Divination (615 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: Fiction
Rating: 1.55 on 21 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by kaos-king (antius777) (View user info) at 2005-11-03 11:17:00 EST
April ordered the fish. She hadn't had any protein that day, and she knew her blood sugar was dropping. She glanced to the man beside her, Aaron. They had only been married for six months, but they had been together for over three years. She felt like she knew him well, and wasn't surprised when he ordered a steak, medium rare. How he could consume his meat that bloody, she would never understand.
They were out one of the nicest restaurants in town, which wasn't saying much really. They had driven back down to Aaron's hometown to take his mother and sister out for dinner. Along the way, they had picked up April's mother who lived the next town over. The four women and Aaron had all decided on a small Italian place. It was about the best the small Ohio town had to offer.
Aaron and April has been living in Cleveland for that past year. He was the inventory manager at a General Motors factory and she had received her Fine Arts degree the previous spring. She brought in decent money by doing various murals and other projects in the greater Cleveland area. It wasn't quite enough solid income to support herself, had she been single, but it added well to the figures that Aaron brought in. She even had managed to get a piece shown in the C.A.I. art show coming up.
April sighed to herself. She had achieved all that she had set out for, and married the man she loved. She had a wonderful life with him and had planned to have children in a few years. He was almost a decade older than her, and wanted him to be a father before he got to old. She smiled at her husband and thought back to meeting him. She sighed again when her thoughts drifted back to Ben, her previous boyfriend. April quickly shook his image from her mind. It wouldn't do to get upset at this time.
The dinners arrived and the family began eating. Various conversations swirled around the table and April sipped on her wine. Ben. She couldn't stop worrying about him.
She and Ben had been together for five years before she had met Aaron. It had been a melodramatic relationship, both of them artists and prone to passionate outbursts of love and anger. Ben had been far more the sensitive of the two. It wasn't until near the end of her relationship with him that he had been diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder and put on medication. But by that point all the damage had been done, and she was secretly sleeping with Aaron. She had met him through his sister, Diana, who April had gone to college with.
After the split, April and Ben had stayed friends. Ben had even managed to be civil to Aaron. She knew the families didn't approve of her ongoing friendship with her ex, but Ben had played such a large part in her life, she didn't feel as if she could just write him off. Aaron was comfortable with the friendship, but still didn't care her ex too much. He felt that Aaron was a loose cannon. One of the reasons Aaron and April had eloped six months ago was because they were worried Ben might do something to disrupt a conventional wedding.
Ben had been shocked and enraged when April had broke the news to him about her nuptials. Eventually, he had calmed down and accepted it. He had been dating a girl for about a month when she told him, and her news had lead to their break up. The new woman in his life hadn't been very thrilled when Ben had gone on a week long drinking binge after he had found out about his ex's marriage.
Everything had been going fine. April was happily married to Aaron, and about once a month, her and Ben would go out to lunch, updating each other on their lives and trading gossip. Then about a month ago, Ben had disappeared. His younger brother had moved in with him to help with the rent about a year after April had left, and he had come home one day just to find Ben missing. No note, no clues. Ben had simply vanished from the face of the earth.
There had been searches, and tracks put on his credit cards, but nothing had turned up. Since there had been no signs of foul play, the police really hadn't got involved. They assured his family and friends that things like this were common, and perhaps Ben had just wanted to get away for a while. Six months later, and still no sign of Ben, the police's comments seemed ridiculous.
April was shaken from her thoughts by a hand placed on top of hers.
"Your mom wants to know if you're feeling okay, honey."
April turned and smiled at her husband. She wasn't about to tell him what she had been spacing out about. She knew he took Ben's vanishing act as a secret blessing. Besides, her mother-in-law would have a few choice words about the situation had she brought his name up. She nodded and said she was just tired.
They had all stepped outside after dinner and were exchanging pleasantries. Diana was running late for her internship at the hospital and was about to bade them goodbye when three men walked up to them.
"Are you April McEnroe Ingram?" the tall thin black man with an accent said.
"Can I help you?" asked Aaron.
"My name is Jamil Toca and I'm afraid I must speak to your wife in private."
"April, who are these men?" question her mom.
"I represent a private organization, madam. We merely need to speak with Mrs. Ingram about a situation that has occurred that she might have some knowledge on."
"Anything you have to say to my wife you're going to have to say to me, too." spoke up Aaron angrily.
"I'm sorry, but that's not going to be possible, sir. We really must..."
That's when the sky broke open.
That's when the Dragons came.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Dragons swooped down out of the sky, breathing fire at the surrounding buildings. Their screeches echoed through out the early evening and dying light reflected off their green scales. A dozen, perhaps more, circled the sky calling out to one another.
The family stood there in shock, watching as the restaurant behind lit up with flame. April grabbed a hold of her husband and was ready to drag him towards the cars when a hand rested solidly on her shoulder. It was the tall black man with an accent who had introduced himself as Jamil Toca.
"We will take care of you and your family," he said. He turned away from her, held out his hand and said "Window."
