An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series)
Page 25
“I didn’t have a choice! Loki appeared in my quarters before I left for the meeting and told me to stay back if I didn’t want to be killed! I stayed home, felt them die, and then Loki showed up again the next morning telling me to get you and Tlazolteotl to investigate! It was either that, or I die and take the whole pantheon with me!” Quinn tries to vindicate as I notice the Aztec gods appearing nearby.
“What about warning your friends and preventing their deaths! You had dozens of other choices; you were just too much of a coward to risk them!” I shout as my left hand warps into claws.
“I apologize!” Quinn exclaims.
“Apologize to them yourself.” I reply as I sink my claw into his chest.
I quickly absorb his core as the gods shuffle into the courtyard before tossing Quinn’s husk to the ground while resisting the urge to destroy everyone around me.
“As the majority of you just heard, Quetzalco… Quinn, was responsible for the deaths of the other heads. Mictlan… Micky! Come here.” I shout.
The mummified corpse/ Mictlan’s ruler and only remaining head of the pantheon, steps forward.
“Decide on Quinn’s and Xipe-Totec’s successors.” I order as the burning in my chest starts up.
“Centeotl will be Xipe-Totec’s replacement, and Ehecatl will be Quetzalcoatl’s.” Micky says, his voice reminiscent of an eighty year old smoker.
Two gods step forward, but nothing else seems to stand out about them. I walk around behind them. Why am I handing over this power? It’s not like I owe them anything; in fact, they owe me for not killing them! No… I have to make sure the pantheon maintains some balance. I move to set my hand on one god’s back, only to find that clothing is in the way, so I sink my claws through the cloth and into his back. The god grunts in pain as I close my eyes. The panel pops up in my mind and I transfer the Xipe-Totec folder to the folder labeled Centeotl. The pain in my chest intensifies and increases the overall burning sensation I feel as a result of the transfer.
Thirty seconds later and I step up behind the next god, sinking my claws into his back despite the lack of clothing. I drag Quetzalcoatl’s folder over and my eyes shoot open. The burn in my chest becomes unbearable as I stand there, wanting ever so badly to slam my left hand through this insignificant god. Somehow, I pull through and sprint to the gate before touching my Haglaz rune. I port to Jason’s living room, my momentum causing me to go crashing through his coffee table.
“Cole!” various voices exclaim as I keep my eyes clenched.
“Cheza!” I gasp out before a cool body jumps on top of me. Cheza runs through the usual routine, but the burning doesn’t subside.
“Cole? Cole!” Cheza exclaims.
I feel like I’m underwater in a hot tub, being boiled while Cheza starts shaking me and says some indecipherable things.
“I told you that you should have gotten some rest.” I think I hear Loki say as everything fades away.
****
Chapter 26: Coma Time
I find myself lying frozen in the darkness; continuously choking on it, but never dying. I start constantly wishing for this hell to end, but it never does. Hatred for the person who put me here festers in me; Hatred for Cole Treyfair. The need for revenge is the only thing that keeps me remotely sane.
After what feels like an eternity, a round hole opens up in the darkness and a cone of light beams through, illuminating the space around me. A shadowy figure slowly approaches me; all I can make out is a broad grin. The figures lifts me up and carries me towards the hole.
****
[January…?]
I slowly awaken to find that something is in my nose and that I’m lying in my bed at my house. I hear the sound of a magazine drop to the floor to my left.
“Cole…?” Cheza asks in a state of shock.
“COLE!” Cheza screams and rushes over to hug me.
It’s around now that I notice the bump of Cheza’s stomach that is stretching out her grey and blue horizontal striped t-shirt. How long have I been out!? Sara comes into the room as a result of Cheza’s screaming.
“Hold on, little brother; I need to take the nasogastric tube out first. It’s going to feel weird and it’s probably going to hurt, but just stay calm and don’t try to breathe through your nose.” Sara tells me.
