《Miracle [Book 1]》


 Chapter 1 / Swiss

    Prologue


    They say you shouldn¡¯t look for miracles, because you yourself are the miracle. Or in my case, an Argonaut; or, THE Argonaut, I guess. As far as I can remember, both my life and my fate have been quite boring. I never really was too great at any particular thing, but rather I was mediocre at a variety of things, a ¡°Jack of All Trades¡± if you will. That being said, becoming THE Argonaut was a huge surprise to me. However, Argonauts are expected to be heroes, protectors of the innocent and enemies of, well, enemies. So far, I¡¯ve been pretty good at that, save an elderly here and stop a criminal there, but walking down this dark alleyway was starting to seem like I had bitten off more than I could chew.


    It¡¯s not a bad job, being an Argonaut, you earn the respect of the few people you don¡¯t kill (and the few people you can actually trust), but one of my main quarrels is the pay: none. Yep, none. You see, Argonauts might be saviors to many but there isn¡¯t exactly a union for people like me. I don¡¯t really have rights or a 401K, but I do have superpowers which are pretty cool. Argonauts come in all shapes and sizes from what I know, but that¡¯s just because I DON¡¯T know. I¡¯ve never actually seen someone else like me, but I assume that¡¯s just because of the nature of the job. We don¡¯t exactly interact with the outsiders all too often, we¡¯re lone wolves, travelers of the night. We strike quietly and impactfully, not with too much force. Therefore, I¡¯ve decided there is an entire secret society of Argonauts that I just simply don¡¯t know about. Maybe I¡¯m crazy, maybe I¡¯m not alone¡­


    ...Or maybe I feel like that because someone two feet taller than me, quietly lurking in the shadows of the alleyway just knocked me out.


    Chapter 1


    Okay, first day of my senior year of High School. Sure, it''s a brand new school which means new beginnings and new friends, but transferring all the way back to Switzerland after living in America for most of my life is going to be jarring to say the least. I lost my mother when I was very young to an unknown cause. Some assume a random heart attack or stroke but it all seems just...too convenient. I don¡¯t know, people call me weird for looking so much into it, but having both of your parents dead to pretty much unknown causes? Something has to be up. Granted, my father passed prior to me even being born, so I never really knew him, only the things people said about him. Seemed like a solid man that worked hard and loved his family. I would have loved to meet him but, sometimes fate can give you the cold shoulder I guess. That being said, I grew up with my mother. She did everything for us and made sure we got a great education and all that jazz. Actually, I just noticed that I¡¯ve been saying ¡°we¡± when referring to my family. That¡¯s because I¡¯m not the only hooligan in the death-prone group of people I know as my ¡°family,¡± I have a brother too, Hans. Oh, and I¡¯m Daniel. Can¡¯t really tell if it¡¯s obvious if I am a male or female based on my tone, but...yeah, Daniel, the male. Doesn¡¯t matter anyway, my life is so bland and uneventful that I could almost choke on it! Get it? Death joke.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Regardless, I like to make sure I¡¯m always smiling. My grandfather, Pete, always told me to smile even through any hardship, because smiling will always make you feel good inside. Speaking of Pete, that¡¯s actually who Hans and I are going to see right now. Well, I guess ¡°see¡± is too temporary to actually describe this situation. See, when your parents die and you aren¡¯t even done with highschool yet, you don¡¯t really have many options in terms of people to watch you. It¡¯s alright though, I¡¯m not exactly the type to make a ton of friends. I prefer close relationships with few people that I can get to know and love and support. Sadly, that also takes quite a long amount of time, so that wasn¡¯t really possible in America with my already lacking social skills. Speaking of social skills though, Hans is great at them. Always the more popular out of the two of us, probably because he has a bigger connection with his emotional side. Hans was really beat up after the deaths and this move back to the Swiss land we grew up in isn¡¯t exactly helping him calm down. He¡¯s depressed as far as the eye can see and I¡¯m too emotionally inept to help him. Quite a conundrum, but all I really can do is be there if he needs me. Even if I¡¯m not too emotional, I can at least try my best.


