A Dissertation On The Fickleness Of The Common HouseGod
My wife had never believed in the gods. Stupid woman.
She refused to worship, to pray as we should. And so we were cursed with girls. Three girls. No sons.
I had the first two kidnapped from their bedroom one night. They were sold to a company overseas. I told my wife that it was a gift from my employer in concern over our loss.
He never even knew that the girls had been kidnapped.
The third, I paid the doctors to claim was stillborn. The newborn was deposited outside of a respectable orphanage.
My wife knew that I had done something to get rid of the girl. She never let go of that, even to her grave, as I covered her with dirt. I told her to believe, but she refused.
Stupid woman.
Each god had their place, each needed to be given their proper respect. She respected none.
Indra shrouded us with storms.
Kali struck down our friends and family.
Shiva and Parvati refused to let us have a son.
I only hoped that the great Yama made certain she received the fate she deserved.
I stretched in the moonlight and thought for a moment of my adopted son John. Surely Yama knew that the boy was not my own. Surely Yama would make certain the boy was taken care of.
The blizzard around me increased in furor.
If the gods had forsaken the boy, it was surely his own fault. I had an usurper to slay in their name. I could hesitate no longer.
My breathing mask drew in a fresh breath of night air and began to break it down. The crystals in the air indicated that Samir had not headed for the dockworks as I had feared, but instead for The Bastion. More specifically, for the Shield Gate. Being the furthest out of the three dams, it made sense. He was pulling the water straight from the Northern Sea to feed his snowstorm.
How very predictable he was.
It was obvious why the gods did not want Samir to be their Indra. He was not wise enough to be a god.
"Remember Rajid, we want the suit you have crafted. It is a worthy creation that proves your worth as our new Raji, as our mortal champion against the demons."
I soared through the snow clouds, pushing my new body to its limit. Icicles were forming on the lip of my hood and my new eyes were beginning to fog. I raised my body heat to combat the cold.
Foolishness. I had no time for this. The gods would not be kept waiting for Samir's death.
I opened the flow of energy within me, the power core lodged deep within my belly churning with power. The white coursed down through my arms to my fists, before erupting into the night and the storm before me.
A tunnel opened up through the snow clouds, showing me the path to the usurper Samir.
He would die first as the gods demanded.
Sayam would die later. First, I would kill his son in front of him. Yes. Let him analyze and process that before I ended him as well.
There would be vindication.
There would be vengeance.
I pulled up as I flew through the air, rising above the storm clouds. The moon was full and bright above me. The air, clear and crisp.
Below, the snow continued to fall, the clouds grower ever larger.
I loosed another energy bolt, slicing a cloud in half.
There. A mile below. A golden suit shimmering, standing on the third of the Bastion's three dams. Just as I had suspected.
My new body's heat level rose quickly as I began to glow. The circuitry shone red in the night sky.
I freed the energy coursing through me, a great beam erupting from my hands to strike down Samir.
I saw lightning erupting from each of his four hands.
I saw the beam throw his lightning aside.
I saw his suit shine like the sun in the darkness.
And I saw him driven to his knees, even with the black power of Kali giving him strength.
"I have come to dethrone you Samir."
"I am Indra. I am Samir no longer."
"Then why do you not stand? The gods are unhappy with Kali. She will not give you strength much longer."
He looked up at me through the golden mask of his suit.
"What?"
"The gods are displeased with you Samir. You were not who they chose to be their Indra. I am here to stop you."
"You are truly a fool Rajid. There are no gods but Kali and her Council. They want the city to die, to crumble under the might of this snow. Sickness is coming Rajid. The snow will slow the city and make it weak. Chrysalis will die as the Council commands it."
"The snow will come, as great Yama has said. But the Council does not wish for you to be its bringer."
"Then who Rajid? You?"
"Whoever the gods will, that is who. It matters not. It is not you."
Samir tried to rise but I was upon him, smashing him back down, now onto his belly. I leaned down and dug my fingers into the seams of the suit.
"No! No Rajid! It will kill me!"
"Yes Samir, it will."
I tore the suit open and began to check it for damage. Thankfully, Samir's presence within and my energy blasts had not damaged it at all. I was relieved.
Pain.
There was pain.
I looked down and saw a silver tusk jutting from my chest. I turned, eyes spinning, my body disobeying me.
Sayam. His head was gone. An elephant. He was an elephant.
Ganesha? Shiva's wise son?
As I fell, I wrapped my hand around the silver tusk jutting through me.
So that's how Ganesha lost... his... tusk.
So.
An elephant headed man.
A bloody golden suit.
Two gods: one black-skinned demon woman with multiple arms, fangs, and her tongue hanging out; and one with green skin, shiny orange eyes, and red robes.
"You said you had a propisition for me?"
The elephant headed man bowed and carried the golden suit forward.
The spooky-lookin' woman didn't speak, only snarled and hissed at me.
The green guy was more... social.
"Yes, Mr. Morelli. Ganesha, a wise warrior to join the ranks of your Fomorian Guard. And the golden suit of Indra to manage the weather of Chrysalis Falls."
"Price?"
"Leave the weather alone for now Mr. Morelli. And do not interfere with the Council's business in the Takt, Sho, and Renner Districts."
"That suit really control the weather?"
"Just need a subserviant victim to fill it."
"Done."
The two gods disappeared with smiles. No need to bother with contracts. If they meant to break the deal, they'd break it anyway.
"Your name's Ganesha right?"
"Yes Mr. Morelli."
"Wise one huh?"
"Yes."
"Then you know what I just did, don't you?"
"You bought more time for your city. They will continue fighting with the others as they have since the beginning. They are too blind to see how they hobble themselves."
"I think I'm going to like you G."
"What should I do first Mr. Morelli?"
"Just enjoy the snowfall. First snow this city's ever seen and there's no better view, than the view from the Mayor's office."
"Indeed."
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