Sara pulls the tube out of my stomach, up my esophagus, and out through my nose; the burning sensation that accompanies the process brings tears to my eyes. Once it’s out, I start sneezing uncontrollably and Cheza hands me some tissues.
“Thank you.” I tell her after I stop sneezing, my voice sounding raspy.
“How long have I been out?” I ask.
“Six weeks; today is February 13th. I would have considered installing a gastronomy tube if it weren’t for the fact that your blood protects you from infections and other side effects of long-term NG-tube use.” Sara replies.
Six weeks… which means I also have a tube up my urethra at this moment.
“Let’s get this tube out of my dick-hole.” I say, my voice sounding a bit less raspy. Sara moves the blankets aside and grabs the tube of the catheter.
“Alright, use the muscles that you use to get the flow going as I pull this out. One, two, three.” Sara says and starts slowly pulling the catheter out, causing a slight stinging sensation.
“Thanks.” I tell her once it’s out while I’m in the process of removing my IV.
“Any idea why I was out for so long?” I ask.
“Airi said that it was because of your prolonged Void state use.” Cheza timidly answers while holding the bottom of her shirt and turning to the side. Is she trying to hide her stomach from me?
“Come here.” I gently tell her.
Cheza trundles over to me, her gaze not meeting my face. I place my right hand on her bump and wrap my left arm around her waist as I pull her into me.
“What, did you think I’d be disgusted by you or something?” I softly ask. Tear drops hit my longer-than-normal hair as Cheza wraps her arms around my head.
“But I’ve gotten so big! And then there’s what you said about not loving a certain someone if they got fat…” Cheza cries.
“Like I told you then, that was all Airi. I will never stop loving you, Cheza.” I reply. I consider commenting on how her breast have gotten bigger so that’s a plus, but I decide not to considering that I’m not too sure how she’ll react…
“I missed you so much, Cole… I was so afraid that you weren’t going to wake up…” Cheza sobs and holds my head to her chest tightly. She starts smothering me as I hear the bedroom door open.
“I’m home—Cole! You’re finally awake!” Natasha exclaims from the doorway. Cheza releases me as Natasha comes over and gives me a brief hug.
“Good! Now you can do all the baby stuff with Chezarei instead of me!” Natasha announces.
“Yeah, I guess I’ve sort of fallen behind on my duties as a father-to-be, huh?” I rhetorically ask.
“So fill me in on everything that’s happened in the past six weeks.” I request.
“Cole? It’s a nice day… how about we take a walk to the park and I can fill you in as we go?” Cheza suggests somewhat timidly.
“Sounds good, just give me a moment to get dressed.” I reply with a smile.
I swing my legs out of bed, stand up, and immediately collapse to the floor; I was expecting some muscle weakness, but not this much.
“Cole!” Cheza exclaims as Natasha and Sara help me up.
“I’m alright, Cheza; it will just take me a bit to get my strength back.” I respond as I support myself up against the bed.
“Yes, atrophy is to be expected after six weeks.” Sara comments as Cheza grabs some clothes from my dresser.
(I believe that I can be of some assistance in this matter)
“Thanks, Airi.”
Cheza comes over with boxers, jeans, a t-shirt, and helps me get dressed.
“Are you sure you’re up for walking to the park?” Cheza asks.
“Okay…” Cheza replies with uncertainty.
I walk over to the closet, take out my jacket, and pull it on before grabbing a knit jacket for Cheza that I know will fit her. I help her put it on and we head downstairs. After slipping our shoes on, we step out into the chilly winter air. It’s a rare winter day in Washington where the sun has actually broken through the clouds. Cheza hangs onto my right arm as we slowly walk down the street towards the park in our neighborhood.
“I suppose I should start from the top.” Cheza says.
“After you fell down, Isis ported us to the house and we got you into bed. Aine had already returned to Tir na nOg to help restore order while Lila was still there with Charlotte; they left after Charlotte had recovered, a few days later. Sara installed the feeding tube after you hadn’t woken up five days later.” Cheza informs me as we approach the entrance of the park. We find an open bench outside of the playground area and watch the kids playing, my right arm draped around Cheza.
