The meeting went pretty well. Until it didn’t.

Everyone became unusually violent, he himself included, and negotiations broke down rather quickly when they started speaking of fees. Which, granted, wasn’t all that unusual. But, then, he started feeling unwell and, although the screen’s resolution wasn’t exactly the best, the same thing seemed to have been happening to his partners on camera. Maybe their pale faces hadn’t been all that telling, but the sudden, explosive barfing certainly had left little room for doubt. Considering that things were pretty much over by then, and that he hadn’t particularly fancied finding out what the woman across the pond had had for lunch, he had simply shut down the notebook after that.

Currently, he was just mentally reviewing the situation, trying to make sense of it. Suffice it to say, without much success.

Pretty sure it should be alright. They have no grounds to complain about a bit of rudeness, not after having threatened to murder my parents in their sleep... Though I guess I technically did pretty much the same, plus my folks are already dead, so it was kind of an empty threat on their part.

Hmm, then again, they had no way of-

A sudden wave of nausea and vertigo almost floored him. Thankfully, he managed to brace himself against the wall, just in time. Resting his cheek against the solid surface brought him some relief, but it didn’t help much when the world started spinning around him.

The fuck’s happening!

Holding back some bile, he grunted, trying to stand straight. Despite his confusion, he could tell that he needed to call for help. His efforts were to no avail, however. The screen of his phone swam before his eyes, but the thing was clearly dead, and so was the laptop he had just been using.

“Fuck!”

Despite feeling a bit of -probably justified- panic, he tried his best to keep a cool head. Carefully sitting down, he fell back on a trick he had learned during one particularly ethanol-loaded evening, all the way back in college. Holding his head between his knees, he started taking deep, centering breaths, keeping his eyes closed.

Alright, okay...

You feel like crap and for some reason everything’s toast. So, either you’re getting fucked by some mysterious disease, and the other part is the mother of all implausible coincidences, or...

He took yet another breath.

Or it’s all related to some sort of weapon, obscure radiation, or something the like. A terrorist attack? A leak? Aliens? Or-

Right! That damned eclipse should be going on about now, no? No way that’s unrelated. But, how-

No. Never mind, you’re getting distracted here. The cause doesn’t really matter right now anyway. Whatever it is, it doesn’t feel like you’re dying either... Well, at least, not yet. So, you probably shouldn’t try to go downstairs, what with your legs feeling like jelly, and broken necks being unpleasant.

So you... just shelter here? If it’s radiation, you should probably try to get away from the windows, and... Maybe go into the bathroom?

Yeah. Sounds like a plan. That should be the most isolated room here, anyway, and you can also gather some water in the tub.

Standing up, still using the wall for support, he started heading for the white door that was not even ten steps away from him.

...You should probably stop talking to yourself in third person too, feels weird as fuck.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t even taken a couple of uncertain steps, when a sudden flash of white light blinded his eyes, a sudden explosion deafened his ears, and a sudden something smashed his consciousness into oblivion.

Loading...

******

Unbeknownst to the unconscious sad sod, a few hours prior, even as he exited his friend’s house, Nikiforos’s carefree grin abruptly morphed into a look of grim determination. Three steps later, his form had subtly changed. He stood taller, more formidable, with a paradoxical, almost ethereal atmosphere about him, as if he were a man beyond the grasp of time.

His frown deepened as he felt the subtle changes in the energies around the realm. More so, when the presence of one of his... peers became obvious, nearby.

Although it was something he hadn’t expected -not after striving to keep his mortal years as simple as possible-, he unhesitatingly headed for the pink sports car that was clearly waiting for him in the otherwise empty, upper-middle-class, residential street.

As he approached, the door opened on its own, inviting him in. Taking a seat, without fastening his belt, he smirked at the impossibly beautiful woman sitting behind the wheel.

“My, isn’t it the little trollop of the Gate! To what ill twist of fate do I owe the dubious honor?”

Of all things, the olive-skinned woman pouted. Even just a glimpse of her full, luscious, pursed lips would probably have proven enough to drive most mortals -men and women alike- into an insane carnal frenzy. Emphasis on most and mortals, though, of which he was neither.

“Come on, Prome-“

A bone-chilling glare cut her off.

“Are you serious?” The lady unflinchingly held his gaze for a moment, a spark of defiance in her eyes. Eventually, however, she seemed to just give up. “Fine, have it your way, Nikephoros...” She chuckled. “As for why I’m here, isn’t it obvious? After the mess you made last time, none trusted you to leave on your own, so-”

“I thought there were still a few years left... Damn, I guess Wednesday’s a bust.” The mumble barely even left his lips, but the woman clearly caught it all the same.

Too late, he realized he had grown too used to mortal’s rather lacking senses. Well, not like it mattered much, anyway.

“Wednesday?” She regarded him with a raised eyebrow.

Nikiforos, simply smiled, ignoring her question, only to then smoothly mimic her expression. “So they’ll use this eclipse, I guess? And they sent you to get me? You, of all people?”

The woman chuckled, a sound that intended to be like harmonious wind-chimes, but which sounded closer to the clattering of broken glass to his ears.

“Of course, darling! Who else? There are not many left willing to... indulge the peculiarities of that brilliant mind of yours.” As she spoke, her index gently traced the contours of his forehead and temple, while her lips gifted him a suggestive smile, and her golden eyes the promise of a thousand pleasures. “...Plus, we do know each other pretty well don’t we, my dear?”

He felt his cheeks blushing at the touch, probably, much to the woman’s amusement. Only, she would have been mistaken to assume he was aroused, or bothered in any way. The only thing the memories elicited in him was shame. Shame at his own foolishness, and at the previous weakness of his flesh. Thankfully, that foolishness only existed in the past; both duress and mortals had been generous enough to teach him better.

