Born a Monster

513 Holy Me

“And this is where my advice must end.” Anansi said. “Remember, don’t be stupid.”

“I’ll try not to.” I said.

He shook his head. “Lies.”

“Truthspeaker.” I said, turning to find him gone. “I literally cannot lie to you.”

I turned back toward the Holy River, and fell to my knees, clutching my left side in pain.

“Yeah.” Manajuwejet said, emerging from the sand. “Damn appendix.”

“What in the seven hells is happening to me, Manajuwejet?”

He took in a deep breath. “Okay. What do you know about how Gods are born?”

“Am I about to get a divine midwifery class?” I asked.

.....

“Pretty much. Yeah. Only, the thing is you’re about to give birth to you. Sometime in the next forty eight thousand or so years.”

I blinked tears from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m going to be in pain like this for seven thousand times how long I’ve already been alive?”

“More or less. Yeah. I’d work on that pain tolerance, might come in handy.”

“That only works when I’m inside my body!” I snapped. “It isn’t as though... oh, I guess it is.”

The first ability, versus mental pain, did almost nothing, but the second? Oh, the second was like a balm over my soul. Well, okay, it literally was.

“Don’t pass out, kid.” he warned. “You’ve got more than the one enemy.”

“Ugh.” I said, forcing myself to my feet. “Feels like any other day ending in the letter Y.”

“Good to hear, but it’s not. Come on. We need to get the new soul marked.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Next you’ll tell me my curses are gone.”

“Most of them, yeah.” he agreed. “You’ve got that one from the Hangwoman; no clue why she’s pissed off, but that’s like... You know what? I don’t think this is actually about curses.”

“I’ve got... I’ve got Traits that I thought I’d lost.” I said. “My Resolve is six, which leaves behind the best a human can be.”

“That isn’t always a good thing.” he said. “What else?”

“Insight as well.” I said. “The thing is, I don’t feel smarter. I don’t feel more in control of the need to just SENSE everything.”

He sighed. “Kid, your first Trait is always going to be Curiosity. You’re always going to wonder what lives in the woods, always climb mountains to look down the other side. Always dive the depths of the oceans to see what survives there. Heck, give it enough time, and you’ll be asking strangers what’s wrong in your life.”

“The hells I will!” I said. “People suck.”

He waved at the sky with his claws. “You know what? Give it eight to twelve thousand years, and let’s talk about it then. Okay?”

“Okay.” I said.

[You have just agreed to...]

<System. Set reminder ten years prior and dismiss.>

[Alarm set.]

Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s good to have my System, and not one that talks and thinks for itself.

Manajuwejet shoved against my foot, moving us both a good four miles from the river.

“What the? WHY?”

“You can’t go there.” Manajuwejet said. “Not until after the next full moon ends.”

“Because SHE is there? Mara?”

“Kid, you don’t understand. Near unto three hundred mothers gathered in one place, and focused their hatred into one task. Killing. You. And WHY are you here on empty, anyway?”

“On empty?” I asked.

“Mana.” he said. “Empty mana gauges. What magical creature walks around without magic? It’s not healthy or natural. Or supernatural, if you want to be technical.”

I winced. “I just took Serenity damage from that pun.”

“Yeah, you need to work on your damage resistances. Get an inherent defense or three.”

“Now, you sound like Anansi.”

“He isn’t a bad god, kid. He’s just not one of the good ones, either. What did he say to you?”

I spoke at length, and he bobbed his stinger up and down. “Yeah, for what he said, that was amazingly honest for a Trickster god. This way.”

“The Caverns of Despair are that way.” I said.

“Yeah, but we’re going to turn left, or maybe right. We’re going to the Sun Oasis.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because Sobek is one of the gods with a sun disk, and because newborn moon divinities can’t see past the sunshield.”

“Okay, lead on, then.”

He reached the crossroads, and turned for a bit, first left, then right, like a magnet on a tock of wood. “Ah.” he said, “Turn upward, like walking up a wall.”