    But who knows, maybe Hans and I will be extremely successful in Switzerland. Maybe I¡¯ll finally get a girlfriend, or even better, a pet dog. I also haven¡¯t seen Pete since I was a baby, so that old lad will be a very welcome sight. I can¡¯t help but feel that something is...awry. I don¡¯t really know how to describe it, like when you look into a sea of misty fog and feel not an ominous feeling, but rather an impending event, like when you step outside into fresh air and smell the smell of rain or the crackle of thunder. The smell of nature¡¯s wrath and some sort of unstoppable force that you cannot even fathom. Simply put, the smell of cloudy thunderstorms is in the air. Heck, even the plane I¡¯m on to the aforementioned Swiss destination is gracefully cutting through the night¡¯s clouds as we speak. Maybe I¡¯m watching too many fantasy shows, but I feel like returning to Switzerland is going to bring more than just new beginnings.


    End of Chapter 1


    Author¡¯s note: Finally decided to pick up writing again after a decent hiatus. It¡¯s quite a meditative thing really and it makes me feel whole. Being able to imagine these beautiful places and worlds while describing them in front of my eyes is an experience comparable to hallucinating. Anyway, enough with the formalities. I¡¯m sorry for the cliffhanger chapter 1 but I tossed in a prologue to flesh things out a bit more while I work on chapter 2. I hope you all enjoy both my style and the story to come, I¡¯ll be hopefully putting out daily chapters for a while and I¡¯m really excited to make this story come into being. Truth be told, I¡¯ve had this concept for this story for years now and just simply didn¡¯t have the inspiration to put it into production, but Netflix¡¯s Ragnarok that just recently released sparked my imagination enough to toss this story into the ether. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and are at least excited, more to come soon!

 Chapter 2 / Oh Ophelia

    Chapter 2


    ¡°Huh, he¡¯s asleep¡± Hans turned to me questioningly.


    ¡°Of course he¡¯s asleep, Hans, this is Pappy Pete we¡¯re talking about, just be glad he isn¡¯t¡­¡± I stopped myself.


    Hans turned to me. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I get it, you¡¯re probably experiencing some wacked out emotions too and stuff can slip. All that matters is that we are here for each other. Plus, we¡¯ve got to get ready for school anyway.¡± Hans said with the same level of intelligence as he had always shown.


    Truth be told, I wasn¡¯t feeling emotions anyway, but I didn¡¯t want to offend Hans so I went with it.


    ¡°I know man I know, pretty crazy that we have to go to school right after getting off a plane, but we can¡¯t miss our first day and it¡¯s not like we need Pete to drive us anyway, school is close to our house, that¡¯s the good thing about living in a small neighborhood.¡± I replied, changing the subject.


    ¡°Definitely better than sitting in line in a school bus every morning back in New York¡± Hans said with a sly sense of humor.


    ¡°Yeah for sure, hey, well I¡¯m glad you¡¯re not getting completely shut down by these unfortunate events, let¡¯s just get ready and head out. Just be glad the plane wasn¡¯t delayed and we were lucky enough to land early in the morning¡± I said back.


    Hans turned to me with a slight smile. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    The teacher stared daggers into the eyes of his disruptive class, and with a thick accent said ¡°Be silent, allow me to take role and we can get on with getting to know each other.¡±


    The class went silent and gave the teacher their attention.


    ¡°Firstly, I know this school is very tight-knit and the classes usually stay the same even with a change of year, but I would like to introduce to you all, two new students that will be joining us. Hans and Daniel Aerni.¡± The teacher said smugly, finally getting the class under control.


    The students looked at us, some with anger and some with curiosity, but nobody seemed all too welcoming to the newcomers.


    The teacher turned to us, whispering ¡°Changing schools is tough, especially this late into High School, so this will be rough considering the exceedingly rare change that this class experiences, I wish you both the best, please take your seats.¡± Leaving our whisper-range vicinity with a smile, he turned to his podium. ¡°Hans, you¡¯ll sit next to Maria, and Daniel, you¡¯ll¡­¡± He looked around the room for an empty spot ¡°...you¡¯ll be sitting next to Ophelia.¡±


    Ophelia? Ophelia seemed cool enough. Driven and passionate about the world and super focused on electrical engineering. Only problem was, she didn¡¯t seem too happy about sitting next to me. Maybe it was because I was American, but my looks screamed European, so I wasn¡¯t quite sure. Regardless, we were able to talk enough during class that I learned a succinct amount of information about her.