A two dimensional rectangle appeared at his finger tips, a plane of light pink energy. It shimmer for a moment, then the image of a older man appeared in it.
"Cirroc, we've been discovered. Send an armada to my location," Jamil said calmly.
The man in the shinning picture nodded and then dissolved from view. The two other men that were with Jamil had taken positions on the other side of April's family. They looked hard at the sky.
"Let me do something!" argued one of the men with thick black hair and a goatee.
"No Garteze, our main duty is to guard the Protectorate. She is most valuable."
"We have to get out of here!" yelled Aaron, going to grab Jamil.
"No," replied Jamil, tapping Aaron's hand twice quickly as it made contact with him.
Aaron let out a yelp and pulled his arm back, his hand clenching in convulsions.
"What did you do to my Aaron!" exclaimed his sister.
"I'm ensuring the survival of all five of you. It is my job. However, I will sacrifice you in the duty of protecting her," Jamil said pointing at April. "Do not try and sway my actions. Stay put and wait for the others."
"What is going on?" yelled April over the roars of the Dragons.
Just then, three large sonic booms erupted in rapid succession. The sound blasts knocked April and her husband to the ground. April looked over to her mother, terrified, but the man called Garteze was already helping her to her feet.
April looked out to the road to see three large pale blue disks hovering a foot or two above the ground. Men and women strangely dressed were pouring out of them and leaping into the sky. They could all fly! Two of them glided over towards them.
"The Protectorate?" asked the new man, a massive Arabic-looking man with thick dreadlocks hanging down his back.
"She is fine. A bit shaken, but safe. Take to the air, Khonshu. Lead the armada."
He connected fists with Jamil, grimaced, and shoot his body skyward. The other person, a woman, knelt down beside April.
She was the most beautiful woman April had ever seen. Thick black hair with light brown streaks at the bangs framed an olive complexion face. Impossibly large blue eyes looked right into hers and she smiled.
"My husband will win this fight, my dear. Khonshu knows how to deal with this type of attack."
"Who are you people?" Aaron managed to cough out.
"There are many names for our kind. We are the Avatars of this reality, our duty to protect it from the other realms. We serve The High, and their Doctrine. We hoped to secret away you and your wife before our enemies could find you. You see, April carries something very special inside of her."
"Me?"
"Yes. One of The High had taken to Earth to live among the mortals as they do now and again. During this time, it placed a piece of the Genesis Equation in you, hoping it would be safe there. Our enemies would never think to look for it on Earth. The Divine One made you his Prime Protectorate and thought everything would be all right. Unfortunately, he was called away when the Xullians broke through one of the warp gates."
"I don't understand any of this? Who would..."
Garteze laughed. "One of the Gods, disguised as a mortal, downloaded the secret to the creation of this universe into your soul."
"Um, yes. That's pretty much it," said the woman.
"Do you think it was wise to tell the girl this, Natalia?" asked Jamil.
"We've just got word from the outer Bleed," said Natalia, unable to contain her smile. "Nox is returning to earth as I speak."
"But that can't be!" exclaimed the other man. "He has regained his Divinity! His coming would shatter existence. Unless he..."
"He is returning in the form of an Avatar Immacullus. He is coming back as Divinity Incarnate."
Natalia turned to face April again. "I believe you knew him as simply, 'Benjamin Stahl,' your former lover."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The sky above them trembled with sights and sounds. Dragons breathing fire at flying humans who wielded powers unimaginable. Below all this chaos, a conversation was taking place that would have ramifications on the continued existence of humanity as they knew it.
"Ben?" exclaimed April. "You're telling me Ben is some kind of... some kind of God?"
"He wasn't aware of it while he was here. He thought he was a mortal, living a normal mortal life. His whole purpose in taking the flesh was to hide the Genesis Equation. He chose you, because the two of you were so close, but he never knew he even did it. His actions as a mortal were being carried out by The Doctrine."
"I can't believe this," exclaimed Diana, April's sister-in-law. "I know Ben. He's just a normal guy! A little strange, but..."
"He was not Divine in his time upon your planet. He wore the essence of physicality and walked as a human. He did not retain his True Heritage," said Jamil.
Just then a Dragon fell from the sky, Natalia's husband Khnoshu riding it down, his blows cracking open the creature's skull. He stepped way from the carcass, and made his way over to them.
"The fight goes well, but I fear there will be more coming. The Xullians will not allow the Genesis Equation to escape their grasp."
"I believe..." started Natalia.
Everything went black for a moment. Everything went silent.
Then everyone turned to look at the front of the restaurant. All the humans running and screaming from the attacking horde stopped to stare. The Avatars in the sky ceased their battle, as even the Dragons hovered for this. Particles of golden light came into being, falling from the sky and forming into a blackness. From this blackness, a figure stormed out.
He stopped at the edge of the curb, and surveyed the surroundings. Casually he pulled a cigarette out of his black dress coat and lit it up. He looked towards the sky. He said one word, quietly, but it's feeling echoed out for miles.
He said, "Obliteration."
