In the realm of Unworld, there dwelt seven god brothers. There was Abedabun Ryu the god of light and dark, and Dezba Caislav the god of war, and Sohan the god of beauty and sensuality and Lubomir Dotan the god of love and Callaghan the god of the harvest and Earvin Palash Hactithe Halcyon the god of nature and Absalom Garvev the god of peace. Surely other gods resided there, but, these were the gods who ruled over the system of stars wherein lay the little, insignificant world of Ordem.
Ordem was one of many worlds in the system, and had been almost entirely unnoticed during the majority of its existence, even by these, the gods most concerned with its welfare and when they did finally notice it, due to the clamoring of its inhabitants for succor, they wanted nothing to do with it. For, such a world as this, so small, so lacking in art and refinement as it was, could do little to amuse such powerful beings on its own, and, yet, they were honor bound to make something of it, as no world could remain neglected – not after the gods themselves were called on directly - if the gods of the system it belonged to had any hope of being promoted to a better system. And, they did hope to be promoted for this system was the lowest of the lows.
If the upper systems could be likened to Park Place, then this system could be likened to, not so much a tenement slum, but, more the rancid and slurgling ditch full of refuse that lay 100 miles further out than the tenement slum, which no self respecting scavenger would bother with picking through.
The god brothers did not know how or why they ended up with this system, but, they were bound and determined to make something of it, show their abilities off, and move up the ranks to somewhere with more enlightened planet dwellers, who weren't such an awful lot of hard work to deal with.
They would have best liked to continue to ignore it and amuse themselves with better worlds, yet, the inhabitants squawked and so the inhabitants got what they wanted, the attention of the gods who presided over their world, little good that it did them. For, make something of it, they did these god brothers. It became their game board.
As with all worlds, it was rife with human life, some of whom were good, some were bad, most were annoyed by the oddities of life, whether they knew it was due to the influence of the gods or if they knew it not. So, some bowed and scraped and prayed, and some did just as they pleased without thought of anyone else but their family and friends. Some snuck around, as if they could get one over on the gods they believed in, of course; and, some had no idea what anyone else was on about. Whatever the case, whether they knew it or not, they were all pawns for the gods who ruled over them.
Well, to be fair, not all were actually pawns. Some were, instead, kings and queens, knights, bishops, rooks or the closest equivalent thereof. It was not Chess the gods played, but, it bore some resemblance to it and could have, occasionally, been mistaken for it, if it were not for certain very discernible differences, such as it is very seldom that a player stops the game of chess to seduce one of the pieces, light it on fire, or make it marry the wrong person just for laughs.
There were times when, instead, their play with the humans resembled Stratego, more; when they picked out their potential armies and poked and prodded them in their various ways until they formed up on their battlefields and …
“War, beautiful war has broken out, again!”, crowed Dezba, time and time again, as he looked down upon the newly blood-soaked scenery.
This was pleasing information to most of the other god brothers, as well. For where there was war, Abedabun was longed for in all his aspects. What soldier in civilized warfare does not long for the night, the cessation of actual combat and to rest his weary, wounded body before the next onslaught? And, what soldier does not equally hail, gladly, the new dawn that tells him he has lived through another day and gives him hope of change?
And, who does not treasure ever more beauty, love, and the good things that spring from the earth to nourish one, than those who are hemmed in by ugliness,death and deprivation?
Only Absalom grieved over the beginning of what he saw as his process of redemption; yet, even he, though he hated the means, loved the end that the means brought to him, as he was worshiped and lauded for his efforts in returning peace to the land.
Of course, the god brothers had their work and did not spend all their time at their games, but, like with television for some, it was looked forward to as an “end of day” treat, talked over while at work, and, most definitely something to be enjoyed in company with other gods who were invited into their home. What a joy it was to play with Ordem, for these other gods, too, for this was a unique treat. No other group had considered doing such with any of their own worlds, because, in all the worlds that existed, it was only Ordem that was so small and oddly shaped as to almost not be a planet at all.
This left the seven god brothers in a position they were unused to. Because no one had, heretofore, considered creating such a game, the brothers, who, otherwise, tended to be jeered at and mocked at the larger meetings, were spoken of with tones of respect and admiration, and courted by the gods of the other systems, who certainly wanted to play such a game, but, certainly had no world of their own appropriate for such shenanigans.
Not only were their invitations accepted, when sent out, but, other gods began dropping by just to see them, and, invitations began arriving for parties thrown by other systems. And, several goddesses who had previously never considered looking in their direction, now fawned over them, whenever a “chance” meeting occurred.
It was at such a gathering of foreign gods, invited to play the game, wherein the trouble started, which continued to plague the seven god brothers from then, until this day, and, which led to the great cover up.
