Creation: Book 3: Strandbinder Complete!

Naturally, Dionysus was ecstatic to take the job. In a loud voice, clearly trying to be heard over Ulysses’ version of high notes, he screamed out that he was Sonata’s newest and most exclusive bartender. Following a proclamation that Hephaestus would be creating the best nightclub in the fourth rendition, he led a cheer not for Walker or himself, but for his favorite thing in the world.

“Parrr-ty! Parrr-ty! Parrr-ty!”

Walker stepped away to let them enjoy themselves without father Creator watching so closely. In the near distance, he watched as Hera gave him a slight nod. He returned one with equanimity, then continued to ignore his notifications as he enjoyed the sights and sounds of his people enjoying the best night of their lives—so far, that is.

Virgil caught him next. The massive black squirrel was stealthily quiet as he sidled up next to his Creator, “You know the effect that this is going to have on them when they arrive on Crescendo, correct?”

Walker looked over, not surprised to see him standing there, “No, I know. But that’s the beautiful thing about Awakening every Founder. It’ll only last for a short time before they’re ready to bounce back. Plus, you get to explain that a hangover is really just extreme dehydration. So even for this, we can call it training. Now,” He nodded at the loose bunch of couples walking back to their dorms, “What they’re about to do in there may be a whole other problem.”

“Indeed. However, Echidna has already spoken to them. Steps will be taken to ensure no unwanted pregnancies occur. And for those who choose to go down that road regardless, we will simply pull them from contention.”

A smile broke out on Walker’s face, “The first natural born humans in the Symphony solar system.” He laughed, “That’s pretty wild when you think about it.”

“Perhaps for you, yes. But then again, you are a little biased towards Sapients.” He turned his body, looking at something Walker couldn’t see. Walker caught the edge of one of the triplets, expeditiously walking away and looking anywhere but at them. Based on Virgil’s tracking glare, If he had to guess, Walker assumed they’d been trying to step closer to have a word with him. For this evening only, he was apparently receiving carte blanche.

His eyes continued to watch the party as Virgil made the odd comment here and there. It seemed the supreme assistant was devout in his belief that Walker shouldn’t have to work this evening. He was sure that the black squirrel wanted to dive into the details about the Omniverse in its entirety but was holding back for his sake. Sometimes, Virgil could be quite kind.

Walker was about to comment on how harried Asclepius seemed, moving from one bleeding Founder to another when something else grabbed his attention. The Norse gods stepped forward, completely ignoring Virgil’s glare in their haste to see the Creator while they could. Magni’s face was red, a potent bit of foreshadowing for what was to come, while Vidar and Idun passively walked behind him. It was an odd reflection of the first time he’d met them in the arena.

Before Magni could start speaking, Walker spoke first, “How can the Creator of Symphony help the Pantheon of the Norse?” He figured being a little formal with the recalcitrant combo would pay dividends in their initial exchange.

He was right.

Magni spluttered for a moment, thrown off by his formal way of speaking. Looking at Vidar behind him for a moment, he quickly turned around and assumed a ramrod-straight countenance, “The Norse pantheon would like a few words with the Creator.”

Virgil picked up on what was happening instantly, “And what would the words of the Norse Pantheon pertain to?”

Magni’s face returned to its standard tan hue, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, “We ask that the Norse trials be given to those who are truly deserving. Many Founders here are worthy, and we have prepared a list of potential candidates for your perusal. Trials are not to be undertaken lightly; however, our pact with the Protocol requires us to grant the trials to any the Creator of Symphony chooses. Without the trials being assigned…we…” He seemed to stop for a moment, looking back at the two goddesses for support.

Vidar stepped forward, “I will speak plainly. We need the trials to be assigned; otherwise, we don’t have a purpose here. It’s important for the continued existence of the Norse line that our deeds and tales pass on to others. As you,” She nodded at Walker,” Hold the Book of Odin. You should understand that better than anyone else.”

Shit, Walker thought without showing anything on his face. That’s still sitting in my desk.

He’d meant to read it when traveling but had forgotten to pick it up before leaving to work on his strands. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to learn from Odin’s collected knowledge. He just didn’t have a lot of time. Well…he now didn’t have a lot of time.

He looked at the three and began tapping on his chin, seeming to be in thought while pulling up the Trial tasks he’d received long ago.

Primigenial task: The Trial of Vidar:

Strength in silence, fire in vengeance.

