Fallen Immortal

Part 1

The thirteen major gods of the twenty second century were gathered in an azure crystal palace to feast on the thirteenth anniversary of their immortalization. Anna, Kila, Krysta, Fall, Deara, Lisa, Owl Eyes, Adrian, Gerad, Byrd, Sh, and the twins, Alexander and Alixander. Everyone there, from the tallest trees to the smallest plants, from the fuzzy little mice that crawled underfoot to the lumbering bears and elephants, from the clouds to the electricity dancing in the air; was laughing and smiling, dancing in the revelry. Some were intoxicated and floated by, caught up in the music. Others, Anna and Alix in particular, clean and sober lay on their stomachs near the edge of their floating island and watched the life of mortals go thousands of feet below them. Anna smiled and rolled over on her back just watching the clouds roll by. "So," she said, "What do you have planned for the next century Alix?"

He turns his head to face me directly and grins laconically saying, "I don't plan to live through the next century Anna." I jerk upright and stare down at him, eyes wide in shock. "WHat do you mean? You want to give up your immortality?" I ask incredulously. He nods affirmatively, "Yes." I shake my head and disbelief and follow his line of sight to the humans below, "Why?" I ask, quieter this time. I sit up and cross my legs, playing carefully with the grass between my legs as I puzzle this out. "Here, we are immortal. We rule justly and fairly and have all of eternity to follow our passions wherever they take us. We love and we feel and we create and destroy. What more do you want for? Why would you want to leave?" I say, thinking out loud. It makes no sense. He looks nearly in pain when next he looks at me. "Sure, we can create and destroy," he says almost sullenly, "But so can they!" He says pointing down at the earth below. "We can't really feel, not with all of entire being like then can. I want that Anna. I want it so badly it hurts sometimes. To be able to love, so fully, with every fibre of my being. To be able to hate, with everything I am. To change Anna. I want to be human." By now we have attracted the attention of several of our immortal peers and I am highly conscious of their eyes boring holes in my back as all I do is sit back slightly and stare at Alix, aghast. You would give up all we have, for a few years of change that ends in death?" Alix grins maniacally at me, "Of course Anna. Of course." I shake in disbelief. Of course it would be Alix who came up with the worst idea possible. I look at him, tilting my head sideways and ask, "This is what you really want?" I can tell by the longing in his eyes before he even answers that yes, he wants this more than anything. his nod of agreement reassures me. I watch him curiously as his attention dips to those on the ground again, his eyes wide with excitement. Suddenly, he whips his head around and looks at me imploringly, his blue eyes glistening. "C'mon Anna, please," He says with a desperate note to his voie. "Ofa ll people I know you could do it." He's slightly wrong there. Even as the goddess of intelligence this kind of act wouldrequire more than just my own power. I do know how to do it thought. I don't know what I'm doing exactly, but I nod, agreeing with him. "Okay Alix, I'll see what I can do."

The sun is setting when I've finally rounded up the eleven other major immortals and had them agree to Alix's insane plan. We stood in a circle at the edge of the northern most cliff, women facing men and Alix in the middle. We had to finish this fast; before the sun set. I spoke first, beginning the ritual. "In leaving your immortality behind do you accept the faults of humanity?" I said, my words more of a ritualistic statement then a question. alix nodded resolutely from within the circle with a firm, "I do." Fall spoke next; "And you accept the consequences of your actions, realising that you can never return?" Her voice held the same commanding quality that mine had. "I do," came Alix's reply. Kila spoke last of the triumvirate, "Then, by the power invested within us all, I release you from your imortal bonds and strike you from all records in Valhalla, Heaven, or any such afterlife or blessed place." Wind howled around us and thunder crashed. Those were binding words. They could never be undone. I will miss that little scallion. In one last final act to strip his immortality we each token the coloured token from around our necks and pure, focused power burst forth, enveloping him in it's light. A colour of the rainbow for each man and a matching colour in the women opposite. I averted my eyes, blinking away tears. My skirts tore at my feet and I lost my hearing for a split second. When I finally managed to look back Alix was gone. There was no scorch marks or imprints to say that he ever even existed. I saw a look of horror on his twin, Alex's, face and imagined that was exactly the look reflected on my own. Oh Chaos Almighty, what had we done? I turned around and raced toward the edge; stopping just short and falling to my knees. My eyes raced from one mortal to another. I just needed to catch one glimpse of my best friend, just to know that he was safe. I searched for so long, just scanning the earth below me, hopeless, hopeless, hopeless; echoing around in my head. Wait, is that? I flipped back to the last person I looked at. Yes, I would know that messy black hair anywhere. As I watched little mortal Alix flung his arms out to the sides and spun around in circles, a humongous grin on his face. He was happy. Yes. What we had done was right. I was content now and lay back on the grass, ready to enjoy the rest of the party, or, what was left of it anyway. At least he was happy.