“Are you done saying your farewells?” The honeyed words naturally flowed into his ears. “Should I drive you to some other pet, before it’s all done? I hear you have a girlfriend.”

“Farewells?” He smirked. “No need for that! I bet we’ll all be seeing each other again, pretty soon!”

“You-” The woman regarded him with eyes wide open. “What have you done now!?”

Of course, he thought, seeing her strange, half horrified, half excited expression, so that’s why she agreed to come.

If nothing else, Immortals were a prideful bunch. One couldn’t just order them around, not even the Council... Although, most of them got so bored of their eternal tedium that they were constantly on the hunt for any sort of thrill, so getting them to fall in line wasn’t that hard. Not for those who knew what buttons to push, anyway. In a way, he almost pitied the lot of them. Almost.

Truth be told, she wasn’t even the first one to approach him, in hopes that the prodigal black sheep was about to start another party. Of course, he had sent them all away, but, perhaps he would indulge the vixen? After all, if the old shitters in the Council had already set the final stage in motion, without noticing his little trick, there was simply no way for them to change things in what little time might be left.

Plus, as far as their kind was concerned, she actually wasn’t even that bad. A bit vain, for sure, but what else could you expect from an Aspect of Lust? Gods couldn’t really go against their nature, and she did care, in her own, particularly slutty way... Also, who was he kidding? Perhaps his flesh hadn’t left all weakness behind yet.

“Well,” He started, staring into her eyes. “As we all know, wiping them” He pointed at the houses around. “out, because ‘mother Gaia is overloaded’ is, in short, cosmic sized bullshit. The old curs are just scared shitless about having a second Atlantis, despite all of their shady manipulations of mortal’s governments and customs. So, I decided I’d give at least some of them a bit of a chance.”

“But, the Supreme council forbid all gods from interfering! How’d you get around the Geas?”

“Aye!” His smirk widened. “Lucky me, technically, we Titans aren’t gods, no?”

At his words, disbelief, spiced with a hint of worry, adorned the woman’s entire face. “You know they’ll never take that as an excuse, don’t you?”

“Yep!” What was the worst the ancient fuckers could do? Feed him to the beasts? Now, that would almost be nostalgic!

Unfortunately, the woman’s expression didn’t seem to agree with his inner amusement.

“They will put you in chains, again!”

“They’ll try. They may even succeed.” He shrugged, before frowning. “Actually, just to make sure, be a darling and send Aetos Kaukasios my regards beforehand, will you?”

“Stop that! This is serious!” Hadn’t he known better, he might even have believed the moisture that could now be found around the woman’s eyes was genuine. “This time around there will be no one left to free you!”

“Think so?” A cheeky grin curled his lips. “I wouldn’t bet on that!”

“Why-” The woman silently stared at him for a moment, taking a deep breath that she didn’t need. “I know you’re smart- Heavens, you’re maybe the brightest among all of us... Why are you always so willing to throw everything away for the sake of mere mortals?”

“Hah! Were I half as ‘smart’ as you imply, why do you gather you lot never trust my judgment better? No, love, forethought isn’t worth shit...” A tired sigh escaped his lips. “Anyway, mere mortals’, you say?” He snorted. “There’s no such thing. Ah! Sometimes, even I end up forgetting you young ones never even got the chance to read the original Teachings.”

“The original Teachings?” She sounded completely puzzled.

“Original,” He nodded. “as in, before the pretentious pricks -sorry sweetie but, yes, your old man’s an absolute piece of garbage, and don’t look at me like that, it’s not like you didn’t know that already- in the Council came up with the carefully curated version you know of. Curated for your -and everyone else’s- own good, of course... Bah! Hypocritical scaredy-cats, the lot of them! As if a bunch of half-assed, senile gods could possibly know better than the One Law! Did you know, they even went as far as changing mortal’s myths, claiming that my friend Alkaios was the child of some stupid god who couldn’t keep it in his pants or another?”

“He wasn’t?” She sounded quite surprised.

“Are you kidding me!?” He frowned, glancing at the house he had recently come out from. “Of course not! He was a freak of nature, sure, but as mortal and flawed as they come! The pompous control freaks just never got over the fact they got bested by a ‘mere man’. Tartarus barren! His descendants are even still around! A bunch of them, actually. They may have a bit of a tendency to die young, and usually bad luck in love, and sometimes a bit of a penchant for brutality... But some of them are fine chaps, for the most part, I tell you! Ah! Anyway, before you ask, since I know you’ll keep pestering me if I don’t, and it’s not really forbidden, let me tell you exactly what I’m talking about.”

Although he had no need for it, he loudly cleared his throat; even most other gods could only admit that mortal mannerisms were a nice spice for drama. “As men, they shall live and, as men, they shall die, for they have forgotten...”

The ensuing silence lasted for a while, as the woman’s eyes scanned the unremarkable neighborhood they were in with suspicion, generously indulging his game.

Eventually running out of patience, though, she finally asked. “SO?”

Amused by the entire thing, and perhaps a bit entranced by her flatteringly emphasized cleavage, he took a moment to answer. ”’So’ what?”

“So... eyes up here, darling!” Despite the rebuke, her own eyes were playful, her smile inviting. “Well, what have they forgotten?”

“The texts didn’t say.” Again, the Titan shrugged. “I do have my guesses, mind you, but I’ll let you make your own. Or,” He grinned mischievously. ” who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to ask one of them, once they eventually remember! Whatever the case, keep in mind the Teachings, sweetie... and perhaps tell your Father and his clique to exercise their memory too. No matter how much they try to delay, Balance is Inexorable; as Above, so Below! Their games won’t last forever!”

Then, as if having just heard the greatest joke ever, he exploded in a peal of unhinged laughter.