    Lunch couldn¡¯t come soon enough. The plane ride was a connecting flight so I hadn¡¯t eaten and was starving. Ophelia seemed to be just as popular as me, so once I had picked up my food, I decided to sit by her. Hans was much better at taming the social tidal wave, so he was already invited to the ¡°cool table.¡±


    ¡°Soooo, what is it that electrical engineering has that has you so interested?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well aside from the great pay?¡± She asked back.


    ¡°Yeah, already aware of that much, what made you so interested in it?¡± I pondered.


    ¡°Well, my family lives on top of the Kaiser Hill. Not sure if you¡¯ve seen it, but it¡¯s quite a large lump of land in town. Anyway, due to being elevated so much, thunderstorms are quite a pain, but the lighting strikes are so intriguing to me that I just started inventing ways to both prevent our house from getting blown to smithereens AND learn more about electricity in the process, especially from natural occurrences.¡± Ophelia explained to me.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Ah, so out of necessity grew passion?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite the poet, huh?¡± She joked back.


    I snickered. ¡°I guess if you say so.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Where were you two?!¡± The big burly nordic man asked.


    ¡°Pete, we were at school it was our first day remember?¡± Hans said to our grandpa.


    ¡°Oh right, I was worried sick. Thought you missed your flight.¡± Pete said.


    ¡°Course not, did the suitcases not give it away?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nope, not to these old eyes¡­¡± Pete said with a sense of longing.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright Petey, we are just glad to be here safe and sound. We haven¡¯t seen you in forever man!¡± Hans said back.


    ¡°Yeah, well, I wish it were on better terms. Alas, fate gets to have the final say in things.¡± Pete said.


    ¡°Guess so. Well, I¡¯m tired and I¡¯m sure Hans is too, so if you don¡¯t mind we are gonna get settled in and maybe take a nap, then maybe we can chat later tonight?¡± I asked Pete.


    ¡°Of course my boys, make yourself at home. I¡¯ve been quite lonely if I¡¯m being frank, it¡¯s wonderful to have company and especially fantastic for that company to be you.¡± Pete answered.


    ¡°Well, we will get going then. Thanks again for everything!¡± Hans replied.


    ¡°Anytime my boy, anytime.¡± Pete said with a farewell.


    Truth be told, things weren¡¯t all that bad. Making a ¡°friend¡± on the first day and getting to speak with the man that had created so many of my lifelong convictions was nearly unfathomable for me. I guess I was still in shock with all the recent and rapid change, but to me it was alright for a first day. Pete lived in a wooded cabin by himself since his wife passed years ago, but he was always bright and spent his time working to keep himself occupied, and the town loved him. We¡¯d probably have so much more of a complete idea of who Pete was if we had never moved to New York, but as Pete said, ¡°Fate gets to have the final say in things.¡±


    Speaking of location, Switzerland was absolutely gorgeous. Not a pollution-creating factory in sight of our tiny nestled hamlet, and glorious verdant hills and slate-toned mountains all over, as far as the eye could see. Marshmallow colored snow capped the mountains off as wispy clouds rolled lazily among the peaks. Switzerland was simply very peaceful and calming. Walking around the streets along could give you a sensory overload with the smell of rain, fresh-baked pastries, and the beautiful and lush sights all around. It was like heaven on earth by only a slight stretch of the imagination.


    There was that hill, too. Ophelia¡¯s hill. The tallest hill anywhere you could see, with a quaint house perched atop it. She had called it something, ¡°Kaiser Hill.¡± With my fairly limited knowledge of etymology and linguistics, I believe that means ¡°Emperor Hill¡± in English. Though, I wonder what the ¡°Emperor¡± stands for. Guess I¡¯ll have to ask Ophelia tomorrow. However, my eyes were getting heavy with the weight of the day, so I layed down in the rustic and worn, but incredibly comfortable bed and shut my eyes.


