"He is powerful and dangerous, Ali. No-one will go to the trouble, as long as he doesn't directly attack a senior god, he does as he wishes. No-one will challenge him, it would be too risky for them unless there was a very good reason" answered Donny.
"Do you know who his parents are?" asked Ali.
"Yes, his father is Dionysius and his mother is Gaia" answered Donny.
Ali put down her knife as the shock washed over her. Donny didn't notice her astonished reaction, he finished putting the fruit on plates and carried them to the lounge. When Ali entered the lounge and sat down she had a fixed look of concentration on her brow.
"It looks like you are planning something serious, Ali" said Donny as he ate some more fruit.
"I just remembered something I had to do. Don't worry it can wait. I will not let anything interfere with you visit" she said as she snuggled up close and began munching on the melon slice. Ali eventually slept in Donny's arms on the couch. When she woke she looked up dazed and he kissed her nose. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. Sorry."
"I got to hold you while you snored in my ear. I was happy" he replied.
"I. do. not. snore!" she retorted. "Do I?" she asked suddenly concerned.
"No, I was only teasing. You need to rest since you begin work tomorrow and we danced the entire night away."
"I could manage to catch up on sleep later I think. Last night was just perfect. Maybe a little less quacking would have helped my confidence though" she said. "Is it lunchtime yet, I am starving." They fixed a simple lunch with bread purchased from the market and ate their fill. The rest of the visit the young couple kissed tenderly and whispered sweet nothings to each other. By evening Donny said he was expected back to attend a tribal meeting. They kissed passionately before Donny stepped out the door and disappeared.
Chapter 19
Ali returned inside and decided to spend some time on her ancient planet before work tomorrow. She opened the window and stepped through and closed it. Time had stopped and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Ali entered the portal to her ancient planet and made her way out of the cave. Ali decided to store her clothes away while she swam, relaxed, slept and lived simply for what seemed like months. There was no hurry, no schedules, no study and no worries to bother her. Food was plentiful and easy to find. She found flint and easily lit her cooking fires. Ali spent this time pushing her healing energy into the earth every day. On her planet it didn't matter if she felt weak and vulnerable because nothing could hurt her here. Ali decided it was good for her to take time to mature as a person in this safe harbor before having to face the main reality plane.
She also took time to try out teleportation, breathing underwater, healing herself and other basic god skills that had eluded her so far. Self-healing was only partially successful because she was only half earth. Ali sustained minor injuries when she tried flight or teleported badly. Teleportation results were still jumpy and erratic. Flight remained a work in progress. Staying underwater came naturally and was entirely pleasurable as she explored the river until it met the ocean and she began to explore the oceanfront.
It took a long time before Ali began to feel lonely and felt the need to return. When she felt ready she retrieved her clothing and dressed, made her way back to the cave and through the portal door to her main window. Ali exited the dimensional window and re-entered the main reality plane to her lounge room as she had left it all those months ago.
Ali made her way to the attic home and Rom bounded up to her. Ali hugged him close and rubbed her face in his fur as he growled ecstatically. Amirael approached her and asked for instructions. "Get chef to prepare dinner. I will retire to my bedroom" instructed Ali.
"Yes. Ali" said Amirael.
Ali lay on her soft bed and decided to discuss Brand with Gaia when she returned. She also decided she needed to learn better god etiquette and practice it so she would hopefully limit her most embarrassing moments to the quacking incident. She would ask Hephaestus to help out with that. Amirael arrived with her dinner tray and then began to run her bath while Ali ate. Later, as Ali relaxed in her bath she decided she would ask Hephaestus for a list of texts and other things she needed to learn. When Ali climbed into the comfort of the smooth sheets on the soft mattress she sighed in contentment and slept deeply.
Chapter 20
Amirael arrived with her breakfast tray, the laid out one of her drab outfits for work. The veil was carefully put next to the skirt.
"There are matching flower clips for each outfit we can use to fix the veil in place so it will not slip off" said Amirael as she held up the clips.
"Perfectly deplorable" grinned Ali. "The housekeeper is a genius. I will walk to the forge office because my 'porting is still unreliable. Don't pin the front so I can still eat" Ali dressed and Amirael fixed her hair in a braid, then the veil was fixed onto the outfit and over her head. "What is the full effect Amirael?"
"Entirely forgettable."
"Excellent! Time to go" said Ali and Amirael handed Ali her lunchbox that was prepared by the chef.
As Ali made her way down the streets the passing women greeted her and the men ignored her as expected. The door to the forge office was open when Ali arrived so she entered and approached the front desk and waited. No-one returned to the desk. Ali called out "Hello! Anyone there?"
A gruff voice called back to her "Come through." The big rock of a man stood up from his work bench and said "Aliandra isn't it?"
"Yes. Reporting for work, sir" Ali responded.