Dream logic; it worked, bringing us directly under the water’s surface at the Sun Oasis. I had to orient myself before walking out of the shallow water.

He was there, in a white bathrobe, and reclined upon a bendy beach chair. “Ah. So. Are you ready for your next assignment?”

“I thought I was already on one or two.” I said. <1 >

“I see that I’ve let my minions deal with you on my behalf for too long.” he said. “Let me make this clear, since you seem to have forgotten. I am a God. You are not even a Demi-Hero yet. All I need do is withdraw my protection, and you don’t need to worry about continuing your existence. Besides, you haven’t even asked about what I want.”

I turned my head to the left and spat. “How may I serve you, Mighty Sobek?”

“By the next full moon,” he said. “I want you to have ended the lives of no less than three of the women who have made this... Mara.”

“That seems needless.” I said.

“Of the two of us, I am the one who least needs you to do this. Oh, and no petty diseases. This must be the work of your hand, or a tool wielded within it. Three threes would be ideal, but no less than a set of three.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because if you can do that, then it stymies Mara for a while. Not long. A few weeks in your case, or perhaps just the one. But you must learn how to disrupt her plans, as early and often as possible. Perhaps think of it as the first siege engine shot of an extended war.”

“A war that I cannot win?” I asked.

“You might have the edge on her in a war.” Sobek said, “But you will definitely lose a protracted period of peace and meditation.”

And then, without warning or movement, he pressed his soul against mine. I... smushed, but when he withdrew, my aura snapped back into a different shape.

“There.” he said. “That part of keeping him safe is done. How much of the Manual of Souls were you able to recite to him?”

“I didn’t have to.” Manajuwejet said. “Anansi, of all gods, taught him a good part of it.”

Sobek... smiled. “What does he think he gains by doing this?”

Manajuwejet shrugged. “One of us is a God. I’m just a dream guardian and guide.”

“Well, then. Guide him back to his private dream.” He looked at me. “Take care of that soul marking. We will not meet again until after you have dealt with your mess.”

“MY mess?” I asked. “I had no ...”

“No direct hand, perhaps.” he said, “But this is a consequence shaped by your actions. And, to some extent, by your inaction.”

“In any event,” he said, “I cannot directly aid or advise you. So far, it is Hecate who has the strongest claim upon her. But no matter who or whom opts to train her, she WILL learn all phases of the moon. You... ought to prepare yourself.”

“To confront her?” I asked.

“Or to die well.” he said. “I recommend the former.”

“Live with it or die?” I asked. “THAT is your advice?”

His eyelids squeezed, leaving only a thin gold strand visible of his eyes, the pupils now a dark square. “Beware the Power Cosmic.” he said. “Once you can touch it, can channel it, once you can start down the path to godhood, that instant is when you can no longer claim to be mortal. That instant, or one close to it, is when Mara will come upon you with all of her glory, and none of us will risk war with the Moon goddesses to come to your aid. Be certain, by that time, that you understand completely who and what it is that comes for you. And THAT is the limit of what I can tell you.”

Manajuwejet cleared his throat.

“Of course,” Sobek said, “since the dreaming is... more risky for you to exist within, your monthly reports must needs come through your spirit guide. Your tasks as well. And now, back to the waking world with you.”

“Dream guardian and guide.” Manajuwejet said.

“The Manual of Souls.” Sobek said. “Teach him.”

“I... uh, I don’t know the whole Manual.”

Golden light spat out of Sobek’s mouth, then turned right around and flowed into his open eyes.

“Then teach him what parts you DO know.”

“I’m just saying, if I could learn as well as teach...”

.....

“No. Teach him what you know. The rest is his to learn on his own.”

<1 > Yes, I knew it was two. No, I wasn’t trying to trick Sobek. I... you know what, write what you’re going to. If I don’t like it, I’ll throw you out that window.