    *


    ¡°Ophelia, come.¡± The figure hidden in the shadows called for his daughter.


    ¡°What is it, Father?¡± Ophelia asked.


    ¡°Those two boys, Hans and...Daniel, is it? I need you to keep an eye on them.¡± The figure instructed.


    ¡°Why is that, father? They seem nice enough¡­¡± Ophelia questioned.


    ¡°You know not to interrogate my methods. They¡¯re of concern, just moved in and quite close to the Kaiser, it¡¯s only natural that we make sure to do our due diligence and background check them a little bit.¡± The figure reasoned.


    ¡°I mean, doesn¡¯t matter to me, Daniel sits with me anyway so I¡¯ll just keep a closer eye out¡± Ophelia assured the figure.


    ¡°Very well¡­ I believe we may see a twist of fate that we aren¡¯t very well expecting, if I say so.¡± The figure said with omniscience.


    ¡°It¡¯s very rare for you to be wrong, Father, I know you have the best interest of the Jotann line in mind so I will follow.¡± Ophelia said.


    ¡°You always were so loyal and good.¡± The figure openly stated.


    *


    ¡°Aye, I¡¯m coming!¡± Pete turned towards the door.


    Opening the door, Pete found a familiar face smiling back at him.


    ¡°Hey Mister Peter, I was just wondering if it was true that Daniel and Hans moved in with you?¡± Ophelia asked.


    ¡°Aye, what brings Jorun¡¯s kid to my door anyway? You got a crush on one of the lads?¡± Pete asked the girl.


    ¡°Hah, no sir. Just here to check on them, I sit next to Daniel in class actually!¡± Ophelia said.


    ¡°I see I see, well let me get him for ya.¡± Pete told the girl.


    ¡°DANNY BOY! PRETTY GIRL HERE TO SEE YA!¡± Pete shouted into the house.


    ¡°COMING!¡± I exclaimed from my room.


    ¡°Ah! Ophelia, how are you?¡± I asked my acquaintance.


    ¡°Good, good, just here to see if you moved in here, quite close to Kaiser Hill actually!¡± Ophelia said.


    ¡°Oh right, you live there yeah?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure do. Say, would you like to come with me and check out the hill?¡± Ophelia asked.


    I turned to look at Pete, questioning if his authority applied in this area.


    ¡°Why are you looking at me, kid? You¡¯re a man now, you can handle yourself.¡± Pete told me with the same jaded tone he always used.


    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll be going for a bit then, see you later Pops!¡± I said to the man.


    ¡°Stay safe boy, I haven¡¯t had a good chance to check that hill out to be frank.¡± Pete warned.


    ¡°Of course, see ya!¡± I said back.


    End of Chapter 2

 Chapter 3 / Lightning Rod

    Chapter 3


    They say hills are God''s hurdles. Well, someone says that I guess. Maybe, maybe I say that and only me. Well, whatever. This hill is large, scary, and apparently the home of the resident electrical engineering fanatic, Ophelia.


    ¡°So, why did you move back to Switzerland?¡± Ophelia asked.


    ¡°Well, family matters I guess. Personal business.¡± I replied to her.


    ¡°I see I see, well I won¡¯t ask too much into it. Hope you¡¯re doing okay though.¡± Ophelia said.


    ¡°Yeah, no major problems here. Haven¡¯t seen my main man Pete in a while so it is nice to be here and see him in all his aged glory.¡± I said back.


    ¡°I actually kinda get that, haha. Pete¡¯s a great man, that¡¯s what the townsfolk say. Really a man of the people and he always goes above and beyond to help those in need out.¡± Ophelia said, in a charmed sort of state.


    ¡°He¡¯s always been like that. A real helper and do-gooder. I really aspire to be like him someday where I can put up with commonplace things to help others.¡± I replied.


