My Blue Eyed God[dess...]

Newton's Sanctuary - a paradise like no other.  As the elevator opened, I was greeted by the chirping of birds and the sound of a distant waterfall.  The vast landscape could be described as rolling green hills covered with flowers and apple trees.  A dirt path led its way around ponds filled with ducks and frogs.  And near one tree, I saw some young deer that looked unafraid as I walked past them.

[And I'm sure you're asking yourself, as I am now, how these animals were still alive after all this time, but I'm really not sure.  But my theory to this day holds that this place, like the place where you live, is held in an unchanging bubble of time.  Either that, or these animals were not natural.  A second possibility that I didn't have time to explore at the time.]

To one side I could see a massive forest and to the other what looked like an ocean with its own beach.  But both things were outside of a quick walking distance.  While the outside of the golden sphere was large, I did ponder what marvels allowed this scope of space to fit inside a smaller one.

Newton had indeed been spending his time in isolation perfecting science.  What marvelous discoveries had he alone made?  

The gift of immortality.  That's something I deeply craved for myself.  My heart still pounded and I felt a pain in my chest for a second as I thought about my life coming to an end.

I spent the next couple of minutes enjoying sights that could only be seen on historical video recordings or by visiting Earth.

"I won't get a chance to see Earth now, though."  The image of the broken Earth was still fresh in my mind.

A wooden cabin was in the distance.  A quaint little house that was surrounded by a wooden fence.  And in the backyard there was a massive apple tree.  If I looked up, I could barely see the leaves and the apples that grew from it.

According to legends, this tree was the tree where Newton made one of his most important discoveries.  And a part of me wondered if I sat under it I could get the same knowledge that had imparted to Newton.

I felt something soft underneath my boot.  I looked down.  I hadn't been paying attention and had wondered a little off the path.  My boot was touching a high patch of grass.  I kneeled down in wonder and amazement as I carefully took my hand to touch the grass.  The texture of the grass was rougher and stickier than I had first thought it would be.  It looked soft, but it was rather course.  But the smell filled my nostrils, and I felt contentment fill my soul.

"I wouldn't want to be bothered by anyone if I lived in the place.  It's no wonder you have kept to yourself for so long."  I almost dared not disturb the living God of our world, but what choice did I have?

The world had gone down the drain, and Newton was the only one who might be able to fix it.  Why with his knowledge, it might be possible to revive the dead...  Or was I hoping for too much?

I opened the door to the cabin.  There was a fireplace that caught my eye, but no fire had been lit.  At the far end, there was a long desk covered with books, old quills, papers, beakers, liquids, and all the things of a well-established science trade.

But what was really odd was what was in the middle of the wooden floor.  There was no mistaking it.

It was Newton's chastity belt.

The most holy symbol of what Newton himself believed most important, though I tended to disagree.

Not only the chastity belt, but a pile of feathers and black dust.

I ran over to the belt and picked it up with my hands and carefully looked at the dust.

There was no question about it.  These were the remains of our immortal God.

"But how can God die?"

Not only had Newton found immortality, but he had gained a vast array of powers.  One being immense super strength.  But despite my inner denial, Newton's remains lay at my feet.  Turned to dust, so that he had no chance to regenerate.

I didn't really know how to feel.  I had never been a truly devote follower of the church, but the thought of Newton being destroyed dumbfounded me.

I wasn't sad, but I was in shock.  And moreover, I was now totally alone in this destroyed world.

[Or so I thought, My Friend....]

I heard a sound behind me.  A shifting of feet and the clinging of metal.  My heart jumped, and I felt a tightness in my throat that made it hard to breath.

"Welcome to my sanctuary, my child."  The voice of a person came.  A light, but strong feminine voice.

I turned around and was struck by the most noble-looking female I had ever seen.  If I had to put an age to her, I would say twenty, but she was also ageless at the same time.  She wore a long white dress...  And she had metal wings.  They weren't spread out in all their glory, but I could see that she had two finely crafted mechanical wings.  The craftsmanship on them was nothing I had never beheld in all my life.  And her eyes.  They burned with a blue flame.  I gaped into her eyes.  I felt my soul being ripped bit by bit as I fell into those eyes.

"Now, is that any way to treat your God?  What is the proper courtesy to show me?"

Her words had a mysterious charm and power to them.  I kneeled on both my legs and bowed my head.

"My Goddess..."  Those were the only words I could muster.  I had nowhere to run.  I had nowhere I could hide.  This creature was standing right in front of me with all her being.  She was God and I was nothing.

"Don't despair, child.  I have taken his place.  I am the true God of your world now.  My followers call me Athena Parthenos."

Athena Parthenos?  Where had I heard that name before?  Wait....  Wasn't that who the Athenites worshipped as their God.  But I thought she was just a figment of their imaginations.  How could Athena be standing here in front of me in the flesh?  Athena, the living God.

"Now tell me child?  Is the war with the Newtonites over?  I have been waiting very patiently for my devote followers to return from the war."

The Newtonites?  Did she mean the people on Kepler's Ring.  All the people...  I looked into the blue flame in Athena's eyes.  There was a hint of madness in those eyes.  What ever had been done to this woman to make her a God was not the same as how Newton had achieved his immortality.  And a theory came to my mind.

Of course...  They needed to make a being more powerful than Newton.  So, somehow, using science they created a God that fit their religion.  A God with the power to destroy another God.  But in doing so, they had made her unstable.  I could see that she was slowly losing touch with reality.  What a tragedy really?  The person who put the research into this had not put the personal well-being of this creature into their calculations.  And for the first time in a long time I felt pity.  This God that stood before me, yes she was majestic and holy, but she had been damned.

"The war isn't over.  I'm sorry to report, but I will do everything in my power to make this right."  Tears streamed down my eyes as I spoke.  I didn't call them forth, but they came anyways. 

Athena touched my face with her hand.  And I felt so blessed.

"It's okay, child.  It will be over soon.  Now, how can I help you?"  Athena was offering to help me?  But I'm a nobody.  I'm nothing.  Less than nothing.

But I held out the orb with my hand.

"What's this, my child?"

"The answer to everything," was what I said.