Chapter 80: Level Up

Joan met up with Tamara outside and returned to the church holding hands with Father John. George had propped open the doors, and most of the smoke from earlier had dissipated. Marc sat in the priest's chair while Mokuba, Joan's parents, and a small group of parishioners lazed on the carpeted steps leading up to the altar. Mokuba's bodyguard Joe remained standing, silently watching the proceedings.

Joan dropped Father John's hand, walked up to Marc, and threw her arms around his neck. "How'd it go?"

"Surprisingly well. Only half the people walked out before I dismissed them, and this lovely bunch wanted to stick around for more. I got tired of telling stories, so we started talking about how to redecorate."

"Redecorate?" Joan asked.

Marc waved his hand at a stained glass window, and the glass rearranged into a stunning likeness of Marc's perfectly formed cock.

Joan's eyes lit up. "Sparkly! It looks like we all leveled up our magic."

"And no more brain zaps," Mokuba said, "at least not for little things like this."

Gertrude eyed the penis in the window. "Don't you think this is a bit too much?"

Joan blinked. "No."

Gertrude sighed. "I know you're going to do it your way, but please . . . think carefully about what kind of goddess you want to be."

"Mom, how are you so calm about this?"

"All my life, I've thought that the only path to eternal life was through Jesus, but now I know we have other options. Whatever happens in the end, I'd rather be together with my family than sittin' pretty in some so-called paradise without you."

"Dad, what about you?"

George shrugged. "I've been privately atheist for many years now. I sing with your mother because it's fun, but there have been times when I wanted to get up and walk out so I didn't have to listen to any more bullshit. Anyway, I don't know why you thought starting a religion was a good idea, but just promise me you won't kill anyone or ask people to start wars in your name."

"Don't worry. That's not on my agenda," Joan said.

"Good to hear," George said.

Joan surveyed the small group of people gathered at Marc's feet, looking up at him and her with adoration. These were her people now, her responsibility as well as her source of power. "Thank you for your faith. This god thing is still new to us, so we appreciate your patience as we move forward. Father John has agreed to serve as our priest, and we'll keep in touch with him so he can share news of our travels and deeds with you." Joan locked eyes with her parents and paused. "I'll keep in touch with you too, Mom and Dad. Without you, I wouldn't know the first thing about being a goddess. You taught me to love, to trust. Even in my darkest moments, I always belonged somewhere. I know this is weird for you, and you may not always agree with the path I'm taking, but knowing you still love me anyway means so much to me."

Joan's parents rose and hugged her, tears of happiness dripping from their eyes. She held them close, thankful they hadn't rejected her even after she seized control of their church.

Joan looked up to see Marc's brow furrowed. «My god, what troubles you?»

«Neither Laura nor I ever had anything like this.» The depth of Marc's pain surged through his thought.

«You'll always love her, though. I'll never take that from you.»

«It might be easier if you did.»

«But she's part of you. You wouldn't be who you are without her influence on your life.»

«Then bring her back to me.»

«You think I can do that? You think I can wave my magic ring and make her take you back? Even if mind control is within my power, it wouldn't really be her. Do you want the real Laura, or do you want a doll that looks like her? If you're happy with a doll, we share the same power. You're free to try whatever you want on her.»

Mokuba coughed, dispelling the apparently silent tension between Marc and Joan. "Can we wrap this up? It's way past lunchtime."

Gertrude clapped her hands. "Oh yes! Let's go to the brewery."

Joan considered the distance from the church to the brewery. "Uh, Mom, we only took one car."

Gertrude patted Joan's shoulder. "Don't worry about that. George and I can take our bikes on BART. We may even get there before you do if we hit the next train."

"Our heavy choir books are going to slow us down," George pointed out.

"We're tough; we can handle it," Gertrude insisted.

"Mom, no offense, but we don't want to be kept waiting another twenty minutes if you miss that train," Joan said. "Let me try something." Joan floated into the air, flew to the other side of the church, and came right back.

Mokuba and Marc tested their flight abilities as well and found easy success. The flock members who had stayed after Mass clapped.

"All right," Joan said, "you two and Father John can ride in Tamara's car. We'll fly and meet you there."

"Do gods even need bodyguards?" Tamara wondered.

"We should be able to protect ourselves from regular people," Mokuba said, "and I doubt you'll be much use against other gods, so maybe you should protect Joan's parents and our priest from now on."

Joan nodded, exchanged a few thoughts with Seto, and that settled the matter. Joe would watch over Father John, and Tamara would watch over Joan's parents. As the bodyguards loaded into Tamara's car with their new charges, Joan let Michael know they were on their way. Joan, Marc, and Mokuba took flight and made a beeline for the brewery.