I landed slowly on the ground and looked around. It was exactly the same place Yemoja sent me to after the battle in River Niger. The time rewind worked and I couldn't help but break down in tears. I had been given a second chance to make things right.
I walked to a nearby water puddle and looked at my reflection and gasped. I looked exactly like my godly essence with the silver braids and attire. My entire body was flowing with power, even the water started vibrating when I stared too long. But there was no sign of the leather bag anywhere which meant that my phone and quadent were missing. I was about to freak out when the quadent shimmered into existence in the air above me. I levitated and grabbed it. I could levitate now—another new breathtaking feature that marveled and excited me.
Suddenly I noticed something crawling slowly across the ground and immediately I knew what it was. My eyes flared up in rage and I threw my quadent and it landed right in front of the creature which froze where it was. I levitated downwards till my feet touched the ground.
"Going somewhere Mbe?" I said while glaring at it with hatred in my eyes.
The tortoise escaped into its shell and hid as though it was enough protection from me and I just scoffed. "I could smash that shell of yours in a matter of seconds but I won't do that because I have something better in mind."
The tortoise peeked out its head from the shell "What else do you have in mind?"
I smiled coldly, held out my quadent in front of me and closed my eyes. "I'm going to create the cover of night for this."
Suddenly, dark clouds moved and blocked out the sun as everywhere got dark as though it was night. The only thing giving out light was my eyes and my weapon. But I could still see the tortoise clearly.
"Egbere! I summon you!" I spoke out in a firm commanding tone and the tortoise started thrashing around in its shell.
"Please no! Not that one, it'll kill me." It pleaded with fear.
"Well you should have thought of that before you stole its precious basket and made it cry every night." I said in anger. I also wanted to add that it framed me but it didn't happen this time around. I was still angry about it regardless.
The tortoise froze. "How did you know about that?"
I smiled wickedly. "Well let's say you and I have a bone to settle and there is no time as good as this to settle it."
The tortoise kept on thrashing around. "What would I have done to a god to make him punish me like this?"
Suddenly, the air changed as the trees began to rustle and a loud cry tore through the night as the tortoise almost peed itself. Two glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness followed by a snarl and I was reminded of the night when it chased me. That strengthened my resolve more.
"Egbere! Kneel!" I said as my eyes glared in the dark and the creature's form shimmered into existence. It knelt down and I pointed to the tortoise. "This is the one who stole the basket you've been crying and looking for".
The creature turned to tortoise and snarled. "Agbon mi." It almost rushed him but I raised my hand and it stopped. Tortoise was already making creaking noises in his shell because he was shaking.
I put out my hand and imagined the basket and its location. Suddenly, the basket started materializing in thin air. I placed it on the back of the tortoise and asked it to deliver it to the creature. It crawled even more slower than usual until it reached where Egbere was and it took the basket and shrieked at the tortoise.
"Don't you have anything to say to it?" I asked looking sternly at the tortoise.
In a shaky voice, the tortoise apologized. "I am sorry for stealing your basket, please forgive me."
The creature regarded tortoise for a while and turned to me and bowed. I waved my hands as the dark clouds started disappearing and the creature faded with the rest of the darkness.
"What kind of god are you?" the tortoise asked.
I smiled. "The god of the sky, time and second chances."
In a flash, I cleared the bushes and appeared outside the forest. There was a hoard of monsters waiting for me outside and luckily no humans were around. I gripped my quadent as it hummed and pulsed with power. I heard a voice in my head.
"You have to take it easy. This is our first union, don't overdo it." I recognized it.
"Do all the gods' essences speak to them like this?" I asked.
"Nope. But you are a new god, one who was previously human." It said.
"So no lightning apocalypse then?" I asked with a grin.
"What? No! take it slow." It said and went mute.
I swung my quadent at the monsters and released a wave towards them as they were already advancing towards me. They tried evading the attack but they all got caught up in it as they all shrivelled up and withered into dust.
"Time progression, that's what I'll call that move." I said while putting my weapon away.
I closed my eyes and imagined the last place I saw Osumare and suddenly like lightning, I appeared there. The humans couldn't see me so I wasn't bothered about my flashy entrance. I looked around for any sign of the god and suddenly something bumped into my electrical barrier and got zapped.
"Ouch!" Osumare exclaimed behind me and I turned.
"Still doing that snake stuff aren't you?" I said while smiling because I put up the electrical barrier on purpose. I might be a god now, but snakes still creep me out.