    Ophelia turned to me with a soft smile. ¡°Sure, sure. I suppose I hope for that as well.¡± She said, ¡°Well, we should take this route.¡± Ophelia pointed towards a muddy path that appeared to be carved out of the verdant hill. ¡°Brought your hiking boots?¡± She said cooly.


    ¡°Course I did, we ARE going hiking, aren¡¯t we?¡± I said back.


    ¡°Sure are, well let¡¯s get to it!¡± Ophelia said.


    The hike was no mere task, though Ophelia must have done it a thousand and one times, because she had it down to a T. She moved with both grace and poised skill, with total focus. It was kind of interesting to see her both so accurate and skillful at the same time, despite literally climbing a hill being the skill she was so talented at. Eh, probably something with Swiss girls I assume. After about a 1 and a half mile walk we arrived at a couple of large, daunting doors. Looked like something out of a castle in a movie.


    ¡°Those are large doors by any regard.¡± I said openly, out of breath from the hike considering New York had nothing of this rigor.


    ¡°We Swiss love our doors...I guess. Just a big house with some big doors, not much else to say.¡± Ophelia replied.


    ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve got a nice chunk of money, is that so?¡± I asked Ophelia.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I guess you could say that. More importantly, now do you see why I had to get into the electrical side of things? Gotta protect this big lightning rod.¡± Ophelia said with sparks in her eyes.


    ¡°Yeah, this place is huge and daunting...perfect target practice for a nice lightning bolt.¡± I said jokingly.


    ¡°Yeah, well we should hope that doesn¡¯t happen.¡± Ophelia said with an odd look of strangeness.


    Opening the huge doors, I was instantly greeted with a tall and tight looking man. Seemed like he ate nothing but plant fibers and did nothing but work out. He was extremely toned but not like a bodybuilder. He looked like if you slapped him, he wouldn¡¯t move a millimeter. Regardless, he seemed friendly enough.


    ¡°Welcome to our humble abode.¡± The man said, his words cold as ice.


    ¡°Haha, thanks, but I wouldn¡¯t necessarily call this place ¡®humble¡¯ if I were you.¡± I said nervously.


    ¡°Yes, well it is larger than most, but more of a curse than a blessing what with all this lightning. This¡­ ¡®thing¡¯ could be gone in the blink of an eye.¡± The man said chillingly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard. So, what do you do about the lightning anyway?¡± I asked, feeling the cold weight of his words.


    ¡°Well, Ophelia takes care of that, why don¡¯t we go see?¡± The man said.


    ¡°Sure, oh and by the way, what¡¯s your name? Mine is Daniel.¡± I said back.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware of your name, Ophelia mentioned you. No matter, my name is Zem.


    ¡°Zem. Hm, quite a unique one.¡± I said back.


    ¡°I guess so, unique name for a unique person?¡± Zem said back.


    ¡°Well, up these stairs here, they will take you to where we handle the lightning.¡± Ophelia said.


    Ophelia took Zem and I to a flight of enormous, ornate black granite stairs. They were beautiful, they looked like an infinite cosmos.


    ¡°Wow, even the stairs are the center of attention¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, they lead to the center of attention I guess.¡± Zem replied with the same cool look.


    Climbing the stairs, I felt just a bit wary. New York was full of people but nobody interacted on this level. I could attribute most of it to cultural differences, but there was still something telling me that something was wrong.


    ¡°Here we are, the lightning room.¡± Ophelia gestured to the gigantic dome.


    ¡°Fitting name, looks like this place could store a sky.¡± I said back.


    ¡°We shall get straight to it I guess, when lightning storms brew, you come near this circular plate in the middle,¡± Ophelia gestured to a white marble plate in the center of the dome, ¡°You then press this button to activate the lightning rods, which essentially capture the lightning and ground it, then transform it into reusable energy.¡± Ophelia said, gesturing up at an open hole in the ceiling with some metal rods that looked like they were set up and waiting.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it is more complicated than that, but that¡¯s for you to know I guess.¡± I said back.


    ¡°No need to flatter me, haha, anyway, do you want to go stand on the plate?¡± Ophelia asked.


    ¡°What good would that do?¡± I wondered curiously.


