-The 11th Gospel: The mortal races fought with each other. The divines eventually realized that this was going too far and decided to interfere with the two. Eventually, most of them took the humans side. The divines were mostly human as far as anyone knew. And they were beings who lived in the world when The Lord had been alive also. Because of this, the rift between people grew even more.-
Rennish sat up so fast he made himself dizzy. I am just asleep, he thought to himself. Damnit the gods are now invading my dreams... Rennish cursed his luck at this and then tried to lay back down.
Golliad got up from the chair he was sitting in and walked over to where Rennish was asleep on a couch. Golliad put his hand on Rennish head and then slapped his forehead. "Wake up Rennish. You think I expended all this divine power just to watch you sleep?"
Rennish sighed. He had hoped that this really was a dream, but that was shattered. Just when he thought he was going to finally get some sleep. "Why can't you pull me a daydream or something? Or just come as a bird and talk on my shoulder while I'm bored to death driving the cart?" Rennish complained.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was inconveniencing you. Hold on let me send you back for some nice beauty rest and we will talk in the morning over orange juice and a baguette." Golliad said dripping with sarcasm.
"I'm not that lucky am I? What do you want Golliad?" Rennish stood up walking around the room that Golliad had constructed for them. He picked up little knick-nacks and curios looking at each one. "Fancy room you made here."
Golliad sat back down in his chair and steepled his fingers like the godfather of this space, which he was. In this construct he controlled all of reality, so he could do whatever he wanted here. "Thank you, now sit down. It's rude to pace around the room."
Rennish sighed and rolled his eyes. "What do you need Golliad."
"What a way to greet an old coworker." Golliad sighed. "Really Rennish you should enjoy times like this more often. They do all the driving at night and you get to sleep. Meanwhile, I can make anything you want while in here. You want a drink?" He held up a glass and shook it to indicate he could fill it.
'Rennish shook his head and looked around. "So then why summon me here. Why not just wait til we got into town like normal and come get us."
"You can be too impatient at times. You are falling to look at the larger picture sometimes. It's becoming a problem that you aren't even aware of yet, LIke that business with the oracle. Did you foresee any of that happening?"
Rennish sighed, here it was, he was going to face the blame for that. "No, I did not. How could I have? The guardian kept me outside. And I can't go into my divine form anymore because you let Ysennia lock that away from me. The one tool I had to sneak around where I wasn't supposed to be."
Golliad smiled. "Ah yes, Ysennia's ridiculous tactics." He put the cup down and leaned forward. "What do you think of her ridiculous tactics?"
Rennish sighed. So here it was. Dissension among the rank and file of the gods. "What does it matter what I think. She has control of the situation, I don't."
"Just answer the damn question and quit being difficult."
"Fine! She's up to something. I don't know what, I don't how. But I am sure she is. It's going to explode eventually and she likes to take her anger out on someone. Normally that happens to be me because my body is a divine creation and she can hurt or damage it however she wants and instantly repair it."
"Okay, and what do you plan to do about it?'
"Do about it? Nothing! I can do nothing about it. I am trying to make sure Erust doesn't get killed trying to complete the mission."
"How do you feel about the name change?" Golliad said leaning back in his chair finally.
"It's his choice. He went through an ordeal. If he wants to fully embrace the madness and move forward I have no choice but to accept it. Do I understand it? Not a damn bit! That decision is his..."
Golliad nodded. "And what will you do if he puts himself in danger?"
Rennish leaned back in the chair and rubbed his temples. "I have things I have been exploring, weapons and escape plans in case we need them."
"Do they know?"
"I have kept it to myself. It's a trump card."
Golliad nodded and looked around the room. "Hypothetically speaking. What would you do if you found Ed, sorry Erust, wasn't really who he said."
Rennish stopped rubbing his forehead and lifted one hand to look at Golliad. "What do you mean?"
"What did I say? Did I stutter? If you had to stop Erust, could you?"
Rennish thought about this for a few minutes. The idea of destroying Erust was something he had struggles with. When he was primarily a spirit he would have had no issues with that. He basically had no remorse. Human emotions were a key part of human bodies. Now that he was trapped in a physical shell his own cowardice came first and foremost. If saving his own skin was the only option, could he sacrifice him? Would his divine directive to protect Ed/Erust prevent him from that.
"I don't know that I would be able to." Rennish didn't give the full explanation. He hoped that Golliad could read between the lines.
Golliad nodded, "I see, okay well that answers that then I guess."
Golliad got up from his chair and walked around the backside of his desk. "What if you found out that Erust isn't who you think he is? What if you found out this was all a trap?"
"Is it a trap?"
Golliad smiled, "Why would I tell you if its a trap? Maybe I set the damn thing Rennish. Use your brain for once."
Rennish got angry and clenched his fists. This was what he hated about divine beings. They had so many rules and regulations. They all came from one divine power source so they had to hide their plans and machinations because everyone else literally always knew everyone else's business.
"Is there something you need to tell me Golliad?" Rennish knew the answer would be a firm no but he had to ask.
Golliad laughed. "The direct route, eh? Well, it was worth a shot. I can't tell you everything and you know that. You of all beings know the damn rules. Don't play coy with me. Even if I could tell you anything I wouldn't. The rules are clear. We can't interfere in the day to day of human lives. We sent you back as a muse but you goofed that one up. Now you are a human companion, limited to no more power than the humans can muster."
Golliad clapped his hands together one time. "You really should know better Rennish. But reading between the lines was never your strongest ability."
He stood up and straightened the shirt he was wearing. Even as a god they could still feel pride and vanity. It was unfortunately one of the few traits they carried as divine beings instead of humility and compassion.
"This was a waste of my time then." Rennish sighed and rubbed his temples again. Dealing with divine beings made his head hurt more than normal.
"So you can't can you?" Golliad smiled. "That is fine, it just changes what needs to be done then."
Rennish stopped rubbing his head immediately. "You plan to kill Ed?"
"Ed? I would never kill Ed. I am just formalizing plans. You are so blind to see the whole picture. You are not capable of doing what needs to be done. You are a coward, consumed in your own plans that you failed to see what is right in front of you. So just stay with it. Your orders now are to continue on. And if you talk to Ysennia about any of this I will personally collect your soul and replace your body with the soul of a sheep."
Rennish waved away the threat, "Your threats don't scare me anymore. Go ahead and do it if it will make you happy. In the meantime, I have to go watch out over Ed down there and make sure he's safe."
Golliad grinned at Rennish's use of the name Ed, it was almost sadistic. "You do that Rennish. Go protect Ed, I bet you will find that hard from the way you are currently doing things."
Golliad clapped one more time and Rennish sat bolt upright in the back of the carriage. He bumped his head on something and cursed softly to himself. The sun was coming up through the flaps in the back of the tarp.
"Good Morning Rennish!" Ashra said to him softly as she held the flaps open. "We are early. We are just pulling into town."
"Gods, Oww my head. Okay, thank you for letting me know." He rubbed his head in confusion and pain. That was a horrible dream. But if it wasn't just a dream, what did it mean?