The Creators Ch. 01

BRANDON

The world came back to me. I was lying naked on a bed of pink silk and fine linen. Tera's profile focused above me, her face looking concerned. Upon seeing the slit of my eyes, her expression widened into an endearing, almost motherly smile. A surge of fear ran through me, and I strained to get up and flee, but a searing pain in my head stopped me. Tera rested a cool hand on my forehead, and I noticed that her touch did not affect me.

"Shhhh," she cooed softly as she gently guided my head back to the pillow, "don't exert yourself, Your Grace."

"Your grace?" I murmured.

"Is that not how you'd like to be addressed?" Tera asked, her face obviously worried. "Have I offended you?" she collapsed to her knees beside me, and began crying at my side. "Please forgive me," she whispered, "do not take my ignorance as insult."

"What the fuck..." I mumbled, my head swimming with pain.

"My mother is very taken with you," Justina said from the other side of me. "I think you might've broken her, actually."

I turned my head to the right, and saw Justina's nubile body sitting beside me. She smiled brightly at my confused face.

"If you seduce a succubus," Justina explained, "her powers backfire. Instead of enslaving you, you enslaved her."

Tera's face shined with unconditional love. Her big violet eyes brimmed with faithfulness, and her posture was servile and adoring.

"I think she worships you now," Justina chuckled. "After you passed out, she wouldn't let me touch you. She hovered over your body like a protective mama bear, and I had to convince her that you'd be very angry with her if you came-to on a wooden floor."

"Is the bed to your liking?" Tera asked hopefully from my other side, still on her knees. "I wanted to build an altar, but Justina told me you wouldn't appreciate the ostentation."

"An altar..." I mused, smiling weakly to myself, "...that would've been interesting."

"Then I will build you an altar!" Tera proclaimed firmly, standing up and opening a nearby drawer, "I will build you a shrine! I will turn my humble abode into a temple for your worship! Stupid Justina and her stupid recommendations; of course a god needs an altar! Why did I listen to her? Please forgive my stupidity, your... your... forgive me, but I do not know your preferred title."

"Your Holiness will do fine," I said, smirking at Justina as she barely controlled her laughter, "and I don't need a temple; I need some aspirin."

Tera cursed herself for her lack of foresight (of course his holiness needs an aspirin, god, I'm so fucking stupid!), and then bustled into the kitchen.

"She wouldn't shut the fuck up about you," Justina sniggered. "All she could talk about was how she was going to be your most faithful disciple, how she'd worship you endlessly, how she'd gladly give her life for you." Justina glanced curiously at the slight bulge in the sheets between my legs. "You must be something else, Brandon."

Tera bustled into the room with aspirin capsules in one hand, and a bottle of her most expensive wine in the other. Apparently, water was too lowly a drink to grace my divine lips. She once again cursed herself for her foolishness, and then ran back into the kitchen before returning with the wine in a glass. She walked over to me reverently, then got on her knees, and lifted the aspirin and wine above her head, casting her eyes downward as though she were presenting me with a holy offering.

"I know what she did was wrong," Justina said as I accepted Tera's offering, "but try not to take this too far; I would like my mother back, eventually. Now, your sister—"

"Angela!" I said, nearly choking on the wine. I turned on Tera and yelled, "where is she?!"

Tera cowered on the floor, prostrating herself and wailing about how she wasn't worthy. Justina's hand touched my shoulder, and I gawked when I saw the color of her eyes.

"Hey Brandon!" Angela's girlish voice sung from Justina's lips, whose irises were now my sister's pale blue, "I'm inside a succubus; how cool is that? Well... I guess you know how cool it is, don't you?" she sniggered. "Turns out, all you had to do to get laid was prove you were a god! Why didn't I think of that before?"

"How the hell..." I said, peering into the familiar eyes set in the face of another woman, "...what did you do?"

"It was you, actually," Justina said, her eyes returning to violet. "You subconsciously created a connection between your sister and myself."

"Can she leave?" I asked.

"Justina says I shouldn't," Angela piped-in, her blue eyes showing on the succubus's face. "She says too much of your power is tied to me, and that I should stay in here or I'll stunt your growth."

"All of your power was used on her," Justina said, violet eyes returning. "The exertion of keeping her around was a drain on your potential. Think of your power as a muscle; to develop, it needs to be worked in increments. If it's constantly under stress, it will atrophy."

"Justina says you might be able to create a new body for me!" Angela interrupted, abruptly changing Justina's eye color. "She says you're the Life Giver."

"The what?"

"There are three Creators," Justina said, coming back to the forefront. "Life Giver, Earth Former and Heat Bringer. You are Life Giver, obviously."

"And the other two?" I asked, "Are they alive?"

"The three always arrive at the same time," Justina nodded, "always born beneath the same moon." Her expression grew grave for a moment, and she paused, before continuing, "What my mother tried to do, others will try as well. You're worth more than empires, Brandon, and powerful people will seek you out if it becomes known that the gods have returned. None of the other three have yet been discovered, or if they have, whoever owns them is keeping a very tight lid on it."

"If I'm as powerful as you imply, how could anyone 'own' one of us?"

"You're still young and weak," Justina replied. "Mom almost had you, but there are many ways to control a person. Seduction, manipulation, and worse." Justina stared levelly at me, "You're still a person, Brandon. These people who would seek to control you, they'd find a way to get to you. They'd offer you immeasurable wealth, or they'd take your family hostage, or they'd capture you while you're still in your infancy, and torture you until your mind breaks."

I felt a shiver run through me.

"The only way to protect yourself is to grow stronger. You need to practice your craft in secrecy, you need to find allies who will not betray you, and you need to guard those who love you. But most of all, Brandon; you need to find the other two."

"Why?"