    ¡°It is pretty cool to look up at the sky from that spot, not something you would want to miss.¡± Ophelia said, the same sparks in her eyes from earlier.


    ¡°Hmm, no harm no foul I guess. But what if I get struck?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Struck? Struck by what? You climbed the same hill as I did, not a cloud in sight today.¡± Ophelia said.


    ¡°True, the weatherman said it was all clear today.¡± Zem said.


    ¡°I do recall him saying that, well if you say so I guess I will.¡± I said to the pair.


    I walked over to the marble plate and placed my feet together on it, and stared up into the bright blue sunny sky. It was pretty incredible, probably something with the way the hole was set up. Staring up, I started to notice a small gray wispy formation in the center of the ceiling hole, up in the blue sky.


    ¡°Hey, what is tha-.¡± Pointing into the sky, suddenly a massive gray cloud formed right above the house.


    ¡°What in-¡± I heard Zem start to say.


    Alas, it was too late, for a large purple lightning bolt had already arced into my body.


    End of Chapter 3

 Chapter 4 / Hundus and the Friggan

    Chapter 4


    ¡°Wake up, Argonaut.¡± A booming voice rocked my eardrums.


    ¡°Huh, what in the world happened? Where am I? Heaven?¡± I asked the voice, unable to open my eyes.


    ¡°Haha, no. I am the lightning God, Hundus. Lord of black skies and booming thunder.¡± The voice replied.


    ¡°Did you say, lightning GOD?¡± I asked in disbelief.


    ¡°I know it may be hard for a mere mortal to comprehend, but yes.¡± Hundus replied.


    ¡°So, why am I...here? Where is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You are in my domain. Here, child, let me open your eyes.¡± Hundus said smoothly.


    Suddenly I felt a very slight tap on my forehead, like a single rain droplet. Then, with searing and burning pain, my eyelids shot open in an instant to reveal a sprawling botanical garden full of women and yellow flowers.


    ¡°I, I can¡¯t believe what I am seeing.¡± I said to Hundus.


    ¡°I know, it is a lot to take in. Just follow me and I will show you around while you adjust.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Adjust? Am I staying here?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°Of course not. You need to save the world. It is just important for me to show you around because you might be spending some time here later.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Ah I get it, the whole omnipotent God thing, you can see the future yeah?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Among other things sure. Though I assure you, power is far more a responsibility than a blessing in any sense.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Heard it before, ¡®with great power comes great responsibility¡¯ right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure does. You¡¯ll learn that for yourself quite soon though.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°What is that supposed to mean? I¡¯m no superhero.¡± I said back.


    ¡°Not right now you aren¡¯t, but shortly, you may be even more than super.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°I am unsure of this, by the way, what did you call me earlier? Astronaut?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No my boy, Argonaut. You sail the sea of clouds and call them your home. You possess awesome power that can break down any barrier or foe.¡± Hundus said cryptically.


    ¡°I¡¯m, like, some kind of hero?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course not, but you will be. Now then, on with the tour.¡± Hundus said, like he had done this a million times.


    Hundus¡¯ ¡°Domain¡± as he called it, was a gorgeous sprawling garden. Oddly enough, there wasn¡¯t much variety, just yellow flowers as far as the eye could see. Hundus assured me that time worked to his command while inside the Domain, meaning once I had completed the tour, and ¡°awakened¡± as Hundus called it, I could return to the real world, right where I left off.


    ¡°You must have heard of me, though?¡± Hundus asked.


    ¡°No, never, I¡¯ve heard of Greek Gods like Zeus or the Roman counterpart, Jupiter, the Egyptian Gods Hamon and Ra, but no mention of Hundus.¡± I answered the towering divine being.


    Hundus paused, ¡°Boy, they have given me quite a few names over the years.¡± Hundus said with a sense of nostalgia.


    ¡°You mean to say, all of those Gods are you?¡± I asked.


