The one who Elijah had seen before losing consciousness, kept watch over him while he slept. The god peered into his body and examined him.
"He has the divine seed and a strong bloodline. And since he made it through that tunnel, he must have a strong reason to be here." The god made a mental note of Elijah's state of being as he waited for him to wake. "His willpower has increased significantly and his mind has been purified. Good. He's on the right path. I might enjoy seeing what this one is made of."
As Elijah slept, his body was going through changes. It takes a lot for a mortal to become immortal. Most human bodies and minds cannot take the strain of the transformation. However, Elijah's was taking to it as if he were always meant to be a god. His body was absorbing the divine energy of the sacred space he was in as easy as breathing. He was making the rich energy of this place his own strength while unconscious.
"Impressive..." The god thought to himself.
After Elijah's body had finished adjusting to the richer atmosphere, he began to wake.
He opened his eyes and took in the forest once again. It looked a bit like the forests on Earth, but it felt more alive. The trees looked like they had been growing for thousands of years and suddenly a piece of fruit dropped in front of him.
"Eat, dear boy. The forest is trying to help you."
Elijah looked to see who had spoken to him. It was the god he saw before passing him. His skin was the darkest and richest shade of brown Elijah had ever seen. He was shorter than Gilgamesh, but Elijah could feel he was far stronger nonetheless. Yet, he could feel no hostility from this stranger. Something inside him told him that he could be trusted. So he picked up the fruit, thanked the forest, and ate.
"You have good intuition as well I see. Good. You will need that, Elijah."
Elijah's eyes widened in surprise.
"How do you my name, god?"
"I know what I must know about all who come here, Elijah, son of Anak. That fruit will further help you adapt to the divine energy of the higher realms. Without it, your next trials would have been considerably more difficult. You're lucky the forest likes you since I am forbidden to give that fruit to another."
Elijah felt his body going through a kind of rebirth as he ate the fruit. All of his old cells died and were replaced by new ones. First his bones, then his organs, then his blood, then his muscles, and lastly his skin and hair. Somehow none of this was painful. If anything it felt pleasant.
"What's happening to me?" Elijah asked
"The mortal must die, for the Immortal to live. But the process is not done, if you make it through all the trials, you will have another body. One far stronger than this one." The god answered.
Elijah looked at the god before him and couldn't help but ask. "Will I be as strong as you?"
The god smiled. "No, dear boy. You'll be stronger."
Elijah was shocked by this revelation as it was hard for him to imagine such a thing.
"But do not think all that power will become yours for no reason, Elijah. The Creator is not a fool. You're here for a reason. And the reason you are here is connected to the reason I am here. Tell me, do you know who I am?"
Elijah looked at this god and could not discern his identity. "No."
"I am called Noakh."
Elijah stood in surprise. "The one who survived the Great Deluge?!"
Noakh smiled when saw people still know at least a version of his story. "Yes, I survived the great flood, young one. As did many others. But do you know why I was allowed to survive?"
"It is said that you found favor with the Creator."
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Noakh's laugh boomed throughout the entire forest.
"Favor with the Creator? Is that what they say? No, dear boy. You should have known that was false. If Creation is an extension of the Creator, how could anyone be 'favored' what utter nonsense! Do you favor one finger over another? Ahahaha. Mortals these days. But this narrative makes sense. I suspect the truth is kept hidden from most. But since you are here, you must be made aware of what really happened because it involves your destiny."
Elijah sat back down with great listening intent. "Please, enlighten me, Noakh."
Noakh nodded.
"Long ago, in ages past, there were no barriers between the gods and the humans. All gods and goddesses traveled to and from Earth as they pleased. But there were those who abused this freedom. Some gods and goddesses got bored of peace. So they began to fan the flames of war in the hearts of men. Humans were given knowledge they were not ready for. How to farm, how to mine, how to build cities, and how to make weapons to name a few."
"Some gods even began to experiment on humans. They took human females for wives, but this did not work. The mortal women died in childbirth. The divine seed was too much for them to bear. And instead of these corrupt gods taking the hint from the Creator that such a union was not meant to be, they set out to create their own females. It took time, but they finally made a group of women who was the right combination of divine and mortal to be able to bear the children of gods. The offspring of these women with those gods are where your stories of Giants and Nephilim come from."
Elijah was not surprised to learn that gods could commit such sinister deeds. He could tell from the opposition that Zemyna faced in the heavens that there were gods with dark hearts. He listened and waited to see what all this had to with him.
"Normally, the archons would put a stop to something like this. But at the time, there was a corrupt god on the Sun-Throne. His name was called Yaldabaoth. He and his generals corrupted the mortals and threw it so out of balance that the slate had to be wiped clean. Hence the flood. But one god, your soon to be grandfather-in-law, saw fit to have mercy on some of us. He did not think it was right for all of humanity to pay the price for the sins of gods. So he provided and escape for me and a few others. But we had to be hidden in pocket dimensions, like the one we're in right now. Not on Earth, not in the nine heavens, and therefore safe from any gods or goddesses who would disapprove of Thoth's mercy."
"Thoth made this entire plane of existence?!" The thought sent chills down Elijah's spine. Just how powerful was Zemyna's grandfather? And who could cause even him to move with such caution?
You see, dear boy. The gods who committed those atrocities were too powerful to be destroyed. They are from the older generation of the gods. They are closer to the Creator, and therefore harder to kill. Thoth could not reason with them, nor did he wish to see the Nine Heavens corrupted with war in an effort to stop them with force. At least not yet. So he imprisoned them with the help of their mother, the true goddess Sophia. But that prison will not hold them forever. In fact, since you're here now, I suspect they are almost free."
Elijah immediately grasped the gravity of what Noakh was saying to him. "You mean that I am here not just to earn the right to be with Zemyna, but also to gain the power to fight these elder gods?!"
"Yes, young one. You and Zemyna are fated to stand against them and hopefully, bring true peace and harmony back to Creation."