“Alice has been very worried about her Uncle Cole; she’s been calling to check on you every couple of days. Alice didn’t want to drink from anyone but you, which proved to be difficult until Isis dropped by. We drained some of your blood into a bottle and Isis brought it to Jason, who mixed it with some other blood to sort of wean Alice off of yours.” Cheza says.
“How have you been?” I inquire.
“Well, my nausea has faded quite a bit, so that’s good…” Cheza comments somewhat sheepishly.
“What about Loki?” I ask, changing the subject.
“He’s been keeping quiet for the past few weeks.” Cheza replies.
So it looks like Loki really has done all of this just for me… Tir na nOg, the Underworld, Osiris, Dagda, Brighid, Manannan mac Lir… even Alice’s kidnap was all because of me… perhaps it would be better if I just hadn’t woken up?
“No, Cole… Loki is the one doing these things… regardless of the reason, he is the one to blame and you’re the only one that can stop him…” Cheza thinks as her eyes start to glisten. I pull her in closer and kiss her forehead while rubbing her shoulder.
“We should get back soon, don’t you think?” I suggest.
“Yeah…” Cheza replies and we stand up.
We walk to the entrance of the park when we’re intercepted by an older lady.
“Look at you! What have you got in there?” she excitedly asks and touches Cheza’s stomach.
How is this action acceptable in society? Why does nobody have a problem with touching a random pregnant woman’s stomach? People will get up-in-arms over invasions of personal space, but I guess that pregnant women’s bellies are the exception to the rule? Instead of getting all agro and asking this lady those questions, I decide to get passive aggressive instead.
“We actually just got back from the doctor! The ultrasound revealed that we’re having a manatee! We’re considering a water birth so we don’t air drown the thing. We’re also probably going to have to move given the proliferation with which boats kill their kind and then we’re going to have to deal the other kids making fun of them and calling them a mermaid.” I reply.
The lady slowly backs away and walks off with nary a glance back. Cheza takes my arm, unable to contain the smile on her face at my comment, and we leave the park.
“Speaking of birthing options…” I start on the walk home. “What do you think about getting a C-section? That way, you wouldn’t have to deal with any loss of… tightness, you won’t have to worry about a scar, and Sara could probably do it at home.”
Cheza suddenly stops and I feel a chill run down my spine.
“Cole…” Cheza starts with a grave tone. “I will consider it… but if you say anything about tightness again… I will stab you.”
“Duly noted.” I reply and we continue walking.
“So have you considered any names if it’s a boy?” I inquire.
“I discussed it with Natasha and Sara, and I was thinking about Eric or Matthew.” Cheza replies.
Eric? Oh, right; I never told her that Inti was responsible for her mother’s death…
“I like Matthew… plenty of opportunities for nicknames there… speaking of boys, I think we should get him circumcised.” I say, changing the subject so she doesn’t ask about Eric.
“Why is that?” Cheza asks.
“Well the majority of the arguments against it are kind of stupid… which isn’t to say that the arguments for it aren’t also stupid, except for the one about reducing HIV risk, but that isn’t applicable when he’ll have my blood.” I reply.
“But doesn’t it reduce sensitivity or something?” Cheza inquires.
“And that’s… bad?” I sarcastically ask.
“What about complications?” Cheza asks.
“They’re mostly just the usual surgery-related ones like infection, which my blood won’t allow.” I reply.
“Wait, wouldn’t your blood just heal things anyway, making circumcision impossible?” Cheza inquires as we walk into the driveway of our house.
“Oh, I guess you’re right… this whole conversation has kind of been useless, huh?” I respond as we walk in the door. At least the conversation did what I originally intended it to do.
“Hey Cole, we’re heading down to Niflheim; Jason wants to celebrate your return to consciousness and Alice wants to see you.” Natasha announces.
“Alright, I’m just going to take a shower first. While you guys did a great job of keeping me from smelling like a festering corpse for six weeks, no doubt through a series of mildly erotic sponge baths from you and/or Cheza that probably would have been enjoyable had I been conscious, I’d still like to get cleaned up.” I reply.
