - I am on trial because I defended Breccan here when Egan of the Divine Realm raped him.”
My whole body burned with the humiliation of hearing Nico say that, though I still felt that lightning course through me from his touch.
The goddess on my right, a blonde who looked distressingly like Egan, asked, “Am I to believe you saw a rape in progress and decided murder was the best solution? That is what our sources say, but I would like to hear it from you.”
Nico nodded. “Yes, that is what happened.”
The goddess on my left raised her eyebrow. “Don't you think that's a bit...hypocritical of you?”
Hypocritical?
I didn't understand, but I knew the goddess had unnerved Nico because his body stiffened beside me.
He stammered, “I - I don't know what you mean.”
“Oh, I think you do, Nico of the Divine Realm,” the left goddess drawled.
“Indeed,” the god said. “Do you not remember Isabel? You treated her in the exact manner Egan treated Breccan. She had a boyfriend already, and you decided you would be better for her, did you not? And when she finally broke away, you raped her like Egan did to Breccan. Is your memory so poor you do not recall this?”
What? They could not be serious. Nico wouldn't. Would he? He wasn't - he wasn't Egan.
“That - that is not - I - I - didn't. That's - I mean...” Nico's speech had lost all coherence.
I stood there, frozen to the ground and unable to process anything. Maris and Finbar looked on, dumbfounded by what they heard. Finbar recovered enough from being stunned to give Nico a glare so poisonous I thought it would have killed a mortal.
Still, the god didn't let go of me, and still that sensation like lightning coursed through my body.
The goddess on the right said, “You're not in trouble for that old rape, if that's what you're so worried about. Now, breaking up Isabel and her boyfriend? You shouldn't have done that, but we'll let it slide. The point is, your actions don't make sense. Why kill Egan of the Divine Realm because he did something you yourself have done? Why get so angry about it?”
“I'm - I'm not like that anymore. I - I don't want to be,” Nico stammered.
The goddess on the left said, “Nico, you know that we, unlike humans, do not change our basic natures, nor do we want to. So why would say you aren't 'like that' anymore and why would you say you don't want to be? There is nothing wrong with taking an unattached mortal whom you fancy. Killing someone because they did such? That is wrong.”
“You know the punishment for such wrongdoing, do you not?” the god in the middle asked.
Nico nodded. “I am willing to accept being made mortal for my transgression.”
“Very w-”
The god in the middle was cut off when a rope of pure blackness burst through the wall. Fragments flew everywhere. The rope wrapped itself around the goddess on the left. She tried to fight it off. She couldn't. Everyone stood there. Nobody could believe it.
The rope of blackness was resistant to god powers.
“Maris! Cut it with your knife!” I shouted.
If the thing, which would kill the goddess, resisted divine power, maybe mortal magic could damage it.
My heart hammered. I hoped I was right.
Maris pulled a knife from under her skirt. She leaped at the rope of blackness. Her dress flowed about her as she flew. She sliced the thing. A horrible, inhuman scream ripped through the hallway. I ducked to the ground and covered my ears.
When I looked up, the rope was gone. The goddess huddled in her seat, shivering. She breathed, “You saved my life.” She couldn't believe it.
Neither could I.
I said, “We should be careful in case any more of those things come back.”
The god in the middle gave me an odd look. “That was some quick thinking, young man.”
“Thank you?” I said while standing up. I wasn't sure what he tried to get at.
He continued, “In light of this recent development, it seems perhaps - premature to strip Nico of his godliness.”
Nico, who crouched on the floor, wondered “Premature? How? Why?” He sounded - disappointed?
The god explained, “Your companions saved us. Since you have such valiant company, we'll let the murder of Egan of the Divine Realm pass, just this once.”
“That makes no sense!” Nico cried.
“It is a gift,” the goddess on the right said.
Nico sagged into the ground, curling into a ball and whimpering. Conflicting feelings played in my mind. I hated him for what he had done, yet he looked so pathetic huddled on the floor like that.
The right goddess murmured, “This has been horrible and traumatic. I'll send you back now, so we can deal with everything without your interference.”
The world started spinning. “Wait!” I shouted. Nico wanted to be human. That would be a gift for him.
It was too late to change their decision. The world had gone black.
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written for 500themes prompt #458 - "Another Fine Mess"