"Yet, new to me." He interlaces his fingers. "My avatars, they were passed down, they chose to be as they were, but never found."
Nodding, I grab the sanitizing wipes. "So, you used to have worshippers, something happened. Want to tell me what?"
Athy tsks. "Humans. Magic-wielding humans."
According to Athanasius, there was a time when his kind was worshipped as they were 'supposed to be.' Feared, respected and given the praise that was 'due to them.' There are four of his kind, and he has a twin. As Athanasius is the Dark and Death, his sister is Light and Life. The last two are over Destiny and Time. Together, they have ruled over this realm for time immemorial.
"Things are as they are. Humans live and die. They fulfill their destiny and create new ones in their offspring. Time passes for them as humans understand it." He watches as I sit down in my chair, continuing. "Some do not want to live within those confines."
The primordials, eternal and unshaken, were betrayed by those bound to serve them. Their avatars, sworn to be vessels of their will, turned against them, seduced by the whispers of mortal ambition. The mages, desperate to carve out dominion over existence itself, spun honeyed lies and half-truths, promising the avatars power beyond imagining. All they needed was obedience, a single act of treachery—a binding, a seal, an end to the old order.
"It was folly." He sneers. "The mage's wielded their arcane might and chained us in prisons of spell and silver." He shook his head, rolling both sets of eyes. "But to believe that time could be shackled, that destiny could be denied, that light could be dimmed, that darkness could be expelled, or that death could be halted—this was their greatest arrogance. These forces are not mere concepts to be contained; we are the fundamental weavers of reality, the very pulse of existence!"
But according to him, they succeeded in part. Athanasius, the eternal arbiter of death, (I really need to know if he gives himself these nicknames) was bound within a simple ring, his vast essence (his words not mine) confined to a cold, gleaming band upon a mortal's hand. And though his name was silenced in the tongues of men, death did not cease. The rivers still carried the drowned, the pyres still burned, and the graves still yawned wide.
"Through time, my siblings have stirred. I can feel them, a distant thrum through the veil of time." He rubs his forehead. "They are no longer confined, slipping through the cracks of their prisons, unfurling their boundless forms into the world once more."
Licking my lips, I nod my head. "And when you're whole? When you four are together as you're meant to be?"
"We will ascend," He stands, tapping all ten of the fingers on his left hand on the table. "Rising through our avatars to reclaim the dominion stolen from us." He smiles at me. "And the world will pay the price."
"That doesn't sound fair." I whisper. "Why not just punish those who've wrong you? It seems ungodly to hold a grudge so long. Beneath you, don't you think?"
He scoffs. "Gods are cruel. Unkind. Self-serving to a point and determined to always be obeyed. I am greater than anything you have ever known and ever will. Your entire will to be is contained in the idea that I wish it to be. With a flick of my wrist I can rend your skin from bone and you won't feel it until I command it." He slams his fist on my table. "Who are you to tell me what is beneath me, female!"
Athanasius states that is the last to be freed, but his deliverance is already at hand. Me, the unwitting key, bears his prison upon my finger. I have no choice; the ring binds us in ways I do not yet understand. (According to him) Whether I fight or yield, it matters not. He will be free. The cycle will complete.
"Then, the sky will crack, the seas will boil, and the lands will drown in a tide of blood. Light and darkness, entwined, everlasting. The balance will be restored, and the mages' folly will be written in ruin."
The primordials had been betrayed.
"To think you can outsmart a primordial is to mistake the patience of eternity for mercy, and the silence before the storm for surrender."
Chapter four
Poor Ms. Taylor
Ione
Athanasiusisabrat.He's used to getting his way in every circumstance and having someone obey him with no questions asked. He keeps making mention of how I am a 'poor avatar,' and 'not like the others.' Personally, I don't give a shit and it's irritating as hell to know that I've gotten myself into this mess.
"I want to see this world," He announces, striding towards the door. "What new wreckage has been wrought upon this realm? Filthy rabbits mucking it up even more."
"Wait!" Falling over the couch, I do my best to stall him from the door. "Athanasius, you can't go outside."
"Female," He turns slowly. "Never tell me where I may and may not go. I command you, it's best you remember this before my good nature runs short." He scoffs, looking down at me. "You are comely, but don't let that get to your head, you may stir my cocks but my judgement is absolute."
Stir his what? As my mind attempts to grasp why he added the s onto the word cock, Athanasius flings my front door open and walks outside. Now, at night, late night, this might have been acceptable. But no, this 6'5", silver-haired, four armed, four eyed, half-naked Primordial with runic symbols covering his body walks down the sidewalk in a tunic!
Let me not forget to mention that I have learned this man has a split tongue and enjoys wagging it at me. He thinks it offends me. My raunchy brain doesn't take it that way.
"Athanasius! Please!" I hiss from the doorway.
What I half expected happens next. A scream, the shrill scream of a frightened old woman. My neighbor, Ms. Taylor. Rushing outside, I see Athy staring at her as she points at him and holds her white poodle in her left arm. The gray one is on its harness barking at Athanasius.
"Ms. Taylor!" I rush outside trying to look as normal as possible. "This is Athy, a friend of mine. He's a movie monster maker. I'm helping him with this new design for a horror film. It's amazing, right?" Grabbing one of Athy's arm, I try to pull him back towards the house.
"Unhand me, rabbit, I told you, I wish to see this world." He doesn't budge.
