"AGANJU, STAND DOWN." Orsun commanded,her voice taking a hard edge.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY ORSUN. I DON'T WANNA HURT YOU." Aganju said still storming towards them.
"I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT DIOHA." Orsun was adamant.
"THAT IS NOT DIOHA. THAT IS AN IMPOSTOR." Aganju stopped briefly and pointed towards Dioha.
"WHAT IF IT IS DIOHA?"
Everyone momentarily turned to look at Mother Ngam, who'd just spoken. No matter what, everyone always retained a level of respect for her. Even Aganju seem to simmer down a bit after she spoke.
"WHAT IF IT'S DIOHA?" She asked again.
"IT CAN'T BE HIM." Aganju argued.
"WOULD YOU REALLY LIKE TO ATTACK HIM NOW AND FIND OUT LATER THAT YOU ACTUALLY ATTACKED A WATCHER?" Mother Ngam asked expecting no reply. She knew she had Aganju at that point.
Aganju looked undecided for a moment.
"LET'S HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED OR WHERE HE'S BEEN." Mother Ngam said.
Everyone returned to their seats leaving Dioha alone in the center of the room. Even the Keeper moved to the door and took up a position not very far from where Aganju's axe was a while ago. The weapon had disappeared leaving in its place a very large crack. The door would have to be changed after the meeting. Aganju was the last to go sit down, visibly struggling to put his anger in check.
"YOUNG MAN, BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN'T LIE TO US. AND IF YOU SHOULD LIE TO US, YOU WILL MEET A FATE FAR WORSE THAN DYING IN THE CURSED PLAINS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Eshu spoke in measured tones.
"YES, I UNDERSTAND." Dioha replied.
Eshu sat forward eyes glowing red, interrogation was his undisputed territory in the Council. He naturally did it better than everyone as the God of Wisdom.
"WHO ARE YOU?" Eshu asked.
"I AM DIOHA, THE WATCHER FOR THE GOD OF WAR, THUNDER AND LIGHTNING." Dioha answered.
"THE WATCHER FOR THE GOD OF WAR DIED EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO. A NEW WATCHER IS TO BE CHOSEN AFTER A WATCHERS TEST IS CARRIED OUT, AND A VICTOR EMERGES." Osoóse interjected.
"I AM HE WHO DIED EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO. THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED FOR A TEST AS I AM NOT DEAD." Dioha answered.
"HOW OLD ARE YOU?" Eshu asked.
"THIRTY FOUR" came the reply
Frowns appeared on everyone's faces except Eshu's. Dioha immediately realized his error and attempted to correct it but Eshu held up a finger, not letting him.
"I SEE A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD BEFORE ME. A CLEAR INDICATION YOU WERE BORN THREE YEARS AFTER THE GOD OF WAR DIED." Eshu said, rubbing his fingers.
"YES, I LOO…"
"EXACTLY! SO YOU SHOULD BE WAITING IN LINE WITH OTHERS FOR WHEN THE NEXT WATCHER TEST COMES UP. YOU THINK COS YOU LOOK LIKE THE LAST GOD OF WAR WE SHOULD TAKE IT YOU'RE HIM?" Eshu pressed on
"NO I SHOULDN'T BE W…" Eshu cuts in again before Dioha could respond.
"PRECISELY. I BELIEVE YOU COULD BE THE NEXT WATCHER, BUT YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE PROCESS. ATTEMPT THE WATCHERS TEST, COME OUT VICTORIOUS AND WE CAN TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY THEN."
"I THINK IT'S A LITTLE TOO LATE FOR THAT NOW. I WILL KILL THIS BRAT IMMEDIATELY THIS IS OVER." Aganju supplied.
"LOOK ESHU, I KNOW YOU'RE THE GOD OF WISDOM BUT YOU'VE NOT ALLOWED ME EXPLAIN MYSELF." Dioha tried defending himself.
"BUT THERE'S NOTHING TO EXPLAIN AGAIN YOUNG ONE. YOU ADMITTED TO NOT BEING THE GOD OF WAR, YOU ADMITTED TO THINKING WE'D TAKE YOU JUST COS YOU LOOK LIKE HIM. WE ARE ALL WITNESSES TO YOUR TRUTHFUL CONFESSIONS. DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK HERE KID. THE LEAST YOU CAN GET IS THE TEST NOW." Eshu said with finality.
A very wicked smile appeared on Aganju's face. The Watchers test was the most deadly exercise in the whole of Ngame. To become a Watcher every one of them had had to go through it. You either died in there or succeeded, there was no failing and going home. The Test usually carried elements of all the Watchers present as at when the Test is issued. Aganju was certain this kid in front of them would not succeed considering he just hid behind the other Watchers when he had attacked some moments ago. Aganju was certain every other person in the room saw that and knew this kid wasn't who he says he is. Offering the test to him was one sure way of killing him while having a little sport at the same time.
"SOMEONE MURDERED ME AND THE LOVE OF MY LIFE. EIGHTEEN YEARS NOW, AND YET THE POWERFUL WATCHERS HAVE NOT FOUND MY KILLER. I'M BACK AND MY FELLOW WATCHERS ARE TELLING ME I HAVE TO RETAKE THE TEST I TOOK TO JOIN." Dioha fumed. He didn't like this one bit.
"WE HAVE TO BE SURE IT IS INDEED YOU AND NOT SOMEONE NEW WHO WANTS A SHOT AT THE COUNCIL." Orsun said.
"YOU CAN'T STILL TELL IF I'M DIOHA OR SOMEONE NEW WITH THE TEST. WHAT IF I'M SOMEONE NEW AND SUCCEED."
Dioha questioned.