They had invited their counterparts, from a very distant system, to join in their gaming. Only, the invitation caused some confusion for the system they sent the invitation to was the victim of purposeful gross clerical error caused by someone whose nature was of great evil and whose penchant for common sense and decency was non-existent.
This system only had one viable world, as regards an ability to sustain human life, and it was a world hotly contested already, by gods outside of their race, who were very different beings altogether.
Yet, despite that the system was obviously not meant to be part of the Whole, there had also been assigned to it, several sets of gods from within their race, who had set up their different sorts of governments. This led to gross division of the world, unlike had ever been seen before, for, while a normal system would have several worlds that were each devoted primarly to only one god, this particular world, already owned as it was, came under the care also of hundreds of gods, who worked in conjunction with a few others, but, who were in opposition to, or in ignorance of, the rest.
The invitation, therefore, went out to what the seven god brothers, in their ignorance, thought was a normal system, operating by more rational rules, to the god of light and dark, the god of war, the god of beauty and sensuality, the god of love, the god of the harvest, the god of nature and the god of peace. Seven extra places were set, seven extra meals were prepared, and seven new creatures which the brothers could arrogantly lord it over and beguile with their exceptional game were anticipated.
What showed up was a vast crowd of gods of light, gods of dark, gods of war, gods of beauty, gods of sensuality, gods of love, gods of harvest, gods of sunlight, gods of the underworld, gods who were aspects of nature, gods who thought they were nature itself, and no gods of peace at all.
It is not to be thought that the god brothers did not have a delightful time, amidst this unexpected crowd, for, in the main,they did, even Absalom who felt rather lonely, as the only god of peace in attendance.
“Where is the god of peace?”, Absalom wailed. “Should I be here, all alone?”
“Hah!,” replied Mars, striding toward him with an almost threatening sense of urgency. “There is only one real Prince of Peace, and, he has nothing to do with our kind. But, I shall be glad to fight you in his stead.”
Absalom quailed at the offer, shaking his head in a negatory fashion and backing away. “N-no thank you.”, he replied. “Peace is not really about fighting.”
“That's strange.” challenged Mars. “For I am certain that he is a powerful warrior who could mop the floor with you.”
“Why would he do that if he were a god of peace?” Absalom asked. “Why would war even come into it?”
“War doesn't come into it.” replied Mars. “War is what he wants to get out of it. Err .. that is, he wants it to stop, and he's willing to beat the arse of whomever won't comply, to get it done. Aren't you?”
“Certainly not! Peace is achieved through love, quiet, self control and ..”
“And, occasionally a good arse kicking. Trust me!” bellowed Mars, slapping Absalom on the back in a good natured manner that only fractured two or three ribs on his left side. This effectively ended their conversation, not because Absalom was won over by the reasoning of Mars, but, because Absalom was won over by the reasoning of his own mind, which said:
“If you be very quiet and let him think he won, he might go away.”
In this Absalom's mind was correct, and Mars did saunter away. Much to the delight of the rest of Absalom, this left room for that delightful dish, Aphrodite, to saunter a'near, at which point his mind decided to retire for the night, knowing how little it would be heeded from this moment onward.
Gaming commenced and lasted some time, with lulls in the play only to allow the inhabitants of Ordem to rebuild their numbers. Sometimes, even then, a god would extend attention its way, and shuffle this inhabitant here and that one there, encouraging matches that would breed a better soldier for their side or a better poet for the side of their adversary. During the play, of course, there was much drinking and debauchery, excesses of every kind that did not cause actual death or dismemberment, and every room in the palace was trashed most thoroughly.
The god brothers woke, after a long slumber, to find their home a total wreck, and their faces possessed of an inability to stop smiling. Also, while cleaning, they found something else, quite apart from anything they either feared or hoped to find amidst the clutter. It was a nasty thing, hard to hold, seemingly both too much like the fleshly humans and, yet, also without substance at all.
This thing, that seemed to have no true parameters or description, shifted in their grasp and squawled in their ears, and, occasionally, sneezed on their shoes. Dezba wanted to use it for target practice, admitting that such a thing as would shift itself into so many configurations, would be a challenge for even his talents. Abedabun could see both good and bad points to keeping the thing, for whatever reason the others came up with. Sohan wanted to give it to Dezba, simply because it was unable to be qualified as beautiful, with its constant changing from furry and fanged and slobbering, to warty and slimy and scaled, to lightly fronded and full of coconuts, and then some. Callaghan had no use for it, “Except, possibly as fertilizer.” and Earvin felt much the same. Absalom simply wanted it gone, as it was upsetting their household.
Not being able to come to a firm decision among themselves, the seven god brothers went upon their way to the home of the beings from which they had sprung, the Mother and Father, and there inquired as to what was best done with this nasty creature, if, indeed, creature it could truly be called.