    Hundus chuckled softly, ¡°Sure boy, all of those names are all used to describe me. However, my true name is Hundus. Sounds like none of the humans have found that out yet though.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Could be a translation barrier I guess, but if those Gods really are you, then that implies you¡¯ve lived for thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years!¡± I exclaimed back.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Hundreds of thousands of years are gone in seconds when you¡¯re a God. I¡¯ve likely lived for many millions, possibly billions of years, but I¡¯m not really counting¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Hmmm, well what¡¯s the earliest memory you have?¡± I asked.


    Hundus peered toward the infinite yellow abyss of a sky above him with a pensive look on his face. ¡°Well, child, Gods like me aren¡¯t exactly born like humans, we are created. My earliest memory is simply popping into existence unexpectedly with my thoughts and a sort of prewritten list of instructions on how to be a God that was hardwired into my head. At some point in time, I simply went from non-existence to existence and it has never been the same since.¡± Hundus explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s insane¡­¡± I replied.


    ¡°Regardless, I need to get you prepared for the coming stormfront.¡± Hundus turned towards me.


    ¡°Stormfront? You get storms up here? Wherever we are¡­¡± I said back.


    ¡°No, child, the stormfront you will be faced with once you have returned to your mortal chains.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s great and all, but you still haven¡¯t explained to me what exactly an ¡®Argonaut¡¯ is, as you said¡± I reminded the divine being.


    ¡°Argonauts were Greek sailors at one point. Warriors. The lesser known fact about them however, was the Argonaut Occult, and by extension, the Argonaut Code.¡± Hundus started.


    ¡°Argonaut Occult?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Precisely. A group of tight-knit and very powerful warriors, some of which were previously Argonaut sailors. They practiced the arcane arts and could infuse their warrior bodies with unfathomably powerful magic. They created the ¡®Argonaut Code¡¯ which was a very secretive jurisdiction and method to choose Argonauts in the future. They were ¡®ahead of their time¡¯ quite literally.¡± Hundus explained to me.


    ¡°So was I chosen as part of this code? Is that why I¡¯m here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Precisely. I was going to just wait till you were alone outside to bring you up and inform you, but you were in what I consider a ¡®natural situation¡¯ where I was able to bring you to this Domain to awaken you.¡± Hundus said back.


    ¡°I see, so, how do you know the Argonaut Occult, why are you tasked with this?¡± I asked the being.


    ¡°I used to be one. Gods live among people from time to time to provide otherworldly support and balance fights.¡± Hundus explained.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re the source of the Argonauts having access to such powers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Partly responsible. There were other major Gods that gave the Argonauts access to divine strength, so there are many types of Argonauts.¡± Hundus replied to me.


    ¡°Right, so if you are the God of thunder and lightning and all that, that would mean you gave the Argonauts power relating to that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Precisely, you¡¯re observant I guess. I bestowed the Argonaut platoon I was in charge of with the power of the Crackling Dawn, a basically infinite supply of lightning, the power to smite down their foes with help from the skies above. Therefore, my platoon was named as such, the Crackling Dawn.¡± Hundus explained.


    ¡°Why mention that name ¡®Crackling Dawn¡¯ that seems kind of insignificant?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because that is your family title. You are an Argonaut of the Crackling Dawn. If you somehow were to encounter any other Argonauts, you would simply tell them your title, preceded by your name, Daniel, and they will proceed based on their relation to your family title. Therefore, you would be ¡®Daniel, Argonaut of the Crackling Dawn¡¯¡± Hundus explained.


    ¡°Daniel, Argonaut of the Crackling Dawn, that sounds so cool and powerful.¡± I said to the deity.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it, wear the name with pride. Now, how about we get on with your awakening and actually attribute some power to that name.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Sounds good to me, how do we go about that.¡± I asked.


    ¡°Simply raise your hands towards the abyss and if you are deemed pure with a warrior¡¯s heart, a Friggan of the Crackling Dawn will descend from above and bestow you the power you desire.¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°Friggan? What is that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A lightning demon. Sounds scarier than it actually is, I promise.¡± Hundus assured.


    ¡°Alright. Here goes nothing.¡± I said with false confidence.