"Just call me Hephaestus, everyone does. Let's sit over here and discuss your program. I have some paperwork ready for you somewhere." He hunted around until he found the mess of her papers piled among receipts and invoices. "Obviously my skills are at the forge, not office work" he said with some embarrassment. "Here is the schedule I devised. Is there anything you think I have left out?"
"You haven't left anything out exactly, it is just I have a favor to ask. I tend to embarrass myself in god company. A lot. I know the etiquette in theory but my mortal outpost upbringing tends to come out in practise. If you can correct my transgressions and help me to fit in a little better I would really appreciate your help" said Ali.
"We will work out a solution. Do you have armor?" asked Hephaestus.
"No, do I need any yet?" she asked.
"You do need to know how it operates."
"I have never worn armor" said Ali.
"We will start with that. I have a few spare suits of armor put aside to lend to customers when theirs is in for lengthy repairs. We can hammer one out to get it to fit you a little better. It will be far from perfect but it will do the job as a practise suit. You can use it to improve your reaction times to don your armor. It will help for you to wear armor so you can learn how to move in it and why I shape it so. Reaction times are usually improved by having objects flung at you, for the boys it is usually small stones and they go home bruised if they are not fast enough to react. We have replaced the stones with ping pong balls for your practise. Perhaps we can have ping pong balls ready at all times to shoot out when you make an etiquette error."
"Yes, perfect" exclaimed Ali. " Although expect to load up with a ton of ping pong balls. If you could also compile a list of texts, authors and areas of study you think are relevant that will be a big help."
Hephaestus sat quietly for a while before he quietly asked "A duck?"
Ali reddened "It rhymed" she said. "Although I doubt they know that a duck symbolizes someone who is worthless and undeserving. Perhaps they all need duck helmets and we can tell them the punch line at a later date."
Hephaestus grinned. "First order of business is to design and make a duck helmet for my friend, Dionysius. He is the one who started quacking in the hall" he let out a gruff laugh. "The joke is on him. I will start to spread the word when Dionysius has worn his helmet long enough. Until then we can laugh up our sleeves at them together."
Hephaestus gave Ali tips on designing
helmets. By the end of the day she had designed a helmet Hephaestus approved of with a tough looking duck posed with its head aimed down as the nosepiece and its wings formed the side protectors. It had plenty of detail and looked really cool; definitely something Dionysius would wear with pride. Hephaestus told her they would begin making it tomorrow and Dionysius would have his gift by the end of the week.
While Ali was busy designing and reading his texts on helmets and types of armor, Hephaestus pulled out one of the spares suits of armor and measured her up. "This is a quick and dirty fix up job to fit this suit to your frame. I will have it ready by tomorrow morning for you" said Hephaestus.
Ali returned to the cottage at the end of the work day with a spring in her step. She and Hephaestus got along really well and she had learned a lot. Tomorrow the serious training started. Ali slept well that night and was up bright and early ready to work.
When Ali walked into the forge office the next morning she knew to walk straight through and not interrupt Hephaestus if he was working on a project. Hephaestus was at the forge heating the steel for the helmet and he waved her over and explained what he was doing and why as he went. After two hours of beating the red hot steel on the anvil and submersing it in water he had the general shape of the helmet formed. He put down his tools and announced a break. Ali had brought extra food and drink because she had noticed Hephaestus wasn't organized enough to remember to bring a good lunch the day before. She laid out the morning snack and ordered Hephaestus to eat.
"Consider my organizational skills and the bringing of food a bonus to our working relationship" she said as they ate the delicious food prepared by her chef. "You need to eat properly if you are to work properly. You take care of me, I take care of you, ok?" said Ali. "My boyfriend is a brilliant businessman with tons of management skills. Can I bring him in to advise about your office setup? His name is Donny. The front desk still isn't occupied, where is your secretary?"
"She left to marry" he replied wearily.
"How long ago?" asked Ali skeptically.
"Fifty, maybe fifty five years ago" he mumbled with a mouthful of food.
"I have a friend who can do the job until you can hire another secretary. She is really smart, capable and in the area. I will ask her to do it as a special favor to me. She is an elf, is that ok?" asked Ali.
"You know" he said slowly "it is like being run over by a nice little steamroller when you get going."
"Yeah, I am definitely bossy, I know" admitted Ali. "I can't deny it."
"I am not complaining that you are sorting out my office. It needed doing." he replied.
"I am from an outpost town called Eureka. It was very simple: you did whatever needed to be done and if someone needed a hand you pitched in. We rode steeds to get anywhere, the days were long and hot, the work was hard and the comforts were few. It is because of my upbringing that I have toughened up and keep pushing ahead when times get rough. You can push me as hard as you like and I won't wilt on you. I am here to learn and work. I suggest you make use of that while I am here. Tell me to do something and I won't stop until it is done. As I learn I will get faster and better at anything you teach me. I will practise as many hours as I need to, so I get it perfect. Not just passable, perfect!" Ali stated.
"That is a big promise, Aliandra."
