The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 5 - A new goddess

           Joel stood, smiling proudly at his new work. Despite however egotistical he acted at times, he still respected other gods, and with the arrival of two from the past into the present, he had quickly gotten to work building two water-based temples for them. In his mind, they looked magnificent, like they should, considering all the effort he put into it. 

           'Course, it didn't hurt that one of those past gods happened to reincarnate into his wife. 

           "Joel!" He looked up. It was Sausage, mossy wings spread wide to catch all the air he could before pulling up and landing next to the eleven-foot-tall god. Following close by was a purple-clad figure with jewel wings heading toward the same direction. Joel wasn't sure he recognized her. Oh, of course, he thought. Must be that Gem from the past. "Hello, Joel." "Hello, Sausage. What pleasure brings you to my empire today? And how's Hermes doing?" "Oh, Hermes is doing great!" Sausage gushed. "He's getting better with his reading and I even taught him to bake empanadas!" Behind him, the wizard Gem coughed loudly. "Sausage, don't forget why we're here." Under her breath, she added, "You're really like the Sausage from my time." 

           "Oh yeah! Joel, as a god who's lived for centuries, and has an enormous empire, that enormous empire must surely have a library and that library must be stocked with all sorts of books from centuries of use, right?" Sausage babbled, and Joel shrugged. "Probably, I don't really read much. I'll go ask one of my librarians, they probably know. Why do you need a library?" "Trying to find a counter-spell," Gem said, and Joel noted a flicker of something in her eyes. Guilt, maybe, for accidentally bringing the ancient emperors here where they might accidentally destroy the fabric of reality? Joel wasn't sure, and it wasn't exactly his problem. At any rate, he wasn't doing anything, so he might as well go help them look for a library. How hard could that be? 

           Apparently a bit difficult, considering the size of his empire and the fact that one wrong step could send you plummeting to your doom on the floating islands. But eventually they found a library. A musty, dark old library with a wizened librarian that looked more like a half-dead bonsai than a villager due to age, but still a library. But a very dark library that would be hazardous to your eyes if you tried to read in it. Joel looked up and saw a row of dimly lit lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Maybe... He delicately aimed a tiny lightning bolt from his fingertips. He let it fly and it zinged into its target, bouncing from lantern to lantern and lighting them all brighter, before the bolt itself flew out a window and was never to be seen again. 

           Now that the place was brightly lit, it was easier to see everything. And there was a lot to see. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves stuffed to burst with scrolls and books and papers on who knew how many miscellaneous subjects stood in neat rows that never seemed to end. How big was this library anyway?  Gem looked really excited on the prospect of so many books. Joel figured she was one of those intellectual types who liked to study. Whatever, they asked for a library, he gave them a library, now he was going to find that god version of Lizzie. He called upon his power over the sky and soon he was flying away to Eversea. 

           He found the god versions of Lizzie and Jimmy swimming in the waters near the docks. Jimmy was also trying to make a sandcastle for some reason and Lizzie was talking to fish. Joel noticed for the first time how tall and good-looking she was. Just like me. "Hello there, fellow gods!" He called, and Lizzie and Jimmy immediately dropped what they were doing and looked up, startled. They relaxed when they noticed it was just Joel. "Don't do that again, you scared me, Joel," Jimmy whined. "Actually, you didn't scare me, but still don't do that again," Lizzie said quickly. "And you didn't scare me either!" A voice shouted from a nearby ship, and they all whirled to see Pirate Joe looking at them. "Oh, don't mind me, just pretend I'm not here!" He called back, ducking below deck.

           "What a weird man," Lizzie said offhandedly. "I'm not weird!" Joe started, peeking his head up again, before realizing he'd exposed himself again. "Oh, whoops." He ducked away. Joel rolled his eyes and ignored him. "Would you like to come to Stratos with me?" Jimmy blinked. "That's your empire, right?" "Yes." "Uh, why?" "I've built temples for the two of you, and I'd like you to see." "Really? A temple for me?" Lizzie looked at him more interestedly now. "And me as well?" Jimmy's eyes were dancing. If he was anything like Sheriff Jimmy, he probably wasn't used to the respect. "Hey, if I become a god, do I get my own temple?" Everyone turned to see Joe peeking his head out of the ship again. "Oh, oops! Forget I was ever here!" He flew off and Joel turned back to Lizzie. "Yeah, and after that I can take you on a tour of my empire." Joel held out a hand and she took it, gracefully stepping out of the water. "That would be nice."