Trial Completed: 0/1

Task giver: Vidar, God of vengeance and silence

Reward for completion: Vidar's strength

Primigenial task: The Trial of Magni:

This is not a light trial, Creator. Give it only to those entities you deem to be resilient beyond all others.

Trial Completed: 0/1

Task giver: Magni, God of strength and resilience

Reward for completion: Magni's strength

Primigenial task: The Trial of Idun:

The young do not know what value this time brings to them. Give this trial to one who understands the value of their youth, and strives to always go further.

Trial Completed: 0/1

Task giver: Idun, Goddess of youth and vigor

Reward for completion: Idun's strength

Walker looked at the three trials, then considered what would happen to the Founders and his world when they were handed out. The Norse gods patiently waited while he continued to tap his chin. Finally, he came to a decision, “Originally, I had believed I would assign the trials to those deemed worthy, as you have so eloquently said, Magni.” The Norse god puffed up his chest a little, “However. To be deemed worthy isn’t as easy as it seems. I have changed my opinion about how the trials will be awarded. Or, more specifically, rewarded.”

The three Primigenials looked at each other before looking back at Walker again, “And how are they to be rewarded?” Idun asked as she stepped forward as well.

“With the Event system. If it is your belief that only those deemed worthy should receive them, that they carry on the tales and deeds of your people, then let them earn it by building their own legend within the Conservatory. Points will be accrued for combat, kills, and bravery. Points will also be earned by building, leading, and knowing when to run away. In the end, Symphony is a world that will be built through Meritocracy. The greater the effort, the more just the rewards.”

He didn’t say that he’d initially received several rewards in the protocol for his own screwups. They didn’t need to know that.

The Norse gods looked at each other. When Magni received two nods, he turned back toward Walker and Virgil, “We agree with this change. Before the Founders begin their trials, we would like to request to speak with them individually. Would this be possible?”

Walker looked at Virgil, who gave an imperceptible shrug as if saying Up to you. He looked back at the Norse gods, “That is perfectly acceptable.”

As they walked away, Virgil accepted a glass of wine before handing it to Walker, who accepted it with a smile. Another triplet tried to approach, causing the large supreme assistant to sigh before stepping away to have a word. Walker took a sip and was surprised at how fruity the taste came across. It wasn’t his favorite, but it wasn’t bad. Sadly, the alcohol had almost no effect on him, making Dionysus’s head dunking make much more sense to him as the now red-colored Primigenial boisterous laughed his way around the arena.

Seeing Athena approach him with a smile, he gave her a chaste kiss and asked if she’d like to go for a quick stroll.

“Of course. But as we walk, can you tell me what happened while you were gone?’

Walker smiled as they began to move, “I’d love to.”

Walker started by talking about strands and what they were. He broke down the reflection strand, another Walker appearing beside him as he demonstrated. The two of them broke down his adventure to the goddess, how the Trinity strand came to be, and what they had to do to fix the broken universe.

When they touched on Ulysses, she shivered, but Walker chose not to notice. He spoke of the Territory seat and the alterations they’d made to the Communications system. That was when she grew angry.

Athena stopped walking and planted her hands on her hips, “You chose an extract upgrade? So, you’re what? Absorbing books instead of reading them?”

Walker’s face twisted for a moment. Guh, I should’ve seen that one coming.

As he was about to start explaining, he noticed two voices not far away. Listening for a moment, he felt his chest heat up. While he could tell they were whispering, to his ears, they may as well have been screaming to the rooftops.

Walker put a hand up to forestall Athena’s continued bashing, then looked at his reflection. He’d made this one with just a few Dimensional resources, but it should be enough to fool those without his powerful sight. With a few whispered instructions and quick nods, Athena continued to bash his reflection as they continued their walk.

Meanwhile, Walker had slipped away and was currently using his soul to move himself without a sound. He wasn’t as practiced at moving with his darkness as he was with Kinetic energy, but he still did a good enough job that the two Founders currently hiding nearby wouldn’t be able to hear him.

After he moved closer by a few years, he located the two hiding against a few leaning boards that would later become some kind of shed. Likely another one of Heph’s random construction projects he foisted onto the craftsmen without great skill in the field. Walker settled down nearby and listened in. It was a little difficult as Athena’s loud voice continued to stream back to them.

“I told you they’d leave.”

“Yeah, but what about the big guy. Ole grey beard isn’t going anywhere without some kind of problem.”

“Then we’ll just make one up.” Walker heard the strike of what sounded like metal and a rock before a bright light lit up the darkness. “See. We just light this up, Zeus comes running over, and we get our master out.”

