38 DIVINITY
'Well shit'
If there was one entity that he would've gone out of his way to NOT anger, it would've been the Fates. They are the children of Zeus and the Titaness Themis, and are obscenely powerful. So powerful, that Zeus decided to divorce Themis in fear of conceiving more children.
"How do you know this and why tell me?", Athos grimaced. However absurd it sounded, it made sense. His very existence contradicted the two great Prophecies and he had an artefact that wasn't even in the Greek Mythos. Even so, with all the benefits that he'd gotten, how could he possibly escape the Fates? One snip of a thread, and he was dead. It was akin to telling a corpse to live again. Impossible.
"I LOVE stories, you see. Especially ones I have a hand in. And you, dear Athos, have the potential to become my favourite story~!", Aphrodite giggled, her eyes turning bright blue, but before she could elaborate, her eyebrows perked up and she sat up straight.
"Oh my~ it seems our tea break has to come to an end. I have a date to go to and a husband to hide from! But before I go, there's one last thing I have to tell you", the goddess effused. "No matter how impossible, ridiculous and hopeless something may seem...if it's meant to be, it'll be"
The table along with the chair he was sitting on suddenly vanished, making him fall to the grass.
"Oops~!", Aphrodite laughed and disappeared into a cloud of pink smoke.
Athos frowned. Just now...Why did Aphrodite look like Demeter?
( WARNING: DEMETER IS NO LONGER THE LOVE INTEREST. I have caved in and acknowledged my folly. I'm gonna bet that no one can guess the new love interest. )
***
"..if it's meant to be, it'll be..."
'What the fuck is that supposed to mean?', Athos thought to himself, making his way through the bustling streets of San Fransico while invisible.
The sentence could foreshadow something important like his 'impossible, ridiculous and hopeless' task of becoming a god, or could mean nothing at all., and given Aphrodite's propensity to mess with demigods, the probability of it being useless was worryingly high.
He sighed and temporarily shoved the thought to the back of his mind as he walked toward the pier. The previously shut-down restaurants were open for business and there was no shortage of people. It was the middle of the day, after all.
It took about half an hour for him to actually reach the pier and half a minute for the smell to hit him. He was expecting it but he couldn't help but gag, letting out a grunt of disgust that startled the people around him. The mortals were lucky to be this oblivious. He looked over at the newly repaired pier to find Nereus in his usual spot, sleeping, his white beard lightly swaying in the sea breeze. He sighed, removed his mask and walked over to the god before nudging him slightly.
"Huh?! What! A demigod! NO! You fuckers can't catch m- Oh! It's you", Nereus stuttered in mock surprise before rubbing his bleary eyes.
"You're back already? What? Daddy didn't help yo-
"I got what you wanted. Now tell me what I want. Keep your oath", Athos interrupted the sea deity, tossing Nereus the cornucopia.
"Oho! Ohohohoho! Good. This is the real deal. You've done a lot in the past few weeks, haven't you?", Nereus chuckled, summoning a tuna sandwich and munching on it, while glancing at Athos' forearm, where the Oni tattoo was.
"I have. Now, my question", Athos answered, his heart beginning to beat with anticipation.
"Yeah! Yeah! Your question. What was it again? 'How do I become a dog without a blessing?'"
"A God."
"That's what I meant. I remember it now. Never been asked it before as the sane ones prefer to do it the traditional way. Whatever - If you need to truly understand what I'm about to say, you'll first need to understand divinity. So listen up.", Nereus said, polishing off the sandwich and pulling out a greasy hamburger.
"Divinity? But...can that even be explained? Wouldn't logically explaining divinity go against its very definition", Athos chimed in.
"Hah! I never said I can explain it, demigod. All I can do is teach you the basics. There are certain rules that bind an immortal's divinity but be warned, there are many a tale of those very rules or ancient laws being broken. Divinity is like that. Unpredictable", Nereus explained, taking half the burger in a single bite.
"So, only beings with divinity are immortal?"
"All beings who have divinity are immortal, but not all immortals have divinity."
"Huh?", Athos mumbled, confused. Well, what did he expect? Divinity didn't seem to be something that could be logically broken down. He was dealing with the supernatural here.
"Haaaaaah! I knew this would be hard. It'll be better to show you", Nereus sighed and waved his right arm. A glob of seawater rose and formed a humanoid shape.
"This is an average mortal's body. It's flimsy, weak and short-lived. Prone to disease, ageing and the need to sleep", the god muttered, a hint of disgust creeping into his voice along with a sense of respect. The gods had always admired mortals for not perpetually running around in terror while pulling their hair out. The immortal gods greatly feared the concept of fading, but the mortals knew for a fact that they would die. It was a courage that the gods simply couldn't comprehend.
Nereus then waved once again and another glob of water rose up, now turning into a fine purple mist.
"This is an average mortal soul. Immortal and undying. The biggest enigma of all. The closest thing to Khaos in all existence. Even the Protogeni don't hold a candle to it and no god or immortal can claim to know its secrets. When numerous souls feverously hold on to a belief, reality itself may change to suit it. Reality was borne from Khaos after all"
He flicked his finger and the two constructs combined. But the fine mist curled up into a ball in the body's brain.
"This is a mortal. The soul pilots the body until said body withers away. Although it may not look like it, they are fundamentally different. They hold no physical connection with each other. But a God's body is different. Once given the right stimulus, the gap between the soul and the body shortens."
The fine purple ball started to unravel, spreading throughout the body, giving it a faint golden hue.
"Gods neither have a body nor a soul, for they become one. The immortal soul combines with the weak body, doing away with its weakness and replacing it with strength. But the most important benefit of all is the ability to voluntarily manipulate the soul, or rather, its energy"
A bluish-green light flickered between Nereus' fingertips.
"It is this 'Soul energy', or in crude terms, the energy that we use to create miracles, that is...
"Divinity", Athos whispered.
***
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