International Legends

Chapter 14 - Jasper

It was when we were about to head straight into the Deorum that the switchback occurred. I cannot explain it, just that somehow the Gods must have been smart enough to know that I was not in the right body. To be fair, I don't know why Sol was so confident. He practically walked straight into the Court of the Gods not realizing that a Grim would attract suspicion.

Already, I was the eye of everyone in the  court. They all looked scared and suspicious at me, not wanting to come closer to me so that they would not be infected by my bad energy. They had locked me in a golden cage,  a favorite of the gods, used with the golden rope made by the father god years ago.

"Hey man!" says a voice.

I look up to see a dark skinned, dark haired god looking down at me with his exotic, flowery, haired goddess.

"Hades!" I cheer, though I can hardly look up beyond the cage.

"It's good to see you man," says Hades, fist-bumping me through the cage. "Though, not like this. Tough break man. Kid body swaps you and gets you locked up on Planet Deorum."

"How about you?" I ask. "How are things? I haven't seen you since..."

"Yeah, Hell," mutters Hades. "Your mom really fixed up the place. Persephone though, she wants to visit her mom since she's getting up in age. You know how it is."

I don't understand. They are Gods. They can do whatever they want to. Why do they follow social norms of it is no longer necessary in Deorum?

"Everyone is pretty nervous about you being here," says Persephone. "Are you here to come and take us to Elysium?"
"Ah, not yet," I mutter. "I'm still working on bringing a group of souls to the Afterlife. They think that they are going to solve their issues but I know it's impossible."

I pause, seeing a face that I should not have witnessed. She's pissed. Carmen Michelle DeAngelo is looking back at me like I betrayed her. She gives me a look that is nothing but pure evil. Then, finding the rest of her group, they retreat into the crowd.

Why is she here? Well, it turns out that behind them is a handcuffed Adam and Sol. I gotta hand it to the Gods here in Deorum. They really have gotten their entire security system in check.

Two men carry me into the room on either side and I feel doubly embarrassed. I should have told Carmen everything. She would have handled it or at least forgiven me for being a complete ass at handling it. Too late for that now.

How the hell did I get here? I could kill Sol for his stupidity. I see giant human figures looking down at me like I was some kind of wild beast chained up rearing for a strike and not just the 1/2 human that was regaining consciousness and pulling himself off their floor. Seeing a bunch of Gods was a wild enough wake up call, but hearing the earth shacking applause was even more disorienting. As if things weren't already crazy enough, there a big screen showing me on it. I guess they wanted to make sure everyone on Deorum could see this. Typical Gods wanting their business to be projected to the world  because they love the attention. Wait - I can see myself? This took me off guard for a moment I hadn't seen myself on camera ever. Especially not in full 'Reaper' form. The cage was not  a great look but whatever.

Apparently even my shadow that disorients my image didn't effect this place. I spend years breaking cameras and disorienting photographs by accident. I'm partially a ghost and most mortals wouldn't be able to comprehend what they saw exactly on camera or film. All veiling magic is out the window now.

I hear Odin's loud voice over the crowd. He announced himself as King of the Gods and a great and generous ruler to a roaring clapping. Seeing a bunch of Gods was a wild enough wake up call but hearing the earth shacking applause was even more disorienting. The gavel hits the main court table and the hush between Gods and Goddesses gives the judge Odin the chance to speak.