"WELL, ABOUT THAT, YOUR TEST IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT FROM THE NORMAL TEST." Eshu spoke.
"HOW DO YOU MEAN?"
Dioha asked, stunned. It was trouble enough that he would be taking that deadly test,but to have it altered by Eshu was triple trouble.
"YES, HOW DO YOU MEAN?"
Aganju asked,curious. He didn't want something different. He just wanted this impostor dead and in the most painful way possible. And he needed Dioha's seat to remain empty so he could continue to be the God of War, at least for a few more years. Two or three more years would be enough for his plans to be complete.
"SINCE THIS IS A SPECIAL CASE, YOUR TEST WILL BE SPECIAL. IT WON'T BE BASED ON JUST OVERCOMING OUR SPECIALTIES. YOUR TEST WILL BE BASED ALSO ON YOUR MEMORIES OF THE PAST EIGHTEEN YEARS. THIS WAY WE CAN SEE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING THE PAST EIGHTEEN YEARS. THIS WAY WE CAN TELL IF YOU ARE DIOHA'S INCARNATE OR DIOHA REINCARNATED."
Dioha's eyes widens in disbelief. He didn't want them knowing the Seer had reincarnated. Reincarnation was the exclusive right of the Watchers only. So unless she was Mujayi's Watcher she had no business with reincarnation. But he would worry about that later. Right now he needed to dissuade this crazy bunch from putting him through any test, especially one that could reveal his seer to them. He needed to protect her at all cost. She got hurt because of him in the first place. Not again.
"NO! YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON'T WANT TO JOIN THE COUNCIL AGAIN. I WILL CONCENTRATE ON FINDING MY KILLER AND BRINGING HIM TO JUSTICE, MAYBE THEN, YOU ALL WILL BELIEVE ME." Dioha tried to back out.
"I THINK IT'S A LITTLE TOO LATE FOR THAT, MY SON."
There was really no way to back out of this now, especially with Mother Ngam just endorsing that the test should hold. Dioha looked around for someone to come to his help. No one, not even his close ally, the Nature God would make a case for him. It was clear that no one thought he was the same Dioha that died that fateful night. They all thought he was someone new and he couldn't blame them. You don't come back claiming to be the exact same person who was murdered yet looking younger than when you died. The impossibility of coming back the same, with memories of past life coupled with the age difference made it all the more absurd.
"SO THE TEST WILL COMMENCE IMMEDIATELY?" Aganju chipped in, twirling his long beard as if in deep thought.
"NO. LET'S GIVE HIM SOME DAYS TO PREPARE. I'M SURE HE DIDN'T KNOW HE'D BE REQUIRED TO DO THIS." Osoóse said.
Finally, Osoóse intervenes though Dioha would've preferred he did so earlier. Aganju didn't look like he was going to let that happen.
"WHAT IS THE POINT WAITING? WE CAN GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY IN PROBABLY A FEW MINUTES." Aganju pressed on.
"I SAY HE SHOULD BE GIVEN THREE DAYS TO PREPARE, THEN RETURN FOR HIS TEST." Osoóse insisted.
"LET US VOTE THEN. I, THE GOD OF VIOLENCE AND WAR INSIST HE TAKES THE TEST NOW."
"AND I, THE GOD OF NATURE, SAY HE TAKES THE TEST IN THREE DAYS."
"I, THE MOTHER GODDESS, SAY HE TAKES THE TEST IN THREE DAYS TIME."
Dioha breathed a little more relaxed,knowing the vote was already in his favor. Orsun, who'd always been after him, would definitely root for him to take the test in three days too tipping the scale three to one so that regardless of what Eshu chose the test would hold in three days time.
"THE GODDESS OF BEAUTY SAYS HE SHOULD TAKE THE TEST NOW."
"WHAT?!!"
Dioha didn't know when the sound escaped his lips. He'd expected Orsun to vote in his favor but she'd just said he should take the test now. With four Watchers divided equally on the issue, it fell to Eshu to break the tie, a task he always had to do as he was always the last to vote in any matter. No one knew which way he'd go, he was crafty and could not be predicted. Seeing as he was the one who suggested the test in the first place, Dioha and everyone just waited for him to vote because whether now or three days from now, the test would surely hold which is what Eshu wants.
"I, THE GOD OF WISDOM, SAY THE TEST BE IN THREE DAYS TIME."
Dioha did his best to not let his breath, which he'd being holding, rush out all at once. He slowly controlled his breathing back to a normal rhythm. Eshu asks the Keeper to take Dioha out of the chamber and give him a room in the upper levels where the council's elite force lived. So for three days, Dioha would be in a room in the volcano mountain, having no contact with the outside world, no help whatsoever.
"IF I'M TO PREPARE FOR THE TEST IN THREE DAYS, I CAN'T BE KEPT HERE. I NEED TO TRAIN." Dioha argued.
"YOU WILL REMAIN HERE. YOU WILL USE THE TRAINING SITE OF THE HOUND DOGS. AS FOR VISITS, WE WILL VISIT YOU INDIVIDUALLY WHEN WE HAVE LESS IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO."
And that, coming from Mother Ngam, sort of put a stop to any bickering that would have ensued. Dioha could hear the arguments begin immediately he was ushered out of the Chamber of Echoes by the Keeper. The Keeper dialed a number on his cell phone and spoke with someone, some captain to come take Dioha to his room. The Keeper ended the call and returned into the chamber as he needed to be in the meeting to record everything being discussed. Dioha waited awkwardly in the corridor with the two sentries manning the door while he waited for the person the Keeper called. The captain arrived shortly, a pretty masculine lady, who said very little as she led Dioha away.