"I keep all my promises too. If you tell me something that is secret or private it will go no further. I want you to know that you can rely on me to do the right thing, every time. I have your back and you have mine. That is how it has always worked in my family and with my friends. I think we get along and I would like to count you as a friend" asserted Aliandra.
"Agreed" said Hephaestus. "Let's get the armor for you and try it on you."
Ali fitted into the adjusted armor and tried to walk around in it. "Is it supposed to feel this heavy?" asked Ali.
"It has to be heavy enough to stop blades or spears from slicing through. That armor is about right in weight for you. If you wear it around you will build up your muscles and it will be easier to move around in it. Do you have storage?" asked Hephaestus.
"Yes, my navel has a pink storage stone fixed in it" replied Ali.
"Well positioned. Many people have their armor storage on their extremities. If their hand or foot is lopped off they will not be able to activate their armor. Also the armor spreads from that point so your vital organs will be covered quickly when you activate. I will disk the armor and you store it. Just touch the disk to the stone and it will be absorbed into storage. Another hint with armor activation is to choose a single syllable word that is not in everyday speech as your activation code. If you choose a longer word then there will be a slight delay in the armor activation and in a battle a split second may make the difference" advised Hephaestus.
Ali considered her options and decided the word 'shield' would be her activation code and Hephaestus programmed that in. They tested the suit activation until they were satisfied. The ping pong targeting machine was programmed not fire towards the forge but everywhere else was fair game. The machine was switched on and it hovered silently over Ali ready to fire. Ali tried to work at the forge with the hovering machine except when she slipped and said "Darn!" a barrage of ping pong balls continuously fired at her. Shit, shit, SHIT! SHIELD! and her armor finally activated. Maybe I should have chosen 'shit' as my code word and then I would have been impressive.
"Aliandra?"
""Yes, Hephaestus?"
"When you start to get used to it, I will increase the speed from slow and increase the machine's sensitivity" he chuckled.
"OK, Hephaestus" Another barrage of ping pong balls. SHIELD! "What did I say wrong, Hephaestus?"
"We do not usually use contractions in our speech patterns in the upper echelons. Say yes or no instead."
"OK" Ping pong balls. SHIELD! "Yes, Hephaestus."
Chapter 21
The helmet was completed by Ali by the end of the week under Hephaestus' supervision. It had to be an outstanding piece before they were satisfied enough to send it to Dionysius. Dionysius was ecstatic about the helmet; he sent a thankyou note for the gift and included for Aliandra a VIP pass to his many clubs in return. Hephaestus pointed out that those VIP passes were valuable and highly sought after because it would allow her to socially mingle with senior gods. Ali accepted that it was a good way to drum up business by meeting with seniors and designing for them. She sent a thankyou note back to Dionysius and noted that she hoped that he would continue to enjoy the duck helmet for many years to come.
Aliandra brought Amirael to work the front desk and bring order to the office files. Amirael was extremely competent but Ali insisted to Hephaestus that he had to find his own secretary and that Amirael was just a temporary fix. Donny visited the office and gave Amirael a list of his recommendations to carry out to make the office more efficient. Ali asked Hephaestus if Rom could come to work with her, Hephaestus agreed and they piled up gunny sacks in a vacant corner as a bed for Rom.
After Gramma returned, Ali waited until she was settled before she approached the subject of Brand. Gramma and Ali had just finished a physical training exercise in the basement and were lying on the floor resting when Ali asked "Can we talk about your son, Brand?"
"You know about him already?"
"Yes. I know you to be a loving, warm and maternal woman who has cared for me all my life. I think you care deeply for all your children. Are you able to explain to me why Brand was left to be raised by demons?"
"He got down on his knees, weeping and begging me to do that" replied Gaia tearfully.
"I am missing something here. He was an infant when he was left in the underworld?"
"This is not the first incarnation of the multiverse. When corruption and cruelty rules and there is no hope of justice prevailing I start the universes again from scratch. I enter your dimensional window and this reality plane dissolves and begins again. It is my presence that keeps every molecule together and maintains the basic law
s of physics. In every incarnation that you and Brand have ever met, you have fallen in love and married. In every incarnation before this one I lovingly raised and educated Brand. He was my baby boy. Whenever you were murdered by your enemies Brand became a broken man, unwilling to live without you. When you didn't meet, neither of you reached close to your full potential and our quest for justice failed yet again. It was not a fit place to raise your children if any survived at all. You and Brand challenged each other and loved each other beyond measure in every lifetime" answered Gaia.
"That does not explain why he was sent to the underworld."
"When he was begging me the last time it was over you dead and broken body. He wanted to be strong enough to protect you and his children. He believed that was only possible through a tortuous training regime such as they have in the underworld. Brand ordered me to put him there when he was a baby and I finally acceded to his will even though it has been painful beyond measure. The least I could do was to raise the woman he loves while he suffered."
Aliandra: nymph: Book 1 The Nymph chronicles Page 11