“Okay, we’ll get ready while you take a shower.” Cheza says and we head upstairs.
…
Chapter 27: Off + White Picket Fence
“UNCLE COLE!” Alice screams from inside the house after Sara, Natasha, Cheza, and I port to the front door and ring the doorbell. I hear the door handle jiggle before it bursts open and Alice tackles my leg.
“Hey sweetie.” I reply while smiling down at her as I notice a patchwork stuffed rabbit that she’s carrying; it looks like someone stitched Dynamite back together.
“Uncle Cole…” Alice says while looking up at me with tears in her eyes. I bend over and hoist her up.
“I’m sorry if I scared you, Alice.” I gently tell her.
“Uncle Cole.” Alice replies as she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me.
“I’m back.” I say as I return the hug.
Natasha clears her throat to remind me that we can easily take this hug-fest inside, so I open the front door and walk in.
“WELCOME BACK COLE!” The living room patrons announce as music starts pumping through the house.
Standing in the living room are Aine, Charlotte, and Lila; Isis, Naia, and Ryuji; Hel, Jason, Reyna, Maria, Babette, Pinga, Persephone, and finally Jericho.
“Thanks, you guys.” I reply as Jason walks over.
“Here you go, bro.” Jason says while handing me a green drink. I set Alice down and take the glass.
“What’s with the St. Patrick’s day drink? Isn’t it still February?” I ask as I take a sip. The kick that hits the back of my throat tells me what it is.
“Green Russian? Nice… I haven’t had one of these since we were eighteen.” I reply with a smile.
“What’s a Green Russian?” Lila asks as I chug the drink; if Jason wants to celebrate my return in this manner, who am I to argue? Jason smirks as I polish off my drink and he snaps me a new one, as well as one for himself.
“It’s a drink from the animated show Archer. I’m not sure if it was a real drink or if they made it for the show, but it’s two parts Absinthe, two parts Vodka, one part Crème de Menthe, and two parts milk.” Cheza answers with a slightly cross tone; I look over and see her trying to actively
glare a hole through my head.
“Oh, sorry Cheza. Do you mind?” I ask.
“Go ahead and do what you want.” Cheza replies.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“It’s fine, Cole. You can just drink for both of us.” Cheza says with a smile.
“Well, if you’re sure…” I reply and down my drink. “I’m going to go mingle. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Sure.” Cheza replies and I walk over to Jericho.
“Jericho! How have things been, man?” I ask, having not seen Jericho in over a year.
“Business has been good, especially with all the crazy shit that’s been going on lately.” Jericho answers.
“Yeah, I imagine so; tragedy is usually good business for a bar. Anyway, I need to go take a leak; these Green Russians are running right through me.” I reply and walk down the hall to the bathroom. I’m standing there, handling my business, when I hear something coming from the next room over.
“So how are things going?” Hel asks.
“Duat is mostly repaired and I’ve been running things in Heliopolis from down here. Some of the gods don’t like it, but I have the support of Thoth, Anubis, and Nephthys so the others will most likely fall in line. How are things on your end, Pinga?” Isis inquires.
“Adlivun is nearly fully recovered, but it did have a very small amount of damage to it compared to the other districts. Sedna should have the repairs completed in less than a week.” Pinga reports.
“As you both probably know, Annwvyn is still a mess; Tir na nOg is recovering, but it’s been slow going since I’m the only head and the size of the Tuatha De has been so greatly diminished. I’m just glad that Loki hasn’t launched a follow up attack.” Aine comments.
“Yeah… I hate to say this, but Cole being away has helped since Loki seems to only be active when Cole is… what? I can’t be the only one to have noticed this.” Persephone says.
I wash my hands and return to the party.
“You alright, CT?” Jason asks while eyeing me suspiciously.
“Yeah… I could use a top-off though.” I reply.
“Sure.” Jason says and snaps his fingers.