From Within

Aftershock

"I am Neptune. The old god of the sea."

"Minerva, old goddess of thought."

"Ares, the god of war."

"I am Venus. The old goddess of love."

"Apollo, old god of wisdom, knowledge and prophecy."

"I am Diana, I was the goddess of the forest, instinct and wildlife."

"I'm Hermes, the old messenger god of swiftness, balance and intelligence."

"I am Ezina, I was the goddess of agriculture and the fertile soil."

"And I am Juno, the second to emerge after Jupiter. I once had many other names, as did he. I served alongside him to create the first beings and helped him manifest the other gods, of which there were plenty, and placed them all around the world to guide and give favours to the living beings who knew of and acknowledged their greatness. Jupiter and I so manifested the gods you see before you among others."

"Why have you called me to this place?", I asked.. To get an idea of why I stand before these great beings.

"We didn't call you here.", Juno said and went on to say...

"As time went on, the earth went through its cycles of warm and cold, we saw humans develop and adapt, becoming the most civilized beings, forming groups and looking after each other, no longer relying only instinct. And as the humans started to learn about the nature of all things from the old gods, having their own free will to think, we noticed something happening. This dark realm was starting to exist, the realm of possibility. We now had other ways to manifest ourselves, the imagination of the humans became a new way for us to make things happen. They started to have insight and complex thought, they started to become aware of their own nature. But there emerged something else in this realm..."

I began to feel the presence of something. The presence I felt was intending to make itself known. But it then quickly disappeared...

She paused and looked at the others.

"He's here..." Apollo said.

"I'm sorry, dear Nathan. We will have to continue this conversation later on. I didn't know he'd be here so soon. I thought we would be able to talk more, but this is all we have time for. Go now. Until next time.."

The building around us dematerialized and the stars followed after, then the old gods disappeared into the darkness. I was alone in a dark empty space again, it was as if my eyes were closed. I then felt myself breathe, seeing a bright, colorful pattern of circles intertwined before an electric shock coursed through my body. I opened my eyes and I was home again, sitting in the kitchen. There was a ringing in my ear which soon turned into the sound of the rattling produced by the rain outside.

"What the fuck was that?", I said out loud. The memories of the other realm and what I saw there were still freshly imprinted in my mind.

I stood up to look at the clock on the cabinet. It showed 8:01. I then felt a stinging pain in my brain, making me fall over sideways. I sought stability on the doorway I was standing in. My vision then turned completely white before slowly returning to normal again.

"I need a drink.", I thought.

I hear knocking on the door, but no one calls out to me.

"Coming!", I yelled out.

The person behind the door then opened it and let herself in. I looked at her in silence and raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? You said come in.", she smirked.