"Because if the gods are set upon each other, the result is apocalyptic. In the past, society surged forward when the Divine Trinity stood together, and collapsed when they fought. We need to find the other two and get them to safety and secrecy, or those with ambition will claim them for their own ends, and make enemies of you."

"How can I trust you?" I asked Justina, narrowing my eyes. "How do I know you're not one of these ambitious people?"

"Because I know everything there is to know about her," Angela spoke from Justina's mouth, her eyes turning blue, "and though she's a dirty, nasty little girl, Justina is a good person."

"Your sister and I have no secrets," Justina said, her eyes turning violet. "Our thoughts, intentions and emotions are one."

"Psst, Brandon," Angela said conspiratorially, her blue eyes twinkling in Justina's face. "Justina really wants to fuck you. Just don't let her do it while I'm in here!"

"I'm more than a little curious," Justina confirmed, winking a violet eye, "but we'll shelve that thought for the time being; you don't need two useless women groveling at your feet."

"She's still a virgin!" Angela giggled, coming back to Justina's face, "Her only sexual experiences have been with her mom!"

"Not just my mom," Justina chuckled, eyes turning violet and rolling up, as though she were addressing her own forehead, "you and I had some fun, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah," Angela laughed girlishly, her awkward composure contrasting Justina's confident grace, "I might be a lesbian; I don't know."

"Well, we'll shop around a bit," Justina said, violet eyes addressing her forehead again, "find a strapping young lad in Drastin, and see if your preferences change."

"Only if your mommy ever lets you feed yourself," Angela sniggered, eyes turning blue. "You better warn me next time you decide to share dinner with her. I don't want to be anywhere near that."

"Drastin?" I asked, "Why are we going to Drastin?"

"Mom has connections there," Justina said, violet eyes casting toward me, "people who know how to be discreet, people who have information that few others have." Justina glanced downward at Tera, who was still prostrating beneath me. "You should probably release her; she won't be of much use to you if she's constantly on her knees."

"I don't know," I smirked at Justina, "I kind of like her like this."

"Have your fun with her for the rest of the night," Justina sighed, "she deserves that much for what she tried to do to you, but release her in the morning."

"How do I do that?" I asked.

"Just tell her she's free," Justina replied, "she'll beg you to keep her, but you just have to insist, and eventually, she'll leave your service."

Justina stood up and walked to the door, but stopped before she passed the threshold. "You'll need to protect your parents," she said to me. "Angela tells me they won't believe the truth, so here's a convenient lie: you took a loan from slavers, and you put your parents lives up as collateral. Tell them that if strange men come to Towerhead, to hide in this house. No one would suspect to look in a succubus hovel."

"They'll hate me."

"But they'll live," Justina said, and then looked down at her groveling mother. "Don't be too rough with her; we'll be doing a lot of walking, and we can't have her limping the whole way."

She gave me a parting smile and a wink, and then left the room. I sighed, then turned my attention to the beautiful tan monster worshipping me by the side of the bed.

"Tera," I smiled down at her, lifting her chin with my hand, "come pay homage to your god."

Excerpt from Arbitrus Gen's Journal, Chapter One, Page One:

The purpose of this journal is not to catalogue events; it is a warning to those who will ignore the past. Many of you know me, either famously or infamously. I am, of course, the Heat Bringer. Or rather, I was. Furok took my power from me, but I gave it willingly. My sacrifice was to no avail, but it was a sacrifice I needed to take. I foresaw what would happen. There is no greater curse than knowing what will come, and being helpless to stop it. You, dear reader, are not helpless if you act. You can do simple things. Tend to you flock, raise your children right, and of course, give all praise to the Holy Mother, for she is the only god. I know what you're thinking right now; who am I to praise the Holy Mother when the Maternal Order excommunicated me? Well, the Maternal Order is nothing but a house of frauds in nun's clothing, desperately trying to make you believe that they hold the keys to heaven. I denounce them, I curse them, and I gleefully pray they all burn in hell. Does it sound harsh? I don't think it is. Making oneself the gatekeeper of eternity is akin to pretending to be God, and there is no greater sin. And so, that is how I will begin my rumination on Creators.

It is tempting, I know, to think of Creators as gods on earth, but they are people just like you; just as fallible, weak, and wicked as you. Not to say that you are these things in your entirety, but in accordance with the gospel, we are all the children of the Holy Mother and the Unholy Father. Creators are no different. You may choose to step on an ant, or you may choose not to. That is how Creators views you—the ant to be or not to be stepped on. You may choose to guide the ant to paradisial fruit aplenty, but that is just as harmful to the ant. Dependence is a form of worship, and I implore you, reader, not to worship those who see you as insects. Give all providence to the Holy Mother in the highest throne. This life is fleeting, but your soul is everlasting. Creators, as powerful as we are, cannot take away your rightful place in heaven. We know this, so the wicked of us will try to convince you that there is no heaven, that this plane of existence is the only one you can experience, and so you should worship the masters of the elements.

In this regard, there is no Creator more dangerous than the Life Giver. While the Earth Former shapes mountains and canyons, and the Heat Bringer can melt glaciers and cities, only the Life Giver can imitate God's true power. But make no mistake; it is an imitation. The Life Giver's miracles are abominations, and they persist everlasting in pernicious ways. These immortal things bide their time throughout the ages. They hide in temples of their own making, and create of their world, a heathen hell on earth. It is likely that you will never cross a Tethered One, but if you do, you will never be seen again. And if you ever cross a Sentient... well, God help us all then.

Stay in the light. Stay in the grace of the Holy Mother. We are all her children beneath the sun, so remember the old hymn.

Forever they will live as one, like two lovers in the sun. Shining from creation's birth, to hold a tether to the earth.