Osumare looked me over. "You are a god now? That was faster than we expected."
"Yeah, things happened along the way and here I am. I need to get to Chibok, can you portal me there? Chioma is waiting." I said.
"But you are a god now, you should be able to portal yourself." Osumare said.
I glared and him and my sarcastic side kicked in.
"Yes, I can also create a unicorn and ride it to the moon and have a vacation while I'm at it. I'm asking you because I can't do it." I said.
"Alright! Alright!" He said and did his stuff. The air shimmered and I passed through and came out of the same plantain tree.
"Good, I think I can make the jump to Biu from here." I closed myself as sparks started flying off my body and suddenly I blasted off into the sky as it rumbled. I travelled like lightning in the sky and struck the exact same spot the bus dropped me in Biu last time. I felt a bit light headed and staggered.
"Woah! Baby steps Emeka, baby steps." I told myself.
I looked around and found out it was already bright as though it was a new day.
"Umm… what happened? It was evening when I made the jump." I asked feeling confused.
"Well, jumping is not like portal travel and you are not adjusted to your powers yet. So when you made the jump, time jumped with you. So we are back to the last day of your quest." The voice in my head said.
I felt as though I was going to have a panic attack because I was planning on ending everything the previous day and now the time skipped.
I walked into the town and just like before, it was deserted and felt like a void. There wasn't a single sound, not even that of the wind could be heard. It felt eerie.
As I was about to round a corner, soldiers jumped out from nowhere and I was surrounded as they all pointed their guns at me.
"Don't move!" their leader ordered.
I looked around me. Surely I could take them all, but I had second thoughts about hurting them since they were human.
"You don't want to do this." I warned them.
"Take him!" Their leader ordered and they all advanced towards me.
I sighed.
"You just don't listen, do you?" I said as I emitted another wave out of my body but unlike before, they didn't shrivel up and turn to dust, they just stopped moving.
"Time freeze." I said and moved on. I didn't worry about leaving them there because they would eventually unfreeze after a while once I leave the area.
I started running up towards the mountain and as I ran, it was as though my body was one with the wind because I felt so light and suddenly, I jumped into the air and started flying. It felt so good because I had only ever imagined or dreamt of scenarios like that.
Soon I flew over the fenced area and was in the vicinity of the Plateaux. I was still high up so the vulture creatures circling the top of the volcano didn't notice me yet.
"Now what?" I asked myself trying to think of something.
"Use a shock electrical pulse on a low level, it will help you see what is going on inside." The voice in my head said.
I closed my eyes and imagined a small heartbeat in my mind. Suddenly I released a mini shockwave that didn't cause any physical disturbance and as it hit the plateaux, I saw everything that was going on inside. I also took note of Sango's Axe and its location. I saw Aganju talking to Chioma and whatever trash he was making her listen to made me feel pity for her. I materialized my quadent and gripped it hard until it started pulsing with power. Lightning sparks flew off it, then I threw it through the small opening I saw in Chioma's cell and it struck Aganju sending him flying out the door of the cell. How I could throw with such accuracy was a mystery to me. I guessed being a god came with a few perks.
My quadent had already returned to my hand and I needed some kind of disturbance to create a diversion.
"Throw your quadent into the sky." The voice spoke again.
"I don't know what you are cooking up, but if you say so." I said and threw the glowing weapon into the sky and watched it as it disappeared. "Now what?"
Suddenly lightning and thunder tore through the sky as the clouds got darker. A part of the ground below began to swirl as a tornado appeared and connected with the sky, destroying everything in its path. Both soldiers and monsters ran for their safety, giving me the perfect opportunity to sneak inside after almost being pulled in by my tornado once or twice. Don't blame me, I'm still new.
The inside was just as I remembered it and I didn't waste time dawdling around. I went straight for Chioma's prison and she almost jumped out of the chair when she saw me.
"Emeka, what happened to you? You look different." She said looking me over.
"I'll explain later, we need to get to Sango's axe now." I said as I unbound her and helped her up.
"What about Sango? I think we should get him first." she said.
"Forget about Sango for now. Trust me when I tell you we need to get his axe first." I told her while looking into her eyes and she nodded.
Thanks to the wave I released earlier, I knew exactly where the Axe was and more importantly, Aganju wouldn't expect us to go for the axe first. We reached the chamber where the axe was being kept and I could feel the power it was radiating.
"Look, the axe is being used to drain Sango's essence right? So if we disengage the axe, the power flow returns to him. Right now, Sango is almost fading, so when I give you the signal, create a golem hand to catch the axe before it falls into that magma pit below." I explained and she looked at me in shock.