“There’s no way it’s that simple, John.”

“Look, man. It’s not hard to get stuff like this done. The trick is to set it up so the distraction really hits when you’re not there. How do you think I snuck into the girl's bathroom?”

At that point, Walker had heard enough.

They were trying to circumvent his authority. He had decided to imprison Poseidon after discovering his plot to impregnate, forcibly or not, the Founders who would seed the new world. The brutality of his plan and the ego to think he could push Walker around when he was first gaining his balance as a Creator was astounding. It was only because the Primigenials had pushed for him not to straight murder the old god of the sea that he still drew breath. Athena had explained that they’d spent thousands of years with Poseidon. But for Walker, he was just an old man who’d planned to take over his world through force. Death was a light sentence in his mind.

Still moving quietly, he snuck over to the two Founders. Approaching them from their blind spot, he waited until they began speaking again, then lackadaisically began stepping towards them. It took five steps before they heard him.

“Wait, what’s that?’

“Hello, boys, and I do use that term literally,” Walker said with more serenity than he currently felt. He looked the two over as the blood drained from their faces. One had brown hair and blue eyes, his memory telling him that he was part of the third cohort. The other had dark skin and dark hair, and judging by the shakes he was giving off, he was ready to run the moment Walker stopped looking at him. “Now, what do we have here?”

“Creator!” The brown-haired one said.

John, Walker thought as he matched them with the cohort paperwork. That makes you…Bruce.

“John, Bruce, what are you two doing out here in the middle of the night?”

John hid something down by his feet, leaning a leg on it. “Nothing, Creator. We were just admiring this shed! Yeah, it’s great, right Bruce?”

“Uh-huh,” Bruce replied in a strangled voice.

“Really?” Walker made a play of staring at it, “It’s not much to look at.” He pushed a board and looked at them as it fell with a loud bang. The momentum caused a cascading fault for the shed, with other boards falling along with them. Walker’s eyes never moved.

John didn’t say anything. Walker watched his adam’s apple bounce around before looking at Bruce, whose shakes had turned to perfect stillness.

Filling himself with darkness, Walker covered himself in it, causing the two Founder’s to lean against each other, “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re both going to go and report yourselves to Ares. You’re going to tell him what you were planning, and what your relationship is with Poseidon, your master,” He said the last word with a snarl, “If I ask Ares what level of punishment he’s given you, he’d better say high. There’s no place for you to run from me here. No place to hide. I BUILT this place. Do you both understand?”

John nodded quickly, but Bruce seemed to be frozen in time as he stared straight ahead.

Walker shook his head, “You’re both pathetic. Leave my presence before I do something that you’ll both regret.” John stood up on shaky legs. When he noticed Bruce not moving, he reached a hand down and pulled him up, pulling the terrified Founder along beside him. When they’d taken no more than ten steps, Walker’s voice rang out again, “Also, John. Tell Ares you want the maximum punishment. If I hear about anything strange going on with the girl’s bathrooms, I’ll launch you into space myself. Understand?”

He wouldn’t actually launch him to his doom, but often, the threat of violence could curb any extra unwanted actions from those who were unduly influenced by others.

He didn’t hear any response other than a slight whimper. Nodding to himself, he pushed a little energy into his feet and hopped in the direction Athena was heading. Making two slight course corrections, he dropped down next to her and the reflection before telling them what had happened.

“You know, in our time, bathhouses didn’t have the strict prudity of your modern days.”

“Prudity isn’t a word,” Walker informed her.

“In this new world, it is.” She replied with a smile, “Still, I suppose one nefarious act stopped can be considered a good thing. Not that releasing Poseidon would have done anything for him. You’d likely just have killed him on the spot, or am I mistaken?”

Walker shook his head, “I know he’s your uncle, but he tried to do some seriously evil shit. I’m still torn up about what to do about him.”

Looking ahead, Athena remarked, “Is that why we’re heading to the prison now? Is this a make-or-break moment, Walker?”

He didn’t answer, and she let him be as they made it closer by the second.

It wasn’t long until Zeus heard them approaching. He stepped over, a hand up as he came closer, “Creator, I still need more time with him.”

Walker shook his head, “You’ve had plenty of time, Zeus.”

Zeus looked at Athena, who spoke up right after, “Walker, it has been weeks for you but only days for us. Zeus is right; we need more time.”