Father declined to answer. In point of fact, Father had never answered them, to their memory – and, they being gods, their memory was vast in each of them and even larger when brought into union. Mother's verdict was simple. “It was born of your house. To your house it belongs and with your house it must remain.”
The god brothers were simpler and demanded further explanation. What they received, however, was a heavy smiting for arguing with Mother and the removal of their independence.
“Until you are able to understand your duties and responsibilities, you are godlings, again, under my care.” was the pronouncement of mother, who then moved in to their home, taking the best bedroom in the whole palace and proceeding to set up rules and regulations.
“Why all this over one .. whatever it is?” Abedabun queried. “Is it that important?”
“Is it not,” Mother retorted by her own query, “the only one of its kind?”
“I suppose that is so.” replied Abedabun,”but, everytime a human evacuates its bowels, do they not make something unique unto itself?”
“Yes and no.” said Mother. “Their mess is as unique as you and your brothers. There are others like you, who could take your place, who are made of the same materials. This is something Else.”
“Shouldn't we, then, return it from whence it came?” he cried out. “Surely, one of those strange gods is missing a child or … something?”
“Do you see them coming to reclaim their property or kin?” asked Mother.
“No.” he admitted.
“Then, it is either something they have discarded or that has been left as a gift. Let us raise it up among us and see which it is.”
“What if it is dangerous?” he groused.
“What if you were a god, and not a quailing babe of Ordem?” intoned Mother.
The seven god brothers were not at all pleased with their new family member, or their new circumstances. They were, in fact, the only gods they had ever heard of who, instead of progressing on to other areas of responsibility, had regressed back to the nesting time with Mother. How could they hold their heads up at the meetings? How could they even attend meetings? They could never explain this thing that dwelt in their midst.
However, as fate would have it, the thing that caused them the most public shame was also the thing that caused them the most pleasure. For, like with the game, many gods sought to befriend them in order to come and satisfy their curiosity, to entertain their minds, with this unique little thing that these seven alone, out of all the gods in all the systems, were in possession of.
What with their creature, their game and the rumors about the party they had with some of the gods of the oddest, most foreign system of all, it was all the brothers could do, to get a decent few hours rest in, before returning to gaming, partying or various forms of lewd revelry.
The cover up began in this way: two young, bouyantly shaped goddesses were encouched on a circular sofa, so that the brothers were enwreathed about them, and giggling in that special way that species which are capable of spawing young women, have young women that do.
What the young goddesses were giggling over, particularly, was the shape changing ways of that odd little creature, who dandled on one or more of their knees as it went about its life.
“Oh!” one goddess exclaimed – and it matters not which one, for, as with human females that giggle that way, they were perfectly interchangeable - “Whatever is it?”
“Well,” began more than one god brother at once, “It is .. uhm . .. err ...”
“Where did it come from?”, queried a goddess. “It couldn't have come from the same Mother that made you. It's too exquisite!” she chirped.
This, for reasons that should be obvious, caused a few hurt feelings among the god brothers and a slightly torn rotator cuff of one goddess, as Mother descended upon her and demanded explanation for this rather insulting remark.
“I'm sorry, I'm sure. I didn't mean anything by it, except that I ...”
“You what?” Mother's voice boomed out, shaking the walls of the palace in her fury.
“I only meant that it's so different, and if you could tell me where to get one ..”`
“Why do you want to know where?” queried mother, her eye skewed up in suspicion.
“Then, I could get one, too and wouldn't have to travel so far to ..”
“To what?”, all seven god brothers exclaimed.
“To see it, of course.” she said, gigglingly.
“You mean,” exclaimed Lubomir, “that this entire time, you have only been coming here to see this .. thing?”
“Yes, of course. Just like everyone else, right?” she answered rather naively1. “I mean, did you really think we all traveled this far out just to see you?” she queried, flashing her wide-eyed stare from one brother to the next. Noticing their blank expressions, she sobered up and gave them sad glances, intead.
“Oh my! You did, didn't you! You big sillies. I mean, of course, it's great fun, coming to your parties, playing with your game, seeing the other gods who I would never even get to rub elbows with, otherwise and especially seeing this darling, but .. well, you are simply not in the same social class, are you?”
She tittered in a way that she hoped would bring corresponding titters at her straight forward ways and heal the breach. Yes, even goddesses can be that dumb. In fact, some would argue that especially goddesses are that dumb; though it is has ever been, and ever shall be, a matter of great debate as to whether they are that dumb because they are goddesses, goddesses because they are that dumb, or if they are only pretending to be that dumb in an effort to make every day, human women pity them so much that they don't tear them down from their pedestals and apart altogether.
The boys were not feeling tittersome. Mother was feeling less so. Though, in her feminine grace she did not, as the god brothers did, blame the thing, when there was a perfectly idiotish goddess to blame, instead.
1Especially naively for a girl who already had a torn rotator cuff from one of her last naïve remarks.
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