"How did you know I could…" she started to say but I interrupted her.
"Like I said, I'll explain later."
I walked to the axe and looked at the giant cables holding it. There was no way my hand could reach the both of them at once.
"Project the avatar and you will reach your goal." said the voice.
I knew what the words meant and I closed my eyes and stretched out my hands and suddenly a giant silver avatar of myself blazed to life but it was only half complete from the waist up. It mirrored every move I made as I turned to see the shock on Chioma's face.
"I hope you are ready?"
She nodded.
I positioned both of my hands as though I was actually holding the cables and the avatar mirrored my movement and held the cables. I started channelling the power of time progression into it as the cables began to age and crack. After few more seconds of aging the cables, they finally crumbled into dust as the axe fell free and immediately, Chioma created golem hands and caught the axe before it fell into the pit. Once the axe was released, it started glowing brightly and exploded with power. I shielded Chioma with my body and the avatar shielded both of us.
Once the explosion died down, Aganju jumped out of nowhere and grew into his full form. He punched my avatar and I staggered backwards. I quickly turned to Chioma.
"Find Sango! Go now, I'll cover you!" I said as she bolted for the exit.
Aganju blasted fire at her but I blocked it with my avatar. He punched me and I blocked the blow and gave him an upper cut which sent him flying. My avatar shimmered as it materialized into its full form and I was in the centre. But it was flickering as though it was nearing its limits which meant I had to wrap thing up quickly.
"You think you, a half-baked god can stop me?" Aganju said, his voice was filled with contempt and spite.
He formed a ball of magma with his fist and hurled it at me. I emitted a shockwave from my body and it collided with his attack and exploded halfway. My quadent shimmered into existence and I caught it with my hand and instantly my avatar materialized the quadent in avatar form, mirroring my own.
"You can't win Aganju, it's all over! Your plan has been thwarted." I said beaming with confidence.
"I can always come up with another plan." Aganju said and rushed me.
"Not if I can help it." I said as I aimed my quadent at him and the avatar did the same as I unleashed a lightning blast that would have given Zeus a run for his money. He got hit by the blast and was sent flying in the air till he broke through the wall and fell outside the volcano. I went after him as he crashed into the ground creating a big crater.
I landed right in front of him as he tried to get up, lightning struck from the sky and bound his hands together.
"You dare bind me?" He asked in a rage.
"Umm… actually, that lightning doesn't have my signature on it." I said as I looked up to see Amadioha floating down with an Olympus of other gods behind him. I could see Ala, Anyanwu, Onwa, Osumare, Osoosi, Orunmila and a few others I hadn't met.
I glared at Orunmila as soon as I saw him and pointed my quadent at him.
"What is he doing here? He helped Aganju plan all this." I said in fury.
"I am the god of wisdom, I give knowledge whether it is to be used for good or bad." Orunmila said unbothered and I blinked to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I must have misheard him.
My avatar flickered and disappeared.
"We the council of the gods will deal with Orunmila in our own way." Amadioha said while glaring at him.
Aganju thrashed around and finally managed to stand up.
"You guys are seriously going to blame me for wanting to get my power source back? I was almost fading out of existence and none of you did anything to help me and now you have all gathered here to judge me." Aganju said, gritting his teeth.
"We know we should have paid more attention to you." a shaky voice said from behind and we all turned to see a weakened Sango who was being supported by Chioma.
"I should have paid more attention to you as a brother but it doesn't excuse what you did. You almost destroyed the entire town just to get your power source back, not to mention how it affected other places." Sango said.
"And so what? It's too late for regrets now." Aganju said and suddenly red sand started swirling around him as a portal opened to a desert which he jumped in. "You guys will be hearing from me again soon." And then, the portal closed.
I felt light headed again and almost fell down, but Amadioha held me by the hand. "You did well kid. I am proud of you."
I managed a smile and looked at Sango as Chioma helped him walk up to me.
"So you are the kid who took part of my essence. I didn't even notice you during the contest, you didn't have much of a presence." he said as he looked me over.
This was my first time standing face to face with Sango. I didn't know what to say exactly, so I just nodded and he smiled.
"I wouldn't have had it any other way. Looking at you now, I can feel the power surging from you. You did great."
I couldn't believe this. The two gods said to have birthed me complimented me in one day.
Oluaye appeared behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Welcome to the league of the gods. I'm loving your silver braids. So what is your godly title?"