“Zeus, look me in the eyes.” The king of the gods acceded, a solemn look on his face, “Do you truly believe your brother will change his ways? Do you think he won’t try to takeover and control anywhere he’s placed? That he deserves a fresh start on a new world, one filled with potential?”

Zeus’s eyes held on Walker’s own for only a few seconds before he looked away, “That’s what I thought.” Walker stepped past him, Zeus looking at the ground, and approached the cell. Heph had covered the building in a sheet of metal after repairing the stonework Poseidon’s attempted escape had caused. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

Opening the door, Walker stepped in slowly before closing it behind him. He didn’t need others attempting to change his thoughts. What mattered right now was only the god of the sea and himself. As he stepped around the corner and looked in the cell, he wasn’t shocked to see the man’s clothing looked freshly washed. It appeared their powers were coming back faster than he’d expected. Still, at the least, the man stood up straight, squaring his shoulders after taking a good look at him.

“Is it time?”

“Maybe,” Walker replied with a lightness he didn’t feel, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I killed your son, your favorite son from what I could see of his memories,” Poseidon looked shocked at that revelation but didn’t interrupt, “But I didn’t do it until he attacked me. That should have a part to play in how your thought process works, but at the same time, I feel like you don’t care about that. Like your ego is too big to process the idea of other’s feelings on a subject matter. What matters most to you is what you want from life. What grants you more power. Or am I wrong?”

The man didn’t respond. He continued to stare straight ahead, waiting for the executioner’s axe to drop. Walker tsk’d, “The thing is, your family, the Primigenials that survived from Earth. They don’t want you to die. They think you’re worth saving. But that’s the thing, I DON’T!” He shouted, his soul shooting forth and knocking the man against the wall.

The door behind him started to open, but Walker had learned a few things. Taking a small amount of Space from his resources, he placed it right in front of the door and then compressed it. Now, they couldn’t be bothered.

Walker covered his hands in darkness and grabbed the cell door, ripping it from the opening and throwing it aside as a few dull thuds echoed behind him, “I don’t think you’re worth saving, you piece of shit. But what am I to do with you? If I kill you, which I dearly wish to do, then I could potentially harm my work with the Primigenials, not to mention my relationship with your niece. If I allow you to live, you’re a stain on my conscious. A dark mark that could blow up at any time.”

Walker paced back and forth, his eyes tracking the man in front of him, “So I foresee only two options. Either I keep you imprisoned from now until the end of time. Or I exile you to a terrible place where you may survive, but it will be anything but easy.” He paused, looking the blue-eyed man in the face, “It's your life here, Poseidon. How do you want to live it?”

He picked himself up off the ground, brushing away stray pieces of metal that had come off the door. His face changed before Walker’s eyes. One moment, he was stoic as can be; the next, angry lines broke out across his skin, morphing his face into something that better matched his soul—a monster.

“Exile or imprisonment? It’s not much of a choice, pretender.”

Walker raised an eyebrow, “Pretender, am I? Fine, you can have your digs. It’s not like I’ll have to put up with them for long. Come along, and know, if you try anything, I’ll kill you where you stand.”

Turning around without a worry, Walker kicked the door further away and pulled the space strand back into his resources. Pushing a slightly deformed door open, he looked at the two Primigenials and his reflection, “Poseidon will be exiled to the war world. If he ever attempts to touch foot on Symphony’s soil, I will descend and obliterate him and anyone else he corrupts. Understand that I mean what I say, and that I will take no advice against it.” He looked at both Primigenials, receiving a slight nod from Zeus and a small, tremulous smile from Athena.

The walk to the Portal didn’t take long. Walker had Poseidon step on it, set the coordinates up, and then hit the button. As the platform began to move, causing the god of the sea to stumble for a moment, Walker quietly whispered to Athena, “It was the only way.”

He felt a soft hand squeeze his shoulder as a whisper came in return, “I know.”

Just before entering the portal, Poseidon started to scream out, “This isn’t over, pretender! You’re not a Creator, just an idiot who doesn’t deserve their station. You’re worthless! Everything you’ve done and will ever do is worthless! Your Founders,” He spit to the side, “Are pathetic creatures who won’t-”

A fist cracked into the god of the sea’s face, sending him through the portal prematurely. Walker shook his hand for a moment before checking to make sure he’d made it through. All he saw were bare feet sticking in the air before he turned off the portal. Spinning around and rubbing one hand on the grass to get the red off of it, he smiled.

“So, what’s the fourth stage, oh mighty Zeus?”