The Creator God

“Does this look like the head of my brother, to you?!”

Temi appears frustrated, as she remains seated on the throne, looking down towards the line of potential suitors, all carrying the heads of their own versions of who they depicted to be the mad tyrant.

One by one, they saunter up to the throne, holding up all manners of recently deceased men; and yet, not a single one of them proved to be Kayin.

Temi stands up from her seat.

“Do you all take me for a joke?!” she asks sternly, “I asked you all for one thing! Bring me the head of the sightless fool that ran away from his deserved death!”

“You think by gouging out the eyes of your victims, and dressing them up to resemble him, that you would fool me?!”

The men lined up begin to sweat anxiously, fearful that their desperate attempts to the throne will now lead them to the dungeon.

However,

“Guards!”

The outcome is much worse than they had thought.

“Off with their heads!”

In the same way the desperate men had cut the heads of the victims they were displaying, one by one, the guards in the throne room begin to mercilessly cut their heads off as well.

Soon after, the guards approach a tall tanned man, carrying not the head of a corpse, but dragging along the body of a woman instead.

The guards freeze in place, as they stare towards the tall man that carries a soft, but eerie grin.

However, not wanting to displease the queen, the guards still move forward towards the man.

And yet somehow, the guards all end up cutting off each other’s heads, leaving the rest of the men awaiting their fate to scream out in both shock and relief.

Temi pauses.

Is that…

The tall man walks forward, and within the pool of blood now embedded into the floor of the throne room, he kneels down to greet the new queen.

“Your majesty. It is truly an honor.”

“Who are you…and how have you managed to capture my grandmother?”

The men still left in the throne room all gasp, as they look towards the woman being dragged by the tall man’s side.

Kayin’s grandmother struggles to find her balance amidst the pool of blood and fresh corpses, but once she does, she slowly glances up towards the throne.

Her eyes shake steadily, as she takes notice of a figure standing calmly behind the throne.

“What’s the matter?...”

Suddenly, the figure behind the throne appears directly behind Kayin’s grandmother.

“You don’t look very happy to see me…”

Kayin’s grandmother takes a while to respond, but eventually chuckles.

“So you’re the one behind all of this. I should have known.”

The figure smiles.

“Well of course. It’s my job to maintain balance, after all.”

“Nonsense. Your sense of balance has always been off. You’re just doing this for the sake of your entertainment.”

“You always act like you know me so well.”

Kayin’s grandmother smirks.

“...I am your avatar wielder after all…Eshu.”

The figure morphs from a tall avatar to a much smaller one with a goat head.

“Don’t blame me for any of this. I warned you this would happen.”

“Yeah, yeah, you abandoned me to restore balance, as the faithful little trickster you are. Nothing more needs to be said.”

“Do not belittle me, human. You are the one that caused all of this.”

“So? Is peace truly a bad thing to aim for?”

“In order for the world to remain, peace must thrive equally with war! I’ve told you this countless times already!”

“And it still sounds like absolute rubbish!”

“You dare speak to a god that way?!”

“Yes! What are you going to do about it?!”

“RRRR! This is why I abandoned you! I can’t stand that attitude of yours!”

“Well that’s too bad! You’re stuck with me until I die!”

“Look around you! That won’t be for long, old hag!”

“OLD HAG?!”

“Did you even listen to what i just said?!!!”

“Are you finished?”

Kayin’s grandmother, Monisola, turns her head to face her granddaughter. Realizing that Temi had heard the entire conversation, she clears her throat, and holds her fastened hands up towards the throne.

“Sorry about that. It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Temi?”

Monisola glances over towards the right hand side of the throne.

“And it’s been even longer…hasn’t it, 'Ogun'?”

Ogun, god of war, appears completely uninterested.

Temi glances back over towards the tall man, still bowing in reverence.

“I asked you a question.”

The tall man lifts his head, “I apologize, your majesty. It seems I had gotten distracted by your grandmother’s amusing conversation.”

The tall man stands up properly to face the queen. “My name…is Reze. Son of Chief Helophat. And avatar wielder of the creator god, Tezcatlipoca.”

The men left in the room shriek in fright.

And they are right to do so.

In this world, the most powerful of the gods, which rarely ever actually align themselves with singular human souls…

Are the creator gods themselves.

Temi’s eyes open widely, forcing Ogun to wave his hand and assure her of her safety.

“A creator god’s wielder?...” Temi barely manages to spurt out, “...what brings you all the way here?”

Reze smiles.

“I have received news of your ascension to the throne. Not only have you managed to usurp the mad tyrant that brought destruction to my kingdom a few months ago, you have even offered the position of king to the one that brings you his head.”

Monisola ears perk up.

A few months ago? If he wields the power of a creator god, then how could something like that have happened?

Was he not there when it was destroyed?

Or is something else at play here?

Monisola glances towards Temi’s focused expression.

…if only he knew of who is truly responsible for his people’s demise.

“I have even brought you the head of a traitor.”

Monisola’s eyes expand greatly.

“While fighting through the underground, I heard of her plot to aid the mad tyrant. She is helping him on his journey…to recover his eyes.”

“WHAT?!” Temi screams, as she stands up abruptly, and then turns towards her grandmother, “What did you do?!”

Monisola groans.

Reze waves his hands, “But worry not, my queen. I will be sure to handle it.”

Temi turns back towards Reze. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly as I just said.”

Reze grins.

“I will find and kill your brother. And in doing so..."

"I will make you my bride.”