The other god turned in my direction as godly titles were obviously a big deal to them.
"Obviously another minor god of lightning." Osoosi said.
"Umm… not really. The lightning part is just a fraction of my power. A crumb of it, if I may say. I am the god of the sky, time and second chances." I said, smiling sheepishly.
"god of the sky huh." Zeus is going to be so jealous." Amadioha said and chuckled.
"Guys, you are missing the point. We have our own sky god now. I bet Zeus, Horus and Odin will stop looking down on us now." Anyanwu said and beamed at me.
"What is the big deal about having a sky god anyway?" I asked.
Chioma came from behind me and punched me on the shoulder. "Sky gods are natural born leaders. Horus, Zeus and Odin, they are all leaders."
I scoffed. "Yeah, well I'm not leading anything or anyone. I'm new and there is no way I can lead people who have been here long before me." I said while gesturing to the gods.
"Baby steps kiddo." Amadioha said. "Well it's been a long day. We all should all go and celebrate the completion of the quest.
Immediately, soldiers and monsters jumped out from nowhere and attacked us. That was when I realized we still haven't freed the village people and I looked at Chioma.
"Well I guess we still have one more thing to do in order to complete this quest."
"Way ahead of you." Chioma said and we charged into the volcano leaving the other gods to handle the situation outside.
________________
Later that evening, we were having a party in Sango's estate. Chioma and I were getting congrats here and there. I saw AMD dragging Orunmila by the ear as Oluaye jumped after them. Obviously, he was going for the violence.
Chioma came up to me and hugged me. She then kissed me. When she pulled free, she looked me over.
I explained everything to them about my first failure and how I turned back time to make sure I fixed my mistake and they were all shocked stupid.
"You were able to pull off something that high level even though you just recently became a god? You are no minor god." Chioma's mother, the earth goddess, Ala said.
AMD slapped my shoulder. "That's my kid for you. I told you all he was amazing."
"But you said he was a bit immature and you were worried about the success of the quest." Osoosi said and AMD glared at him.
"It was just as my prophecy said, the new god was born in time of despair. Everything that happened up to this point was meant to happen." Orunmila said and the gods shot him a glare, then he kept quiet.
"What are you going to do now that you are a god?" Anyanwu asked.
"Well, I'm going to keep living my life and do all the things I've been wanting to do. The only difference now is that I am not human anymore." I said.
Oluaye jumped me from behind "That's the spirit! and get prepared, we will be seeing more of each other."
I winced at the thought of having to deal with his behaviour every now and then but that was by the way.
That night, I was just lying on my bed thinking of the events that occurred over the past few days and I was glad it was over. My mortal life ended at age 24 meaning I was going to look like that forever.
Someone knocked on the door and opened it. I raised my head to see Chioma smiling at me.
"Hi." She said.
"Hi, what's up?" I asked and she walked to me and sat on the bed.
"Nothing, just checking up on you. How is it going?"
I fidgeted with my hands. "It's going fine so far. I'm just glad it's over and we made it in one piece. It's a shame Aganju escaped."
"Yeah. So what are you going to do now?" she asked as she twirled her braids on her fingers.
I thought for a while. "Well, I will be going back to Umuahia. But I'll have to move out soon. AMD said my godly energy is bound to affect my parents and draw all kinds of dangerous attention. What about you?"
"I will be going back to school. I have five days-worth of work to catch up with and thankfully, no tests."
"That's good. I wonder how interesting our lives are going to get from now on. Something tells me it's not over." I said while looking out the window. I couldn't shake that feeling that something was not right. But I decided to push it to the back of my mind. Enough worries for a week.
Chioma kissed me on the cheek and stood up "Goodnight." She said and left, leaving me alone in my room once more.
The next morning, I went back to my brother's house in calabar and I spent the entire day there. Then I went to AMD's house as they prepared a portal that would take me home. I walked through the portal and appeared in front of my gate. Meanwhile with AMD's help, I was able to change my appearance to look like the old me so my parents wouldn't ask questions. I remember Oluaye telling me to leave it like that. He said if my parents didn't like it, they could take the highway. He was that crazy, that Oluaye.
I opened the gate and walked in as my mom was washing outside. I hugged and greeted her. She asked about my trip and I told her it went well. I headed inside to greet my dad then I headed to my room and jumped into the bed.
It was fun not having to think of what awaits you in the coming days. Thinking if you will live or die. It was good to be back home and I drifted off into a long sleep.