    I raised my hands toward the infinite yellow abyss and closed my eyes, normalized my breathing, then opened my eyes again. From far above in the yellow tinted abyssal clouds I could see a concentration of striking lightning. Then, a bright purple portal seemed to open. A figure protruded from the portal that looked like some cross of a horse and devil. Like a centaur with demonic wings and horns, but completely made of purple energy.


    ¡°My lord...a Purple Friggan¡­¡± Hundus said.


    ¡°What? Is that a bad thing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll explain later, just concentrate and receive the power, you will need to concentrate if you don¡¯t want to be overwhelmed.¡± Hundus said.


    The Friggan seemed to collide with the environment of the Domain and then proceeded to rocket towards me, stopping inches before my hands.


    ¡°MORTAL, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY I, ZELFORGE, PURPLE FRIGGAN OF THE CRACKLING DAWN!¡± The Friggan said with a booming voice that seemed to echo. ¡°I WILL NOW TEST YOUR POWER AND DETERMINE IF YOU ARE ACTUALLY WORTHY TO BE GIVEN THIS INFINITE POWER!¡± The Friggan said, proceeding to inch closer to me and open its mouth wide, revealing a vortex inside its mouth.


    ¡°Test me then!¡± I exclaimed, with confidence coming most likely from the shock I was in. Yet, although I should have been scared, I felt calm and collected even while staring down this ultraviolet storm beast.


    The Friggan then enveloped me with its vortex mouth, the walls of its mouth seemed to expand until I was floating in blackness. Hundus and the Friggan were unseeable. I looked into the distance and saw a flash of Zem¡¯s face, who then protruded from the blackness and sprinted towards me. I raised my hands to intercept him but he ducked right under and jabbed me in the gut. Although I was sure this was an illusion, the pain was definitely real. I reeled from the jab and stepped back, still in shock from seeing Zem.


    ¡°Why are you here? What are you?¡± I asked the thing that looked like Zem.


    It looked at me and ignored my questions completely, once again sprinting the small distance I had created and punching me in the side of my face, once again with the pain feeling real.


    ¡°What is going on!?¡± I shouted.


    ¡°You are no hero. You are no Argonaut. You will die to my fist.¡± The thing that looked like Zem said.


    Zem proceeded to beat me for what seemed like an hour, each time I felt pain but no lasting marks or lasting pain, only the initial pain from each hit. I did however feel like I was inching closer to death. I felt helpless and like I was in danger. If this went on, I was going to die, no doubt about it. Finally, I decided to fight back and caught Zem¡¯s fist mid-punch.


    ¡°I am a warrior. I will take you down.¡± I told Zem.


    ¡°Finally! This is getting interesting!¡± Zem said, I was still unsure if it even was him or simply an apparition.


    I concentrated like Hundus had told me to into my fist and flexed the muscles in it. Almost immediately after flexing, a purple art of lightning shot down from the blackness above, or what I thought was above, and filled my hand with what felt like raw, natural power. My fist glowed bright purple and small arcs and sparks of violet lightning shot out of it.


    ¡°You¡¯re going down now!¡± I shouted at the figure.


    I punched straight into Zem, but immediately during contact he disappeared and my fist ripped into the blackness creating a hole. Through the hole I saw the same familiar yellow flowers of the Domain. Suddenly, a booming voice from somewhere stated,


    ¡°GOOD! YOU ARE NO MERE MORTAL, YOU ARE MOST CERTAINLY A WARRIOR, A PROUD MEMBER OF THE ARGONAUTS OF THE CRACKLING DAWN.¡± The Friggan said, ¡°YOU WILL BE BESTOWED MY POWER! GO FORTH AND CONQUER, SAIL THE WAVES OF THUNDERCLOUDS AHEAD!¡± The Friggan said.


    Suddenly, the hold produced a small black orb, which the rest of the blackness was sucked into, including the familiar violet energy of the Friggan itself. I was back inside the Domain, and Hundus was staring silently at the orb next to me. The orb hovered for a few seconds until it shot towards my chest and disappeared into me. I felt no pain for its entrance, just a sudden, overwhelming feeling of power and justification.


    ¡°So, how was that?¡± Hundus asked.


    End of Chapter 4