The Dragons in the heavens burst into flames, their cries cut off with the sound of exploding gases. They were nothing but ash by the time they reached the ground.
The figure sighed and turned towards those in front of the restaurant.
"Hello, April," he said.
"Ben... " said April weakly.
"I'm sorry this all had to happen. I didn't foresee certain things during my time in The Above. The Doctrine is not perfect."
"What... the... fuck," said Diana, near speechless.
"Hello Diana. How have you been?"
"Uh..."
Ben smiled and walked over to Aaron, offering his hand. "I'm going to be away from now on. I'll be removing the Genesis Equation from April and returning it with me. This experiment did not work out as we would have liked it. She will be your Protectorate from now on, in a manner of words. I know you will do your best."
"Ben, I... I don't even know what... *sigh* Of course I'll take care of her."
"I know, Aaron, I know. Don't worry."
Ben turned to April. "This has been, by far, the most interesting time I've ever had as a mortal. Most of that is thanks to you."
Ben leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. When he leaned back, he blew into his hand and a swirling ball of energy appeared in it.
"Is that... Is that the Genesis Equation?" asked April.
"It is. It's a miniature working model of creation. Thank you for holding on to it for me."
"Ben, I..."
"You don't have to say anything, my angel. I'm only glad that you found happiness before I would have had to leave you. The High needs me to return this quickly, I can not stay in this form for long. Goodbye April."
The Avatar were returning through the pale blue disks, and Jamil turned to Ben. "What now sire?"
"Everything will go back to normal," said Ben. All the damage inflicted by the battle reversed and those human harmed got back up, their wounds healed.
April and her family stood there dumbfounded. Diana went to speak again, but Ben put his finger to his lips and said "shush." Her eyes glassed over. All the other mortals present took on the same look.
"You're removing their memories of this event?" asked Jamil as Khonshu and Natalia walked way.
"It's for the best."
"Won't your former Protectorate always wonder about what happened to you?"
"No, I've given her ease of the thought. She will always wonder, but never worry. I pulled some strings in The Above to ensure she has a long and happy life."
"You will miss her and your time here on earth," stated Jamil.
"I will, old friend, I will..."
User Reviews
Submitted by Istaros (user info) at 2006-04-09 18:57:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
*lick*
i love you, ETS
will you impregnate me? with your wisdom i mean
Submitted by Vengance (user info) at 2006-04-09 12:05:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
You're really not doing kaos any favors.
Submitted by Istaros (user info) at 2006-04-09 11:38:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
appealing to the individual
Submitted by The_Cyst_Master (user info) at 2006-04-07 23:05:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Stay calm.
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2006-04-07 22:58:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
You like appealing to the masses at the expense of others? Ok.
Submitted by EAZEDZT (user info) at 2005-11-08 19:17:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good story.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2005-11-06 09:27:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
this is really interesting and well written.
i'm not sure how i missed it.
Submitted by Average_Dan (user info) at 2005-11-04 07:48:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Brilliant as always
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-11-03 23:07:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good story -- very short and kind of abrupt. Each part seemed to be leading up to something huge, but it was all resolved very neat and quick.
The typos threw me off though.
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2005-11-03 15:23:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Another great story
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-11-03 15:05:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Fabulous.
And Ant, ya know I love ya, but please proofread a little more carefully.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-11-03 14:51:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
great as always. Fiction is slow rated here but when you've got a series going it seems that only the ones you've hooked from the beginning rate it. I've been here a year, wrote a 50 part series, many rated +2 and I have just over 40,000 hits. there are users a couple months old who have more than that. Oh well.
Submitted by Saffron (user info) at 2005-11-03 13:41:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Gorgeous. It's difficult to write action - really nice job.
Submitted by MyTeeOne (user info) at 2005-11-03 13:28:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm not really sure what to think of that, but I know it deserves at least a 2.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-11-03 12:32:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
That's when the sky broke open.
That's when the Dragons came.
made me pee a little.
Submitted by Hirilnara (user info) at 2005-11-03 12:21:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow!
...
Just wow!
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-11-03 12:15:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool. Goddamn dragons...
Submitted by yeahthatme (user info) at 2005-11-03 12:08:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You never disappoint.
The High Doctrine, Avatar stuff was a bit hard to follow at the end, I still don't really think I got it completely, but well done nonetheless.
And dragons..nice touch.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-11-03 12:03:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
pH has been down for over a week and a 1/2. Gascs is away on business and can't reboot the server.
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2005-11-03 11:58:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hmm, it seems the stupefication rays have extended farther than I imagined. Uberites nowadays don't seem to give fiction a chance anymore. They seem more inclined to jump onto posts that have words like 'jizz' in the title.
My post yesterday got more hits and reviews than Neurotic 9, 10 and 11 combined.
Whatever, at least there's some good shit on uber. By the by, thanks for posting all 3 together, as I would have had some major blue balls after the way the first part ended.
And finally, am I the only person not able to access pH?
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-11-03 11:18:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I originally posted this on pH in three parts, hence the line breaks. They were really short installments, so I just decided to post the whole thing at once here.